Chapter 1711: Heavenly Heart and the Heart of All Living Beings
The raging karmic fire finally subsided.
Only ashes remained in the extinguished sea of flames, nothing else.
"Lord Earth Guardian..."
Umbral Heavenly Venerable turned around, facing the army of Netherworld demons and monsters. A fellow Daoist had just passed away.
What he had seen in his trance should have merely been Lord Earth Guardian's obsession, not something that truly happened. Within that obsession, Lord Earth Guardian had likely fulfilled his heart's desire.
Qin Fengqing watched this scene from afar, feeling that he had grown much older, and had drawn much closer to becoming a true Lord Earth Guardian.
"Big fellow, walk well..."
He activated the Six Paths Heavenly Wheel and murmured softly: "Rest assured, I will protect the justice of the afterlife just as you taught me, giving all living beings equal and fair treatment!"
He stepped down from the Six Paths Heavenly Wheel. His divine power was still maintaining the wheel's operation, but at this moment, he no longer needed to sustain it every single moment.
Void Heavenly Venerable had departed together with Lord Earth Guardian. Without Void Heavenly Venerable, the Heavenly Court's threat to the Primordial Realm had diminished greatly, so he no longer needed to maintain the Six Paths Heavenly Wheel at all times.
Qin Fengqing closed his eyes and took a long breath. The Primordial Realm's Netherworld was now connected to the Netherworld itself, no longer two separate worlds. As Void Heavenly Venerable and Lord Earth Guardian transformed into the Dao of the Netherworld, the Great Dao of the Netherworld had once again been restored to completeness. The Dao spreading through the Netherworld was growing, expanding, filling him with a sense of overwhelming power.
At this moment, the Primordial Realm no longer faced the threat of the Netherworld. And he could finally stretch his limbs and realize his ambitions!
Above Yan Kang, Little Xuan Capital.
"Daoist Lord Earth Guardian, did you get what you wished for?"
Heavenly Duke looked downward. The fire in the Primordial Realm's Netherworld had gone out, and his heart trembled with a feeling that was both great sorrow and great joy.
When Lord Earth Guardian departed, he probably left without any regrets.
"To outsiders, his passing might bring sorrow, but for you, Daoist, your heart probably holds the joy of fulfilled wishes. You became human, and you also became the Dao. You are together with your daughter, your family, forever. Is this not a form of great liberation?"
Boom!
Ancestral God King condensed the Heavenly Dao into a supreme treasure and slammed it viciously into Heavenly Duke's face. Heavenly Duke's features twisted as he was sent tumbling and rolling, crashing around within Little Xuan Capital before finally managing to stop himself.
His moment of grief and joy for Lord Earth Guardian had lasted only an instant, but Ancestral God King had seized the opening and beaten him badly.
He was originally no match for his son, Ancestral God King. Although he had comprehended the Heart of Heavenly Dao and cultivated his Dao realm to an extremely high level, he could not achieve Dao Enlightenment through the Heavenly Dao in such a short time. He could only rely on the Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasures to contend with Ancestral God King.
However, at this moment, the Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasure had transformed into Little Xuan Capital, blocking the Xuan Capital's army of gods and demons, buying time for Moon Heavenly Venerable and Lang Wan to prevent the Xuan Capital army from charging into Yan Kang. Thus, he had been at a disadvantage from the very beginning.
Within Little Xuan Capital, Moon Heavenly Venerable activated the Ultimate Void, cutting space and dividing Little Xuan Capital into countless spatial fragments. Lang Wan stood beside her, visualizing countless gods and demons, visualizing a brilliant river of stars, to battle the Xuan Capital's Sun Guardian and Moon Guardian armies.
The two sides clashed, suns and moons filling the sky, forming all sorts of wondrous formations in an attempt to break through Little Xuan Capital's restrictions. But facing Moon Heavenly Venerable and Lang Wan, the formations of the Sun Guardians and Moon Guardians seemed somewhat inadequate.
"Heavenly Duke, the situation has stabilized!"
Moon Heavenly Venerable wiped the sweat from her brow and called out: "You can take back the Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasure!"
During this time, Heavenly Duke had been beaten half to death by Ancestral God King, nearly losing his life. He could only keep fleeing, but his physical body was in Ancestral God King's grasp, so no matter where he fled, Ancestral God King could always strike him.
Heavenly Duke's physical body was slightly inferior to the ancient god Heavenly Emperor Tai Chu's body, but it was still one of the most powerful physical bodies in the world today. Over the years, Ancestral God King had grown increasingly skilled at controlling this body, and its power had grown stronger and stronger!
