Chapter 35 — Storm Clouds Rise Over the Market of the Desolate City
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"Eat. Strong!"
In the valley of the Misfortune-Averting Palace, Shen Mu took out a Condensed Essence Pill he had refined himself, the size of a fist, and gestured with it toward the Xuanliao Demon Ape. "Strong. Sturdy!"
The Xuanliao Demon Ape scratched its head, took the Condensed Essence Pill, and swallowed it. There was no reaction at all. Doubtfully it said, "Strong?"
Then suddenly, the Xuanliao Demon Ape went berserk. Its fur grew wildly all over its body, and a sapling sprouted from the top of its head, which then grew into a great forked tree branch.
—It must have been that a tree seed had fallen into the Xuanliao Demon Ape's fur, and stimulated by the Condensed Essence Pill, it had begun to grow madly.
Its size too was growing madly, its muscles bulging without cease, its bones growing thicker and more powerful, stretching the Xuanliao Demon Ape until it howled and roared, smashing this way and that. Shen Mu stepped forward to stop it, and was hammered to the ground by a single punch from the Xuanliao Demon Ape. The ape's second punch struck the ground, jarring him up out of the soil, and then he was sent flying by another punch.
Shen Mu rushed back. The Xuanliao Demon Ape's roars would not cease, and man and ape once more fell to fighting furiously in the valley, beating each other until rocks burst and flew in all directions.
After this Xuanliao Demon Ape had taken the Condensed Essence Pill Shen Mu had refined, its frame had grown larger and stronger, and its strength had risen by a great margin. When Shen Mu faced it head-on, his own strength was actually crushed by it—he simply could not contend with the Xuanliao Demon Ape in raw power.
Left with no other choice, Shen Mu could only transform his vital essence into the fire attribute. His scalding vital essence circulated within his body, and on the skin of his back there faintly emerged the dragon markings of a great dragon, the dragon's four limbs joined to his four limbs, the dragon's claws positioned exactly at the place of his palms, overlapping with his fingers.
A five-clawed fire dragon!
The fire-attribute vital essence belonged to Vermilion Bird vital essence, but Shen Mu was not a Vermilion Bird spirit fetus—he was a human-form spirit fetus. The dragon markings that appeared on his back were not an effect brought about by his vital essence, but an effect brought about after he had practiced the Eight Formulas of Thunderous Resonance that Old Man Huo had taught him.
Old Man Huo's Eight Formulas of Thunderous Resonance, in the circulation of vital essence, were incomparably marvelous. The course of the vital essence within the body formed a dragon marking that spread over the whole body. If it were Old Man Huo, a Azure Dragon spirit body, performing the Eight Formulas of Thunderous Resonance, his vital essence would carry the attributes of wood and thunder, and the dragon marking on his back would be azure, interwoven with thunder.
But Shen Mu had not refined Azure Dragon vital essence, and could only use Vermilion Bird vital essence, so beside the dragon marking on his back there were clusters of fire clouds.
Only when he urged the Eight Formulas of Thunderous Resonance into motion would the dragon marking and fire clouds emerge on his body. So long as he did not use the Eight Formulas of Thunderous Resonance, these strange patterns would gradually dim and vanish.
As Shen Mu circulated his vital essence, his strength increased greatly, and at last he was able to stand against the Xuanliao Demon Ape head-on. But the Xuanliao Demon Ape had gone berserk and did not follow any normal rules in its attacks; it would trade blows just to land one on him. In the end, man and ape alike were black and blue, lying flat on their backs on the ground, panting heavily, unable to move.