The height and thickness of the heavens had now been measured. The blow this dealt Qin Mu and the others was heavy, but the heaviest blow of all fell on Dao Master Lin Xuan.
The doctrines, the cultivation arts, and the divine abilities of the Dao Sect were all built upon the foundation of "the Dao follows nature" — seeking the essence of all things within nature itself, refining one's arts, abilities, and state of mind until they drew close to nature and thus close to the Dao.
And now, all at once, he had discovered that the celestial phenomena of the natural world were fake. No wonder his state of mind had crumbled!
Comprehending a false nature — what sort of Dao could anyone possibly glean from that?
Dao Master Lin Xuan, who had been walking onward by himself, suddenly went weak in the legs and crumpled to the ground with a thud, his face blank, his eyes dull. Several Daoist priests hurried forward to support him, only to hear their Dao Master murmuring, "No one has ever forged the Fourteenth Chapter of the Dao Sword. My master spent an entire lifetime contemplating the Fourteenth Sword. His learning was more than equal to the task, and still he failed... So it was never that it could not be forged. It is that even nature itself is false. Contemplating a false nature — how could anyone ever forge it..." He coughed violently, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, every last hope in him reduced to ash. The Dao follows nature — that was the very doctrine of the Dao Sect, and nature itself had turned out to be false. The magnitude of the blow to him was easy to imagine.
Qin Mu looked at Xu Shenghua and asked, "Is the sky over your High Heavens the same as the sky here?"
Xu Shenghua looked up at the heavens and nodded.
The same sky, the same stars. The High Heavens were no exception.
Qin Mu had called him a forsaken one, and those words were no lie.
The sky was a cage. Whether in the High Heavens or the Great Ruins, all were birds shut inside it — only the birds did not know they were caged.
Qin Mu steadied his mind, walked over to Dao Master Lin Xuan, and helped him up. "The truth is so cold it is hard for anyone to accept. It is best not to make it public. Dao Master, catch up with those priests who ran off and tell them not to talk recklessly. We ought to leave the world at least a little hope."
Dao Master Lin Xuan stared at him fixedly, his expression a touch strange, and rasped, "Do you think anyone would believe them if they did speak of it?"
Qin Mu smiled. "But people would believe you."
"You are asking me not to speak of it?"
Self-mockery crossed Dao Master Lin Xuan's face and he snickered. "Every Dao Master of my Dao Sect through the generations, and priests beyond counting, have tried to unlock the fourteen chapters of the Dao Sword. They poured boundless effort into contemplating heaven, earth, and nature, yet the Fourteenth Chapter stood like an unclimbable peak, a conjecture that refused to be solved. And in the end? The fault lay in the heavens themselves being wrong. Heh. Ironic. What a damn, bloody irony!"
Though he was the Dao Master of the Dao Sect, a holy land, at heart he was still a youth, and a few curse words inevitably slipped out.
Qin Mu said, meaningfully, "The Dao Masters of the past did not know where the error lay, and so they could never forge the Fourteenth Sword. But you know. Perhaps Daoist Lin will be the first man ever to forge it!"
Dao Master Lin Xuan's heart shuddered, and he turned to look at him.
"Crisis, crisis. Danger and opportunity dwell together — it is danger, and it is also opportunity."
Qin Mu smiled. "Ordinary people see only the danger, but the wise can see the opportunity that dwells alongside it — and only those with real ability can seize that opportunity. Which kind of person is the Dao Master?"
Dao Master Lin Xuan's chest heaved violently.
A moment ago he had felt that the heavens were false, that the celestial phenomena were false, that a false heaven had shackled the progress of the Dao Sect's arts and divine abilities, leaving everyone unable to comprehend the ultimate mystery of the Dao Sword.
Yet Qin Mu's words had let him see opportunity arriving. If he knew the heavens were false, then he could go seek the true — and then the Fourteenth Chapter of the Dao Sword might yet be forged by his own hand!
"As the Human Emperor, you have my wholehearted admiration."
Dao Master Lin Xuan collected himself and said, "I believe the doctrinal dispute between the Dao Sect and the Heavenly Demon Cult can be set aside for now."
