Chapter 55 — The Peerless Sword Art Under Heaven
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 2
Shen Mu walked on to the next room. Inside was a woman, her face painted with strange patterns, a headdress of feathers on her head, in her hand a bamboo staff with the tail of some unknown beast bound to it. The staff had twenty-four joints, answering to the twenty-four solar terms. The woman smiled and said, "In this room, we contend with spellcraft! " Shen Mu shook his head.
"I know nothing of spellcraft. Can a martial artist of the Spirit Embryo Stage also learn spells?
" Shen Mu asked, doubtful, "How does one fight with spellcraft?
" Shen Mu asked, curious, "Does sword control count as spellcraft?
" "It does not.
" Shen Mu frowned. "Why is it that they are always fighting one another? Combat arts, swordsmanship, and spellcraft — are they not all divine powers?
Would it not be better to gather the strengths of all three? " Shen Mu's spirits rose.
"Sister, work a spell for me to see. I have never seen spellcraft before!
" Shen Mu studied it closely, and saw that after the rainwater struck the ground it flowed back upward along the wall, cycling without end. Shen Mu reached out, seized the water dragon by its seven-inch vital point, and crushed it with a snap.
Shen Mu flicked his fingers in rapid succession, shattering every saber, spear, sword, and halberd that came at him. "So this is spellcraft," he said. "Sister, does this move of mine also count as spellcraft?
" Shen Mu walked on to the next room, where he found a burly man with a stubbled beard, half-kneeling, half-sitting, with a long rectangular sword case beside him, its bronze clasp fastened shut. The man did not rise, still half-kneeling, half-sitting. "You carry a sword pouch on your back, so you must know swordsmanship as well.
Today we shall contest sword arts. " Shen Mu shook his head.
"I have never learned swordsmanship.
" Shen Mu shook his head. "Granny said there is a man in the village who possesses the peerless sword art under heaven, so she could not pass the Dark Demon Sect's swordsmanship on to me, lest he refuse to teach me. " "The peerless sword art under heaven?
" Shen Mu blinked.
"I have learned other things as well — the Eight Thunder Peal Arts, the Sky-Skimming Divine Legs, the Cattle-Slaughtering Saber Art, and spear techniques, painting, hammer techniques. . .
" Helpless, Shen Mu could only walk out of the wooden building and return to Hidden Remnant Village, where he explained the matter to Granny Zhu. Granny Zhu raged, "That blockhead Jiantang, so rigid and inflexible!
And you, Shen'er — you should have hacked at him with your saber and chopped the wretch to pieces! " Shen Mu mumbled, "That would be an unearned victory. " Granny Zhu took him by the hand and led him to the village entrance, where the Village Head and the Pill Master were still brewing tea, and the Young Patriarch sat across from them, the three drinking together.
Granny Zhu said with a smile, "Why not teach him a trick or two?
" "But it is a good thing Shen'er has an Overlord Body, is it not? " Granny Zhu said with a wink.
"An Overlord Body.
.
.
" The Village Head's eye twitched. He felt his intestines must have turned green — green with regret, surely.
After all, Shen Mu was the Overlord Body he had "insisted upon with one bite," and he knew him inside and out. Shen Mu's awakening of the Spirit Embryo had already surpassed his imagining, but to have Shen Mu, in the space of a few short moments, grow in swordsmanship to the point of contending with the Dark Demon Sect's most outstanding sword master — that was still asking too much of any man. Granny Zhu had thrust this task upon him, and yet he could not refuse. The Village Head mused for a moment. "Shen'er, recite to me the Red Heart Art you learned from Pei Wujiu.
" Shen Mu at once recited the Red Heart Art from beginning to end.