Chapter 450 — Of Uncommon Appearance

Not many days ago your portrait was posted throughout the Western Lands, and your fame rose like a startled bird — it caused a great stir.

No few young talents mean to have a meeting with Hierarch Shen. This way, Hierarch Shen.

" Shen Mu's face darkened. He had brought Xiong Qi'er along this time meaning to let the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping and Xiong Yuxi take the lead; those two were of greater renown — one the famed Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, the other a former Palace Master of the True Heaven Palace — and would naturally draw the attention of the Western Lands.

Thus he and Xiong Qi'er would go unnoticed, and would be the safer for it.

His purpose in coming was to learn the geography and the customs of the Western Lands; in time Jingping would surely march against the Western Lands and bring them within its own borders.

The Imperial Preceptor's aim was to work from the top down: first to seize the True Heaven Palace, and let the True Heaven Palace rule the Western Lands; once the True Heaven Palace submitted to Jingping, the losses could be kept to the lowest. He had not looked for that bastard Ban Gongcuo to thrust in a foot and make Shen Mu's coming to the Western Lands known to all the world, until wanted notices hung in every city and town of the Western Lands. "Brother Ge Ke is too courteous.

" Shen Mu followed him onward, and saw that the men and women around Ge Ke were all of no mean cultivation, their abilities surely considerable. Yet the looks they cast at him were far from friendly; they were eager to try their hands, and only the presence of Ge Ke, their host, kept them from striking at once. Shen Mu looked at Ge Ke, somewhat doubtful at heart: this young man bore a certain likeness to the Patriarch in his youth, and this manor too was in the style of Jingping, not the round buildings of the Western Lands, and Ge Ke's courtesy was Jingping courtesy as well.

Could he truly be the fruit of the young Patriarch's walking-marriage in the Western Lands? "No — he is not old at all; by the look of him, only sixteen or seventeen.

The Patriarch may have been rather a gallant, but sixteen or seventeen years ago he was already an old bag of bones; could he still have gone off to the Western Lands for a walking-marriage? Then again, the Patriarch keeps a young man's looks too; this Ge Ke must have cultivated the Art of Creation from the Great Nurture Dark Demon Sutra, and so his face never ages.

" Ge Ke led them to a high tower, and all about stood the conveyances in which others had come to this place; those who came here must be of uncommon standing. Shen Mu saw that some had come riding clouds — the clouds were tethered to an ancient tree — and there were all manner of rare and strange beasts, and even a small mountain!

Those who could enter this manor must be personages of name and face; their looks were young, and they had surely come for the Flower Mountain Festival gathering, for at such a festival no one would choose an old man or an old woman for a companion.

Ge Ke bade them each take a seat; Shen Mu pressed down the doubts in his heart and sat. Ge Ke clapped his hands, and servants brought out a scroll. Ge Ke unrolled it; upon the painting was Shen Mu himself.

He smiled and said, "The True Heaven Palace sent your portrait, Hierarch Shen, saying you were a wanted criminal of the Desolate Ruins. I wondered whether this Hierarch Shen, so audacious, would dare enter my Fangxiu City — and sure enough, the Hierarch has come. Hierarch, your skill is high and your courage great; come and meet the champions of our Western Lands.

This lady is Yu Jinfang of our Fangxiu City, of deep family lineage; the surname Sister Yu bears comes down from her forebears, who were a branch of the Yu clan of the Western Lands. The Yu clan — Hierarch Shen must know of it? " Shen Mu nodded and said, "The present Palace Master of the True Heaven Palace is of the Yu clan.

" Ge Ke smiled. "Sister Yu holds vast tracts of rich farmland and eighteen ranges of mountains; she is the heir of the Yu family, of the Seven-Star realm. " Shen Mu nodded at Yu Jinfang with a smile.

Yu Jinfang smiled faintly in return. Ge Ke spoke again: "There are men who hold sway in the Western Lands as well.

This is the young master of the Tianfu Sect of the Western Lands, Yue Qingshan.

In the Tianfu Sect it is the men who hold power, and their path of cultivation is somewhat like Jingping's; they are famous in the Western Lands as well. Brother Yue Qingshan is of the Six-Harmonies realm. " Shen Mu saluted him. Yue Qingshan was rather full of himself, and said, "Though I am only of the Six-Harmonies realm, the arts and divine powers of my Tianfu Sect are of ancient origin; they were handed down by the gods. " Shen Mu's interest was roused, and he smiled and said, "I have seen many a divine art of the gods; they are indeed not bad.

" Ge Ke spoke again: "This young lady is no small matter — she is not of my Fangxiu City, but comes from the True Heaven Palace: Sister Tingfang.

" Shen Mu looked at the woman; she had come in full finery, of no common bearing, and he praised her: "Blossoms bloom and fill the court with fragrance — Sister Tingfang has a fine name.

" Tingfang smiled.

"Hierarch Shen, it is the elders of the palace who wish to bring you to justice; it is not I who would set myself against you.

I beg your understanding. " Ge Ke introduced the rest, each with a name and standing of his or her own. Shen Mu answered them all with a smile; their cultivation ran high and low, but among the younger generation they were quite out of the common run.

When the introductions were done, Shen Mu smiled and said, "Brother Ge Ke has introduced so many people — why not introduce yourself?

" Ge Ke laughed aloud.

"I am but the unworthy master of this place; Fangxiu City is the estate my father and mother left behind, not worth mentioning.

But Hierarch Shen, these champions have come to take you; how does the Hierarch mean to answer them?

" Shen Mu looked once around the circle and said, with the utmost sincerity, "These brothers and sisters are every one of them a fine figure — why throw your lives away?

"