Chapter 744 — The Seven Sage Venerables of the Immortal Pool
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
These two faces were immeasurably vast, while he stood between them, infinitesimally small, plunging into the endless dark. Just then Shen Mu's voice came to him: "Brother Yin, Brother Yin!
" The vision before Yin Tianzi's eyes vanished, and Shen Mu's kindly face gradually emerged. Shen Mu was holding his left arm, while Kaihuang held his right, lest he fall. Yin Tianzi was drenched in sweat, as though he had just been fished out of water.
"Is Brother Yin unwell? " Shen Mu said with concern.
"I know a fair bit of medicine; I could examine Brother Yin.
As they say, a physician's heart is a parent's heart. .
.
" Kaihuang smiled.
"Brother Yin was caught between us and took a fright; it is no illness.
Every medicine is three parts poison—if he takes your medicine, he'll fall ill though he isn't sick. Brother Mu.
.
.
" "Don't call me Brother Mu! " Veins bulged on Shen Mu's forehead as he forcibly restrained the impulse in his heart.
Kaihuang was his own ancestor—how could he address him as brother? Kaihuang mistook his meaning and said coldly, "I meant to turn our swords into plowshares, yet you show such ingratitude.
Do you truly think I fear you? Your abilities are indeed high, but not necessarily higher than mine!
" Shen Mu sneered. "My abilities may not surpass yours, but my Dao heart is higher than yours. I will not be as contemptible as you.
" Yin Tianzi's head ached greatly, and he said hurriedly, "Tianyin Niangniang's carriage has arrived—stop quarreling, can't you speak civilly? " Dragon after dragon roared, and a train of colossal dragons came driving toward them, drawing a magnificent carriage of sky-blue. Each of those dragons was vaster even than the great Kun beneath their feet; riding the clouds and driving the mist, they passed overhead. The dragons were clad in azure armor, treasures forged from Tianyin metal as well, their whole bodies radiating treasure light that shot straight to the heavens.
The carriage too had a body forged of Tianyin metal, adorned with cloud qi; beneath its canopy hung strings of beads, each bead brilliant, each refined from a star, smelted down to a size of only some ten zhang across. The cloud qi drifted among the hanging beads, and cloud and beads together blocked the crowd's view, so that only the faint outline of a goddess seated beneath the canopy could be seen.
Yin Tianzi stared wide-eyed, entranced, until the dragons drew the carriage on toward the heart of the Heavenly Court; only then did he reluctantly withdraw his gaze, murmuring, "When will I ever have such grandeur? " Everyone around burst out laughing.
Even the great Kun beneath their feet could not help laughing, a deep, resonant sound.
Yin Tianzi's face flushed red, and he stammered, "Don't laugh at me—one day I too will be this grand, this imposing!
When that day comes, heh heh, you'll all bow down at my feet. .
.
" The crowd's laughter grew louder. Yin Tianzi's face reddened further, and he was about to argue, when Kaihuang said, "Brother Yin, the countless multitudes under heaven are beyond number, yet those who can accomplish great deeds and leave their names in the annals are but three or five. They lack such ambition, and so they only mock those who have it.
Pay them no mind.
" Yin Tianzi was deeply grateful and said, "The sparrow knows not the ambition of the swan. I will not lower myself to their level. " Shen Mu shot Kaihuang a glance, thinking, "Is he declaring his own ambition, or is he looking out for these people, lest Yin Tianzi take revenge on them in the future?
Perhaps both.
After I return to the past, will I truly be able to kill Yin Tianzi and change the future? " He felt some hesitation in his heart.
The great Kun bore them onward, leaping over palace after palace, and they encountered several more carriages of ancient gods passing by in magnificent state, stirring wave after wave of envy.
At last they came to the Yaochi of the Heavenly Court.