Chapter 353 — Soft-Hearted

Shen Mu tried to struggle to his feet, and at once a crunch came from his legs: both bones, already webbed with cracks from the fall, snapped the instant he put weight on them.

The pain threw his whole body into spasm — and then his arms broke as well. Shen Mu did not dare move a muscle, did not dare so much as twitch, did not dare draw a breath.

He dared not exert the least strength now, for fear that one heavy breath would shatter every rib in his chest.

His dharma power was spent as well; he could not draw the dragon's saliva from the Taotie Pouch to heal himself.

Pain drowned him; sweat poured from him without cease.

Every sword wound on his body burst open at once and blood ran out. Shen Mu felt his flesh burning, hot as magma — yet he understood that this was an illusion, a trick his brain played on him as his blood drained away and his body began to cool.

He had learned such things from the alchemist he once followed.

If he lost any more blood, he would die beyond all doubt.

From the great pit nearby came a thumping sound. Shen Mu's heart sank. "Can it be that I am the false Tyrant Body... No. I simply did not try hard enough, did not draw out the full power of the Tyrant Body..."

He had nearly traded his life to take his enemy's, and even so had won by only half a move — and had lost every scrap of his fighting strength in the doing.

Suddenly three streams of qi split away from the pit beside him, arcing down like three rainbows to where Shen Mu lay, and bored into his body.

At once Shen Mu felt the bones inside him shifting, the broken ends rejoining; the cracks along them healed themselves, and the wounds on his flesh began closing with astonishing speed.

Teeth he had lost to a blow a moment ago were growing back!

Shen Mu was stunned. Then he heard a sound like the tide, a sound rising from within his own body — the roar of his vital essence surging. His cultivation was recovering at a furious rate!

His strength was returning as well, the torn muscle knitting itself back together, and soon Shen Mu could feel that his injuries were seven or eight parts healed.

More than that, he felt a strange power flowing in along those three rainbows, driving a violent change in the divine storehouse of his primal fetus. And then Shen Mu saw that his vital essence seemed to have liquefied; it embraced his spirit fetus and wheeled about it, so that the fetus seemed to float in a warm sea, filled with an indescribable comfort.

"The last time I felt comfort like this, I was about three. I'd fallen asleep in Granny's bed, and in my dream I went looking for a latrine. After a great deal of trouble I found one — and wet the whole bed. Then Granny picked me up by the legs and threw me into the snow pit."

Shen Mu blinked. This must be what they called the Three Primes: the Heaven Prime, the Earth Prime and the Water Prime.

The power of the Three Primes poured in, and the divine storehouse of his primal fetus went on transforming violently. His spirit fetus was growing at tremendous speed, and the spirit platform beneath his feet kept swelling, until it was like a little island of land.

And the vital essence breathed out from the mouth and nostrils of the spirit fetus rose upward; the rolling essence gathered together, glowing red, and hung in midair.

It did not look like a sun.

And the liquefied essence gathered into something like a ball of water — nor did that look like a moon. The divine storehouse of his primal fetus still could not compare with that of a god.

Shen Mu tried to circulate the Three-Elixir Mystic Body Art, and felt the technique still run rough and sluggish; some hidden injury must remain unhealed.

"Congratulations to the Human Sovereign on the Three Primes breakthrough."

In an instant the mountains vanished, and the sun and moon in the sky disappeared without a trace. Shen Mu was lying in a great hall, cold flagstones beneath him.

He struggled up and saw five elders seated in five directions, high above him, nearly as ancient as the Three Primes elders.

He looked around. This was not the Hall of the Three Primes he had entered, but another great hall, and these five elders did not look like the Three Primes elders at all.

Shen Mu steadied himself. Every muscle in his body ached, and his legs and hands were still trembling.

"Where are those three old immortals from before?" Shen Mu asked, his voice shaking a little.

"The Three Primes elders are not here."

One of the old loose immortals was short of stature, but his voice was remarkably loud and full of vigor. "We are the Five Luminaries, and this is the Hall of Five Qi. From the Hall of Five Qi we watched the Human Sovereign achieve the Three Primes breakthrough, and our admiration was sincere and great. Having broken through, the Human Sovereign was delivered here to the Hall of Five Qi, and will now face the Five Qi trial."

"I achieved the Three Primes breakthrough?"

Shen Mu was both startled and delighted, though his legs still shook disobediently, refusing to stop.

"So he truly was a false Tyrant Body, and I am the true Tyrant Body!" the youth said, well pleased with himself.

When the Five Luminaries heard this, they were utterly at a loss, their faces blank with confusion; they had no idea what a Tyrant Body or a false Tyrant Body might be.

Shen Mu tried hard to stand steady, but his legs kept quaking, and his two arms would not stop trembling either.

One old loose immortal frowned slightly. "The Human Sovereign is the second person ever to pass the Three Primes breakthrough. Do you intend to challenge the Five Qi breakthrough?"

Shen Mu simply sat down on the ground, to keep from toppling over and making a fool of himself, and asked, "How does the Five Qi breakthrough compare with the Three Primes breakthrough?"

"A little harder."

An old woman spoke to him kindly. "That the Human Sovereign could achieve the Three Primes breakthrough is enough to make your foundation far more powerful. The Five Qi breakthrough should not prove too difficult either."

"Still harder?"

Shen Mu was alarmed. He shook his head. "Seniors, might you be a little flexible in this? Could you allow me to come back another day to make the challenge?"

He truly had no strength left now to challenge the Five Qi breakthrough.

He had beaten the young god and won the Three Primes, and his wounds had for the most part healed — yet the soreness in his flesh had not faded, and the shock of that last blow, leaping down from a mountain thousands of zhang high, had struck his spirit far too hard. It was not only his body that trembled now; his very soul was shuddering, unable to keep its seat.

The five loose immortals could see how poor his condition was. They exchanged glances, and one of the elders said, "There has never been such a rule in our Little Jade Capital. Once one passes the trial of the Hall of the Three Primes, one may enter the Hall of Five Qi; having failed, one leaves. Stopping midway — such a thing has never happened."

Another old woman said, "But a Three Primes breakthrough is truly rare. The last person to achieve one lived seven thousand years ago. Since the Human Sovereign has come this far, it would be quite unreasonable not to let him challenge another day."

The five elders conferred, and the eldest among them said, "Since the Human Sovereign has asked, Little Jade Capital is not so rigid as to know no flexibility. Let it be so: when the Human Sovereign has recovered, he may come again to challenge the Hall of Five Qi."

"Many thanks!" Shen Mu struggled to his feet and saluted the five elders.

By the time he straightened up, the scene before him had changed once more. He stood outside the Hall of the Three Primes. The Perfected Ones of the Heaven Prime, the Earth Prime and the Water Prime were speaking with the recluse Qingyou. Qingyou's face was full of shock, while the headman wore a look of modest satisfaction.

"Human Sovereign."