Chapter 908 — The Calamity Sword, Part Three: Meeting the Tribulation

Gongsun Yan was loath to let him go, but in the end she could only see Shen Mu off.

"He said this place is his root, and he truly is a tree. .

. When will a phoenix ever be drawn to my phoenix nest? " The girl dreamed of the days to come.

Shen Mu came to the residence of Jiang Baigui, Imperial Teacher of Jingping.

The Imperial Teacher's wife was teaching Jiang Yunjian to cultivate the divine arts and the ways of the dao. They had also a little daughter, only five years old, named Jiang Qingzhou. "Rest easy, sister-in-law. My junior brother will not be imprisoned in the Great Prison for long. " Shen Mu instructed Jiang Yunjian in cultivation and passed on to him the methods of cultivating the Prime Embryo Spirit Treasure and the Star River Spirit Treasure of Heavenly Venerable Yu, then said to the Imperial Teacher's wife, "Set your hearts at ease; he will come back.

In the years ahead I will have money and goods sent for food, clothing and daily use. You need not toil over your livelihood, only teach your nephew and niece well.

" The Imperial Teacher's wife thanked him, though she found something strange in it, and said, "Why only two Spirit Treasures? What of the ones that come after? " Shen Mu laughed. "Those will have to wait until someone creates them before anyone can know.

I hope they will overturn my own Spirit Treasures. If Yunjian can open these two within a few years, that will already be remarkable.

Let him practice them for now; when I return next year, I will find him a muddle-headed teacher. " The Imperial Teacher's wife did not know whether to laugh or cry.

"A muddle-headed teacher?

I wonder which one the Cult Master means. . .

" Shen Mu came to the outskirts of the capital. Beyond the walls a new city was already being built to give the people a place to dwell, one city every thousand li, still very plain, fit only for shelter.

There were also those with divine powers opening farmland, digging irrigation works and roads.

This could not be rushed, and yet it was the most urgent of all. Shen Mu sought out the elders of Yincan Village.

Master Dan led many scholars laboring in the fields, using the art of Creation to plant grain and relieve the pressing need for the moment, while the Silent Craftsman and the others were rebuilding the Directorate Workshop, and the Village Chief and the rest each had their own work. Master Dan examined Shen Mu's body and laughed. "Nothing serious.

Eat when you should eat, drink when you should drink, go wherever you want to go.

" Shen Mu said, "I told them it was nothing serious, but the Village Chief and the others always worry. " Master Dan watched him leave. The Village Chief said, "Master Dan, I have never hidden anything from you in the matter of the Overlord Body, and you must not hide anything from me. Just what is Shen'er's condition?

" Master Dan hesitated, then shook his head.

"Not good. His undying consciousness is strong, but not strong enough to endure without perishing through all ages.

As he is now, he is like a guttering candle in the wind, liable to be snuffed out at any moment.

.

. " The Village Chief was stunned. Master Dan said, "Yet I also feel a vigorous vitality being conceived within him, as though something is being born anew, a power unlike the art of Creation. There is hope, but the hope is still a sprout; whether it can break out of the cocoon, I cannot say. " The Village Chief was silent a long while, then said, "Suddenly I find myself wishing the Overlord Body were real. . .

" Shen Mu also sought out Yan Qiling. Yan Qiling said, "I still must return to the Heavenly Court, to His Majesty's side.

I will not remain in the lower realm.

" Shen Mu said, "Before your mistress passed away, she asked me to look after you. .

.

" "Look after yourself!

" Yan Qiling looked as if smiling and yet not smiling. "Though the Heavenly Emperor does not wish you dead, do not forget that many others do. This Yuan Realm may have fallen under the Heavenly Emperor's control, but he cannot fully command the Heavenly Court's armies that occupy it.

The giants of the Heaven Alliance will not let the Heavenly Emperor swallow the Yuan Realm whole; they must have planted untold numbers of spies, eyes, ears and forces.

You have no soul now.

If they destroy your consciousness, you will truly die. To the Heavenly Emperor you are a treasure; to them you are not. " She had clearly heard many rumors and knew some of the inside story. She said, "Gods and demons in the Yuan Realm are already scheming against you.

Be careful. I am off!

" Shen Mu waved his farewell. Zhe Huali came over, looked deeply at Shen Mu, and said, "Cult Master Shen, is there still hope for Jingping as it stands? " "A man who entered the dao through the blade should not ask such a question.

" Shen Mu said, "To ask it is to shame your demon blade. " Zhe Huali laughed. "I am only worried about you. If you do not die, I feel Jingping can still be saved, still has hope.

If you die, I will leave this place and never come back. " Shen Mu laughed heartily.

"Rest assured, you will be tethered to this land forever!

" Zhe Huali departed with a great laugh.

Shen Mu left the capital too, seated atop Dragon Qilin's head, while Yan'er fed Dragon Qilin spirit pills.

The sky gradually darkened, and under cover of night Shen Mu took out a relic of Ling Yushu and performed the Soul-Beckoning Art to gather Ling Yushu's shattered soul. He himself had no soul, but his cultivation and strength remained, his vision and insight remained, and he quickly gathered Ling Yushu's soul together. Ling Yushu's soul stood amid the sorrowful clouds, staring at him. Shen Mu said, "Your Highness Yushu, the underworld envoy will come here to guide you to Youdu.

Do not hate Emperor Yanfeng; he too acted for Jingping's sake. " Ling Yushu still stared at him, his form ethereal and insubstantial, and said, "I was never a match for my sister to begin with. She has the boldness of our imperial father, which I never had.

That day when he summoned me, I knew he meant to sacrifice me to protect Yuxiu. I knew, and yet I was willing.

" Just then a thread of lamplight shone through the darkness, and the old underworld envoy came steering his paper boat from Youdu to this place to bring Ling Yushu aboard. Ling Yushu still stared fixedly at him, unwilling to board. Shen Mu said, "What wish remains unfulfilled? " "Stay away from my sister! " Ling Yushu said. Shen Mu's face darkened.

The old underworld envoy lifted his lantern and shone it, and took Ling Yushu away. Standing on the boat, Ling Yushu cried, "Either you marry her now, or you stay far from her! If I learn that you have been running around with others, I will become a ghost and strangle you!

And if strangling fails, I will haunt your dreams every night and frighten you to death!

" The old underworld envoy halted the paper boat and, from who knows where, brought out a jade pendant and tossed it to Shen Mu.

Shen Mu was slightly startled: the pendant bore the character Shen, and it was precisely the jade pendant that contained the Shen-character continent. "Your brother has left. He departed Youdu with your parents for the Land Without Sorrow; Kaihuang can protect him.

" The old underworld envoy said, "There he will be all the safer, and Tubo need no longer worry about his safety. Tubo says he has already become a competent little Tubo; at your side he grew very quickly. This jade pendant is the Horn of Tubo.

It was originally used to suppress him, and it is also because of this pendant that you have a thousand ties to Youdu.

Tubo says the pendant is given to you.

" Shen Mu took the pendant and examined it closely.