Chapter 1433 — That Detestable Tai Emperor
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The Langxuan God Emperor held the Dao Fruit on high, turning it over and over as he appraised it, boundless delight swelling in his heart. When he turned to look again at Shen Mu, the man's looks no longer seemed so loathsome; there was even something rather endearing about him.
"Mu Heavenly Venerable, serve me well under my banner!"
He could not help laughing. "I do so love watching you play the treacherous minister, the court fool, forced to fawn on me!"
Shen Mu offered him a good-natured warning. "God Emperor, this Dao Fruit holds the divine consciousness of a prehistoric power. Beware of being possessed. Though if you truly can refine from this fruit the Dao of eternal, undying life, then serving as your scheming minister and your court fool is no great hardship for me." With that, he burst out laughing.
Langxuan laughed as well. "That prehistoric being may have hidden a portion of his consciousness inside the Dao Fruit, but so long as he cannot lodge himself in the ultimate void of our universe, I can knead him however I please. If he cannot reach the ultimate void, he is nothing but a soft persimmon."
Seeing him pleased, Shen Mu seized the moment. "God Emperor, consider this. I helped you restore the Jade Pool to its ancient glory, and I helped you come here to subdue the Dao Fruit and draw near the final realm. Then might your Jade Pool perhaps..."
"No." The Langxuan God Emperor put the Dao Fruit away, and the smile drained from his face. His voice was flat.
Shen Mu said hastily, "What I mean is that, having rendered such a great service, might Your Majesty permit the gods under my command to come and comprehend the Dao of the Jade Terrace?"
"It costs money."
The Langxuan God Emperor spoke briskly. "Calling me Your Majesty is no use to you. You extorted twenty percent of my Hongmeng Primordial Fluid, and the mere thought of it still makes my flesh ache. If you want your people to enter the Jade Terrace and comprehend the Dao, it costs money."
"Not even a shred of regard for old ties?" Shen Mu said, furious.
The Langxuan God Emperor nodded, smiling, and held up two fingers. "If you want your people to come to the Jade Terrace and comprehend the Dao, give me back my twenty percent of Hongmeng Primordial Fluid."
Shen Mu gritted his teeth and held up a single finger.
The Langxuan God Emperor thought it over, then laughed. "That 'Your Majesty' you called me just now did sound sweet to the ear. Very well, the other ten percent stays with you."
Shen Mu breathed a silent sigh of relief. Never mind one tenth of the Hongmeng Primordial Fluid; had Langxuan demanded the full twenty percent, he would have handed it over. Hongmeng Primordial Fluid was a renewable resource, and precious beyond measure though it was, in his eyes it could not hold a candle to the nurturing of talent in Jingping.
Talent, and talent alone, was what mattered most.
"I wonder whether Xu Shenghua and Lan Yutian have finished charting the Four Great Heavenly Gates. I must have them come — not only to comprehend the Jade Pool and cultivate their Dao-hearts, but to survey and map the whole of the Jade Pool and the Jade Terrace!"
He said silently in his heart, "Once the grand unification of the Dao Realm and the Heavenly Palace system is established, I will never again have to watch Langxuan's face."
The two left that fragment of the Daluo Heaven. Shen Mu took his leave at once; eager to refine the Dao Fruit, the Langxuan God Emperor did not press him to stay.
"If the Langxuan God Emperor refines the Dao Fruit and obtains the knowledge of the previous cosmic epoch hidden within it, I fear he will become the mightiest of the Ten Heavenly Venerables. And yet..."