Chapter 1494 — A Standoff Between Two Venerables
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
The Heavenly River rises in the Heavenly Sea, and when he had come halfway, he suddenly felt the sky growing hotter and hotter. He looked up at once, and saw a tall, towering Celestial Venerable standing before him, the fire of the Dao wheeling like a halo behind his head, his face caught between grief and joy, his gaze fixed upon him. "Huo?
" The youth's eyes met Celestial Venerable Huo's, and he paused for a moment, then his face broke into a smile. "Celestial Venerable Huo, is that you? " The muscle at the corner of Celestial Venerable Huo's eye twitched wildly.
He stared at the youth, dazed, and said in a hoarse voice, "Celestial Venerable Yu, Elder Brother, you really have come back to life. " His body shrank of its own accord, as though he had become once more that Celestial Venerable Huo upon the Jade Pool, staring blankly at the elder brother he had so admired.
That youth was Lan Yutian. At the sight of him his spirits soared; his gaze was warm, his bearing peerless beyond compare.
He laughed. "I have returned. Celestial Venerable Huo, I stole back my remnant soul.
The man I once was has come back! " Elated, he said, "Who would have thought that after a million years apart we two could meet again!
In this world the demigods still hold sway. What difference is there between the demigods holding sway and the ancient gods holding sway? We of the human race are still no more than their food! " His gaze burned with fervor; it seemed the mighty charisma of that Celestial Venerable Yu upon the Jade Pool had come again. His bearing stood out so far above the common, and yet it drew others close.
The air of a born leader! "Celestial Venerable Huo, I need you!
" Lan Yutian held out his hand, his words earnest beyond measure, utterly sincere. "Come, let us do this together!
For the sake of the human race, let us overturn this rotten world! " But Celestial Venerable Huo did not take the hand. The blazing fire in his eyes slowly dimmed.
He said softly, "Elder Brother Lan, the one I revered most in the past was you.
You were the leader of our human race, the elder brother of all the Celestial Venerables; with you as leader, not one refused to submit. We were all willing to follow you, to fight and slay at your side, even to spend our lives.
" Lan Yutian did not withdraw his outstretched hand, and still waited ardently for his answer. Celestial Venerable Huo choked.
"When you died, I swore a bitter oath that I would avenge you, that I would make the murderer who killed you pay blood for blood! But Elder Brother, your ideals are too empty, too ethereal, too idealistic!
What you wish to accomplish can never be achieved! You will only be killed again! " His voice grew louder and louder; the fiery wheel spinning behind his head whirled faster and faster, lashing up the surging waters of the Heavenly River, vaporizing them into thick mist that filled the river's course.
Lan Yutian frowned slightly. "Huo, so long as you and I are of one heart, so long as our human race is of one heart, there is nothing we cannot do. . .
" "No! It cannot be done! " Celestial Venerable Huo said loudly.
"The human race is born inferior to every other kind; it can never stand up on its own!
The human race cannot rely on its own strength. Only by leaning on the demigods, by clinging to them, can it possibly survive in this cruel world! Only my path is the right path!
The human race today lives countless times better than it did when you were its leader! Rebel against the Heavenly Court no more! " His manner was near madness; he all but roared at Lan Yutian: "Stop using your ideals to ruin the human race! You will only be killed again! And because of you, because of men like you, the human race will be plunged into disaster once more!
" He clenched his fists tight and said harshly, "Power.