Chapter 1653 — The Twilight of That Heavenly Venerable
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"Haosheng, this battle will decide the fate of the universe."
Taichu blocked Haotian Di, a smile on his face. He gazed upon Haotian Di's countenance and spoke unhurriedly: "Ever since my defeat in the Longhan era, I came to understand that honor and disgrace are ever fickle. The honor or disgrace of a single moment can hardly determine the victory or defeat of a powerful being's entire life. Your father was ill-fated from a young age. In my early years, I was ignorant and naive in the Taichu Divine Mine, knowing neither good nor evil, right nor wrong—I only knew to refine the Taichu mineral vein, until Taidi dug me out from the divine mine."
Haotian Di frowned slightly, his expression half-smiling, half-mocking: "Taishang Huang, you have indeed grown old. The patricide has not even begun, and yet you already speak such words as only victors dare to speak."
Taichu waved his hand dismissively and continued: "Your father was weak in those days, frightened by Taidi's power, and so I acknowledged him as my adoptive father. He took my Taichu Imperial Sword and had the Creator offer sacrifices to me—on the surface it seemed he was boosting my power, but in truth he knew my potential for growth was too great, and so he used the Creator to restrain me. I endured in silence, biding my time, until a battle in the Blood Rust Zone a million years ago, when I struck him down completely, leaving him unable to rise for a million years."
Haotian Di listened quietly at his leisure, without interrupting.
"Your father then ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, unifying the universe and all of creation, achieving unparalleled hegemony. The four seas and eight wildernesses submitted. Tubo, Tiangong, and Dimu—all were caught by the short hairs in my grip and could not resist me. The Creator was no longer a concern. The world was at peace, and the demigod races flourished."
Taichu sighed heavily: "It was then that Yutian Zun and six other Heavenly Venerables rose to prominence. In a hazy vision, I saw a future that would destroy my rule—a rolling tide of destiny that would grind me, and all the ancient gods, to dust. Therefore I had you kill Yutian Zun, severing that terrible future. But I never imagined that this rolling tide would not end there, but instead grow ever more fierce, and in the end your father still met his downfall at the hands of you and Yuntian Zun. These million years of degradation forced me to scrape by ignobly, to hide my name and conceal my identity, mingling among the Ten Heavenly Venerables."
The two Taiji Heavenly Venerables praised in unison: "Great rise followed by great fall, great fall followed by great spirit—this is the true character of a hero."
The mockery on Haotian Di's face grew thicker.
Taichu, invigorated, laughed: "A million years—Haosheng, you accumulated your momentum, and not long ago your tide was finally complete. The flood rolled on, forcing your father—even after recovering his physical body, even after achieving the Dao of Yiqi Daluotian—to abdicate and let you ascend the throne of the Heavenly Emperor. I was even forced to kneel to you, to bow to you—a father kneeling to his son, the ultimate humiliation."
The two Taiji Heavenly Venerables praised in one voice: "Unmoved by favor or disgrace—this reveals the true hero."
Taichu's face glowed red as he laughed: "You two daoists flatter me. Though I suffered this ultimate humiliation, kneeling to my own son, I knew that you, Haosheng, are ultimately still too young. Haosheng, your thirst for power is too great—so great that you simply do not understand how to share it. Take me, for instance: so long as Tubo, Tiangong, and Dimu Yuanjun submitted to me, I would not touch their interests in the slightest. But you are different. You want to grasp all authority in your own embrace. The moment you ascended the throne, you began stripping the fiefs—how could Huotian Zun not rebel against you?"