Chapter 338 — The Secret of the Supreme Overlord Art
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
" The Village Chief let out a breath of turbid air. "But the Upper Heaven's first enemy is the Human Emperor. I have fought them for several hundred years.
Before, there was me; I still have two or three years of lifespan. Now there is you—you have comprehended the way of the sword, and can contend with them. In the future there will be Shen boy. I will walk out of the Wasteland.
In the next few days visitors from the Upper Heaven will come seeking me, and I can win you some time.
" He spoke neither lightly nor heavily, but all three heard in it a note of resolve, of a man ready to die.
"The Human Emperor cannot die on a sickbed. " The Village Chief smiled and said softly, "A sickbed is not my resting place. " The Jingping Imperial Preceptor raised his head again and said softly, "The Upper Heaven. . . one day, the armored cavalry of Jingping will trample that place flat! But for now, we should first trample Helan Pass flat!
" He rose to his feet and said, "Gentlemen, let us proceed to Helan Pass. " A treasure carriage drove up to the top of the city wall, its canopy round as heaven and its body square as earth.
Shen Mu lifted the Village Chief and set him on the carriage.
The Jingping Imperial Preceptor took the reins and laughed.
"We will talk more once we are inside Helan Pass. " The Lame Elder picked up the golden book from the tea table and tossed it to Shen Mu. "His Eminence's book—who knows what murderous, heretical arts are recorded inside.
" Shen Mu caught the golden book and shook his head.
"This is not His Eminence's. It is my Shen family's book. He stole it.
" The Lame Elder snorted. "Shen boy, you truly have not worked hard enough. You learned my Hand of Stealing Heaven and Swapping the Sun, and you still let that little brat steal it from you.
You had best be honest and settle for being the second-greatest shadow thief under heaven. " "I was always content to be second.
You were the one who forced it on me. " Shen Mu opened the golden book and cried out in surprise, "Ban Gongcuo actually opened this book! It was sealed to begin with. Oh yes, Grandpa Village Chief—I saw my father!
" The Village Chief's mind boomed.
He blurted out, "You saw a visitor from Carefree Land? " Shen Mu set the golden book down, grief shadowing his face. "I saw him in the treasure ship in the Nether Valley.
He had already worked a forbidden art and merged with the treasure ship, becoming a tree-man.
. . He signed the Earth Lord's Pact with Lord Zhenxing, and so he could not open his eyes to look at me. He taught me many things, but in the end we had to part. . .
" Shen Mu stared blankly, then shook his head, cast the tangled thoughts from his mind, and recounted what he had encountered in the Nether Valley and the world of the Nether Capital. The three listened with mouths agape. Such strange and bewildering adventures were enchanting and heart-stopping; yet the secrets hidden within them, so many and so terrible, set them brooding in spite of themselves. The Jingping Imperial Preceptor was deeply shaken as well. Shen Mu was an Overlord Body—and he had a father like a god! "How did a man of Carefree Land become a god?
" A thought suddenly struck the Jingping Imperial Preceptor. The people of Carefree Land—their divine bridge was connected to the Heavenly Court!
The people of Little Jade Capital had told him that in this world everyone's divine bridge was broken; only the divine bridges of those from Carefree Land were joined to the Heavenly Court!
Did that not mean Shen Mu's divine bridge was also connected to the Heavenly Court? He turned to look at Shen Mu, but Shen Mu had no idea what he was thinking.