荒墟牧神 - 第1501章 執持與放下 - 錦書坊

(A correction from yesterday: it should be thirty-six kinds of post-heaven Great Daos and seventy-two kinds of pre-heaven Great Daos. This has been amended.) In Shen Mu's palm, the Ancestral Court slowly revolved. The Four Great Heavenly Gates stood upon its front and back faces; each gate held different principles within it, and conveyed a different insight into the realm of the Dao. He released the whole sum of his insights gained from passing through the Four Great Heavenly Gates. The resonance of the Great Dao was so melodious, so stirring to the soul, that even Emperor Yanfeng was left listening in utter enchantment. As for Jiang Baigui, it was as though he had been struck by the very sound of the Dao. Gazing upon those four gates, he suddenly felt as if endless gloom had parted and the sun at last broken through — a sudden, clarifying opening of the mind! These four gates were like four unshakably stable foundations, bearing the vast power of the Heavenly Palace and the Heavenly Court, and bearing his Dao heart as well! With these four gates, the Heavenly Palace could be made firm, the Heavenly Court made firm, and there would no longer be any fear of collapse! "Junior Brother, the combat experience you have accumulated here is sufficient. But dwelling always in the Land of No Worries, never touching the outside world — you have still fallen behind." At a slight stirring of Shen Mu's thought, the Ancestral Court in his palm revealed scenes of exquisite subtlety: the Great Dao coursing through, forming the Jade Terrace; the primordial essence liquid transforming into the Jade Sea! Jiang Baigui at once perceived how this Jade Terrace and Jade Sea differed from those of other humans, gods, and demons, and could not help but gaze in rapt fascination. The principles hidden within stirred in him something like the urge to make a pilgrimage! "The Jade Terrace and Jade Sea, like the Four Great Heavenly Gates, contain extraordinary principles. They are one of the great marvels of the Ancestral Court, and a natural holy land of the Dao realm." Within the Ancestral Court in Shen Mu's palm, the Heavenly Sea that mirrors the heart of heaven and the heart of man emerged, followed by the Ancestral Court's God-Slaying Terrace and its Nine Hells Terrace. One by one, he gradually revealed realm after realm to Jiang Baigui — and at the last, the Five Pre-Heaven Ultimates: the five great veins; Chaos rising and sinking; the Primordial Qi of Taichu; the Azure Emptiness of Taishi; Taisu, formed yet formless, shifting beyond all prediction; and Taiji, from which ten thousand daos and ten thousand things unfold. Such divine subtlety left one gasping in awe. "Junior Brother, the path of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Palaces and Seventy-Two Precious Halls was not cultivated wrongly in itself. It was only your realm that was wrong, and that is why it is hard for you to advance another step." Shen Mu's gaze fell upon Jiang Baigui's white hair, then moved from the white hair to his aged face, and he said gravely, "The sage who was once unrivalled — his Dao heart was as deep as an abyss and as vast as the sea. And now, a trifling setback, and his Dao heart is defeated?" "No." Jiang Baigui rose slowly, took off the official robes of the Kaihuang Heavenly Court of the Land of No Worries, cast aside his seal of office, and changed into his everyday attire. Then he rose and walked out. With each step he took, the wrinkles on his face vanished one after another, and the white hair on his head regained its dark green-black strand by strand. His tone likewise returned to the elegance and composure he had once possessed as the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, and he said, "I am going to the Ancestral Court, to seek my own path." Seeing this, Emperor Yanfeng hurried to catch up, saying, "Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, wait for me! Dear Minister Shen, go and seek the Moon Celestial Worthy yourself. I will accompany the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping to the Ancestral