Chapter 404 — Xing An Manifest

In Yincan Village, everyone except Granny Zhu had a mastery all their own — each with some field in which none could match them, and each had cultivated to the divine realm. When the path of the divine bridge was severed, they could advance no further; so they poured their life's energy into the study of a single field, and in this way their strength came to rival the gods of Heaven above — no weaker than false gods like Lord Huanlong.

To reach the divine realm in but one field was enough to contend with the mighty of Heaven above. But what if a man could reach the divine realm in every field? Then he would be a true god, would he not? Clearly, this mighty one named Xing An walked exactly such a path — though the strategy he adopted was not to study and master each field himself, but to take them directly from others.

After all, a person's energy is limited; and without repairing the divine bridge, one's lifespan is limited too — one could live only a little over eight hundred years. If he studied and cultivated in solitude, he might at most reach the divine realm in one or two fields in a lifetime; but by taking directly from others, he might gather up every divine realm and become like a true god!

He was a mighty one of the same generation as the village head; by rights he should be as aged as the village head, yet to this day he looked like a youth.

That showed he had taken not only the Lame Elder's legs and the Blind Elder's eyes — surely other mighty ones had fallen to his murderous hand as well! Just how far his strength had now advanced, no one could say. The Blind Elder's eyes — the strongest Sacred Pupil; the Lame Elder's legs — the swiftest divine legs.

These two alone were enough to place him among the very strongest. He must have obtained the divine-realm parts of other mighty ones as well. Such a mighty one had set his eyes on Lord Huo's arm; and though Lord Huo was already a Tathagata, he would likely be no match for him. Zaifu rose and walked out, saying, "I will go see Old Lord Huo. " "Zaifu, is your blade your greatest strength?

" the village head asked suddenly. Zaifu halted. "No. My greatest strength is in fact my heart.

" From within his body came a sudden rumble, like heavenly thunder, like a giant beating a war drum on the battlefield — that was the sound of his heartbeat.

At a single throb, everyone's eardrums rang. He stirred his blood and qi, and the sound of his heartbeat rose; it felt as though the sharpest, most massive Heavenly Blade had left its sheath — vast, keen, shattering all that stood before it!

The Heavenly Blade was not the butcher's knife in his hand; he himself was a blade.

This Heavenly Blade of his needed a mighty source of power to drive it, and that source was his heart. Shen Mu opened his Fire Empyrean Heaven Eye and looked at Zaifu — and what he saw was not a man, but a blade!

At the center of the blade crouched a beating heart; blood vessels stretched out from it like great dragons, spreading through the blade like a web.

As the heart leaped, it carried matchless blood and qi to every part of the Heavenly Blade!

Zaifu had refined his own heart into a divine heart.

The village head said, "He needs your heart — a divine heart. " Zaifu shook his head.

"I do not fear him. " The village head said, "Nor does he fear you.

Even if I were to contend with him, my chances would be slim.

If you go alone to find Lord Huo, he will surely waylay you on the road. Silent Smith, what is your greatest strength?

" The Silent Smith sat there smoking his water pipe; at these words he knocked out the pipe, then tucked it back at his waist. The forge behind him suddenly kindled without fire — but then everyone noticed that it was not his vital essence that lit the forge at his back, and that the power pouring out such sky-high heat came not from his forge but from within his body.

His vital essence grew incomparably fierce; in his belly it was as though a great furnace blazed, as though a small sun spun madly. That fearsome vital essence surged ever more mightily!

Sitting there, he was like a sun gathering energy, waiting for an earth-shaking eruption!

"Silent Smith, you have refined your dantian into a divine furnace, and Xing An needs your dantian too.

" The village head looked at the Deaf Elder and shook his head.

"Deaf Elder, though you have reached the utmost in the art of painting, Xing An has no need of what is in you.

He cannot take your craft. " The Deaf Elder raised his head, glanced at the Alchemist, and said, "The quack is probably beneath his notice as well. The quack's cultivation is too low — only the Heaven-Man realm.

" The Alchemist laughed.

"A wandering physician like me will never starve wherever he goes; it is the painter who nearly starved to death. " The Deaf Elder said smugly, "The money from a single painting of mine can buy several grand mansions in the capital. You kill your patients and can only bankrupt yourself in compensation.

" The village head said suddenly, "Xing An needs the Alchemist. " Everyone was slightly startled. The village head said, "He needs the Alchemist's craft — to change his body.

" The Alchemist shuddered.

The village head said in a low voice, "You need not worry.

Pig-killer, smith, Alchemist — come with me; we will go together to the Great Thunderclap Temple. Deaf Elder, Lame Elder, Blind Elder, you stay behind. Xing An's targets are us, so he will not come looking for you.

It is settled; we set out now. Shen'er, you stay too, and spend the New Year here; we will go to the Great Thunderclap Temple to eat vegetarian fare.

Let's go! " The Blind Elder said calmly, "My Dragon An would also very much like to meet Xing An again.

This divine spear was defeated by his hand, and it has long awaited revenge. " The village head shook his head.

"This is not your affair alone; Lord Huo's safety is at stake.

A master is needed here as well.

The Lame Elder is finished — with one leg he could still run, but with both legs gone he cannot.

You had best stay. " The Blind Elder frowned and said nothing. The Alchemist fetched his medicine basket, set the village head inside it, and departed together with Zaifu and the Silent Smith. Many women crowded around, intending to leave with the Alchemist; he hastily begged for mercy, saying, "Good sisters, dear sisters, I will be back in a few days, I won't run off, rest assured! " Only then did the women relent and let him go. In the great hall only the Lame Elder, the Blind Elder, the Deaf Elder, and Shen Mu remained.

The Lame Elder began to weep again, saying, "Shen'er is the fastest runner in the village now. Even if I wanted to run, I have nothing left to run with.

. . " Shen Mu hurried to comfort him. The Lame Elder gradually calmed — then suddenly saw that below his waist there was nothing at all, and grief welled up in his heart; he began to cry again: "Before, when I had one leg, I could still hop about; with one leg I could walk fast too.

Now I cannot even hop!

" "Grandpa Lame, I can attach two deer legs for you. I have seen plenty of deer demons in the mountains; with my skill, it would not be hard to graft them on for you," Shen Mu suggested. "Deer legs are crooked — after a few steps you'd be kneeling. No!

" Shen Mu had no choice but to give up.

The Deaf Elder, finding the Lame Elder too noisy, ran back to his own hall. Tears streaming down his face, the Lame Elder muttered that the Deaf Elder despised him. The Blind Elder was about to leave too, when Shen Mu hastily said, "Grandpa Blind, I encountered the eyes of Ziqing, the foremost Sacred Pupil of the Kaihuang era.

Her Sacred Pupil branded certain runes into my eyes — but only the brands, not the art. I cannot figure out how to activate these rune marks. " "When you came in, I saw your eyes — very strange indeed. I sensed a peculiar energy brewing in both your eyes, but it is unstable.