Qin Mu nodded. "It is precisely what should be set aside. I think we should form an alliance, so that when our strength suffices, we can pierce open these heavens!"
Wang Muran came over and extended his palm. "Wang Muran of the Little Jade Capital is willing to form an alliance with the Human Emperor and the Dao Sect!"
Qin Mu and Dao Master Lin Xuan each extended a palm, laying theirs atop his. Qin Mu turned to look at Xu Shenghua, who came over and extended his palm as well. "Xu Shenghua of the High Heavens is willing to form an alliance with the Human Emperor, the Dao Sect, and the Little Jade Capital. But shouldn't our alliance have a name?"
Wang Muran laughed. "Why not call it the Heavenly Alliance!"
The three spoke as one. "Good! Let it be called the Heavenly Alliance!"
The four withdrew their hands. Dao Master Lin Xuan bowed with clasped hands to the company, then led the many masters of the Dao Sect away.
"Lord Qin, should this matter be reported to the Emperor?" the Fire Mountain Keeper stepped forward and asked in a low voice.
"Naturally it must be reported to the Emperor."
Qin Mu said, "But only to the Emperor. Do not babble of it to anyone else, unless you care to lose your head."
The Fire Mountain Keeper nodded quickly, summoned the other officials of the Heaven-Hunting Bureau, and hurried away.
Wang Muran let out a long breath. "I beg the Human Emperor's understanding — this matter I must report to Martial Uncle Qingyou!"
Qin Mu nodded. "Immortal Qingyou knows what should be said and what should not. Go tell him, by all means."
Wang Muran turned to Mu Qingdai. "Senior Sister, go find Senior Brother Long Yu and bring him back. I will go see Martial Uncle!"
The two at once went their separate ways.
Now only Qin Mu, Xu Shenghua, and Jing Yan remained. Qin Mu glanced at Xu Shenghua and said, "Brother Xu, you seem not the least bit shaken. Even the Dao Master could hardly avoid being shocked, his mind unsettled — yet your expression remains as calm as ever. I admire it. I lost my composure myself just now; in cultivation of the mind I still fall somewhat short of you, Brother Xu."
Xu Shenghua's face did not change. "I was shocked. I am shocked still. I once thought the High Heavens towered on high, far removed from the filth of the mortal dust. I never imagined they too were shut inside a cage. The shock and the blow this dealt me are beyond all measure."
Qin Mu studied him and could detect not a trace of shock on him. Suspicious, he asked, "Really?"
Jing Yan said in a low voice, "Cult Master Qin, this is exactly how my young master looks when he is shocked. At most he furrows his brow a little."
Qin Mu frowned. "And when he is not shocked?"
"This is also how he looks."
Qin Mu was taken aback. Xu Shenghua raised his head to look at the sky and said suddenly, "Brother Qin, what do you think lies beyond the heavens?"
"I don't know."
Qin Mu started walking toward the capital. "When our strength suffices, we will go and see for ourselves."
Xu Shenghua followed him. The three entered the city. Xu Shenghua and Jing Yan returned to the blacksmith's shop as before, while Qin Mu made his way to the Imperial College. There, the many masters of calculation had already established the model of spatial arts for the Golden Book and Sacred Scrolls. The Dao Sect had copied one set, the imperial palace kept one, Mountain Man Qingyou had copied one, the Imperial College retained one — and of course, the Heavenly Demon Cult had one as well.
The establishment of the Golden Book and Sacred Scrolls meant that Cult Master-level experts who had once been trapped at the Spirit Bridge Realm now had a path of breakthrough; no doubt a great wave of gods would soon emerge. Of course, not everyone could link to the Spirit Bridge. To cultivate the arts recorded on the Golden Book and Sacred Scrolls still required very high attainment in the arts of calculation.
Without such attainment, even possessing the cultivation arts and the spatial model would not let one complete the Spirit Bridge.
Qin Mu returned to his residence, where Mountain Man Qingyou, the Village Chief, and the others were all gathered, their faces grave. Wang Muran was there too — clearly he had already told them of the calculation Qin Mu and the others had made.
