Chapter 1582 — The Emperor First Tests His Edge
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Lord Xiao looked down upon Lord Kai from on high. In the early years of Longhan, Shen Mu and Lord Kai had been enfeoffed by him as Lord Mu and Lord Shen; both had blazed briefly, then swiftly vanished.
Only Shen Mu, the Lord Mu, showed his face now and again in the history of Longhan, taking part in one great event after another.
Lord Shen, by contrast, vanished without a trace, never to appear again — until a human youth named Shen Ye rose from the ruins of the Supreme Emperor Era and founded Lord Kai's Heavenly Court. Only then did Lord Shen once more come before Lord Xiao's eyes.
In a mere twenty thousand years, Lord Kai had leaped up to become a fearsome adversary, forcing the Ten Heavenly Venerables to take action and wipe out the Era of Lord Kai.
Afterward Lord Kai sank into silence and hid himself in the Carefree Land, yet the Ten Heavenly Venerables still sent men ceaselessly to seek its whereabouts — because they knew that this man would surely rise again.
Every one of the Nine Heavenly Venerables of Longhan was no empty name; each had achieved greatly, deeds that shook heaven and earth.
"Shen Ye, have you attained the Dao?" Lord Xiao's fleshly body shrank, his expression grave.
Lord Kai did not answer.
Nor did he need to.
The aura that flowed from his body was the aura of pure sword dao, without a trace of impurity, giving one a sense of incomparable sharpness held in reserve.
Standing there, he was like a Great Luo Heaven of sword dao, supreme and indestructible, and at the same time he was like a scabbard, hiding its edge within his body.
When the edge does not emerge, no man is harmed.
When the edge emerges, it is vast as an ocean, sweeping all before it!
This was attaining the Dao — becoming the Dao!
To attain the Dao is not the same as to gain the Dao. Gaining the Dao means receiving the Dao; one's cultivation has depths, one's attainment has heights.
But attaining the Dao is becoming the Dao, and between the two lies a gulf as wide as heaven and earth.
Lord Xiao's face grew graver still, and even tinged with envy: in only forty thousand years, Lord Kai had attained the Dao!
Such a tiny human had spent merely forty thousand years to cultivate to the highest realm, while an existence like himself, born the mightiest of the ancient gods, had found attaining the Dao a hundredfold more arduous!
"In the old days of your era you propounded the acquired Dao, and held that the acquired Dao could stand as the equal of the innate Dao. When those words came out, the Heavenly Court deemed them absurd; even Lord Hao, Lord Hong and the rest of the Ten Heavenly Venerables judged it the greatest joke under heaven."
Lord Xiao swiftly suppressed the envy in his heart and shrank his body until he was about the height of Lord Kai. The two stood upon the God-Slaying Platform, yet behind Lord Xiao blazed a dazzling radiance.
The thirty-six heavenly palaces and forty treasure halls of his Heavenly Court flamed brightly, shrouding a vast extent, while his primordial spirit stood above the Lingxiao Treasure Hall; his fleshly body was immense, covering the whole Heavenly Court, his imperial might dominating all under heaven!
"At the time I too thought you a mere capering clown; but later I changed my view of you. Your sword dao is like a chapter of splendor — from the opening of the cosmos to this day, few under heaven can match it."
Lord Xiao could not refrain from praise. "With nothing but a single heavenly palace you cultivated the sword dao, opened up the sword dao, and in a scant twenty thousand years stood equal to the Ten Heavenly Venerables. More than once I have thought how wise I was: in the early years of Longhan I enfeoffed nine Heavenly Venerables, and every one of them achieved something extraordinary. Such discernment as mine — who among the wise rulers of the world could surpass it?"
Lord Kai was unmoved.