Chapter 339 — A Vast Breadth of Mind

If Jingping's army dares to kill its way into the grasslands, then let them find no place to bury their dead! " "Great Venerable! " The Great Shamans and Shaman Kings were shaken to the core. One Shaman King said, his voice choked with tears, "Our own tribesfolk on the grasslands will be poisoned to death as well!

" Ban Gongcuo said indifferently, "The grasslands are vast enough.

So long as we poison everywhere except the great cities of the grasslands, a portion of the tribesfolk can be preserved. " "But on the grasslands there are far more of those small nomadic tribes. . . " Ban Gongcuo said without expression, "Those are all lowly common folk.

For them to be buried with the divine-ability users of Jingping is worth it. Scatter now and poison the waters. There is no time to delay, or when Jingping's great army arrives, its first target will be the Golden Palace! " The many Great Shamans and Shaman Kings, their minds in a daze, scattered in all directions. Ban Gongcuo gazed at Helan Pass from afar, the flames and smoke of war shrouding that collapsing mighty fortress.

He turned and walked toward the Golden Palace, murmuring, "So many years, seven or eight thousand, perhaps?

My heart has been like an ancient well, without a ripple; it could not stir the slightest wave. This is probably the first time since then that I have felt again that desperate striving, that fighting-to-the-death feeling of my first life.

. .

Jingping, Jingping Imperial Preceptor, Nether Demon Cult Master, you have made me take up my fighting spirit once more!

" On the battlefield, Shen Mu dragged several corpses aside, opened the golden book, and let the Jingping Imperial Preceptor, the Village Chief, and the Lame Elder look at its pages. The three heads bent together, and they pored over the few characters and diagrams in the golden book with frantic urgency, calculating and memorizing the text and images madly in their minds. "Ingenious, truly ingenious! How did the man of Carefree Land conceive such an exquisite method, to connect the Spirit Bridge in this way?

" "What colossal calculation would it take to work out so precise a trajectory, and then turn it into an art?

" The three of them marveled without end. The Jingping Imperial Preceptor said, "You two, may I turn the page? This Magpie Bridge should not yet be able to connect fully with the Spirit Bridge; the next page surely holds another art! But then the calculations grow greater still, for the later arts must be worked out on the basis of the results calculated for the Magpie Bridge. " The golden book was turned to the next page, and there came another round of gasps of wonder. "Just as expected, the next art is calculated on the foundation of the Magpie Bridge. The Mystic Guidance Art is remarkable, almost like building a tower in midair!

To calculate to this step is surely a divine reckoning! " "This is not something one man could calculate; only by gathering the wisdom of everyone in Carefree Land could the second step of the art be worked out!

" "Quick, quick, turn to the next page. .

. Why are you looking at me?

I have no hands! " .

. . The three of them read for a long while. Suddenly a huge crash and a roar of cheering came from afar.

Shen Mu looked up, coughed, and said, "You three, Helan Pass has already fallen.

" The three said nothing and went on reading the golden book. Shen Mu shook his head, went on gazing into the distance, and said, "Shouldn't we go over there? It is getting late.

If we stop in the Duck-Tongue terrain, the darkness will close in at night and there will be danger. This is the Desolate Ruins, after all.

" The three still said nothing.

Shen Mu was bored to distraction.

After waiting a while, he could not help saying, "No matter how carefully you look, it will do no good. Unless the mathematical principles hidden in the art are calculated out, cultivating it rashly will only end in failure at the final step.

" Only then did the three raise their heads, drawing back their gaze with reluctance, and stop reading the golden book. Shen Mu asked hurriedly, "Grandpa Village Chief, are you confident you can repair the Spirit Bridge? " The Village Chief shook his head. "Little remains of my allotted lifespan.

Whether I can repair the Spirit Bridge before I die of old age depends on my own fate.

Judging by the three arts in this book, mending the Spirit Bridge will not be easy. " The Jingping Imperial Preceptor nodded. "Before that, the mathematical principles hidden in these three arts must be calculated out.

This is of the utmost importance. A numerological model of the three arts must be built as quickly as possible; only then can they be spread abroad. " The Lame Elder said with a cold laugh, "Jingping Imperial Preceptor, you want to spread an art that can make a man a god or a demon, so that anyone may learn it, but have you asked the Shen family of Carefree Land?

These three arts are not yours, after all! " The Jingping Imperial Preceptor was slightly taken aback, then said apologetically, "It never occurred to me to wonder whether the art could be passed on, and so I forgot to ask its owner. Sect Master Shen.

. . " Shen Mu laughed. "I never thought of keeping it to myself either.

Just now I was thinking it should be passed on; there is no need to hoard a worn-out broom as a treasure. " The Jingping Imperial Preceptor gazed into his eyes as if to read the true thought at the bottom of his heart, but he saw only Shen Mu's utterly clear gaze. Suddenly he sighed and said, "Old Human Emperor, I finally understand why you chose him as your successor.

He truly has the qualifications and the breadth of mind to be Human Emperor. Young as he is, his scope is vast enough!

" The Village Chief said calmly, "The Shen boy was taught by us; naturally his scope is vast enough! "