Chapter 551 — The Two Realms Joined

Shen Mu let out a long breath of relief. The sight of Imperial Teacher Jingping was like seeing kin. That Imperial Teacher Jingping had actually come to Taihuang Heaven from the Wasteland proved the spirit-energy translocation bridge was viable—he was a timely rain indeed!

Otherwise, they would have been stuck there exchanging stiff smiles for who knew how long.

As for testing whether the spirit-energy translocation bridge was stable, Shen Mu had not dared to step into it himself. Like the Black Tiger God, he feared some flaw in the design might leave him strangled to death inside.

Thankfully, Imperial Teacher Jingping had arrived.

More critically, they had blasted apart the sun. If the spirit-energy translocation bridge still proved unusable, the divine ability practitioners and gods of Taihuang Heaven would have beaten them half to death, if not outright killed them.

Yet thankfully, Imperial Teacher Jingping had arrived.

"The sun in the sky..."

Imperial Teacher Jingping looked up and saw the sun missing half its disc. His expression shifted slightly. He quickly withdrew his gaze, refusing to look at that broken sun again, and steadied his mind before asking, "Sect Master, what place is this? These fellow Daoists are...?"

"Imperial Teacher Jingping, you've come at the perfect time!"

Shen Mu announced in a clear voice, "Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you! This is the sage who appears once in five hundred years—the Imperial Teacher of Jingping. To speak frankly, the divine bridge of the Jingping people was severed, and Imperial Teacher Jingping was the first to cultivate a divine bridge and ascend to godhood. He is also the leader of Jingping's reform movement! Imperial Teacher Jingping, this is Taihuang Heaven, the first of the Thirty-Three Heavens. This one in the air is True God Pang Yu!"

True God Pang Yu and the assembled deities could not help but be moved. They hurriedly descended and exchanged greetings with Imperial Teacher Jingping. Pang Yu smiled and said, "So you are the sage who appears once in five hundred years! I have long heard of you! To speak frankly, I once heard legends of a sage who appears once in five hundred years. I had thought them rustic tall tales—never did I imagine I would meet the real person!"

Imperial Teacher Jingping returned the greeting and said modestly, "Brother Dao flatters me. I am but a humble man from the countryside who has never seen great matters. This 'sage who appears once in five hundred years' is merely the flattery of a small nation."

Pang Yu laughed heartily and shook his head. "Imperial Teacher Jingping, you are mistaken! If your world is the countryside, then Taihuang Heaven does not even qualify as countryside. In the Kaihuang Era and the Shanghuang Era, your realm was where the Heavenly Court resided. We of Taihuang Heaven have fought the demon clans for twenty thousand years, all to protect your world."

Imperial Teacher Jingping was deeply shaken, and Shen Mu too wore a dazed expression, having never expected True God Pang Yu to say such things.

The words revealed too much. Even the two of them needed time to digest it all.

"This spirit-energy translocation bridge connects the two realms. It is a great boon for Taihuang Heaven. If we cannot hold, then we must preserve our strength and retreat to the Heavenly Court."

Pang Yu bowed deeply to Shen Mu and said with utter sincerity, "Whether or not Friend Shen can forge two new suns, everyone in Taihuang Heaven, high and low, will remember your great kindness!"

Shen Mu hurriedly returned the bow and said, "True God is too kind. This is my duty. There is no need to keep it in mind."

Imperial Teacher Jingping turned to look at the immensely complex spirit-energy translocation bridge and the altar, and praised, "Spirit-energy translocation—truly the Sect Master's creation. When I was in the Wasteland and suddenly saw the heavens change, an altar surge up from the earth, and a bridge of light like two funnels joined together, I thought some demon lord had pierced through the two realms and was coming to wreak havoc in the Wasteland. When I arrived at the altar and examined it, I found it truly exquisite—work of divine craftsmanship. The arts and calculations employed were extraordinary, likely using spirit-energy conversion and spirit-energy translocation. I grew suspicious and came in to look, and indeed it was the Sect Master. In this world, only the Sect Master could conceive of such ingenious ideas."

Shen Mu felt greatly satisfied and said modestly, "Imperial Teacher Jingping overpraises me. Much of the credit goes to Senior Brother Black Tiger."

He introduced the gods present to Imperial Teacher Jingping one by one, then said with deep meaning, "Imperial Teacher Jingping, the Woodcutter Sage is also here in Taihuang Heaven."

"The Woodcutter Sage!"

Imperial Teacher Jingping's heart surged. His reform movement had begun precisely because of a single phrase from the Heavenly Sage Cult's doctrine: "the common people's daily use."

The way of the sage was his lifelong pursuit!

To become a sage required establishing words, establishing teachings, and establishing merits—three accomplishments to attain sagehood—and this was exactly what he had done.

Never had he imagined that this legendary figure was here. How could his heart not surge with emotion?

He dearly wished to meet this senior who had set him on the path of reform.

Shen Mu rarely saw him so stirred and smiled, "The Woodcutter Sage is not here at present. He has gone with twenty-four deities to attack the demon clans. Imperial Teacher Jingping, you have just arrived and do not yet understand Taihuang Heaven. Let me explain it this way, and you will understand the wonder of building the spirit-energy translocation bridge."

Shen Mu said with deep significance, "The Daoist arts lineage of Taihuang Heaven has never been broken."

"What?"

Imperial Teacher Jingping wore an expression of disbelief and blurted out, "The Daoist arts lineage here has never been broken? You mean their cultivation methods and divine abilities are completely preserved? Impossible! Look at that sun in the sky—such a level of skill is a hundred thousand li behind Jingping. It is not even as good as the scholars of the Grand Academy!"

The Black Tiger God curled his lip and thought, "This sage who appears once in five hundred years is also a fellow whose mental state is far from cultivated. In a single moment he surges with emotion, trembles with excitement, and now his expression changes drastically—he cannot control his feelings. So-called sage—empty fame, hollow reputation!"

Shen Mu felt somewhat embarrassed and mumbled, "The sun is a bit hard on the eyes..."

Imperial Teacher Jingping sneered, "Hard on the eyes? It makes one want to take a blade up there and trim it into shape! If a scholar of the Grand Academy had produced such crude work, they would certainly be stripped of rank and sent back to redo it!"

Around them, the gods of Taihuang Heaven wore awkward expressions, looking at one another in silence.

Shen Mu was helpless and lowered his voice, "Imperial Teacher Jingping, keep your voice down. Though Taihuang Heaven's arts and calculations lineage has been severed, the Daoist methods and divine abilities have not. By my strength, among divine ability practitioners of the same realm in Taihuang Heaven, I can only rank in the top ten."

"Sect Master, you are being modest?" Imperial Teacher Jingping asked skeptically.

Shen Mu thought for a moment and said sheepishly, "Modest by just a tiny bit. But many divine ability practitioners in Taihuang Heaven possess the bodies of youthful true gods. They are faster than me, stronger than me. Their adaptability, the power of their divine abilities, the insight of their sage eyes, and their cultivation methods all surpass Jingping by a great margin."

Imperial Teacher Jingping drew a long breath and steadied his mind.