Shen Mu thought it over. Ling Hanchuan, sect master of the Lanjiang Sect, was of the second rank; this old man named Pei Wujiu was of the first rank, and must surely be even more formidable. "Everything this old senior says is true," he told Snow Fox. Snow Fox was doubtful. "How can you be sure he is telling the truth?" "The mist is breathed out by the dragon soul." Shen Mu pointed at the wandering soul of the Dark Dragon Mother in the hall: wherever the dragon soul drifted, the mist grew thicker, and wherever the mist spread, dried corpses rose to their feet again, one after another, seeming able to scent out where Shen Mu stood, drifting toward him of their own accord. "This mist can plunge these bodies into a state that is neither life nor death. It is a means of protecting her son, and a means of protecting this hall as well," Shen Mu reasoned. Snow Fox had seen as much herself: once the mist breathed out by the Dark Dragon Mother's soul dispersed, the dried corpses would drop to the ground and lie utterly still; but when the mist closed over them once more, the corpses came back to life and tried to attack anyone who entered. These dried corpses were like guardians of the hall, guarding it lest the Dark Water Dragon Pearl be seized and the "healing" of the Dark Dragon's young one be disturbed. And as for where the corpses came from, it could only be, as the old man said, the doing of the Dark Water Dragon Pearl—it had drained every drop of blood and vital energy from the martial artists who blundered into this dragon palace, using the blood and vital energy of others to prolong the life of the young Dark Dragon in the ice. Shen Mu said with some difficulty, "Elder Gu, I have the will to save you, but this junior's strength is thin, and I fear my will outruns my power." Pei Wujiu laughed heartily. "Of course you have not strength enough to melt the dark ice of the Dark Water Dragon Pearl—but I do. You need only follow my commands, and you can free me from my bonds! And once I am free, whatever you wish, you shall have!" There was arrogance in his words; plainly the office of Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince was one of very high station. "Though I am trapped in the dark ice, my cultivation is still with me. This ice will not freeze me to death." Pei Wujiu said, "I will spend the last of my cultivation to move the sword at my waist out of the ice. You take up the sword and cut down the soul of the Dark Dragon Mother! Once the Dark Dragon Mother's soul is slain, the Dark Water Dragon Pearl will no longer be able to hold me! And when I am free, I may even give you this Dark Water Dragon Pearl!" Shen Mu was startled and blurted out, "Cut down the Dark Dragon Mother's soul? Senior, this junior has only just cultivated to the Spirit Fetus realm; I am a martial artist of no consequence—how could I possibly slay the Dark Dragon Mother's soul?" Pei Wujiu sneered. "Of course you could not—but with my sword in your hand, you can! This sword of mine is no common thing, nor is it the low-grade trash you carry on your back. This is a first-rank sword of the imperial court! The Jingping court gathered the finest craftsmen under heaven and forged it from the most exalted of treasures! In the Kingdom of Jingping there are only sixteen offices of the first rank, and only sixteen such swords, each with its own name. This sword of mine is called the Chubao Sword!" Shen Mu hesitated. "How does this sword compare with the staff in my hand?" Pei Wujiu snorted. "The White-Browed Monk's Ximilo is very fine indeed, and the Great Thunderpeal Monastery is a famous sect rarely matched under heaven—but can a treasure forged by the strength of one sect be spoken of in the same breath as a treasure forged by the strength of an entire kingdom? In the Kingdom of Jingping there are two or three great and famous sects like the Great Thunderpeal Monastery." Shen Mu was somewhat shaken, and also puzzled. "Since you possess such a treasure, senior, why did you not cut down the Dark Dragon Mother's soul yourself?" Pei Wujiu was speechless. After a moment he said, "I had not thought of the crux of the matter at first. When I saw the Dark Water Dragon Pearl, I meant to rid later generations of this hidden peril, and in a moment of carelessness I fell into the trap. By the time I found I could not break free of the encasing ice, it was too late. Once frozen, I could only hold fast to my vital energy and keep myself from freezing to death; to command this sword was already beyond my strength. Do you know how many years I have been sealed here?" He sighed. "Two hundred years! For two hundred years I have been sealed here. That I have kept myself alive to this day is already no small feat." Shen Mu was filled with sympathy. "Two hundred years of ice—had it been me, I fear I would have gone mad long ago. That you have endured until now is truly admirable, senior." Pei Wujiu sighed. "It is lucky you came. With the last of my vital energy I will send this Chubao Sword out of the dark ice. Slay the Dark Dragon Mother's soul for me and free me from this trap!" Shen Mu nodded and said gravely, "This junior will do his utmost!" Pei Wujiu roused his last remaining vital energy, and the sword at his waist began slowly to move within the ice—but its progress was very slow. After more than an hour, the Chubao Sword had barely revealed its hilt. After a while longer, the whole hilt emerged, though the scabbard was still sealed in the dark ice. Pei Wujiu seemed somewhat exhausted. His voice hoarse, he said, "My vital energy is nearly spent, boy. Slay the Dark Dragon Mother as quickly as you can!" Shen Mu answered, and a strand of vital energy as thick as an arm flew out and coiled around the hilt. With a clang, the Chubao Sword left its scabbard, and in an instant cold light flashed out in all directions! Shen Mu and Snow Fox both felt a pang in their eyes, as though the sword's radiance had wounded them; only after some time did their eyes recover and they could see the things around them clearly again. "What are you doing?" Pei Wujiu watched Shen Mu's exceedingly thick strand of vital energy coil around the Chubao Sword and chase the Dark Dragon Mother's soul, hacking at it again and again without ever landing a blow. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he said, "What are you doing? Is that how one drives a flying sword with vital energy? Who taught you the art of sword control? Who taught you swordsmanship?" Shen Mu stopped, embarrassed. "I do not know the art of sword control, and I have never learned swordsmanship." Pei Wujiu was half dead with fury, his head swelling with rage. "You do not know the art of sword control, you have never learned swordsmanship—then why do you carry a sword-hiding satchel on your back?" Shen Mu said shamefacedly, "The sword satchel is very heavy. I wear it on my back as a kind of training..." Pei Wujiu nearly spat blood. That clumsy swordsmanship made him long to leap out of the dark ice. "Very well. I will teach you the art of sword control—of driving a flying sword with vital energy—and swordsmanship as well." Suppressing the anger in his heart, he said, "Once you have learned it, you will be able to slay the Dark Dragon Mother." Shen Mu shook his head. "I will not learn it." Pei Wujiu was so enraged that his three corpse-spirits nearly leapt from his body. Had he not been sealed in the dark ice, he would long since have sprung out and given the brat a sound beating. "Granny said someone would come to teach me a better swordsmanship, and if I learned another's swordsmanship, that person would not teach me." Pei Wujiu choked with fury, then laughed aloud. "A better swordsmanship? Do you know that the finest swordsmanship under heaven is the swordsmanship of the Kingdom of Jingping! The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping gathered up the sword arts of the whole world, brought them together in one place, summoned the great masters of swordsmanship from every land, and cr