Chapter 1796 — Telling Black from White
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
The First Young Master, Taishang, said, "What manner of being is the Master? He had already attained the Dao in the First Epoch, and through the five cosmic epochs that followed, the Master willingly entered the world, transmitting the Dao and teaching, opening his forum, hoping for more fellow Daoists. Who in Tiandu City did not receive the Master's grace before attaining their later cultivation? Yet the heaven-openers of Tiandu dared to humiliate the Master. To all manner of provocations, the Master treated them as passing clouds, paying them no mind. Yet in three visits, the Lord of Tiandu refused the Master every time."
Shen Mu glanced at the cripple beside him and frowned slightly.
"At that time the Master had not yet conceived the intent to kill, but afterward, signs of collapse appeared in the Seventh Epoch. The Seventh Epoch's universe had been churned by Tiandu to the brink of destruction, and it was then that the Master saw the heaven-openers of Tiandu City preparing to open the heavens once more."
Taishang said, "Then, to prevent the Eighth Epoch from repeating the same mistake, the Master finally made up his mind and went into seclusion for several thousand years. After emerging, the Master killed the Lord of Tiandu and commanded me to suppress his corpse here."
Taishang pressed his lips together and said, "The Master did not do this thing to the utmost. Had he done so to the utmost, that Dao-defiler named Ling could never have rescued Tiandu's primordial spirit. The Master still left the Lord of Tiandu a chance, letting him become the Taiyi of the Seventeenth Epoch. Moreover, the Master sent Taiyi into the calamity of destruction of the Fourth Epoch, giving him the possibility of a comeback. I ask you — who in all the world has such magnanimity?"
Shen Mu fell silent.
He did not have such magnanimity.
Were it him, he would certainly have cut the grass and torn out the roots, giving the Lord of Tiandu no chance at all.
Taishang did not have such magnanimity either.
That was why Taishang, after the death of the Milo Palace Master's Dao heart, had suppressed Taiyi, imprisoned Taiyi in the Taishang Hall, and suppressed him with the Dao-Burying Divine Coffin.
The one who possessed such magnanimity was only the Master of the Milo Palace, the man whom countless people called the Master.
"You rescued Taiyi, and I did not make things difficult for you; I let you rescue Taiyi — after all, the Master gave him a chance, and I could not deprive him of it."
The First Young Master, Taishang, was silent a moment, then said, "But that you would save Tiandu and merge Taiyi and Tiandu into one — that I cannot permit. Chaos, I will not fight you; I will only ask you one question."
Shen Mu steadied himself and bowed slightly: "Pray ask, Senior Brother."
"Tiandu's wounds heal, Taiyi and Tiandu merge, and the Lord of Tiandu is reborn — have you considered the consequences?"
Taishang said, "Tiandu City is dead but not stiff; the heaven-openers of those years hide within history, hide in dark corners. If the Lord of Tiandu revives and raises his arm in a call, it will no longer be a struggle between you and Lingxiao and Zixiao, but a struggle between the Milo Palace and Tiandu City. Without the Master, no one can suppress the Lord of Tiandu, no one can suppress Tiandu City. Is your Seventeenth Epoch universe prepared to welcome the remaking of the heaven-openers of Tiandu?"
Shen Mu shivered several times, chilled to the bone.
Taishang rose to his feet and pointed at the steles one by one in the obelisk forest, saying, "The Dao-attaining ones suppressed in these steles — every one is a villain of the utmost evil, every one has a reason for being suppressed here. Including Lord Shang, whom you rescued; including the old monster Dongyang; including Zhu Santong! Not one of them is innocent!"
His gaze fell upon the cripple behind Shen Mu: "He is the same."