Chapter 332 — Peering in Secret
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
And yet now, by means of this dewdrop, Shen Mu had entered Imperial Preceptor Jingping's state of enlightenment, and was using his enlightenment to elevate himself.
"Truly wondrous—"
Seeing this, Lizheng said to the Lame Old Man with a sigh, "Though Shen'er's endowment and insight are not those of a sage born once in five hundred years, that quick wit and that burrowing persistence of his are beyond any sage's reach."
The Lame Old Man was smug. "I taught him!"
Lizheng added, "We taught him!"
The Lame Old Man said, "What do you make of Imperial Preceptor Jingping? Can he be the Human Emperor?"
Lizheng was silent a moment, then said softly, "He is no worse than I. In the future he may be even better."
The Lame Old Man looked at him doubtfully. "I know you never finish what you mean to say. Why not say it all at once?"
Lizheng sighed. "I am already very strong. I have reached the utmost limit of swordsmanship. But you have seen how my hands and feet were severed — cut off by a sword."
The Lame Old Man said no more. Lizheng went on: "My hands and feet were cut off, severed by another's sword. Imperial Preceptor Jingping, this sage born once in five hundred years, may in the future be stronger than I. But if he meets with no other fortune, he too will be trapped at the Divine Bridge realm, as I am; without crossing the Divine Bridge one cannot reach the next realm directly, and he will face the same end as I."
The Lame Old Man's body trembled slightly. He looked at Imperial Preceptor Jingping, then his gaze fell on Shen Mu, and a questioning look came over him. He said in a low voice, "When you and I are gone, if Imperial Preceptor Jingping also dies, what of Shen'er?"
Lizheng said blankly, "I had hoped he would be only an ordinary man, a common man, living out an ordinary life. Yet again and again he has surpassed my expectations, shattering them one after another. I dare not be certain of his future. I once thought him ordinary, but the search for the Land of No Sorrow showed me that there may be something extraordinary in him."
The Lame Old Man grinned. "Ordinary? Lizheng, you have gone senile in your old age. Is there such a thing as an ordinary Overlord Body? Shen'er has an Overlord Body — how is that ordinary?"
Lizheng's expression froze. He gave two dry laughs and continued, "Yes, I forgot he has an Overlord Body; naturally he will do extraordinary things. This time too he exceeded my expectations. I thought he could not comprehend anything profound from my sword Dao, yet from that dewdrop he saw Imperial Preceptor Jingping's process of enlightenment. That is too... too..."
He did not know how to put it. The Lame Old Man laughed. "Too unbelievable!"
He smiled bitterly. "I thought I would never acknowledge him, never pass on my mantle to him. Yet I did acknowledge him; not only did I pass on my mantle, I passed on my burdens and my responsibilities as well."
Recalling the past, he felt a mingled amusement and exasperation. "I did not trust him at first. I did not think he could accomplish anything extraordinary. But in the end he made me expect more and more of him, and at last I found that the one I trusted most was still him. True, we raised him — but as he grew, we too grew in the raising of him."
The Lame Old Man asked with a smile, "And what do you mean by that?"
The wrinkles on Lizheng's face gathered together, and a smile of genuine happiness appeared. "I mean that, compared with Imperial Preceptor Jingping, I have greater hopes for Shen'er, whom we raised. Fifteen years ago, in the darkness of the Wasteland Ruins, the child who came down the Yong River — he was born extraordinary! His endowment is not as dazzling as Imperial Preceptor Jingping's, his insight is not as heaven-defying, but there is something in him that I cannot see through..."
"The Overlord Body!" the Lame Old Man said excitedly.