Chapter 130 — Barring the Gate, Striking at the Heart

Shen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, and Yun Que all felt their hearts tighten, and each glanced at the others; the three of them walked out of Hanguang Hall. Ling Yuxiu had meant to go up to Shen Mu, but at the sight of this she had no choice but to give it up, and was dragged off by several princes and princesses. Shen Mu said, "You have made great progress.

" Shen Mu thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"You are still a little short of the mark. Your foundation is not as solid as mine; and even if your foundation were as solid as mine, you would still be no match for me. At the same realm, my cultivation is far stronger than yours, and my arts are far better than yours. You fix your eyes too much upon the sword and neglect all else; at the same realm you are still no match for me. Still, your progress has been great. " Outside Hanguang Hall, Shen Wanyun and the others wore grave faces.

Yue Qinghong said furiously, "The Grand Academy is playing favorites, giving him extra lessons, keeping him behind to be taught sword arts alone! His swordsmanship was hardly weak to begin with; if the Grand Academy deliberately cultivates him, what chance will we ever have of beating him? " Shen Wanyun said calmly, "You need not worry. However exquisite the sword art the Grand Academy teaches him, he cannot be my match. I need only seize upon the flaw in his arts and I can defeat him!

" "That may be so, but it cannot go unguarded against," Yun Que warned. Shen Wanyun nodded. "Rest assured.

He is advancing, and so am I.

These past days I have suppressed my realm, and I feel that I am on the very verge of the Six Harmonies realm. With my fighting strength at the peak of the Five Luminaries realm, how could I fail to take him down? And the guidance he gets from the Grand Academy will only cost him heart and strength on new sword arts, leaving him no leisure at all for cultivation! To defeat him at the Five Luminaries realm is my dearest wish; otherwise, even if I became a divine-power adept, I would still feel regret in my heart. " Had the three of them witnessed this scene, their very eyeballs would have started from their sockets! Shen Mu understood his meaning: to transmit a cultivation art, one must have a renowned master. Take the monk Chenghuai of Great Thunderpeal Temple, for instance: his own master had never cultivated the Eight Thunderpeal Arts to perfection, and so the Eight Thunderpeal Arts he passed on to Chenghuai had flaws in them.

Therefore, to learn profound and supreme arts, one must have a good master!

A flicker passed over Shen Mu's face. "Where can one see the Sword Treatise? " "Tianlu Tower.

" Shen Mu's spirits surged.

He had never yet been to Tianlu Tower, and it held the texts of every sect and school in the whole empire; how could he not go?

"The Young Sect Master has not yet eaten his midday meal, I take it?

" Shen Mu said hesitantly, "There is still a little fox at my home. .

.

" "Bring her along, then.

" Shen Mu left Hanguang Hall with him and returned to the Scholars' Residence, where Xue Hu'er was cultivating the Creation Spirit Art.

Hearing that they were going to eat, she came running out in high spirits at once. "Is there wine? " "Jiantang, have you no wife?

" Shen Mu asked doubtfully.

"A wife?

" The middle-aged man soon set the dishes on the table, then served out the rice. "And what would I want a wife for?

Trouble. " Xue Hu'er tasted the food he had cooked and said in astonishment, "This is delicious! Jiantang, your cooking is so fine, better than many a master chef in the capital.

Why not find yourself a wife? " "I had one once.

When I was young I was close with a woman of the sect; I was young then, and knew no better. " Xue Hu'er was taken aback and argued, "Jiantang, that is not right at all.

What is so bad about women? " Shen Mu blinked.

Jiantang's realm was too high; he did not yet understand such a realm.

Shen Mu did not know whether to laugh or cry, and waved a hand at him.

"Jiantang has a truly peculiar temper. " He shook his head. "I wonder who that woman he loved long ago might be.

Perhaps the two could be brought back together. But with Jiantang's temper so peculiar, I daresay that even if they were reunited, they would part again. " He returned to the Scholars' Residence, and suddenly saw a great many scholars heading down the mountain. Not only were the scholars of the Scholars' Residence streaming downhill in throngs; from the Princes' Garden and the Divine Power Residence beside it, scholars likewise came out one after another and headed down the mountain.

Shen Mu was puzzled, when suddenly a voice called out, "Brother Shen, over here!

" Shen Mu looked, and saw that Wei Yong was in the crowd as well, so he stepped over to him. Xue Hu'er asked, "Fatty Wei, what has happened?

" Wei Yong laughed. "You do not know? They say a Daoist came to the foot of the mountain, claiming to be of the Daoist Sect, and he is sitting with a disciple at the mountain gate of our Imperial Academy, right in the middle of the road.

" Shen Mu was startled.

"That is blocking the gate! " Wei Yong nodded. "Blocking the gate indeed! The Daoist Sect is the foremost of the orthodox great sects. This Daoist blocking the gate calls himself Danyangzi, and the youth at his side he calls the Dao Child. A moment ago someone from the Grand Academy went to inquire, and Danyangzi said they had not come to make trouble but to exchange; he said he had long heard that the Imperial Academy is the foremost holy ground under heaven, gathering to itself all the talent of the world, and so he has brought the Daoist Sect's Dao Child to pay his respects to the Imperial Academy, and to test the Daoist arts and divine powers of the Daoist Sect and the Imperial Academy. " Shen Mu's heart gave a small jolt. He expelled a breath of stale air and said slowly, "A fine stratagem.

" Wei Yong was baffled.

"This is a strike at the heart.

" Shen Mu's eyes flickered.

"Outside the capital, the various sects seize the chance to stir up trouble, raising the great banner of punishing the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping; yet inside the capital all remains calm, and where the hearts of the common people lie is plain as day. The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping reformed the sects, founding the minor schools, the great schools, and the Imperial Academy, gathering the finest talents of the world and assembling them as the emperor's own students, so that the scholars of the world are all in the emperor's service. I have heard it said that the state of Jingping is in truth a sect wearing the name of a nation. If the Daoist Sect's Dao Child blocks the gate and the scholars of the Imperial Academy cannot stand against him, then what use is the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping's reform? " Wei Yong was stunned for a moment, then murmured, "This is not merely a strike at the heart; this is killing the heart itself. . . "