Chapter 978 — Sloth in Youth, Vain Grief in White Hair
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 5
This Heavenly Palace stood upon the Taiji Diagram, its buildings and sculptures chiefly of gods and demons with three heads and six arms. When the fourth Heavenly Palace was formed, Shen Mu drew out the seventh drop of Essence, and a fifth Heavenly Palace rose from the ground — this one the Sword Heavenly Palace, bristling with sword qi!
He drew out the eighth drop. The spirit of the martial Dao filled heaven and earth, and the vital qi behind him transformed into a sixth Heavenly Palace, the Martial Dao Heavenly Palace!
The ninth drop flew out; Shen Mu's aura became brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and upon the left side of his form half a Heavenly Palace of the Painting Dao took shape.
The tenth drop flew out; saber light startled the world, and upon the right side of his form half a Heavenly Palace of the Saber Dao took shape.
The eleventh drop flew out, forming half a Heavenly Palace of Medicine.
The twelfth drop formed half a Heavenly Palace of Divine Ability. The thirteenth drop formed half a Heavenly Palace of Forging. The fourteenth drop flew out, forming half a Heavenly Palace of the Buddhist Dao.
The fifteenth drop flew out, forming half a Heavenly Palace of Thievery.
The sixteenth drop formed half a Heavenly Palace of Formation.
When these sixteen drops of Essence were spent, Shen Mu's Primal Fetus Divine Treasury changed no more. The various Heavenly Palaces, some whole and some incomplete, stood in interlacing array, each producing its own strange phenomena — fourteen Heavenly Palaces in all.
Others believed that his cultivation art had fused at most three or four Emperor Throne arts, and that guess was not wrong: Shen Mu's Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art had indeed fused only a few Emperor Throne arts — those of the Crimson Emperor, the Bright Emperor, Mahakala, and the Ancestral Dragon Grand Mystery Art.
Among them, Mahakala's Dark Magic Scripture was incomplete, and so counted as half a Heavenly Palace.
Yet Shen Mu had entered the Dao through the sword, and his sword Dao divine abilities were unmatched under heaven, so he could raise a full Heavenly Palace of the Sword.
He had also pondered the martial Dao and studied the Martial Combat Heavenly Art of the Martial Combat Heavenly Master, Zhuo Cha; that the spirit of the martial Dao should become a Martial Dao Heavenly Palace was only natural.
As for the various acquired Daos — the saber, painting and calligraphy, thievery, formations, divine abilities, forging, medicine, and the rest — he had learned them all from the elders of Hidden Remnant Village.
Though Shen Mu himself had not entered the Dao, the elders of Hidden Remnant Village had all entered it; their cultivation realms were merely low, and they had never deduced their arts and divine abilities to the level of a Heavenly Palace.
The elders of Hidden Remnant Village had, as it were, planted seeds in him, and those seeds had sprouted.
So it seemed that Shen Mu cultivated very few Emperor Throne arts, when in truth he cultivated no small number.
"When I return to Jingping, I must drive Village Head, Mo Jiang, and the other grandpas hard, make them cultivate diligently and train bitterly, ponder with all their might, and raise their cultivation realms and their insights!
" Shen Mu's primal spirit walked beneath the Southern Heavenly Gate of the main Heavenly Palace and felt the pressure emanating from it. Sick at heart, he thought, "If the elders do not strive, the young grieve in vain!
If Grandpa Village Head and the others do not strive, I can never perfect the other Heavenly Palaces. " "Just as they once forced me to cultivate diligently and train bitterly, so I shall force them to study earnestly and train bitterly! Only when every grandpa and grandma has cultivated their Heavenly Palace will my Heavenly Court be complete.