Chapter 211 — Knocking at the Gate of the Firmament
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Shen Mu taught Snow Fox how to work the mechanism: he had left a control platform in the Demon King of Dutian's chest, and a light push on the hidden catch at the breast would make the platform spring out on its own. This god-statue mechanism of the Demon King of Dutian, cast from dark-iron cold crystal, was immense, standing some two zhang eight in height, and Shen Mu had paid a great price for it; the dark-iron cold crystal alone had cost him ten thousand Dafeng coins.
The components of the statue mechanism numbered in the tens of thousands; the gears alone came to eight or nine hundred, and it was intricate beyond measure. Even if the Demon King of Dutian refused to stir, one seated at the control platform could still drive him to move; the statue mechanism had eight arms and four faces, and in a fight it was ferocious indeed, so that a common divine-ability practitioner would find it hard to break through the defense of dark-iron cold crystal.
At the heart of the statue mechanism there was also a small pill furnace, similar in construction to the one he had forged for the fire bandit Fan Yunxiao; but the furnace on Fan Yunxiao's broken ship had been his first attempt, made with little experience, whereas this time the furnace was not only much smaller but far more exquisite.
Seated at the control platform, Snow Fox could feed medicinal stones into the little furnace and use her vital essence to govern its fire; even without the Demon King of Dutian, she could wield the statue mechanism as a piece of heavy-armor mechanical weaponry. And if the Demon King of Dutian took the statue mechanism for his body and lent his strength in battle, the power it could unleash would be no small matter; a common practitioner of the Six Harmonies realm would likely be no match, and even one of the Seven Stars realm could not be certain of victory.
Shen Mu had learned from the Silent Craftsman, the Deaf Old Man, and Old Master Huo, and in building such a statue mechanism he had merely integrated the knowledge the three had passed down to him; there was little in it that was his own invention. The only innovation was the integration itself. Yet to anyone else, this statue mechanism was unquestionably the work of a master forger, a master mechanist, a master of runes, and it opened up a wholly different form of combat.
Snow Fox, all eagerness, paid the Demon King of Dutian inside the statue not the slightest heed; she promptly sat down on the little control platform and drove the statue mechanism running outside. "Long Da, follow her, don't let her get into trouble!
" Shen Mu said hastily. The dragon qilin answered and strode out, following the statue with its clawing, fang-baring arms and the shouting Snow Fox; Shen Mu watched the dragon qilin's retreating back and saw that its belly nearly scraped the ground.
"That fellow really ought to have his rations cut. " Shen Mu shook his head.
The dragon qilin had once been lean and strong; though often hungry, it had looked magnificent, and while it guarded the mountain gate none dared come near.
But ever since it had followed him, its daily peck of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills had never once been missed, and it drank the waters of Jade Dragon Lake to its heart's content, so that it grew fatter and fatter and its bulk swelled considerably. At this rate the dragon qilin would sooner or later become one great ball of meat, able only to prop itself up on its belly, its claws never again touching the ground.
"The Patriarch's rations for it in the old days were surely not a full peck of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills, or the brute would long ago have gone round as a ball. It lied about its rations; from now on I'll just give it half a peck of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills.