Chapter 739 — Not My Inferior

Of those people of old, some had died, some had fled, some had gone into seclusion, some had lived drunk and dreamed their lives away, and some had turned into stone statues left to the mercy of wind and rain.

But whenever he recalled those years, scalding hot blood seethed and burned in Old Farmer's heart!

"Brother Hu, you have only just broken through to the Divine Bridge realm; it would be best to steady yourself a while longer. " Shen Mu saw that Hu Bugui's primordial spirit had mounted the Jianmu Divine Bridge and intended to race across the bridge and assault the Heavenly Palace, so he said at once, "If you ascend to the Heavenly Palace immediately while your realm is still unstable, your comprehension of the Divine Bridge realm will be insufficient, and even if the ascension succeeds, some flaws will remain. " Hu Bugui's momentum was still rising; his cultivation grew ever deeper, ever more terrifying. By now his cultivation had already surpassed the vast majority of mighty experts in the Divine Bridge realm—yet in Shen Mu's view, he could become stronger still!

Old Farmer said in a deep voice, "Shen Mu is right. Bugui, there is no need for haste.

You should spend a few years contemplating the Divine Bridge realm before ascending; the benefits will be far greater.

If you force an ascent to the Heavenly Palace, your future achievements will only stop at the Lingxiao realm, and you will have no chance at the Imperial Seat.

" Hu Bugui's primordial spirit halted. Gazing into the distance at the Southern Heavenly Gate of the Heavenly Palace, his heart surged with waves of emotion. In the end, his martial-way primordial spirit walked down from the Jianmu and stood beneath the tree.

"I thank Senior Brother Xu and Senior Brother Shen for the grace of recreating me!

" He bowed to the two of them in gratitude. Shen Mu and Xu Shenghua hastily returned the bow.

Jing Yan laughed, "Senior Brother Hu, the Shangcang Academy has just been founded and is short of hands. Would Senior Brother Hu be interested in serving as its Chancellor and instructing the scholars? " Hu Bugui agreed readily: "Good!

" Shen Mu said softly, "The Great Dao of Heaven and Earth has changed.

" The group stood there quietly, sensing the subtle transformation of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

One divine treasury reaching straight to the Heavenly Palace—this was an achievement no one had attained in a thousand ages, a reform of immense moment, far more important than such changes as the Primordial Spirit Guidance and the Eighteen Sword Forms.

Only the transformation of the Great Dao caused when Shen Mu revived the Lady Tianyin could rival it. This time, the change in the Great Dao moistened all things without a sound; it did not directly give rise to any portents or disturb the mortal world, and yet any being who had entered the Dao could sense this change from any corner of the universe.

Old Farmer stared blankly, lost in thought, and then suddenly gave a cold snort.

"Your Jianmu Innate Divine Bridge can, at most, transform someone with a foundation of cultivation like Hu Bugui's; it is of little use to anyone else.

Apart from Hu Bugui, no one can master the Jianmu Innate Divine Bridge. Moreover, the Jianmu Divine Bridge is so troublesome—it demands an extremely high attainment in divination arts, and it also requires the assistance of a master of Creation like Shen Mu—that it can never be popularized. " Xu Shenghua frowned. What Old Farmer had said was precisely the fatal flaw of the Jianmu Innate Divine Bridge; even though Hu Bugui had managed to cultivate the art, the roles of Xu Shenghua and Shen Mu had been even greater.

Without the help of Xu Shenghua and Shen Mu, he could never have succeeded. And Xu Shenghua and Shen Mu were temperamentally alike—neither could bear to stand guard day after day over others who wished to cultivate the Jianmu Divine Bridge; the two would far rather invent an art and then toss it to other people.

"So it needs to be slightly revised. " Shen Mu's eyes flashed with the light of wisdom as he said rapidly, "The Jianmu Innate Divine Bridge works through the Dao Heart Demon-Seeding art. I think we can first make a minor adjustment, letting divine-ability adepts or martial artists plant the Jianmu at the Spirit Embryo realm. The Jianmu will grow along with the adept or martial artist, breaking through the divine treasuries one layer at a time—in that way, the danger will not be so great. " Xu Shenghua's eyes brightened, and he clapped his hands, "Then we need to revise this art.

But I am not very skilled at revising arts; this will require the Sect Master's help. " "When it comes to revising arts, I am indeed the finest in the world.

" Shen Mu was not being modest in the least.

"You just planted the root seedling of the Jianmu for Brother Hu, and I have already understood most of this Jianmu Innate Divine Bridge art. There are still a few details that puzzle me.

Brother Xu, explain it in full, and let me see how it should be revised.

" Xu Shenghua recounted the Jianmu Innate Divine Bridge from beginning to end, omitting the divination model—he had no need to lay out the divination framework, for Shen Mu was himself a great master of divination. The two drew close, pacing back and forth, exchanging words in heated debate, leaving everyone else aside. Old Farmer could not understand a word of it, and neither could Hu Bugui or Old Ox; they could only gape at the two men, blinking at one another. Jing Yan was helpless.

She thought to herself, "Once the two of them get absorbed in research, there is no room for anyone else in their hearts. " This discussion was led mainly by Shen Mu.

His thinking leapt about so quickly that only Xu Shenghua could keep up, and Xu Shenghua's mind was more meticulous than Shen Mu's, which happened to make up for Shen Mu's shortcomings.

The two quickly settled on a revised version of the Jianmu Innate Divine Bridge, each working through the calculations several times and patching up the flaws. Xu Shenghua glanced at Hu Bugui, who was listening in a complete fog, and his heart stirred slightly. He said in a low voice, "Sect Master, seeing Senior Brother Hu so mighty and his strength so formidable, I had originally thought that he too possessed an Overlord Body—I never expected that he did not.

" Shen Mu smiled. "I saw long ago that he is not an Overlord Body.

His mind is simple and single-minded; he cultivates only the martial way and is not as clever as we are.

" The two, perfectly in sympathy, nodded repeatedly.

Xu Shenghua's eyes flickered.

"Now, Brother Shen, will you admit that you have lost to me? As for which of us is the female and which the male, the conclusion should be reached by now, should it not?

" Shen Mu laughed ha-ha and narrowed his eyes.

"I am indeed no match for the wisdom of so many of you; I bow to your superiority. " Xu Shenghua raised an eyebrow. "So many people?

" Shen Mu said at leisure, "If you had not invited the Woodcutter Sage, Xing'an, Lin Xuan, and the others, and had created this art entirely on your own, I would admit that I am the female Overlord Body and you are the male. But you only borrowed their wisdom to draw level with me, and you still fall a tiny bit short.

Even so, Brother Xu, you have already done something quite remarkable—in no way inferior to me!

" Xu Shenghua gave a muffled snort.