Inside the hall, Moon-Venerable remained behind the screen, not showing herself. From behind it, she said, "How did you know I can monitor every movement in the Origin World and its many heavens? I'm already crippled, my heart dead as ashes—even if I have the power, I don't have the energy to watch over all the heavens and the Origin World."
Quinn Shepherd looked at the shadow on the screen and replied, "Really?"
The woman behind the screen sighed. "Of course that's a lie. When you went to Heavenly Court, I asked Southern Emperor Vermilion to bring my peach blossoms, to show where I stood. Southern Emperor planned to use death to escape this time—she told me in advance. Obviously, I'm not truly retired, not cut off from worldly affairs."
Quinn said, "If you really didn't care about worldly affairs, then your peach forest wouldn't be connected to ten thousand heavens in the Origin World."
"That's true. My divine art is the art of space. Back before Cloud-Venerable died, I had already started laying out my formations, though my power wasn't yet at its peak—my space arts could only link a dozen heavens or so."
Moon-Venerable, from behind the screen, said, "But by the end of the Dragon-Han Era, my peach forest connected over a hundred heavens. By the end of the Supreme Sovereign Era, it was already linking ten thousand heavens in the Origin World. I'm crippled, but now, whether it's Heavenly Court, Profound Capital, Netherworld, or even the Four Extremity Heavens, all are within the reach of my arts. The only places I can't pierce are the ancient gods' birthlands and Home's End Abyss."
Quinn said, "You're not resigned."
"Of course I'm not resigned."
Moon-Venerable's voice was calm, but beneath it lay a deep unrest. "The five elders of the Heaven Alliance wanted humanity to have the right to survive and live better lives. But the Heaven Alliance has decayed; its founding ideals are long gone. Now it's a den of filth, a place for demigods, ancient gods, and even Creators to divide up spoils! Of course I'm not resigned."
Quinn quietly watched the shadow on the screen. Moon-Venerable continued, "When the Heaven Alliance was founded, Cloud-Venerable set the first principle: never be too harsh on the good or too lenient on the wicked. But it's so hard to practice. People are always too strict with the good, thinking they can't make a single mistake—if they do, they're no longer good, damned forever, and crushed underfoot. But they're too forgiving to the wicked—someone who commits a hundred evils only needs to do one good deed to be praised, even sainted! Shepherd Venerable, we failed. Can you do it?"
Quinn fell silent, then said, "It's very difficult. But I'm trying. There was once a man who committed countless evils—he spread poison across the grasslands to resist Everpeace, killing ninety percent of the people there. Later, during the Everpeace Cataclysm, his conscience awakened and he died saving others. I could have revived him, or summoned his soul, but I didn't. I felt that if I brought him back, I couldn't face the people who died on those grasslands."
"Then how will you face the ancient gods?" Moon-Venerable asked.
Quinn's heart trembled violently.
Moon-Venerable's words struck his soul with real force.
The villain he spoke of was the Great Venerable. The Great Venerable used soul-witch poison to kill nearly all the shepherds of the grasslands—an unforgivable crime. Even if he did one good deed, Quinn couldn't simply forget the ruthlessness and cruelty in his heart.
But what about the ancient gods?
In the darkness of the Dragon-Han Era and before, ancient gods treated postnatal souls as food, and the masses as sacrificial offerings. Now Quinn needs their power, must ally with them against Heavenly Court. You could say the ancient gods are doing good deeds.
Can the ancient gods be forgiven for this?
Never be too harsh on the good, nor too lenient on the wicked—this sounds simple, but the principle is almost impossible to practice!
"Compassion is priceless, but excessive strictness can be disastrous too."