Chapter 1617 — Tumult Among the Myriad Heavens

Shen Mu and Long Qilin made their way by twists and turns to the Qingyang Realm. Qingyang was one of the larger heavenly worlds among the myriad heavens, and it was exceedingly prosperous.

By rights, a single spirit-energy translocation bridge should have carried them straight to the Qingyang Realm. Yet Shen Mu and Long Qilin had first crossed over to the Wanbu Realm, then detoured from Wanbu to the Youhe Realm, and only from Youhe entered Qingyang. "Why must we go through so many detours?

" Shen Mu could not help but wonder aloud.

"Every time a merchant ship passes through a realm, it must pay a transit tax, and its cargo must be unloaded and inspected—a waste of both time and effort. Why not simply build a spirit-energy translocation bridge linking directly to the Qingyang Realm, to make travel convenient? " Long Qilin said, "All the myriad heavens and worlds are ruled by the Heavenly Court, and only the Heavenly Court has the right to build spirit-energy translocation bridges between realms. Most of the heavens that trade with Jingping must pass through worlds like Wanbu and Youhe.

Did you not see the divine cities near the translocation bridges just now, Master? Barracks are stationed there, garrisoned by the Heavenly Court's armies. Half of the taxes collected here must be handed over to the Heavenly Court. " Shen Mu thought it over. There had indeed been heavy guards posted beside those translocation bridges. "The goods are squeezed layer after layer by the Heavenly Court.

The Heavenly Court skims far too much profit from this, leaving merchants with scarcely any gain.

" Shen Mu said, "In the short term it is tolerable, but over time the heavenly coins flow back to the Heavenly Court. Jingping's exports remain unaffected, yet the other heavens grow ever poorer.

If every world could have a spirit-energy translocation bridge connecting it to Jingping, bypassing the Heavenly Court. . . " "Then the Heavenly Court would fight Jingping to the death," Long Qilin said with a smile.

Shen Mu laughed heartily.

If every realm had a spirit-energy translocation bridge linking it to Jingping, the Heavenly Court would indeed fight Jingping to the death—yet this was something that still had to be done in the future. Shen Mu journeyed through the Qingyang Realm.

Qingyang was a world ruled by demigods; the demigod races stood high above, while other races could only perform hard labor. As he traveled about, he saw that disorder had already taken root here.

The high demigods held all the world's resources in an iron grip, wallowing in pools of wine and forests of meat, while the low demigods, like the other races, lived in bitter poverty, their livelihoods withered and their voices thick with grievance. And because these demigods had once basked in ancestral glory, they had grown lazy, unwilling to tend to the livelihood of the lower races, and so sank ever deeper into destitution. Along the way he had seen no fewer than a dozen bands of roving outlaws plundering wherever they went.

The ruler of Qingyang sent troops to suppress them, but no sooner was one band wiped out than another rose elsewhere. He came to the seat of power in the Qingyang Realm, a massive divine city resplendent in gold and glory, thronged with gods, luxurious beyond measure—utterly unlike the chaos Shen Mu had witnessed along the road.

The gods indulged in debauchery, song and dance filled every corner, and military readiness had grown slack. Shen Mu took Long Qilin and left the Qingyang Realm, making his way to another mid-tier heavenly world, the Fengxiao Realm.

Scarcely had they entered Fengxiao when they came upon two armies at war. The ruler of Fengxiao had already been routed by rebel forces, and many divine and demonic armies had turned against the ruler, rising in revolt one after another.

Unable to hold out, the ruler of Fengxiao went to the Heavenly Court to beg for aid.

The Heavenly Court dispatched a great army to crush the rebellion, and the killing raised beacon smoke that rolled across the sky.

Shen Mu and Long Qilin then arrived at the Getai Realm. Getai appeared entirely peaceful, yet his keen senses perceived the undercurrents surging beneath that calm.

Grumbling was widespread among the common people, and a catastrophe stirred restlessly, waiting to break. Shen Mu passed through one heavenly world after another, and he saw that, with the advent of the spirit-energy translocation bridges and the rise of Jingping's coinage, the standing of these worlds had shifted imperceptibly.

Some heavens had declined as heavenly coins flowed outward, their people barely scraping by, surviving only by selling off mineral deposits—yet the wealth pooled in the hands of the gods and demons who held power.

Some heavens still preserved their former luster, not yet crushed by Jingping's coinage. And some heavens had become a link in Jingping's economy; these instead rose gradually and began to seek greater profit.

The declining sank into internal strife and self-consumption; the rising wanted more power. And the key to all of it was the heavenly coins. "The Heavenly Court can indeed mint heavenly coins without limit, but the reason heavenly coins have value lies in their being backed by the Heavenly Court's credit.

Were it to mint them without limit, the coins would be worth nothing at all. " Shen Mu said with a smile, "Because it cannot mint without limit, the total supply of heavenly coins is finite.

With that supply finite, Jingping and the newly rising heavens have risen up and siphoned off the wealth of the surrounding heavens, and the Heavenly Court's own heavenly coins dwindle in trade.

To sustain its rule, the Heavenly Court must keep a certain total supply of heavenly coins, and so it can only draw money from other heavens.

Yet it must also use heavenly coins to buy goods from Jingping—and so it can only keep draining the other heavens to prolong its own life.

" Long Qilin said, "Draw and draw, and the Heavenly Court will suck the other heavens dry, and so disorder breeds.

Many heavens that can no longer survive are already showing signs of rebellion against the Heavenly Court. " Shen Mu walked through the Yuhu Realm and looked about at the fires of war raging everywhere. "The Heavenly Court has built a vast system," he said.

"The myriad heavens and worlds shield and support it; whether willingly or not, they must swear loyalty to the Heavenly Court. The Heavenly Court has formed an alliance that seems unbreakable! In this alliance, the Heavenly Court leads, and all the heavens must obey its summons, supplying it with every kind of resource—including manpower! The finest geniuses of the myriad heavens all go to the Heavenly Court to seek their own advancement, to become lords above others! Under such conditions, the Heavenly Court grows stronger and stronger! The other heavens, with only one or two geniuses apiece, have no power to overturn the sky, no power to contend with this alliance!

For Jingping to rise under such circumstances is all but impossible. However many geniuses it produces, it cannot match the myriad heavens and worlds combined—unless this seemingly unbreakable alliance is shattered!

Striking at it through the economy is the simplest path. This is no covert scheme, but an open stratagem. " He walked through the ruins. "An open stratagem is forthright and honorable," he said.