Chapter 1269: Lan Yutian’s Path (Third Update)
Of all the attendees at this grand gathering, only Qin Mu ate with any enjoyment. The others ate with varying degrees of unease—some with pounding hearts, some with trembling fear, and some with seething rage. Nevertheless, the scene was maintained.
When Qin Mu proposed leading the troops to attack Carefree Village, the assembled generals and soldiers forcefully restrained him, saying in unison, "Your Majesty the Heavenly Emperor is gravely wounded. It would be best to remain here and recuperate properly, lest you go to the battlefield and die from your injuries before the fighting even begins."
Qin Mu had no choice but to back down.
Fire Heavenly Sovereign had intended to suggest sending Qin Mu to the battlefield, so that the divine generals he had cultivated—those whose techniques could break his defenses—could eliminate him. However, since all the generals were vehemently suppressing Qin Mu and preventing him from leading the troops, and since Qin Mu kept coughing incessantly, claiming to be severely injured, Fire Heavenly Sovereign found it inconvenient to propose sending Qin Mu to his death.
After the grand gathering, Qin Mu "recuperated from his injuries," while the Heavenly Court side dispatched troops to eliminate the corpse walkers and heart demons scattered across the land, stabilizing the rear. Soon, news arrived that the forces of the Taixu Nether Capital and the Taixu Land had shrunk their power, retreating to a corner in the eastern part of the Taixu Land.
Qin Mu quietly sought out Bai Yuqiong and asked her if Lan Yutian had emerged from seclusion.
Bai Yuqiong had been severely wounded by Hao Heavenly Sovereign and had not yet recovered. She said, "Brother Lan... Yutian Heavenly Sovereign should still be in the midst of entering the Dao. He has never come out of Lady Moon's lantern."
She took out Lady Moon's lantern, opened the small door on it, and looked inside. She was stunned.
The lantern was empty. Lan Yutian had vanished without a trace!
Both of them broke out in cold sweat. Bai Yuqiong said with a tearful voice, "When did he sneak out? Where did he go?"
Qin Mu's forehead bulged with veins. He said in a deep voice, "Don't panic first, and don't make a sound. Let's search everywhere!"
The two immediately began searching, turning Bai Yuqiong's mansion upside down, but they found no trace of Lan Yutian.
Bai Yuqiong questioned the servants in the mansion. A servant said, "When the Heavenly Teacher was in seclusion, this young man said he was the Heavenly Teacher's younger brother, so we let him go out."
Qin Mu's spirits lifted. "If there's a clue, that's good. It means he's still in your Westfall Divine City."
The two searched the entire city but still couldn't find Lan Yutian. A soldier said, "This divine being injured several of our brothers and took some people out of the city."
Qin Mu and Bai Yuqiong's foreheads bulged with veins. Both knew that Lan Yutian possessed a strange kind of attraction that could involuntarily draw people with a strong desire for the Dao. They hadn't expected that as soon as he emerged from seclusion, he would already have abducted a group of people!
Bai Yuqiong asked, "How many of my soldiers did he take?"
That divine general said, "At first, only a dozen or so followed him, but after leaving the city, a hundred or so were following him."
Bai Yuqiong was furious. "Why wasn't this reported?"
"The Heavenly Teacher was attending a banquet."
Bai Yuqiong was helpless. Qin Mu comforted her, saying, "With a hundred or so people following him, he's a big target. This makes finding him much easier!"
Bai Yuqiong nodded repeatedly.
The two followed the footprints of those hundred or so deities and found that Lan Yutian was heading toward the Heavenly Sovereigns' encampment.
"Damn it!"
Qin Mu and Bai Yuqiong's foreheads dripped with cold sweat. They frantically chased forward, only to see Lan Yutian's group suddenly turn away from the Heavenly Sovereigns' encampment, not heading toward any of the Heavenly Sovereigns' residences!
Qin Mu was overjoyed and laughed. "He got lost again!"
Bai Yuqiong laughed as well. "He never knew the way!"
The two hurried on. From the footprints left by Lan Yutian and his group, the number of people following him was growing. Earlier, there were only a hundred or so, but now it had reached over a thousand!
On the way, they also picked up a few divine beings who had fallen behind.
Qin Mu questioned one of them. That divine being said, "I don't know how I ended up following him. I was in a daze. I just felt that following him brought peace to my heart. Listening to the sound of the Dao, hearing him preach, I felt both joy and serenity."
Qin Mu asked, "Why did you fall behind?"
That divine being said, "I followed them for a long time, then suddenly woke up. I realized I had come here. I felt he was using some kind of sorcery to bewitch us, so I didn't dare continue following."
Bai Yuqiong did not reveal herself. Hiding deep within space, she said to Qin Mu, "Ask him, after following that person and listening for so long, does he think it's sorcery?"
Qin Mu asked. That divine being shook his head in confusion and said, "It's not sorcery. On the contrary, I have understood many things because of it. Some things I couldn't grasp before have become clear. But the more this happens, the more afraid I become, and the more I dare not continue following."
