Chapter 333 — The Cannon's Might Shakes the Heavens

A new Human Sovereign!

The Jingping Imperial Preceptor's gaze turned complicated, and a flicker of murderous intent even rose in his heart. As the Human Sovereign of the previous generation, Lizheng had been indifferent to fame and profit, free of any craving for power; his ambitions had been vast and his eyes had never rested on worldly authority, and for this he was revered by all.

But would Shen Mu, this new Human Sovereign, be as Lizheng had been?

A Human Sovereign possessed tremendous power, a power that surpassed even Emperor Yanfeng's, with a force of inspiration that reached beyond even the Jingping Imperial Preceptor's own!

The Jingping Imperial Preceptor had been to Little Yujing and knew certain secrets; he understood well how great a Human Sovereign's power could be. He and Emperor Yanfeng had long wished to rule over every sect and holy land under heaven, yet few were willing to submit to the Jingping Kingdom.

But a Human Sovereign could.

A Human Sovereign could make those sects submit. His authority was not beaten out or butchered out; it was given to him by the great sects and holy lands together!

Even Little Yujing, if it learned that Shen Mu was the new Human Sovereign, would likely lend him its support.

If Shen Mu had a passion for power, he could seize the authority of Emperor Yanfeng and destroy in a single stroke the great reform that the Jingping Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng had labored so hard to build!

"If you and Emperor Yanfeng fail, then so long as a Human Sovereign lives, there is still hope of rising again from the east." Lizheng's voice reached his ear.

The Jingping Imperial Preceptor was startled; he withdrew his gaze and said, "I will not fail."

Lizheng smiled faintly. "I hope you do not fail. I do not want Shen'er to suffer."

Shen Mu walked over, and the two of them shut their mouths and said no more.

The Jingping Imperial Preceptor's gaze fell upon him once more, and a strange feeling stirred in his heart: this youth of fifteen or sixteen before him could be called the most powerful man under heaven, and yet the youth himself did not know it.

Shen Mu: the present Sect Master of the Nether Demon Sect, an Erudite of the Grand Academy, and the heir of Yincan Village. But the greatest of his identities was that of the current Human Sovereign.

His authority and influence exceeded even the emperor's and the Jingping Imperial Preceptor's, yet Shen Mu had no idea how great a Human Sovereign's power was, which was truly a most bizarre thing.

The Lame Old Man took in the Imperial Preceptor's expression and felt secretly pleased as well. "The Jingping Imperial Preceptor probably still does not know that Shen'er has in his keeping the very treasure that symbolizes the Ling clan's imperial authority. If he knew that the Heavenly Emperor's Jade Register was worn on Shen'er's person, he would surely be hopping mad with rage!"

He had given the Heavenly Emperor's Jade Register to Shen Mu purely for amusement. He had studied that jade tablet for decades, yet had never once grasped the mysteries within it; keeping it served no purpose.

But he did know what the Jade Register of the Heavenly Emperor stood for. That jade tablet had been bestowed upon the Ling clan by the gods, representing divinely granted imperial authority; it was said that the Ling clan's Nine Dragons Imperial Art had been comprehended from the Jade Register itself.

The theft of the Heavenly Emperor's Jade Register had been a great affair in its day, but Emperor Yanfeng had covered it up, and no outsider knew of it.

No one would ever have imagined that this Heavenly Emperor's Jade Register was in Shen Mu's hands!

With the Heavenly Emperor's Jade Register and the Human Sovereign's Seal, Shen Mu was the most powerful man under heaven, and yet Shen Mu knew nothing of it at all.

"When the foolish boy learns of this, his jaw will surely drop in shock!" The Lame Old Man was smug with delight.

Shan Youxin, Vice Minister of Works, came forward, saluted the Jingping Imperial Preceptor, and then said in a low voice to Shen Mu, "Sect Master, the tower ships' cannons have been through a great battle and need repairs. May I ask the Sect Master to come and take a look?"

Shen Mu asked doubtfully, "Your forging skills are not much inferior to mine. What do you need me for?"

"There is a problem with the formation seals inscribed in the cannon barrels. After the cannons aboard the ships have fired eight or nine times, they burn red-hot; then the high heat interferes with the formation patterns inscribed within, the power of the formation drops greatly, and the barrels burst."

Shen Mu shook his head. "It is not fatigue of the mystic metal. It should be heat attenuation brought on by a problem in the formation itself. I will go and see."

"Heat attenuation?"

Shan Youxin's eyes lit up. "That is quite possible! But the design from the formation hall is already very refined; I fear it will be hard to improve upon."

The Jingping Imperial Preceptor raised his brows, watching the two of them walk off into the distance, and said in surprise, "The Sect Master actually understands the way of refining treasures? Even Vice Minister Shan must consult him!"

The Lame Old Man laughed. "Shen'er has learned to forge iron."

The Jingping Imperial Preceptor glanced at him, then remembered again how this shameless old shadow thief had relieved himself in his bed and pissed in his teapot, and his face turned somewhat green. And his treasured Sword God Carrying His Sword painting had been stolen by the man as well!

Shen Mu and Shan Youxin came aboard a tower ship. Many officials of the Ministry of Works were busy repairing the damaged parts of the vessel; several cannons had burst, their muzzles split apart and splayed outward, the barrels still stained with blood.

Cannons of this kind were called true-essence cannons; merchant ships did not carry them. Fan Yunxiao had very much wanted to get his hands on a few, but they simply could not be bought on the open market.

Shen Mu first examined the places where the barrels had burst, scrutinizing closely what force had caused them; then he studied the cross-sections of the metal, and went to look at the intact gun mounts. After pondering a moment, he said, "Beyond the problem in the forging, there is indeed a problem with the formation. But the formations on these mounts are very hard to alter; the fighting is tight now, and there is no time to re-forge the mounts and re-inscribe the formations. So we must work on the barrels themselves. In my view, we should add ring-shaped treasures at the muzzle and deep in the bore, to gather the light."

He cut a large chunk of metal from a cannon barrel, melted it directly with his own vital essence, and refined it there on the spot, in full view of everyone.

A crowd of Ministry of Works officials gathered around to watch him refine the treasure, praising him again and again, and hurriedly pulling out paper and brushes to record his refining methods.

Before long, Shen Mu had refined two rings and inscribed formation patterns upon them.

The patterns he inscribed on the rings were the Shenxiao Heaven formation patterns from the Nine Heavens Gaze Art that the Blind Old Man had taught him. The two rings looked like the irises of eyes, only without pupils.

One ring he placed deep in the bore, and the other he set over the muzzle.

The true-essence cannon drew its power from the tower ship's elixir furnace, and Shen Mu had improved the ship's elixir furnace, enough to provide the cannon with the most powerful fire.

Shan Youxin immediately gave the order for the soldiers to fire the furnace and lift off. The tower ship floated in midair, and then he ordered a shot fired toward Duck Tongue.

A pillar of light shot straight out from that gun mount, brighter than ever before; the next instant, the beam struck a Mandi Kingdom soldier who was clearing the battlefield in the Duck Tongue region.