Chapter 746 — Rivaling the Gods
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
And yet no one possessed such a fearsome dharma power. "Sister Ling, you ought to keep walking along your own road. Perhaps in the not too distant future you will meet someone who has come back from the past through your divine art, and that will prove the world's judgment of you was wrong. " Shen Mu smiled and encouraged her: "Walk on, keep walking on, prove that you are right! " Ling Tianzun was greatly heartened.
Then she shook her head and said bleakly: "I myself do not know whether I can prove it.
I am too lonely.
Almost everyone says that the Ling Tianzun of those years no longer exists, that only a madwoman is left.
. . You two are among the very few people I have met who can understand me.
Let us study it together!
" Her eyes lit up again; her expectant gaze fell upon them, and she said eagerly: "I have toiled away at this alone, with no fellow Daoist to walk beside me or talk with me, and I truly fear that one day I shall give up. I do not want to become a madwoman in others' eyes! " Shen Mu hesitated, then shook his head: "The time I can remain here is not long. Sister Ling, why not do this: in these days, stay with us, and we will discuss and study together. My companion and I may not be as gifted as you, but we can help you solve a few difficulties.
When the day comes, some months from now, that we must leave, then you may decide whether you wish to be a madwoman. What say you? " Kaihuang's heart stirred slightly, and he looked toward Shen Mu.
"He knows we will leave some months from now? Just how much else does he know? This fellow seems to know me very well. And there is a certain hostility in him toward me — could he be an enemy of my future? None know me better than my rivals.
" Ling Tianzun's eyes brightened. She laughed: "So long as you do not mind that I am a little mad and a little slovenly, then for these months I shall be with you. Lately, so many of my old friends have turned from me. .
. " Shen Mu said: "I see only sister's spirit; I do not see sister's form. In my eyes, sister is a goddess, peerless under heaven!
" Ling Tianzun was moved. She gathered her hair up again with the wooden pin and said: "This Yaochi Gathering has a palace of mine as well.
Let us go there to study. Yu Tianzun may believe I am wrong, but he is decent enough — he gave me a palace. " The three of them followed her.
Kaihuang asked: "In these days there are many ancient gods in the Heavenly Court, and this is the season of the Heavenly Court's grand gathering. Why is Yu Tianzun able to hold a gathering at Yaochi? Yaochi ought to be the dwelling place of some ancient god, ought it not?
" "Yaochi is a place of pleasure in the rear palace.
" Ling Tianzun walked on ahead: "The Empress is very fond of Yu Tianzun. This time, at the Heavenly Court's grand gathering, the Empress and the Heavenly Emperor will of course attend in person, and so they granted Yaochi to Yu Tianzun, letting him hold the Yaochi Gathering. " "The Empress admires Yu Tianzun, and gave Yaochi to him to hold the Yaochi Gathering?
" Shen Mu and Kaihuang exchanged a glance, each turning over his own thoughts. They had not yet met this Yu Tianzun, but a man who could secure a line to the Empress must be a smooth, many-faceted sort, deft in every social art — he was not merely a genius who had opened the Primal Embryo Treasury.
Even as they spoke, a voice came to them: "Ling Tianzun, are you still studying that so-called divine art of the nonexistence of time? " Ling Tianzun halted. Her expression turned somewhat displeased — the girl had no guile, and every mood showed plainly on her face.
She said sourly: "Huo Tianzun, what do you mean by 'the divine art of the nonexistence of time'? " Shen Mu, Kaihuang, and Old Ox looked toward the speaker, and saw a youth striding over.