Chapter 1617 — Tumult Among the Myriad Heavens
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
The Heavenly Court dispatched a great army to crush the rebellion, and the killing raised beacon smoke that rolled across the sky.
Shen Mu and Long Qilin then arrived at the Getai Realm. Getai appeared entirely peaceful, yet his keen senses perceived the undercurrents surging beneath that calm.
Grumbling was widespread among the common people, and a catastrophe stirred restlessly, waiting to break. Shen Mu passed through one heavenly world after another, and he saw that, with the advent of the spirit-energy translocation bridges and the rise of Jingping's coinage, the standing of these worlds had shifted imperceptibly.
Some heavens had declined as heavenly coins flowed outward, their people barely scraping by, surviving only by selling off mineral deposits—yet the wealth pooled in the hands of the gods and demons who held power.
Some heavens still preserved their former luster, not yet crushed by Jingping's coinage. And some heavens had become a link in Jingping's economy; these instead rose gradually and began to seek greater profit.
The declining sank into internal strife and self-consumption; the rising wanted more power. And the key to all of it was the heavenly coins. "The Heavenly Court can indeed mint heavenly coins without limit, but the reason heavenly coins have value lies in their being backed by the Heavenly Court's credit.
Were it to mint them without limit, the coins would be worth nothing at all. " Shen Mu said with a smile, "Because it cannot mint without limit, the total supply of heavenly coins is finite.
With that supply finite, Jingping and the newly rising heavens have risen up and siphoned off the wealth of the surrounding heavens, and the Heavenly Court's own heavenly coins dwindle in trade.
To sustain its rule, the Heavenly Court must keep a certain total supply of heavenly coins, and so it can only draw money from other heavens.
Yet it must also use heavenly coins to buy goods from Jingping—and so it can only keep draining the other heavens to prolong its own life.
" Long Qilin said, "Draw and draw, and the Heavenly Court will suck the other heavens dry, and so disorder breeds.
Many heavens that can no longer survive are already showing signs of rebellion against the Heavenly Court. " Shen Mu walked through the Yuhu Realm and looked about at the fires of war raging everywhere. "The Heavenly Court has built a vast system," he said.
"The myriad heavens and worlds shield and support it; whether willingly or not, they must swear loyalty to the Heavenly Court. The Heavenly Court has formed an alliance that seems unbreakable! In this alliance, the Heavenly Court leads, and all the heavens must obey its summons, supplying it with every kind of resource—including manpower! The finest geniuses of the myriad heavens all go to the Heavenly Court to seek their own advancement, to become lords above others! Under such conditions, the Heavenly Court grows stronger and stronger! The other heavens, with only one or two geniuses apiece, have no power to overturn the sky, no power to contend with this alliance!
For Jingping to rise under such circumstances is all but impossible. However many geniuses it produces, it cannot match the myriad heavens and worlds combined—unless this seemingly unbreakable alliance is shattered!
Striking at it through the economy is the simplest path. This is no covert scheme, but an open stratagem. " He walked through the ruins. "An open stratagem is forthright and honorable," he said.