Chapter 1828 — Everything Arranged Flawlessly
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
Zhu Santong, the girl and the others also hesitated. Shen Mu's words gave one the feeling of a pit already dug, waiting for you to jump in. It all seemed somewhat unreliable.
Moreover, to make them abandon everything, abandon their former cultivation, abandon their physical bodies, their primordial spirits, their Dao trees, their Dao fruits, was something they could not bear to part with.
If they did that, what meaning would remain in their bitter cultivation of hundreds of millions, even tens of billions of years?
Shen Mu looked deeply at the crowd and said with profound meaning, "Dao brothers, there is one thing you must understand. In the future, even if the Dao-achievers of past cosmoses beg for this chance at reincarnation, I may not necessarily grant it. The Miluo Palace, for instance. The Heaven-Opening Host, for instance. Those under the Old Man of the Boundless, for instance."
He said calmly, "Their fate is but one: to dissolve their own Dao, to return to the cosmos the energy they seized from it. In the interim there will be war, slaughter. What awaits them is..."
He pressed his lips together. "The utter annihilation of soul and spirit!"
The old woman looked at the old man Dong Yang, opened her mouth, but said nothing. Zhu Santong, the girl and the matron also looked to the old man Dong Yang. They could not bring themselves to decide, and so had no choice but to seek Dong Yang's help.
The old man Dong Yang's dim old eyes turned imploringly to Tai Yi. His voice hoarse, he said, "Dao brother..."
Tai Yi sighed and said, "Dao friend Shepherd's resolve is to cleanse all that is rotten from the prehistoric. Even the Lord of Tian Du is prehistoric rot. Even the master of the Miluo Palace is prehistoric rot. The master of the Miluo Palace was clever. When his heart of Dao died, he took the initiative to dissolve his Dao and returned his cultivation to the cosmos."
The old man Dong Yang immediately understood his meaning.
But Tai Yi still feared he did not understand, and continued, "The reason I can preserve my cultivation and strength is that my physical body and primordial spirit are both Tai Yi of this cosmos. They need not be returned. But you are different. You must return yours, to benefit the Seventeenth Epoch Cosmos. Yet this is also an opportunity. The Seventeenth Epoch Cosmos of today is vastly different from the cosmoses of old. The changes in Dao arts and divine abilities wrought by the Jing Ping Reform are a great transformation unprecedented in the trillion years of the past sixteen cosmic epochs. If you have the chance at reincarnation and rebirth, you must seize it. For being reborn in the Seventeenth Epoch will grant you far greater benefits than descending in your true bodies."
The old man Dong Yang finally made up his mind. He rose and said to Shen Mu, "I implore the Seventh Young Master to give us few cowardly rats a chance!"
Zhu Santong, the girl and the others also rose and bowed. "We implore the Seventh Young Master to give us a chance!"
Shen Mu hastily extended both hands and said with a solemn countenance, "If you trust me, I will certainly not fail you! You may set your minds at ease. I will arrange everything for you properly and completely!"
Tai Yi cleared his throat.
Shen Mu's face darkened. He shot a ferocious glare over.
Tai Yi took the hint and said, as if by accident and as if not, "Dong Yang, you have followed me for so long. There are some matters I must still remind you of. Jing Ping is quite good, but there are also some bad people there. When you reincarnate, keep your wits about you. Do not let yourself be sold and still count the money for the seller. The reputations of certain people are, shall we say, not so good."