Early the next morning, Ling Yuxiu came to the inn, found Shen Mu, and took her leave of him.

She was as she had always been, using the hair at her temples to make her face look a little thinner. She sat facing Shen Mu, ordered a pot of clear tea, and said, her eyes bright: "The Wasteland is a poor and bitter place, no place to stay for long. The world you see here is only a remote, desolate corner. Only by walking out of the Wasteland can you behold the vastness of the world beyond. Out there, arts and powers are renewed with each passing day. The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping and the Emperor have both the ambition and the ability to open a new age. The powers and arts of Jingping are right now undergoing a great transformation. You have daring, and you have potential, and I do not want you to bury your whole life in this backwater. I may be a woman, but I too want to accomplish something. If you are willing to leave with me, we can set out today. "

Shen Mu was taken aback. Follow this girl to Jingping? He did long to leave the Wasteland and go out into the world to temper himself.

The Wasteland was too dangerous; with his present strength he had no means of exploring it at all.

Even a figure like the Village Head had never traveled the whole of it. What he needed now was experience. People beyond the Wasteland came into it to train.

He, by contrast, wanted to go outside the Wasteland to train.

Ling Yuxiu's invitation stirred him deeply. Though the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping was eager to rule the Wasteland and take it for his own, Shen Mu felt no ill will toward him.

On the contrary, he admired him a great deal. That the Imperial Preceptor could carry out such sweeping reforms, take the other sects into his service, create peerless arts alongside them, and drive the advancement of powers and spells—such breadth of mind, such talent, compelled admiration. He wanted to go out and see for himself the new age and the new arts that such a peerless figure had brought into being.

"Where do you live? " Shen Mu asked. "The capital," Ling Yuxiu said.

The young man thought for a moment, then smiled. "The capital of Jingping.

I will go there, without fail.

You go back first; when I come, I will look for you.

"

Ling Yuxiu frowned. "You will not come with me?

"

Shen Mu said, pained: "My family's elders keep strict rules.

I have to pass their trials before I can leave the house. My family has nine elders; I must pass nine trials before they will allow me out to train. "

Ling Yuxiu was startled.

"Even with your abilities, you cannot pass the trials?

"

She found it a little hard to believe. Shen Mu had drawn his blade and cut Fu Tingyue down with a single stroke—it had been dazzling to witness. Fu Tingyue was, after all, the foremost warrior of Jianglong City. Being first in Jianglong City might not amount to much in Jingping, but Shen Mu's strength could already be called outstanding within the Spirit Fetus realm, and in her eyes he would certainly rank among the top ten. And yet even such ability could not pass the trials set by Shen Mu's elders? "My family's rules are rather strict.

"

Shen Mu said, ashamed: "I have to pass nine trials before I count as an adult, and to this day I have not passed even one.

"

"Then I will wait for you in the capital.

Oh, and Yanbian is guarded by the watching mirrors. If you pass through Yanbian, you must be careful.

"

Ling Yuxiu rose and was about to walk out, but suddenly halted again, and said with a half-smile: "I gave you a scented handkerchief. Are you not going to give me anything in return?

"

Shen Mu hastily rummaged through his things and found nothing worth offering. After some thought, he unhooked the great iron hammer from his back and held it out to her. Ling Yuxiu was caught between laughter and tears.

Biting her red lips, she said: "You give a girl a great iron hammer? "

Shen Mu scratched his head, took down the butcher's knife, then brought out the bamboo staff, the brush and ink, and a bag of dragon coins, and stammered: "Pick whichever you like.

.

. "

"Forget it, forget it. The great iron hammer, then.

"

Ling Yuxiu, her head aching, hefted the great iron hammer and walked out of the inn.

Outside, a crowd of power-wielders stood guard on either side of the gate, and Shen Feiyue stood there holding a fine horse by the reins. Seeing Ling Yuxiu come out, he glanced in surprise at the hammer in her hand. Doubt stirred in his heart, but it was not the place to ask, so he said hurriedly: "The tower ship is ready. Please, Seventh Lord—Seventh Princess, mount your horse! "

Ling Yuxiu swung up into the saddle, blinked at the dumbstruck Shen Mu inside the inn, and stuck out her tongue. Shen Mu stared, and stuttered: "You, you.

. .

"

"I am that plump, fat Seventh Young Master you spoke of!

Cowherd, we will meet again in the capital! "

Ling Yuxiu giggled, her voice like a crisp little bell, the great iron hammer gripped in one hand and the horsewhip flailing in the other as she spurred her horse away.

Shen Mu was stunned, clutching the scented handkerchief in his hand, unable to speak. Shen Feiyue waved his hand, sending the many power-wielders of Jingping hurrying after Ling Yuxiu.

He glanced into the inn, then walked inside, sat down before Shen Mu, looked him straight in the eye with a gaze bright as snow, and said: "Your surname is Shen? "

Shen Mu steadied himself, forcing down the shock that Ling Yuxiu was in fact the "plump, fat Seventh Young Master," and nodded. "The general's surname is Shen as well. I have heard others call you the Little General Shen. "

"The world is vast, and there are many who bear the surname Shen.

"

Shen Feiyue poured tea for himself and said mildly: "Some are born lowly, lowly from the moment they enter the world. Some are born noble, noble from the moment they enter the world. The surname Shen signifies nothing.

You may be surnamed Shen, but you are a cast-off, a base commoner of the Wasteland.

Little brother, do not harbor excessive fancies. You cannot climb so high. " With that, he drained his tea in a single gulp, left a gold ingot on the table, and turned to walk out of the inn. "Little General Shen, I do not understand what you are saying. "

Shen Mu stood up and followed him out of the inn. The innkeeper hurried out and stood bowing low. "Young Master, are you returning home?

"

Shen Feiyue was slightly taken aback.

He had thought the innkeeper was addressing him, but the innkeeper had bowed to Shen Mu instead. "Before outsiders, there is no need for such courtesy.

"

Shen Mu waved a hand and looked around him. The vast Jianglong City, its towering buildings, prosperous and flourishing.

This place was his city!

He walked on toward the City Lord's mansion. When he reached the gambling house, a crowd of sturdy men bowed low.

"Young Master!

"

He passed the brothel; the madam and her girls bowed, saying in unison: "Young Master! "

He passed the bookshop, the flower market, the vegetable market, the butcher's shop, the tavern, the antique shop, the vessel shop, the apothecary, the blacksmith's, the weapons shop—and one figure after another came out and bowed to him.

"Young Master! "

"Young Master!

"

"Young Master! "

. .

.

Shen Feiyue frowned as he watched Shen Mu walk the whole way to the City Lord's mansion of Jianglong City.

Its gates swung open, and the City Lord of Jianglong, Fu Yundi, laughed heartily, strode out, and came forward to welcome him, ordering those at his side: "Have you no eyes?

Hurry and address him as Young Master!

"

The power-wielders at the gate bowed one after another, their voices loud: "Young Master! "

"From this day on, this whole city is ours! " Fu Yundi laughed, and walked with Shen Mu into the City Lord's mansion. Shen Feiyue's brow furrowed deeply.