Chapter 817 — The Heavenly Lord Bestows Blessings

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping drew his sword, and the Woodcutter Sage took up his axe. One sent his blade forth like lightning, the other wielded his axe like the wind. Every move was exquisitely refined, breathtaking to behold.

"Jiang Bai Gui is very much like the woodcutter."

The Old Farmer watched for a while, then said quietly to the Scholar, "But his aptitude and comprehension seem even higher than the woodcutter's. His cultivation has already drawn close to the woodcutter's level."

The Scholar nodded slightly. "The Great Heavenly Master is distracted by too many other matters, which is why his cultivation realm has stalled. His energy is limited; one man propping up the Kaihuang Reforms delayed his own cultivation. But Jiang Bai Gui has already absorbed eight or nine parts of his knowledge, and he can still advance with astonishing speed. He is truly no ordinary man."

The Old Farmer glanced at Shen Mu, who stood off to the side looking thoroughly displeased, and asked quietly, "Why won't the woodcutter teach that boy Shen Mu? The boy is angry. His face is drawn longer than your donkey's."

The Scholar shook his head. "That I do not know. But Shen Mu's learning is also very miscellaneous. Though it is miscellaneous, he has mastered it all thoroughly and skillfully—not bad at all. Especially his sword art; even I cannot hold against it."

"I know why Eldest Brother won't teach him."

The Fisherman walked over and said in a low voice, "I spent some time with young Shen Mu and came to admire him greatly, so I asked Eldest Brother why he would not teach him. His expression was very strange at the time. He told me that of his three disciples, he knew what to teach the eldest and the youngest, but for this second disciple alone, he did not know what to teach, nor how to teach it. So he simply taught him nothing and let him run wild."

The Scholar was caught between laughter and tears. He asked the Old Farmer, "I observe that his martial Dao is also quite strong. Did you transmit it to him?"

The Old Farmer gave a muffled snort and shook his head. "Never transmitted a thing. Back then I had thrown the woodcutter into a ditch to soak, and the boy came looking for me, full of arrogance, saying he could solve the problem of the people of the Bullfighting Realm having no divine bridge, and that he would use this to trade for the woodcutter. So I let him go challenge the Bullfighting Heavenly Palace, and then he comprehended entering the Dao through martial arts on his own. I transmitted nothing to him. To my surprise, the boy actually solved it..."

The Scholar was stunned for a moment. She looked at Shen Mu, who was still pulling a long face, looking thoroughly unhappy.

"With a disciple like this, one cannot tell whether it is the Wen Tian Pavilion's fortune or misfortune," she thought to herself.

In but a short while, the Woodcutter and the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping had dismantled the Earth Mother's blessing. The two immediately began dismantling the Heavenly Duke's blessing, also at extreme speed, and then tackled Tubo's blessing. The Heavenly Masters and Heavenly Kings all wore expressions of astonishment.

Even Di Yiyue frowned deeply. The two were dismantling at such speed that even she could not have matched it.

To achieve such speed required extraordinary intelligence and terrifying powers of deduction, and moreover a flawless, seamless coordination that permitted not the slightest error.

The Woodcutter and the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping had not rehearsed beforehand; they simply began, and their coordination was truly flawless!

Soon, the two finally began tackling the Heavenly Emperor's blessing. This was the most difficult blessing of all. Their speed gradually slowed, and every sword stroke, every axe blow became extremely slow, extremely heavy.

They advanced haltingly, lifting the light as though it were heavy. Each strike took longer and longer. Steam rose from their bodies, transforming into cloud vapor, and their vital energies grew more and more vigorous.

Two days later, beads of blood seeped from the surface of the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping's skin, and two streams of bloody tears ran down the Woodcutter's face. His hair had turned grizzled.

The Heavenly Emperor's blessing was simply too powerful; it forced their intelligence to its absolute limit. Their brains operated at a terrifying speed. And this was still with the profundities of the runes within the Heavenly Emperor's blessing already grasped. Had they known nothing at all, they likely could not have even begun.

Another two days passed. The Woodcutter's breath grew feeble, while the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, being younger and having gained more and more insights while dismantling the Heavenly Emperor's blessing, saw his vital energies increase rather than diminish.

At last, the two broke apart the halo formed by the Heavenly Emperor's blessing!

Blood seeped from the corner of the Woodcutter's mouth as he withdrew. He said, "Bai Gui, can you handle the remaining blessings alone?"

"I can try!"

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping let out a long cry, and his figure abruptly accelerated, transforming into streaks of afterimage. In that moment it seemed as though countless Imperial Preceptors of Jingping appeared around the Heavenly Venerable Yu, more and more of them, each performing a different sword technique, stabbing at the halos on the back of the Heavenly Venerable Yu's head. Radiance of every color erupted, dazzling and multicolored!

Di Yiyue, the Scholar, the Old Farmer, and the others grew anxious.

The blessings they had broken earlier—the Heavenly Duke and Tubo would not obstruct, and the Earth Mother and Heavenly Emperor were dead. But now only the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping remained, and the ancient gods of those blessings might yet be alive!

Abruptly, the Emperor's Consort's blessing shattered with a pop. A few breaths later, the blessing of the Emperor's Consort's sister shattered as well. Then the Four Emperors' blessings dimmed one by one and vanished with soft pops!

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping grew faster and faster, his phantom images more and more numerous, forcing everyone to retreat continuously to give him a larger arena to perform in.

The halos on the back of the Heavenly Venerable Yu's head grew fewer and fewer, shattering faster and faster, leaving everyone dazzled and full of admiration.

"You are grooming your little disciple."

The Scholar said quietly, "You are not so feeble that you would cough blood from exhaustion."

The Woodcutter Sage smiled. "I am already old, and I am Kaihuang's Heavenly Master. I cannot always help Jingping. A teacher transmits the Dao, imparts knowledge, and resolves doubts. Now my Dao has been transmitted, my knowledge imparted, my doubts resolved. Only now am I truly a teacher."

The Scholar jerked her chin toward Shen Mu and said in a low voice, "What about that disciple of yours? Have you transmitted the Dao, imparted knowledge, and resolved his doubts?"

The Woodcutter Sage's head swelled with vexation. He said blankly, "I do not know what I can teach him, or how to teach him... He is like the Heavenly Venerable Yu. He learns some basic things, and then he fiddles around and comes up with something that leaves you gaping and dumbstruck, scaring you half to death. I dare not teach him..."

At last, the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping dismantled all the ancient gods' blessings. He abruptly withdrew his sword, held the blade behind his back with one hand, closed his eyes, and focused his spirit. Involuntarily, he sank into a mysterious realm.

This dismantling of the ancient gods' blessings had yielded him much. He entered into a profound and mysterious enlightenment of the Dao.