Chapter 528 — Seeking the Way at Little Jade Capital
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Granny Zhu said: "That Xiang girl is a great miser, and she keeps a very close eye on the Heavenly Sage Sect's purse. But it is just as well they are here at the Academy. The scholars learn alchemy from your Grandpa Alchemist, and the spirit elixirs they refine go to feed these dragons. Besides, with dragons about, the Academy's fame spreads; the scholars come to paint dragons, to forge dragon-form yuan weapons, or to cultivate dragon-form divine abilities — and for all of that they need these creatures. What is the matter with you? Who has wronged you? Old Man Lame! Alchemist! Blind Elder! Come here, all of you — someone has bullied our Shen'er!"
Bang.
The air boomed, and Old Man Lame appeared abruptly at Shen Mu's side, astonished: "Who dares bully my Shen'er? Tired of living?"
Shen Mu said: "It is the First Ancestor Human Emperor. A true god. Grandpa Lame..."
Old Man Lame shuddered, turned on his heel and walked off. The Blind Elder caught hold of him, laughing: "Old Man Lame, are you afraid?"
"Not afraid? Of course I am afraid!"
Old Man Lame muttered: "Xing An, that bastard, is not even a true god, and he beat us black and blue. The First Ancestor Human Emperor is a true god in truth. To rouse him is to throw your life away, is it not?"
The Alchemist came over, musing: "The First Ancestor Human Emperor? A true god? Could poison settle him?"
Shen Mu shook his head: "I want to defeat him fair and square, at the same cultivation realm, and best of all I want to beat him to death with my own hands."
The Alchemist shuddered, shrugged: "Then my skills are of no use."
Old Man Lame sighed: "Nor have I the skill for it. Where is the Silent Artisan?"
"The Silent Artisan ran off a few days ago."
The Butcher came over, gathering the clothes about his shoulders, his voice rumbling: "That fellow slips away every so often, and no one knows where he goes. Shen'er, what is a true god's power like?"
"In every way he is stronger than I am. He runs faster than I do, his strength outmatches mine, his divine body and his flesh are one, and his Sacred Pupil surpasses my Sacred Pupil. His fists are terrifying, and his Dao arts, his divine abilities and his flesh are fused as one."
Shen Mu's face darkened: "In every aspect he has already entered the Dao. The one thing in which I surpass him is magic power."
The Blind Elder frowned: "Stronger than my Sacred Pupil?"
Shen Mu nodded slightly.
Even the Butcher, who feared neither heaven nor earth, knitted his brows tightly now. After a moment he said: "My blade technique..."
"He broke it with ease."
The Deaf Elder came over: "And the Dao of painting?"
"There was no chance to use it."
"And the Heavenly Sage Sect's divine abilities?" Granny Zhu asked.
Shen Mu shook his head. The others looked deeply troubled.
Old Man Lame asked in a fluster: "Did you run?"
"He caught up with me."
"Poison... never mind, never mind."
The Alchemist waved a hand: "To poison a god to death, that I could manage. But to poison a true god who has no weakness at all — that I cannot."
Shen Mu smiled: "You need not fret over my affairs. These past days I have been thinking quietly, and it seems to me that though he looks invincible, back then he fled for his life from the battlefield, which shows there are those stronger than he. He is not invincible. I will surely find a way to surpass him."
Granny Zhu said with a smile: "You have hardly come back. Stay at the Academy a while, and we will help you think of something."
Shen Mu nodded and went to put away his luggage.
Granny Zhu, the Butcher, the Blind Elder and the rest gathered together and watched his receding back. The Butcher frowned: "This is the first time I have seen Shen'er look so utterly without confidence. He was never like this before. In the past he was always full of confidence, and now..." He shook his head.
The Blind Elder narrowed his eyes: "A true god — is one really so fearsome? Able to surpass my Sacred Pupil? I do not quite believe it."