Chapter 1054 — The Young Sect Master

The carriage curtain was flung aside. God King Langwan stepped out of the palanquin and, with her back to him, turned her head and said: "Holy Infant, you say you are a Creator, but you will never understand the pride of a Creator, nor the sea-deep blood feud of the Creator race. You are merely an outsider, one who by some twist of fortune became the Holy Infant of my people."

Her figure vanished.

Shen Mu sat stunned. Dragon Qilin's voice came from outside: "Sect Master, shall we enter the Spirit-Energy Transfer Bridge? Or wait for her to return?"

"No need to wait. Let us go," Shen Mu said flatly.

Bewildered, Dragon Qilin looked back toward the carriage. Through the curtain, he saw that Shen Mu's face was as somber as still water.

"What is the matter with our Young Master?" Yan'er whispered.

Dragon Qilin hesitated, let the celestial dragons draw the palanquin into the Spirit-Energy Transfer Bridge, and said nothing.

Yan'er whispered, "I think the Young Master likes God King Langwan, but he suppresses his feelings too much. Perhaps we should find him a Sect Master's widow to soothe his heart — then he would be a little happier."

She peered into the carriage, then hopped onto Dragon Qilin's shoulder and said in his ear, "When we reach the Southern Extreme Heaven, I'll ask my mother to find one for him!"

Dragon Qilin shook his head. "That is not the reason. I am minding the reins. Go back into the carriage and tell the Sect Master that he is in the right."

Yan'er was doubtful. "Will those words be enough? The one the Young Master likes is not me, so it probably will not help for me to say it."

Dragon Qilin saw no help for it. He let her handle the reins, resumed his true form, and went into the palanquin.

Inside the palanquin, Shen Mu had closed his eyes. Two clear tears slid down from the corners of his eyes, and in a voice somewhat hoarse he said lowly: "To seek a road of survival for Jingping, a ray of hope for the human race — why is it so hard, so exhausting..."

It seemed he could not catch his breath beneath the weight, and he panted in great ragged gasps.

"Imperial Tutor of Jingping — now that I have become Imperial Tutor of Jingping myself, I finally understand how great the pressure upon you must have been back then. Where in the world are you?"

He thought of Jiang Baigui, the former Imperial Tutor of Jingping. At this moment, what he needed was not a Sect Master's widow to soothe his spirit, but a fellow Daoist who could support and encourage him in turn.

In former days, Jiang Baigui, the Imperial Tutor of Jingping, had had the Young Patriarch to support him and, later, Emperor Yanfeng. He was far luckier than Shen Mu. When he felt lost and powerless, the Young Patriarch would tell him that what they were doing was right; when he met with setbacks, Emperor Yanfeng would stand shoulder to shoulder with him, and the two would bear the burden together.

But now, at Shen Mu's side, there was nothing at all.

Dragon Qilin came over, sat down at Shen Mu's feet, stretched out his forepaws, and crouched prostrate before him.

"Sect Master, what you are doing — I do not fully understand it." Dragon Qilin hesitated, then said, "But I think it is all right."

Shen Mu opened his eyes and gently stroked the great head of this colossal beast. "Only you, Dragon Fatty. Only you at my side understand me... Your Rearing-Humans Sutra has come to full maturity."

Dragon Qilin raised his head and smiled: "Sect Master, in my heart you will always be that youth who walked past me on that bright, sunny morning. You looked at the Grand Academy of Jingping ahead and thought to yourself, 'Everyone in there is a bumpkin.'"

Shen Mu laughed heartily and rose to his feet.

Dragon Qilin rose as well, shook out his mane and scales, and stood at his side. "At the time, you took me for one of the stone lions before the gate. Your eyes were brimming with vigor and wisdom — you were in the full flush of your spirit. I had seen many men before the Grand Academy gate, but never a youth like you. I was faint with hunger then, yet in you I saw another Patriarch, another Jiang Baigui, and another Emperor Yanfeng."

"This is not the Rearing-Humans Sutra — these are words from the very bottom of my heart!" He laughed. "It was not entirely because you could refine spirit pills that I followed you, shamelessly pestering you for pills to eat. This world has plenty of elixir masters who can refine spirit pills, but there is only one young Sect Master of the Celestial Saint Sect! In you I saw a spirit that could charge through anything, a fearlessness that defied heaven and earth."

"Other men say heaven is number one and they are number two; you say you are number one and heaven is number two. Your confidence was so overwhelming that everyone looked at you with awe. You are the Overlord Body!"

Dragon Qilin said, "You will forever be that high-spirited, fearless young Sect Master, the one who can never be knocked down or crushed!"

The melancholy on Shen Mu's face was swept clean away. He murmured, "That is right — I am the Overlord Body. I will not be crushed, my heart will not grow old, and I am still that young Sect Master..."

The Celestial Dragon Palanquin gave a gentle jolt, and from outside came Yan'er's cheerful voice: "Young Master! Dragon Fatty! We have reached the Southern Extreme Heaven!"

Shen Mu's spirits revived at once, and he stepped out of the palanquin. Dragon Qilin smiled and hurried after him.