Chapter 850 — A Single Line of Sword Mark

Just then, the Blind Elder arrived at Yongjiang Academy with Yu Tianzun. Shen Mu was astonished and hurried forward to meet them. The Blind Elder said, "I ran into the Lame Elder at the Flame Dragon Tomb. The scoundrel was being hunted by a pack of flame dragons — they burned a thousand li of barren plain and chased him until he had nowhere to hide! He could not escape while carrying this boy, so he tossed him to me and told me to bring him to Yongjiang Academy."

Shen Mu finally relaxed and looked Yu Tianzun up and down. Yu Tianzun gave a simple, artless smile.

Shen Mu's heart skipped, and he too gave a simple, artless smile.

The Village Head and the Blind Elder cheered in unison: "The Lame Elder taught him well!"

Shen Mu's smile showed eight white teeth, innocent and guileless, bright as sunshine. Yu Tianzun likewise smiled and showed eight teeth, utterly innocent and sunny, rousing not the slightest wariness in anyone.

Suddenly Shen Mu's fingers moved slightly, and a pair of underdrawers appeared in his hand.

At the same moment, Yu Tianzun's arm became a blur. Shen Mu laughed heartily, smug and triumphant: "I never wear those — too stuffy for my taste. Give me back my Taotie Pouch!"

Yu Tianzun was clutching a Taotie Pouch in his hand; it was so heavy that he held it with some difficulty.

Shen Mu's face darkened. He tossed the underdrawers to him and snatched back the Taotie Pouch, saying with bitter grief, "Brother Yu, you have taken to bad ways — you have learned wickedness from that old rogue! Look, though I too have learned Grandpa Lame's tricks, I never steal. I always take things by force, with my own skill. Grandpa Blind, is Grandpa Lame all right?"

The Blind Elder shook his head. "Hard to say. Those flame dragons are exceedingly powerful; they guard the tomb of a most terrifying god-devil. The Lame Elder took your brother into the tomb and stole something from it — surely a treasure of great importance, which is why they hunted him so. I took one look from afar and reckoned any single flame dragon could have killed me with ease, so I laid a decoy formation and fled with the boy. But the Lame Elder is full of transformations; perhaps he can still escape."

Shen Mu was still somewhat worried. He glanced at the Village Head, who understood and smiled. "I will go ask the First Ancestor for help and have a word with the powers of the Flame Dragon Tomb." With that he hurried off.

Shen Mu was reassured. He said to the Blind Elder, "Grandpa Blind, if you have no other business, would you accompany me to the Dao Sect? These past years I have not studied Jingping's dao arts and divine powers, and I have fallen rather behind. I would like to ask Grandpa Blind to teach me a thing or two."

The Blind Elder could not help but feel pleased with himself. "You have indeed fallen behind. These past years I have been studying the array arts of the Kaihuang Era, and a few months ago in the capital I even exchanged views with Heavenly Master Zixi of the Four Great Heavenly Masters. My attainments in array arts have now reached a new height."

Shen Mu was overjoyed. "Heavenly Master Zixi's attainments in array arts truly have no equal!"

The Blind Elder shook his head. "Heavenly Master Zixi has fallen behind as well. I and the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, along with many other array masters, created several new array patterns that she had never seen — it was I who taught them to her. Still, I learned much from her too. She may still be called the finest array master under heaven; I am still not her match."

In recent years Jingping had achieved a great deal in array arts. Besides battle arrays, killing arrays, city-defense arrays and the like, all manner of new arrays had appeared, and the most fundamental of them were the array patterns.

Just as swordsmanship has nineteen basic sword moves, array patterns are the foundation of which arrays are composed. To be able to add several new patterns to the existing ones was already a remarkable achievement!

In the nation of Jingping there were many array masters, though each cultivated in a different direction. Among them, Su Yunzhi, Grand Libationer of Yongjiang Academy, was a great expert in array arts, specializing in city-defense arrays; and Shen Jian, also known as Shen Baoyue, Grand General of Heavenly Strategy, specialized in battle arrays — he and the Duke of Wei were together called gods of the army.

Wei Pingbo, the Minister of Works, oversaw Jingping's waterworks; he too was a master of arrays, skilled at laying them out by making use of terrain.

And though the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping had made his name by his swordsmanship, his attainments in array arts surpassed even those of the Grand General of Heavenly Strategy and the rest.

These talents of Jingping had absorbed the array achievements of the Kaihuang Era and then pushed them further, and their accomplishments were naturally extraordinary.

Shen Mu called for the Dragon Qilin and the Water Qilin, took his leave of Su Yunqing, Yuyuan Chuyu and the others, came to the riverside, and summoned the Dragon-Rearing Lord.

At the sight of the Blind Elder, the Dragon-Rearing Lord could not help but shiver, and he smiled apologetically. "Lord Divine Spear, it has been a long time."

The Blind Elder closed his eyes and surveyed him with the Heart-Sage Eye, then opened them and said, "Why have you still made no progress? Dragon-Rearing Lord, your cultivation is too low — how will you ever command the Heavenly River? If you do not strive to improve, sooner or later someone will do away with you."

The Dragon-Rearing Lord hesitated. "This little dragon is dull of talent—"

The Blind Elder sneered. "You have lectured at Yongjiang Academy and served as a Libationer there; you must know that the Tower of Heavenly Records at Yongjiang Academy holds the Ancestral Dragon Grand Mystery Art. Why have you not studied it?"

The Dragon-Rearing Lord glanced at Shen Mu and smiled apologetically. "The Ancestral Dragon Grand Mystery Art is such a formidable cultivation method — how would I dare learn it by stealth?"

The Blind Elder did not know whether to laugh or cry, and shook his head. "You are too cautious. Your lord has already made the Ancestral Dragon Grand Mystery Art public — anyone in the world may cultivate it. How could he possibly forbid you to learn it? Those flood dragons that used to lie on top of you crying 'Maha maha' have all learned it, and some of them now surpass you in ability. If you do not improve, the day will come when it is your turn to lie on top of them crying 'Maha maha.'"

The Dragon-Rearing Lord was overjoyed and thanked him again and again, then carried him up the river toward the Dao Sect.

Shen Mu sat on the Dragon-Rearing Lord's head and sought the Blind Elder's instruction in array arts, while Yu Tianzun listened in as well. The Blind Elder had thought it would take half a year of teaching before they could learn it, yet after only six days he had nothing left to teach.

The Blind Elder's eyes went round as saucers. Suddenly seized by a fit of inexplicable anger, he pounded his fist on the Dragon-Rearing Lord's head a few times.

The Dragon-Rearing Lord smarted with pain but had no idea what he had done wrong to anger this lord. He only heard Shen Mu say to Yu Tianzun, "Once you have mastered the basic array patterns, learning arrays becomes easy — this is what is called 'master one and a hundred follow.' But mastering one and a hundred following is not enough; you must also draw inferences and grasp the underlying principle. Arrays are not merely arrays; they can be applied elsewhere as well — to dao arts, to swordsmanship. Some people only know how to memorize by rote, never realizing that rote memorization is the stupidest method of all."

Yu Tianzun said, "It is not so hard to learn. I have comprehended several arrays — Brother, help me see whether they are right."