Chapter 28 — A Nameless Shadow Emerges from the Ancient Wall
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 3
" On the inner wall, the route of vital essence within the black shadow shifted once more, but the interior of the side hall was dim and murky, and from a distance it could not be clearly seen. Shen Mu roused his spirits and, without thinking, stepped forward, and at last he could make out the vital-essence workings and transformations of the shadow on the wall. "Suomoye!
" He recited the demon syllable silently, his vital essence churning, and at once another strange power swelled up from within him, impelling his body into another movement.
His face unbidden broke into a smile; his fingers formed the gesture of one plucking a flower, and he struck out with a seal.
The power of this seal was not great—on the contrary, it seemed to have no power at all—yet Shen Mu sensed that one of the seals in the Thunderclap Eight Formulas was close in effect to the Dark Demon Freedom Seal.
The fifth stance of the Thunderclap Eight Formulas: Sun Shines, Yang Spirit Forged in the Vast Sky! This was a technique Old Master Huo had passed on to him; at first glance its offensive force was not especially formidable, but the essence of the move lay in striking at the soul of a supernatural practitioner!
The secret of "Sun Shines, Yang Spirit Forged in the Vast Sky" lay in a fist like a great sun blazing overhead, and a yang-thunder in the center of the palm refining the soul!
The Dark Demon Freedom Seal that the figure on the wall had taught him looked equally lacking in power, but it, too, targeted the soul, and its fist-theory was one and the same with Old Master Huo's "Sun Shines, Yang Spirit Forged in the Vast Sky. " The only difference was this: Old Master Huo destroyed the enemy's soul with the great-sun yang-thunder—extreme in hardness, extreme in ferocity—while the Dark Demon Freedom Seal drew the enemy's soul into the palm with a single seal; the center of the palm became the Freedom Heaven itself, and there in the palm the soul was ground to nothing.
It was far more sinister, far more venomous, impossible to guard against.
Against that which is extreme in hardness and extreme in ferocity, one may still defend; but the Dark Demon Freedom Seal gave one no chance to defend at all. Doubt rose in Shen Mu's heart: the wall figure's seals and Old Master Huo's fists mirrored each other in so many places—the two plainly shared the same fist-theory, yet the manner in which they set it forth could not have been more different; one was the righteous path, the other the way of demons and heresy.
Which was the better, Shen Mu could not say; he could only say that each had its own strengths.
Old Master Huo's Thunderclap Eight Formulas was better suited to meeting an enemy head-on, crushing him with fists extreme in hardness and ferocity, while the Great Perfection Seal was better brought out without warning, to catch one's foe off guard. The figure on the wall shrank a little more, as if it could scarcely withstand the suppression of the Calamity-Quelling Palace; panting, it said, "Watch closely—this is the third seal, the Great Wisdom Brightness Seal.
. . " The shadow on the wall was hazy and indistinct, and Shen Mu, without meaning to, took two more steps forward, on the very point of setting foot through the side hall's threshold.
Suddenly he stopped.
He did not enter; instead he roused the Nine Heavens Far-Seeing Art that the Blind Elder had taught him, and an extra layer of pupil appeared within his eye; the shadow on the wall was murky, yet in his sight it grew clear and distinct. "If you won't come in, can you see clearly enough?
" the figure on the wall asked.