Chapter 909 — The Ancient Sheath Hides the Blade; Storm and Rain Wash Away the Dust
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
This path was the method he had comprehended from Heavenly Venerable Ling's Unchanging divine art, fusing the principle of that art into the Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art, so as to keep his spirit embryo from perishing.
At this moment his spirit embryo was in a wondrous state: destroyed by the torrent of runaway essence, and the next instant restored.
And the sword art was his sword dao, the third chapter of the Calamity Sword, the Chapter of Meeting the Tribulation. Meeting the tribulation, this was the sword dao he had created out of his grief over the catastrophe that had befallen the Yuan World and the upheaval Jingping had suffered, founded upon the spirit of the living beings who faced that catastrophe head-on.
In the world of dreams he had reenacted the catastrophe; through countless slaughters he had honed that one sword stroke that cleaved through the catastrophe within the dream world! The Chapter of Meeting the Tribulation of the Calamity Sword means to go forth to meet the tribulation of one's own accord: to face the catastrophe of heaven and earth, to face the misery of all living beings and the inconstancy of worldly affairs, to face the strongest of enemies, to face the heart of gods, the heart of demons, the heart of men!
In the Chapter of Meeting the Tribulation, the first to meet the tribulation is the one who holds the sword.
Shen Mu met the tribulation: he swept away his own heavenly palace, razed his own great spirit treasures, leaving only the spirit embryo, cutting off every path of retreat, burning his boats.
Only when there is no way back can one advance and never retreat! This was the dead end he faced, and the dead end Jingping faced: no way back, only forward, forward, ever forward, to fight out a road, to carve out a road!
This road must be walked out, no matter what!
Boom! His spirit embryo was crushed to powder, yet the next instant it appeared again, still holding the sword, still working the Meeting of the Tribulation, and this time the power in his grasp was greater.
Again his spirit embryo was crushed, again restored; again and again annihilated, again and again recovered.
After each meeting of the tribulation he was stronger than before.
After Heavenly Venerable Yu opened the Prime Embryo Spirit Treasure, the next spirit treasure was the Star River Spirit Treasure; he had sought power from without, comprehending the star river between heaven and earth.
But this time Shen Mu was not imitating Heavenly Venerable Yu. He sought power from within.
To seek the power of heaven and earth from without was indeed mighty and convenient, yet when Heavenly Venerable Yu had opened the Prime Embryo Spirit Treasure, he had not borrowed the power of heaven and earth but developed himself.
Therefore Shen Mu cast aside not only the spirit treasure cultivation system and the heavenly palace cultivation system built upon the power system of the ancient gods, but even the cultivation system of the great dao of heaven and earth that Heavenly Venerable Yu had opened when he opened the Star River Spirit Treasure.
This time he would walk the path of self-development that Heavenly Venerable Yu had used when he first opened the Prime Embryo Spirit Treasure, the most primal method of cultivation, cultivating only oneself, borrowing nothing from without!
He would no longer borrow strength from gods and demons, no longer borrow strength from heaven and earth. In this catastrophe of the Yuan World, he had called on heaven and heaven had not answered, called on earth and earth had not responded.
The inaction of the remnants of Kaihuang, the cowardice of the Lord of Heaven, the silence of the Earth Lord, the malice of the Heavenly Emperor, all had left him feeling utterly powerless, and made him realize that borrowed power was in the end unreliable.
The only thing reliable was himself!