Chapter 404 — Xing An Manifest
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
In Yincan Village, everyone except Granny Zhu had a mastery all their own — each with some field in which none could match them, and each had cultivated to the divine realm. When the path of the divine bridge was severed, they could advance no further; so they poured their life's energy into the study of a single field, and in this way their strength came to rival the gods of Heaven above — no weaker than false gods like Lord Huanlong.
To reach the divine realm in but one field was enough to contend with the mighty of Heaven above. But what if a man could reach the divine realm in every field? Then he would be a true god, would he not? Clearly, this mighty one named Xing An walked exactly such a path — though the strategy he adopted was not to study and master each field himself, but to take them directly from others.
After all, a person's energy is limited; and without repairing the divine bridge, one's lifespan is limited too — one could live only a little over eight hundred years. If he studied and cultivated in solitude, he might at most reach the divine realm in one or two fields in a lifetime; but by taking directly from others, he might gather up every divine realm and become like a true god!
He was a mighty one of the same generation as the village head; by rights he should be as aged as the village head, yet to this day he looked like a youth.
That showed he had taken not only the Lame Elder's legs and the Blind Elder's eyes — surely other mighty ones had fallen to his murderous hand as well! Just how far his strength had now advanced, no one could say. The Blind Elder's eyes — the strongest Sacred Pupil; the Lame Elder's legs — the swiftest divine legs.
These two alone were enough to place him among the very strongest. He must have obtained the divine-realm parts of other mighty ones as well. Such a mighty one had set his eyes on Lord Huo's arm; and though Lord Huo was already a Tathagata, he would likely be no match for him. Zaifu rose and walked out, saying, "I will go see Old Lord Huo. " "Zaifu, is your blade your greatest strength?
" the village head asked suddenly. Zaifu halted. "No. My greatest strength is in fact my heart.
" From within his body came a sudden rumble, like heavenly thunder, like a giant beating a war drum on the battlefield — that was the sound of his heartbeat.
At a single throb, everyone's eardrums rang. He stirred his blood and qi, and the sound of his heartbeat rose; it felt as though the sharpest, most massive Heavenly Blade had left its sheath — vast, keen, shattering all that stood before it!
The Heavenly Blade was not the butcher's knife in his hand; he himself was a blade.
This Heavenly Blade of his needed a mighty source of power to drive it, and that source was his heart. Shen Mu opened his Fire Empyrean Heaven Eye and looked at Zaifu — and what he saw was not a man, but a blade!
At the center of the blade crouched a beating heart; blood vessels stretched out from it like great dragons, spreading through the blade like a web.
As the heart leaped, it carried matchless blood and qi to every part of the Heavenly Blade!
Zaifu had refined his own heart into a divine heart.
The village head said, "He needs your heart — a divine heart. " Zaifu shook his head.
"I do not fear him. " The village head said, "Nor does he fear you.
Even if I were to contend with him, my chances would be slim.
If you go alone to find Lord Huo, he will surely waylay you on the road. Silent Smith, what is your greatest strength?
" The Silent Smith sat there smoking his water pipe; at these words he knocked out the pipe, then tucked it back at his waist. The forge behind him suddenly kindled without fire — but then everyone noticed that it was not his vital essence that lit the forge at his back, and that the power pouring out such sky-high heat came not from his forge but from within his body.