Chapter 508 — Passing the Torch

The Village Chief stood before the stele as though struck by lightning, dumbstruck.

The legend of the Overlord Body?

And from forty thousand years ago?

The Overlord Body—was it not something he had fabricated to fool Shen Mu and the villagers? Could it be that an Overlord Body truly existed in this world?

"No, no! There must be some misunderstanding! Perhaps the Overlord Body of forty thousand years ago and the Overlord Body I spoke of are not the same thing at all! " His heart was in turmoil, thoughts surging up all at once, but a Village Chief was a Village Chief after all; he quickly sorted out his thoughts and said to himself: "Perhaps an Overlord Body did exist in this world. The Overlord Body must be a kind of spirit body, only called Overlord Body because it was too powerful.

This kind of Overlord Body and the Overlord Body I fabricated are not the same thing at all!

" He steadied himself and looked at the stone stele. The inscription was written in the script of the dragon race. After looking at it for a moment, the Village Chief had no choice but to ask the First Ancestor for help: "What does it say?

The dragon script is profound and difficult; I have never learned it. " The First Ancestor was easy to talk to: "It says here that before the fall of the Supreme Emperor, the Bai family of the dragon race happened upon a youth who claimed to be an Overlord Body—versatile and talented, capable of what others could not do, undefeated in battle against his peers. His bearing was radiant, his brilliance unmatched; in both swordsmanship and divine powers, he surpassed the age of the Supreme Emperor by no small measure. So they asked him what an Overlord Body was. The youth said: an Overlord Body is unmatched; the spirit fetus does not open. At first it appears to be a mortal body, but later it opens the primal embryo divine treasury and attains supreme mysteries, thus standing above all his generation, possessed of peerless gifts. " The Village Chief's eye twitched.

Shen Mu was different from other spirit bodies—he was not a spirit body at all. A spirit body's primal embryo divine treasury was open from the start, whereas Shen Mu's primal embryo divine treasury was closed! Ordinary people's primal embryo divine treasury was also closed, and thus they could not cultivate.

Yet Shen Mu, under the Village Chief's bewitchment and with the villagers' support, had in one breath opened the primal embryo divine treasury that could not be opened, and from then on advanced with astonishing speed, a thousand li in a day!

This situation was remarkably similar to what the stele described! "It must be a coincidence! " The Village Chief steadied his mind, and heard the First Ancestor continue: ".

.

.

The Overlord Body's cultivation surpasses that of spirit bodies by far, and its comprehension is outstanding—a single hint suffices, one thing understood leads to many, one example yields three. The Overlord Body is unmatched, yet in this world it has its enemy: the so-called False Overlord Body. " The Village Chief shook his head and said hoarsely: "What?

" "It says here that although the Overlord Body is unmatched under heaven, there is a False Overlord Body that is its enemy.

" The First Ancestor explained patiently: "It also says here that the Overlord Body and the False Overlord Body contend for fortune.

Between them there is a wondrous resonance; the False Overlord Body vies with the Overlord Body and seizes its fortune, thereby making itself a true Overlord Body. How strange—how could such a wondrous constitution exist? To my shame, I once heard of the Overlord Body before, but took it for a legend. I never expected the legend to be true. " The Village Chief's mind reeled. After a long while he came back to himself and stammered: "F-First Ancestor, you have heard the legend of the Overlord Body?

" The First Ancestor nodded: "I heard it once, but never saw an Overlord Body. I took that one hearing for a tall tale and did not believe it—yet who would have thought it would turn out to be true.

" His expression turned strange: "To think such a fresh and refined Overlord Body exists in this world. " The Village Chief fell silent, suddenly feeling the world around him had become absurd, bizarre and grotesque. Could the Overlord Body he had fabricated truly have existed?

And this Overlord Body was exactly the same as the lie he had used to deceive Shen Mu!

Was this not too incredible?

Back then in the village, to soothe the villagers, he had spoken the first lie—that Shen Mu was an Overlord Body. In the years that followed, he had been forced to tell more lies to cover it up, until at last he fabricated a complete system of the Overlord Body.

The stele's description of the Overlord Body was almost identical to his own system.

He had used the same words to deceive others, and they had believed; now, reading the words on the stele, he too was beginning to believe. The stele stood before him; he could not but believe. "If an Overlord Body truly existed, why did the age of the Supreme Emperor still perish?

" The Village Chief still struggled inwardly. Thinking of the crux, he hurriedly asked. "It does not say.

" The First Ancestor's face showed desolation, his spirit bleak: "Yet before the surging tide of destiny, an individual's power is truly too insignificant.

Heh heh, even an Overlord Body—what of it? Could he cleanse the cosmos and restore clarity to heaven and earth?

This Overlord Body may have been erased before he could grow; or perhaps the False Overlord Body seized his fortune; or perhaps, grieving the fall of the Supreme Emperor's age and his own powerlessness to turn the tide, he gave himself up to despair, wallowed in self-pity, and hid away, a turtle pulling in its head, like me.

The possibilities of history are simply too many. A single person in the vast sweep of history is truly too small. . . " He seemed to be speaking of the Overlord Body of forty thousand years ago, and also of his own circumstances. At last he sighed in disappointment and said no more. The Village Chief examined the stele over and over, then suddenly grew excited. He fetched paper and inkstone and made a rubbing of the inscription with ink. The First Ancestor raised an eyebrow.

The Village Chief laughed: "I will take a rubbing of these words back to show the past Human Sovereigns. A true Overlord Body—there really is a true Overlord Body!

I have taken a true Overlord Body as my disciple, my successor as Human Sovereign. .

. When they see this rubbing, they will surely be happy for me! " The First Ancestor gave him a surprised look, then continued walking forward: "Judging by the inscription, the destruction of the Supreme Emperor's Divine Domain came long after the end of the Supreme Emperor's age. I cannot help but worry about the Land of No Sorrow.

" The Village Chief hurried after him: "Then what does the First Ancestor mean. . .

" "I worry about the Land of No Sorrow.

" The First Ancestor said in a low voice: "I have not had news from the Land of No Sorrow for a long time.

Though there have been several messages from it, carrying the Kaihuang's orders, I suspect he is no longer the same enterprising Kaihuang as before. No Sorrow, No Sorrow—heh heh, one who does not plan for the future will surely have sorrows near at hand! They have stayed in the Land of No Sorrow too long! Back then I opposed building any Land of No Sorrow and advocated fighting to the end! " The Village Chief pondered: "Then does the First Ancestor intend, on this journey, to find people of the Supreme Emperor's age? That age is too distant from the present; it is impossible that any remnants still survive.

" "No! There are still those alive! " The First Ancestor looked around: "This Supreme Emperor's Divine Domain gathered the remnants of the Supreme Emperor's age.

After many years of development, their power was not small—not inferior to the present Land of No Sorrow.