"This is a person without affinity," Bai Yuqiong said to Qin Mu.
Qin Mu nodded and continued following the footprints left by Lan Yutian and his group. Along the way, they occasionally encountered divine beings who had fallen behind.
These divine beings also harbored the same doubts as the one just now, so they didn't continue following Lan Yutian. Along the way, there were many Heavenly Court watchtowers, many of which were empty—their occupants taken away by Lan Yutian.
On the road, Qin Mu and Bai Yuqiong encountered those confused divine beings. Some sat blankly by ponds, some lay under the shade of trees, some held their heads in bitter thought, some muttered to themselves, and some lay on the ground snoring loudly.
Others planned to leave the Taixu and go home.
Qin Mu and Bai Yuqiong looked at each other in dismay. These stragglers seemed to have suffered a tremendous shock to their souls, becoming no longer normal.
Judging from the footprints on the ground, the number of Heavenly Court divine beings following Lan Yutian had already reached three thousand!
Qin Mu suddenly sighed and said softly, "Establish a doctrine, establish words, establish merit. Three establishments to become a sage. Establishing a doctrine and establishing words—Lan Yutian has already achieved these without realizing it. He is only one step away from what my Heavenly Sage Cult calls the three establishments to become a sage. If he can create a cultivation method that benefits all living beings, a system of techniques and Dao that transforms the world, then establishing merit—he will have achieved that too."
Bai Yuqiong didn't understand his sentiment.
As the leader of the Heavenly Sage Cult, the influence of the Heavenly Sage Cult on Qin Mu was very deep. Establishing a doctrine, establishing words, establishing merit—the three establishments to become a sage—was basically Qin Mu's lifelong principle and the goal he pursued.
There had been many leaders of the Heavenly Sage Cult, but not one had achieved this step.
Woodcutter was the founder of the three establishments to become a sage, but he himself had not achieved the three establishments. He wanted to create a method for acquired great Dao to achieve sanctity and divinity.
However, his goal was too grand. Three hundred and sixty trades, three hundred and sixty types of great Dao—he wanted to cultivate an incomparably grand acquired Heavenly Court system that would benefit all living beings.
He was trapped by his own grand ideal at the Yaotai realm, and the Execution Platform became an obstacle he could never overcome in his lifetime.
The founding patriarch of the Heavenly Sage Cult, Wei Suifeng, also did not achieve it. He absorbed Woodcutter's thoughts, established a doctrine, established words. He wanted to establish merit.
He wanted to uncover the mysteries of history, unravel the essence of dynastic changes, eradicate the Outer Heavenly Court, and bring justice to the world.
This was a great merit, a great virtue, but his goal was also too grand. He became Emperor Yun Luo, his identity was exposed, he was captured and thrown into the river. If not for Qin Mu's rescue, he would probably still be reincarnating on the ghost ship.
Qin Mu took the Yan'guo as his doctrine, took reform and change as his words, wanted to go against the heavens, overthrow the Heavenly Court, and take this as his merit and virtue. The three establishments to become a sage. He also wanted to change the divine techniques and Dao laws of the world, change the cultivation system of the world, so that the present would surely surpass the past, and the future would surely surpass the present.
However, the Yan'guo Calamity broke out, and he was also battered and bruised. To this day, he is still running around and toiling for these two goals.
Looking back at the million years of history from the Longhan Era to the present, the only ones who truly achieved the three establishments of establishing merit, establishing words, and establishing a doctrine to become sages were the combined merits of nine people, which were worthy of the title of sage.
These nine people were the nine Heavenly Sovereigns of the Longhan Era.
Yu, Hao, Ling, Fire, Moon, You, Yun, Qin, Mu. They created the divine treasury and heavenly palace system, created the Dao realm system. The combined merits of these nine people were worthy of the title of sage.
However, the merits of each of these nine people, taken individually, were far from the title of sage.
"Now it seems that the first person who might become a true sage will actually be Lan Yutian."
Qin Mu looked into the distance. Lan Yutian, with his three thousand disciples, was marching in a mighty procession. These lost divine beings, led by the directionally challenged Lan Yutian, were heading toward the territory of Carefree Village.
"Lan Yutian is not Yutian Heavenly Sovereign. He should be, like me, a second consciousness born within Yutian Heavenly Sovereign's body—a pure person, a person born for the Dao."
A smile like that of a proud father appeared on Qin Mu's face. As Lan Yutian's guide and mentor, as someone who had experienced a similar situation, he felt very gratified.
Lan Yutian had finally grown up.
"White Heavenly Teacher, I suddenly understand why you don't want to become the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird."
Qin Mu turned around and said with a smile, "My situation is the same as yours, and the same as Lan Yutian's. From now on, I will no longer force you to become the Southern Emperor. Let's go back."
—January 1st, happy birthday to mod Memeda!