Chapter 1464 — The Blade Falls, Slaying the Netherworld Lord

Attaining the Dao.

That phrase was forever on the lips of the ancient god Taiji, and always spoken with envy in it. Kaihuang was not invincible; had they struck with all their strength, they could still have kept Kaihuang there. But the ancient god Taiji would not raise his hand again, and with only Yan the Heavenly Consort and a Lord Hao who would not show himself, she could not hold Kaihuang back either.

Yan the Heavenly Consort was somewhat bewildered: a postnatal being, envied by an existence such as the ancient god Taiji, whose origin was of the same order as the Heavenly Emperor Taichu — and he had said outright that Kaihuang was about to attain the Dao. "Can it be that our path truly was wrong?

" A hundred flavors churned in Yan the Heavenly Consort's heart.

Lord Yu had founded the Heavenly Palace cultivation system; Shen Mu and Lord Hao had transmitted the Dharma to all living beings in Lord Yu's stead; and the Heavenly Palace cultivation system had become the cultivation road of countless living things for the million years to come. Even Yan the Heavenly Consort was a seeker of the Dao upon that road; she had steeped herself in the Heavenly Palace system far too long.

When Kaihuang walked out of the Sorrowless Land he had said that he had founded the Dao Realm cultivation system, and at the time all Ten Heavenly Venerables took the Dao Realm cultivation system for a supplement to the Heavenly Palace system — they gave it some weight, but not much. And now the ancient god Taiji said outright that Kaihuang was about to attain the Dao, would attain it even before the ancient god Taiji himself; a hundred tastes wound through her heart, sour and bitter, and for a time she could not climb out from under that blow. Lord Gong rose unsteadily to her feet and looked back; Kaihuang was long since gone without a trace.

"Kaihuang would not come to kill me without cause. So who was it that set her on me? " Shen Mu's figure flashed suddenly before her mind's eye, and in her heart she had her answer.

She staggered into the air and fled in confusion back to her own Heavenly Palace, meaning to enter seclusion at once and rid herself of the wounds the sword Dao had left.

Then Lord Hao's voice pierced into her ear: "Kaihuang came to kill you at another's request.

Surely you can think of who that person is, Fellow Daoist Gong? You were the one who worked with all your strength to make Shen Mu the leader of the Heaven Alliance — and this ally of yours has betrayed you.

Can you bear it, Lord Gong? " At some unknown moment he had appeared within Lord Gong's Heavenly Palace, and he walked toward her step by step; the seals Lord Gong had laid down seemed wholly useless against him. Dimly, faintly, Lord Gong saw a shadow swaying behind him, but her wounds were too grave, and she could not make it out clearly.

Lord Hao came before her, and with a smile that was not quite a smile said: "Lord Gong, the Grand Emperor betrayed you, Taichu betrayed you, and your son — my elder brother, the Divine Emperor Langxuan — betrayed you too. And now Lord Mu, whom you counted an ally, has betrayed you as well.

Have you ever thought about why?

" Lord Gong swayed on her feet and said coldly: "I never took Lord Mu for an ally. He and I merely used each other. Nor did I share any deep feeling with the Grand Emperor; I married him because a union between the Nuxin clan and the Juyu clan would help suppress the other races.

I had no feeling for your father Taichu either — I only used him to take my revenge on the Grand Emperor. As for your elder brother Langxuan, he was merely the product of an accident. I have not the slightest feeling for him. " Lord Hao laughed: "That is why you are wounded again and again. Toward everyone you hold only a relation of use; you have no true allies.

How would anyone dare to give you their whole heart? " Lord Gong gave a cold snort and said nothing.

In her former life she had been a Primeval God King; in this life she was a Heavenly Venerable, high in station and heavy with authority — it would not do for her to bow her head and admit fault.

Lord Hao said with a smile: "You say over and over that you are not a Creator, that you no longer have a race.

But Lord Mu set Kaihuang to kill you — have you thought of the reason behind it? " Lord Gong suppressed the wound of the Dao and said mildly: "He is afraid I will go to see the God King Langwo.

" Lord Hao smiled faintly: "And will you go to see the God King Langwo?

" Lord Gong was silent a moment, then raised her head and said resolutely: "I will!

This battle at Xuandu is the perfect moment for me to go to the God King Langwo! I hold boundless power now, and yet among the Ten Heavenly Venerables I have always been alone, without allies. So I need the Creators — I need the strength of the Creator race, and I need Langwo to aid me! And most of all, I now have the means to keep the Creators alive! " "And more important still: in your heart you still take yourself for a Creator — for the God King Gongyun!

" Lord Hao stripped her heart bare in a single sentence, and said coldly: "You have never forgotten the glory of the Creators.

You have never forgotten that you are one of the Three Primeval Kings. You have never once abandoned your race. If you cannot forget your hatred for the Grand Emperor and Taichu, then all the less can you forget that you are a Creator! And now you are gravely wounded — you can no longer go to see Langwo.

" Lord Gong said, her voice astringent: "I need an ally.

.

. " "Wrong! " Lord Hao said coldly: "You need someone to whom you may swear fealty.

You need to submit! The you of before had room to haggle with me; the you of now no longer has that right! Come to me, bow to me, and I will heal your wounds, restore you to your peak, and send you to see the God King Langwo! " He stood before Lord Gong, held out his hand, and said in a tone that brooked no doubt: "If your Creator race is to live on in this universe, it can only be through me! Not through you, not through the God King Langwo, and least of all through Lord Mu!

I can return you to the glory of a God King; I can let you Creators reclaim the radiance of old! Kneel.

Bow to me.

Kiss the back of my hand, and I will pull you up out of your fall! " Lord Gong looked at the palm he held out, and again dimly saw that shadow behind him — and still could not make out its shape.

Her gaze dimmed.

On the Heavenly River, in the little boat, Shen Mu, Zaifu, Zhe Huali and Tian Shu roared with laughter, wild and unbridled, each of them holding a jar of wine, laughing until their eyeballs all but bulged out. "The Yin Son of Heaven!

" Tian Shu laughed until wine sprayed from his nostrils and his eyes, and gasped out: "This fellow founded the Nether Capital, and the Nether Capital is full of statues of Tubo — he even carved Tubo's face into a totem and painted it everywhere! " Shen Mu laughed until he could not breathe: "Every time he sees Di Yiyue he tucks his tail and runs, and still he swears up and down that he is not afraid of her! He has been a kept pretty-boy since the early years of Longhan! Even his Nether Capital's Heavenly Gate was finished for him by Di Yiyue.

The wretch fawned and flattered her shamelessly, and then on their wedding night he did her in — and stabbed her in the back, no less!

" "I hear he used his fair face to do in Lady Tianyin too! " Zaifu laughed until he could not breathe, and said in a voice like thunder: "Some even say he is a kept man of one of the palace ladies — surely not Consort Hao, Lord Hao himself?

" Zhe Huali shot two arrows of wine from his nostrils, laughing until he was beside himself: "Pig-sticker, didn't you see that sorry look on the Yin Son of Heaven? Look, look — his face has gone white again, and he is still pretending to watch the singing and dancing!