Chapter 1630 — The Duel of Yun and Taichu

Taichu appeared beneath the Dao Tree of the One Qi Daluo Heaven, his gaze bent upon him; sensing that in so short a time Cloud Heavenly Venerable had raised the power of his fleshly body many times over, he could not help but show an expression of approval.

"Yun, you are the Heavenly Venerable I conferred. It was I who instructed you in those years to descend to the mortal world and establish the Xiaohan Heavenly Court in Yuandu; I even conferred on you the title of Celestial Emperor of the postnatal beings."

Taichu said with feeling, "And how did you repay me? You conspired with Hao Heavenly Venerable and lured me with a beauty trap, so that I lost the seat of Celestial Emperor. Yun, ah, Yun — I treated you generously. I saw the ambition in you to contend for the world, and so I nurtured you, yet you failed me again and again. Are all humans so untrustworthy?"

Cloud Heavenly Venerable madly stirred the power of the Dao Tree behind him; he reached out and grasped, a flash of sword light swept past, and the Taichu Imperial Sword fell into his hand. Solemnly he said, "Your Majesty ordered me to descend to the mortal world and establish the Xiaohan Heavenly Court, to rule the postnatal beings; then you ordered Hao Heavenly Venerable to descend and form the Longxiao Heavenly Court, to sow discord between us, to set us at odds and make us slaughter one another in battle. Your Majesty's intent was simply this: seeing the demigods and the postnatal beings rising day by day and the rule of the ancient gods no longer secure, you seized the chance to set us killing one another and wear down our strength. Even then I understood that to overthrow the ancient gods, I must first kill Your Majesty. If Your Majesty does not die, the ancient gods will surely rule the world forever, and the world will surely be dark forever!"

"So you joined hands with Hao Heavenly Venerable. You held the Heavenly Alliance, and to borrow the strength of the demigods to kill me, you had no choice but to give him half its authority."

Taichu sighed. "Yet he took the magpie's nest for his own, bit by bit devouring the Heavenly Alliance. Cloud Heavenly Venerable, after you overthrew me, did you ever regret it? Your Heavenly Alliance became the Heavenly Alliance of Hao Heavenly Venerable and the other Ten Heavenly Venerables. You overthrew the rule of the ancient gods, and after you came the demigods, ruling the myriad heavens and worlds in their turn. You humans and postnatal beings are still offerings; you have not escaped a fate of enslavement and blood sacrifice. Whether you overthrew me or not, there is no difference at all."

Cloud Heavenly Venerable sighed as well, then said solemnly, "There is a difference. Before, there was no hope; now there is. That is the greatest difference of all!"

Taichu laughed heartily and flicked his sleeve. "Hope? What an ethereal and ironic word — Cloud Heavenly Venerable, you call it hope that for a million years countless humans and postnatal beings have been washed in blood again and again, slaughtered again and again? You call the Longhan Calamity, the Chiming Calamity, the Shanghuang Calamity, the Kaihuang Calamity, and the Jingping Calamity hope? The postnatal beings are like leeks, cut down crop after crop — is that your so-called hope?"

Cloud Heavenly Venerable flicked the Taichu Imperial Sword with his finger; the sword rang out clear and rousing. "How is it not hope? Your Majesty, in those years we had not the strength for a single battle. In the Longhan Era, the postnatal beings had only a scant few powerhouses of the Imperial Throne. In the Chiming Era, Emperor Ming could fight his way to the very gates of the Southern Heavenly Gate. In the Shanghuang Era, Ling Yue shook the foundations of the Heavenly Court. In the Kaihuang Era, the Land of No Sorrow left the Ten Heavenly Venerables unable to eat or sleep in peace. And in this Jingping Era, Your Majesty, we can already stand as equals against the Heavenly Court."

Taichu's gaze fell upon the Imperial Sword in his hand, and he said slowly, "You postnatal beings are truly vermin; no matter how you are killed, you cannot be wiped out. Instead you come back to life again and again, each time stronger than the last. But you have no chance left now."

He surveyed the Divine Consciousness Daluo Heaven and sighed with feeling. "The Dao of Taichu divides into the primordial One Qi and Divine Consciousness. When Taichu attained the Dao, it became the Taichu Daluo Heaven, divided into the One Qi Daluo Heaven and the Divine Consciousness Daluo Heaven. I must attain the Dao of Taichu through your death."

A vertical eye in the center of his brows slowly opened, revealing a crystalline, radiant Taichu Prime Stone; the stone was missing half of itself. He smiled and said, "After you die, the two Daluo Heavens will merge, and I shall be the true Taichu."

"Your Majesty, so shall I."

Cloud Heavenly Venerable smiled faintly; a vertical eye in the center of his brows slowly parted its lids to either side, revealing a Taichu Prime Stone. Smiling, he said, "If Your Majesty dies at my hand, then I can borrow Your Majesty's One Qi Daluo Heaven and attain the Dao of Taichu. Your Majesty has the Taichu fleshly body; I have the Taichu Imperial Sword. Who will fall and who will stand, none can yet say!"

Taichu's pupils abruptly contracted. The Taichu Prime Stone in the center of Cloud Heavenly Venerable's brows was precisely the stone he had sought so bitterly and never found!

In those days Taidi's fleshly body had been smashed to pieces in the Chaos Sea, which the Chaos mineral vein had become; the Prime Stone fell into the Chaos Sea, and the Heavenly Venerables went to search for it, and yet not one of them obtained that stone!

Taichu had entered the Chaos Sea more than once to seek the stone's whereabouts, yet the Prime Stone had vanished without a trace, as though it had grown wings.

He did not know that Xu Shenghua had obtained the stone. Xu Shenghua carried it to Black Mountain Holy Land, and together with Lan Yutian comprehended the Dao of Taichu hidden within it; both of them reaped a rich harvest.

Not long ago, Cloud Heavenly Venerable had come to Black Mountain Holy Land to study; Lan Yutian taught him the new cultivation system, and when Xu Shenghua learned that he had obtained Taidi's Divine Consciousness Daluo Heaven, he gave him the Taichu Prime Stone, which enabled him to master the power of the Divine Consciousness Daluo Heaven.

Cloud Heavenly Venerable planted that stone in the center of his brows. With it, rousing the Divine Consciousness Daluo Heaven was far easier, and he could calmly marshal the power of the Daluo Heaven's Dao Tree and Dao Fruit.

"Your Majesty surely does not know why Herdsman Heavenly Venerable insisted that I go to Black Mountain Holy Land. I learned a great deal there. Besides the new cultivation system, I also obtained this Prime Stone. And more crucially, Kaihuang Shen Ye is in Black Mountain as well!"

Cloud Heavenly Venerable vibrated the Taichu Imperial Sword, his face solemn, his eyes fixed on the tip of the blade. "In the Longhan Era, besides impersonating Herdsman Heavenly Venerable, I also impersonated Kaihuang. In the early years of Longhan I caught a fleeting glimpse, and from their battles I comprehended their divine powers and dharma arts; I can imitate the divine powers and dharma arts of those two so exactly that the false passes for the true! And in Black Mountain Holy Land, with Kaihuang himself, foremost man of the sword Dao, instructing me, the might of the Taichu Imperial Sword in my hand may exceed even Your Majesty's imagining!"

Swoosh —

Cloud Heavenly Venerable swung his sword; the tip of the Taichu Imperial Sword pointed slanting downward. Behind him, purple qi filled the heavens, dyeing the Divine Consciousness Daluo Heaven like a supreme realm cast of purple jade.