Chapter 1433 — That Detestable Tai Emperor
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Shen Mu left the Jade Pool, glanced back at it once, and a faint smile touched the corner of his mouth. "A Dao Fruit is not so easily refined. And even if it is refined, so what? Must one not still cultivate step by step on one's own? If a man simply takes another's Dao Fruit and claims it for his own, then he is not so very different from the Tai Emperor."
His heart was utterly serene, utterly composed.
The Langxuan God Emperor's rise in strength was a good thing. Among the Ten Heavenly Venerables, it had once been Hao, Qiang, and Xiao who stood the best chance of contending for the final victory. Now that Langxuan had waded in, the already muddy waters of the Ten would grow muddier still.
"If Heaven Duke dies and Hong Heavenly Venerable reaps the greatest benefit, then we may well have to add Hong Heavenly Venerable to the tally."
Shen Mu raised his head and looked at the sky above the Ancestral Court. Surely Heaven Duke was watching the Ancestral Court at this very moment?
Yet Heaven Duke had not come to see him.
He withdrew his gaze and said silently, "I drove Hong Heavenly Venerable's Dao-heart into the Nine Prisons. If Hong breaks open my Nine-Prison Heart Lock, then although he will still harbor selfish desires, he will also draw closer to the heart of Heaven, closer to the Way of Heaven, and keep a portion of the Way of Heaven's heart. Even if Heaven Duke dies, we will still be fellow travelers on the same road. But if Hong Heavenly Venerable fails to break the Nine-Prison Heart Lock..."
The corner of Shen Mu's eye twitched. "Then when Heaven Duke dies, the one who reaps the greatest benefit will most likely not be Hong Heavenly Venerable! At that time he may not be able to contend with the Ancestral God King! And then the muddy waters of the Ten Heavenly Venerables will have to take in both the Ancestral God King and Hong Heavenly Venerable!"
As for Heaven Duke, he no longer held out any hope at all.
Heaven Duke was doomed to die.
Once the proclamation calling for Heaven Duke's punishment was issued at the Heaven Alliance Council, Heaven Duke's death was sealed. To have met him before the Council would have left room to turn; now there was no longer any need.
His imprisoning of Hong Heavenly Venerable's Dao-heart had been a preparation for the worst. He could not allow Hong — a man stuffed full of ambition and desire — to seize all of Heaven Duke's power and steal the Way of Heaven for himself.
The Way of Heaven was selfless. For Hong Heavenly Venerable to steal the Way of Heaven for his own ends was the greatest of betrayals against the Way of Heaven!
"Tai Yi said Heaven Duke would succeed, would leap free of the Way of Heaven's bonds and liberate himself — what in the world did he mean by that?" He frowned in thought.
Suddenly another violent radiance blazed up ahead and shot into the sky. Shen Mu walked forward and saw that it was Qiang Heavenly Consort's domain, where yet another Great Spirit-Energy Transfer Bridge had been raised. The Daoist priests of the Heavenly Court's Daoist sect were packing their bags, hurrying off to another site.
Many of the Heavenly Court's tower-ships and great vessels flew out from this new Spirit-Energy Transfer Bridge, laden with the gods and demons under Qiang Heavenly Consort's command and with power-wielders of every race, migrating through the bridge into the Ancestral Court. These tower-ships scattered in all directions, seeking suitable places to settle.
Shen Mu looked up at the sky. Three Spirit-Energy Transfer Bridges now linked to the Heavenly Court; once all of them were built, the Heavenly Court itself could be hauled into the Ancestral Court! The Heavenly Court had once dwelt above the Primordial Realm, then flown out of it, and now it was returning to the Ancestral Court — the thought left Shen Mu awash in emotion.
"A Divine Artifact Heavenly Venerable!"