Chapter 243 — Bowing the Head in Submission

Time and again Shen Mu was hung up on the wall, until on wall after wall of Yincan Village there appeared landscape after landscape of mountains and rivers; only Granny Zhu's house had yet to be stamped with the pattern. Shen Mu was about to charge forward once more when he suddenly found his vital essence utterly spent, and he wilted.

Defeated.

The Overlord Body had been defeated, crushed utterly; not only was his swordsmanship no match for the village head's, even his vital essence was less abundant.

It seemed he could only take up the name of Human Sovereign now. The village head said mildly, "You may recover your vital essence and come at me again.

" Shen Mu steadied himself: "Good!

" The village head's face went black, for the cowherd had already turned and bolted off at a run to cultivate that outlandish Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art of his and restore his cultivation.

"You played a trick," said the alchemist, coming over and watching Shen Mu's receding figure. The village head was taken aback.

"How did I?

" The alchemist sneered, "Your sword art devours vital essence horribly.

Given the depth of your cultivation, at the Five Luminaries realm you can use it twice, three times at the very most. Just now, how many times did you use it? Seven, wasn't it?

" The village head's face could not hold it, and he mumbled, "The abundance of my vital essence is beyond anything you can imagine. By governing my vital essence I can use it four times, spending the very least each time. . .

But Shen'er's vital essence is indeed abundant.

I had thought that once I reached the Five Luminaries realm my vital essence cultivation would not differ much from his. I did not expect—" The alchemist laughed, "You did not expect that he is like a great water vat, and you merely a bucket. " The village head sighed and shook his head. "At the Spirit Embryo realm he could be more than twice as deep as I.

But at the Five Luminaries realm he cannot possibly still be that much deeper. At the Five Luminaries realm I have no shortcoming at all — but he. .

.

has none either. You have seen it, but do not speak of it. " The alchemist laughed, "With the same sword art he cannot beat you; he has already lost. Why should I speak of it?

Still, what you said earlier — that the Human Sovereign has only heavy responsibility and no benefit — that seems a little off. " The village head said lazily, "What benefit could there be?

Why is it that I do not know of it?

" The alchemist's eyes flickered. "I have heard certain legends of the Human Sovereign and the Human Sovereign's Seal. The Seal seems to be tangled up with many ancient inheritances, some of them traceable back tens of thousands of years, hundreds of thousands of years.

Some holy lands were founded by the Human Sovereign.

They say the Human Sovereign's Seal is more effective than the emperor's jade seal. " The village head said calmly, "That is a legend from heaven knows how many years ago. Nowadays the Human Sovereign's Seal is a lump of black iron. Who would obey the command of a lump of black iron?

" The alchemist smiled faintly, "There is a legend that when the Human Sovereign's Seal comes forth, it can summon all the champions under heaven.

" The village head yawned and said lazily, "The Human Sovereign's Seal is with Shen'er. Let him take it out and make a show of it, and see which sect answers his dispatch. He would be lucky not to be beaten to death. " The alchemist said sourly, "You knew full well how perilous it is — so why give the Seal to him?

" The village head was lazy no longer; the gleam of a sword flickered in his eyes, and he said gravely, "It is a duty, and a burden. The burden was passed onto my shoulders, and I could not bear it — and so my hands and feet were struck from me.

But someone must bear this burden.

I cannot set it down and carry it with me into the grave! " "Some things, even when one knows full well how perilous they are, must still be done by someone! " The village head spat out a mouthful of foul breath. "To do it may mean failure, may mean death — but there is always a thread of hope. Not to do it, and there is not even the smallest scrap of hope. The things the Human Sovereigns of every generation have done are far more than you imagine.

Shen'er is very good.

" The alchemist said pityingly, "It is only that my heart aches a little for Shen'er, dragged onto your old road.

How is Shen'er ever to beat you? " "He cannot beat me. " There was a trace of pride in the village head's voice. "With Sword Treads Mountains and Rivers, he will never beat me.

Though that move is composed of fourteen basic sword forms, I have polished it until it has not a single flaw. If he wants to fuse the Imperial Preceptor Jingping's three basic sword forms into my sword art, then he must alter Sword Treads Mountains and Rivers. His idea is good, but his vision is not as high as mine. The moment he alters it, a flaw appears; the more he alters, the more flaws.

" The alchemist was dumbstruck. He spat out a mouthful of foul breath, and looking at Shen Mu hurrying about, his heart was full of sympathy.

"And yet he can use my hand to hone his sword art. " The village head smiled. "The more he alters Sword Treads Mountains and Rivers, the deeper his understanding of the sword.

And the deeper the understanding, the more he can leap free of swordsmanship, leap free of sword arts, and come near the Dao. If his understanding of the sword reaches the level of the Dao, it makes no difference whether the basic sword forms number fourteen or seventeen.

To learn a sword art and to wield a sword art is only the realm of technique; technique is learning in order to use. To rise to art, one must create — the Imperial Preceptor Jingping stands at that stage; only what one creates is the realm of art.

And one step beyond, casting off both art and technique, that is the realm of the Dao. " The village head said, "Shen'er now stands between technique and art.

Borrowing my hand to polish his sword art will raise him more than if I simply passed the sword art down to him.

" A long while later, Shen Mu's cultivation returned to its peak, yet he did not come straight to seek the village head. Instead he sat down in silence, calmed his mind, and pondered, trying to make his Sword Treads Mountains and Rivers perfect and without a single flaw.

How to fuse the Imperial Preceptor Jingping's three basic sword forms into Sword Treads Mountains and Rivers without leaving any flaw — that was what he wished to achieve. To fight the village head with the village head's own sword art, he would surely lose; but to improve it, to refine it, and there was still hope of victory. He pondered with all his heart.

In his mind the various sword moves were thrown into confusion, then reassembled, and in his mind he fought a conjured village head with sword arts.

Yet every contest ended in defeat. He simulated battle after battle in his mind, but no matter how he improved it, he could never change that outcome of defeat.

After who knew how long, Shen Mu's spirits lifted and he rose to his feet; in the storm of his thoughts he had already beaten the village head with his new sword art, and he called out eagerly, "Village Head, one more round! " The village head smiled amiably, "Good. " Shen Mu came charging with a whistle and unleashed his improved sword art — and then Shen Mu flew high into the air, scattered a string of blood blossoms in midair, and tumbled into the chicken coop.

A dozen-odd plume-crested fire pheasant-dragons clucked and came charging over in fury. Shen Mu hastily shot up into the air, and those dozen-odd plume-crested fire pheasant-dragons flapped up after him, wings like swords, spitting fire dragons at him. In midair mountains and rivers burst into being, as though green peaks and long rivers had drowned the dozen-odd plume-crested fire pheasant-dragons.