Chapter 443 — A Flower Born of Nothing

At the capital of Jingping, Shen Mu stood outside the city walls studying the stone statue of a True God that had thrust up out of the earth. Three months had passed since the crisis of the Upper Heaven ended, and through those three months the wounded had all been healing; the Pill Master himself had treated their injuries, and they had recovered quickly. The Hermit of Qingyou had returned to Little Yujing, though now and then he came back to look in on them all. The Grey Immortal and the Fox Immortal had carried the ashes of the Willow Immortal, the Yellow Immortal, and the White Immortal back to Liuzhou.

The Kun King and the Wing King had taken Xuan Shengwu's tortoise shell to the Xuanwu clan beyond the seas, to return him to his people. The Protector Elder had also brought the ashes of the young Patriarch, and buried them beneath the Sacred Tree. Shen Mu himself had delivered the old Dao Master's body to the Daoist sect, and Old Master Huo had borne the old Tathagata's remains back to the Great Tingming Temple and enshrined them in the Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Among the dead this time was Tuxing Feng, who lay buried with his opponent in the lava beneath the earth.

The Hermit of Qingyou had gone down into the depths, and a woman of a height with Tuxing Feng had come up to the surface with him, Tuxing Feng's widow.

After paying her respects at the place where he had fallen, she said to Shen Mu, "The Tuxing Divine Race will never break the oath of those years. If the Human Emperor issues another summons, there will still be men of the Tuxing Divine Race to answer it.

" After that battle the Shenduan Mountains vanished, and darkness invaded the kingdom of Jingping. Shen Mu went to inspect the banner he had planted; the darkness had not pushed further into Jingping, which set his mind somewhat at ease. As for the enormous hole blasted through the Shenduan Mountains by the Zhending, it had still not closed, and through it one could see into another world. The demon race of that world was still busily at work, preparing something. And the stone statues that moved among the ruins of the Shenduan Mountains still showed themselves now and then; from time to time demons would even appear out of nowhere. The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping ordered that scholars from the grand academies across Jingping go there to temper themselves and wipe out the demons that emerged in scattered ones and twos.

So by day there were many adventurers about, and the demons of the other world found it hard to gather any real strength. Everything in Jingping returned to normal. The sensation caused by the sudden emergence of the stone statues and strange treasures gradually subsided, but the vast, towering statues of the True Gods still stood silent as mountains, and had not vanished.

The statue before Shen Mu was one of them. The colossal divine image rose high, looking down upon the capital ahead.

So tall and imposing was it that, though it could not move, it drew many of the ignorant masses to kneel and burn incense before it.

Shen Mu raised his head and studied the statue, his thoughts like the grey clouds in the sky, gathering and scattering. "You know it, sooner or later these statues will wake and destroy the world.

" Xu Shenghua's voice came from behind. Shen Mu turned and saw the youth, who looked about his own age, with a pack on his back; Jing Yan walked beside him, carrying a small bundle of her own. Xu Shenghua came up to him and studied the statue.

"The calamity did not fall," he said, "but birth and death, sickness and age still go on in this world, and there will be war again. Even if you withstood the assault of the gods of the Upper Heaven, every day many people die on this land, and those dead become offerings to the statues. One day they will have gathered enough power, and they will wake and wipe out this mortal world.

" Shen Mu went on studying the statue, his face calm. "I know. The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping knows, and the Headman knows.

But it must be done.

The longer we drag things out, the stronger Jingping becomes.

In the past we had no strength to resist; they could crush us easily. But give us time and we will grow, and crushing us will not be so easy then. That is what the Headman thinks, and what the Imperial Preceptor thinks.

" He looked at Xu Shenghua and smiled with the guileless grin of a big boy. "While we live, there is hope. Isn't that so? " His smile was infectious, and Xu Shenghua could not help smiling too. A strange feeling rose in Jing Yan's heart. Xu Shenghua was an extraordinarily serious person who seldom smiled, yet every time he met Shen Mu he was caught up by that smile.

This leader of the Youmo Cult truly possessed an uncanny power. Xu Shenghua took out a bag of money and smiled. "I came this time to repay a debt, and also to take my leave. This is the money I owe you. I'm returning it, and then I'll be going. " Shen Mu was briefly startled. He took the money bag.

"Brother Xu, you earn money quickly. " Xu Shenghua laughed.

"I took on a big job.

I had made a name for myself forging yuan weapons, and when the emperor summoned the finest craftsmen in the realm to restore the Xuanji Crossbow, I went too. I was the only one who managed to restore it, so the emperor ordered me to build Xuanji Crossbows and present the blueprints to the army, and rewarded me with a great sum of money. " "Where do you mean to go?

" Shen Mu asked.

Xu Shenghua tightened the straps of his pack and walked with Jing Yan toward the docks. "I came to Jingping to kill you, and then to return to the Upper Heaven and go on with my quiet cultivation. But after meeting you, I feel this journey to Jingping has been more like a trial of the mind.

" Shen Mu fell in step with him.

The docks were far, and as the two walked they swayed and staggered, silently competing again. "This tempering of the Dao-heart has given me much understanding I never had before. But the trial is over, and I should leave Jingping. " Xu Shenghua looked up at the sky. "There are still many riddles in my heart waiting for the mist to be cleared away.

I mean to go and seek the answers to them.

" Shen Mu asked, curious, "The gods of the Upper Heaven are all but dead or wounded. You're not going back? The Upper Heaven has no leader now. You ought to return and take charge.

" "I'm not going back. " Xu Shenghua said, "The Upper Heaven is called the Upper Heaven, but it is nothing but a void.

The people there have no will of their own, no lives of their own. They are merely the running dogs of the True Gods.

A flower born of emptiness, I need to find my own path. Brother Shen, my trial in Jingping is over.

I want to go to the Wasteland Ruins and seek the answers to those secrets. And your trial?

" Shen Mu was taken aback, then suddenly laughed.

"My trial has only just begun. " The further they walked the more they leaned and staggered, until, near the docks, the two suddenly each struck out a palm. Their palms met, and at once the river reared in towering waves, wind and clouds churned, and thunder crashed all around. Shen Mu roared with laughter, gripped his hand hard, and bumped his shoulder. The two released their grip.

Xu Shenghua boarded the ship with Jing Yan and looked back, smiling.

"Last time I lost to you, and I have never forgotten it. When I return, I will come and settle which of us is the true Overlord Body, male or female. " Shen Mu laughed.

"You're definitely the female.

I'm the male. " Xu Shenghua laughed heartily, waved, and went with Jing Yan into the cabin. Shen Mu looked up.

The tower ship rose slowly, carrying them away, and vanished into the clouds.

The sun blazed.

Shen Mu withdrew his gaze and looked toward the statue that overlooked the capital.