Chapter 59 — The Third Awakening

At the mouth of Yincan Village, the village head, Old Master Huo, Deaf Grandpa, Blind Grandpa, and the rest stood staring blankly at the grand ceremony in the neighboring village, their hearts swelling in spite of themselves. Who could have imagined that the Nether Demon Cult, foremost of all the demonic sects, the illustrious Nether Demon Cult, would meet its future cult leader here in this poor backwater? A young cult leader not yet twelve years old? They had witnessed it with their own eyes, and it felt like watching a legend unfold; even the bright sunlight had turned strange and garish.

Granny Zhu suddenly burst into tears and choked out, "He will leave us. .

.

" "This is a good thing, Granny.

" The alchemist smiled gently. "A fledgling must grow up someday. It must fly out to see the wider world beyond, must battle the wind and waves, must leave home to witness the world's cruelty.

We cannot keep him forever at the side of us crippled old folk.

" Blind Grandpa's face was calm; he said unhurriedly, "A legend begins the moment he takes his first step out of the village. " The Silent Craftsman, smiling, gestured twice with an "ah, ah," and Deaf Grandpa laughed.

"You're right.

Shen'er's future is certain to be far richer and more varied than ours. " On the banks of the Surging River, one after another of the splendid, luxurious tower ships came sailing in and moored along the shore. Many villagers of the Heavenly Demon Village left the village in twos and threes; some trod the void and departed, some boarded the tower ships and sailed off, some transformed into strange beasts and slipped away into the mountain forests, some became firelight and flew off, and some escaped through the water. Each had his own peculiar skills.

Shen Mu watched, dazzled. Though he had defeated them at the spirit-embryo stage, he had none of these people's outlandish arts.

"Young Cult Leader, farewell! " A woman waved at him, then let her body topple backward into the river and became a splash of water that flowed off downstream.

Shen Mu waved back. He did not know whether they were good people or bad; he only knew that he had somehow become their young cult leader. When he walked out of the Wasteland one day, surely he would meet them again.

"For forty years our Holy Cult has infiltrated the Wasteland, searching for word of the cult leader's widow, and now at last our merit is complete. Brother Daoist, Cult Leader's Widow, you should know that for forty years our Holy Cult has never stirred, has had no cult leader to hold the scene, has lost its backbone — and now the Holy Cult stands in deadly peril. " The young Patriarch too rose to take his leave, saying to the village head, Granny Zhu, and the others, "Choosing a young cult leader now will steady people's hearts for a time, and no longer than that. The Imperial Preceptor Jingping casts a covetous eye on our Holy Cult and means to bend it to his use.

While I live, I can stall him a few years. So when the young cult leader comes of age, he must be made to leave the Wasteland and formally become the Holy Cult's cult leader. " The village head looked at Granny Zhu; Granny Zhu nodded and said, "Rest easy, Patriarch. I killed one Holy Cult leader, and I will surely give you another in return. When he comes of age he will go to the Holy Cult and take the reins of power, as you wish.

" The young Patriarch summoned the Punishment Elder, bowed to the assembly, turned and walked toward the Surging River. Old man and youth, in hempen clothes and straw sandals, leaning on their staffs, trod the river and drifted away. Blind Grandpa, both hands on his bamboo staff, sang out loud, his vast, desolate voice echoing back and forth across the banks of the Surging River.

"One straw cloak, one bamboo hat, one little boat; one ten-foot silk line, one inch-long hook; one song sung high, one cup of wine; one man alone fishing a river of autumn! Patriarch of the Demonic Cult, you and I have grown old, and who knows whether we shall meet again.

Farewell!

" Out in mid-river, the young Patriarch halted, turned back, and waved to the crowd. "Everyone, farewell! Haha!

" He sang aloud: "An old man of eight hundred writes his idle sorrows; his heart's ambition fulfilled, his heart at rest; after death he soars triumphant beyond the clouds; the clouds fly high, the waters flow! " Blind Grandpa praised him.

"Worthy of the Demonic Cult's Patriarch — he has seen through life and death, deems his own life complete, and after death will look down laughing on the shifting fortunes of the mortal world! " The village head said unhurriedly, "That is what a Great Grandmaster is.

Blind Grandpa, you are not far from that state of mind. " "Still so sentimental.

" Deaf Grandpa laughed.

"Blind Grandpa just drags out poems at random — utter nonsense, fitting neither the mood nor the scene.

The Demonic Cult Patriarch's verse, now, fits both mood and scene, and lacks no heroic spirit either. " Blind Grandpa stammered, "You don't understand poetry — all you understand is getting by!

" Everyone roared with laughter.

Shen Mu smiled too, gazing at these cheerful people.

Though each of them was crippled in one way or another, their spirits were incomparably strong and whole. "My kin.

.

. " Suddenly he felt a surging power welling out from between his brows.

Startled, Shen Mu hurried to look inward at the primal-embryo divine treasury, and could not help but start. "My spirit embryo has awakened again!

" His spirit embryo had awakened three times already. The first was when it merged with his consciousness and awakened; the second was when he watched fire and water in the smithy, and the spirit embryo sank into silence and then awakened a second time.

This time, after three hundred and sixty chambers of tempering, his spirit embryo had once more absorbed the golden light within the divine treasury and fallen silent again.

Only this silence had lasted a long while, and only now had it finally awakened.

What changes would this awakening bring him?

"Awakened again? " The faces of the crowd turned strange. Shen Mu told them of his spirit embryo's third awakening, and the village head, the alchemist, Old Master Huo and the rest all began to look very odd indeed.

Other people's spirit embryos awakened only once — why did Shen Mu's fall silent and awaken again at the drop of a hat?

"Do the Four Great Spirit Bodies also awaken three times?

" Shen Mu asked. The others exchanged glances, each shook his head, then all turned in unison to the village head.

The village head's head ached.

He muttered inwardly that Shen Mu awakening once was one thing, but awakening again and again, and now a third time, left even him baffled. "It is the Overlord Body. " The village head coughed, and pinned squarely upon the Overlord Body a thing he himself did not understand. "You people are too lacking in knowledge," he said mildly. "What is the Overlord Body's cultivation art called? The Mystic Body Three-Cinnabar Art!

What are the Three Cinnabars?

The first awakening is the First Cinnabar, the second awakening is the Second Cinnabar, the third awakening is the Third Cinnabar.

Now that Shen'er has awakened a third time, it shows that his Mystic Body Three-Cinnabar Art has achieved something.

Shen'er, no pride allowed!

" Shen Mu hastily nodded.

"I will surely not be proud. " The alchemist said with a half-smile, "And if Shen'er awakens a fourth time?

Would that be a fourth cinnabar? " The village head, furious with embarrassment, wished he could fling himself on the man and stick a pair of knives in his ribs.

Yet the alchemist was not wrong: what if the boy's spirit embryo really did awaken a fourth time? How would he patch that lie together then?

"Ahem. Shen'er, this third awakening of your spirit embryo — what is different about it? " The village head changed the subject.

Shen Mu examined his spirit embryo carefully.