Chapter 257: The Palace of Governance
Small world, in a small courtyard in the bamboo forest.

"Congratulations, my lord, for once again discovering the essence of the supreme soul."

The real dragon, with a glow like the stars all over its body, bowed to Shen Mu.

Under the ancient bamboo, there was a hazy color flowing in Shen Mu's eyes, and the Taoist aura around him was intertwined and evolved with this small world.

"It's just a branch of the soul path that I have understood thoroughly. It's not really any progress."

Shen Mu has made considerable progress in the past thousand years, but as his understanding of the soul has become deeper, his progress has become slower and slower.

In the future, if you want to integrate multiple branches and advance to the second level of God King, it will probably be a big bottleneck.

The essence of the soul is endlessly changing. When one reaches the realm of God King, every bit of progress requires entering a state similar to enlightenment.

"If it weren't for the help of the Wanling Treasure Furnace, I wouldn't have been able to comprehend the mystery of soul perception in a thousand years."

As Shen Mu spoke, a bit of hazy clouds emerged, condensing into the shape of the Wanling Treasure Furnace.

On the crystal clear treasure furnace that looks like colored glass, nearly a million rays of wisdom and mysterious light interweave to form a secret pattern of trillions of neutrinos.

It not only includes the mystery of the soul, but also the many great ways that Shen Mu has comprehended, such as the way of birth and death, the way of illusion, the way of the void, and so on.

Every ray of wisdom and mysterious light has a unique perspective when it comes to deducing the great way.

At this level, even a slight change in thinking can bring about new insights and understanding.

But the possibility is very small.

In Shen Mu's eyes, almost all the theories deduced by the Wisdom Mysterious Light were full of errors and omissions and were not worth mentioning.

There are very few perspectives that can truly inspire Shen Mu.

Fortunately, the poor quality can be made up for by quantity. Nearly one million rays of wisdom are equivalent to the wisdom of nearly one million Chaos Realm lives.

Given enough time, through exhaustive trial and error, one would always be able to deduce some subtle secrets that Shen Mu could not notice.

"The Lord's ability to refine such a supreme treasure is a testament to His Majesty's supreme ability."

In response to Shen Mu's modesty, Zhenling Huanwu launched another wave of flattery.

At this time, the gaze of the True Dragon Huanwu also fell on the endless mysteries deduced from Shen Mu's treasure furnace, and naturally he also realized that Shen Mu was also comprehending the illusion.

"My Lord, I have some insights into the ways of illusions, and I am willing to offer my humble insights to help you in any way I can."

As the True Dragon Illusion Mist spoke, dreamy starlight intertwined around him, forming countless ancient demon clan symbols, arranging them into a mysterious fantasy Taoist scripture.

The main things that this real dragon comprehended were the three major branches of illusion: transforming reality into illusion, practicing falsehood to become true, and the illusion world.

However, only the lineage of transforming reality into illusion was fully understood, while the other two lines were only slightly touched upon, and were not as profound as Chiwu's "Heart Sutra of Illusion and Dream".

"No need for that. My comprehension of the Way of Illusion is just to use a different stone to polish a jade."

Shen Mu's main focus now is on his understanding of the soul path and the polishing of his own will.

The soul path is the foundation of Shen Mu's enlightenment, and will is Shen Mu's main means of attack.

The strength of will mainly depends on the state of mind and the intensity of consciousness.

The strength of consciousness is basically equivalent to the strength of the soul, so it still depends on the state of mind.

The so-called state of mind is the state of mind.

In this realm, it is divided into three meridians, which can be understood as the original form, the self-control, and the heart form.

The so-called true nature is the secret of controlling innate instincts and desires.

The so-called self-image is the secret of controlling acquired personality and emotions.

As for the final state of mind, it is the mystery of the deeper nature.

The so-called nature determines whether a person is good or evil at the beginning, as well as his or her temperament. All emotions and desires will be greatly influenced by the nature.

Therefore, the mind-image path is very special. Generally speaking, all the meridians of the origin path are equal.

However, in the three veins of the mind-aspect Tao, the original aspect and the self-aspect are listed on the same level, while the mind-aspect is a higher level of existence.

Only after thoroughly understanding the two veins of true nature and self-nature and merging them into one, can one touch upon the mystery of the root nature of the mind.

"Looking back now, the so-called Lie Yuan Shu is, to be precise, just a special secret technique of the Ultimate Way of Mind."

“Although it is more powerful than the ordinary supreme secret teachings, it is still not the supreme secret skill of the Hunyuan level.”

Comprehending the great truth and tempering one's will are both slow and arduous tasks, and Shen Mu has enough time.

"A thousand years have passed, and the Gods' Communication Conference is about to begin."

"I'm afraid I won't be staying in the Chiwu Dynasty for too long, so the duty of the Protector of the Nation will be entirely up to you. If there is an emergency, notify me in time."

Facing Shen Mu's instructions, Huan Wu quickly lowered his dragon head and said, "Huan Wu will swear to protect the Chi Wu clan until his death, and will not let the master worry."

