Chapter 1359 — The Venerable Must Die

"Your daddy?"

Heavenly Venerable Xiao's face darkened slightly. "Vulgar. Heavenly Venerable Mu, you have sunk to the point of cursing — it disappoints me somewhat. It seems the pressure I placed on you was too great. Today I did not come to deal with you, but with Heavenly Venerable Yue. You and I are still allies, after all, and there are places where I have need of you. But Heavenly Venerable Yue is not."

His gaze came to rest upon Heavenly Venerable Yue, and he extended a hand, his expression grave: "So long as Heavenly Venerable Yue is willing to submit, I can let bygones be bygones regarding the matter of your killing me in the past."

He said mildly: "Do not say I lack magnanimity — my magnanimity is vast indeed. Heaven Duke and Earth Count were unruly and untamable, yet I could tolerate them. The Heavenly Venerables Yu, Hao, Ling, Yue, and Fire opened the path of acquired cultivation, yet I could tolerate you all as well. Acquired lifeforms attaining godhood — I could tolerate that too; I even let you found the Xiaohan Heavenly Court and the Longxiao Heavenly Court, parceling out power to you. Even when Heavenly Venerable Mu carried out his reforms in Jingping, I turned a blind eye. As a Heavenly Emperor of an age, my magnanimity is not so poor, is it?"

His gaze was earnest as it rested on Heavenly Venerable Yue's face: "Had another Heavenly Venerable sat in my place — of today's ten Heavenly Venerables, which one do you think has such magnanimity? Heavenly Venerable Hao? He cannot. Were he in my seat, he would have wiped you out at the first moment and severed every reform at its root."

"Divine Emperor Langxuan? He cannot either — he has not the boldness of spirit for it."

"Heavenly Venerable Fire? A drudge and a toady, no more — whoever is strong, he licks their boots."

"Heavenly Venerable Hong is too indifferent; Heavenly Consort Yan dares not step forward herself, only clings to men; Heavenly Consort Qiang is Tai Di — he would destroy even his own race, let alone you."

"Heavenly Venerable Gong is too arrogant; Heavenly Venerable Xu's heart is too dark; the Ancestral God King is too reckless and wild — none of them is fit material for a Heavenly Emperor."

He said leisurely: "And as for the nine Heavenly Venerables of Longhan — setting aside Heavenly Venerable Hao and Heavenly Venerable Fire — Heavenly Venerable Yun had the talent to maneuver men and events at will, but lacked the momentum of the age; Heavenly Venerable You shut himself away, and could hardly achieve greatness; you, Heavenly Venerable Yue, are fit only for logistics; Heavenly Venerable Ling has trouble communicating; Heavenly Venerable Shen, for all his breadth of vision, is cautious by nature and deserves only to contend with Heavenly Venerable Hao for the realm. As for Heavenly Venerable Mu..."

He flicked a glance at Shen Mu and laughed: "Too flighty. He has schemes and methods, but sooner or later his own curiosity will be the death of him."

Shen Mu's face was black as iron.

Heavenly Venerable Xiao laughed: "Look through all ages past and present — search as you will for one who has the breadth, the bearing, the methods, the sense of duty, the magnanimity to fill the office of Heavenly Emperor perfectly, and from first to last there is only me. It is not that I dominated the cosmos and became Heavenly Emperor; rather, the cosmos chose me to be Heavenly Emperor."

Heavenly Venerable Yue's cultivation was climbing step by step, her aura growing ever stronger, and she said mildly: "You spoke of the nine Heavenly Venerables of old, and of today's ten. Then what of Heavenly Venerable Yu? Why did you not mention him?"

"Heavenly Venerable Yu?" Heavenly Venerable Xiao's face darkened slightly.

"Yes, Heavenly Venerable Yu!"

Heavenly Venerable Yue stood in the palm of Shen Mu's primordial spirit, her gaze bright as snow, fixed upon Heavenly Venerable Xiao's face, and she said, word by word: "You say you have magnanimity — then why not mention Heavenly Venerable Yu? Is it because he was better suited to be this Heavenly Emperor than you, and so you could not suffer him, and killed him?"

Heavenly Venerable Xiao lowered his brow and gave a soft laugh, murmuring: "Heavenly Venerable Yu? I did not kill him. It was Heavenly Venerable Hao and Yin Tianzi who struck the blow..."

Heavenly Venerable Yue raised her brows and was about to speak, but Heavenly Venerable Xiao went on laughing: "Yet the reason Hao'er and Yin Zhaojin dared to strike was indeed my instruction. I even helped Hao'er seal the Manhui Corridor Pavilion, to make certain that Heaven Duke and Earth Count could never discover the cause of Heavenly Venerable Yu's death."

He wore a smile: "That was at the first Heavenly Court Grand Gathering. At that gathering the great figures came together like clouds, to deliberate the founding of the Longhan Heavenly Court, and to honor me as sovereign of the world. I sat high above, my power without equal. In those days the human race was but an insignificant little clan, the Jade Pool Grand Gathering merely an inconspicuous corner of the Heavenly Court, and the seven Heavenly Venerables no more than minor figures of that era. Heavenly Venerable Yu was merely one of the more robust among the ants. And yet I was seized with dread."

Heavenly Venerable Yue clenched her fists.

Heavenly Venerable Xiao said: "I had no rivals left. Tai Di had been defeated; the Primordial Stone shattered; he had become a stray cur. Gong Yun was dead, buried by me in the Ancestral Court. Heaven Duke had a vulnerable point within my grasp; the Earth Mother alone could not prop up the heavens; Earth Count was no match for me either. As for the four emperors of the ancient gods, they were fit only to rule as vassals in their own corners. But when I saw Heavenly Venerable Yu, I was seized with dread."

He turned his head and looked back at the divine artifact behind him, the Heavenly Venerable Yu, recalling the past; after a moment he turned back and went on: "Heavenly Venerable Yu had talent — a talent unmatched in the world. He opened the Origin Embryo Spirit Treasure, letting all living beings cultivate, so that every race remembered his grace. He had ambition too: he made friends far and wide, and whether demigod or acquired race, he treated them all as honored guests. And he created the art of becoming a god, giving demigods and the acquired races the hope of standing shoulder to shoulder with the ancient gods, or even surpassing them."

"At first I merely took notice of him, and was quite tolerant of all he did — a gifted child, nothing more. It was only later, when Hao'er recounted to me his art of becoming a god, that I felt that dread deep in my bones."

Heavenly Venerable Xiao sighed and said: "Let him spread the art of becoming a god far and wide, and he would accumulate a momentum — an open and upright momentum. Heavenly Venerable Yue, Heavenly Venerable Mu, you are not Heavenly Emperors, so it is hard for you to understand such momentum. You have seen dynasties contend for hegemony, seen dynasties rise and fall; but have you ever seen a man whose momentum accumulates to its utmost, until the whole world turns its heart to him and is made one? That is the path Heavenly Venerable Yu walked!"

Shen Mu and Heavenly Venerable Yue were slightly startled, and even the Alchemist, who was at that moment healing the last of Heavenly Venerable Yue's wounds, found himself listening closely without knowing it.