Chapter 315 — The Ancestral Secret Art

The primal spirit was what the spirit fetus grew into when, along the path of cultivation, it drew in the vital essence of the soul and body; upon reaching the Six Harmonies realm it matured into the primal spirit.

Once the primal spirit left the body, one was basically at the Heaven-Man realm. In his former cultivation Shen Mu had never felt that there was anything wrong with his Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art; but now, cultivating according to the diagrams painted by the man in the painting, he realized that certain things had been missing. The spirit fetus was meant to grow into the primal spirit; to be unable to bear heaven and touch earth within the primal fetus sacred treasury meant that one's cultivation was not complete.

What he had lacked before was perhaps precisely this.

He looked again at the third diagram. The third diagram painted by the man in the painting was the Five Elements realm.

By the Five Elements realm, the circulation diagram Shen Mu had obtained had not been complete; he had relied on the young Patriarch and on his own intelligence to fill in the routes of circulation, but a flaw had been left on his left shoulder. Although later Shen Mu had patched that flaw by means of the Grand Unification Art of the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Scripture, the circulation was still somewhat unsmooth — only the effect was not great, and Shen Mu was truly outstanding, sweeping through the martial masters of the Five Elements realm without meeting a match, and even certain Six Harmonies realm adepts of somewhat lower cultivation could not defeat him, so he had not looked deeply into the problem.

The Five Elements realm circulation diagram painted by the man in the painting was a complete one.

Shen Mu studied it closely and let out a breath of relief: this diagram could complete the missing portion of his method and leave no flaw behind! And the fourth diagram differed from what he currently cultivated as well — more complex.

Shen Mu was startled. Beginning from the first guiding diagram, he discovered something interesting: compared with the Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art he cultivated, the one painted by the man in the painting showed a trend of gradual complexity — like first painting a sapling breaking through the soil with only two buds and leaves, then gradually growing until it was thick with branches and leaves.

Whereas the Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art he had pieced together from here and there had gaps and omissions, like a small tree growing one branch to the east and another to the west; though it too could grow into a great tree, it leaned this way and that. Moreover, the method painted by the man in the painting had no divine powers either; it merely painted the circulation diagrams. Yet when he circulated other divine powers, there was a feeling of plucking them at will.

Suddenly his heart gave a great shock. In his mind sounded the voice of the woodcutter transmitting the scripture upon the stone. The chanting of the scripture and the Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art painted by the man in the painting joined together, and Shen Mu's mouth fell open in astonishment. The Grand Unification Art had actually overlapped with the Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art painted by the man in the painting!

Not merged — overlapped! The Grand Unification Art was the general outline of the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Scripture, just like the sacred tree by which the woodcutter had transmitted the scripture to the founding patriarch of the Dark Demon Cult.

The Grand Unification Art was the trunk of the tree, and the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Scripture its countless roots and branches.

Every generation of the Dark Demon Cult's leader had to comprehend his own Grand Unification Art before he could command the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Scripture, and the Grand Unification Art each man comprehended was different — not one was the same! Yet now, joining what he had heard of the woodcutter transmitting the scripture on the stone, Shen Mu discovered to his horror that the Grand Unification Art of the Dark Demon Cult and the Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art were exactly the same! He felt a sense of time and space thrown into disorder: the Grand Unification Art of the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Scripture was actually the Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art he cultivated! "Could it be that the Heavenly Sage Cult came out of the Land of No Sorrow?

Then that woodcutter who transmitted the method. .

. " His expression turned strange.

"He too was surnamed Shen? " He did not think much of it, and continued to look, gazing as if drunk and entranced, and all unknowing his own cultivation began to turn according to the diagrams painted by the man in the painting.

The circulation of his vital essence lost all sluggishness, growing ever more lively, ever more smooth.

By the time the man in the painting had painted the eighth diagram, he had at last finished painting everything from the laying of foundations to the Spirit Bridge realm.

Shen Mu devoted himself to memorizing it, but unexpectedly the man in the painting did not yet lay down his brush; he continued painting — he was painting a tenth diagram! "Beyond the Spirit Bridge realm, there are still more realms?

" Shen Mu was dumbfounded. Was the Spirit Bridge sacred treasury not the final realm?

Then what realm was the circulation diagram of the tenth diagram? The tenth diagram was already extremely complex, entangling the seven great sacred treasuries that came before.

When the vital essence circulated, all seven sacred treasuries had to be mobilized; it was intricate to the utmost, and a single misstep would bring a deviation of the qi and madness.

Shen Mu devoted himself to memorizing it, not daring to be careless in the least, but the information contained in this tenth diagram was too vast and too much, and it still left him dizzy and dazzled.

The man in the painting finished the tenth diagram, laid down his brush, and waited a moment.

When Shen Mu had completely memorized the ten diagrams, he suddenly struck with a vicious hand, attacking Shen Mu. Shen Mu hastily defended himself, and within a few moves was knocked to the ground by the man in the painting.

Having struck him down, the man in the painting did not press the attack, but waited for Shen Mu to recover, and only then continued his assault.

"He is feeding me moves!

" Shen Mu's eyes lit up.

On the deck of the treasure ship, many great shamans, shaman kings, and soldiers of the Man-Di Kingdom were attacking the bridge.

Two white bats and a dragon qilin guarded the door of the bridge, preventing them from breaking in.

Ban Gongcuo, meanwhile, was examining the books and treasures he had plundered from the treasure ship. "These books all have seals on them.

Breaking the seals will be somewhat difficult; I must invoke the flesh of my former life. " Ban Gongcuo looked through them one by one, and could not open a single one.

He could not help feeling somewhat disappointed, and turned his head to look at the buildings on the ship. "Two months now, and the boy still has not come out.

.

.

" Suddenly a door opened, and Shen Mu, his nose swollen and his face bruised, poked his head out.

Catching sight of him, he beckoned to him. Ban Gongcuo was overjoyed, and hurried forward.