Chapter 265 — Two Heroes of Jingping
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Shen Mu took his leave of Granny Zhu and set out on foot with the emperor, the Dragon Qilin trailing behind them. He taught Emperor Yanfeng the Art of Creation and Spirit from the Great Yu Nether Demon Scripture, and passed on to him as well his own Mystic Body Three Elixir Art. "Cultivate the two arts together," he said, "and practice as you walk. It will do your injuries no small good—at the very least it will strengthen your body."
Yanfeng was half doubtful, half convinced, but he tried cultivating the Mystic Body Three Elixir Art and the Art of Creation and Spirit, and before he knew it his complexion had improved somewhat. He laughed. "These arts are fine indeed—to think one can cultivate while walking! I feel some of my strength has returned."
"You keep at it. Once you have a small measure of success, the wounds of your flesh will heal and your constitution will grow strong. Then I will teach you the Creation Ghost-Spirit Art for refining the soul, which will steady your huntsoul and parasoul. With medicines that treat the soul as well, working both at once, the wounds upon your soul will heal."
Shen Mu suddenly drifted into thought. "I have taught the emperor arts from the Great Yu Nether Demon Scripture. Should the emperor join my Heaven Sacred Cult? What office should I give him?"
He stole a glance at Emperor Yanfeng, and there was something less than benevolent in it. "I am still short one Heavenly King. If I could bring the emperor into the fold and make him a Heavenly King of the Heaven Sacred Cult, then the whole of Jingping would belong to the cult..."
Emperor Yanfeng cultivated with diligence and bitter effort. His frame grew somewhat more robust, and he even refined a little vital essence; but without his divine treasury, his cultivation was truly limited.
Shen Mu too cultivated, unhurried. When he roused the Mystic Body Three Elixir Art, five rays of light shone down from the sky—these were the Five Luminaries within his body joined to the Five Luminary stars, drawing down their stellar power to raise his cultivation.
Emperor Yanfeng was slightly taken aback. "He is still at the Five Luminaries stage?"
He had always assumed Shen Mu was already a man of divine powers at the Six Harmonies stage. After all, Shen Mu's strength was already a match for those with divine powers; his cultivation was even on par with Six Harmonies adepts. He had never expected Shen Mu to still be at Five Luminaries.
"The Nether Demon Cult's Great Yu Nether Demon Scripture is truly extraordinary."
Emperor Yanfeng marveled inwardly—not knowing that Shen Mu's vital essence came chiefly from the Mystic Body Three Elixir Art, and that what Yanfeng himself now cultivated was precisely the Mystic Body Three Elixir Art.
Shen Mu's cultivation had indeed reached the peak of the Five Luminaries stage, not far from the Six Harmonies stage; he need only wait for the Five Luminary Star Lords in his divine treasury to stabilize, and then he could attempt the breakthrough.
The two traveled for four days, eating in the wind and sleeping in the dew, until they came to the next city. Shen Mu brought Emperor Yanfeng inside and bought some medicinal ingredients. It was the first time in his life the emperor had endured such hardship; both his feet were worn raw and covered in blisters.
At the inn, Shen Mu set him in a wooden tub and steeped him in medicated water through the night. The emperor fell asleep in the tub, and when he woke the next morning he found every blister on his feet gone, and his body much lighter. He clicked his tongue in wonder.
The two journeyed on until they entered the borders of Qizhou, where they saw many men with divine powers driving villagers before them, lashing and shouting.
"This land belongs to our Qishan Sect!"