Chapter 549 — Gone Like Smoke and Clouds

Shen Mu was still uneasy, and meant to run the calculations through once more to see whether any error had crept in. It was not that he distrusted the Black Tiger God; rather, no one had ever breached the wall between two worlds and raised a world-bridge of spiritual power exchange. There was no precedent for it, and if something went wrong, he had no idea what might follow.

Take, for instance, the pills Shen Mu refined to heal wounds: every new spirit-elixir he produced might carry some outlandish side effect. If the medicinal power of an elixir went wrong, it could still be remedied. But if the Bridge of Spiritual Power Exchange linking two worlds went wrong, how was that to be remedied?

The Black Tiger God rolled up the blueprints in a flash and strode out, beaming. "Hurry, hurry!" he laughed. "I can't wait to put it to the test!"

Shen Mu had no choice but to follow him out of the gate-tower, and asked Sang Hua, "Sister Hua, what brings you looking for me?"

"Li City has been rebuilt," Sang Hua said, "but for a thousand li around it, demons are still on the move, scattered far and wide. They use the flesh, blood, and souls of our common folk of Taihuang Heaven to cultivate their arts. The harm they do is immense."

Sang Hua said, "We have been looking for you a long while. We mean to go out with you to temper ourselves and wipe out those wandering demon practitioners of divine ability."

Yu He said, "While Fu Riluo was in Li City, he restrained the Demon Race from harming the common folk. But the moment Fu Riluo left, the remaining demons could no longer sit still. To them, we humans are both rations and raw material for forging treasures and cultivating arts. These past days, the villages all around have been sorely abused. Junior Sister Sang Hua had meant to go first to the God-Suppressing Pagoda, but she has had to postpone it."

Shen Mu frowned. "Fu Riluo restrained the Demon Race from harming the common folk? Why would he give such an order?"

"To win hearts." Shu You's face was grave. "A city may be broken, a nation may fall, a god may die in battle, but the hearts of the people are the hardest of all to subdue. Fu Riluo is a demon god of great ambition, and his methods are cunning. Spare the common folk, and they will not resist. Even if he squeezes them harder, makes them slaves of the Demon Race to dig ore veins and plant and gather herbs, then even the low-ranking demons can throw themselves wholeheartedly into battle. An enemy who can conquer the heart is the strongest enemy of all."

Shen Mu nodded. His impression of Fu Riluo had changed greatly.

Fu Riluo was no brute who knew only how to storm cities and seize land; he understood the art of rule, and knew how to win the Demon Race greater and greater profit.

Low-ranking demons held lowly status. Shen Mu had seen their fate on the battlefield: they were expendable, spent in the fighting. If the low-ranking demons were enslaved, made to do the work of slaves, and then spent as fodder as well, they would be hard to rule.

Fu Riluo enslaved the humans, and with them kept the low-ranking demons comfortable and content; then he sent those same low-ranking demons to fight and die. In this way he sustained his own rule.

And because the humans were allowed to live, though enslaved, they did not know how to resist, would not resist. Fu Riluo's rear was thus secure, and with the endless resources those humans supplied, he could pour all his strength into conquest at the front.

"Fu Riluo is a man of great talent. No wonder the Sage Master is so wary of him."

Shen Mu mused a moment, then said, "You must have collected a great many demon primal soldiers from the battlefield. What do you do with them?"

Yu He said, "Because demon primal soldiers hold demon-nature and demon-breath within them, they are usually destroyed, so that the Demon Race never gets the chance to reclaim them."

Shen Mu smiled. "Brother Tiger and I are going to set up the Bridge of Spiritual Power Exchange, and we need a great deal of mystic gold and mystic iron. Since the demon primal soldiers are of no use, might you lend them to us? The demon-nature and demon-breath inside them are exactly what we need!"

Yu He laughed. "My master can procure a great many demon primal soldiers. How many does the Cult Leader need?"

"The more the better!"

Yu He turned to go. "You are too courteous, Cult Leader. Those demon things are useless to us in any case. Go on ahead; my master and I will bring the primal soldiers over shortly."

Shen Mu looked at Sang Hua and the others, hesitated, and said, "Sister Hua, Brother Tiger and I will need some time to raise the bridge. You had best go and temper yourselves; come back in ten days. In ten days we should have the rune-seals in place. Then we can go out and temper ourselves together, and perhaps I can introduce you to a good many new friends."

Sang Hua said in a low voice, "We came this time not only to fetch you out for tempering. There is one other thing: the several of us intend to join the cult."

The other divine-ability practitioners of Taihuang Heaven nodded hurriedly.

Sang Hua gave a cheer. "Do we have to smear our blood and swear an oath never to betray the cult?"

Shen Mu did not know whether to laugh or cry. He shook his head. "Our Heavenly Sacred Cult is not some notorious demon cult; we do not go in for blood oaths. And the faithful do not worship the Cult Leader. A simple salute will do; there is no grand kneeling. The Cult Leader is a Sage Master, not an emperor. I am in a hurry to forge the Bridge of Spiritual Power Exchange and have no time to explain in detail. Come back in ten days, when the two worlds are joined; then I will have the Sacred Cult brothers of Jing Ping tell you all about it."

Sang Hua and the others were wholly satisfied, and left together with Shu You.

"Founding a cult in Taihuang Heaven is a little simpler than I imagined." Shen Mu sighed inwardly, then glanced sidelong at the Black Tiger God beside him, his eyes flickering. "Senior Brother Tiger, will you join the cult?"

The Black Tiger God shot him a look of contempt and sneered, "My lord has never acknowledged your Heavenly Sacred Cult. Save your breath. Let us forge the Bridge of Spiritual Power Exchange as quickly as we can!"

The man and the tiger soon came to a great pyramid-shaped altar. It rose towering as a mountain, its tiers of steps spreading up into the air, and at the summit lay a platform flat beyond compare. Blood-sacrifice runes were seared all around the altar; the divine-ability practitioners of Taihuang Heaven had piled countless bones here to summon the stone statues and the primordial spirits of the gods out of the Desolate Ruins.

The runes of the Bridge of Spiritual Power Exchange that Shen Mu and the Black Tiger God had designed were themselves built upon the sacrificial runes; only a few of the runes on the altar needed altering. The man and the tiger set to work at once, revising the rune-seals.

A short while later, True God Pang Yu arrived with Yu He. He set down the mountain-pile of demon primal soldiers and said with a smile, "Young friend, will these demon primal soldiers be enough? If not, there is another batch in Mingyi City, several times more than this."

Shen Mu was overjoyed. "More than enough. Thank you, True God!"

True God Pang Yu smiled. "Is there anywhere we master and disciple might lend a hand?" Yu He, too, was eager to try.

The Black Tiger God was about to agree, but Shen Mu hastily shook his head. "No need! The True God has many affairs, and Senior Sister Yu He has her tempering to attend to. We would not dare trouble you both!"

True God Pang Yu did indeed have much to do, and so took his leave with Yu He. The Black Tiger God grumbled, "Raising the Bridge of Spiritual Power Exchange requires far too many forged components. The two of us will be busy a long while before they are done. Why not let him help?"

"Senior Brother, look at the sun in the sky!"