Chapter 1359 — The Venerable Must Die
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
Heavenly Venerable Yue stood in the palm of Shen Mu's primordial spirit, her gaze bright as snow, fixed upon Heavenly Venerable Xiao's face, and she said, word by word: "You say you have magnanimity — then why not mention Heavenly Venerable Yu? Is it because he was better suited to be this Heavenly Emperor than you, and so you could not suffer him, and killed him?"
Heavenly Venerable Xiao lowered his brow and gave a soft laugh, murmuring: "Heavenly Venerable Yu? I did not kill him. It was Heavenly Venerable Hao and Yin Tianzi who struck the blow..."
Heavenly Venerable Yue raised her brows and was about to speak, but Heavenly Venerable Xiao went on laughing: "Yet the reason Hao'er and Yin Zhaojin dared to strike was indeed my instruction. I even helped Hao'er seal the Manhui Corridor Pavilion, to make certain that Heaven Duke and Earth Count could never discover the cause of Heavenly Venerable Yu's death."
He wore a smile: "That was at the first Heavenly Court Grand Gathering. At that gathering the great figures came together like clouds, to deliberate the founding of the Longhan Heavenly Court, and to honor me as sovereign of the world. I sat high above, my power without equal. In those days the human race was but an insignificant little clan, the Jade Pool Grand Gathering merely an inconspicuous corner of the Heavenly Court, and the seven Heavenly Venerables no more than minor figures of that era. Heavenly Venerable Yu was merely one of the more robust among the ants. And yet I was seized with dread."
Heavenly Venerable Yue clenched her fists.
Heavenly Venerable Xiao said: "I had no rivals left. Tai Di had been defeated; the Primordial Stone shattered; he had become a stray cur. Gong Yun was dead, buried by me in the Ancestral Court. Heaven Duke had a vulnerable point within my grasp; the Earth Mother alone could not prop up the heavens; Earth Count was no match for me either. As for the four emperors of the ancient gods, they were fit only to rule as vassals in their own corners. But when I saw Heavenly Venerable Yu, I was seized with dread."
He turned his head and looked back at the divine artifact behind him, the Heavenly Venerable Yu, recalling the past; after a moment he turned back and went on: "Heavenly Venerable Yu had talent — a talent unmatched in the world. He opened the Origin Embryo Spirit Treasure, letting all living beings cultivate, so that every race remembered his grace. He had ambition too: he made friends far and wide, and whether demigod or acquired race, he treated them all as honored guests. And he created the art of becoming a god, giving demigods and the acquired races the hope of standing shoulder to shoulder with the ancient gods, or even surpassing them."
"At first I merely took notice of him, and was quite tolerant of all he did — a gifted child, nothing more. It was only later, when Hao'er recounted to me his art of becoming a god, that I felt that dread deep in my bones."
Heavenly Venerable Xiao sighed and said: "Let him spread the art of becoming a god far and wide, and he would accumulate a momentum — an open and upright momentum. Heavenly Venerable Yue, Heavenly Venerable Mu, you are not Heavenly Emperors, so it is hard for you to understand such momentum. You have seen dynasties contend for hegemony, seen dynasties rise and fall; but have you ever seen a man whose momentum accumulates to its utmost, until the whole world turns its heart to him and is made one? That is the path Heavenly Venerable Yu walked!"
Shen Mu and Heavenly Venerable Yue were slightly startled, and even the Alchemist, who was at that moment healing the last of Heavenly Venerable Yue's wounds, found himself listening closely without knowing it.