Chapter 344 — Little Jade Capital's Hidden Mystery

"This Water Mirror Sky of Little Jade Capital is truly extraordinary."

Shen Mu studied the Water Mirror Sky beneath the dragon qilin's feet and could not stop marveling. The Water Mirror Sky was a wondrous thing: seen from below, it showed a vast blue sky, and at night a deep starry heaven. Yet only upon arriving atop it did one discover that a whole other world lay within.

The Water Mirror Sky held Little Jade Capital aloft, cut off from the world. Standing here and looking down, one could see wisps of white cloud drifting over a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers, gathering and scattering, now and then revealing the lie of the ranges below, and long rivers like dragons.

"What kind of treasure was the Water Mirror Sky refined from?"

Shen Mu suddenly leaped down from the dragon qilin and reached out to touch it; the feel of it was truly like water. He cupped a handful, and it stayed in his palm, then ran out through the gaps between his fingers.

He stood up and stamped his foot; ripples spread across the surface of the water mirror and dispersed in all directions.

"Strange. It is not water, and it is not air. What on earth was it refined from?"

His astonishment only grew. "Is there a treasure-refining material in this world that I do not know of? No. I must get to the bottom of this!"

He was full of eagerness. Having followed the Silent Craftsman for so many years, learning the arts of forging iron and tempering treasures, Shen Mu had long since formed the habit; now that he had come to Little Jade Capital and met a treasure-refining material he had never seen, he naturally had to study it thoroughly. It was force of habit.

He opened his Azure Heaven Eye and carefully examined the structure of the Water Mirror Sky, trying to find the composition of the water mirror in the runes imprinted upon it. But to his disappointment, he could not find even the runes of the water mirror.

"This is impossible! The Water Mirror Sky is plainly a treasure; and since it is a treasure, it must bear imprinted runes to enhance its power. There is no way not a single rune can be found!"

Shen Mu was stunned. He had seen the sealing arts of the gods as well; the beehive seal in the underground space of the Nether Valley, for instance, had runes within it that flickered bright and dark. The forging techniques used in the Water Mirror Sky surely could not surpass the methods of the gods, could they? How could no rune at all be visible?

The dragon qilin had already reached Little Jade Capital and climbed onto one of the floating island immortal mountains in the sky. Xiong Xiyu looked back and saw that Shen Mu was still up on the Water Mirror Sky "playing with water," and could not help but smile. "This Sect Master Shen, this Human Emperor Shen, looks so mature, but in his heart he is still a child."

Qingyou the Hermit and the others hurried forward to greet them, holding the Human Emperor's Seal high in both hands. They glanced at the dragon qilin's back and saw a mother and daughter and a Li Zheng who had been hewn into a human stick, and everyone hesitated a moment.

Qingyou the Hermit smiled and said, "Human Emperor, please take back the precious seal!"

Li Zheng, rocking chair and all, flew down from the dragon qilin's back, but he did not take the Human Emperor's Seal. He shook his head and said, "I am no longer the Human Emperor. I have abdicated and yielded the throne to a worthy."

Qingyou the Hermit hurriedly looked at the mother and daughter, hesitating inwardly: "The present Human Emperor is a woman? Well, that is no wonder. This woman looks far from weak; she is already a figure of sect-master rank, no small matter. Only, she does not look like a woman of the Central Plains; she seems to be from the Western Lands..."

Among the Human Emperors of past generations there had been women, but Xiong Xiyu was clearly a foreigner of the Western Lands, which struck him as somewhat odd. Still, the foreigners of the Western Lands were human too, so she might well be the Human Emperor.

Qingyou the Hermit and the assembled old immortals of Little Jade Capital were about to pay their respects to Xiong Xiyu when she hastily smiled and said, "I am not the Human Emperor. Please do not frighten me, seniors. I could not bear such a title!"

Qingyou the Hermit looked at Xiong Qi'er, his face showing dismay.

Xiong Xiyu at once understood that they had mistaken her meaning, and said with a smile, "The Human Emperor is behind me."

Qingyou the Hermit and the other old immortals of Little Jade Capital looked toward the Water Mirror Sky and saw a youth "playing with water," and their faces all darkened.

"This youth as Human Emperor, he is not even as good as that little girl..."

Shen Mu examined it again and again, and still could not make out the structure of the Water Mirror Sky. At once he took out a small jade bottle, secretly filled it with a bit of the water, stoppered it, and tucked it into his Taotie Pouch, meaning to study it properly when he had time. This method of refining treasures was not as simple as forging iron; it was somewhat like the Silent Craftsman's method of refining the Formless Treasure, and well worth studying.

The Silent Craftsman's Formless Treasure could refine mystic gold and mystic iron to the point of formlessness and statelessness, changing at will. Shen Mu was still far from such a realm.

"A little water missing, surely no one will notice..."

The youth raised his head and saw a crowd of elders with the bones of Dao and the bearing of immortals staring at him, dumbstruck. Shen Mu's expression stiffened; then, all spring breeze, he laughed heartily and came over, bowing low to the ground in greeting. "I, Shen Mu, the present Human Emperor, greet you, senior brothers and sisters. I have disturbed your purity and quiet, and my heart is full of unease."

The old immortals returned his greeting one after another.

Qingyou the Hermit rose and said, "Please, Human Emperor, take back the precious seal. By the way, our Little Jade Capital's Water Mirror Sky, I must ask the Human Emperor..."

"The old Daoist Master, Old Tathagata, so you two senior brothers are here as well!"

Shen Mu seized the Human Emperor's Seal, casually stuffed it into his Taotie Pouch, and went laughing to meet the old Daoist Master and Old Tathagata. "So you two senior brothers have come to be immortals too? Good, good. It spares you a whole body's worth of troubles."

The old Daoist Master and Old Tathagata hastily returned his greeting. Old Tathagata said with a smile, "The old Daoist and I have nothing to burden us now, and not much lifespan left, so we might as well come to this pure and quiet place to nurse our remaining years, and have somewhere to belong."

The old Daoist Master said with a smile, "Does Human Emperor Shen perhaps also wish to be an immortal who pays no heed to worldly affairs? If you were willing to retire to the mountains, it would be a blessing for the whole world."

Shen Mu shook his head. "Duty admits no shirking. How dare I push it aside?"

The old Daoist Master and Old Tathagata paid their respects to Li Zheng, saying with a smile, "Senior brother, you have resigned the Human Emperor's throne and now left the Desolate Ruins. Do you perhaps also wish to come to Little Jade Capital and be a carefree immortal?"

Li Zheng shook his head and said bleakly, "Shen'er was afraid I would be lonely alone in the village, so wherever he goes, he takes me with him."

Qingyou the Hermit came forward and said with a smile, "Old Human Emperor, new Human Emperor, and these three fellow Daoists, this way, please."

Shen Mu followed him to an immortal mountain. Looking around, he found the scenery here magnificent and beautiful, with a flavor all its own. The immortal mountains floating in the sky were linked by rope bridges, one after another, seemingly forming a wondrous formation that was precisely what allowed the mountains to float.