Chapter 1022 — The Illusory Dream of Dutian

The Old Demon of Dutian claimed he was going to Taixu to earn merit, but in truth he was only seeking death. He would entrust the demon race of the Dutian World to Shen Mu and die himself in Taixu, and Shen Mu would then have no choice but to take up the burden of caring for his people in his stead; to his mind, that would count as the settling of a long-cherished wish. In his heart he was certain that the lofty Venerable Mu must have means to settle his people.

Once he was dead, Shen Mu, remembering their old friendship, might not tend his clansmen down to the smallest detail, but at least he would give them a place to rest, so that they need no longer drift through the cosmos with their lives uncertain from dawn to dusk.

These rootless years were more than the heavenly demon host could bear any longer. After the Dutian World was destroyed, he had led his people in their wandering; not one of the many heavens had welcomed them, and from time to time some powerful heaven would plunder these demons, hunt them down, seize them and make slaves of them. If things went on so, the demon race of the Dutian World was bound to be extinguished.

The Old Demon of Dutian had truly come to the end of his road.

He was a clever man: when he invaded Jingping in those years, he had supposed it a small heaven, but the moment he saw the stone statue in the Desolate Ruins he knew he had kicked against a hard stone, and he gave up all thought of invading Jingping. Shen Mu had achieved much in the demon tongue and in the divination arts, and the Old Demon of Dutian deserved no small share of the credit—above all in the divination arts, wherein the Old Demon of Dutian's attainments were exceedingly high.

He knew that to go to Taixu was to walk a road of certain death, yet he had no choice but to do it.

Shen Mu understood perfectly well, of course, and knew what he intended; he raised his head and looked upon the Old Demon of Dutian's face—wind and frost had cut it like a knife, and hardship is the weapon that hastens a man's aging. For gods and demons the years could not make them old, yet the Old Demon of Dutian seemed aged, and his ambition was not what it had once been. His great resolve had been ground away along the road of exile and the struggle to survive.

"How many of the demon race remain in the Dutian World? " Shen Mu asked.

Joy came into the Old Demon of Dutian's face, though he dared not show too much of it.

"Only a million heavenly demons remain," he said hurriedly. "Truly, not many. If only they can have some place to rest, with rich waters and grass, no matter how small, they will be able to live on.

.

.

" "A million heavenly demons is indeed not many. Only, though I bear the title of Venerable, I hold no faction at all in the Heavenly Court; it will not be easy to settle them. " Shen Mu said, "Where are they now?

" "Just outside the Heavenly Court, on the Heavenly River; they have no right to enter the Heavenly Court. " The Old Demon of Dutian put on a fawning smile.

"I keep them outside, standing along the bank, lest passing boats run them down.

Venerable.

. .

" Shen Mu cut him off.

"Very well. Sister Yan'er, Fatty Long, come here. " Yan'er was standing on the Dragon Qilin's head, and the Dragon Qilin came trotting over at speed.

Shen Mu took out a tiny bottle and said, "Take this treasure, you two, and go with the Old Demon of Dutian beyond the Heavenly Court; gather the million demons under his command into the bottle. " The bottle was called the Gourd-Heaven Bottle, a treasure of the Cangshan Clan among the Creators. When Shen Mu and Luo Wushuang encountered the heroic spirit of the Cangshan Clan's patriarch in Taixu, they promised to establish Youdu for Taixu, and the Cangshan Clan gave him this treasure.

Within the Gourd-Heaven Bottle the space was vast, holding an entire great heaven, immeasurably wide.

Shen Mu kept his Hongmeng essence fluid in this bottle, reserving it for his own cultivation; to draw out a single world from the bottle and lend it to the demon race for a time was nothing at all. The Old Demon of Dutian wept with gratitude.

The Dragon Qilin shot him a glance and said in astonishment, "Brother Dutian? When did you grow so old?

" The Old Demon of Dutian gave a bitter smile again and again.

"Brother Long, do not jest. " He led the way ahead, bringing the Dragon Qilin and Yan'er outside the Heavenly Court, where they saw a great many demons in ragged, tattered clothes standing upon a battered black ship—not many in number; these must be the demon race's gifted ones, and there was one demon god besides. On that broken ship there were several damaged divine treasuries, and when the Dragon Qilin poked his head in for a look, he saw it was a demon god's Six-Harmonies Continent, wherein dwelt tens of thousands of demons; no doubt a dead demon god had given up his Six-Directions Divine Treasury so that his people would have somewhere to set foot for a time.

Yan'er moved these demons into one of the worlds within the Gourd-Heaven Bottle, a place of green hills and clear waters, most fertile, where they could settle and rest without fear for their livelihood. The Old Demon of Dutian let out a long breath, and followed the two back to the residence of Venerable Mu; Yan'er and the Dragon Qilin went in to announce him, telling him to wait outside. The Old Demon of Dutian waited a while, and then Yan'er returned and said, "The young master says he will not see you.

He also says that his own days are not easy, and bids you take care of yourself. " The Old Demon of Dutian bowed down toward the residence of Venerable Mu and knocked his head on the ground, saying, "The Venerable's grace I shall repay in my next life!

" That said, he rose and went his way. He came to the West Heavenly Gate, where the Heavenly Court was recruiting soldiers and buying horses; countless gods and demons from the great heavens were signing up there to join the army, making ready to march against Taixu.

The Old Demon of Dutian signed up as well. The divine officer in charge saw that he was a man capable of war and battle, and that his cultivation was high—at the peak of the Yaochi realm—and so made him a commandant, with a hundred or so gods and demons under him.

The Heavenly Court conscripted gods and demons from all the great heavens, and two months later several million gods and demons had gathered; with tower ships and mighty vessels, sails unfurled, they set forth, a magnificent sight.

On board the ships, the generals of each army passed down the Neither-Perception-Nor-Non-Perception, to counter the uncanny strangeness of Taixu. The voyage lasted several months, and at last they came to Taixu.

In Taixu every kind of uncanny thing came sweeping at them, and of the army of several million gods and demons, countless fell dead or wounded. The Old Demon of Dutian led the troop under his command in fierce slaughter, and by good fortune they encountered the corpse walkers of Taixu, and so came alive to the land of Taixu.

In the land of Taixu there were strange happenings of every kind, and of the several million gods and demons fewer than five hundred thousand remained; the Old Demon of Dutian survived by luck, and his rank had already been raised to Guerrilla General, for many of the commanders had died in the assaults of the uncanny. The Old Demon of Dutian led his men in desperate battle, holding off one strange event after another, until at last they established a foothold in the land of Taixu.

As time passed, the officers and men around him grew fewer and fewer, and when troops and provisions were exhausted, their reinforcements arrived at last.

The great army of the Heavenly Court came marching; this time the one who led it was Mingya, Crown Prince of the Heavenly Emperor's house, with the Three Dukes to assist him, bringing the great host of the Heavenly River Navy.