Chapter 815 — The Measure of a King

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping said, "My martial uncle's physical body has reached an extremely high attainment, which is why he can withstand it. But not everyone possesses such a powerful physical body as my martial uncle. To be safe, I think we should first seal the Southern Heavenly Gate, then sever the Divine Bridge. I will create the technique for sealing the Southern Heavenly Gate. Sealing it is not too troublesome."

Shen Mu continued, "Xu Shenghua and I have been researching how to merge the divine treasuries into one, and over these years we have made considerable progress. The Jianmu Innate Divine Bridge was created by Xu Shenghua. If one possesses the Jianmu Innate Divine Bridge, the divine treasuries can also be made more stable, and one's cultivation will be more powerful than that of divine ability users without the Jianmu. However, the Jianmu Divine Bridge requires extremely high attainment in the arts of calculation, and those who can cultivate it are likely very few."

Everyone praised in unison, "Xu Shenghua is indeed a talent of unmatched brilliance."

"First, place the Jianmu Innate Divine Bridge in the great academies and the Imperial Academy. Whoever can cultivate it may do so."

Emperor Yanfeng said, "If one cannot cultivate it, there is no need to force it."

Shen Mu nodded. He hesitated a moment, then said, "Everyone, look at my divine treasuries again."

His aura surged, and suddenly beneath the divine dao treasuries that had just appeared, a series of inverted reflections emerged. The demon dao divine treasury system gushed forth all at once—there too was a Jianmu Innate Divine Bridge, there too were the Spirit Fetus, Five Luminaries, Six Harmonies, Seven Stars and other divine treasuries, and there too was a Heavenly River hanging inverted, connected to the Heavenly River in the divine dao treasuries!

The crowd erupted in an uproar, utterly shocked, and then broke into heated discussion, voices clamoring in a chaotic tangle.

Suddenly, the Village Head swept a contemptuous glance over the crowd and sneered, "It is the Overlord Body."

Granny Zhu, the Deaf Elder, the Butcher, Old Master Huo, the Blind Elder, and the other villagers of the Hidden Remnants Village all understood immediately, and laughed one after another. "These seniors may possess earth-shaking abilities, but their knowledge is shallow, not even comparable to ours. They do not know the marvel of the Overlord Body."

They were quite smug. After all, they had been immersed in the Village Head's influence long ago and had grown accustomed to such things.

"How was it cultivated?" The Scholar stepped forward to study it, and asked in amazement.

The Woodcutter, Emperor Shiyue, Emperor Shitian King Buddha and the others also crowded forward, probing it, and exclaimed in shock, "It is a real divine treasury, not a reflection!"

"The Heavenly River is real too!" the Fisherman Heavenly Master cried out.

The Old Farmer blurted out, "The other Life-and-Death Divine Treasury is different from the previous one!"

"Truly ignorant." The Second Ancestor crossed his arms and sneered.

The other Human Emperors also crossed their arms and sneered. "We knew long ago when he beat us senseless. Right, Primordial Ancestor?"

The Primordial Ancestor Human Emperor's expression did not change. He said, "Nonsense."

The Second Ancestor reminded him, "Master, you were beaten by him too."

The Primordial Ancestor's face turned livid in an instant. He stammered, "I was not..."

"Fiddlesticks. You were beaten in front of the Human Emperor Hall, and you even cried."

...

"I believe everyone can cultivate both the orthodox and inverted divine treasuries. The orthodox and inverted divine treasuries can also be connected into one through the Heavenly River Divine Treasury. The only difference lies at the Life-and-Death realm—one is the Life-and-Death Divine Treasury, the other is the Xuandu Divine Treasury."

Shen Mu said, "The primordial spirit has heaven above its head and earth beneath its feet. Ascending, one becomes a god; descending, one becomes a demon. We of the human race are neither gods nor demons. There is no need to cultivate only the divine dao. I believe we may perhaps cultivate both god and demon to form the human dao. Gods and demons have many restrictions, but we need not impose those restrictions upon ourselves. Leap beyond them, and perhaps the path will be broader."

Everyone circled around him, pacing back and forth, pondering bitterly how to open a separate demon dao divine treasury.

What Shen Mu said was not wrong, but putting it into practice was far too difficult. They could not come up with a method in a short time.

The Woodcutter suddenly said, "How did you open your demon dao divine treasury?"

Shen Mu said, "My other identity is the Divine Son of Youdu. I opened it in a muddled way. I am not even clear on exactly how I did it. Nevertheless, this path is viable."

The Woodcutter frowned tightly and continued circling around him. "Not everyone is the Divine Son of Youdu. You could open it, but others lack that condition. However, it is indeed possible to open a demon dao divine treasury..."

The others were also frowning in deep thought.

Shen Mu grew dizzy from their circling. He intended to push through the crowd and walk out, but everyone hurriedly blocked him. "You cannot leave. Only after we have studied you thoroughly may you go."

Shen Mu said with difficulty, "I merely threw out a topic for you. You are the ones to refine it. I still have other matters to attend to."

The Scholar said, "At present only you have succeeded. We can only study you. If you leave, whom shall we study?"

Shen Mu had no choice but to sit down.

Not far away, Haotian Venerable finally breathed a sigh of relief. These days had been truly exhausting, watched by people every single day, and now at last he could escape.

Shen Mu was studied by these people for over half a month. Daoist Lin Xuan and other Daoists even climbed into the interior of his divine treasuries, surveying and mapping detailed data and recording it all.

His demon dao divine treasury was thoroughly studied by everyone, and after deliberation they produced a set of guidelines.

Granny Zhu said, "Not everyone is the Divine Son of Youdu, so one must first cultivate a demon seed. Use the demon seed to nurture the Jianmu Divine Bridge. Plant the demon in the dao heart, and breed a demon heart."

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping said, "Once the demon nature runs deep, open the demon dao Spirit Fetus and breed the demon dao primordial spirit."

"After that, open the demon dao Five Luminaries, Six Harmonies, and Seven Stars. But the hardest is still the Xuandu Divine Treasury."

"Those who can accomplish this step are perhaps one in a hundred million. And beyond that lies another barrier: the Heavenly River Divine Treasury. After the Heavenly River Divine Treasury, there is yet another problem—who will open the demon dao Heavenly Palace? There is no demon dao Heavenly Palace within our bodies."

"But one who accomplishes all of this would be worthy of the title Demon Dao Divine King, Demon Dao Sage King!"

...

Shen Mu paid them no mind and simply circulated the Profound Body Three Elixirs Art, sitting there cultivating bitterly for over half a month. Seeing him thus, everyone sighed inwardly.

Emperor Yanfeng, kind-hearted after all, quietly reminded him, "My minister, if you could compile these cultivation methods, the world would honor you as a Sage King. For countless generations to come, divine ability users would address you as Sage King."

Shen Mu said, "Is the title of Sage King higher than that of Heavenly Venerable?"

Emperor Yanfeng shook his head. "No. The Heavenly Venerable's contributions are greatest, his merits greatest. The Sage King is somewhat inferior. Divine King is also a title of great merit, but it is a notch below Sage King."

"Not interested. Too troublesome."