Chapter 1752 — The Sovereign Lord Falls
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 5
" His eyes brimmed with venomous ruthlessness. He summoned the Five Imperial Seats and gave them low-voiced instructions. The five Divine Emperors of the Five Imperial Seats started in alarm; Hua Liuzhao, the first among the Seats, his forehead drenched in cold sweat, bowed and said, "Your Majesty has already sent out several columns to the other heavens to scrape up slaves and scrape together grain, and this has already bred discontent among many of the officers and men. The officers and men of the army come, for the most part, from the myriad heavens and ten thousand worlds.
. . " The Heavenly Emperor's eyes showed a murderous glare, and his voice grated hoarse: "Minister Hua, say that once more!
" Hua Liuzhao fell to his knees with a plop and knocked his head against the ground: "Your servant will by no means disappoint Your Majesty's hopes — he will see it done! " The Heavenly Emperor snorted, waved his hand, and the Five Imperial Seats withdrew, each to muster the host under his own banner, then swept off with a roar. "And you, Lord Mu. . .
" The Heavenly Emperor glared fixedly at the distant Shen Mu, whose divine treasury domain had shrunk to little more than a li about, as if his lamp were all but spent.
"You, too, are waiting to strike at Us!
" The Heavenly Emperor snorted in fury. "We shall not be fooled by you!
" The Five Inner Imperial Seats led their armies out of the Heavenly Court's camp and made for the heavens nearby.
Hua Liuzhao's face was clouded with care; the other four Imperial Seats exchanged glances, and one spoke: "Brother Hua, the Heavenly Court's situation is excellent — Wuyou has been utterly broken and we press upon Jingping; so long as the Maple Valley falls, Jingping will have no strength left to resist. Why, then, is Brother Hua still so troubled?
" "The Heavenly Court looks to be storming walls and seizing lands, winning great victories over Wuyou and Jingping; but in truth its side campaigns have been losing all along.
" Hua Liuzhao heaved a sigh.
"Now the Void Lord has died in battle as well, and the Nether Capital is lost; if the Mystic Capital should be lost too, then all is truly over. His Majesty. . .
" He hesitated a moment, but in the end said it anyway: "If His Majesty had but raised the whole army and attacked the Maple Valley, there would still be a chance to raze Jingping. But instead His Majesty has now played a foolish move — sending us to blood-sacrifice the other heavens, so that the Dao-attained of the prehistoric age may descend.
Heh heh — the overwhelming majority of our Heavenly Court's soldiers were born in the myriad heavens and ten thousand worlds! " His brows were knit tight as he dropped his voice: "Blood-sacrifice the other heavens — what will the men make of that?
In this expedition against the Primordial World, how many of the other heavens have come to our aid? In days of old, at a single word from the Heavenly Court, every heaven would answer like clouds and gather like mist — sheer weight alone would have buried Jingping! But now, of all the myriad heavens and worlds, only a pitiful few have come to fight for the Heavenly Court; and on Jingping's side, instead, stand not a few gods and demons from the other heavens! " He breathed out a long, murky breath.
"If His Majesty blood-sacrifices the other heavens again, I fear the myriad heavens and ten thousand worlds will all go over to support Jingping! And in our own army, I fear, no small number of gods and demons will mutiny — some may even rebel and defect to the enemy! " The other four Imperial Seats stared at one another at a loss. "Brother Hua, what are we to do now? " Hua Liuzhao raised his head to the heavens, and two streams of old tears ran down from the corners of his eyes: "What can we do? We serve the Heavenly Court loyally, repaying His Majesty's grace for having lifted us up.