Chapter 1757 — The Irreversible Decline
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"You are Xing An.
" Jiang Baigui, Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, first saluted Bai Qu'er, the Sword God of Shanghuang, then saluted Yi Shisheng, and only then came before Xing An, eyed him once, recognized him, and said, "You aided the Sword God of Shanghuang and wiped out the Left Guard of Divine Strategy? " Xing An rose to his feet, his body tattered and torn and covered everywhere with wounds, yet he felt no pain at all, for this body of his was itself assembled, and every sense of pain had long been erased by his own hand. In truth, he seldom possessed human feeling at all.
The two sages of Jingping, each the wonder of five hundred years, stood face to face at last, and Xing An turned his head to study Jiang Baigui, finding his features hateful to look upon, and hateful most of all because they bore him some resemblance, a dislike he could not put into words. That loathing came from the light of reason and wisdom in Jiang Baigui's eyes, a light Xing An also carried, though the two had chosen different roads to walk.
"You have come late.
This battle, I fought in your stead. " Xing An looked away and said flatly.
Jiang Baigui nodded. "Now the Yuan Realm has become scorched earth, and Jingping is the last haven of peace.
Xing An, with all your learning, to guard Jingping is to guard the orthodoxy of your own future.
" Jiang Baigui's gaze likewise avoided him as he came to his left side, and they stood shoulder to shoulder yet facing opposite ways, saying, "The Heavenly Court is doomed beyond doubt, and one day Jingping's reforms shall spread across the whole Yuan Realm and all the heavens and worlds.
You have much to accomplish. " "You are a sage.
I am not. " Xing An shook his head and kicked the chest, saying, "I am only a seeker of the Dao. Whether Jingping wins or the Heavenly Court prevails, I can live on.
I despise the remnant humanity in my heart, for it makes me act irrationally, and this time I nearly destroyed the collection of so many years.
How could I do so a second time? Now that you have come, I shall leave Jingping and leave the Yuan Realm to seek another dwelling elsewhere. " "A sage? " Jiang Baigui laughed aloud. "Do you think there truly are sages in this world?
There are not.
What is called a sage born once in five hundred years is only the highest wisdom born within five hundred years, the single man of greatest wisdom. Men like you and me stand highest in wisdom in our own five hundred years, and even reckoned a million years backward or a million years forward, we remain among the very highest in wisdom. " Xing An turned sideways to look at him, suspicious. "So you understand that.
I thought you styled yourself a sage. Since you understand, you should know there are precious few in this world whom we can deem worthy of regard, for the whole world is full of fools, and thus we seem freaks, and to others we are monsters. We feel our conduct perfectly normal, but they find us too rational and inhuman. In truth humanity is but the display of stupidity. " Jiang Baigui turned, and the two at last stood face to face. "Yet there are sages in this world.
" Jiang Baigui said, "Sagehood lies not in birth but in word and deed.
I am not the sage born once in five hundred years, but I can become a sage.
" Xing An burst into laughter and shook his head. "Unity of knowledge and action?
Fool. What good will being a sage do you? Will it let you attain the Dao, or keep you from death?