Chapter 586 — The Profound Art of the Throne

Shen Mu watched Grandmother Zhu's divine powers with keen interest. The Nine Elders of Yincan Village each had their own strengths, and Grandmother Zhu, aside from her beauty, was renowned for the exquisite subtlety of her spells and divine abilities. But in those years Grandmother Zhu had worried that what she cultivated was the demonic path, and so she had been unwilling to teach Shen Mu much of her spells and divine powers, leaving that to the Village Head, Zai Fu, Old Master Huo, and the others.

Later, when Shen Mu became the Young Cult Master of the Dark Demon Cult, Grandmother Zhu passed the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Sutra to him, but only let him study and comprehend it on his own; she did not teach him the arts and divine powers contained within. This was mainly because she walked the demonic path herself, and her understanding of the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Sutra was somewhat skewed. She believed that Shen Mu, having cultivated under the Deaf Elder, Old Master Huo, and the others, and having read the classics thoroughly, would comprehend the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Sutra more correctly.

Shen Mu had originally cared little for the so-called divide between orthodox and demonic. Later he came to realize that both arise from the heart: if the heart holds demons, then no matter how orthodox the art, it is demonic; if the heart is orthodox, then no matter how wicked the art, it is orthodox. Thus he had essentially done away with the barrier between orthodox and demonic.

Even later, Shen Mu discovered that the struggle between orthodox and demonic was a matter of the heart, whereas the struggle between gods and demons was a matter of stance and survival. So he regarded the orthodox-demon divide with even greater indifference. In the past he had fought to the death with the Great Thunder Temple, the Daoist Sect, and other schools; now he had long since set down all prejudice and no longer took the trifling matter of the orthodox-demon struggle to heart.

Now he had even opened the demonic path's divine treasury, with half his body stepping onto the demonic path; his vision was set higher, his heart broader. This was growth. A person often grows without realizing it; one does not notice, but looking back, one discovers that one has grown imperceptibly, that one's mindset has become more mature. Though the Venerable God Sang Ye was long since a god enthroned on high, his vision and insight were not necessarily superior to Shen Mu's.

Beyond one's innate talent and comprehension, it also had to do with one's fortunes. From childhood Shen Mu had been steeped in the influence of the Nine Elders of Yincan Village; then, when he left the Wasteland, it was just as the Jingping Reform was underway.

Add to that his own origins, and his adventures in Youdu and Fengdu, and his insight had long since risen imperceptibly to an exceedingly high plane. Grandmother Zhu finally seized the primordial spirit of Tianfeng Gou from within her body.

Feng Gou's primordial spirit was imprisoned by her and could not escape. Should a god's primordial spirit escape, it might still possess another person, or a plant or tree spirit.

— Possessing another person was body seizure; possessing a plant or tree spirit was aberrant cultivation.

"Which of you will interrogate her? " Grandmother Zhu turned and asked the others. "She surely knows many secrets of the demon race.

Wringing them out of her might greatly benefit Taihuang Heaven. But my methods are too cruel, and it would hardly be proper for me to interrogate her—she is a beauty, after all.

" The Venerable God Sang Ye was just exchanging introductions with the Blind Elder and the others. Hearing this, he could not help but shiver several times. Glancing at Tianfeng Gou's physical body, he thought, "Cruel indeed. First this woman flattened Venerable God Feng Gou's chest, then she flattened Feng Gou's face as well. .

. " His gaze fell upon Grandmother Zhu's face and could hardly be moved away again. All at once the thought came to him of taking a new wife and finding a stepmother for Sang Hua.

He hastily steadied his mind and looked away, not daring to entertain improper thoughts.

"As for interrogating Feng Gou," he said, "it would be better to leave that to True God Pang Yu.

Feng Gou is, after all, a god of our Taihuang Heaven, and a leader besides, of high station and great authority. For us to interrogate her privately would be somewhat excessive. " The Lame Elder chuckled. "Why so much trouble?

Let the Alchemist feed her some bugs. I guarantee she won't last an hour before she confesses everything. " Snow Fox said excitedly, "We could also have Blind Grandpa use the Black Dragon Spear to separate the spirit fetus of her primordial spirit from her soul, and turn her into a mortal! " The Blind Elder stroked her little head and said with a smile, "My spear is called Long Tuo, not the Black Dragon Spear.

" "That's right. " The Black Dragon Spear behind him suddenly came to life, slowly circling the little fox. The black dragon, now nothing but bones, said slowly, "I am Long Tuo, a dragon king from the demon race. But you were not wrong about one thing: my lord and I can indeed peel her soul apart from her primordial spirit—though it would be agonizing beyond measure. " Snow Fox studied the divine spear Long Tuo curiously, then suddenly hit upon another idea. She hastily raised her hand, her eyes sparkling.

"There's more, there's more! I've thought of another one!

We could have Grandpa Silent Craftsman refine her in his furnace, melt her primordial spirit into water, and pour molten iron in—then see whether she talks! " "This little fox spirit is no easy mark either!

" The Venerable God Sang Ye shivered several more times and said hastily, "Perhaps I should be the one to take her away and interrogate her. My friends, I will go on ahead.

As for the Wuwang City watchtower ahead, I beg you all to help guard it for a couple of days!

" With that he seized Tianfeng Gou's physical body and primordial spirit and hurried off. Shen Mu said hastily, "Grandmother, Grandpa Alchemist, why have you all come to Taihuang Heaven? " Grandmother Zhu raised a hand to pat his head. Shen Mu hastily bowed his head, and she patted it, smiling. "You've grown taller again—caught up with the Alchemist.

Grow a little more and the Blind Elder will only reach your waist. " The Blind Elder was quite displeased. "Grandmother, I am still growing. Look at the Venerable God Sang Ye just now—over twenty thousand years old, and terrifyingly tall.

Clearly the longer one lives, the taller one grows!

" Grandmother Zhu shot him a look. "Blind Elder, your intelligence is about that high and no higher. Shen'er, we came here to see you, and also to look at the cultivation methods here, to see whether we might find a way to break through. We have all reached a bottleneck.

Those Taihuang Heaven divine power users you sent to the Heavenly Sage Academy truly have some skill; we have watched some and learned some.

But to cultivate systematically, we still need to come to Taihuang Heaven in search of deeper methods. " Shen Mu had indeed discussed with the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, True God Pang Yu, and the others sending some young divine power users to Jingping to study Daoist arts and divine powers, and at the same time transmitting Taihuang Heaven's cultivation methods into Jingping to make up for its deficiencies in cultivation. The divine power users of both sides complemented each other, and indeed this could bring about terrifying advances in the strength of both.