"It reminds me of someone."
The Village Chief raised his head toward the sky and said absently, "Perhaps he knows certain secrets. Friend Qingyou, do you know whom I mean?"
"I do. The man who slashed his blade at the heavens."
Mountain Man Qingyou's eyes flickered. "Heaven Blade."
Qin Mu started slightly. "Grandpa Butcher?"
"It is said Heaven Blade turned his blade against the heavens and fought his way up to the vault of the sky. Many people witnessed that scene — his blade split the sky open, the gods appeared, and he battled them, until in the end his corpse fell back into the mortal world. He was called the maddest battle-madman of all. Without that battle, Heaven Blade would never have vanished from the world."
Mountain Man Qingyou said, "If Heaven Blade had not departed back then, the State Preceptor of Yankang could never have made the way of the sword surpass the school of battle arts, and he would never have been called the Sword God. The god who fought Heaven Blade to the death came not from the High Heavens, but from beyond them. I never thought it through before, but thinking on it now, Heaven Blade must know a great many things. Some time ago, Heaven Blade and God of the Spear visited our Little Jade Capital as guests; the moment they sensed the aura of the gods of the High Heavens, they left in haste. A pity no one knows where they are now."
The Village Chief pondered. "That madman has surely gone off hunting those false gods of the High Heavens. Ever since his waist was reattached he has lingered half-mad, and if the Blind One were not at his side he would long since have stirred up some calamity beyond counting. He knows many secrets — then we shall go find him. Mu'er, we go to find the Butcher."
Qin Mu hesitated. "The State Preceptor of Yankang still owes me a hundred treasures, and he is about to return to the capital..."
The Village Chief shook his head. "You call the treasures of the Golden Palace of Loulan worth looking at? The Venerable One of the Golden Palace is nothing but a scavenger of rags. The treasures he has gathered in this lifetime — even the Cripple would turn his nose up at them."
Qin Mu hesitated a moment longer, then hurriedly called Hu Ling'er over and instructed her, "Ling'er, the State Preceptor of Yankang still owes me a hundred treasures. Once he returns to the capital, keep them for me."
Hu Ling'er's eyes went bright as snow and she smiled. "Young Master, what treasures?"
"The treasures he brought out of the Golden Palace of Loulan. We may pick any hundred we like!"
Hu Ling'er was overjoyed, then hesitated. "Young Master, my eye is not as good as yours. I'm afraid I might fail to pick out the very best."
"I will teach you the Ninefold Heaven Eye-Opening Art. Once your eyes are opened, you will be able to see at a glance which treasures are valuable."
...
Qin Mu taught Hu Ling'er the Ninefold Heaven Eye-Opening Art, then summoned the Dragon Qilin and set the Village Chief on its back. "Village Chief, how do we find Grandpa Butcher?"
The Village Chief said calmly, "Very simple. The moment I release my aura, it will startle the guests of the High Heavens — and it will startle the Butcher and the Blind One as well. That way, they will know where we are. The guests of the High Heavens are certain to release their own auras and challenge me to battle, and once we head over, we shall see the Butcher and the Blind One."
He said softly, "The matter of the guests of the High Heavens — it is time it was settled, too."
He was just about to let his aura blossom when his face suddenly filled with alarm. Mountain Man Qingyou and the other mighty ones of the Little Jade Capital also turned startled, each lifting their heads to look in the same direction.
Qin Mu was about to ask when he too felt terrible pulses of disturbance surging over.
The Village Chief murmured, "It is those fellows from the High Heavens. Strange — I had not yet released my aura, and they released theirs first... No — they are fighting!"
Shock spread across his face and he cried out, "The Four Lords of the High Heavens are killing one another! What has happened? Mu'er, I go ahead of you!"
BOOM!
A tremendous crack sounded from the rocking chair, and the Village Chief vanished from the Dragon Qilin's back. Then came several more tremors, and the three old immortals — Qingyou, Youhe, and Youyun — likewise vanished into thin air.
"Mu Ran, once Qingdai has brought Long Yu back, you are to come over at once!" Mountain Man Qingyou's voice drifted back from afar.