Wu Tian heard this and, far from taking offense, looked at Xuandu as though eager to learn. "Please enlighten me, fellow Daoist!"
"All beings are unequal!" Xuandu's opening words rejected the very foundation of Wu Tian's path.
Wu Tian's expression did not change. He kept listening. Xuandu had listened to him critique the path of the Three Pure Ones; he could at least hear Xuandu's argument in return.
"The Heavenly Dao gives birth to all things, yet they are unequal from the start. Take you, for instance. You were born an Innate Divine Being. Is that fair to Acquired beings?"
Wu Tian fell silent, unable to answer. Xuandu continued, "Heaven gives birth to cats and mice, to tigers and wolves, to cattle and sheep. What wrong have the cattle and sheep done? Why must they be eaten by tigers and wolves? Is that fair?"
Wu Tian remained silent, but Xuandu was not finished.
"You seek equality for all beings. You would even sacrifice countless lives to refine this spirit treasure and enact Severing Heaven and Earth once more. But have you considered that not everyone wants to live an ordinary life?"
"With your heaven-shaking cultivation, you would force everyone into equality. You would sever heaven and earth, extinguish cultivation and the Dao, and reduce all beings to mortals, bound by the world and limited lifespans. Is that fair to them?"
On the surface, they were merely trading words. In truth, their paths were clashing. Each was questioning the other's Dao.
This was far more dangerous. In an ordinary clash, defeat would mean death at worst. In a clash of paths, one misstep could shatter the Dao heart. Even if the loser lived, he would be little more than a corpse.
Only after a long silence did Wu Tian speak. "I