"In addition, the Guheng Dynasty sent envoys to the capital more than 20 years ago, but they have been waiting for the master to come out of retreat and have not disturbed him."

Shen Mu nodded slightly and looked outside the small world.

"I didn't expect the messenger to be him."

At this time, outside Shen Mu's small world, the former Great Master Gu Yun was followed by several followers, waiting for Shen Mu to come out.

The strange phenomenon that occurred when Shen Mu realized the soul's perception not long ago naturally alarmed the Great Venerable Gu Yun.

"Fellow Daoist Gu Yun, please come in."

Shen Mu's voice echoed outside the small world, and a space vortex emerged.

Gu Yun looked serious. He turned around and gave a few instructions to his followers, then entered Shen Mu's small world.

"Greetings to the Great Venerable Origin. I apologize for any slight offense I caused you."

The current Venerable Gu Yun keeps a very humble attitude in front of Shen Mu, and even no longer calls Shen Mu by his name.

He already knew Shen Mu's methods and strength, especially after receiving instructions from the two Heavenly Masters Gu Heng, he no longer showed his previous attitude in front of Shen Mu.

Shen Mu smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Gu Yun, don't be so reserved. Are you here for the Gods Exchange Conference?"

Gu Yun hurriedly shook his head and said helplessly: "Gu Yun came here this time to bring the order of the Immortal Palace and invite the Great Venerable to join the Immortal Palace."

Yunhai Fairy Palace, the true ruler of the Northwest Continent.

It is one of the six greatest powers in this world. There are countless divine masters within the sect, and heavenly elders are not uncommon. There are also great powers such as the chief seat and peak master in the supreme realm.

Such a huge monster, placed on the Origin Continent, is of a size that can only be matched by the two ancient countries.

Seeing Shen Mu was silent, Gu Yun hurriedly said: "If the Great Venerable has any concerns, you can first join the Tianzun Pavilion of my Guheng Dynasty..."

Shen Mu waved his hand and interrupted Gu Yun: "No need to do that. Since the Immortal Palace thinks highly of Shen, then Shen will naturally not refuse."

After just two thousand years in this world, I have finally come into contact with the true top level of this world.

It would be good to be able to join the Yunhai Fairy Palace. If necessary, Shen Mu would not mind becoming a disciple of a truly powerful being.

"Please trouble Daoist Gu Yun to describe the layout of the Immortal Palace to me."

"I, Shen, am a traveler and I really don't know much about the Immortal Palace." Shen Mu's words made Gu Yun more convinced of the speculations of his senior brother and the elders of the Immortal Palace.

Even if this Great Lord of Origin came from one of the major True Spirit families of the Eastern Divine Dynasty, or even from the Zixiao Heavenly Palace, it is impossible for him not to know about the Yunhai Fairy Palace.

To ordinary cultivators, the extremely mysterious extraordinary immortal sects have regular communication with each other.

This Great Lord of Origin possesses such a powerful foundation, but he does not know about the six great immortal palaces that ruled the world for 800 million centuries, unless he did not exist in this era.

"Of course. With the strength of the Great Venerable, if he joins the Immortal Palace, he will definitely be the elder second only to the chief elders of the various peaks."

"There are thirty-six main peaks in the Immortal Palace. The masters of sixteen of them are called the abbots, and the masters of twenty of them are called the peak masters."

“The sixteen chiefs are all supreme and powerful. Although the twenty peak masters are not supreme and powerful, they are far superior to ordinary heavenly elders and much stronger than Senior Brother Gu Mi.”

Gu Yun introduced the layout of the Yunhai Fairy Palace to Shen Mu in detail.

In addition to the thirty-six main peaks, there are also many small peaks, and the peak masters are all Heavenly Venerable-level beings.

Even Gu Yun himself didn't know how many small peaks there were in the Immortal Palace. Many of them were places for cultivation opened up by wild strong men like Shen Mu who joined the Immortal Palace.

Shen Mu felt a little emotional after hearing this. The sixteen chief seats were the sixteen God Kings at the ultimate level.

On the Origin Continent, there are only two ancient countries with more than ten emperors, that is, the ultimate God King.

And above the chief seat of all the peaks, there is a worshiper and a palace master.

Even if this Palace Master and Worshiper are not powerful enough to surpass the Ultimate Realm of the God King, they are at least invincible in the Ultimate Realm.

There are exactly six such huge creatures in this world.

"Fellow Daoist Gu Yun, is there any being in the Immortal Palace that transcends the divine realm?"

Whether it is the Venerable, the Heavenly Venerable or the Supreme, they are all in the realm of gods.

In this world, the life spans of the three are all ten thousand epochs. However, because the life span can be extracted and turned into a treasure that prolongs life.

Therefore, the vast majority of the Heavenly Lords are ancient beings who have lived for more than 100,000 epochs, such as the two Heavenly Lords of the Guheng Dynasty.

