Chapter 1736 — The Marquis's Young Lord Chances Upon the Divine Palace Envoy

At the sight of this ancient god, Xu Shenghua raised the iron bucket in his hands, and under the curious gaze of that god, this quiet and refined man lifted the bucket before his very eyes and drank its water down in one draught! "Lingsheng of the Lingguan Palace of Miluo Palace greets Fellow Daoist Xu.

" Behind the ancient god's head his Dao fruit revolved, giving off a clear and tranquil music of the Dao, and he asked with curiosity: "Fellow Daoist Xu, the water in your bucket should be Dao dew from the Taiyi Dao tree, is it not?

This Dao dew is the treasure you use to repair the Great Black Mountain, so why have you drunk it all clean in one go? " He could not help laughing: "The Seventh Young Master left you to guard this place to mend the cracks in the World Tree, lest prehistoric powerhouses stow away through them, yet you have drunk the Dao dew dry, so how will you answer to him?

" "In truth, I drink it every day. " Xu Shenghua set down the iron bucket and said earnestly: "For these thirty years I have drunk Dao dew every day, mending one mountain fewer each day.

" Lingguan burst into laughter: "The Seventh Young Master does not know men, appointing kin over worth, placing a self-serving cheat here to watch the World Tree, how could anything be accomplished?

" While refining the Dao dew, Xu Shenghua studied this ancient god who called himself Lingsheng, noting his travel-worn look and the faint morning dew still clinging to him, and judged he must have journeyed through the night to reach the outskirts of the Great Black Mountain, yet had not dared enter the mountains by night.

The Great Black Mountain was most peculiar.

By night the world outside showed the dreadful aspect of a universe in ruin, returning to normal only by day, so to enter the mountains at night was a most perilous thing. Never go out after dark was common sense among the dwellers of the Great Black Mountain, and this man called Lingsheng must know it too.

"The reason I drink down a portion of Dao dew each day is to solve a difficult problem.

" Xu Shenghua explained patiently, though he had no need at all to explain anything to a clone of Lingguan, yet his nature made it so.

To be with Xu Shenghua, whether friend or foe, was like bathing in a spring breeze, for this man was gentle and courteous, modest and considerate of others, and therein lay the charm of his character.

Those who kept company with Shen Mu all wished to knock Shen Mu down and trample him underfoot, even his closest kin wished to hang him up and give him a sound whipping.

Those who kept company with Xu Shenghua, by contrast, felt a respect from the heart, wishing they could lay down all grudges to drink and talk freely with him, cup against cup.

"What I seek to solve is that the Ancestral Court has become a vast blood-sacrifice altar, where the dead are offered up to the past universe.

" Xu Shenghua spoke with great seriousness: "From the primeval age until now, ever since there has been life there has been unceasing death, and whether by natural calamity or by violence, the dead have been blood-sacrificed and turned to energy flowing to the past universe.

By this day the stored energy has grown terrifying.

Fearing lest the young masters of Miluo Palace seize the chance to descend, I have tried drinking down a portion of Dao dew each day and releasing one prehistoric stowaway to descend each day.

" Lingguan was astonished and mused: "What you do does indeed solve the problem of exchanged energy, yet it has one flaw, for prehistoric stowaways will slaughter on all sides and wreak destruction, causing still more energy to be blood-sacrificed to the past. Would that not hasten the descent of Miluo Palace? " "That is why every night I face a battle.

" Xu Shenghua explained patiently: "Cult Master Shen bade me guard this place, telling me only to hold it well, without detailed orders as to how, so my latitude is great. Thus I choose each day to release one powerhouse of the past universe.

So long as they die here before they walk out of the Great Black Mountain, they will not stir the blood sacrifice of the Ancestral Court.

" Lingguan's expression shifted slightly: "How long have you done this? " "Since the defeat at Youdu and the death in battle of Kaihuang Shen Ye, until now eleven thousand seven hundred and forty-two days. " Xu Shenghua raised his hand toward range upon range of mountains: "These black mountains, at the foot of every one lies a grave mound, a tombstone I raised for them, wherein these prehistoric fellow Daoists are buried.

" Lingguan turned to look where his finger pointed, his face changing greatly, for he saw the countless peaks on the rim of the Great Black Mountain already covered in green growth, trees dense and lush, the desolation of former years gone, and at the foot of the mountains grave mounds standing in ranks, each with its stone tablet before it.

Some tablets bore names, others were blank.

Eleven thousand seven hundred and forty-two grave mounds. The corner of Lingguan's clone's eye twitched, for in these thirty years every prehistoric powerhouse who had stowed away here had been slain by this young man before him and buried here!

And his drinking down a portion of Dao dew each day was to raise his own strength to meet greater perils ahead! This young man's conduct was far more meticulous than that of the Seventh Young Master Shen Mu, and more patient besides!

What Xu Shenghua did each day was monotonous, catching Dao dew by night and killing one stowaway, mending the black mountains by day and burying the stowaways, raising graves and stones for the dead, the same for thirty years without a day's change!

"No wonder the other Enlightened of Miluo Palace have never been able to descend.

" Lingguan breathed out a turbid breath: "In these thirty years wars have raged without cease, countless lives lost.

And I have moved the great blood-sacrifice formation to the Yuan Realm, thinking to let more Enlightened of Miluo Palace descend, yet through these years they have never come, never guessing it was you making mischief here.

Each night you draw out one prehistoric stowaway, thereby spending the exchanged energy, and the Enlightened of Miluo Palace are stronger and need still more exchanged energy, so they cannot descend.

You are clever! Then just now when you saw me you drank up all the Dao dew on your own, because you knew I had come to kill you?

" Xu Shenghua nodded: "You are strong, know the Great Black Mountain well, and bear a Dao fruit, so I have no full assurance of dealing with you.

If I died by your hand, the Great Black Mountain would become a passage for prehistoric powerhouses, with who knows how many stowing over each night. If I live, I may yet rely on my soaring strength to oppose them, so I chose to drink all the Dao dew. " Lingguan smiled in praise: "You are a thorny man, and a clever one. That this seventeenth-universe age should have birthed both the utterly wicked Seventh Young Master and such a man as you astonishes me. Are the grace and the evil of heaven and earth all gathered in you two?

" "The Cult Master is not an evil man, to you he is evil, to us he has given too much. " Xu Shenghua said gravely: "There are not a few others like Cult Master Shen and me, such as Lan Yutian, Yun Tianzun, Kaihuang, Hua Xuanxiu, and more, not only we two. That the seventeenth-universe age has so many talents is not because grace gathers in us, but chiefly because there has been no invasion by your prehistoric Enlightened.

" Lingguan raised an eyebrow. Xu Shenghua went on: "This is the merit of Taiyi.

Taiyi barred you in the sixteenth age, and without your invasion the seventeenth-universe age could grow, gaining broader space, longer history, and deeper accumulation, thus erupting in these last million years.