Chapter 1536 — The Seventy-Two Palaces of the Imperial Capital

Was it the Dao-Achievers of the Jade Capital City making a move? " He looked at the great hall and set aside his wild conjectures. This hall impressed him no less than the Pixiang Hall—it must be a divine temple of great importance within the Jade Capital City.

Before the temple stood a Dao Tree that had been chopped down, and signs of battle remained. Judging by the marks, a fierce battle had been fought here half a year ago, so fierce that the Dao Tree had been hewn down. He studied the traces closely, and among them he discerned the divine arts of Heavenly Venerable Hao; besides these, there were traces of the divine arts of Heavenly Venerable Huo, the Ancestral God King, and other Heavenly Venerables.

"They came here, met with some uncanny incident, fought the other party in a great battle, and chopped down the other's Dao Tree.

" Shen Mu went around the Dao Tree and entered the hall. The interior was imprinted with all manner of runes and Dao pattern marks, extremely intricate.

He examined them one by one, and suddenly noticed a few meditation cushions, along with the lingering auras of Heavenly Venerable Hao, Heavenly Venerable Huo, and the others.

"After they came here, they stopped and sat to comprehend the Great Dao hidden within this hall. " Shen Mu's heart tightened with awe.

Hao, Huo, the Ancestral God King, and Gong were all figures of surpassing brilliance and insight.

The reason they had lingered so long in the Jade Capital City was not that they were trapped there—it was that they had discovered the city's secret! They were using their own wisdom to comprehend the Great Dao of the Jade Capital City, in order to perfect their own Jade Capitals! In the past, Shen Mu had likewise believed that the Jade Capital, like the Four Heavenly Gates, the Jade Pool and the Jade Terrace, the God-Slaying Terrace, and the other realms, was a natural ground of the Dao formed by the Ancestral Court, teeming with the knowledge of the Great Dao; one could comprehend further subtleties of the Dao from the Jade Capital City, and let one's cultivation and strength leap forward.

But now that he understood the trap of the Jade Capital, he no longer thought so.

This Jade Capital City was an artificial holy land, wrought jointly by the master of the Miluo Palace and other prehistoric Dao-Achievers! Its aim was to make use of the gods of later ages—as they cultivated and comprehended their Jade Capitals, they would help these ancients extricate themselves from the Annihilation Tribulation all the sooner!

The stronger those who cultivated the Jade Capital became, the more stable the Ancestral Court Jade Capital would grow, and the more likely it would be to cast off the Annihilation Tribulation altogether and descend fully to the Ancestral Court amid the great destruction of the universe!

The Jade Capital City of the present had not yet wholly descended to the Ancestral Court; the Dao-Achievers within were dead or wounded, and along his entire way Shen Mu had seen no living Dao-Achiever—at most Dao Trees and withered Dao Fruits. But if any of the Ten Heavenly Venerables comprehended the Jade Capital, brought their own Jade Capitals to completion, or even attained the Dao Realm, then the situation would be different. The Jade Capital within a deity's celestial palace borrows power from the true Ancestral Court Jade Capital!

The celestial palace system of cultivation values force and pays no attention to the Dao Realm; the underlying reason, perhaps, lies precisely in this Ancestral Court Jade Capital.

In earlier times, the realms of the Venerable Gods, the South Heaven Gate, the Jade Pool, and the God-Slaying Terrace all borrowed power from the Heavenly Court—the drawbacks back then were not yet serious.

But the Jade Capital realm borrows power from the Ancestral Court Jade Capital City!

And once power is borrowed, it must be repaid in the future! After a Dao-Achiever's Jade Capital is returned to the Ancestral Court Jade Capital, the decline of his personal strength is the least of matters—the Jade Capital will become even more stable, able to resist the Annihilation Tribulation with greater might!

It is even possible that some prehistoric Dao-Achiever will break free of the Annihilation Tribulation and step from the prehistoric universe into the present one! What the Ten Heavenly Venerables were doing was to ask a tiger for its hide, to act as the tiger's accomplice, and to make bridal robes for another's wedding!

Shen Mu pressed his hand upon his sword hilt, unable to resist the urge to draw his blade and chop the Dao patterns of this hall to pieces—but he forced himself to forbear.

Heavenly Venerable Hao and the others had already been here and comprehended the mysteries of the Dao hidden within this hall; even if Shen Mu cut these Dao patterns to shreds now, it would avail little.

Moreover, the Dao patterns in this divine temple were indeed exquisite and profound, concealing extremely deep principles—this was no simple matter of borrowing power.

Shen Mu steadied his mind, sat down, and quietly set about comprehending the Dao patterns on the temple walls, grasping the arcana within. He had to understand their arcana; whether to practice them could only be decided after he had explored the Jade Capital City.

After a little while, Shen Mu fell peacefully into a dream.

Layer upon layer of dreams unfolded, and countless tiny Shen Mus flew out, racing along the four walls of the temple, shouting "Maha, maha! " as they reasoned over the mysteries of the runes.

More than ten days later, Shen Mu withdrew his dreams, rose, and walked out of that treasure hall.

Following the path that Heavenly Venerable Hao and the others had trod, he continued onward, and before long he came upon another treasure hall.

"There couldn't be seventy-two treasure halls here, could there?

" A chill shot through Shen Mu's heart: "Seventy-two treasure halls—wouldn't they correspond to the seventy-two halls of the Heavenly Court? If so, what Hao and the others wish to complete is not the Jade Capital realm.

.

.

but the thirty-six celestial palaces and the seventy-two treasure halls—they wish to complete the Great Heavenly Court!

This method was created by the Sage Woodcutter—so who taught Heavenly Venerable Hao to cultivate in this way? " His face grew somber.

If Hao had come up with it himself, then Hao's intelligence and comprehension would have to be reassessed!

And if Hao had not comprehended it himself, then who had guided him?

"The Woodcutter and Junior Brother Jiang Baigui could not have guided him.

Taisu does not have such wisdom. The one behind Heavenly Venerable Hao is not Taisu—it is someone else! " "The intelligence of that someone is no less than Master Woodcutter's. Yet look across the whole world today—aside from Master Woodcutter, no such wise one exists at all.

Unless.

.

. unless he came from the previous universe!

A Dao-Achiever who crossed over! " His face was heavy with thought. In his mind rose the figure of Heavenly Venerable Hao, and behind that figure an immense shadow loomed down.

"Taisu is a little lamb that has fallen into the wolf's mouth—he is as good as dead! "