Chapter 703 — The Supreme Sage

The Woodcutter Sage studied him carefully, and something stirred in his heart. "I know him," he said. "His name is Ning Jin. He was one of the many gods I dispatched to probe the source of the darkness. I placed a seal of the Creation-Heaven Demon Art upon him to ensure he would not be devoured by the monsters lurking in the dark. Is he still alive?"

Shen Mu said, "Neither living nor dead. Master, he has already completed his mission."

A flicker of emotion passed through the Woodcutter Sage's eyes, though he did not let it surface. He nodded slowly. "Can you wake him?"

Shen Mu shook his head. "When night falls, he will come alive within the darkness. You may meet him then, Master."

At that moment, a surge of darkness rushed forward. Yama moved, his body dragging the darkness with him, and it enveloped them all. The human skin suddenly fluttered like a paper cutout, and beneath it flesh and blood began to grow. Before long, the Divine Man of the Kaihuang Era was full-fleshed and standing alive before them.

"He can live in Fengdu." Yama's voice, from beneath the dark cloak, was obscure and heavy.

The Divine Man of the Kaihuang Era raised his own hands and examined them over and over, incredulity written across his face. He murmured, "The feeling of being alive—this is what being alive feels like... Twenty thousand years, and for the first time I feel that I am still alive..."

Shen Mu could not help but say, "Senior, you are in fact already dead. It is King Yama who brought the living realm of the dead to your side, and only thus do you feel alive."

The Divine Man of the Kaihuang Era was too overcome to compose himself and did not take in his words. Then, suddenly, he caught sight of the Woodcutter Sage. His eyes reddened despite himself, and at once he dropped to one knee, clasped his hands into a fist and raised them above his head, his voice ringing clear and powerful.

"Subordinate Ning Jin of the Heaven Division greets the Heavenly Master! After twenty thousand and six hundred years, I have returned to report to the Heavenly Master!"

"Report: Of the fifty-eight men of the Heaven Division dispatched by the Heavenly Master's command to probe the source of the darkness, fifty-seven are dead, their souls scattered and extinguished. Only this subordinate survives. This subordinate has been fortunate enough not to fail his charge—I have discovered the truth of the darkness. I request the Heavenly Master's permission to return to my post."

The Woodcutter Sage was silent. The light in his eyes rippled and flowed, but never once spilled over. After a long moment, he stepped into the darkness, took Ning Jin by the arm, and lifted him up. "Soldier of the Heaven Division, your mission is complete."

"Thank you, Heavenly Master!"

Ning Jin rose, his body ramrod straight, like a soldier awaiting his general's inspection. He said loudly, "Ning Jin requests to return to the Heaven Division!"

The Woodcutter Sage smiled, and said softly, "The Kaihuang Era has already fallen. I failed you all. The Heaven Division has been disbanded. Ning Jin—you are free..."

Ning Jin was dazed. His eyes widened, still unable to accept this truth. With immense difficulty, he said, "Heavenly Master, for twenty thousand years, I have waited to return to my post... Heavenly Master, Ning Jin has come back to report. I request to return to my post!"

The Woodcutter Sage frowned. "The Kaihuang Heavenly Court is finished. There is no Heaven Division anymore. You are free, Ning Jin..."

The Divine Man of the Kaihuang Era's voice trembled, hoarse and cracking: "Ning Jin requests to return to his post!"

The Woodcutter Sage was silent for a long while. His voice, too, trembled slightly. It was hard for him to reveal genuine feeling, yet in this moment he could scarcely hold back. He suppressed his Dao-heart with all his might and said, word by word, "Soldier of Kaihuang, Ning Jin of the Heaven Division—I grant you permission to return to your post!"

Ning Jin smiled, and then wept openly.

The Woodcutter Sage patted his shoulder, his gaze complex, and said no more.

Shen Mu watched them. What kind of emperor could command such soldiers? Kaihuang?

Yet Kaihuang had hidden himself away in the Land of No Sorrow, and had hidden there for twenty thousand years. He had likely long forgotten that he still had such followers, loyal unto death.

"The gods of Kaihuang have never owed the Shen family anything, nor owed me anything. It is the Shen family that owes these loyal and righteous men a great debt," he thought to himself.

Xu Shenghua asked curiously, "Sect Master Shen, what matter have you summoned us here for?"

Shen Mu gave a rough account of his experiences in the Tianyin Realm, and said, "All of you possess wisdom and talent surpassing my own. I have been unable to solve the problem of Empress Tianyin. Perhaps you can devise a solution."

Everyone stared, somewhat in disbelief. The Woodcutter Sage knew that Shen Mu had followed the Old Angler to fish for the sun and fish for the moon, but he had not expected that the Old Angler would vanish without a trace, and that this young man would somehow end up in the Tianyin Realm!

"I once dispatched fifty-eight gods of the Heaven Division to probe the Tianyin Realm, and not one returned alive. Yet he simply charged right in."

The Woodcutter Sage shook his head inwardly. He thought, "This boy is just like my eldest disciple—both of them fear nothing in heaven or earth. My eldest disciple sought to become a Sage. But what does this one seek? Surely not merely to satisfy his own curiosity?"

He truly had no way to deal with Shen Mu. The perils of the Tianyin Realm were imaginable, yet Shen Mu had somehow survived and returned alive—and had even resurrected Empress Tianyin, who had been dead for countless tens of thousands of years.

Such experiences and fortunes, and such means of solving problems—even he found them inconceivable.

"Sect Master Shen just said that we possess wisdom and talent surpassing his own?"

Xu Shenghua rarely smiled, but now he did, saying, "Could the Sect Master repeat that?"

Imperial Preceptor Jingping coughed and said, "I would also like to hear Second Senior Brother say it again."

The Primordial Ancestor Human Emperor laughed. "And I as well. Shen'er need only repeat what he just said."

Yama's voice was distant, as though carried from Fengdu itself. "To hear such praise from so proud a man—one who considers himself less clever than we are—this one is content for a lifetime."

All of them had been thoroughly humbled by Shen Mu at one time or another. The Primordial Ancestor needed no elaboration. Xu Shenghua too had been won over by Shen Mu. Imperial Preceptor Jingping had been astonished by the Spirit-Summoning Art and the Three Primordial Spirit Convergence that Shen Mu had pioneered, and even more astonished by the Eighteen Sword Forms he had created.

As for Yama, it need not be mentioned—the thrashing he had received in the Hall of the King of Shen was the shadow of his entire life.

Shen Mu's face was black as ink. He sneered, "Among you, only four are cleverer than I am. Figure out for yourselves which one is not."

At these words, everyone fell into contemplation.

The Primordial Ancestor sighed, his face melancholy. He thought, "He refuses to learn my Heaven-Earth Seal Art—it must be because he thinks my seal art is inferior to his own..."

Yama felt that he too was perhaps not as quick-witted as this boy. He sighed inwardly, and his body melted into the darkness. Imperial Preceptor Jingping's eye twitched, and he said no more.

Xu Shenghua also thought carefully. He felt that while he surpassed Shen Mu in certain respects, he still had no confidence of defeating him now. This left him somewhat dispirited as well.

"In ancient times there was a tale of one peach slaying three warriors. Today, Shen Mu has felled four people of extraordinary intellect with a single sentence."