Chapter 1722 — The Sovereign Takes the Field
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"This Gazing Mirror should really be called the Mirror of Past Lives, the Mirror of Stories!
" Dragon Qilin's heart filled with silent admiration. He had studied Shen Mu's Way of Reincarnation long ago, but that had been in the early years, when that Way was still being explored and perfected.
Even then, however, Shen Mu's Way of Reincarnation had already surpassed that of the Nether Heavenly Emperor who had first established it.
Shen Mu's learning was vast and eclectic, and in every branch he studied he went to the utmost depth; his vitality allowed him to achieve mastery in everything, something Dragon Qilin could not do.
Thus Dragon Qilin's own attainment in the Way of Reincarnation was modest, yet he could still barely make out the mysteries of Shen Mu's reincarnation arts. In the mirror, he saw Bai Yuqiong's lifetimes turn one after another, her own memories disentangled from those of the Southern Emperor; it was as if she were walking again through every lifetime she had lived, through the suffering of life after life.
Reliving these tales was how she sought her original heart, how her memories were awakened, and how she was set apart from the Southern Emperor. Only Shen Mu would take pity on Bai Yuqiong and do such things for her.
Yet Shen Mu did not strip away her Vermilion Bird divine soul; he used reincarnation to deepen the memories of her nearly two hundred lifetimes. Most important of all were the memories of her life as Que Feiyin. This was her first lifetime, and Bai Yuqiong had never awakened those memories; now the Gazing Mirror awakened them as well.
Those memories were the junction joining her to the Southern Emperor. Without that junction, she would never have known how she was connected to him.
With such memories, she would understand the causes and consequences, and whether to forget everything about the Southern Emperor or become the Southern Emperor would be her own choice.
The Vermilion Bird Bai Yuqiong had become crouched before the Gazing Mirror; the fire-tears in her eyes were tears of joy, perhaps, at remembering who she was again. "I am Bai Yuqiong.
.
. " The Vermilion Bird gazed quietly into the mirror and murmured, "Bai Yuqiong of the human race!
The human race. .
.
" In her heart she had already made her choice. In the bright mirror she passed through life after life, the memories of Que Feiyin and Bai Yuqiong growing ever deeper, while those of the Southern Emperor gradually faded.
Finally the memories poured into the Vermilion Bird's mind like rising tidewater. Her wings lifted; her form changed in the Dao fire, and she returned to the shape of Bai Yuqiong.
"Venerable One, has Bai Yuqiong come back to life?
" Crown Prince Youming asked.
Dragon Qilin hesitated and whispered, "Her situation now resembles that of the Sect Master and the Little Earth Lord. The Sect Master and the Little Earth Lord were truly one person, but they had two different consciousnesses, one human, one god-demon, and they shared the same memories. Not until the Jingping Calamity were they fully separated into two people.
" Shen Mu's situation at the time had been far more complicated; whether as Shen Fengqing, the Divine Scion of Guixu, or as Shen Mu, the Celestial Saint Sect Master, he was still one person. It was only when Shen Mu gouged out his eyes and abandoned his soul that he became truly independent.
Bai Yuqiong's case was much better.
Then, Shen Mu had possessed only a body and consciousness, no soul, and might scatter at any moment. Bai Yuqiong, besides the Southern Emperor's divine soul, had a soul that the Nether Heavenly Emperor had "molded" for her. In the Dao fire, Bai Yuqiong opened her eyes. Before her, the Gazing Mirror had melted and turned to ashes, not a trace left. She had come back to life, not in a human body, but as a demigod, with a human consciousness and a Vermilion Bird's body.