Chapter 167 — The Patriarch Departs

But at the Patriarch's side, he had learned to grow.

He had now grown into a man.

Escort a gentleman a thousand li, and still you must part.

From the peak of Saint's Descent Mountain to its foot was not a thousand li, but at last they reached the end. The young Patriarch turned and bowed. "Holy Sect Master, go no further. " Shen Mu stopped.

A sorrow he could not suppress surged in his heart.

He bowed and said, "I respectfully see the Patriarch off!

" The young Patriarch leaped, springing down from the foot of the mountain; Elder Dianxing leaped after him, and the two vanished into the vast sky.

Shen Mu did not rise for a long time.

Only after a great while did he slowly straighten and look up at the sky. He knew that he would likely never see this youthful old man again.

When Elder Dianxing returned, what he brought would likely be only the young Patriarch's ashes.

What is there to say of the dead?

The body returns to the mountain's slope. Perhaps the young Patriarch's final wish was to be like this Saint's Descent Mountain.

That one doctrine of the Heavenly Demon, he had, by his reckoning, lived it out his whole life. Shen Mu returned the salute.

Few people remained on Saint's Descent Mountain now, only those few old men and women.

Granny Zhu had also left; she must have gone to see the young Patriarch off.

Shen Mu sought out the left and right Dharma Protectors and raised the matter of founding the Hall of Learning.

The two Dharma Protectors were middle-aged men, one in black, one in white.

They exchanged a glance, and the left Protector said, "What does the Holy Sect Master intend the Hall of Learning to teach?

" Shen Mu said, "All the methods and divine powers in the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Scripture may be taught. Also, besides the Hall of Learning, a Tower of Heavenly Records must be established on Saint's Descent Mountain, to gather the learning and strengths of every sect and store them in the tower, for disciples to consult. The simplest way is to copy the collections in the Great Academy's Tower of Heavenly Records and send them to our Holy Sect's Tower of Heavenly Records.

" The left and right Dharma Protectors noted this down. Shen Mu added, "Are there brothers of the sect who serve as officials in the imperial court? Ask them to record the court's methods as well and send them to the Tower of Heavenly Records.

" "We obey the decree. " The two Dharma Protectors asked a few details, then rose. The two of them, one black and one white, lifted their black and white robes and drew them over themselves, and both the men and the robes vanished. They must have transmitted themselves out of Saint's Descent Mountain. "Our Holy Sect's art of transmission is truly remarkable," Shen Mu said in unending admiration.

He hurried with Snow Fox toward that great hall to study the transmission art within.

Without learning the transmission art, he had no way to leave this place at all! As Holy Sect Master, surely he could not shamelessly beg others to carry him away?