Chapter 1630 — The Duel of Yun and Taichu
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 5
Taichu appeared beneath the Dao Tree of the One Qi Daluo Heaven, his gaze bent upon him; sensing that in so short a time Cloud Heavenly Venerable had raised the power of his fleshly body many times over, he could not help but show an expression of approval.
"Yun, you are the Heavenly Venerable I conferred. It was I who instructed you in those years to descend to the mortal world and establish the Xiaohan Heavenly Court in Yuandu; I even conferred on you the title of Celestial Emperor of the postnatal beings."
Taichu said with feeling, "And how did you repay me? You conspired with Hao Heavenly Venerable and lured me with a beauty trap, so that I lost the seat of Celestial Emperor. Yun, ah, Yun — I treated you generously. I saw the ambition in you to contend for the world, and so I nurtured you, yet you failed me again and again. Are all humans so untrustworthy?"
Cloud Heavenly Venerable madly stirred the power of the Dao Tree behind him; he reached out and grasped, a flash of sword light swept past, and the Taichu Imperial Sword fell into his hand. Solemnly he said, "Your Majesty ordered me to descend to the mortal world and establish the Xiaohan Heavenly Court, to rule the postnatal beings; then you ordered Hao Heavenly Venerable to descend and form the Longxiao Heavenly Court, to sow discord between us, to set us at odds and make us slaughter one another in battle. Your Majesty's intent was simply this: seeing the demigods and the postnatal beings rising day by day and the rule of the ancient gods no longer secure, you seized the chance to set us killing one another and wear down our strength. Even then I understood that to overthrow the ancient gods, I must first kill Your Majesty. If Your Majesty does not die, the ancient gods will surely rule the world forever, and the world will surely be dark forever!"
"So you joined hands with Hao Heavenly Venerable. You held the Heavenly Alliance, and to borrow the strength of the demigods to kill me, you had no choice but to give him half its authority."
Taichu sighed. "Yet he took the magpie's nest for his own, bit by bit devouring the Heavenly Alliance. Cloud Heavenly Venerable, after you overthrew me, did you ever regret it? Your Heavenly Alliance became the Heavenly Alliance of Hao Heavenly Venerable and the other Ten Heavenly Venerables. You overthrew the rule of the ancient gods, and after you came the demigods, ruling the myriad heavens and worlds in their turn. You humans and postnatal beings are still offerings; you have not escaped a fate of enslavement and blood sacrifice. Whether you overthrew me or not, there is no difference at all."
Cloud Heavenly Venerable sighed as well, then said solemnly, "There is a difference. Before, there was no hope; now there is. That is the greatest difference of all!"
Taichu laughed heartily and flicked his sleeve. "Hope? What an ethereal and ironic word — Cloud Heavenly Venerable, you call it hope that for a million years countless humans and postnatal beings have been washed in blood again and again, slaughtered again and again? You call the Longhan Calamity, the Chiming Calamity, the Shanghuang Calamity, the Kaihuang Calamity, and the Jingping Calamity hope? The postnatal beings are like leeks, cut down crop after crop — is that your so-called hope?"
Cloud Heavenly Venerable flicked the Taichu Imperial Sword with his finger; the sword rang out clear and rousing. "How is it not hope? Your Majesty, in those years we had not the strength for a single battle. In the Longhan Era, the postnatal beings had only a scant few powerhouses of the Imperial Throne. In the Chiming Era, Emperor Ming could fight his way to the very gates of the Southern Heavenly Gate. In the Shanghuang Era, Ling Yue shook the foundations of the Heavenly Court. In the Kaihuang Era, the Land of No Sorrow left the Ten Heavenly Venerables unable to eat or sleep in peace. And in this Jingping Era, Your Majesty, we can already stand as equals against the Heavenly Court."