Chapter 1752 — The Sovereign Lord Falls
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 5
"Your Majesty, Lord Mu is now an arrow spent at the end of its flight.
" Tai Chu stepped forward to remonstrate. "Now is the finest moment to send him back to the prehistoric age; let this moment pass, and to seek another will be a thousand times harder!
" The Heavenly Emperor Haotian gazed into the distance at Shen Mu, hesitating. In these past days Shen Mu's aura had sunk lower and lower; had he been merely wounded, then by all reason, given his attainments, his injuries ought to have settled somewhat and his aura ought to have waxed again by steady degrees. But Shen Mu's aura only grew feebler, and that made him waver.
From all he knew of Shen Mu, this was most likely a trap!
"Lord Mu is indeed wounded," he thought, "and wounded grievously — so grievously that he cannot come at us directly, but must wait for us to deliver ourselves to his gate.
" The Heavenly Emperor said, "Grand Emperor, our Heavenly Court's soldiers have campaigned year after year and lost not a few; moreover, the Southern Heaven has never fallen to us, and our provisions run short. Mu the brigand is vicious and cunning, waiting for us to walk into his snare.
Since that is so, why not take the chance to rest and re-fit, and bid the army reap some grain from the neighboring heavens? " Tai Chu frowned and would have spoken again, but the Heavenly Emperor said, "Miluo Palace's Fourth Lord had his power shattered by him, and the Third Lord's power and consciousness are sealed away as well; the Third Lord will likewise need time to undo the knot of his red cords. Whether Lord Mu means to play for time or to deceive and bait me, it suits my purpose either way. Grand Emperor, say no more.
I have made my decision. " Tai Chu sighed inwardly. The Lord Haotian of old had had much about him that men might despise, yet the keen edge in his heart had never been lost; he had always pressed forward with undimmed ambition, able to seize any chance however briefly it flickered past. But the Heavenly Emperor of today, ever since the Cloud Lord defeated him in the Ultimate Void, had begun to look before and behind — daring no more risks, attempting no more ventures. "The Cloud Lord has already shattered his Dao heart!
He seeks no credit, only to be free of blame, and in that he is sure to let his best chances slip through his fingers!
" With this thought Tai Chu said, "Your Majesty, grain and baggage are of course important, but neither must we let Lord Mu have an easy time of it. We can split our forces into two columns, skirt around Lord Mu, and fall upon the Maple Valley from left and right.
In the Jingping of today, the very highest realm is no more than the Jade Capital realm; miss this chance, and we shall never again find so fair an opportunity to shatter Jingping! " The Heavenly Emperor hesitated a little, knowing full well how rare the moment was.
Jingping was imposing new laws and a new cultivation system on a grand scale; within at most a decade or so, a great host of adepts of the new system would swarm forth. By then, taking Jingping would be harder than scaling heaven!
"Let the two Taiji Lords, one on the left and one on the right, lead the Divine Army and the River Army to attack the Maple Valley! " the Heavenly Emperor decreed. "The Taiji Lords handle troops like gods; in this battle they are sure to win at the very first banners and trample Maple Pass flat! " Her Majesty the Empress could not hold back: "Your Majesty, why not dispatch the Feather Forest Army, the Divine Might Army, and the Dragon Martial Army? These armies are a match for the Lords themselves; to send them out is the very best way to deal with Jingping!
" The Heavenly Emperor cast her a glance and laughed. "The Left and Right Feather Forest, the Left and Right Divine Might, and the Left and Right Dragon Martial are the Heavenly Emperor's own bodyguards.
What sense is there in flinging them all into the field at once?