Chapter 1668 — Gnawing to Prove the Dao

The Woodcutter Sage's beard quivered, and he reached for the axe at his back. Shen Mu hastily laughed, "Master, I was only joking; see how you fret. Even if all four of you Heavenly Masters came at me together, you could not last a single move against me now, so do not lose your temper."

At those words, Yan Yunxi, Zhuo Cha, and Han Tang could not help but seethe.

Shen Mu said hurriedly, "It is rare for the four Heavenly Masters to come together, and it happens that I have a problem I cannot solve. Your four minds are lofty and far-seeing; help me resolve it."

He cast out the problem he had met upon ascending the Chaos Hall, speaking in the language of the Dao the riddle of the evolution of the Dao of Taiji, which turned on the transformation of yin and yang, profound and obscure.

Though Shen Mu's attainments in the Dao of Taiji were exceedingly high, for a time he could not unravel it either.

Hearing this Dao-question, the four Heavenly Masters frowned, and the old farmer Zhuo Cha murmured, "What is he saying?"

"He has posed a question in the language of the Dao." The fisherman Han Tang hesitated, then said, "It concerns the evolution of Taiji."

The old farmer Zhuo Cha flushed slightly. "What is the use of all these strange and curious things? The martial Dao is simpler!"

Yan Yunxi, the Woodcutter Sage, and Han Tang each fell into thought, and after a while began to confer among themselves. They too had absorbed the fruits of Jingping's reforms, and each had made no small achievements.

Han Tang cultivated the Dao of Yin-Yang and Taiji, and this was why there were two little red fish in his creel, standing for his Dao of yin and yang.

Yan Yunxi was deeply versed in formation arts and all manner of miscellaneous studies, and her attainments were likewise exceedingly high; she had also studied yin and yang, Taiji, the four images, and the eight trigrams.

The Woodcutter Sage's learning was even more miscellaneous.

The three pondered long and hard but still could not solve it. Disappointment showed on Shen Mu's face; this problem even he could scarcely solve, and the four Heavenly Masters of Carefree Land would likely fare no better.

Suddenly the Woodcutter Sage said quietly, "Zixi, could the yang lines and yin lines of the eight trigrams be used in place of zeros and ones? In that way the evolution of yin and yang could be solved by the arts of number. I have the idea for the solution, but my skill in those arts is no match for yours..."

Yan Yunxi's eyes lit up. She swiftly bent her mind to calculation, and after a while clapped her hands and laughed, "I have solved it!"

Shen Mu was astonished and delighted. Yan Yunxi displayed her solution in primal energy and explained it again. Everywhere in the air yin lines and yang lines shifted ceaselessly, forming any number at all from zeros and ones, evolving without end!

Shen Mu saw it all in a flash and clapped his hands in admiration.

He at once sank into meditative absorption, and his primordial spirit took a step toward the Chaos Hall. A Dao-question came from within the hall; Shen Mu's primordial spirit answered it in the language of the Dao and passed through without a hitch!

His primordial spirit stepped forward again, and a new Dao-question came from the Chaos Hall.

This question concerned the three-state changes of form, substance, and body in the Dao of Taisu, and it too was formidably difficult.

Shen Mu pondered long but still could not solve it, and so he withdrew again.

The Woodcutter and the other three Heavenly Masters watched him enter absorption and, in but a short while, make no small advance in cultivation and strength, and they were astonished beyond measure.

Yan Yunxi whispered to the Woodcutter, "He is cultivating the Lingxiao realm. Once one reaches the Lingxiao realm, upon its nine hundred ninety-nine stone steps stand nine hundred ninety-nine questions; only after answering them may one ascend to the Lingxiao Hall and advance to the next realm. With each question answered, one's cultivation and realm rise."

The Woodcutter's face reddened slightly. Among the four Heavenly Masters his intelligence was unmatched, yet his cultivation realm was the lowest. Though he had now reaped the benefits of Jingping's reforms and passed through the Heaven-Sea realm, he still dared not enter the realm of the God-Slaying Terrace, let alone the Lingxiao realm.

Shen Mu opened his eyes and, full of eagerness, cast out the Dao-question of Taisu he had heard, hoping the four would answer it.

Yet the four knew little of the Dao of Taisu and were utterly in the dark, unable to solve the three-state changes of form, substance, and body.

The Woodcutter Sage's eyes flickered, and he prompted him, "Why not gather the wit and wisdom of all under heaven to crack this problem? Why gnaw only at us four? Why not gnaw at all the world?"

Shen Mu was enlightened. He bowed low to the ground in thanks to the Woodcutter and laughed, "Jingping's reforms have produced countless people of surpassing talent. I can seek instruction from all under heaven! If I cannot solve it, someone will!"

He recorded this Dao-question in a divine mirror; one need only stand before the mirror, and it would speak the question.

Shen Mu had the bright mirror sent to the Wendao Academy of Jingping, and waited quietly.

More than ten days later, Emperor Yanfeng had the mirror brought back, accompanied by several young gods.

"This junior is Shu Tongwen. Together with these companions, I have solved the Heavenly Venerate's Dao-question," the young god said, bowing.

Shen Mu was overjoyed and humbly sought instruction.

After a long while, Shu Tongwen and the others departed bearing another bright mirror. They returned to the Wendao Academy and hung the new mirror before its gate.

Within the mirror was a new Dao-question, a question concerning the Dao of Taishi.

Taishi came when he heard of it; having listened to the question, he took down the mirror and set out for the Yongjiang Heavenly Palace.

Two days later, Taishi returned from the Yongjiang Heavenly Palace and hung a mirror before the gateway of the Wendao Academy.

Several days after that, Xu Mengqing, who had come to study, took down the mirror and laughed, "My father explained this very problem to me a few days ago!"

A few days later, Xu Mengqing returned to the Wendao Academy with a new problem. The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, hearing of the matter, came to listen to the Dao-question, and when he had heard it laughed, "I can solve it." With that he took down the mirror and set out for the Yongjiang Heavenly Palace.

In the Yongjiang Heavenly Palace, Shen Mu, full of enthusiasm, ceaselessly refined new bright mirrors, letting those who solved the Dao-questions carry new mirrors back to the Wendao Academy of Jingping.

Often in less than a fortnight someone would work out an answer and come to the Yongjiang Heavenly Palace.

It had all but become one of the great events of the Wendao Academy, and a clamorous one at that. Whenever a new mirror was hung up, countless young talents and long-famous figures alike would come to try their hand at the question!

And whenever a Dao-question was answered, it was sure to set off a burst of cheering.

At last, on this day, as the final Dao-question was solved, Shen Mu's primordial spirit stepped onto the very top of the Chaos Hall's stone steps, and no new step appeared.

He steadied his mind, suppressed the surging in his heart, and looked toward the Chaos Hall.