Chapter 179 — The Returning Elixir Great Tonic Divine Art

The Dragon Qilin slipped into the lake and stirred up wind and waves. On the water's surface, the Daoist came hurrying over, a whisk clutched in his hand; he shook it at the lake below, and countless filaments of the whisk spilled down over the water like a vast fishing net, meaning to snare the Dragon Qilin in the lake.

A thunderous boom.

The lake's surface shuddered violently. The Daoist gave a stifled grunt; the whisk in his hand burst apart, leaving him nothing but the handle. Knowing himself no match for this Dragon Qilin, he turned and fled at once, shouting, "You monsters! You bathe in the imperial Jade Dragon Lake, and you dare strike me? Wait for your heads to be cut off!"

Before long, the scholars of the Imperial Academy came streaming out of the Pure Yang Hall toward the Scholars' Lodge. Today the Pure Yang Hall's lecture had been given by Daoist Lingyun; what the Pure Yang Hall taught was the way of refining qi, and Daoist Lingyun was famed for the depth of his cultivation, having refined his essence to the level of pure yang.

The scholars had not yet reached the Scholars' Lodge when all at once they halted, turning their heads in astonishment, every one of them frozen where he stood.

A red fish came flying through the air, so enormous it beggared belief. Its body was covered in red scales, and horns like a dragon's grew from its head; from years upon years of absorbing the nine dragons' qi of this place, its fish's head had grown somewhat dragon-like, half fish and half dragon, its mouth full of sharp teeth, exceedingly fierce.

Only now this great fish was bound by several strands of essence, unable to move; a demon wind bore it up, carrying it straight toward the Scholars' Lodge, and the scholars stared, eyes fixed.

Behind the great fish came a Dragon Qilin even more immense; it ran as it shook the water from its body, and a white fox stood atop the Dragon Qilin's brow, rousing the demon wind that held up the great fish.

The Dragon Qilin, fox and all, came roaring into the Scholars' Lodge, then flung the great fish with a thud into Doctor Shen's courtyard; the little fox slipped in after it and shut the door.

One scholar murmured, "That fish... it looks like one of the fish kings of Jade Dragon Lake, the Red Dragon Carp. It's the dish the Emperor serves his civil and military ministers at the New Year's feast..."

Another scholar beside him, his face likewise blank, murmured, "Last year my old master was graced by the Emperor's favor and got to taste a mouthful of the fish soup at the Imperial Dragon Banquet. He praised it without end, and to this day he tells me now and then that it is a delicacy such as exists nowhere else on earth... but that Red Dragon Carp was only a foot or so long. This one..."

Before the other scholars could collect themselves, Shen Mu's door opened again. The white fox slipped back out, looked all around, then ran to a mulberry tree, spat out a demon wind that felled it, and, riding the demon wind, turned it into curved blades that chopped the mulberry into firewood and carried it back into the courtyard.

The little fox made several trips, hauling even the trunk back into the courtyard, and then thick smoke rolled up from Shen Mu's yard; plainly the little fox and the Dragon Qilin were building a fire to roast the fish.

The scholars looked at one another. Qu Ting murmured, "That was the Tree of Advancement planted by the Venerable Qingshan of the Directorate of Education in the Azure Yang Hall, the tree planted to urge the scholars on to study and rise..."

Before long, a rich, savory fragrance spread through the Scholars' Lodge.

The scholars' mouths watered; they exchanged glances. This castoff from the Wasteland had brought a fox and a Dragon Qilin that had killed a fish king of Jade Dragon Lake, the lake from which the imperial house drew its water, felled the Tree of Advancement planted by the Venerable Qingshan, and now built a fire to roast the fish?

This utter disregard for life and death -- were they trying to rebel?

"Young master, how does it taste?"

From Shen Mu's courtyard came the conversation of a youth and a fox. Shen Mu's voice answered, "Not bad. Only it wasn't salted first, so it's a little bland. Fish is best salted a day and a night; then it eats crisp and tender and fragrant. This fish is enormous -- where did it come from?"

"Out of the lake."

"I see. I once fished by the lake with the Grand Libationer and saw several big red fish, though we only caught a Nine-Dragon Crucian, a tiny thing, but it was wonderfully fresh when cooked. Roasting the fish over mulberry wood was a good idea; there's a sweet-and-sour fruit fragrance of mulberries to it."

...

The scholars of the Scholars' Lodge all wore expressions of gloating. Qu Ting laughed softly, "Doctor Shen is a dead man!"

In the courtyard, Shen Mu turned a thick wooden stake, rotating the Red Dragon Carp over a roaring fire, while the Dragon Qilin governed the heat of the mulberry-wood flame, roasting the great fish crisp without and tender within.

The Dragon Qilin controlled the fire, letting its force seep into the fish's flesh and bone; the mulberry was green mulberry, carrying moisture, and so there was a touch of smoke, and the Snow Fox governed the wind, letting a little of that smokiness work its way into the flesh.

They had also stuffed the fish's belly with mulberry leaves, scallion and ginger; the belly was full of tender fish oil, and as it roasted the oil dripped with a sizzle into the fire, and the blue smoke of the burning oil smelled so good it set the appetite racing.

When the whole fish was roasted through, the Snow Fox at once wielded wind-blade curved knives to cut the flesh from the belly, the fattest, most succulent part.

Her knife work was excellent; every slice was cut just so, and she governed the plate as well, so that each slice fell onto it, each slice translucent, like pieces of soft, springy mutton-fat white jade.

Shen Mu pressed down the fire to lower the flame, and man, fox and Dragon Qilin sat around the fire eating the roast fish.

Something stirred in Shen Mu's heart: he recalled a strange art in the Great Nurturing Dark Demon Scripture called the Spirit-Returning Elixir Great Tonic Art. He roused his essence and set the art in motion to speed his digestion, and soon his belly was empty again; then his mouth never stopped, and he went on eating the roast fish around the fire.

The art's name was strange, and the art itself stranger still.

The Spirit-Returning Elixir Great Tonic Art was cultivated chiefly by eating.

This art could turn whatever one ate into the body's energy, or into essence, strengthening the frame and bones and raising one's cultivation; hence it was called the Spirit-Returning Elixir Great Tonic Art.

Shen Mu's body was thin and weak now, and he needed to make up the flesh he had spent in these days; with a roast fish so absurdly large before him, it was the perfect chance to use this art to greatly restore his body.

This fish was, after all, of a strange breed, living year in and year out in the Imperial Academy and absorbing the nine dragons' qi: first, it tasted delicious; second, its blood and flesh were nourishing. Shen Mu was at the very moment of his body's depletion, and as he drove this strange art, he felt what he swallowed swiftly turn to sustenance and be absorbed by his four limbs and hundred bones.

His shrunken muscles were swelling little by little; slowly, to be sure, but Shen Mu reckoned that once he finished this fish of two or three zhang, his muscles would grow back.

The Snow Fox truly could eat no more; the Dragon Qilin was used to the Scarlet Fire Spirit Elixir and found fish flesh little to its taste, and after a few mouthfuls it stopped. Only Shen Mu still sat there, eating with gusto.