Chapter 849 — The Puffed-Up Youth
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
All other Books of Life and Death are imitations created by the Black Emperor, the Yin Son of Heaven, and the Heaven-Aligning Benevolent Sage King. " The Qingyun Hierarch took the Book and said, "Though it is an imitation, the Book refined by the Yin Son of Heaven possesses powers that the Youdu Book of Life and Death lacks, and surpasses the original by a great deal. " He unfolded the Book, shone its light over Xiao Chunfeng and Yu Hongxiu, struck out the two's registries of life, and said, "Ordinarily this treasure is used to seek out people and verify true identities, but those are only minor uses. Its great use is as a weapon of slaughter to annihilate a whole race; ordinary gods and demons cannot contend against it! This Great Venerable, and Xing An as well, what is their origin?
Might they also give Qingyun Heaven a Book of Life and Death? " Shen Mu put the Book away and shook his head.
"They had only this one.
It pained them greatly to part with it; they hunted me for a long while.
" The Qingyun Hierarch's eyes went wide, and only then did he realize what the word "give" meant in Shen Mu's mouth. So the giving he spoke of meant stealing, or robbing. Qingyun Heaven settled the matter of the Heavenly Court envoy's death properly; Shen Mu and Lin Xuan had no need to trouble themselves further, which saved a great deal of effort.
What followed had little to do with Shen Mu; it was mostly Lin Xuan discussing the matter of Jingping's Dao Sect priests coming to Qingyun Heaven to study. Jingping's Dao Sect had by now become Jingping's Dao Sect Academy, and once the Dao Sect learned Qingyun Heaven's skills, they would surely spread throughout Jingping.
The four great holy lands of old had all become academies by this hour, having shed the jianghu air of the sects they once were.
The Great Thunderclap Temple had built the Thunder Sound Academy, Wang Muran had founded the Yujing Academy, and the Heavenly Saint Cult had established the Heavenly Saint Academy; each academy had its own strengths. Beyond the four great holy lands, the various sects and schools of those years had also changed their faces one after another, founding primary schools and great schools, striving to survive in this era of Jingping's reforms; cling stubbornly to the old ways, and one would soon be cast aside by the times.
Sects that held to the old ways needed no outside hand to wipe them out; they would simply die away on their own as their numbers dwindled. Such was the surging tide of Jingping's reforms: the trend ran like a flood that filled the heavens, and those who resisted were swept flat, while those who rode the current and built boats and rafts might yet keep a thread of hope. Thinking back to the early years of Jingping's reforms, when the sects sought to kill Jingping's Imperial Preceptor and set another emperor on the throne, when rebellion and uprising broke out endlessly across the land, to this day the sects had no choice but to reform and adapt to the times.
Shen Mu, Lin Xuan and the others had lived through it themselves; this passage of history seemed to them only a matter of course, and it had stirred them little, yet looking back on it set their hearts surging.
"Cult Master Shen, though the disciples of the various gods sent by the Heavenly Court this time died at your hands and Dao Master Lin's, the Heavenly Court will still send more, continuing to forge a perfect Heavenly Chart, to strangle every seed of possible rebellion in the Yuan Realm. " The Qingyun Hierarch saw them off.
"Should the Heavenly Court send envoys again, Qingyun Heaven will still do its utmost to help the Heavenly Court forge the Heavenly Chart, and the Heavenly Chart will still be forged. So long as the Dao Ancestor has not spoken, Qingyun Heaven will not betray the Heavenly Court.
For this, I ask Cult Master Shen's forgiveness. " Shen Mu's expression turned solemn, and he said in a low voice, "Rest assured, Hierarch.