"Father God, are you going to die or not?"
Ancestral God King was extremely excited, driving Heavenly Duke's physical body to slaughter Heavenly Duke as he fled everywhere. Yet his attacks could still land on Heavenly Duke, making his injuries worse and worse.
Heavenly Duke tried to summon the Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasures, but Ancestral God King raised his hand and waved. Heavenly Duke's physical body erupted with heavenly palaces one after another, blocking each of the supreme treasures, preventing him from reaching them.
"Father God still dotes on me!"
Ancestral God King laughed heartily, not without pride: "Allowing me to kill Father God twice, to compensate for what my heart desires!"
He walked down from the forehead of Heavenly Duke's physical body, looked at Heavenly Duke struggling desperately, shook his head, and sighed: "In this world, there is no such thing as true fairness and justice. Father God, you always talk about fairness and justice, but in truth, you are the most unfair one of all. Wolves eat sheep, sheep eat grass, grass eats soil—this is the Heavenly Dao. Ancient gods eat demigods, demigods eat humans, humans eat animals and plants—this is also the Heavenly Dao. As Heavenly Duke, your understanding of the Heavenly Dao is far too narrow. When faced with humanity's resistance, you chose to support them rather than destroy them!"
He raised his hand and pointed at Lan Feng Valley, sneering: "Look at these humans, these post-heavenly beings. They were originally unable to attain immortality, yet they defied heaven and achieved longevity equal to the gods! They originally had no power, yet they created cultivation techniques and divine abilities, grasping power! They dig mines, quarry mountains, extract divine metals to forge weapons, and have begun slaughtering gods!"
"They level mountains to pave roads, alter river courses, irrigate farmland. They even change the growth of crops to satisfy their appetites! They even twist the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, actually reforming the laws, creating many new Daos and techniques that did not exist before!"
Ancestral God King reached out and grabbed the Heavenly Principle Dao Weapon flying toward Heavenly Duke. With the weapon in hand, the other supreme treasures immediately flew over, circling around Ancestral God King.
"They are changing the Heavenly Dao, changing this universe! And you have done nothing! As an ancient god, you should have a stance, but you have no stance at all!"
One by one, the Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasures fell under Ancestral God King's control. He walked toward Heavenly Duke, while behind him, Heavenly Duke's physical body continued to attack him ferociously.
"I saw it long ago—these post-heavenly beings will throw the universe into chaos. I realized that in the future, the rule of the gods will be dismantled and destroyed by them! If we let them grow, we will become their slaves, their subjects of enslavement!"
Ancestral God King's fury blazed to the heavens, and the techniques of Heavenly Duke's physical body grew more and more vicious: "As Heavenly Duke, you should punish all living beings! When they defy heaven, send down calamities to destroy them! When they refuse to worship the gods, use natural disasters to teach them reverence! When they dig river channels, send great floods to swallow their cities! When they mine ores, use earthquakes to destroy them! You could keep them in their place—send down heavenly fire, blot out the sun and moon, unleash floods, bring great droughts—but you did nothing!"
"I told you to destroy them, but you babbled about fairness in the Heavenly Dao! From that moment, I knew you couldn't be relied upon. You're old, you can't see where the true danger lies!"
Heavenly Duke raised both hands high, catching the fist of his own physical body as it smashed down. His face was covered in blood, and he laughed: "My son, heaven operates with constancy. It does not exist for the shepherd, nor does it perish for the flock. You have never been able to comprehend this saying!"
Boom!
Heavenly Duke's physical body's other fist came crashing down, striking him and sending him flying out of the Primordial Realm.
Ancestral God King looked up toward the heavens beyond. Heavenly Duke's physical body extended a palm, lifting him up. Ancestral God King rose higher and higher, until at last he could see Heavenly Duke.
This was Xuan Capital, the place where Heavenly Duke's physical body resided.
Heavenly Duke's physical body had never truly descended into the Primordial Realm, because this body was too massive. Compared to this body, the Primordial Realm was still too small to accommodate its full descent.
Ancestral God King could only control the upper half of Heavenly Duke's physical body, reaching down from beyond the heavens into the sky of the Primordial Realm to fight with Heavenly Duke. And now, they had returned to Xuan Capital.
Heavenly Duke floated within Xuan Capital, wiping the blood from his lips, panting heavily, and laughed: "My son, I did not understand this before either. It was only later that I finally understood."
He extended his hand, as if caressing the starry universe, his heart surging with emotion, and said: "Look, from our Xuan Capital, we can see everything in all the myriad worlds—the myriad forms of living beings, all clearly visible. The joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, loves and hatreds of the mortal world, all gathered before our eyes. What is this mortal world?"
