Chapter 1198 — Master and Disciple Face to Face

In truth, Shen Mu had never blamed the Martial Combat Heavenly Master in his heart, nor had he ever blamed King Yama and the others.

The knot in his heart had always been that one decree of Kaihuang's, but after he later met Kaihuang and saw the present state of Worry-Free Village, the knot in his heart came loose. Yet although the knot in his own heart was loose, the knots in the hearts of Kaihuang's old subordinates in Fengdu were not.

These were all heroes; he could not simply act on his own heart and rescue Jingping, leaving them to brood in thwarted ambition, their Dao hearts impaired.

This visit of Shen Mu's was precisely to untie the knots in their hearts. He took his leave of the Martial Combat Heavenly Master and arrived at the Azure Emperor's Dragon Village.

When the girl Qingya in the village saw him arrive, she was both startled and overjoyed; she wanted to cry out but forcibly held it back.

Shen Mu smiled and nodded in greeting to her and to the other Dragon Village folk. Elder Qinghuang sensed his arrival as well, came out of the village to greet him, and saluted: "Son of the Shen family.

.

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" Shen Mu returned the salute and said with a smile: "I am no longer the son of the Shen family — I am the Heavenly Venerable Mu.

" Elder Qinghuang was taken aback for a moment, sighed, and saluted: "Heavenly Venerable Mu.

" Shen Mu returned the salute: "Azure Emperor, you are the dragon vein of the Kaihuang Divine Dynasty and the founder of the Jingping dragon vein; you are also one of the founding fathers of Jingping. It was you who passed the Ancestral Dragon's Grand Profound Art and the Heavenly Emperor's Jade Slip to the founding ancestor of the Ling family, and only thus did the Jingping Kingdom come to be in later ages. Why should you blame yourself?

" Elder Qinghuang shook his head: "I did not protect Jingping.

" Shen Mu smiled: "No one has ever blamed you. It is only that you cannot get over it yourself.

Your ties with Jingping run deeper than anyone's — you need not blame yourself.

" Elder Qinghuang bowed: "The Heavenly Venerable's instruction — I dare not disobey. " Shen Mu took his leave. Following Chi Xiu the divine being, he came to the depths of Fengdu and heard the sound of Buddhist chanting surging in vast waves, Sanskrit voices rising again and again.

When they reached the spot, he saw the Heavenly King Shakra, Li Youran, seated barefoot amid the evil ghosts of Fengdu, chains coiled about his whole body, both eyes tightly shut. He was contemplating the Boundless Kalpa Sutra and had entered his dreams again and again; his dreamscape had become a supreme Buddha land, a pure land of ultimate bliss, yet time and again evil ghosts slipped into his dreams and disturbed that Buddha land and pure land. The Li Youran within the dream was at one point assimilated by the evil ghosts, and the pure land was polluted as well, giving him nightmare upon nightmare.

The Heavenly King Shakra cried out: "If hell is not emptied, I vow to attain no perfect enlightenment!

" Shen Mu motioned for Chi Xiu the divine being to halt, and came himself to sit opposite the Heavenly King Shakra in the lotus posture; he closed his eyes and entered the dream. The two dreamscapes merged, and the Heavenly King Shakra's dream was no longer a supreme Buddha land or pure land of ultimate bliss, but a world in which everyone strove to press forward and dared to struggle.

Although the evil ghosts were still present, they could no longer easily invade him. After a long while, the Heavenly King Shakra woke with a sense of sudden enlightenment and bowed in salute to Shen Mu. Shen Mu returned the salute and drifted away.

The Heavenly King Shakra watched him recede into the distance, pondered for a moment, left that place where evil ghosts ran rampant, and murmured: "Evil ghosts arise from the human world; if the evil men of the human world are not done away with, hell will never be emptied.

" "Just now the Heavenly Venerable Mu and the Heavenly King Shakra did not exchange a single word — how is it that the Heavenly King Shakra attained enlightenment?

" Chi Xiu the divine being asked, puzzled. Shen Mu smiled: "Everything that needed to be said, I already told him in the dream.

Why should I speak? " Chi Xiu the divine being was quite perplexed.

Suddenly, Shen Mu halted his steps.

He saw the Black Tiger God — a great black tiger lying listlessly sprawled on the ground, with two thatched huts beside it.

The woodcutter had changed into a firewood-gatherer's clothes and was chopping at an old tree.

With every blow of his axe, a piece of the old tree was split open, only to grow back at once, so that it could never be chopped through. Shen Mu walked up close, watched for a while, then abruptly drew his sword and cut the old tree down with a single stroke.

He sheathed his sword and was about to stride away.

"In those days, your senior apprentice brother watched me chop firewood for several hundred years.

" From behind him came the Woodcutter Sage's voice: "You watched for less than the time it takes one stick of incense to burn, and then you cut down my tree.

" Shen Mu turned around and smiled: "Teacher, what I study is your way of being a man, not your Dao arts.

What you have, I no longer hold in any regard — I have comprehended something better! " "Stand right there!

" The Woodcutter Sage flew into a rage and said angrily: "You belittle what I teach? The reason I did not teach you was that you were too flighty — I did not know what would be best to teach you!

Your senior apprentice brother, I taught the longest; I tried to pass on to him all the accomplishments of the Kaihuang era, but I never expected that he would be too extreme.

The only one who was not extreme was Old Third — your third junior apprentice brother — the one I taught most diligently. What I passed on to him were the thirty-six acquired great ways by which one may attain the Dao, supplemented by the seventy-two innate great ways to help him become a sage. " Shen Mu blinked: "He is no match for me. " The Woodcutter Sage barely restrained the impulse to grab his axe and charge at him; he snorted coldly and said: "The Ten Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Court walk the path of the thirty-six heavenly palaces, seeking to cultivate a Heavenly Court. But they have only the thirty-six heavenly palaces, without the seventy-two precious halls. Their understanding of the Heavenly Court realm is not necessarily deeper than mine!

As the first Heavenly Master of Kaihuang, though my aptitude is poor, I have a design for the Heavenly Court realm.

" Shen Mu listened. The Woodcutter Sage went on: "Even if the Ten Heavenly Venerables cultivate the thirty-six heavenly palaces to completion, they will not reach the true Heavenly Court realm. Without the seventy-two precious halls, their foundation is unstable, and the various heavenly palaces are bound to hamper one another, limiting their power. They have taken the wrong road. To cultivate a Heavenly Court quickly there is only one road: refine the thirty-six heavenly palaces with the acquired great ways, aided by the seventy-two innate great ways.

In this way the Heavenly Court can be completed faster, and the foundation will be secure!

I have already passed this method on to Old Third. " Shen Mu thought it over and said: "Favoritism. " The Woodcutter Sage was furious but repressed it: "Your skill now surpasses mine a hundredfold, but my insight is still higher than yours. If you want to walk the road of the Heavenly Court, I can help you sort out your arts, so that you too may walk the path where heavenly palaces and divine halls complement each other! " Shen Mu thought it over again, then shook his head and walked away: "There is no need. I have already comprehended something better.

I have only this one realm, the Spirit Embryo — whether the heavenly palaces or the Heavenly Court, they are merely flowers added to brocade.