Chapter 1703 — A Sword in Hand, Alone Across Ten Thousand Miles

With the armed might of the Heavenly Court at its disposal, preparing the Grand Cosmic Rite was a simple matter. The armies of every quarter sent in the slaves the Heavenly Court had taken captive, and in little more than a month the number of slaves reached what the Palace Master Lingguan required.

On the day of the Grand Cosmic Rite, Palace Master Lingguan paved an altar with the bones of countless slaves; ascending that altar, he took the flesh and blood of slaves as his offerings, sacrificing to the holy ones who had attained the Dao in the countless Great Luotian Heavens of the Ancestral Jade Capital City of the past age, twelve hundred Dao Lords in all, and with the blood of living beings he beseeched these Dao Lords to lend him their strength and take him under their protection. When the Rite reached its crucial hour, above the altar the phantom of the Ancestral Jade Capital City rose into being, pressing down upon heaven and earth and all that lies between. Vast, towering, magnificent, the divine city held sixteen rivers of primal chaos wound into ring upon winding ring, and between river and river stood ruin after ruin of the Jade Capital City.

Palace Master Lingguan worked his rites upon the altar, sacrificing living beings; among the countless bones the souls howled, piercing and desolate beyond words, and turned into stream after stream of black smoke rushing toward the Jade Capital City.

Wisp by wisp the black smoke poured into the city and gathered in those crisscrossing rivers of chaos, and the figures of Dao-attainers gradually took shape. Twelve hundred such figures, hazy and indistinct, as though wrought of black and white, and yet these figures stood firm within the rivers of chaos, having passed through the great calamity of destruction, undying through all ages.

These were the beings who had attained the Dao in the history of the Jade Capital City; mysterious as the Grand Cosmic Rite sounded, in truth it worked by the exchange of matter and energy, sacrificing living beings to borrow from these Dao-attainers their power.

Emperor Haotian and Taichu the Retired Emperor, leading the civil and military grandees of the Heavenly Court, watched the ceremony, and at this sight their hearts were both astonished and shaken.

"Your Majesty, the power of the Ancestral Jade Capital City is truly too great; it must be guarded against," the Retired Emperor Taichu advised.

"If every Dao-attainer of the Ancestral Jade Capital City were to descend, I fear this universe would not long survive. " Emperor Haotian nodded lightly.

"The Retired Emperor speaks the exact truth.

And yet the Dao arts and divine powers of the Ancestral Jade Capital City do make Us envious; this Grand Cosmic Rite, borrowing through sacrifice the strength of Dao-attainers of a past age, is extraordinary beyond measure!

As master of one of the Seventy-Two Halls, Lingguan's powers are vast indeed.

" Taichu said no more. Palace Master Lingguan was indeed mighty in the divine powers, versed in every kind of divine art and Dao technique, and this Grand Cosmic Rite opened all eyes. By comparison, even the achievements of today's Jingping Reforms could not match the accumulated legacy of the Ancestral Jade Capital City of the former universe.

Upon the altar, wave after wave of dreadful power surged in and came to rest upon Palace Master Lingguan; that power shook the void, and even Taichu and Emperor Haotian, both Dao-attainers, felt their hearts quail.

As for the other civil and military grandees, their Dao hearts had long since been shaken by that fearsome power, and they knelt prostrate on the ground, not daring to raise their heads. Headless, Palace Master Lingguan finished his rites upon the altar and stirred the Dao Fruit that was his own, joining his own Great Dao to that Dao Fruit.

This Dao Fruit was bound up with his head: if he could erase the sword-dao power that Shen Mu had hidden within the Dao Fruit, he could draw on its strength to grow himself a new head. If he could not erase Shen Mu's sword-dao power, it might even invade his body and taint his other Dao Fruits and Dao Flowers. At this moment, full of confidence, he joined his Great Dao to the Dao Fruit and drew forth the sword-dao power that Shen Mu had hidden inside it.

Suddenly, upon the altar, sword light flashed in every direction, swift as light, quick as lightning; in an instant the heavens were filled with sword radiance, and heaven after heaven unfolded!

Palace Master Lingguan had ox horns sprouting from his shoulders, his guts coiled like a dragon, his spine like a serpent; within his body dwelt twelve hundred gods great and small, linked in breath to the twelve hundred Dao Lords of the Ancestral Jade Capital City, and his mighty power was boundless. His momentum was unmatched in that hour; carrying the force of the Grand Cosmic Rite, he met Shen Mu's sword-dao power head-on, straining every sinew to refine it away.

Clang, clang, clang.

Thirteen sword-notes rang out in succession from the altar; after a moment, the sword-filled heavens vanished, the sword light dimmed, and Palace Master Lingguan stood there, three Dao Fruits and one Dao Flower floating before and behind him.

The flesh at his shoulders writhed, and swiftly a new head grew forth.

"Many thanks, fellow Daoists, for your aid! " Palace Master Lingguan bowed, saluting the twelve hundred Dao Lords within the phantom of the Jade Capital City in midair; in that phantom the twelve hundred Dao Lords bowed in return, and their forms slowly dissolved.

The phantom of the Ancestral Jade Capital City vanished soon after, and the Grand Cosmic Rite was over.

Light of body, Palace Master Lingguan leapt down from the altar, and the vast altar of white bone collapsed at once into powder.

The spiritual power and spiritual energy of countless bones had been exhausted; a moment before, it had been sustained by Palace Master Lingguan's strength, and now that he had stepped down, it was bound to crumble away. "Heavenly Emperor, I had no intention of making an enemy of the Seventh Young Master, but who would have thought he would provoke me of his own accord and take a villain like Lord Shang under his banner.

" Palace Master Lingguan strode over and came before Emperor Haotian, his face dark with anger, his voice rolling like thunder: "The Seventh Young Master has no regard for feeling; he has damaged my cultivation, destroyed my Dao Tree, and made an enemy of me.

Since that is so, I need not keep up any pretense with him!

You wish to flatten Jingping, then I will lend you a hand: flatten Jingping, and blood-sacrifice the Yuan Realm! " Emperor Haotian laughed heartily, rose from his throne, and declared in ringing tones: "With the Palace Master's aid, what have We to fear?

Attendants, set the banquet!

Today We and Our beloved ministers and Palace Master Lingguan shall not go home until we are drunk! " And so a great feast was spread in the detached palace; the gods of the Heavenly Court passed cups and toasts back and forth, laughter and talk unceasing, and many holy ones came forward to drink to Palace Master Lingguan.

Palace Master Lingguan refused no one and drank deep with them all; and when holy ones, warmed by wine, stepped up and bowed to ask about Dao arts and divine powers, he was most forthcoming and answered every question.

For a time host and guests alike were merry, their laughter like thunder. When the wine was mellow and the ears were warm, Emperor Haotian turned and asked with a smile: "Palace Master, you are the elder; let me address you as Daoist Brother. May I ask, Daoist Brother, how many ways are there in this world to attain the Dao?

" Palace Master Lingguan, the wine gone to his head, said: "Young brother, there are four ways of attaining the Dao in all. The first is the most orthodox, the way of attaining the Dao through the Dao Realm; it was created by our teacher.