Chapter 1845 — Trampling Wuyai Underfoot

" Young Master Lingxiao said unhurriedly, "Three billion five hundred million years is still too long for you, but for us it is not so very long — we have waited for far, far too long a time.

In the end you could not hold back, and came to us of your own accord. " Young Master Zixiao said, "All these years you have taken the Ancestral Court upon your own shoulders and blocked and suppressed us, so that the Seventeenth Epoch would have ample time to develop. Yet these three billion five hundred million years are still too short for you.

Can three billion five hundred million years of the Seventeenth Epoch compare with the accumulation of trillions of years past?

I do not think so. " Shen Mu smiled faintly and said leisurely, "I think it can.

This time I propose that both sides call a truce; after I have rooted out Wuji and Wuyai, we two sides will contend for mastery.

By then it will be settled whether Miluo Palace wins or Jingping wins. And besides.

.

. " He said calmly, "I will give my two senior brothers a benefit.

When Wuyai dies and Wuji dies, I will not take a single share of their energy; I will leave it for you two senior brothers to use in a blood sacrifice to descend.

With Wuji and Wuyai, every Dao-attainer and hall master of Miluo Palace can descend, can they not?

" Young Master Lingxiao and Young Master Zixiao were rather moved, and the other hall masters and Dao-attainers too were whispering among themselves. Young Master Zixiao said, "Old Seven, you have never kept your word. How can I trust you?

" Shen Mu laughed heartily.

"The entire Ancestral Court is one great sacrificial altar; every dead thing within that great altar turns into blood-sacrifice energy. On my side I have Taishi, who can intercept a portion of it, but not much.

Only Elder Wuyai can steal the greater half from your hands.

If Wuyai dies, who could snatch the slightest bit from Senior Brother Lingxiao's grasp? " Young Master Zixiao looked toward Lingxiao, and Lingxiao nodded slightly. Young Master Zixiao said, "Old Seven, you have come here to tell us that while you fight Wuyai and Wuji, we are to do nothing — neither help you nor hold you back.

We need only wait to receive the power of the blood sacrifice and descend in our true bodies; even the whole Jade Capital City can descend. I wonder if I understand correctly? " Shen Mu lowered his head with a smile. "Yes.

" Young Master Zixiao stared at him, and after a long while said, "Your smile makes my blood run cold. Are you so confident that you and your reformers can stand against the accumulated strength of Miluo Palace's sixteen universes? " Shen Mu raised his head and smiled.

"Our teacher founded Miluo Palace and created a colossal thing, and in the end that colossal thing has all but ceased to obey him. I too once created a colossal thing, called the Heaven Alliance, and later I destroyed it with my own hands. Our teacher took the wrong path; he cannot bear to destroy Miluo Palace.

As his last disciple, then, I shall destroy it.

The Jingping Reform exists to overthrow everything rotten.

My two senior brothers, fellow Daoists — you have all rotted. " Young Master Zixiao stared fixedly at him. The eyes of the other hall masters and the Dao-attainers of Miluo Palace were fixed on him as well. The smile on Shen Mu's face did not change.

He said softly, "In this era, after I have dealt with you, I will return to the past to see our teacher and become his disciple.

I will also meet all of you, drink wine and make merry with you, and be your friend. If I lose this battle, I will kill you in the past; and if I cannot kill you, I will still leave behind layer upon layer of hidden measures. " He laughed aloud. "If I win this battle, you will live safe and sound down to the present, because I will no longer have any interest in dealing with you.

If you are afraid, we can keep dragging things out, all the way until the Great Cold Silence and the Great Void our teacher spoke of appear, and every Dao art and divine ability dissolves into the void.

" Young Master Zixiao's pupils suddenly contracted. The hearts of the other hall masters and Dao-attainers pounded wildly. They had met Shen Mu in the history of the past.

As the Seventh Young Master, Chaos, Shen Mu had an odd temper, but he had never fallen out with the others of Miluo Palace, nor ever raised a hand against them. Did this not mean that in the future, in this battle, they would be defeated and die here? "You really are afraid. " Shen Mu swept his gaze around. Silence all around. "Old Seven, this battle is an internal struggle within Miluo Palace.

" Suddenly Young Master Lingxiao spoke.

"It is an internal struggle born of the different paths taken by our teacher's disciples.

But our teacher's ideals — each of us holds to them in his own way. Is that not so? " Shen Mu's gaze fell upon him, and he nodded slightly. Young Master Lingxiao closed his eyes and said, "Good.

I agree. You may go and root out Wuyai and Second Sister. We carry the momentum of the sixteen epochs past, while you look to the future; this deadlock cannot last. Since it is an internal struggle, whoever wins, in the end the winner is our teacher.

You may go.

" Shen Mu rose and said gravely, "My two senior brothers, fellow Daoists, I will go and kill Wuyai first.

Once Wuyai is dead, you need not worry about who might steal the blood-sacrifice energy; you may descend as you please! " Young Master Zixiao frowned and looked toward Lingxiao.

Lingxiao flicked his sleeve and shut the hall doors.

"Let him go!

" Shen Mu left the Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court and returned to the golden ship of deliverance.

The ship was full of familiar faces, and he looked at these old acquaintances with a smile — some were his seniors, some his peers, and some were juniors who had later entered the Ancestral Court and attained the Dao.

Their expressions were stirred, as though they had a thousand words to say to him. "Everyone.

" Shen Mu said with a smile, "I will take you to trample Wuyai flat and root out the World Tree.

"