Chapter 419 — The Emperor's Seal Appears in the World

Imperial Preceptor Jingping walked over and entered the estate, looking about him in astonishment. "When the day comes that my work is done and I may withdraw," he said admiringly, "I too shall seek out just such a place, with scenery fit to gladden the eye, and there enjoy the happiness of family with my wife and children. " Shen Mu came forward to greet him and said with a smile, "What brings the Heavenly King here?

" "I have not come as the Heavenly King of the Tiansheng Cult to see the Sect Master," said the Imperial Preceptor gravely, "but as the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping to see the Human Emperor.

I beg the Human Emperor's aid! " Shen Mu's expression turned stern at once.

"Speak, Imperial Preceptor Jingping!

" The Imperial Preceptor glanced around.

"Where is the old Human Emperor?

Might we invite him out to join the discussion as well? " "The Village Head is sunning himself and drinking tea. " The two of them sought out the Village Head, and found the Pharmacist and the Village Head drinking tea, with a crowd of women gathered around them, lifting cups to their lips — they did not even need to raise a hand.

The corner of the Imperial Preceptor's eye twitched: among those women was none other than Her Majesty the Empress Dowager.

He hastily covered his face and pretended he had seen nothing. He and the Empress Dowager had never gotten along; she had thwarted him time and again, and it was on his own instruction that the Little Poison King, Fu Yuanqing, had administered poison to her.

Yet he was, after all, her subject, and to see the Empress Dowager thus waiting upon another man was a thing he must needs turn a blind eye to.

The Empress Dowager saw him and gave a cold laugh, but made no move to look away.

Seeing this, the Pharmacist laughed. "Too much worldly business here.

Let us go elsewhere.

I know a spot with the finest scenery; bring your instruments, and we shall make merry a while.

" The women, delighted, crowded around the Pharmacist and bore him away. Only then did the Imperial Preceptor lower his sleeve, salute the Village Head, and wait for Shen Mu to sit before taking his own seat.

"Strange omens have come thick and fast in Jingping — many treasures have appeared, and a hundred-odd stone statues. Surely that has not escaped the two of you?

And the peril in it I need hardly explain; both Human Emperors must know it well.

" The Imperial Preceptor came straight to the point.

"I have come to ask the Human Emperor to bring out the Human Emperor's Seal, to command all the champions of the world, and to march against Heaven Above — so that the common folk need not be plunged again into fire and water! " The Village Head gave him a startled look. "Has the Imperial Preceptor ever been to Heaven Above? " The Imperial Preceptor shook his head.

"If you had been to Heaven Above, you would not think that way," said the Village Head. "I have been there.

In those years I commanded the champions of the world against Heaven Above, and that is why I have no arms and no legs.

Heaven Above holds not only the Four Lords of Heaven Above, but other false gods besides. I was on the verge of sweeping Heaven Above clean, until I met a true god — a god in truth.

" His old face was covered in wrinkles, deep-lined and furrowed, like an old farmer who had spent his life bent over the yellow earth, the lines in his face the fields he had ploughed deep. "A true god whose every aspect was at the divine realm. " "My sword art was defeated by his sword art," the Village Head said unhurriedly, "and he cut off both my legs and both my arms. 'Human Emperor? Pah!

' That is what he said, and then he threw me out of Heaven Above.

" He glanced at the Imperial Preceptor.

"You would have been newly born then, and would know nothing of it. Of the champions who went with me to Heaven Above, some died, some fled, some scattered. I, the Human Emperor, was utterly defeated — crushed beyond recovery.

Your attainment in sword technique has now surpassed mine; in the way of the sword you are still a little beneath me.

But if you go to Heaven Above, your end will be the same.

" The Imperial Preceptor frowned. "Then what is to be done?

" "We do not go to Heaven Above. We intercept it.

" "Whoever comes down from Heaven Above, we kill," said the Village Head. "One comes down, we kill one; they all come down, we kill them all.

Do not worry about that true god — if he wishes to come down, he needs blood and flesh enough for the sacrifice. " "Then.

. .

" The Imperial Preceptor looked to Shen Mu and said in a low voice, "May I presume to ask for the Human Emperor's Seal?

" Shen Mu brought out that great seal, black as black could be.

It was in no way remarkable to the eye, yet it had been forged by every clan and every sect together, each bringing its finest treasure, and it stood for the authority of the Human Emperor. Shen Mu raised his brows.

To bring out this seal was to declare that he, the Human Emperor, had stepped from behind the curtain onto the stage, and it would bring him no small danger. Just as with the Village Head in those years: once one became Human Emperor, one must risk life and death for the human race — and some of the arrows in the dark came from the human race itself!

By the teachings of the village folk, a thing like the Human Emperor's Seal should be thrown as far as it could be thrown; yet the village folk had also taught him to bear responsibility, to have a sense of duty. The nine elders of the village had each taught him different things, sometimes contradictory things, and he had to choose for himself, and follow his own heart. Shen Mu drew a long breath.

"Village Head, how is this seal to be used? " "Pour your vital essence into the seal," said the Village Head, "and we shall lend you a hand. " Shen Mu did as he was told, driving his vital essence into the Human Emperor's Seal, and it seemed that a spirit within that lump of black iron was roused, welling out of the seal and returning to its master. At once Shen Mu felt a thunderous roar in his mind, as though the seal held within it unyielding champions, one after another, unyielding spirits, one after another.

His vision blurred, and he seemed to see a host of people in rags walking toward him, and behind them countless common folk — the people of every sect and school of Jingping, of every race: the forebears of all who dwelt in this land. Their faces were sallow with hunger, seamed with the marks of wind and frost and war; many were maimed or crippled, and in their eyes still lingered grief and dread.

That was an age of despair, a time of disaster everywhere, when gods and demons wrought havoc; and it was the Human Emperor who led them, hacking a path through the wilds, out of that despair and into this new land.

They brought out their treasures, each one, and set the imprint of their spirit within them, melting the treasures down and forging them into a single great seal, which they reverently offered up to this man. "He who holds this seal is the Human Emperor!

" Their spirit ripples became voices that burst in Shen Mu's mind: "Let the Human Emperor's Seal appear — and none shall fail to follow! " Shen Mu's heart and spirit shook; and just then Imperial Preceptor Jingping and the Village Head each surged with power, rousing the Human Emperor's Seal. With a hum, the seal rose into the sky and gave off a dazzling radiance.

The unyielding spirit within the seal took on substance: the phantom shapes of patriarchs who had founded sects and emperors who had founded nations were projected from the seal, imprinted between heaven and earth, figures of towering stature. Waves of terrible spiritual force rushed out in all directions, and those who shared the same blood and the same inheritance heard the call of their ancestors, summoning them to come.