"Even the ruler of Sui once took becoming the Son of Heaven of the Six Directions as his grand ambition. Yet later he ascended Yujing Mountain and did not even walk the final stretch of that road—"
Ji Yumin looked coldly at Wu Daoyou. "Respected Heavenly Master, today's Daoist Lord Zixu failed in his undertaking and was condemned for it. Does that mean he cannot be counted a hero?"
Then he looked at Yu Xi. "Little Yu, what do you think?"
History was a cycle.
Just as Yu Xi had once guided Lou Yue in his cultivation.
When the seven-year-old Yu Xi first climbed Yujing Mountain, Ji Yumin had also been a guest upon the mountain. As a figure of the same generation, though Ji Yumin had not been among the foremost prodigies of his era, he could still exchange a few words with Daoist Lord Zixu, Zong Dezhen. He had also often represented the imperial house in its most direct communications with Yujing Mountain.
To speak plainly, dignified and exalted Yujing Mountain and the Jing Kingdom imperial house that held the realm in its grasp had once shared a period of great intimacy. That intimacy existed beyond that with the other two lineages. Yet today, it was also Yujing Mountain's Heavenly Master who had been the first to step forward.
The Daoist Sect and the Jing Kingdom were one; the three lineages of the Daoist Sect were one family—this was how it was always said, and how things appeared to outsiders. But the Daoist Sect and the Jing Kingdom were, after all, two different things, and the Daoist Sect's three lineages each had their distinctions.
If they could truly be blended into one whole, there would have been no need for separate subordinate states.
Within the Daoist state system,