Chapter 838 — A Side Branch of the Dao Lineage
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
The faces of the seventy-two cave mountain gods changed drastically. At that very moment a long laugh came from beyond the heavens, and a young Daoist in blue robes descended from the sky on azure clouds, declaring loudly: "A state that is small yet will not keep a lowly place, weak yet unafraid of the strong, rude and insulting to its great neighbors, greedy, obstinate, and clumsy in diplomacy—such a one can perish! I have heard that the state of Jingping has three worthies of reform. The first is Emperor Yanfeng, a sovereign of heroic talent and grand strategy, an emperor unrivaled through the ages. The second is the Imperial Teacher of Jingping, whose heart embraces the realm and who opens new lands and expands the borders, a talent unmatched in his generation. And the third is Shen Mu of the Overlord Body, Patriarch of the Heavenly Sage Cult, who single-handedly promotes the Way of the Sages. I have long heard the fame of these three; and now that I have met the Overlord Body Shen, I know that beneath great renown the substance often falls short."
Shen Mu laughed heartily and rose to his feet. "Brother, your reproach is just. May I ask where you have come from?"
The young Daoist in blue robes landed in the city and saluted Shen Mu. "I come from Qingyun Heaven. I am Yuchen of Qingyun Heaven—greetings to the Patriarch of the Heavenly Sage Cult. Qingyun Heaven is a branch of the Daoist order, the Qingyun Sect of old; it governs twenty-four divine kingdoms, and this Qixia Mountain is one of them."
Shen Mu's expression immediately turned a little sour, and he thought: "It belongs to Dao Master Lin Xuan's holdings—then it would not do to seize it."
He relaxed a little.
The reason he had plotted to take Qixia Mountain was his fear that at a single word from the Earth Mother Yuanjun, these mountain gods would slaughter the people of Jingping; that was why he had meant to seize Qixia.
Since Qixia Mountain was the Daoist order's property, matters became simple.
It was only a shame that the Honored God Baixi must resign himself to remaining a mountain god on his little hundred-zhang hill.
The young man in blue, Yuchen, rested his whisk in the crook of his arm. "May I ask the Overlord Body Shen: do you come on behalf of the Heavenly Sage Cult, or on behalf of the state of Jingping?"
Shen Mu was puzzled.
Yuchen said, "If you come on behalf of the Heavenly Sage Cult, then this is a contest of orthodoxy. Qingyun Heaven shall be the Qingyun Sect, and we shall contend with you in doctrine, in arts, and in divine powers. If you come on behalf of the state of Jingping, then Qingyun Heaven shall summon the soldiers of the twenty-four divine kingdoms, array them for battle, and let the two armies slaughter one another in the field."
Shen Mu gave a ha-ha and, all smiles, said, "Brother Yuchen, the Daoist order exists within Jingping as well, and Dao Master Lin Xuan of the Daoist order is a dear friend of mine. Since we are one family, there is no need for great bloodshed."
Yuchen shook his head. "The Daoist order of the lower realm is not the orthodox line. The Daoist order is in the Heavenly Court; that is where the orthodox Daoist order resides. The Daoist order of Jingping cannot even be counted a branch—it was merely founded by a few idle disciples of the orthodox order who were stranded in the outer world."
Something stirred in Shen Mu's heart, and he asked, "Since you do not acknowledge Dao Master Lin Xuan, do you still acknowledge the Dao Ancestor of the Daoist order?"
Yuchen said solemnly, "The Dao Ancestor is the beginning of the Daoist order, the ancestor of ten thousand ways. Of course we acknowledge him!"
"Is the Dao Ancestor in Qingyun Heaven?" Shen Mu asked.
Yuchen shook his head, somewhat impatiently. "Does the Overlord Body Shen want war or peace?"