Chapter 1198 — Master and Disciple Face to Face
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
" "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.