As for the supreme beings of higher levels, almost none of them died due to old age.

Facing Shen Mu's question, Gu Yun smiled self-deprecatingly.

"Your Excellency really overestimates me. I am just a steward sent by the Immortal Palace. How can I know how high the realms of the First Seat, Peak Master, and even Palace Master are?"

"However... there are also rumors in the Immortal Palace that the Palace Master and the worshippers are both truly immortal beings, and have survived billions of eons without dying."

Shen Mu's eyes moved slightly.

There is no limit on lifespan...it seems that he is a strong man who has truly embarked on the path of transcendence.

There is no fixed name for this kind of strong man. For example, he is called the Ancestor in the Origin Continent, the Divine Emperor in the Heart of the Realm Continent, and the Divine Emperor in the Holy Realm.

When a God Emperor reaches perfection, it means he has reached the end of the road to transcendence, and his name will be unified, that is, Half-Pure Origin Life.

……

The next morning, a silver flying boat set out from the capital of the Chiwu Dynasty and headed towards the ruler of the northwest continent... the fairy palace hanging high above the sea of ​​clouds.

"Great Honored One, the Northwest Continent is endless and vast. Even if the speed of the flying boat is close to the speed of light, it will take nearly half a year to reach the Immortal Palace."

Beside Shen Mu, Gu Yun told Shen Mu how long the journey would take.

Don’t think that speed close to the speed of light is very slow. This is because you are limited by your thinking in the ocean of the universe.

As long as you can influence the rules of the universe, you can reach the speed of countless light. What's more, what about a world where even the supreme rules are different?

When in the ocean of the universe, a thought from an ordinary true god can spread to billions of light years away, forming a thought projection.

Shen Mu's thought was naturally even more exaggerated. After achieving the Chaos Realm, the speed at which Shen Mu's thoughts spread could cover the entire primitive universe in an instant.

But here, the speed at which Shen Mu's thoughts spread was less than one tenth of the speed of light.

Even Gu Tianzun, with whom Shen Mu had met once before, could only barely match Shen Mu in terms of the speed at which his thoughts spread, and was even a little slower than Shen Mu.

By comparing in this way, we can find that any ordinary life in this world may be a giant of light years in the ocean of the universe.

As for why such a huge creature does not produce the gravity to tear everything apart, it is naturally because of the terrifying stability of space and time in this world.

Gravity is the product of the curvature of space-time. If space-time is not curved, there would be no gravity.

The so-called one zhang, one hundred zhang, etc. in this world are all Shen Mu's subjective names. He just forcibly translated this distance unit into chi, zhang, and li.

Half a year is not a long time, so Shen Mu did not concentrate on comprehending the great Dao, and continued to focus on tempering his will.

Just use the Wanling Furnace to slowly deduce it. When some new inspiration appears, it will not be too late for Shen Mu to comprehend it.

At this stage, Shen Mu’s strongest method is still the attack on will.

Although Shen Mu's current burst of will is comparable to the ultimate level, his actual consciousness strength is not yet at this level.

If you want to truly transform your will to the ultimate level, you must either gain some understanding of the mind and complete the transformation of your state of mind.

This is also a long process, and tempering one's will is only an auxiliary.

……

Half a year later, above the endless sea of ​​clouds, in the ninth heaven.

This is the real starry sky with countless big stars.

The size of each star is comparable to a dynasty on earth, and they are like the image of the Heavenly Lord.

Directly in front of the flying boat, there is an even larger celestial body, which is not a real star, but an endless and huge sacred mountain.

In the sacred mountain, the peaks are handsome and tall, as steep as sharp swords, and are surrounded by endless divine clouds and strange visions.

On the most majestic peak in the center, there is an incredibly large bronze bell lying upside down on top.

"Is this... one of September?"

The moment Shen Mu saw this sacred mountain, he felt a strange sense of gaze coming from within the sacred mountain.

It was just like the strange feeling Shen Mu had when he first came to this world and looked up at the sun and the moon in the sky.

Gu Yun, who was standing by, said proudly, "Yes, the Immortal Palace Holy Land is one of the Nine Moons. It is said that each of the Nine Moons in this sky is transformed from the corpse of a supreme true spirit."

"Then the sun is also the corpse of a true spirit?" Shen Mu looked at Gu Yun and asked back.

Gu Yun immediately shook his head: "The sun is the embodiment of all things, the Dharma of heaven."

“You may not know that even if you are in the Holy Land of the Celestial Palace, the distance from the sun is still the same as on the ground.”

"Because the sun is infinitely high and far away, no matter how you fly, you can't get close to it."

After saying this, Great Venerable Gu Yun piloted the flying boat and landed outside the towering mountain gate of Yunhai Fairy Palace.

"Your Majesty, when you join the Immortal Palace this time, you need to meet the law enforcement elders of this era first."

"If nothing unexpected happens, with the cultivation level of a great master, you can join any main peak as an elder, or establish your own peak and practice on your own."

(End of this chapter)