Everyone in the smithy stood struck dumb. Shen Mu's Overlord Body vital essence had actually taken on an attribute — and a fire attribute at that, unmistakably the vital essence of the Vermilion Bird! The Deaf Elder was about to cheer when the Headman said, "Deaf Elder, hold on. Shen'er, contemplate the water again. Do not think too much; keep heart and mind guarded as one." Shen Mu did as he was told and contemplated the water once more; the vital essence that surged up from the Spirit Treasury of his Origin Fetus turned into murmuring streams that tempered his spirit fetus. The little smithy was packed with villagers who had rushed over at the news; Old Master Huo, the Lame Elder, the Butcher, the Alchemist and the Blind Elder had all squeezed inside, and watching Shen Mu as he contemplated the water, they scarcely dared to breathe. The Headman's voice came: "Do you remember the spear art the Blind Elder taught you? Imagine that just such a spear is in your hand — thrust it forward!" Shen Mu raised his hand and thrust out a spear; the tip flickered, shaking out one great circle after another, and in that instant as he thrust with an empty hand, his vital essence rushed forth and became snow-white water vapor, taking the shape of a long spear in his grip, while at the same time came the murmur of flowing water, the vapor like a water dragon shaken by him into circle after circle! "It's done, it's done..." Old Master Huo wept for joy, tears falling as he said, "It's finally done. All these years of hardship were not for nothing... Shen'er, you've grown up..." He could not help but turn his head away and wipe his tears with his one remaining arm. A plain, honest smile hung on the Lame Elder's face as he murmured, "Our Shen'er can survive in the Ruins now... Damn it, Old Ma, stop wiping your eyes — you're about to make me cry too! Old Lady Si has gone to Crimson Dragon City to buy things and isn't here; if she were, she'd be the one crying hardest!" "What is there to cry about?" The Alchemist's eyes were red-rimmed, but he smiled. "We ought to laugh! Even if we grow old and die, Shen'er will be able to live on his own. That is a blessing from the heavens — we should laugh aloud!" "Exactly, exactly!" The Deaf Elder roared with laughter. "Alchemist, there's much I won't concede to you, but that remark of yours I concede!" Earth-shaking laughter burst from the little smithy and rang to the heavens. Looking at the excited old men around him, warmth surged again and again in Shen Mu's heart. These old men, every one of them maimed in some way, every one with flaws more or less, every one looking so fierce and fearsome — they were his kin, his dearest kin! Suddenly Granny Zhu's voice came from beyond the door, laughing: "What are you old things crowding in there and cackling about like ghosts?" Shen Mu was startled and delighted — Granny Zhu had finally returned from Crimson Dragon City! Soon the Lame Elder blurted out the great news, and Granny Zhu too could not help being startled and overjoyed; her eyes reddened a little as she smiled and said, "Good news, good news... Shen'er has finally grown up... This is good news..." Thinking of the eleven years of bitter toil she had borne, she could not hold back her tears. The little old woman sat down and wiped her eyes: "If we die in the future, Shen'er will be able to live on... Don't touch me — my eyes are big, and the wind has blown sand into them..." The Headman quietly let out a breath. The dark clouds coiled in his heart had at last dispersed with the attribute Shen Mu's Overlord Body vital essence had gained. That Shen Mu could wield his vital essence and make it display its power confirmed his standing as an 'Overlord Body', and a crisis in the village was dissolved. Yet though his powers were vast, he could not help doubting and puzzling: how had Shen Mu's Overlord Body vital essence suddenly come to have an attribute? And the strangest thing was that the two attributes were water and fire! You must understand that a spirit body possesses only a single attribute; it is absolutely impossible for it to have two. Shen Mu plainly had the aptitude of an ordinary person, yet he possessed two attributes — and moreover water and fire, which can never coexist. That was bizarre indeed. "When ordinary people awaken their spirit fetus, do they all become two-attribute spirit bodies?" He could not help feeling at a loss: what exactly had the Silent Smith taught him, to give his vital essence the attributes of water and fire? Could other ordinary people do the same? He knew that in these days, to make Shen Mu's Overlord Body vital essence display its power, the villagers had exhausted every means at their disposal: the Alchemist had used medicinal tonics; the Lame Elder, the Butcher and Old Master Huo had trained him madly; the Blind Elder had grudged nothing, teaching him his Sacred Pupil; the Deaf Elder had sought to lead Shen Mu into the Way through calligraphy and painting, so that he might paint forth divine powers; but as to what means the Silent Smith had used, he had no idea. Who would have thought that the one to finally draw out the power of the Overlord Body vital essence would be the Silent Smith? He knew only that the Silent Smith had set Shen Mu to contemplate fire and contemplate water; how contemplating fire and water had given Shen Mu's vital essence the attributes of water and fire — the mystery of it baffled him. The Silent Smith was the village blacksmith and never showed his talents. In the village, the Blind Elder was the most sentimental, the Butcher the most flamboyant, the cold Old Master Huo the most warm-hearted, the ebullient Lame Elder the most sinister, the Alchemist the most dependable, the Deaf Elder the most free of desire, the hunchbacked Granny Zhu the most fickle — and the most tongue-tied of all was the Silent Smith. Of the Silent Smith the Headman knew almost nothing, save that his tongue had been cut out, that he was a master hand at forging implements, and that in ordinary days he made kitchen knives, plowshares, hoes and the like for the villagers round about to make his living. Judging from how he had guided Shen Mu and made his vital essence display its power, the Silent Smith's cultivation and attainment were likely the highest in the village, next to his own. "Shen'er, can you now refine your vital essence into a thread?" Granny Zhu asked hopefully. Shen Mu tried to bind his vital essence into a fine thread, and the next moment his vital essence left his body, as thick as an arm and wreathed in flame. This great, coarse "vital essence thread" coiled around the slaughtering saber, and at a single slash the bucket-thick wooden post before him was split clean through — a terrifying display of power! The villagers stared at this arm-thick vital essence thread, all of them speechless. Shen Mu's vital essence thread was certainly strong enough in power, but refining vital essence into a thread meant refining it into a fine thread, which made it nimbler and more changeable, able to command a precious sword, to drive a flying sword with vital essence, and to execute many moves that could not otherwise be performed. As for Shen Mu's, it could hardly be called a thread — "vital essence arm" would be nearer the truth. A vital essence thread this thick consumed an enormous amount. The Lame Elder scratched his head. "I think a vital essence arm is fine too. It's like having an extra arm, and it's pretty fierce in a fight." The others did not know whether to laugh or cry. Granny Zhu shook her head: "A vital essence thread is far more nimble; a vital essence arm is far too thick and burly — its toughness, its strength and its sensitivity are all greatly inferior to a thread. Shen'er, you must refine your vital essence into a thread as soon as you can." Shen Mu nodded. Only when he contemplated fire could his vital essence show a fire attribute, akin to Vermilion Bird vital essence; but