Chapter 1816 — When I Attain the Dao
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
Third Young Master Lingxiao wore an impassive face as he flexed his right arm.
That arm had been pinned by Shen Mu with a Dao-Slaying Divine Nail into the Dao-Burying Divine Coffin, forcing him to sever it himself. But now, it had grown back whole.
Shen Mu smiled faintly; he had never supposed that cutting off Lingxiao's arm would leave the man crippled.
He had said as much only to shake the Third Young Master's confidence.
The Third Young Master glanced about, and saw Shen Mu's Guixu Lotus and World Tree rooted in the Chaos River, guarding either side of the golden ship.
The two treasures had grown ever more wondrous; the Guixu Lotus had already formed its third tier, while the World Tree stood ever more towering, its branches thick with leaves. He frowned slightly.
The change in the Guixu Lotus could have been foreseen.
Ever since Shen Mu had made it bloom, he had never set foot in the Chaos River, until Elder Wuya, beneath the World Tree, forced him to root the lotus in the Annihilation Calamity of the Sixteenth Era, whereupon it became a lotus throne, and in one leap a second-tier throne. It was Elder Wuya who had led Shen Mu to discover the method of cultivating the way of Guixu, and from then on his advance had been swift beyond measure. More than that, Elder Wuya had 'taught' Shen Mu how to wield the power of the World Tree, how to cultivate it. That was why Shen Mu had progressed so rapidly in so short a time.
Once, Shen Mu had merely been unkillable; now, he could stand against the young masters, and all of it was Elder Wuya's doing.
"Wuya is too arrogant," Third Young Master Lingxiao said coolly.
"He once thought he could control our teacher, then thought he could control the young masters of Miluo Palace, yet met a wall at every turn.
Now he tries to control you, and has suffered greatly for it. I fear he still does not know how well he has taught you.
" A trace of envy colored his words.
Shen Mu looked as if brushed by a spring breeze, quite pleased with himself. The Third Young Master's tone shifted. "Then, Seventh, you have already refined that lesser World Tree of Elder Wuya's, have you not?
" Shen Mu shook his head in surprise.
"Third Brother, whatever makes you say that?
You know my Chaos Hall as well as I do, perilous beyond measure.
If I set foot within, I would surely fall into the Annihilation Calamity. How would I dare enter?
" "Enough, Seventh. You always call me Third, and this sudden change to Third Brother tells me you are lying.
Only a man hiding malice in his belly speaks kindly to his enemy," Third Young Master Lingxiao said lightly. "You have the Guixu lotus throne and can drift upon the Chaos River without fear of sinking. To retrieve the lesser World Tree suppressed within the Chaos Hall would be easy as turning your hand.
With your strength, refining his lesser World Tree would be no trouble at all. " He smiled proudly, hands clasped behind his back.
"Even if you refined Elder Wuya himself and made him your own, you would still be no match for me. You threatened Fourth with the bowstring, but you cannot threaten me.
What are Hao's life and death to me?
" Shen Mu burst into laughter, his third eye opening as his gaze fell upon him.
"That is why I did not use Hao's life to threaten you," he said faintly.
Their eyes met, each undisguised in his loathing. In that moment, each found the other's towering arrogance utterly hateful. "You come to see our teacher, and I should not bar you. But Seventh, you should not have brought your child," Third Young Master Lingxiao said, looking away toward the wisps of Dao light drifting from the Guixu Lotus and the World Tree toward the golden hall upon the golden ship, his eye twitching. "Your child cannot bear so great a blessing.
You have already gained no small benefit.