Chapter 1459 — Heaven's Will Has Always Favored Itself Alone

Shen Mu looked at him. After a moment, he smiled and said, "Someone once told me that the Heavenly Venerable You is too innocent. Had he not dwelt in Youdu, but instead taken part in this age of great contention, he would not have lived this long.

You — in deciding to walk out of Youdu, you place yourself amid deadly peril, with your life at stake. " In the past, every time the Heavenly Venerable You made his move, he did so with Youdu at his back, free to advance or to withdraw. In the battle at the Jade Pool of the Heavenly Court, when Shen Mu was shielded, the Heavenly Venerable You moved within Youdu; and in the battle at the Peach Grove against the Heavenly Venerable Xiao, he could likewise slip back into Youdu at any moment.

But if the Heavenly Venerable You were to go to Xuandu, he would be unable to evade his enemy's blows in time and return to Youdu; and that would make it perilous for him. The Heavenly Venerable You regarded him with a calm face and said, "Yet ever since the Heavenly Venerable Xiao was exiled, I have already begun to involve myself in the affairs of the world.

I hold territory in the Yuan Realm. " He spoke of the matter of his releasing Xie Wuqi and Ming Ya; it was by his backing that Xie Wuqi and Ming Ya had gained a foothold in the Yuan Realm.

From that time on, the Heavenly Venerable You had begun to take part in the strife, and could no longer keep himself apart.

Shen Mu was silent for a moment.

Knowing his mind, he said, "Lord Tu will not let you go forth to fight. He will not let you put yourself in danger. Lord Tu's ideal is to be rid of the identity of Lord Tu; he needs an impartial man to take his place. You are his choice — and in his heart, the next Lord Tu.

The next Lord Tu in Lord Tu's heart was originally you; later it was Shen Fengqing. He has all along been raising you and Shen Fengqing as candidates for the next Lord Tu.

" The Heavenly Venerable You said mildly, "Lord Tu and I have a bargain. I manage Youdu for him; he preserves the body of the Heavenly Venerable Yu and protects my mother's soul.

" Shen Mu asked, "And if something should happen to you — what of your mother?

" "She will live very well in Youdu.

" Shen Mu said no more. He strode away, and his voice came from afar: "The Heavenly Venerable Yue, Kaihuang, and Langwan will appear at Xuandu.

When that time comes, meet with them first. " He suddenly halted, thought for a moment, and said with meaning, "Beware the God King Langwan. Do not let her come into contact with the Heavenly Venerable Gong. If the Heavenly Venerable Gong remains in the Heavenly Court and takes no part in the battle of Xuandu, then let it be; but if she does take part, she will surely seek out the God King Langwan.

And if Langwan and the Heavenly Venerable Gong do come into contact, you must guard against a change in the situation.

" The Heavenly Venerable You was slightly startled, then nodded silently. Shen Mu departed: "Go back.

Have Lord Tu release the Heavenly King Tian Shu and the others.

In the battle of Xuandu, I will need their help.

" The Heavenly Venerable You smiled, put away his paper figures and paper horses, and drifted off aboard his paper boat. Shen Mu waited until he had returned to Youdu, then halted and pondered carefully for a while, and shook his head.

The God King Langwan — the goddess of his former dreams, flawless and perfect.

Yet Langwan would not be moved by old affection, nor would she embrace friendship. She took the interests of her race as her supreme principle, and would judge in favor of her race under the influence of circumstance. If the Heavenly Duke died, Shen Mu's faction would lose its strongest being, and the balance of power with the Ten Heavenly Venerables would be broken. Then, meeting the Heavenly Venerable Gong, she would easily be persuaded by her, would conclude that Shen Mu's side could not possibly overcome the Ten Heavenly Venerables, and would join the Heavenly Venerable Gong's camp.

The Heavenly Venerable Gong, once one of the Three Kings of the Primordial Age and now one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables — with her maneuvering, it was not impossible that the God King Langwan might become one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables. In that case, to win merit, the God King Langwan would strike ruthlessly at those who had once been her own; and against her ambush, Kaihuang and the Heavenly Venerable Yue would likely find no escape.

The Creator race might even move against the Carefree Land! The God King Langwan was once the object of Shen Mu's love; to take precautions against her grieved him deeply, yet he had no choice but to do it.

Another month or more passed, and at last the Heavenly Court descended in full upon the Ancestral Court.

The boundless Heavenly Court floated above the Ancestral Court, radiating a divine might that shook heaven and earth. The Heavenly River, too, changed its course along with the Heavenly Court and returned to the Ancestral Court.

In the Primordial Age, the Heavenly River had been the most important river of the Ancestral Court; now it merely returned to where it had once been. Yet the return of the Heavenly River wrought changes in the configuration of the cosmos whose consequences ran deep.

First, the many heavens that had been established along both banks of the Heavenly River suffered a great upheaval. Their stars had once moved in accordance with the tides of the Heavenly River; with the river's course changed, the stars at once fell into disorder, and natural calamities came without cease upon those heavens.

The common people were driven from their homes, and the dead and injured were beyond counting.

Second, the Heavenly River had once passed through one heaven after another of the Yuan Realm. With its course changed, those heavens too altered their trajectories, torn and dragged by the river. Some heavens were fortunate: many powerful deities, when the Heavenly River changed course, held star after star in place, and the common people suffered little harm.

But other heavens were not so lucky; they were torn apart outright by the Heavenly River, becoming fragments adrift in the cosmos, with countless cold corpses floating in the starry void. No one dared to complain.

The change in the Heavenly River's course turned the Great Marsh of the Ancestral Court into a vast ocean. This place had once been the birthplace of Xuandu; Xuandu had risen from here, climbing ever higher, until it became the most boundless of heavens. After the Primordial Age, from which the Creators had come, ended, the Heavenly Court had captured the Heavenly River, turning that Heavenly Sea which had nurtured Xuandu into the Great Marsh. Now the Heavenly Sea was restored, vast and deep.

If one stood upon the sea and gazed into its waters, one could see the reflection of Xuandu within.

This was the domain of the Heavenly Venerable Hong. The Great Marsh as it had been could hardly be called a treasured land, yet the Heavenly Venerable Hong had chosen it; and now the change in the Heavenly River's course had made it the Heavenly Sea, and in an instant it had become immeasurably rich.

The surging vitality and strange rules of the Heavenly Dao hidden within the Heavenly Sea emerged; the Great Marsh leapt at a bound to become one of the most conspicuous holy lands of the Ancestral Court! This move of the Heavenly Venerable Hong made the other Heavenly Venerables look at him askance, and they could not but admire his deep-laid cunning.

The most far-reaching consequence of the Heavenly River's change of course was that the Heavenly River had at last returned to Xuandu.

The Heavenly River poured on in mighty flood, rushing out from the Ancestral Court toward the zenith of Xuandu, tracing a graceful arc, piercing through Xuandu to form an unclosed circle, then flowing down from Xuandu into the Yuan Realm.