Chapter 281 — Craft That Rivals Heaven

Shen Wanyun's face at once turned bitter.

To go out into the world and temper himself alongside Shen Mu was an unrelieved hardship. Last time their party had followed Shen Mu to the southern wilds, they had first run into the Nine Nether Sect, the Corpse Immortal Sect and the Hongshan Sect rousing the dead to slaughter a whole city; then come upon the Dutian Demon King of Tianbo City, slaying in all directions; and after that came the campaign to pacify Daxiang City. In all his life he had never passed through so many killing calamities from which there was no escape but death!

Once back in the capital, Shen Wanyun had needed a long while to recover. He had gone to Qingmen Pass in earlier years to temper himself too, fighting the soldiers of the Mandi Kingdom on the battlefield, but that, at least, had been soldier against soldier and general against general. How could it compare with tempering beside Shen Mu?

At Shen Mu's side it was sect against sect, killing and slaughtering at the least provocation, and they even summoned demon gods; at Daxiang City, masters of cult-master rank had been everywhere, and experts of the Heaven-Human realm and the Life-Death realm had run into the hundreds! Even now, when Shen Wanyun thought back on those days of tempering with Shen Mu, he still felt a chill of dread.

He had heard as well of certain things that had befallen Shen Mu after that expedition: returning to the Waste Ruins for the New Year, he had been pursued by who knew how many masters; he had made a great commotion at the Great Thunderclap Monastery; and after coming back he had even been caught up in the case of the Daoist sects and the Great Thunderclap Monastery besieging the emperor, had rescued the emperor and the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, and had then returned to the capital and killed Crown Prince Ling Yuxia!

Had it been himself living through such things, he feared he would have died more than a hundred times over. He had resolved not to go out with Shen Mu; yet this time the Crown Prince had named him all the same, as good as a sentence of death to be carried out after the autumn assizes. Who knew whether this Holy Cult Master had been born under a jinxed star; wherever he went, disaster rained down from the heavens.

Seeing his face, Shen Mu consoled him: "This trip is not dangerous.

Crown Prince Ling Yushu was one of our own at the Imperial College to begin with; we are old acquaintances and on very good terms. He says he is leaving the capital to relieve the disaster, but the men he is taking are all experts of the Ministry of Works.

In my view this journey is not for quelling rebellion and such; it is to inspect the imperial workshops of the various regions, and to clear away the snow mountains left by the great snow disaster, or to build bridges and dams and the like.

There is no danger. " Shen Wanyun pulled a weeping face: "If only that were so. " Si Yunxiang, however, was rather deflated, and said in disappointment: "No danger at all. . .

" The three followed the steward to the Divine Ability Residence and to their own rooms; the steward lodged them close together, all three houses in one place.

Shen Mu said to Shen Wanyun and Si Yunxiang: "There is no telling when we shall return from this trip.

Each of you should seek out a few divine abilities to cultivate.

" Shen Wanyun's eyes flickered, and he proposed: "Yue Qinghong and Yun Que will break through the wall within the next day or two and become divine-ability practitioners.

Cult Master, we share blessings and hardships alike; since this trip is to enjoy blessings, why not bring them along? " Shen Mu laughed: "You speak sense.

Before the Crown Prince sets out, bring along anyone who has cultivated a divine ability.

" Shen Wanyun's spirits soared; he went off cheerfully, thinking: "If we are to die, then of course we should all go together, noisy and merry and neat and complete! " Si Yunxiang blinked, and stretched a white hand out before Shen Mu.

Shen Mu took out his own book token and laid it in her hand; Si Yunxiang gave a cheer and went off. The book token of the Divine Ability Residence admitted one only to the second floor of the Tower of Heavenly Records, whereas Shen Mu's token allowed one to enter the third floor and read the collected scriptures; every time she went to the Tower she borrowed Shen Mu's token.

The Imperial College had a Hall of Heavenly Craft, somewhat like the Artisan Hall and the Heavenly Craft Hall of the Nether Demon Cult; the Hall of Heavenly Craft mostly studied mechanical manufacture. Refining primal soldiers, building ships and bridges, paving roads and making carriages all came from the hands of the Hall's scholars.

The Imperial College had been built jointly by the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping and the Netherworld Demon Patriarch, and so the teaching in its various halls was largely copied from the halls of the Nether Demon Cult. This was one of the things that made the Great Thunderclap Monastery, the Daoist sects and other orthodox sects look askance at the state of Jingping.

Scholars who came out of the Hall of Heavenly Craft usually went on to serve in the court's Ministry of Works; most of the scholars Crown Prince Ling Yushu brought this time were scholars of the Heavenly Craft Hall as well, and the rest were officials of the Ministry of Works. Many of the Ministry's officials and clerks came from the Hall of Heavenly Craft, and counted as fellow students of Shen Mu and the others. In the Ministry of Works, the Minister of Works stood highest, and next came the Vice Minister.

The Ministry was further divided into four bureaus: the Bureau of Works, which managed city walls and civil engineering; the Bureau of Land Settlement, which managed the surveying and allotment of land; the Bureau of Mountains and Marshes, which managed vegetables, fruit, grain and fodder; and the Bureau of Waterways, which managed water conservancy. The Nether Demon Cult and the Imperial College held nearly every office in the Ministry of Works.

Learning was put to use: the Heavenly Craft Hall, the Artisan Hall, the Vegetable Hall, the Rain Hall, the Farming Hall and the other halls of the Nether Demon Cult all produced the talents the Ministry required, and all could enter the court's Ministry of Works.

So when Shen Mu saw the officials Ling Yushu had brought, a strange look came over his face: more than half were his own people from the Nether Demon Cult.

Shen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, Yun Que, Wei Yong and Si Yunxiang also hurried over. Shen Wanyun had been beaten black and blue, yet he looked exceedingly pleased with himself.

When Si Yunxiang saw the Ministry of Works officials Ling Yushu had brought, she too could not hide her astonishment, and asked Shen Mu in a whisper: "Cult Master, is the Crown Prince one of ours too?

" Shen Mu was rather tempted, and said to Ling Yushu: "Your Highness, have you ever heard of the Heavenly Sage Cult? " Ling Yushu would not take up that thread, and said hurriedly: "Everyone is here; let us set out as soon as possible.

My father's command to me this time is to tour the geography of every prefecture and commandery in the realm, to inspect the water conservancy and city defenses after the natural disaster, and also to survey the land everywhere and examine the grain, vegetables and fruit.

Wherever we go, I shall question the local officials, while you inspect the local hydrology, city defenses, land and provisions, and the two accounts shall be checked one against the other. " The assembled officials assented.