Chapter 1757 — The Irreversible Decline

"You are Xing An.

" Jiang Baigui, Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, first saluted Bai Qu'er, the Sword God of Shanghuang, then saluted Yi Shisheng, and only then came before Xing An, eyed him once, recognized him, and said, "You aided the Sword God of Shanghuang and wiped out the Left Guard of Divine Strategy? " Xing An rose to his feet, his body tattered and torn and covered everywhere with wounds, yet he felt no pain at all, for this body of his was itself assembled, and every sense of pain had long been erased by his own hand. In truth, he seldom possessed human feeling at all.

The two sages of Jingping, each the wonder of five hundred years, stood face to face at last, and Xing An turned his head to study Jiang Baigui, finding his features hateful to look upon, and hateful most of all because they bore him some resemblance, a dislike he could not put into words. That loathing came from the light of reason and wisdom in Jiang Baigui's eyes, a light Xing An also carried, though the two had chosen different roads to walk.

"You have come late.

This battle, I fought in your stead. " Xing An looked away and said flatly.

Jiang Baigui nodded. "Now the Yuan Realm has become scorched earth, and Jingping is the last haven of peace.

Xing An, with all your learning, to guard Jingping is to guard the orthodoxy of your own future.

" Jiang Baigui's gaze likewise avoided him as he came to his left side, and they stood shoulder to shoulder yet facing opposite ways, saying, "The Heavenly Court is doomed beyond doubt, and one day Jingping's reforms shall spread across the whole Yuan Realm and all the heavens and worlds.

You have much to accomplish. " "You are a sage.

I am not. " Xing An shook his head and kicked the chest, saying, "I am only a seeker of the Dao. Whether Jingping wins or the Heavenly Court prevails, I can live on.

I despise the remnant humanity in my heart, for it makes me act irrationally, and this time I nearly destroyed the collection of so many years.

How could I do so a second time? Now that you have come, I shall leave Jingping and leave the Yuan Realm to seek another dwelling elsewhere. " "A sage? " Jiang Baigui laughed aloud. "Do you think there truly are sages in this world?

There are not.

What is called a sage born once in five hundred years is only the highest wisdom born within five hundred years, the single man of greatest wisdom. Men like you and me stand highest in wisdom in our own five hundred years, and even reckoned a million years backward or a million years forward, we remain among the very highest in wisdom. " Xing An turned sideways to look at him, suspicious. "So you understand that.

I thought you styled yourself a sage. Since you understand, you should know there are precious few in this world whom we can deem worthy of regard, for the whole world is full of fools, and thus we seem freaks, and to others we are monsters. We feel our conduct perfectly normal, but they find us too rational and inhuman. In truth humanity is but the display of stupidity. " Jiang Baigui turned, and the two at last stood face to face. "Yet there are sages in this world.

" Jiang Baigui said, "Sagehood lies not in birth but in word and deed.

I am not the sage born once in five hundred years, but I can become a sage.

" Xing An burst into laughter and shook his head. "Unity of knowledge and action?

Fool. What good will being a sage do you? Will it let you attain the Dao, or keep you from death?

You are not my equal. I am freer than you, and I have more ways to preserve my life. " Jiang Baigui smiled. "I have the Three Establishments. Establish instruction, so that Jingping spreads schooling far and wide and through all the land, that men be ignorant no longer and fawn upon gods no longer, that they know both what is so and why it is so, and their hearts shall naturally know neither fear nor dread. Establish words, which is to establish knowledge, to impart learning and teach understanding, for the body may rot and the soul may perish, but words can endure forever, and to know words is to know action.

Establish merit, which is what I do now, the great merit of advancing the acquired Dao, promoting economy and armament, and prospering all acquired beings, and the lesser merit of destroying the Heavenly Court. After the Three Establishments, I shall attain the Dao.

" Xing An listened quietly until he had laid out his creed, and after a moment said, "In this world there are too few of our kind. I admire you, but I do not agree with you.

No need to detain me, nor could you detain me. I am gone.

" He strode away, while the chest pattered over to Bai Qu'er's side, rubbed against the girl's leg in farewell, then hurried after Xing An.

Jiang Baigui watched him go into the distance, withdrew his gaze, and said, "Senior Bai, the soldiers of Shanghuang command reverence, but you need not trouble yourselves with the battles to come.

" Bai Qu'er shook her head. "This is the wish of Shanghuang through the ages, and my own wish as well.

" Jiang Baigui perceived her resolve and pressed her no further, saying, "Then let us set out at once.

" Yi Shisheng gathered the nine Shanghuang Heavenly Emperors into coffins, as if hoping these senior brothers of his might transform anew into corpse demons within the caskets, though that was all but impossible now. "Does the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping mean to go to Lanfeng Valley?

" Bai Qu'er asked. Jiang Baigui shook his head and said, "Lanfeng Valley is held by my master Wentian Ge, whose wisdom surpasses mine.

He can hold it. The true battle that breaks the deadlock is not at Lanfeng Valley, but at Xuandu.

" He looked upward, where countless suns were drawing away from Jingping, yet even so the air was searing, and many parts of Jingping had been baked to scorched earth.

Those suns wheeled like a revolving lantern, for Moon Tianzun and Langwan were straining with all their might to hold back the sun-guards and moon-guards of Xuandu, though they could not hold back so great a host entirely. "Youdu has already fallen into Jingping's grasp. If Xuandu falls into Jingping's grasp as well, the whole game is decided.

" Jiang Baigui said, "Even victory at Lanfeng Valley would be only a small victory, a bitter victory. My aim is not to block the Heavenly Court's assault, but to pull the Heavenly Court up by the roots! Xuandu is vital!

With Xuandu and Youdu in hand, offense and defense shall change places!

" Xing An led the chest toward a nearby spirit-energy transit bridge, as if talking to himself and as if speaking to the chest, saying, "The Yuan Realm no longer suits me.

Now Emperor Haotian and Taichu take me for dead, and Cult Master Shen's favor has been repaid. Heaven and earth are vast, and I may roam as I please. I owe no one anything.

" The chest followed him, its lid clattering open and shut, as if answering him in converse.

"For a moment's passion, a lifetime's collection turned to nothing. Your heart aches too, does it not?

" Xing An smiled.

Through Jingping's spirit-energy transit bridge he came to the other heavens, and looking about he could not help frowning, for in many heavens the people were fleeing, while the god and devil armies of the Heavenly Court seized the beings of the other heavens everywhere for food and plundered their wealth, fouling every heaven with smoke and disorder. Xing An passed through a dozen heavens and frowned again, for these heavens no longer suited his scholarship either. Some of the refugees fled to remoter heavens, some even fled to the Yuan Realm, and many gods and devils journeyed to Jingping, seeking alliance with Jingping against the Heavenly Court.