Chapter 1571 — Sword Dao Ascends to the Heaven Beyond Heaven
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
The village headman was teaching the younger generation of Jingping how to use a sword, and in that moment he raised his head, his face solemn and reverent, gazing up into the void, his eyes brimming with tears. He had sensed the birth of an undying great Dao.
This was precisely the summit of the great Dao he had dreamed of all his life.
At the Ancestral Court, Jiang Baigui and Emperor Yanfeng walked one behind the other, when Jiang Baigui suddenly lifted his head with the solemnity of a pilgrim, made a distant salute, and then continued on his way. Emperor Yanfeng asked curiously, "Baigui, what are you saluting? " "I salute the one who has attained the Dao through the sword.
" Jiang Baigui's expression was grave.
"Today, someone has attained the Dao and become a monument of the sword dao.
" In that moment, wherever they might be, all who cultivated the sword dao could not help but grow solemn and reverent, and they saluted toward one and the same direction. The swords in their hands, the sword sheaths and sword caskets upon their backs, the sword pills they had raised in offering, all were rejoicing for that one who had attained the Dao, all ringing and humming.
The sword-light danced in the air, feeling the inconceivable power of that great Dao of heaven and earth.
And within the Land of No Sorrow, Yan Yunxi, Zhuo Cha, Han Tang and the other Celestial Masters looked up at that sword-light, their heroic ardor surging and swelling.
That day had finally come. Ever since the Kaihuang Heavenly Court had become the Land of No Sorrow, they had accumulated a bellyful of grievance.
Even when Shen Mu came to the Land of No Sorrow and woke its people, rekindling their will to fight, that grievance had never truly dissipated.
For they were still in a position of being beaten.
The Heavenly Court's armies of gods and demons had attacked the Taixu, occupied the lands of the Taixu, and forced them to retreat into the Void of the Far Shore, turtling up and refusing to come out.
That grievance had turned to wrath; forever turtling up, never daring to give battle, wrath indeed was in their hearts. But now Kaihuang had attained the Dao. Which meant that at last they could strike back.
In the distance, the woodcutter Wen Tiange seemed far calmer.
Watching that sword-light, he recalled a day forty thousand years ago, when he had met Kaihuang; after a long and thorough talk, he had counted him a kindred spirit.
From then on, they had set foot upon a road steeped in legend.
To attain the Dao in the post-heaven, that was the goal they had fixed at the very beginning, and now, at long last, that goal had been realized in some small measure. "But the sword dao is only the first step.
The post-heaven paths, the three hundred and sixty great Daos, those are the true aim of Kaihuang's reforms.
" By now Shen Mu had withdrawn from the God-Slaying Platform.
Kaihuang Shen Ye upon that platform exerted too great a pressure upon him; he was drenched in blood, covered in wounds, and yet his blood was flowing backward and his wounds healing at astonishing speed.
He too was a cultivator of the sword, and in that moment he sensed that the sword dao, as a great Dao, had been accepted by heaven and earth and had become a great Dao of heaven and earth.
And Kaihuang, a Heavenly Venerable of the Longhan era, one of the Nine Heavenly Venerables, now seemed likewise to be branded between heaven and earth, become eternal.
At Shen Mu's waist, the Tribulation Sword trembled faintly, giving out a light and cheerful ring; the sword dao's becoming an eternal great Dao had made the Tribulation Sword quite elated. Yet it was not Shen Mu's Tribulation Sword that thrilled, but the sword dao that Shen Mu cultivated.
"I imagine every master of the sword dao under heaven can feel this immense joy?
" Shen Mu smiled, gazing with deep gratification at Kaihuang upon the God-Slaying Platform, his heart full of pride and joy.