Chapter 22 — The Night-Guarding Divine Statue Reveals Its Secret

In the valley below the cliff, boom, boom — heavy blow after heavy blow came pounding without cease, the thunderous noise rattling the leaves until they clattered and shook, and the birds among the hills flapped away, not daring to linger. In the valley, the Nether Ape sprang into the air, hugged a great boulder to its chest, and from mid-air smashed it down viciously at Shen Mu. Shen Mu dodged aside. Missing its strike, the ape hoisted the boulder and smashed down again, but Shen Mu bounded onto the boulder, rebounded from it, landed on the ape's nose, and stamped one palm across its face. Third form of the Thunderhowl Eight Arts: Nine Dragons Command Wind and Thunder! That palm strike hid nine surges of power. The first surge broke from the center of his palm like an enraged dragon charging and sent the Nether Ape toppling onto its back. Shen Mu's shoulders and hips moved in unison, power coursing through his entire body as every muscle gathered at the center of his palm; the second surge erupted, and the Nether Ape's skull slammed into the ground, splitting the loose stones beneath its head. His muscles writhed over his frame like flood dragons coiling and drove the third surge of Nine Dragons Command Wind and Thunder to explode, the shattered stones beginning to crumble apart. Every muscle in his body leapt violently; the fourth surge erupted, and half of the Nether Ape's head was already buried in the earth. The fifth surge of Nine Dragons Command Wind and Thunder burst loose; a dull tremor came hammering up from the ground, and the Nether Ape's entire head sank beneath the surface! The sixth surge of the Nine Dragons' wind-and-thunder erupted like six dragons charging at once. Yet the very moment it went off, the Nether Ape had already recovered; a fist like a small mountain smashed in from one side, struck Shen Mu, and knocked him flying like a fly! Shen Mu tumbled and rolled along the ground. The Nether Ape struggled to wrench its head free, shook it, and bits of broken stone sprayed from its dense fur, pattering in every direction. Meanwhile, Shen Mu rolled over, sprang up, and came roaring at it again. The Nether Ape, having an exceedingly large head, considered the matter, then jumped up onto the cliff, squatted on the rock face, and waved a hand. "Little mite, no." Shen Mu flew over, feet tapping swiftly across the sheer cliff wall, and ran straight up from bottom to top, hurling himself at the Nether Ape. The Nether Ape flew into a rage. Man and ape stood on the crag, leaping and bounding as if on wings, battling until broken stones sprayed on all sides. After a long while, the medicinal power inside Shen Mu gradually burned away, and the Nether Ape, too, was exhausted to the point of stillness. Neither of them could move; they lay on the cliff, gasping noisily for air. After the burning of an incense stick, Shen Mu recovered his breath, sat up, and regulated his breathing with slow inhales and exhales. Joy rose in his heart: his primordial qi had made no small progress in that short time, tempered tougher and more resilient, reaching every corner of his body and drifting through it in merry delight. More filth caked his skin as well — the medicinal power roused in the fight must have strengthened his primordial qi and forged still more impurities out of his body. Shen Mu flicked a finger, and the finger-wind tore through the air with a shrill whistle, like a sharp arrow breaking the sky! The Nether Ape's heart lurched; it hastily sat up too and took a defensive stance. Shen Mu stretched his limbs, felt how sore his muscles were, and shook his head. "No more fighting." The Nether Ape understood his words, sighed with relief, reached out, uprooted a tree as thick as an arm, stripped a handful of leaves into its mouth, and chewed them slowly; then it laid the tree in front of Shen Mu and rumbled, "Little mite, eat." Shen Mu plucked a bright red fruit from the tree, peeled it, and bit into it. It slipped down his throat moist and sweet. The Nether Ape cast him a contemptuous glance, annoyed that he ate so little, and slapped its chest hard. "Eat! Strong!" Shen Mu, black and blue from its blows, bore the aches all over his body, stood up, and performed the Thunderhowl Eight Arts before the Nether Ape, then slapped his own chest. "Practice! Strong!" The Nether Ape gave him two rolls of its eyes, went back to slowly chewing its leaves, and said with disdain, "Believe, ghost!" Once he had rested, Shen Mu leaped down from the crag, feet striking the cliff face as he raced away: "Tomorrow, fight!" The Nether Ape blinked. When Shen Mu was far gone, it at once jumped up and mimicked Shen Mu's earlier movements in a lifelike fashion. Crude as the rendition of the Thunderhowl Eight Arts was, the ape was boundless in strength after all, and it actually brought out a measure of the art's true spirit — one punch hurled forth rang with the sound of wind and thunder. The Nether Ape stood stunned, then broke into wild jubilation and swung again and again, the air thudding, gales howling all over the cliff, as it bellowed, "Strong! Strong! Strong!" Shen Mu returned to the village. The Alchemist immediately scurried up in a fluster to examine his body, smearing some salve on his face as he asked, "Any sign of anything unusual?" Shen Mu nodded. The Alchemist grew still more flustered. "Grandpa Alchemist, your spirit elixir is truly effective — my primordial qi is stronger," said Shen Mu. The Alchemist finally breathed a sigh of relief and laughed. "This spirit elixir really does work on Hegemonic-Body primordial qi. As long as it didn't kill you dead, that proves my path is right! Keep this vat of elixirs for now; I'm going to ponder other formulas!" And with that he bustled away in high spirits. The Blind Elder came over, leaning on his bamboo staff, and smiled. "Mu'er, are you tired? If you're tired, I'll teach you a first-rate eye art." Shen Mu coughed. "Blind Grandpa, I'm over here. Over there is the outhouse." The Blind Elder turned around and addressed the Butcher, who was sunning himself on the millstone, with a smile: "I've turned it over again and again for a long time now. Your Hegemonic-Body primordial qi has no attribute, so you can't cultivate my art — but this eye art needs no attributed qi, and Hegemonic-Body primordial qi should be able to cultivate it too. Come with me. This art of mine is called the Nine-Heavens Far-Gazing Eye Method..." Shen Mu's head ached; he had always felt that the Blind Elder was not altogether dependable, but he steeled himself and followed. He was deeply mystified. The Blind Elder said he would teach him the Nine-Heavens Far-Gazing Eye Method, yet he had not taught him any way to train his eyes at all; instead he had brought him to observe the village's Night-Guarding Divine Statues. The two sat before the stone statue at the village's eastern corner. The Blind Elder's eye sockets were hollow, yet he stared at the statue with intense concentration, as if he could make out something in it. Shen Mu knew that everyone in the village was strange; even the statues at the four corners were strange — in Hidden Remnant Village, there was nothing that was not strange. These Night-Guarding Divine Statues, though not tall, were tremendously heavy, heavy enough to be frightful, so heavy that Shen Mu could not so much as rock them. His strength was already great, and it had grown greater still since he consumed the Four Symbols Spirit Marrow; of late his primordial qi had begun tempering his body, washing his sinews and scouring his marrow, making him more and more stalwart — yet he could not budge the statues a hair's breadth. As a child, he had often climbed up onto the statues to play, only to be chased down by Granny Zhu and the others, who told him he must not be disrespectful to them. At festivals, Granny Zhu and the others would lay offerings before the statues, light a few sticks of incense, and pray that the statues wo