Chapter 1382 — Pilgrimage to Black Mountain

Tian Gong, Tu Bo, and Shen Mu looked around them; the sights each beheld and the Dao sounds each heard were wholly different.

What Tian Gong beheld was the Heavenly Dao at a deeper level, a higher realm he himself had never grasped; what he heard was the voice of the Heavenly Dao, understood more profoundly than by him, a Tian Gong born of the Heavenly Dao. What Tu Bo beheld was the Great Way of Youdu, no less awe-inspiring than what Tian Gong saw, and the sound he heard was so sublime it stirred in one an uncontrollable urge to sing upon hearing the Way.

What Shen Mu saw and heard differed from them once more: he beheld and heard a vast chaos, hazy and indistinct, incomprehensible, and yet he sensed within it a mystery beyond unraveling. Each of the three felt something of his own; Tian Gong and Tu Bo were seldom stirred, yet now they were stirred as never before, and even their timeless, unmoving Dao hearts could scarce suppress it.

Shen Mu, long accustomed to Tai Yi, was not stirred at all. Onward and upward they walked, until at last they came before the gateway of the great hall.

They looked within and saw wreaths of radiant light drifting like the tentacles of a jellyfish, unfurling gently like cloud vapor, holy beyond words. The hall no longer seemed a hall, but rather the place of origin of all the Great Ways; even Shen Mu, stepping inside, felt as though he had come here for the first time.

This hall was one he had built, his own palace; though Shen Mu had not visited it often, he knew the hall was by no means as it appeared now.

"A mountain need not be high, nor water deep; now that my palace holds Tai Yi, a truly holy being, it too has become set apart, transcendent and refined," he thought to himself.

The honor lay not in the hall, but in the one within it.

Tian Gong and Tu Bo were all the more astonished; Shen Mu's cultivation was still low, and what he saw was neither as deep nor as far as what they saw—the visions before their eyes were far more terrifying! In Shen Mu's eyes, the old man Tai Yi, encircled by ten thousand Ways, was like a withered tree holding within it a thread of vitality; but in the eyes of Tian Gong and Tu Bo, it was nothing short of momentous.

They seemed to see the origin of the universe, the genesis of the Great Way—an existence seated at the summit of the Great Way, eternally imprinted upon this universe's past, present, and future!

Tian Gong and Tu Bo stepped forward and bowed in salute, saying with the utmost reverence, "Fellow Daoist. " "No need for such courtesy between fellow Daoists," said the old man Tai Yi with a slight nod.

"I already know why you two have come.

" Even the minds of Tian Gong and Tu Bo, calm as ancient wells, could not help but ripple; Tu Bo said, "When the Great Way told us to purge the Creator from the Ancestral Court, was it you, Fellow Daoist? " Tai Yi nodded.

Tian Gong and Tu Bo exchanged a glance; Tian Gong said, "Heaven above has the virtue of cherishing life—why did you seek to remove the Creator, Fellow Daoist? " "I did not seek to remove the Creator, but asked you to purge the Creator from hence," said Tai Yi.

"My wish was a good one, but on the path of purging the Creator, you each gave birth to ambition and desire, until at last you sought to wipe the Creator out utterly. That was not what I wished to see.

" Tian Gong and Tu Bo each fell silent.

Self-interest.

Indeed, in the course of rooting out the Creator, they had given rise to all manner of selfish motives: some became ambition, some became a craving for power, some evolved into desire for things beyond themselves.

Thus the Ancient Gods began to enslave the Demigods and the races born after Heaven; thus the Ancient Gods began to feed upon the Demigods and the creatures born after Heaven, reveling in their sacrifices. Thus the Ancient Gods ruled the heavens and all realms, exalted on high, having lost their original true hearts.

Some of the Ancient Gods had been created by the Creator to serve the Creator; some were born of Heaven and Earth, rearing the countless ancient titan beasts and maintaining order; some were born of the Great Way of Heaven and Earth, governing birth, age, sickness, and death, the motion of the stars, and creation and destruction.

Still others were born bearing the will of Heaven and Earth, descending from eggs into the world to guard it.

Yet along the way of purging the Creator, all their original wishes gradually changed as their power grew.

After they removed the Creator, they became another brood of Creators—crueler Creators still. Tian Gong and Tu Bo were silent for a moment; then Tian Gong bowed and said, "Fellow Daoist, will I succeed?

" Tai Yi said, "What is your wish?

" Tian Gong said, "To break free of the bonds of the Heavenly Dao.

" Tai Yi nodded and said, "You will succeed. " Joy appeared on Tian Gong's face.

Tu Bo also bowed and said, "Fellow Daoist, will I succeed? " Tai Yi said, "And what is your wish?

" Tu Bo said, "To break free of the bonds of the Great Way of Youdu and become a living, breathing man.

" Tian Gong frowned and looked at him, somewhat perplexed. Tai Yi said, "You will succeed. " Joy appeared on Tu Bo's face.

Shen Mu, eager to try, raised his hand and said, "Fellow Daoist Tai Yi, will I succeed?

" Tai Yi did not answer.

Shen Mu said excitedly, "My wish is to advance the Way of the Sages, to make the gods serve man, to limit the power of the gods!

To bring harmony between men and gods, to let the Way born after Heaven develop and surpass the Way born before Heaven, to make the people prosperous, their talents employed, their studies fruitful!

To let the decadent Ten Celestial Venerables be cast aside, and let a constant flow of new blood and new people emerge!

Can I succeed?

" Tai Yi still did not answer.

Shen Mu frowned and was about to ask again, but Tai Yi had already closed his eyes and fallen asleep.

Shen Mu's eyes went wide; Tai Yi's snoring gradually rose, and Shen Mu said loudly, "Why do you not speak, Fellow Daoist?

Fellow Daoist, you live on my Great Black Mountain, and not only do you pay no rent, I ask you a question and you do not answer.

.

.

" Tian Gong and Tu Bo bowed to Tai Yi, then took hold of Shen Mu, one on each side, and bore him outward; Tian Gong grumbled, "Celestial Venerable Mu, how can you speak to Fellow Daoist Tai Yi in such a tone?

He is one who has attained the Way, one who has transcended—he is not to be slighted!

" Tu Bo also said, "He does not take offense at you, but you must not be so unbridled.

If word gets out, the whole world will revile you, and even I will have to note another mark against you in my little book!

" The two of them, brooking no argument, bore Shen Mu out of the holy hall; Shen Mu's hands and feet were cold, yet still he questioned toward the hall, "Fellow Daoist Tai Yi, can my wish succeed? Whether it can or cannot is but a nod or a shake of your head—why do you not speak? " The great hall abruptly lost all its radiant light and Dao light; Tai Yi had gone. Shen Mu was left crestfallen, as if he had lost something.

Tian Gong laughed and said, "Celestial Venerable Mu, Fellow Daoist Tai Yi lives right here with you; you will have ample opportunity to ask him in the future—why the hurry?

Fellow Daoist Tu Bo, what is the matter with you?

That you wish to break free of the bonds of the Great Way of Youdu, I can understand; but why turn yourself into a living man? Men have seven emotions and six desires, partings and reunions, births, age, sickness, death, and pain.

We Ancient Gods seek to break free of the bonds of the Great Way in pursuit of transcendence, not to bind ourselves with human feelings! Your Way has gone astray! " Tu Bo set Shen Mu down, and a faint smile appeared on his hideous face: "Fellow Daoist, you dwell on high; when you look upon the living beings of the world, you look down upon them.