Chapter 1035 — Sworn Sisterhood

The Alchemy Master watched him, and behind the bronze mask his gaze was deep and veiled.

Shen Mu's heart was uneasy; after all, such a request was a truly shameless thing to ask.

"Some time ago, when the Lame Elder robbed tombs, he stole a great many corpse demons and sent them to me. Through those corpse demons I came to understand the structure of a god's body thoroughly. Even the Divine Treasury I have finished studying through and through, or I could never have instructed others in how to open their own Divine Treasures. But the medical dao, I have never found.

" The Alchemy Master said lazily: "I can swap a man's head, swap his heart, even unravel the mystery of the inheritance of the Divine Treasures and the Heavenly Palaces, transplant a Divine Treasury or a Heavenly Palace. Yet never once have I found where the medical dao lies. Perhaps in our line of work there is no such thing as a medical dao at all. " Shen Mu said with righteous gravity: "A healer's benevolent heart, hanging up the gourd to succor the world, saving the common folk from pestilence, dispelling sickness and pain before ever it sprouts—is that not the medical dao?

" The Alchemy Master laughed in fury: "Fine words from a stinking brat—and you expect me to perfect the medical dao, when it is I who expect you! Hang up your gourd and succor me first!

I sweated and bled to raise you to this size, looking to you to support me in my old age, to casually invent eighty or a hundred kinds of Emperor Throne techniques for me to pick and choose from. And what do you do? You won't even trouble yourself to cultivate and show us old fellows a little filial piety—instead you expect us to have all your techniques prepared for you! " Shen Mu's face reddened slightly, and he stammered: "Grandpa Dan is not old at all. Compared with gods and demons, Grandpa Dan is in the very bloom of youth.

As the saying goes, every craft has its own master. Grandpa Dan is first in the world in the art of medicine, first in the world in the art of poison; the Jade-Faced Poison King is no empty name. I barely rank second, and would never dare contest with Grandpa Dan the chance to be remembered in the annals. " When the Alchemy Master heard the words "remembered in the annals," his heart was stirred, but then he said with a frown: "Though I have analyzed the structure of the fleshly body to the utmost, there remains the primordial spirit, which I have not unraveled. The primordial spirit involves the movement of the primal essence; the primal essence flows through the fleshly body and through the primordial spirit alike.

Only by understanding its mysteries could one know whether the medical dao exists. " Shen Mu's words brimmed with the power to inflame a man's heart: "Grandpa Dan, a dao is made by men walking it! There was no dao of painting in this world, yet Grandpa Blind walked one out by main force and became a Grandmaster! There was no dao of the sword in this world, yet Emperor Kai walked one out by main force and contended with the Heavenly Sovereign!

Grandpa Dan will surely walk out a medical dao as well, and become the Supreme of the Medical Dao, whose fragrance lingers ten thousand generations! " The Alchemy Master felt his blood surge at these words, and he mused: "Yet besides the primordial spirit and the primal essence, I must also understand the divine consciousness. Too hard, far too hard. The Lame Elder stole me many corpse demons; through them I can understand the fleshly body and the Divine Treasures, but corpse demons have no primordial spirit, nor any divine consciousness. .

. " "Grandpa Dan needs a test subject that can be tormented however you please without ever dying? " Shen Mu ventured. The Alchemy Master nodded: "I had thought of that myself.

The best candidate would be Xing Han; Xing Han can stand any torment.

But Xing Han is not highly skilled in divine consciousness. .

.

" He glanced at Shu Jun.

Shen Mu glanced at Shu Jun as well.

Shu Jun sat hunched in the rocking chair clutching his tea, like a listless vulture.

"His soul is too weak.

" The Alchemy Master shook his head: "Just now I poisoned him to death twice over, and both times his soul flew off.

" Shu Jun was overcome with gratitude, tears streaming down and splashing onto the surface of the tea. Shen Mu laughed: "Grandpa Dan can rest easy.

My Nether Demon Metamorphosis Art was taught to me by Granny; with Granny here, his soul won't fly off even if it wants to.

" Shu Jun glared at him. Shen Mu pretended not to see, and coaxed on: "Grandpa Dan, only think—where else could you find a Creator so robust, one who has begun to cultivate the Divine Treasures and the primordial spirit? And an Ancient Divine King at that! His divine consciousness is no weaker than mine, his fleshly body stronger than mine, brimming with powerful vitality, and his soul has grown up step by step from weakness. " Behind the mask, the Alchemy Master's eyes grew brighter and brighter, and he nodded again and again as he looked at Shu Jun.

Shu Jun trembled, his voice hoarse: "My fleshly body is not strong enough yet—have you forgotten?

You poisoned me to death twice! " The Alchemy Master said mildly: "Divine King, you have indeed opened the Primal Embryo Divine Treasury, but six more Divine Treasures remain unopened.

Without me to soften your fleshly body, you needn't dream of opening the others. Even if you leave with Shen'er today, in days to come you will still come running back to beg me. " Shu Jun's face shifted between light and dark; after a moment he pressed his grief and fury down to the bottom of his heart, and nodded. The Alchemy Master was overjoyed, and looked at Shen Mu: "Supreme of the Medical Dao, remembered in the annals?

" "Mm!

" Shen Mu nodded heavily.

The Alchemy Master let out a long breath, and glanced at Shu Jun as though sizing up a head of livestock, well satisfied.

Shen Mu sought out Granny Zhu and said: "Granny, there's an old saying that goes well—when the eldest does not strive.

.

.

" Shen Mu was beaten by Granny Zhu.

The two words "the eldest" had stung her, it seemed, and so she seized him by the ear and thrashed him. The Alchemy Master and the Deaf Elder laughed about it for a long while.

Only, when they saw Shen Mu off, Granny Zhu's eyes still went red; she watched the Heavenly Dragon Chariot until it passed from sight, and for a long time did not return to the Heavenly Sage Academy. When the Heavenly Dragon Chariot reached Jiangling City, Shen Mu found no Emperor Yanfeng there, nor Jiang Baigui, the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping; where those two had run off to he had no notion, so he hurried on to the capital.

Arriving in the capital, he went straight to see the Headman. The Silent Artisan and the Blind Elder were also waiting in the Grand Academy. The Headman had said he meant to give Shen Mu a beating, but when he saw him he forgot all about it; listening to Shen Mu recount what he had seen and heard in the Heavenly Court, he sighed endlessly.

"Emperor Kai has already been here?

" Shen Mu was astonished, and said: "I did not meet him on the road.

Where is he now? " "That, I do not know.

Emperor Kai taught me Sword Twenty—no doubt to repay the debt he owed for learning Sword Fifteen through Sword Nineteen from Jingping. " The Headman said excitedly: "To meet that peerless summit of the sword dao has been my lifelong wish, and now at last it is fulfilled; this life has not been lived in vain! Shen'er, I will pass Sword Twenty on to you.

Stay a few more days in the capital. " Shen Mu hesitated, then nodded and said: "Fatty Long, take the Divine King to stay at my residence for a few days.