Chapter 1642 — The Loving Mother and the Filial Son

"Mother, do not worry. I will surely bring the finest divine physician to treat your wounds!

" Heavenly Venerable Hao took Lady Yuanmu onto his back and rose up from the Great Abyss of Guixu, plunging into Youdu. Youdu lay shattered.

The Heavenly Venerable Xu, the Yin Son of Heaven, and the other gods who cultivated the demonic path were doing their utmost to set Youdu in order, trying to stitch its broken worlds back together. Yet without Tubo, they had no way to restore it. "Your Majesty's filial devotion moves heaven and earth.

A loving mother and a filial son, a model for all the world!

" When the Yin Son of Heaven saw Heavenly Venerable Hao approaching with his mother on his back, he hurriedly kowtowed, choking on his words: "What kind of beast, utterly devoid of conscience, would dare wound the Empress Dowager?

He deserves death ten thousand times over! " Heavenly Venerable Hao said, "It was that old villain, the Heavenly Venerable of Mu, who wounded my mother. " The Yin Son of Heaven was filled with righteous fury, his eyes nearly splitting with rage, and he cried hoarsely: "He has wounded my ancestral grandmother!

I swear never to share the same sky with him!

Your Majesty, I beg you to order a campaign against Jingping. I am willing to serve as the vanguard and strike down the traitor Mu! " Heavenly Venerable Hao shook his head.

"Zhaojin, I know your loyalty has always been as clear as the sun and moon. But a dead Jingping is not the best Jingping. The Heavenly Court may seem at the height of its glory, yet I have not ascended the throne, and my father still reigns. Should anything change, I will still need Jingping to forge divine weapons and peerless blades for me, to put down the disloyal. Besides, the Celestial Master Meng has submitted a memorial, telling me of disturbances across the myriad heavens and worlds, a chaos that may sweep over half of them all. I cannot afford to be caught off guard. " He sighed, a desolate air about him. "My martial might is unmatched under heaven.

But conquering the world depends on martial might; holding the world does not depend on martial might alone. And governing the world is harder still. The ancient gods who ruled the world by brute force were long ago overthrown. The overturned cart ahead is a warning I cannot ignore. So no matter what, I must take Youdu and Xuandu. These two places can keep my realm unshaken. " The Yin Son of Heaven bowed and said, "This humble subject is puzzled.

" Heavenly Venerable Hao said, "If the myriad heavens and worlds should rebel against me, Xuandu can send down natural calamities, cutting off their sun, moon, and stars, so that no crops grow and no grain ripens.

The rebels will starve for a hundred years or so, and die out on their own. And if there are those who create things, who build the Boat of Dawn and the Boat of Souls, then I will strike at Youdu, stripping away their lifespans outright and taking the ringleaders' heads, and all under heaven will be at peace. Still, such deterrence is not enough. I cannot wipe out a few heavens every time I please. If all the common people are dead, whom would I rule? " The Yin Son of Heaven suddenly understood, and said, "Your Majesty means that these common folk will keep devising new ways to rebel against Your Majesty, and so still stronger measures are needed? " Heavenly Venerable Hao's eyes flickered. "The Dao-fire of the Southern Pole Heaven can be transformed into a Dao-fire calamity that burns all things to ash, turning ten thousand leagues to barren waste.

The metal-qi of the Western Pole Heaven can be transformed into a calamity of war, making the common folk slaughter one another. A single drop of the divine water of the Northern Pole Heaven can become an ocean, turning the rebels into fish and turtles in the sea, and there are also the five great cloud-thunders to strike down these rioters. The Zhen Cauldron of the Eastern Pole Heaven, a single cauldron can reshape the geography of the world, making all the heavens quake and the mountains shake, burying the rebels.

A pity that none of these four places are in my grasp. " The Yin Son of Heaven was stirred inwardly. The Azure Dragon of the Eastern Pole, the White Tiger of the Western Pole, and the Black Tortoise of the Northern Pole were all ancient gods, unsubmissive folk who had always set themselves against the Heavenly Court. But the Vermilion Bird of the Southern Pole Heaven had already died at the hands of the Heavenly Venerable of Fire, and the Southern Pole Heaven had fallen under his control as well. The Heavenly Venerable of Fire could be called the foremost warrior under Heavenly Venerable Hao's command, always utterly loyal to him, his most devoted minister. So why did Heavenly Venerable Hao say that the Southern Pole Heaven, too, was beyond his grasp? Lady Yuanmu's breath was faint as gossamer, but she smiled and said, "The sky is high and the emperor far away. The Southern Pole Heaven is too distant from the Heavenly Court. The Heavenly Venerable of Fire is the Heaven Emperor of the South, the Heaven Emperor of the Southern Pole Heaven.

How could the Red Emperor Qi Xiayu ever contend with the Heavenly Venerable of Fire? In the South and the Southern Pole Heaven today, all they know is the Heavenly Venerable of Fire. Who has ever heard of the Heaven Emperor Hao?

" Heavenly Venerable Hao sighed. "Besides, the Heavenly Venerable of Fire is, after all, of the human race.

And his loyalty is suspect. When I met with misfortune in the Taixu Realm, and the traitor Mu hunted me until I had no road to heaven above nor door into the earth below, my dear minister Fire, who styles himself the foremost loyal subject, merely stood by and watched. He even sent men to seek out the place where I was healing my wounds.

His heart deserves death. " The Yin Son of Heaven could not help but shiver, and bowed, not daring to speak. At that time, Heavenly Venerable Hao had clashed with the Great Emperor in a fierce battle and nearly died. The various Heavenly Venerables in the Taixu Realm had all secretly dispatched many powerful figures to search for Heavenly Venerable Hao, intending to take advantage of his grave injuries and do away with him. Afterward, Shen Mu tracked down Heavenly Venerable Hao and pursued him sixty thousand li, shaming him utterly.

Even then, the Heavenly Venerable of Fire and the others had not lifted a hand to rescue him. All of them meant to use Shen Mu's blade to rid themselves of Heavenly Venerable Hao. At that time, the Yin Son of Heaven's station had been low, and he too had not dared to lend a hand. By bringing this up again, Heavenly Venerable Hao plainly meant to settle old scores once the harvest was in. "My dear minister Fire commands the mighty armies of the South.

Now that the world is at peace, if he hands over military authority, lays down his armor, and returns to his fields, I can grant him a lifetime of glory and wealth beyond exhausting.

" Heavenly Venerable Hao said, unhurried, "I am one who shares hardship and one who shares wealth. Whatever riches he asks, I can give him. Only the South and the Southern Pole Heaven are not to be given. Zhaojin, you are close to my dear minister Fire.

Go and advise him. " The Yin Son of Heaven assented. Heavenly Venerable Hao patted his shoulder and said with feeling, "If my dear minister Fire were a loyal and righteous subject like Zhaojin, I would be at ease.

Zhaojin, the Heavenly Venerable Xu is a Heavenly Venerable of the demon race, and all demons answer her call.

But after all, her energies are limited.

Zhaojin, you should help her with all your heart. Youdu is split into two halves; let one half be managed by you, Zhaojin. " The Yin Son of Heaven was moved to tears of gratitude, and hurriedly threw himself prostrate on the ground, so choked with emotion he could not speak.