Chapter 1315 — The Two Sages' Former Bond
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
After a long while, Yantian Fei lifted her brows and eyelids and said softly: "In my heart, Taichu was never fit to be Heaven Emperor. He was obstinate and self-willed, his power scorching the heavens; he would not rest easy until all authority lay in his own hands. And at that time, some thousand years and more before Longhan, I returned to my homeland to visit my kin, and on the road I met a youth, a human youth brimming with charm. He sat beneath a tree, comprehending the Dao."
Shen Mu listened quietly.
"How noble is my station? How splendid my phoenix-luan? How magnificent my carriage? Wherever I passed, heavenly flowers rained down, the gods encircled me in praise, and great gods, small gods, and the pettiest gods knelt to pay homage. Yet when I saw him, I could not help but order my carriage to halt."
Recalling the past, her face calm, Yantian Fei said: "He was entering the Dao and noticed my arrival not at all; he simply sat beneath the tree in stillness. From within him came a rhythm of the Dao that brought me peace, and before I knew it I had stood beside him and listened for a long while. I knew how lowly the human race was, and yet the human race was about to rise."
A wistful look came over her. "I seemed to see the future, to see the decline of the ancient gods and the flourishing of the humans, the demigods, and the other races. In that moment, I felt the urge to kill him."
Yantian Fei was silent a moment, then said: "Then he woke from his entering the Dao, opened his clear eyes, and looked at me, and the killing intent vanished. I invited him into my carriage, treated him as an honored guest, and traveled with him across the four seas, and on to Guixu. Later he comprehended the Primordial Embryo Divine Treasury and opened a new age. I witnessed the breadth of his mind and spirit, and I felt that he was more fit to be Heaven Emperor."
Shen Mu heard in her tone admiration, devotion, and love, and his own state of mind grew somewhat strange.
He had not expected Yu Tianzun to have such a past.
Yantian Fei said: "Later he died. I once wished to take out his corpse and bury him forever amid the lotuses of Guixu, so that he would never decay through all the ages. But his coffin was empty."
"I took it," Shen Mu said with a smile.
Yantian Fei fell silent again. She soon recovered the state of mind befitting a Tianzun and was no longer bound by emotion. "Hao'er's blood, in exchange for half the output of the lode?"
Shen Mu nodded.
Yantian Fei said coolly: "This palace also demands the return of my body, and of the body of that little wretch."
Shen Mu refused outright, shaking his head: "Your Highness, you are too insatiably greedy. The bodies of the Empress and of Yuanmu, how noble they are! I treasure them beyond measure. You would trade a mere half for their bodies? You are dreaming! I can add for Your Highness the body of Jue Wuchen!"
Yantian Fei shook her head: "What use have you for my body, or for that little wretch's? Return them to me, and I grant you half the output of this lode, which is already a boundless grace. The Creator gained only the Taichu lode, and was supreme in the cosmos for billions of years. With half a lode you have enough to make your human race supreme in the world and the head of the myriad races!"
Shen Mu laughed heartily. He laughed for a while, but Yantian Fei never took up the thread.
He had no choice but to stop laughing, and said gravely: "Your Highness, if the bodies of the Empress and of Yuanmu were joined, how mighty their power would be, Your Highness must know better than I. These two bodies of ancient gods are the key to obtaining the twin lotuses on a single stem in the great abyss of Guixu!"
Yantian Fei's eyes showed killing intent.
Shen Mu's eye-corner twitched violently, and he regretted his loose tongue.