Chapter 737 — Secrets of the Past

From what he had experienced in the Dou Niu Realm, the Dou Niu Realm was utterly isolated from the Barren Ruins; the darkness of the Barren Ruins at night could not invade the Dou Niu Realm. In other words, the Dou Niu Realm was not in this world at all.

Moreover, Hu Bugui and the other martial artists of the Dou Niu Realm had once said that at the age of thirteen they would go to the Demon Realm, to fight and kill its powerful experts as a trial.

This meant the Dou Niu Realm must be very far from the Barren Ruins — perhaps unimaginably far.

"An Imperial Throne powerhouse truly commands vast divine powers."

Shen Mu glanced at the old farmer. The old farmer came leading the old ox, and said to the villagers, "This time I will go out and take a turn, and accompany them to see that fellow called Xu Shenghua, to see whether he has any true skill. If he does, then I will go wander about Jingping. If Xu Shenghua has no skill, then when you next meet the woodcutter, seize him. I will smash him with one punch, then come back and live in seclusion."

The crowd assented, saying, "Rest assured, Heavenly King. We will stay here and guard the Dou Niu Palace. If we meet the Grand Heavenly Master, we will seize him."

The old farmer mounted the ox's back. Shen Mu also sat on Dragon Qilin's back, while Hu Bugui went on foot.

Shen Mu invited him to ride up, but Hu Bugui shook his head. "I run fast."

Shen Mu glanced at Dragon Qilin, and Dragon Qilin shuddered with dread. It hastily ran with all its might, feeling it was speeding like wind and lightning, certain it could leave Hu Bugui far behind. But when it turned its head, it saw the old ox bearing the old farmer still following steadily behind, while Hu Bugui bounded and leaped, racing at astonishing speed, springing from one mountain peak to another — a sight that left one gaping.

"That fellow's physical body is mightier than mine!"

Dragon Qilin was startled, and feeling the waves of chill emanating from its back, thought to itself, "They do not know where Xu Shenghua is, so they are following me. Otherwise they would already be ahead of me. But since they are following me, they cannot overtake me, and the Sect Master will not do anything to me..."

Shen Mu's primordial spirit left his body to contact Xu Shenghua, and he said to Hu Bugui, "Xu Shenghua has gone to the Western Lands. He is building the Shangcang Academy. We can go to the Western Lands to see him."

Hu Bugui was greatly invigorated. The old farmer, seated on the ox's back, said with an air of unruffled calm, "If Xu Shenghua is good for nothing, then I will beat the woodcutter to death."

Shen Mu laughed. "Brother Xu overflows with talent. Were it not for me, he would be the peerless genius of the world. The Martial Heavenly Master will surely be delighted to see him."

The old farmer gave a cold snort.

Six or seven days later, they arrived near the Zhentian Palace in the Western Lands.

The women of the Zhentian Palace were at that moment engaged in great construction, building palaces; quite a few halls had already been completed. Xu Shenghua and Jing Yan, having received Shen Mu's message, came out to welcome them.

Shen Mu leaped down from Dragon Qilin's back and looked around. The buildings of the Shangcang Academy were full of Western Lands flavor — splendid structures, adorned with fresh flowers, blossoms and green leaves never falling through all four seasons.

"You esteemed couple — this is the Martial Heavenly Master of the Kaihuang Divine Dynasty, and this is Senior Brother Niu Sanduo."

Shen Mu introduced, "And this is the man I told you about — the one who entered the Dao through martial arts and yet has no Spirit Bridge realm — Hu Bugui."

Xu Shenghua sized up Hu Bugui, his eyes lighting up, and said, "Brother Hu, might you open your divine treasury for a look?"

Several great booms came from within Hu Bugui's body. The divine treasuries of the Spirit Fetus, the Five Luminaries, the Six Harmonies, the Seven Stars, the Heaven-Man, Life and Death, and others all opened one after another — but when it came to the Spirit Bridge divine treasury, the entire Spirit Bridge divine treasury had vanished into thin air!

He had no Spirit Bridge divine treasury at all!

Countless runes swirled around Xu Shenghua as he calculated the location of Hu Bugui's Spirit Bridge divine treasury. After a while he shook his head and said, "There truly is no Spirit Bridge divine treasury! Good, good!"

"I am going to beat your teacher to death," the old farmer said to Shen Mu.

Xu Shenghua paced around Hu Bugui, an excited gleam flickering in his eyes, and spoke rapidly: "Brother Hu, your foundation is simply too good — perfect for testing the method of merging divine treasuries that I have pioneered! I am no good myself — I have an Overlord Body, but I learned of it too late, so my earlier realms' foundations are somewhat unstable. Though I wish to merge divine treasuries, my cultivation falls a bit short. I originally intended to test it on Brother Shen, but your body is sturdy and your foundation excellent, so it is just right to test it on your body! Oh, by the way — are you an Overlord Body too?"

The old farmer halted and said to Shen Mu, "If he kills Hu Bugui, I will beat him to death, and then beat you to death."

It was also the first time Shen Mu had seen this frenzied side of Xu Shenghua, and he felt somewhat uneasy at heart.