Chapter 914 — Old Grudges Revisited
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Shen Mu kept driving his vital essence, and at last made the core of the Yuan Wood rise into the air; but the stick was too long, and after he had twirled a few sword flourishes he found his dharma power spent.
"No wonder the Earth Mother ran off so fast!"
Shen Mu reached out and seized the stick, swinging it a few times with effort, only to find that used as a spear it had no spearhead, while used as a staff it was too long.
"If only it could be a little shorter..."
Scarcely had the thought crossed his mind when the core of the Yuan Wood shrank a great deal.
Shen Mu was taken aback, then said: "Shorter still."
The core of the Yuan Wood shrank again.
Shen Mu said: "Shorter still."
The core of the Yuan Wood shrank to some three feet; Shen Mu caught it in his hand and used it as a wooden sword, and it felt far more natural at once. Delighted, he cried: "Long!"
Pff—
The core of the Yuan Wood in his hand swelled violently, becoming a long staff that thrust into a mountain peak a hundred li away, punching a slender hole through the mountain, the tip of the staff emerging on the far side.
Startled, Shen Mu tugged hard but could not pull the core free, and said helplessly: "Short..."
With a whoosh, Shen Mu was dragged off Dragon Qilin's head against his will, and the shrinking staff carried him with a thunderous crash into that mountain peak.
Dragon Qilin and Yan'er were aghast; the mountain peak was smashed open, and only after a good while did Shen Mu leap out of it, in a sorry state.
A thought stirred in Shen Mu's heart; he took out the sword pellet, and it flew up and settled on the tip of the staff, becoming a spearhead. Then he moved with the spear — the great spear now large, now small, now thick, now thin, now long, now short, now hard, now soft, and it could even coil and wheel around his whole body like a great python, a truly fearsome sight.
"The core of the Yuan Wood is not bad at all."
Shen Mu flew back, sighing in admiration, and put the sword pellet away. He laughed: "A pity it cannot become a wooden sword — I fear it would not stab a man to death. I have not studied spear play much; it is a waste for it to fall into my hands."
He put the core of the Yuan Wood into the Taotie Pouch, and Yan'er came up to help him straighten his disordered clothes.
Shen Mu took out a small jade bottle, broke the seal, and drove his vital essence, wrapping a drop of Hongmeng primal liquid and sending it flying out. He smiled: "Yan'er, this is yours."
Yan'er was both startled and delighted, and hastily swallowed that drop of Hongmeng primal liquid.
Dragon Qilin was exceedingly envious. Shen Mu said: "Fat Dragon, you still cannot suppress the energy of the Hongmeng primal liquid. Give you a drop and you would die. When you have grown a little, I will save a drop for you."
Dragon Qilin agreed and set his mind at ease.
"With the core of the Yuan Wood, perhaps I can rescue our eldest senior brother..."
Seeing no one around, Shen Mu took out the peach-wood hairpin and drove it toward the Yong River. The Heavenly River surged and swelled, joining with the Yong River.
After the Lame Old Man had rescued him, he told him what the Human Emperor Qikang had seen at the Yong River: the Azure Emperor of the Eastern Heaven had captured Wei Suifeng and sunk him in the river, and Wei Suifeng had merged with the ghost ship and seized the chance to flee.
Previously they had been within the sphere of the Eastern Heaven Palace, and Shen Mu had not wished to alert it; but here the Earth Mother had dared to appear, which meant they must have left the Eastern Heaven Palace's domain. So Shen Mu tried to see whether he could use the peach-wood hairpin to rescue the ghost ship, and Wei Suifeng with it, from Heaven Venerable Ling's divine ability.
The divine ability within the peach-wood hairpin was roused, and mist at once churned up from the heart of the river, as though the fog came surging out of times long past; the river waters boiled and surged!