Chapter 804 — Mists Shroud Longhan; a Giant Fish Bears the Woman Away
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Yan Qiling said coldly, "The Heavenly Court Beyond the Realm is nothing but a court founded by rebels and traitors. Is it worthy of my loyalty? You have guessed wrong — I have not the slightest connection with that court. I never imagined that the Mu Tianzun whose name shook the Heavenly Court a million years ago would be a man of this age. If the Heavenly Emperor knew of it, he would be utterly astonished. I am curious: how did Mu Tianzun travel to a million years ago? And Shen Tianzun, who came with you — is he the young Kaihuang of those days?"
Shen Mu smiled. "I ask you questions, and you turn around and pump me for answers. Sister, you are a naughty one. What was it you said just now — Dao One, Dao Twenty-Two? How are these divided?"
Yan Qiling's color had improved somewhat. She said, "The great daos of the world are divided according to what they belong to. Yuandu has thirty-six daos: the first great dao is Dao One, the second is Dao Two, and so on. Youdu has sixty-four daos, Xuandu seventy-two, and the stars of the heavens three hundred and sixty. Each of these daos has its own number. Whichever dao's principle a divine ability contains, that is the dao the ability belongs to. For example, when you unleash heavenly fire, it belongs to Xuandu Dao Two."
Shen Mu pondered, musing, "This way of dividing things reminds me of the Dao Sect... Do you know a slovenly Daoist?"
"You mean the Dao Ancestor of the Dao Sect?"
Yan Qiling shook her head. "I have heard the name, but never met him."
Shen Mu studied her expression closely and pressed on: "Have you ever seen the Dao Ancestor of the Dao Sect?"
Yan Qiling said, "I have not... I have seen the Dao Ancestor of the Dao Sect! What did you feed me?"
A look of alarm came over her. Her thoughts and consciousness were scarcely under her own control; she had clearly meant to say she had never seen the Dao Ancestor, yet under Shen Mu's second questioning she could not help but speak the truth.
"Long Pang's spittle."
Shen Mu's face was kindly, his voice gentle: "With a few other ingredients added — a sovereign remedy for wounds. Only, this sort of spirit pill has a drawback: it affects the consciousness and the thoughts, so that the taker's mind follows another's against its will. And if one then applies certain demonic arts of Youdu to affect the taker's soul, it makes for a very fine interrogation. Was it the Dao Ancestor who helped you establish these numbers for the great daos?"
Long Qilin was smug. He said to Shui Qilin, "That is what dragon saliva is good for."
Shui Qilin was filled with admiration. "Brother, when you have time you must teach me!"
"It is a gift. You cannot learn it!" Long Qilin grew smugger still.
The cold sweat on Yan Qiling's brow turned to beads the size of beans, mingled with golden blood running down her cheeks, but she shut her mouth and would not speak for dear life.
"If you will not say it, I know it was him all the same. The Dao Ancestor loved the arts of number, and held that the essence of all things in heaven and earth is mathematical. If the Heavenly Emperor invited him to rank the great daos of every realm, he would surely have gone gladly."
Shen Mu's voice grew gentler still as he pressed: "Was it the Dao Ancestor who compiled the various great daos for the Heavenly Emperor? You have read all the dao arts he compiled, have you not? Then — where is the Dao Ancestor of the Dao Sect now?"
Yan Qiling clenched her teeth, her face flushing red, her body trembling — plainly fighting the demonic voice that assailed her soul.
Shen Mu frowned slightly. Yan Qiling would not speak, and there was no way to force her mouth open.
This woman's spirit was powerful, and she was versed in the dao arts and divine abilities of the three realms of Yuandu, Youdu, and Xuandu; to control her soul was no easy thing.
"You said just now that the sword dao is Dao One, and the martial dao is Dao One — what did you mean by that?" Shen Mu asked.