Chapter 1493 — Sins Committed in Life, Debts Collected After Death

The reborn Heavenly Duke flexed his limbs. The surging, boundless power that had once filled his body was gone; in its place was mortal flesh, and for a while he still found it somewhat unfamiliar. What is more, while Shen Mu and Lady Tianyin had been molding a soul for him, they had also, along the way, furnished him with a divine soul and added the seven po souls besides.

That divine soul was not Celestial Venerable Hong; it was a soul forged from the Dao of Tianyin, still a blank sheet of paper, without any consciousness at all. He had once been an ancient god, with only three hun souls and no po souls; now that seven po had been added, he was curious about them, not yet used to having them.

Once he had been an innate sacred one, the mightiest of all the ancient gods, dwelling high above all; even the avatars he split off drifted in the heavens and seldom touched the ground. Now his two feet rested upon the earth, treading the soil, and the feel of it rising from his soles and toes made him curious; he bent down, reached out a hand, picked at the dirt between his toes, and lifted it beneath his nose for a sniff.

Lady Tianyin's face showed disgust, and she did not bother to hide it. Not far away, Luo Wushuang kept his eyes on his nose and his mind on his heart, pretending to see nothing; Zhe Huali's eyeballs nearly bulged out of his head; Zaifu and Heavenly King Tianshu exchanged a glance and each allowed himself a smile.

The Heavenly Duke chuckled, raised a hand, and studied his five fingers closely, then examined the lines of his palm just as closely. "Fellow Daoist, Tu Bo is still waiting for you," Shen Mu urged.

Only then did the Heavenly Duke come back to himself. He bowed to the two of them in thanks, then bowed again to Zaifu and the others. "Heavenly Duke, you have passed from divinity into mortality—how does it feel? " Zaifu asked.

"Do you feel any sense of loss?

" "I do. " The Heavenly Duke made no attempt to hide it. "My power once was vast beyond measure; now only the strength of my heaven soul and earth soul remains, and this mortal body is no different from any ordinary man's, so naturally there is some sense of loss.

Tai Yi told me I would cast off the shackles of the Dao of Heaven. I thought I would transcend, attain the Dao as he did.

I never imagined that this, in the end, would be my transcendence.

" "You were lofty before, but never lofty enough to rise above the Dao of Heaven," said Zaifu. "Only now, having become mortal, do you stand a chance of transcending it.

" "Perhaps," the Heavenly Duke said with a smile.

Heavenly King Tianshu rose to his feet.

"Heavenly Duke, I will escort you to You Du to see Tu Bo. " The Heavenly Duke followed him, and the two walked out of the Tianyin Realm. Tianshu was about to open the Heaven-Bearing Gate when Shen Mu caught up. "Heavenly King, You Du wants me dead—I cannot set foot there. Please examine Celestial Venerable You's wounds for me.

I am going to the Ancestral Court to ask my lord to come to You Du and treat him, and I beg you to receive my lord when he arrives. " Tianshu assented, then said, "The Heavenly Duke is dead, and the Dao of Heaven now belongs to the Ten Celestial Venerables.

Their cultivation has advanced by leaps, and they are bound to bring tremendous pressure to bear upon the Land of No Worries.

I fear I cannot stay in You Du long; once I have fetched Pill Master Jingping, I must return to the Land of No Worries.

" Shen Mu hesitated a moment. "Dwelling in the Land of No Worries forever is no sound plan. That the Ten Celestial Venerables cannot breach it for now does not mean they never will. Breaking the Void Bridge is no hard task for the Ten Celestial Venerables as they are today. " "That is why Celestial Venerable Yue has gone to the Land of No Worries with Emperor Kaihuang, to hold the fort there.

" Tianshu sighed with feeling. "They have mended the roof before the rain and made their preparations. The Void Bridge is easy to hold and hard to storm; for the Ten Celestial Venerables to take it would be no easier than assaulting Xuan Du. " He led the reborn Heavenly Duke into the Heaven-Bearing Gate, and they vanished from sight.

Shen Mu watched them go, then turned to Zaifu, Zhe Huali, and Luo Wushuang as they came near, and bowed to the three of them. "I have troubled you all to risk your lives and share in this battle at my side. I, Mu, am grateful beyond all words! " Zhe Huali and Luo Wushuang hurriedly returned the courtesy.

Luo Wushuang said solemnly, "Where the Dao and righteousness are at stake, there is no such thing as being troubled.

If a Celestial Venerable throws himself into the fray without care for his own skin, how could we do less? " Zhe Huali stroked his demon blade and snickered. "Dragon Fang and I have had our fill of glory—we have even hacked at a Celestial Venerable!

At last I hold something to brag of to my descendants for the rest of my days!

" The demon blade Dragon Fang felt most content; having drunk the blood of a Celestial Venerable, it too was growing. Zaifu stepped forward. "Take good care of yourself. And if ever you go chopping at people again, call us along.

" Shen Mu nodded hard. The three strode away, and Zhe Huali looked back to wave. "Remember to call us!

" Shen Mu laughed heartily and watched them until their figures disappeared. Only then did he say, "Let us go. " "Very well.

" The voice, cold and clear, came from beside him, yet its owner was nowhere to be seen; all that could be seen was that at Shen Mu's feet, besides his own shadow, there lay another shadow.

You Du. Tianshu delivered the Heavenly Duke to the space between Tu Bo's brows, then went at once to the mansion of Prince Tianqi Rensheng to request an audience with Celestial Venerable You and inquire after his wounds.

In the great hall upon the platform between Tu Bo's brows, the Heavenly Duke's figure looked far too small beside Tu Bo's primordial spirit, and he had to tilt his head back to look up at this fellow Daoist of his.

"You have transcended.

You are free. I envy you.

" Tu Bo's face was calm, though flames flickered in his eyes.

"You are a living being now, with three hun souls and seven po, with a mind of your own and a road of your own; your joys and angers, sorrows and delights, your every word and deed need no longer be pulled about by the Great Dao. I do not know when I shall win the release that you have won, fellow Daoist. " "Now I can taste the hundred flavors of the mortal world," the Heavenly Duke said, "and without my noticing, my grasp of the Dao of Heaven has risen another layer.

Before, I was born of the Dao of Heaven and held it in my grasp, yet I knew that it was so without knowing why it was so.

It is not so now; instead my understanding runs deeper. What is lost and what is gained—it all has a strangely kaleidoscopic feel.

" Tu Bo was delighted. "You are another step closer to attaining the Dao. Since that is so, then surely you can guess why I asked you here, fellow Daoist?

" The Heavenly Duke smiled.

"Sow sins in life, settle accounts after death—that is the rule of You Du. The Heavenly Duke is dead, so the sins the Heavenly Duke sowed in life must now be reckoned after his death. You are just and impartial, Tu Bo; that must be why you summoned me. " Tu Bo's tone grew grave. "In the battle at Xuan Du, Celestial Venerable Hong took life beyond counting; those who died at his hand are past all numbering, and the resentment of Xuan Du's dead surges to the heavens.

By the laws of You Du, he ought to be seized and made to suffer punishment, to purge the sins that stain him. Celestial Venerable Hong is dead, and though he and you, fellow Daoist, were one body, you are different souls. That is why I asked you here—to inquire into the case of Celestial Venerable Hong. . .

" The Heavenly Duke shook his head, calm and unflinching. "Fellow Daoist, there is no need to show me favor.