Chapter 583 — Those Silly Roe Deer

Dao Lord Lin Xuan and the others were overjoyed. Daoist Cha took the crown from his head and gently turned the yin-yang taiji diagram upon it, drawing out from within a number of texts, a trident, and several stone slabs marked with sword scars. The trident was likely his divine weapon. "These books have been kept with me all this while," he said. "They are filled with strange symbols. I cannot make sense of them either.

" Stiff white hair grew on the crown of his head, running from brow to nape, while at his temples it was black. He was unlike the other Daoists, who wore their hair in topknots; his was cropped flat, the white hair on his scalp trimmed neat and even, which gave him a brisk and vigorous air. The close-cropped Daoist slid the trident back into the crown, sealed it with the taiji sigil, and put the crown on again. Dao Lord Lin Xuan leafed through the texts and examined the sword scars on the stone slabs.

His heart pounded wildly. Tears came to his eyes despite himself.

"My master and every Dao Lord before him spent their lives in bitter study of the Fourteenth Sword," he said, "and never once comprehended it fully. And now it turns out the mystery lies not in the sword but in the movements of the heavens. If my master were still in this world, he would be so gratified. . .

" At this the many Daoists thought of the former Dao Lord and wept aloud.

Dao Lord Lin Xuan passed the texts around for all to read: the later heart methods of the Innate Great Mystery Art, and other volumes recording Daoist Tianqing's insights into the sword techniques that followed the Dao Sword. Daoist Tianqing's records were meticulous and his calculations exceedingly precise; no wonder Daoist Cha had been unable to understand them. Wang Muran said in a low voice, "Uncle-Master Qingyou, do we in Little Yujing have no profound legacies of our own?

" The Mountain Sage Qingyou shook his head. "No.

" Wang Muran said angrily, "Is Little Yujing not the foremost holy land of Jingping? The Daoist Sect and the Great Thunder Temple both have higher legacies.

If Little Yujing has none, how are we to contend with them?

Even the Heavenly Sage Cult has a Heavenly Master. Does Little Yujing have no mighty one like a Jade Emperor who handed down god-tier teachings? " "Little Yujing keeps aloof from the world's strife. We have never contended for the title of foremost holy land. " The Mountain Sage Qingyou said patiently, "That is an empty name the world has given us.

Better to do without it.

" Wang Muran was left speechless with frustration, and at last, having no other recourse, he turned to Daoist Cha and asked, "Daoist, may I ask where Sect Master Shen has gone? " "Sect Master Shen?

A great many people came looking for him today, all of them strange sorts, and one who rode an ox. He is not in Li City at present, however; he has gone out.

He said he was heading toward the demon race's lands, to give his mount some training. " Wang Muran was startled. "He went alone into the demon race's territory? " "Not alone.

Our Taihuang Heaven has already carved out a stretch of territory on the demon side.

We have built a watchtower in the ruins of Wuwang City, and the Venerable God Sangye is stationed there. Many power-wielders of Taihuang Heaven and Jingping are scouring the land for demon stragglers. " Daoist Cha said, "There has been no war of late, and things are quiet enough for the time being. Neither side has sent out great armies; it is only demon and human power-wielders testing one another along the edges of the battlefield.

Sect Master Shen will come to no harm. " He was speaking of an unwritten rule of Taihuang Heaven. The martial spirit flourished here; demon and human alike revered strength.

In the absence of full-scale war, demon power-wielders roamed and skirmished, and so did humans; many young demons and humans crossed blades. Gods and demons seldom intervened, letting the power-wielders of both sides clash. It was an extreme way of tempering the younger generation. Wang Muran and his companions, newly arrived in Taihuang Heaven, did not yet know the rules here. Wang Muran asked again, "Has Sect Master Shen passed the trial of the God-Subduing Pagoda?

" "Does he need to? " A look of admiration came over Daoist Cha's face. "He had scarcely arrived in Taihuang Heaven when, in the wagered battles at Li City, he killed four of the demon race's very finest masters in succession, forcing the True Demon Furi Luo to make his most prized disciple concede.

What came after is what truly deserves to be called legend.

Sect Master Shen was carried off by Furi Luo, and in a flight of a hundred thousand li he all but wiped out the disciples of the Demon God's Seven Stars and Six Directions realms!

No few Heaven-Man Realm disciples of the Demon God met their end at his hands as well. As for Sect Master Shen's strength now, he no longer needs to pass the trial of the God-Subduing Pagoda. " Wang Muran's body shook violently, disbelief written across his face. He turned his head sharply. "Uncle-Master, do we truly have no profound legacies? " The Mountain Sage Qingyou laughed. "Are our Little Yujing legacies not good enough? Flawed they may be, but they are first-rate legacies all the same. Once the flaws are made whole, you will be no lesser than the Dao Lord.

And Taihuang Heaven is the very place to make them whole, for you can learn from the strengths of others and fuse them with the arts of Little Yujing. " Wang Muran slumped, muttering, "Little Yujing has so many arts.

Fusing them is hardly an easy thing. " The Mountain Sage Qingyou encouraged him: "Where there is a will, there is a way. I have great hopes for you. When you have comprehended it fully, pass it to me first. I am old, and my mind is no match for you young folk. " "Young Master, why has Dragon Fatty never taken human form the way Jiang Miao did?

" Between Wuwang City and Li City lay more than two thousand li. Snow Fox was following at Shen Mu's side, watching Dragon Qilin battle a Heaven-Man Realm demon master, and asked curiously, "Jiang Miao can take human form.

Dragon Fatty surely can too! " Shen Mu's breathing was long and slow; the Mysterious Body Three Cores Art circulated within him, and as his vital essence moved it gave off wave upon wave of dragon roars. "I do not know either," he said.

"Could it be that he is too fat to take human form?

And yet that does not seem right. . . " Snow Fox muttered, "I think it is because he is too lazy.

" Dragon Qilin's Qilin Pearl was exceedingly powerful; in cultivation he was already a match for a great master of the Life-Death Realm. His overall fighting strength, however, was not high, and the demon master had beaten him black and blue. Shen Mu did not help.

He stood to one side and watched, and several demon masters on the other side likewise held back, observing the fight.

The rules of Taihuang Heaven were peculiar indeed: when power-wielders met by chance, it was usually one against one, and they seldom rushed in as a crowd. In Shen Mu's hundred-thousand-li flight he had been hunted by hundreds of demon power-wielders and surrounded time and again; the root of the demons' disregard for the rules lay in the Demon God's order of execution. Dragon Qilin fought with all his might, and all at once he grasped a secret of the Ancestral Dragon Great Mystery Art.

He immediately roused the Qilin Pearl and sent Qilin Fire rolling at his foe in countless dragon-shaped flames. Then he shook his body, and the dragon scales on him flew off, turning into gleaming mirrors that reflected back the powers his opponent sent forth.