Chapter 1411 — The Heavenly Dao Is Unfathomable

"A punitive expedition against Lord Heaven?

" Shen Mu's heart lurched.

Was Lord Heaven going to die? By Lord Heaven's own reckoning, to fully unravel his Heavenly Dao would take a hundred years at the very least, and barely more than twenty had passed!

Why were the Ten Heavenly Venerables so eager to be rid of him?

"Lord Heaven himself must be fanning these flames!

" Shen Mu's eyes flickered. Not long ago, Lord Heaven and Tu Bo had journeyed to the Hundred Thousand Black Mountains to call upon Tai Yi, and now the Ten Heavenly Venerables had hauled the matter of condemning Lord Heaven before the Alliance Council. Venerable Hong was surely pushing it forward in silence.

For Venerable Hong was Lord Heaven. Lord Heaven had asked Tai Yi whether he might break free of the Heavenly Dao's shackles, and Tai Yi had told him: You will succeed.

Doubtless it was those words that gave Lord Heaven his confidence, and so he had moved his own death forward of his own accord!

As for the other Heavenly Venerables, because they had driven the forces of Carefree Land and the Creator into the Far Shore Void, the two sides now faced one another across the Void Bridge. The Void Bridge was a death-ground, easy to hold and hard to storm; the Heavenly Court could not force its way into the Far Shore Void in a moment, but by the same token the Far Shore Void could not retake the Void Bridge. The two sides were locked in stalemate. Since the forces of Carefree Land and the Creator could no longer threaten the Heavenly Court, the Ten Heavenly Venerables had their hands free to deal with Lord Heaven with all their strength!

"And as for making me carry the blame, that is a chance to drag me aboard the Ten Heavenly Venerables' pirate ship. " A smile hung on Shen Mu's face, but in his heart he thought: "To eliminate Lord Heaven, to eliminate Tu Bo, to eliminate the three emperors of the ancient gods, to uproot every ancient god—even to do away with the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor in name—the Ten Heavenly Venerables need a man to carry the blame.

That scapegoat must be weighty enough; they will not shoulder it themselves, and I, founder of the Heavenly Alliance, of no great strength and no great following, am precisely suited to the part.

" Only by declaring the condemnation of Lord Heaven at this Alliance Council could Shen Mu board their pirate ship and become one who shared in the spoils of the Ancestral Court and of what lay behind it. And moreover, those orders would be issued by Shen Mu himself, and so a handle would fall into the hands of the Ten Heavenly Venerables. If in days to come Shen Mu proved disobedient, the mere title of slayer of Lord Heaven and Tu Bo would suffice to doom Shen Mu and all his forces to death with no ground left to bury their bones. In this way Shen Mu would be reckoned to have joined the Ten Heavenly Venerables' camp, becoming one of them. The Ten Heavenly Venerables had failed to bend Venerable Shen Kaihuang and force him to their side, but by threat and by lure they could force Venerable Mu to join them.

To share in the spoils—very well, but the precondition was that he must become a man like them! "So then.

.

. " Shen Mu smiled.

"Divine Emperor, what other great matters are there at this Alliance Council?

" Seeing him still so calm and composed, the Divine Emperor Langxuan could not help but admire the depths of his mind. "The third matter is this: Crown Prince Mingya has betrayed the Heavenly Court and gone over to Xie Wuqi, wreaking havoc in Youdu.

Therefore the Crown Prince is to be deposed and a new Crown Prince installed.

" Shen Mu's brows lifted.

"A new Crown Prince?

Then this new Crown Prince is Venerable Hao? " The Divine Emperor Langxuan said with feeling, "Though Venerable Hao has never been granted any official standing, these years he has labored tirelessly for the Heavenly Court, and he is a son of His Majesty the Heavenly Emperor. That he should be raised to Crown Prince is only natural.

" Shen Mu smiled.

"And yet, being bastards both, I count it an injustice to you, Divine Emperor. " The Divine Emperor Langxuan laughed. "Venerable Mu, you know a great many secrets—but you also know that through the ages many men have died inexplicably for knowing secrets they ought never to have known.

" Shen Mu laughed heartily, then said gravely, "Rest easy, Divine Emperor.

Venerable Hao and I are mortal enemies. Perhaps you and I might join hands and do a little something together. " The Divine Emperor Langxuan smiled faintly and rose.

"I shall not disturb the Alliance Lord's rest. I take my leave.

With your leg ailment, Alliance Lord, there is no need to see me out. " With that, he turned and walked toward the door.

Shen Mu mused for a moment, then stood, his expression somewhat grave.

"Though Tai Yi said he would succeed, Lord Heaven is being far too hasty. I hoped he would drag it out a hundred years more, giving Jingping time enough to grow. Yet he means to leap free of the Heavenly Dao's bonds and cast off his ancient-god body now.

" He could not help frowning.

Lord Heaven was being rather unreasonable—to not even consult him on a matter so weighty! As an ally, he had not taken the initiative to exchange word with Shen Mu; in the end it was the Divine Emperor Langxuan who told him of the affair.

"Lord Heaven is too impatient, too eager. He gave no thought to me, nor to Jingping. Earlier the Divine Emperor Langxuan teased me, saying I had come to my old age and had but thirty years of life left.

Heh heh—it seems that was no idle shaft. " If the Ten Heavenly Venerables removed Lord Heaven, removed Tu Bo, executed the ancient gods, deposed the Heavenly Emperor, and trampled Carefree Land flat, then Shen Mu would be next.

And to accomplish all of it would take thirty years at the most generous reckoning.

When the Divine Emperor Langxuan said he had but thirty years left, he had indeed meant something by it.

"Lord Heaven cannot be relied on! No—Venerable Hong cannot be relied on! All these years Lord Heaven has walked the world in Venerable Hong's guise; he has been assimilated by the Ten Heavenly Venerables, become a holder of power just like them! Even if he breaks free of the ancient gods' shackles, he will only become one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables, greedy for authority!

" A sudden chill ran through him. Lord Heaven's aim was to break free of the ancient gods' shackles, yet at the same time to grip power fast, to make himself a ruler like the other Heavenly Venerables—a ruler who would never be supplanted, though dynasties rise and fall! "As yet, because his true body still exists, Lord Heaven has not wholly sunk into such a being.

He is still a Dao-born Ancient God, gazing down upon the quarrels of the mortal world from the height of the Heavenly Dao. But his avatar entered the world, and so entered the quarrels of the world; after so long, Venerable Hong has been troubled and sullied by the red dust. Venerable Hong can no longer look upon the quarrels of the world from Lord Heaven's vantage. " A fierce alarm rose in his heart. If Lord Heaven's true body died, if he broke free of the Heavenly Dao's bonds and became wholly Venerable Hong, then Venerable Hong would become wholly one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables—a power-holder throned on high—and would not be his ally!

The Lord Heaven of that day, wholly entered into the world and steeped in power, would not necessarily be Shen Mu's friend; far more likely he would be an enemy beyond all terror! "No. I must go to Lord Heaven and lay out where the profit and the harm lie! The Lord Heaven of now still has the heart of the Heavenly Dao; he should be swayed by my words and come to see the peril in it!