Chapter 1711 — A Treacherous Minister Lurks at the Emperor's Side
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
The Hall Master of Lingguan shook his head: "The Guixu method of attaining the Dao is of no use to me, and I know little of how one attains the Dao. I heard our master speak of it only once — it seems one must plant a lotus in primal chaos. Our master said: 'In a pool of primal chaos, a golden lotus is planted and blooms.' As to how to plant and how to make it bloom, that is beyond my knowing."
When he spoke the words "In a pool of primal chaos, a golden lotus is planted and blooms," he used the language of the Dao, its imagery profoundly deep and its tone exceedingly ancient — plainly not a saying the Hall Master of Lingguan could have fathomed himself, but one that came from the mouth of the master of Miluo Palace.
The Hall Master of Lingguan was merely repeating the words of the master of Miluo Palace.
The Heavenly Emperor Hao pondered that sentence in silence, feeling it held deep meaning, yet how one was to plant a lotus in a chaos pool and make it bloom he could not fathom at all.
"Planting a lotus in chaos — only Yuanmu can explain it!"
The Heavenly Emperor hesitated. Though he was Yuanmu's son, Yuanmu had little familial feeling; if Yuanmu attained the Dao, he feared she would usurp the throne!
"Dare I ask, Brother of the Dao, how then does the fourth method of attaining the Dao attain the Dao?" asked the Heavenly Emperor.
"Your Majesty, you are somewhat greedy."
The Hall Master of Lingguan said: "Of the first three methods of attaining the Dao, you have already cultivated one. Do you mean to cultivate all four? The first three you might all attain; only the fourth can you never master."
The Heavenly Emperor asked again.
The Hall Master of Lingguan, helpless, had to say: "This fourth method of attaining the Dao was created by the sworn enemy of my Miluo Palace. I do not know how one attains the Dao by it either. I know only that this method cultivates no Dao tree, borrows no force, imprints no void, and plants no lotus in chaos. It is mysterious beyond fathoming."
The Heavenly Emperor Hao let out a breath of turbid air, abandoning the thought, and said in a low voice: "Summon the Empress!"
The Empress came. The Heavenly Emperor Hao said: "Brother of the Dao, please say that sentence again."
The Hall Master of Lingguan repeated the sentence in the language of the Dao. The Empress was shaken to the core of her spirit; hearing that tongue of the Dao, the scene at the very depths of the great abyss of Guixu rose unbidden in her mind.
Suddenly her own great Dao of Guixu contracted sharply; all her heavenly palaces collapsed, and then even her divine treasuries collapsed of themselves!
All her cultivation settled in that moment, like a stone dropped into still lake-water with a soft thud, and the primordial-fetus divine treasury likewise shattered and dissolved!
Within her body, only a pool of primal chaos remained!
Looking up from that chaos pool, one could see only a single strip of sky — that was the great abyss of Guixu!
"So that is how it is."
The Empress was suddenly enlightened. In the chaos pool, a single lotus leaf first showed its tip, and she had at last attained the Dao through Guixu!