Chapter 1061 — Proving the Dao Through Law

After Heavenly Venerable Moon and the others had sent the Xiaohan Heavenly Court into the sky, they made a brief stir and then did not linger in the Heavenly Court; carrying their packs, they went together to the tribes of the human race to preach the Dao. Shen Mu hesitated a moment, then had Yan'er carry the lantern, and only then went with them to preach. "Yun, there is something odd about you.

" Heavenly Venerable Moon looked him up and down and shook his head.

"Carrying a lantern in broad daylight.

" Heavenly Venerable Ling had no interest in common mortals and hid himself away in the Xiaohan Heavenly Court, absorbed in his own research; their party consisted only of Heavenly Venerable Moon, the Dao Ancestor, and a few other divine men of the human race.

The place they had built for preaching was crude in the extreme, set in the middle of the tribe, and when Shen Mu and Heavenly Venerable Moon arrived, the Dao Ancestor was just then preaching there. "We cannot even keep body and soul together, and you would have us learn your damned arts of calculation! " A grown man dragged his child around and stalked off, cursing under his breath.

"It will not fill a belly either! " The people of this tribe were in rags, their faces sallow with hunger; the place where the Dao Ancestor preached was a ruined thatched hut, and inside a dozen or so boys and girls sat listening with rapt attention as he taught them the arts of calculation.

Shen Mu looked around.

The tribe was not small, a thousand souls or more, living by hunting and farming, poor wretches with their faces to the yellow earth and their backs to the sky; in the village an idol was enshrined, though he could not tell which demigod it was. This place was not far from the Xiaohan Heavenly Court; if one raised one's head, one could see it hanging in the sky.

Yet the idol they worshipped was a demigod, proof that in those days the divine men of the human race still counted for very little. The Dao Ancestor spoke for a while, telling of how to use the arts of calculation to reckon the stars of the whole heaven, to fix the five luminaries within the body, and thereby open the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury. But just then several parents came and hauled away the few children left in the thatched hut to do farm work, until only a handful remained.

When he had finished, the Dao Ancestor sighed, rose in silence, and packed his bundle. Shen Mu and Heavenly Venerable Moon waited outside. The Dao Ancestor came out and bowed.

"To dispel benightedness and open the spiritual intelligence is the hardest of all things. For now this is as far as I can go: first I spread the methods for opening the Primordial Embryo Divine Treasury and the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury, hoping that one among them may become a divine ability user. If even one child can master a divine ability, the villagers will see that the human race too can wield great power, and from then on they will no longer fear the gods.

" "This is precisely shattering the god in the heart," said Shen Mu, who felt the same. This step was the hardest of all. A million years ago, the noble and resolute of the human race had already sought to shatter the god in the heart; yet a million years had passed, and even now the people of Jingping were sometimes still troubled by the god within. Heavenly Venerable Moon consoled him: "There is no need to lose heart, old Daoist.

Sooner or later there will come a day when people no longer fear the gods, no longer hold them in awe.

" The Dao Ancestor hesitated, then said what was in his heart. "Heavenly Venerable Moon, I think there should be no such realm as the Divine Realm. We are the ones who set the realms. Why must the Heavenly Palace realm be called the Divine Realm? Calling it so will only give later generations the illusion that once the primordial spirit reaches the Southern Heavenly Gate, one has become a god. " "That. .

.

" Heavenly Venerable Moon had never considered the question either, and turned to look at Shen Mu. Shen Mu said, "There is something you do not know, old Daoist. The reason it is called the Divine Realm is to shatter the god in the heart.

God is the name for the ancient gods. The ancient gods were born bearing the great Dao of heaven and earth; they commanded powers inconceivable in mortal eyes, they were deathless, coeval with heaven and earth.

Through cultivation and training, mortals too command powers inconceivable, are deathless, and are coeval with heaven and earth. In this way the fear of the ancient gods in people's hearts can be broken. " "So that is it. " The Dao Ancestor was suddenly enlightened. Shen Mu went on: "In those years Heavenly Venerable Yu was in fact unwilling to call it the Divine Realm.

The seven realms of the Heavenly Palace are merely realms, no different from the seven realms of the divine treasury.

In his eyes and mine, the Heavenly Palace is in truth a great divine treasury, and ought to belong to the eighth realm of the divine treasury; those who cultivate to godhood are in truth nothing more than divine ability users. But for the sake of people's confidence in shattering the god in the heart, the name Divine Realm was kept. " Heavenly Venerable Moon was astonished. "Daoist Yun, you have never spoken of this before! " Shen Mu hesitated. "But I have a worry.

I fear that in the future, divine ability users who complete the Heavenly Palace will become beings like the ancient gods.

That is why I have always hesitated to call the Heavenly Palace realm the Divine Realm. " Heavenly Venerable Moon fell into thought. The Dao Ancestor said sullenly, "This sort of scheming business is for you to think over. I am going to the next tribe to preach. " With that he walked off. Shen Mu too stood staring blankly, lost in thought. The establishment of the realm of godhood had in fact been decided by Heavenly Venerable Yu, Heavenly Venerable Hao, and himself together.

Yet the essence of the seven realms of the Heavenly Palace was a vast Heavenly Palace divine treasury.

So-called deities were merely deathless divine ability users, not ancient gods in the traditional sense. The reason they had all, without prior agreement, called it divine was precisely to break the worship of the ancient gods. Yet as Shen Mu looked at the demigod idol in this tribe, he could not help but feel dazed.

The people of the Longhan Era had never shaken off their worship of the ancient gods; and now they had instead come to worship demigod deities who wielded power greater than that of the human race.

Heavenly Venerable Moon entered the thatched hut to teach. Just then the people of the tribe fled in all directions, wailing, "The Great King of Lingshan is coming!

" "Quick, bring out the offerings!

" The people of the tribe drove cattle, sheep, pigs, and dogs to a wooden altar in the middle of the village; the beasts stood on the altar trembling. Men and women, old and young, knelt beneath the demigod idol, knocking their heads without cease, murmuring words under their breath. Suddenly the sky darkened. A demigod descended from the heavens riding wind and thunder, two thick bird claws landing before the altar, wings folding.

Behind him a Heavenly Palace swayed, blotting out half the tribe.

The Great King of Lingshan glanced at the altar and was much displeased with the cattle and sheep upon it. His voice was shrill and grating: "Today your king will not eat livestock. I fancy a change of flavor.

Bring up some young boys and girls for me to enjoy! " The tribe's old chief quavered, "Great King, these beasts are offered to you.

If they are not enough, we can scrape together a little more.

. . " Boom!

Lightning flashed and thunder rolled around the Great King of Lingshan, the ground shaking. "Silence!

Cattle and sheep are livestock. Are you not livestock too? You are merely the clever livestock I keep.