Chapter 339 — A Vast Breadth of Mind
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
The Lame Elder asked, wary, "What is it?
" Shen Mu stroked his chin, plucked out a single robustly growing hair of his beard, and said, "I think the art in this book may be a formula for connecting the Spirit Bridge. " The Lame Elder had not caught it clearly: "What bridge?
" "The Spirit Bridge.
" Shen Mu went on measuring, head lowered, and said, "Because the spirit storehouse is not like the meridians and channels of a human body.
The meridians and channels of a human body are simply there; one glance at a circulation diagram and you can try to set the art in motion. The spirit storehouse is an empty expanse of space. Vital essence moves through that empty expanse, and every last fraction of its movement occupies a different spatial dimension. So the precise spatial dimensions have to be measured. Coordinates in space are hard to fix; one careless slip and the whole thing goes wrong. " The Lame Elder's expression went blank; he looked dazed, staring woodenly as Shen Mu shifted his measuring scale and continued to measure the patterns on the golden book. Shen Mu fetched paper and brush, noted down his measurements, and said without lifting his head, "A mistake in spatial dimensions, and a mere haze of difference becomes a thousand miles of error.
I need exact measurements; I need to calculate down to the digits beyond the faintest blur. Besides, the human figure in the painting is not the same size as a real human body, and the spirit storehouse of the figure painted there is not the same size as the spirit storehouse of a real person.
First I work out the base values. Every person's Spirit Bridge and spirit storehouse differ in size, but with the base values one can cultivate according to spatial proportions, and so master the Magpie Bridge Art. . . " The Lame Elder blinked: "What bridge? " Shen Mu was perplexed, and laughed: "The Magpie Bridge. Grandpa Lame, you seem a little distracted. I won't talk to you anymore; the measuring here is troublesome and the calculations are hard, they will take a very long time. .
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" Suddenly the Village Chief's head poked out from inside the carriage, and he asked, quivering with excitement, "What bridge? " Shen Mu grew more perplexed still: "Village Chief, you are distracted too? The Magpie Bridge!
" "Wrong!
" The Jingping Imperial Preceptor twisted his head around to his back and said rapidly, "Wrong!
Before the Magpie Bridge, you clearly said the Spirit Bridge!
" "Exactly! " The Lame Elder said hastily, "What I heard was the Spirit Bridge too!
" The Village Chief nodded again and again: "The Spirit Bridge!
" Light dawned on Shen Mu.
He laughed: "The Spirit Bridge of the man in the painting is broken.
The art in the painting is called the Magpie Bridge Art, and it repairs the Spirit Bridge. I was just now calculating the mathematical principles the Magpie Bridge Art requires. That art is very hard to cultivate; there is too much that must be measured. .
.
" "An art that repairs the Spirit Bridge! " The aura of the three men in the carriage surged abruptly. In an instant the treasure carriage flying in midair was shaken apart by their momentum, then shattered by their dreadful aura into finest powder!
Shen Mu hastily leapt into the air, clutching the golden book and his measurements to his chest; his clothes were stained into a sorry mess by ink. The Jingping Imperial Preceptor, the Village Chief, and the Lame Elder reached for the golden book almost at the same moment; seeing Shen Mu hugging it to his chest, they checked themselves hastily and each drew back his hand, the turmoil in their hearts beyond words.
Shen Mu complained, "Fortunately this is a golden book and need not fear being ruined by ink; otherwise your sins would be grave indeed. " The Village Chief said hurriedly, "Land first, then we talk! " The four of them descended.