Chapter 1007 — They Are Not You

Outside, the sunlight stung the eyes. Shen Mu raised a hand to shade them, then looked back. The Shen family ancestral hall was solemn and austere, enshrining the ancestors generation after generation — but he would never be able to enter here again.

He went to meet the Zhen Princess Consort, bowed to her, and left the Zhen Prince's Estate with Shujun.

The Zhen Princess Consort watched his back. She opened her mouth, but no call came out. Qin Hanzhen came to her side and stood with her. Powerlessly, she leaned on his shoulder.

"He probably will not come back again," she said softly.

Shen Mu looked at the Shen family children cultivating so bitterly outside, and passed by them.

"Cousin—" the little girl called Shen Siying waved to him.

Shen Mu waved back from afar. There was the warmth of home here, yet he could not linger.

He left with Shujun, passing once more those ancestral graves. Shen Mu pinched up a handful of soil and solemnly put it away in the Shen-Character Continent.

Shujun was rather puzzled. Shen Mu smiled. "If I die in the future, I cannot be buried here — but there must be soil of my homeland on my grave."

They came to the thirty-third heaven, which was also where Kaihuang's Heavenly Court stood.

Many of Kaihuang's civil and military officials had arrived here ahead of him, waiting quietly for this battle between Heavenly Venerables. One after another, the gods stood with vast bodies throughout the heavenly palace, watching quietly as Shen Mu walked in through the Southern Heavenly Gate, into the towering, solemn divine palaces and halls, through the Heavenly Street, past the Jade Terrace and Jade Pool, toward the Jade Capital City.

Kaihuang's Heavenly Court was also laid out like the Longhan Heavenly Court, only simpler, its territory less vast — but in luxury, it surpassed it.

After all, this was the Worry-Free Land, part of the Other Shore World. Here, visualizing creations was easier than elsewhere by who knew how many times.

Shen Mu used no divine ability at all, walking step by step. Kaihuang's Heavenly Court was not vast, yet walking it step by step took an extremely long time.

But he was like a devout seeker of the dao, measuring step by step — measuring not Kaihuang's Heavenly Court, but the rights and wrongs, the straight and crooked, within his own heart.

Apart from Shujun, there were no other Creators here, for this was a matter between two Heavenly Venerables. The Creators would not interfere in matters that did not concern them, nor was there any need for them to witness the outcome between two Heavenly Venerables.

Here there were only Kaihuang's old ministers: Su Maiqing, the Dao Master of the Kaihuang Dao Sect; Yan Rinuan, the Sun Warden; the four Auxiliary Ministers Fang Youji, Gao Baixun, Zhou Jingmeng, and Zhou Xunfang; and the old gods of the Three Excellencies, Six Ministries, and Nine Ministers — all watching Shen Mu walk toward the Jade Capital City.

They showed looks of expectation, rubbing their hands and flexing their fists. Yan Rinuan was still grinding his sword, the rust gradually flaking away.

Besides them there were the new gods, within the Jade Capital City. The Jade Capital City was the most magnificent of all; they too watched Shen Mu approach — some gloating, some eager for action, and some whistling.

Shen Mu saw nothing, heard nothing.

Qin Hanzhen and the Zhen Princess Consort also brought the few Shen family children to the Jade Capital, watching with complex expressions as Shen Mu passed through the streets of the Jade Capital City, from the Vermilion Bird Gate to the Chengtian Gate.

The Chengtian Gate towered high; beyond it lay the Lingxiao Hall of Miluo Palace, the Hall of Imperial Supremacy, symbol of the Heavenly Emperor's unmatched authority.

Beneath the Chengtian Gate, Shen Mu stopped, turned, and bowed to Shujun. "Divine King, please stop here."

Shujun returned the salute and halted beneath the Chengtian Gate, watching him climb stair after stair, ascending toward the Lingxiao Treasure Hall.

Shen Mu advanced step by step. After who knew how long, he finally came before the Lingxiao Hall.

In the Lingxiao Hall, an emperor sat upon the throne. Seeing him come, he rose to his feet.

Kaihuang took off the imperial robe he wore, folded it neatly, and laid it on the throne. Then he removed the imperial crown from his head and pressed it down upon the robe.

He lifted the Worry-Free Sword at his waist. With a clang, the Worry-Free Sword left its sheath; with a light wave he sent the scabbard flying to lodge in a pillar of the Lingxiao Hall.

The sword light blazed, illuminating Lingxiao; the whole hall shook with sword shadows.

He looked at Shen Mu walking into the Lingxiao Hall, quietly awaiting his arrival. His figure stood there, giving the impression of something immovable since ancient times, a dao heart that would not shift.

Though the years had passed, his original heart had never changed.

Shen Mu came before him and smiled. "Shen Kai, long time no see."

Kaihuang smiled too. "Muqing, a million years since we last met. You came walking from Taihuang Heaven — what did you see along the way?"

"I saw that your Heavenly Court has rotted."

Shen Mu took out the sword pellet, gave it a gentle shake, and it became a divine sword that rang in his hand. Shen Mu plucked the blade; tip and body trembled without cease. He said unhurriedly, "Your original intent in migrating the Worry-Free Land was good, but only you could hold to your original intent. Your old subordinates could not bear the failure, and fell into the misery and desolation of shattered dao hearts. They could not carry the burden forward as you did; they could only resent you and hate you. They are not you."

Kaihuang nodded. "It was I who overrode all objections, who single-mindedly wished to migrate to the Worry-Free Land. The guilt is mine. What else did you see?"

Shen Mu said, "I also saw that your Kaihuang Reforms have already failed, that hearts have fallen apart. When you decided to migrate to the Worry-Free Land, the Kaihuang Reforms had already failed; only some superficial things remained."

Kaihuang nodded. "In the Kaihuang era, the use of gods in service of men was the foundation of the state. I abandoned that foundation, so that the gods of Kaihuang no longer protected the common people and the living beings, and the reforms were cut short. The guilt is mine. What else did you see?"

Shen Mu said, "I saw that the new generation has no spirit of reform, that they cling to a corner of safety and give themselves to the sea of desire — no blood, no capacity for struggle, no acts of creation. Between the old and the new, the gulf is deep. They are not you."

Kaihuang said, "The guilt is mine."

"I also saw the blood of the Shen family die for the decisions you made back then, generation after generation, one following another."

Shen Mu said sorrowfully, "They are not you. They could not grow into another Kaihuang; they could only use their own lives to make up for your errors."

Kaihuang was downcast. "The guilt is mine."

"I also saw that you wish to walk out, but cannot. The only one who can walk out is Kaihuang; those who cannot walk out are everyone in the Worry-Free Land. They cannot leave the Worry-Free Land, and you, burdened by them, cannot leave it either."

Shen Mu flicked his wrist, traced a sword flower, then let the tip slant down to point at the ground. Lightly he said, "Shen Kai, let me shatter the Worry-Free Land in your heart."

Boom—

The Lingxiao Hall of Miluo Palace in Kaihuang's Heavenly Court split apart. The vast structure slid down at a slant, collapsing all the way down the stairs; pillars and boulders rolled, and carved beams and painted rafters were smashed to powder in the dust!

On the Lingxiao Terrace, Kaihuang's sword tip slanted toward the ground. He smiled. "Muqing, I have waited for you a long time. Please—"

Shen Mu's pupils contracted sharply. "Please."