Chapter 1823 — The Primordial Chaos Embryo

The Heaven-Opening Host's Dao arts and divine powers were not merely a matter of some accomplishment; had it been mere accomplishment, it would not have sufficed to wound Shen Mu. In the past, even the gravest Dao wounds Shen Mu had suffered, he had been able to heal himself. He had even been praised by the Young Master of the Miluo Palace as the man least likely to be killed!

The last person who had been able to wound him and leave a wound that would not heal was the Third Young Master, Ling Xiao.

The Heaven-Opening Host's cultivation was certainly far inferior to that of Young Master Ling Xiao, yet they could wound Shen Mu, and the wound could not be healed—which showed that they had already walked a very long way down that road.

"But they have gone astray. " Shen Mu said abruptly, "The reason those few of the Heaven-Opening Host blocked me on the river was to teach me a lesson.

They probably resent me for not having merged you with the Heavenly Capital, and at the same time they had some notion of showing off their divine powers to me.

Their divine powers and Dao arts did indeed catch me off guard, but once I grew used to them, I immediately sensed that their road had gone astray. " Tai Yi examined the Dao wounds on his body carefully and said, "They have indeed all gone astray. The rune Dao that the Master of the Miluo Palace founded uses Hongmeng runes to expound all the Daos under heaven, blending them into one, attaining the level of Primordial Unity. For sixteen cosmic epochs, no one has been able to surpass him in this regard. The way Fellow Daoist Ling and I thought of to surpass him was to completely abandon the rune Dao and use no runes at all.

" The Fellow Daoist Ling he spoke of was Heavenly Venerable Ling. At that time Tai Yi was still the Lord of the Heavenly Capital, and together with Heavenly Venerable Ling and a host of the Heaven-Opening Host, he had attempted to leap beyond the rune Dao founded by the Master of the Miluo Palace. They had thought of many methods, but before they had researched any result, the Seventh Epoch had already shown signs of the Great Destruction. Afterward, the Master of the Miluo Palace came three times to discuss matters, but the Lord of the Heavenly Capital, absorbed in their research, paid him scant attention. When the Master of the Miluo Palace came the fourth time, he struck and killed the Lord of the Heavenly Capital.

Although Heavenly Venerable Ling had saved the Lord of the Heavenly Capital's primordial spirit, Tai Yi was not the Lord of the Heavenly Capital.

His state was exceedingly strange; the way he thought about problems and the way he solved them were all different from those of the Lord of the Heavenly Capital. Tai Yi had once suspected that Heavenly Venerable Ling had tampered with him when saving him, but whether that was truly so, there was no way to know.

"But in any case, the Master of the Miluo Palace's rune Dao is the orthodox path, and that cannot be denied. " Tai Yi continued, "The Dao wounds the Heaven-Opening Host left on you seem terrifying, but every one of them has walked to an extreme.

They may deny the runes founded by the Master of the Miluo Palace, but they should not deny the Dao. " He frowned and said, "The Dao auras in your wounds are each exceedingly bizarre and strange—they are the things those people have concocted for themselves after denying the Daos of the world. " Shen Mu nodded.

It was precisely because he had never seen them before that he was caught off guard and wounded by those few of the Heaven-Opening Host. But once he had reacted, those few of the Heaven-Opening Host found it difficult to wound him. "Creating the Dao of heaven and earth out of nothing is very similar to the Jingping Reform.

" Tai Shi could not help saying, "Fellow Daoist, the Jingping Reform created many kinds of acquired Daos. Is what they do any different from the Heaven-Opening Host?

Some have even used acquired Daos to cultivate into Dao-achievers.

" The person he spoke of was the Kaihuang Shen Ye; Kaihuang Shen Ye had attained the Dao through the sword Dao, and his realm had reached the level of a Palace Master. "The essence is different. " Before Tai Yi could answer, Jiang Baigui explained, "The Jingping Reform created Daos that had never existed between heaven and earth, but their foundation, without exception, was runes.

The sword Dao seems to have no runes, but in truth every basic sword form is a sword Dao rune. The same is true of the saber Dao, the formation Dao, architecture, calligraphy and painting.

The acquired Daos also walk the road of the rune Dao founded by the Master of the Miluo Palace.

" Tai Yi continued, "The Heaven-Opening Host are different; they have completely abandoned the system of the rune Dao.

In Fellow Daoist Mu's Dao wounds, there are no foundational runes.

" Tai Shi suddenly understood. "The road they walk must be to seek out a world of the heavens, destroy it, reduce it to chaos, and then again and again open the heavens, destroy the world, open the heavens once more and destroy the world again, testing their various ideas. " Shen Mu said, "From their divine powers I sensed all kinds of terrifying thoughts; these thoughts make one's blood run cold and fill one with dread.

They. .

.

" He frowned and continued, "I cannot sense any humanity in their thoughts. But neither is it divinity or demonic nature. The thoughts hidden in their Dao divine powers—I can no longer describe them as human, divine, or demonic. " "This is the Heaven-Opening Host. " Tai Yi sighed and said, "It is also the reason I was unwilling to come into contact with them after returning to the past.

After all, they were once my fellow Daoists. " Through experiment after experiment, the Heaven-Opening Host had become something he no longer recognized.

"Evil.

" Kaihuang said abruptly, "They must be evil! " Tai Yi shook his head. "Not evil—evil cannot describe their state of mind either.

There is no evil intent in their hearts. " Heavenly Venerable Yue could not help saying, "Then Sister Ling.

. . " Heavenly Venerable Ling was her best friend, and the words of Shen Mu and Tai Yi made her worry for Heavenly Venerable Ling as well.

"Fellow Daoist Ling's talent is exceedingly high; she may not have fallen into such a state of mind.

" Tai Yi was not certain either, and said, "I have always felt that her talent is one of the few that can keep pace with mine. " Shen Mu coughed.

Tai Yi shook his head.

"You do not; you are a little short.

" Lan Yutian and Xu Shenghua smiled, and Tai Yi said, "You are a little better than Fellow Daoist Mu, but still a little short.

" Xu Shenghua said, "As long as I am a little better than Sect Master Shen, I am already satisfied.

" Shen Mu snorted and said displeasedly, "Fellow Daoist Tai Yi has still not answered my question.

If the Heaven-Opening Host come to you, how will you respond?

Will you become the Lord of the Heavenly Capital and the leader of the Heaven-Opening Host, or will you stand with us?

" "I will not let them descend. " Tai Yi paused, then suddenly laughed.

"I am Tai Yi of the Seventeenth Epoch, one of the Innate Five Greats, and I have the duty to protect this universe—a duty I cannot shirk.

" "Well said!

" Tai Shi hastily applauded. Shen Mu breathed a sigh of relief; what he needed was Tai Yi's declaration.

Otherwise, if the Heaven-Opening Host attacked and Tai Yi defected to the enemy, it would be dire indeed.

Ling Yuxiu said worriedly, "Then the wounds on your body. . .

" Shen Mu laughed.

"All along the way I have been pondering how to deal with these Dao wounds. Though I have not yet figured out the principles of the Dao arts contained in the wounds, I thought of the method to erase these wounds on the road; it is only that I wanted to keep the Dao wounds to meet Fellow Daoist Tai Yi, which is why I have not removed them all this time.