Chapter 1803 — The Sacred Land Becomes a Prison
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
To attain the fortieth heaven of the Dao realm is to leap beyond the domain of the Dao Tree: when the Great Dao reaches its utmost, it forms a precious hall. The precious halls of the Celestial Capital's Thirty-Six Heaven-Openers were in fact learned from the Miluo Palace; the fortieth heaven of the Dao realm was the creation of the master of the Miluo Palace, devised to escape the flaws born of imitating the World Tree, and so he brought forth the Hall of Eternity.
The Celestial Capital and the Miluo Palace once enjoyed a period of peace, both laboring together for the future of the universe; only in the Seventh Epoch did they part ways, becoming as incompatible as fire and water.
Plainly, Kaihuang had not been idle through those forty-two vanished years: his sword Dao had advanced another two or three steps!
In the years past, though Kaihuang had achieved the Daluo Heaven of the Sword Dao and refined his Dao Tree and Dao Flower, he understood only fragments of the thirty-seventh and thirty-eighth heavens of the Dao realm, and knew not how to wield them, for no road lay before him; he had made something out of nothing, the first man to attain the Dao through the Dao realm.
He was the pioneer of attaining the Dao through the Dao realm in the Seventeenth Epoch. And now Kaihuang had cultivated to the fortieth heaven of the Dao, equal to the realm of the Miluo Palace's seventy-two Hall Masters.
"In these vanished years, much has happened to this native of the Seventeenth Epoch!
" the three Hall Masters thought to themselves at once. What they did not know was that Kaihuang Shen Ye had once traveled to the Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court, crossed sixteen rivers of chaos, and met the Seventh Young Master Shen Mu in the Hall of Chaos beside the Miluo Palace.
He and the Seventh Young Master Shen Mu had talked long and deeply there.
It must have been then that he received Shen Mu's guidance and comprehended a deeper, loftier sword Dao, so that when he reappeared forty-two years later his cultivation and strength had made terrifying advances!
The Phoenix and Hehuan Hall Masters exchanged a glance, then came to stand behind the Zhaoyang Hall Master. Each looked at the head that let light through front and back, and both frowned deeply.
The Zhaoyang Hall Master's injuries were grave; the appearance of Kaihuang Shen Ye had caught them unprepared. The Phoenix Hall Master and the Hehuan Hall Master had each lost a Dao Fruit, and the sword wound at the Zhaoyang Hall Master's brow severely limited his cultivation and strength.
"Since you, fellow Daoist, have been able to achieve the precious hall of the Great Dao, you may be counted as having a bond with our Miluo Palace.
" The Phoenix Hall Master spoke with great courtesy: "You are Kaihuang Shen Ye? Your abilities are most extraordinary, and they secretly accord with the Great Dao of our Miluo Palace. I perceive in you the transmission of the Miluo Palace's Dao arts, a lineage handed down from our Miluo Palace.
That being so, why not leave the dark for the light and join us in great undertakings?
When the Miluo Palace descends in time to come, you shall be one of its seventy-two Hall Masters.
" Her words had scarcely fallen when the Ancestral Court began to rumble and quake.
Frowning, the Phoenix Hall Master looked toward the source of the tremor, and saw that in a distant place the earth was heaving upward, like a gigantic stone wall joining heaven and earth, growing ever taller until it reached beyond the sky. The three Hall Masters were somewhat baffled.
The Phoenix Hall Master withdrew her gaze and went on: "My friend, though you may already be worthy of the name of Hall Master, compared with our depth of foundation you still lack a measure of seasoning.