Chapter 1587 — Long Parted, At Last Reunited
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Within the Great Luotian of Divine Consciousness, Shen Mu watched Ling Tianzun depart, and at last his heart settled.
Ling Tianzun's cultivation was comparatively weak, her Immutable Divine Art no longer invincible, and with her at his side he could hardly fight with a free hand.
Now that she had gone, he could finally cast aside all scruple.
The Golden Ship of Deliverance came howling back; Shen Mu soared up and landed upon the ship, and saw that Taidi, matched against Kaihuang, Hao Tianzun, Xiao Tianzun and the Goddess of Tai Su, had beaten all four until they spat blood again and again; even Kaihuang was wounded. Taidi had no foe who could withstand a single exchange.
"After attaining the Dao there should be three realms: the Dao Tree, the Dao Flower and the Dao Fruit.
So Taidi stands in the realm of the Dao Fruit, while Kaihuang stands in that of the Dao Flower. " Shen Mu did not join the battle at once.
His eyes flickering, he steered the Golden Ship in sweeping circles through the Great Luotian of Divine Consciousness, high and low, searching out Taidi's flaw.
Taidi had been plotted against by the Primordial Sage of Miluo Palace, so that his attainment of the Dao was not a true one; by rights, mighty though he was, he must also carry within himself a flaw of great size. Otherwise Taidi would never have gone to such lengths to devour Xiao Tianzun and the Heavenly Emperor's fleshly body, seeking to be rid of the ills brought on by attaining the Dao through sacrifice.
That he was trapped here within the Great Luotian of Divine Consciousness, able to send down into the world only a sliver of his divine consciousness, was surely one manifestation of that flaw. The Golden Ship of Deliverance came beneath Taidi's Dao Tree, where ten thousand roots whirled and danced; savage as the slaughter above might be, here all was still.
Of a sudden Shen Mu started slightly, and then his face lit with astonishment and delight.
"Mu Tianzun, Yun and Mu never met.
Through all of history we never once had the chance to meet and speak at length; who would have thought we should meet here, and under such circumstances.
" Amid the close-woven coils of roots, Yun Tianzun sat very quietly. He was a primordial spirit, bound fast by the roots of Taidi's Dao Tree; roots covered his body, piercing into his primordial spirit.
His gaze was still gentle, resting upon Shen Mu, seemingly not in the least embarrassed by his own plight, nothing at all like a prisoner. He smiled and said: "Today, at last, I have seen you, and can hold forth with you at length.
" Shen Mu laughed heartily and drove the Golden Ship toward the roots of the Dao Tree. The roots came twisting toward him one after another, and Shen Mu urged the ship to evade them, yet the roots of the Dao Tree were infinitely soft and infinitely tenacious; even he could not cut them through. These roots were like another Taidi, their attacks strange and vicious, keeping him from drawing near to Yun Tianzun.
Of a sudden Yun Tianzun rose. The Dao Tree roots coiled about him slipped away of themselves, and he strode toward Shen Mu, smiling: "Mu, do you know why I can keep my primordial spirit from perishing even within the Great Luotian of Divine Consciousness? " Shen Mu noticed that roots by the dozen linked Yun Tianzun's primordial spirit to his back, roots that had sunk deep into Yun Tianzun's body, fusing him into one body with Taidi's Dao Tree.
He could not help but shudder, and blurted out: "You are Taidi?
Of course Taidi would not kill himself! " Yun Tianzun was dumbfounded, unable to fathom how so outlandish a notion had suddenly sprung into his head; not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he said: "I am not Taidi.
It is the work of my Zixiao Biluo Art. My Zixiao Biluo Art is skilled at absorbing the arts and divine powers of others, blending and mastering them, transforming them into a Dao art of my own.