Chapter 729 — Proving the Dao with a Fist

"Douniu Palace must be one of the thirty-six heavenly palaces of the Kaihuang Heavenly Court. Anyone who could sit in a heavenly palace was a figure of extraordinary power in the Kaihuang era.

" Following the villagers, Shen Mu walked into Douniu Palace. Compared with the others, this heavenly palace was remarkably whole; it seemed never to have known war.

Yuming Palace of the Hall of the Human Sovereign, and Pisha Palace of Fengdu, had both been battered into ruin by the wars that attended the fall of the Kaihuang era. As for the other heavenly palaces, Shen Mu had not yet seen them, but he supposed many must have been destroyed in those fires. "Why has Douniu Palace been preserved intact?

" He could not help but wonder.

"Could the Martial Heavenly Master have turned deserter back then? Did he lead Douniu Palace away entire, and so keep his strength whole?

" Douniu Palace was unlike any heavenly palace Shen Mu had seen before. Yuming Palace of the Hall of the Human Sovereign breathed of books and learning; it was the place where the heavenly palaces taught and nurtured, where the disciples of the gods carried on esoteric learning.

Though Shen Mu was the Human Sovereign of the Hall of the Human Sovereign, he had not lingered there long; he had gone only once, following the First Ancestor Human Sovereign, and had never taken in the whole of it. Pisha Palace he had never entered; King Yama had hidden it deep in Fengdu, and he had only glimpsed from afar those divine cities, one after another, decrepit and worn.

Now they had come into the heavens of Douniu Palace, and as Douniu Palace drew near, it grew gradually distinct, until the whole of it could be gathered in one glance. Nearest them stood a towering gate; looking past it, through layer upon layer of palaces and halls and pavilions, lay a Jade Pool, and beyond the Jade Pool two bloody auras of slaughter wove through the air like twin dragons, spinning without cease.

Behind the God-Slaying Terrace stood a square, upright divine city; that would be the Jade Capital, and the most magnificent palace within the Jade Capital was the Lingxiao Treasure Hall. Shen Mu was struck still.

The arrangement of Douniu Palace's buildings somewhat resembled the heavenly palace of the gods and demons. He drew his gaze near and looked before that gate, and saw a rainbow bridge linking the continents of these heavens. The bridge was very long, floating alone in the air, the only road that joined Douniu Palace.

He looked again at those continental heavens, and his heart quivered slightly. The continent of these heavens was perfectly square, with five mountain ranges running crosswise north and south, each range crowned with towering peaks, and upon the land six great rivers ran swift, some east to west, some north to south, yet none of them flowed into the sea.

There was no sea here.

The six great rivers flowed down into the earth, vanishing into abysses beneath the ground. At the center of these heavens lay an abyss, unfathomable. Shen Mu lifted his head to gaze again, and saw sun, moon, and stars beneath Douniu Palace; the moon rose and the sun set, day and night in alternation.

He blinked.

If the continent were the Spirit Terrace, then the five mountain ranges were the Five Elements, the stars in the sky the Five Luminaries, the six great rivers must be the transformations of the Six Harmonies, the sun, moon, and stars the Seven Stars, and beneath the abyss lay Youdu, the sacred treasuries of life and death; and that bridge was the spirit bridge leading to the heavenly palace. Which would mean. .

.

"This heaven-continent was formed from the body of an Imperial Throne powerhouse?

" His gaze searched everywhere.

"There is still one thing missing, the Heavenly Human. The Heavenly Human realm refines the Prime Spirit; and if the Prime Spirit took up residence in the Lingxiao and ascended the Imperial Throne, then indeed it need not dwell within the continent. Could it be that on the throne in the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, the Prime Spirit of an Imperial Throne sits even now. .

.

There is another possibility: these heavens were built to the specifications of an Imperial Throne powerhouse's sacred treasuries and a heavenly palace!

After all, Imperial Throne powerhouses are few; the Kaihuang era could not have had so many masters of the Imperial Throne. " Douniu Palace was one of the thirty-six heavenly palaces of the Kaihuang era, and the most famous among the thirty-six were the Four Great Heavenly Palaces, wherein the Four Great Heavenly Kings resided. Douniu Palace was not among them. Surely Kaihuang could not have killed an Imperial Throne powerhouse to build Douniu Palace? "You go up and make ready," the old farmer instructed the villagers. "Tell the children that Douniu Palace opens today, and let them come to temper themselves.

" At once the villagers rose into the air, one after another, some flying into Douniu Palace, others into the continental heavens. The old farmer, with the old ox, climbed the spirit bridge together with Shen Mu and the Dragon Qilin.

The spirit bridge was very narrow; Shen Mu felt fine standing on it, but the Dragon Qilin appeared somewhat cramped.

The old farmer halted, standing on the bridge and surveying all around, savoring the scenery.

Shen Mu also looked about him, taking in the splendid rivers and mountains.

To admire the view here was indeed refreshing to heart and spirit.

"You are a disciple of Wentian Pavilion. You are of the Heavenly Human realm, are you not?

" the old farmer said, unhurried.

"Of the four great Heavenly Masters of the Kaihuang Heavenly Court, the woodcutter ranks first. I have never accepted that.

What ability does he have, that he should climb onto my head?

Among the four great Heavenly Masters, he is first and I am third. That the scholar Zixi ranks second, I accept with all my heart. But what virtue or talent does the woodcutter possess? To climb over me, the scholar, and the fisherman on nothing but a glib tongue? So I do not accept him.

" From his height Shen Mu looked down on the continental heavens, and saw a great many young and able-bodied folk hurrying this way, leaping and bounding as if they flew, swift of foot. "My teacher the Woodcutter still holds the Martial Heavenly Master in the deepest admiration," Shen Mu said earnestly.

"Teacher has spoken of you, saying you are first in martial strength, the strongest of the four great Heavenly Masters.

In this Jingping Reform, after Teacher laid his plans and rescued Di Yiyue, he came straightaway to seek the Martial Heavenly Master, which shows that in Teacher's heart the Martial Heavenly Master ranks no lower than the Heavenly King Di Yiyue. " "My ability was never much different from Di Yiyue's," the old farmer said mildly. "Twenty thousand years ago Di Yiyue was a little stronger than I. She was first among the Four Great Heavenly Kings.

I fought her, and she beat me till I was utterly convinced.

But after twenty thousand years, who is higher and who is lower is hard to say. After all, even if she were resurrected, she has lost twenty thousand years of cultivation. " Shen Mu's heart lurched, and his scalp went numb. "The Martial Heavenly Master has already cultivated to the Imperial Throne realm!

Those three punches of his, I truly cannot take them, and I doubt my elder brother could either. .

. " The old farmer sneered. "I fought the scholar. In strength he was no match for me, yet each time he brought me to heel, and so I admire him. That is true ability.

But the woodcutter wagged his tongue and climbed onto my head, and that I do not accept.

This time he came running to ask me out of my mountain retreat.

Asking me out of retreat is nothing, come, let us have a bout.