Chapter 920 — Battle Will Unbroken
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
He paused, then said: "In the dream world, Sect Master Shen called me fellow Daoist. When I was lost and confused, he guided me out of my bewilderment. Yet I could sense that he too has his own confusion and bewilderment, and I could not point out a path for him. He treats me as a fellow Daoist, but I cannot do the same."
Jing Yan watched him quietly.
Xu Shenghua smiled bitterly: "I was once merely a visitor from the Upper Realm, intoxicated with the Dao. It was he who stirred in me the will not to concede, and I resolved to surpass him—that is why I joined the Jingping Reform. All along, I have been chasing after him. Without his encouragement, I would likely still be a false god in the Upper Realm, and even if I had achieved something, it would not have been much. It is because of his encouragement that I am what I am today. That word 'fellow Daoist'—I am unworthy of it."
Jing Yan took his hand and smiled: "Does my husband think Sect Master Shen is smarter, or that you are?"
"I am!"
Xu Shenghua answered without the slightest hesitation: "Sect Master Shen is clever too, but compared to me he is still a notch below!"
Jing Yan burst out laughing: "Since my husband is smarter than he is, what harm is there in being his fellow Daoist? I think my husband is in no way inferior to Sect Master Shen in any respect. What my husband lacks is merely Sect Master Shen's sharpness and edge—his spirit that fears nothing, dares to fight heaven itself, and never concedes defeat!"
Xu Shenghua was taken aback, then pulled her into his embrace: "The greatest fortune of my life is not that I met Sect Master Shen, but that I met you."
The Red Emperor's Palace.
Qi Jiuyi waved his hand, dismissing the Southern Heaven deities from the palace, and said: "Second Brother has already told me. Sect Master Shen wishes to go to the Heavenly Court and intends to borrow a path from me. Very well—I will go with you to the Heavenly Court."
Shen Mu raised an eyebrow and was about to speak when Qi Jiuyi sneered: "It is not concern for you, but concern for Second Brother's safety! Second Brother and I swore brotherhood and made the Earth Lord's Pact. If he follows you to the Heavenly Court and dies there, I die with him!"
He was full of indignation. Remembering how he had gotten drunk in the Imperial Palace Divine Saber and sworn brotherhood with the Dragon Qilin, he felt a bellyful of stifled anger with no outlet.
Shen Mu glanced at the Dragon Qilin and thought: "Strange. How has Fat Dragon grown smarter and more sensible? He was always clever, but lazy beyond belief. Now he even knows to voluntarily share my burdens. Could it be..."
He glanced at Yan'er, who was seriously feeding the Dragon Qilin.
Shen Mu smiled and said: "Brother Qi, how do you plan to get to the Heavenly Court?"
Qi Jiuyi said: "If it were only a divine power wielder, we could simply have a deity send us through the world barrier. But this Yan'er..."
The Dragon Qilin coughed: "Third Brother, call her Sister."
Qi Jiuyi's eye twitched. He endured his patience and said: "But this Sister Yan'er is a half-god of the Lingxiao Realm. To go to the Heavenly Court, there are only two paths. Either the emperors blast through the world barrier, or we borrow a ship from the Red Emperor. We are not Imperial Throne powerhouses, so the only path left is to borrow a ship from my master."