Chapter 14 — Primal Qi Washes the Bones to Forge the True Body
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
The Silent Smith nodded. Shen Mu was quite speechless at these relatives of his. That the Alchemist and the rest should take more interest in the Deaf Elder's ear holes than in the ruins left him thoroughly bewildered. Granny Zhu laughed.
"Little Shen, there are far, far too many secrets in these wastes. Beyond the Divine City of the Hidden Valley there are more secrets than can be counted. Spend all your curiosity on them and you'll have no time left for anything else.
"
The party set off in the direction of Hidden Remnants Village. The Village Head said in a low voice: "The way you cut with that blade of yours is far from weak. A blade of one foot three inches, and it could hold its weight against that youth's treasured sword — you've come a long way in this trial.
"
Something stirred in Shen Mu's heart, and he gave voice to what puzzled him: "Why is it my primal qi can't command and control things the way theirs does?
My qi can only seep into a willow branch one foot three inches long — I can't make it reach any farther. "
He envied them their qi-ridden flying swords more than he could say; it was only that he could not do it. The Alchemist shook his head inwardly.
The primal qi cultivated by a commoner's constitution has no attribute to it and cannot command or control things, for there simply is no art that lets ordinary primal qi perform such a function. That Shen Mu, a commoner, could make his primal qi sustain a willow branch of one foot three inches and pit it, hardness against hardness, against the treasured sword of a martial artist like Senior Brother Chu without having it cut through — that was already extraordinary. The Village Head's face was calm.
"Your Overlord Body has not yet fully awakened, and the Primal Embryo Divine Treasury has not yet been opened. There's no need to fret. Before your Overlord Body even awakens, you can beat to death a martial artist at the peak of the Spirit Embryo realm; once it awakens, your strength will far surpass your peers. "
Granny Zhu and the others were well pleased with Shen Mu's showing as well.
That Senior Brother Chu was a martial artist at the peak of the Spirit Embryo realm, and could even ride a flying sword on his qi, circling it about his body — plainly he could not be far from the Five Luminaries realm. And Shen Mu, with his Overlord Body unawakened, had beaten him to death with a little wooden stick. Plainly Shen Mu was indeed that "Overlord Body," unheard of and unseen before — the Village Head had not deceived them!
The corner of the Alchemist's eye twitched, and he thought: "The matter of little Shen having a commoner's constitution will come out sooner or later. When it does, these fellows, in their despair, might well turn the whole sky over. .
. And yet that little Shen beat a peak martial artist to death with a little wooden stick. That is truly strange. Can there really be an Overlord Body? Or is it the doing of the spirit blood?
"
Widely read and widely traveled as he was, even he was at a loss now, his mind gone hazy.
With the Four Symbols Blood down, the primal qi within Shen Mu grew ever more lively, its circulation gradually quickening, so that his swollen muscles and fascia slowly recovered, the flow of his qi and blood sped up by degrees, and the weariness drained from his body bit by bit. Unawares his steps quickened, and then quickened again. Lord Huo, the Lame Old Man, and the rest showed surprise on their faces, but said nothing, keeping pace with him all the while. That cultivating the Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art while running advanced his cultivation the faster — this was Shen Mu's new discovery; and with the Four Symbols Blood replenishing him, that advance would climb another storey still.
So Shen Mu quickened his pace without knowing it, losing himself a little.