Ancestral God King shook the Heavenly Principle Dao Weapon, and the other forty-nine Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasures flew over, combining into a single long spear. He walked toward Heavenly Duke with murderous intent, sneering: "What strange theories does Father God have now?"
Heavenly Duke stood in Xuan Capital, gazing down at all the myriad worlds, his heart filled with joy, and laughed: "This mortal world is the Heavenly Sea!"
Ancestral God King was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter: "Father God, your mind truly has been polluted by mortals and the mortal world, and now you spout nonsense! The Heavenly Sea is the sacred ground of the Ancestral Court, never the mortal world! When the universe was first created, the Heavenly Sea was born, the Heavenly River originated from the Heavenly Sea, and Xuan Capital was born! You have become senile to this degree!"
Heavenly Duke shook his head and laughed: "My son, you still cannot comprehend what the Heavenly Heart is. I did not understand it back then either, until Lord Mu threw me into the Nine Hell Platform. Standing at the center of the Nine Hell Platform and looking up, that was the moment I understood what the Heavenly Dao is, and what the Heavenly Heart is."
His heart was filled with genuine joy, and he said: "I stood below and looked up, seeing the sky above my head. At that moment, I finally understood—the heavens do not exist, and the Heavenly Dao does not exist either. When the Creator Gods in the Ancestral Court looked up at the sky, the heavens were born, and the Heavenly Dao came into being in response."
"The Heavenly Dao is actually the Dao of all living beings!"
He said excitedly: "The Heavenly Heart is actually the heart of all living beings! The mortal world of all the myriad worlds is the Heavenly Sea, reflecting every aspect of the Heavenly Dao! When living beings create new Daos of heaven and earth, heaven and earth are neither startled nor angered, but silently accept them. Heaven and earth also silently undergo changes, without sending down calamities because of it. On the contrary, it is living beings who develop the Heavenly Dao and perfect it. By stopping them, you are the one truly defying heaven..."
"Nonsense!"
Ancestral God King flew into a rage, charging forward with his spear, intending to impale Heavenly Duke!
"Father God, you are no longer worthy of being Heavenly Duke. Let me teach you a lesson!"
He had killed Heavenly Duke once before. At that time, his strength was far inferior to what it was now, and Heavenly Duke's strength was far superior to what it was now. He could easily kill Heavenly Duke again. This time, he would beat Heavenly Duke until his soul scattered, until even the black sand of his soul ceased to exist!
Boom!
He struck Heavenly Duke. Heavenly Duke exploded, his physical body shattered, but it did not turn to nothing as he had expected.
Heavenly Duke's primordial spirit was gone.
Then, Ancestral God King saw the Nine Hell Platform. That should have been Qin Mu's divine ability. During the battle of Xuan Capital back then, Qin Mu had struck the Nine Hell Platform divine ability into Heavenly Duke's body.
This divine ability was wondrous beyond compare—a divine ability of the Dao heart. Since then, even though Qin Mu had summoned Heavenly Duke's soul and reshaped his body and soul, his Dao heart remained trapped within the Nine Hell Platform, never having walked out.
Not only had he not walked out, but he had sunk deeper and deeper, causing the Nine Hell Platform divine ability to grow stronger and stronger.
Ancestral God King looked into the Nine Hell Platform and saw Heavenly Duke's primordial spirit standing within a tiny square of space.
Heavenly Duke looked up, gazing at him, and laughed: "My son, come with me to see the Heavenly Heart, to see all living beings!"
Ancestral God King flew into a rage, raising the Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasure to shatter the Nine Hell Platform, to shatter his Dao heart, to shatter his primordial spirit!
Just then, Ancestral God King suddenly felt the world spin around him, and found himself standing in that tiny square of space.
He looked up and saw the sky above his head.
"Should I help Heavenly Duke?"
Above Lan Feng Valley in the Primordial Realm, Moon Heavenly Venerable looked up toward Xuan Capital beyond the heavens, a trace of worry on her face. But she quickly steadied her mind and took out her ancient zither, laying it across her knees.
Her gaze turned toward the direction of the Heavenly Court's army. Her fingers rested on a single string, but she did not pluck it. She held her breath and concentrated, thinking: "Lord Mu is alone in holding back the Heavenly Court's army—it will surely be even more perilous. What I can do is find the most critical moment to play the Fourth Young Master of Miluo Palace's melody, to disturb his mind and give Lord Mu a chance to win!"
That opportunity would come and go in an instant. She had to seize it and could not afford to be distracted!