Chapter 26 — One Arm Raising the Heavens, Strength Mightier Still

Everyone in the blacksmith shop was struck dumb. Shen Mu's Tyrant Body primordial energy had actually acquired an attribute — and a fire attribute at that, unmistakably the primordial energy of a Vermilion Bird! The Hard-of-Hearing Elder was about to cheer when the Village Head checked him: "Hard-of-Hearing Elder, don't be hasty. Mu'er, observe the water once more. Don't let your mind run wild; keep your heart and spirit fixed on one thing." Shen Mu did as he was told and observed the water again. The primordial energy surging up from his spirit palace turned into gurgling streams, tempering his spirit embryo. The tiny shop was packed with villagers who had hurried over at the news; Old Master Ma, the Lame Elder, the Butcher, the Alchemist, and the Blind Elder had all squeezed in, and they watched Shen Mu observe the water without daring to draw a loud breath. The Village Head's voice came again: "Do you remember the spear art the Blind Elder taught you? Imagine that a spear rests in your hand — thrust it out!" Shen Mu raised his hand and thrust. The spear point flickered, shaking out one great circle after another. In the instant he thrust with an empty hand, his primordial energy burst forth as snow-white vapor and actually took the form of a long spear in his grasp, while the sound of babbling water rose and the vapor, like a water dragon, was shaken into circle after circle! "Done... it's done..." Old Master Ma wept for joy, tears streaming as he said, "At last it's done — all these years of toil have not been in vain... Mu'er, you have grown up..." He could not keep himself from turning his head away and wiping his tears with his one remaining arm. A simple, honest smile hung on the Lame Elder's face as he murmured, "Our Mu'er can survive in the Ruins now... Damn it, Old Ma, stop wiping your eyes — you'll have me in tears too! Old Mother Si has gone to Crimson Dragon City to do her shopping, so she's not here, but if she were, she'd be the one crying hardest!" "What are you crying about?" The Alchemist's eyes were red, but he smiled: "We should be laughing! Even if we all die of old age someday, Mu'er will be able to live on by himself. This is a wonderful thing — we should laugh out loud!" "Indeed, indeed!" The Hard-of-Hearing Elder roared with laughter. "Alchemist, I've never been persuaded by you before, but those words persuade me!" The little shop rang with laughter that shook heaven and earth and soared to the clouds. Watching these elated old men around him, Shen Mu felt warm currents surging through his heart. These old men — each bearing some disability, each with faults of one sort or another, each with a face fierce enough to scare a demon — were his kin, the dearest kin he had! Then, suddenly, Granny Zhu's voice came from outside the door, laughing: "You pack of old fools, what are you cackling about in there?" Shen Mu was both startled and overjoyed — Granny Zhu had finally come back from Crimson Dragon City! Before long the Lame Elder blurted out the great good news, and Granny Zhu was both astounded and delighted, her eyes reddening as she laughed: "A good thing, a good thing — Mu'er has finally grown up... This is a good thing..." She thought of eleven years of bitter hardship, and the tears spilled over. The little old woman sat down, wiping her eyes: "If we die someday, Mu'er will still be able to live on... Don't touch me — my eyes are just too big, that's all, and the wind has blown sand into them..." The Village Head let out a quiet sigh of relief. The dark cloud coiled about his heart had at last scattered, now that Shen Mu's Tyrant Body primordial energy bore an attribute. Since Shen Mu could harness his primordial energy and make it unleash its power, his identity as a "Tyrant Body" was confirmed, and the crisis hanging over the village was resolved. And yet, vast as his arts were, he could not help but wonder: how had Shen Mu's Tyrant Body primordial energy acquired an attribute all at once? What was stranger still was that the attributes were water and fire! For, as everyone knew, a spirit body had a single attribute — it was absolutely impossible to have two. Shen Mu was clearly of ordinary aptitude, and yet he had two attributes, and fire and water at that, which could never coexist. That was the very heart of the mystery. "Does an ordinary person always awaken two spirit bodies once his spirit embryo awakens?" He felt a little lost. "What exactly did the Mute teach him, that his primordial energy should have taken on water and fire attributes? Could other ordinary people do the same?" He knew that in recent days the villagers had exhausted every device to make Shen Mu's Tyrant Body primordial energy unleash its power: the Alchemist had tried medicinal supplements; the Lame Elder, the Butcher, and Old Master Ma had driven him through frantic training; the Blind Elder had grudgingly imparted his Holy Eye; the Hard-of-Hearing Elder had tried to bring Shen Mu into the Dao through calligraphy and painting, so that he might paint out divine powers. But what means the Mute had employed, he did not know. He had never dreamed that the one to rouse the might of the Tyrant Body's primordial energy would turn out to be the Mute. All he knew was that the Mute had made Shen Mu observe fire and observe water. How observing fire and water could give Shen Mu's primordial energy attributes of fire and water — that subtle mystery was beyond him. The Mute was the village blacksmith and had never once shown his hand. In the village, the Blind Elder was the most amorous, the Butcher the most ostentatious, the most warm-hearted was the ice-cold Old Master Ma, the most sinister was the ever-effusive Lame Elder, the most solid and dependable was the Alchemist, the most free of worldly desires was the Hard-of-Hearing Elder, the most changeable was the hunchbacked Granny Zhu, and the most taciturn of all was the Mute. Of the Mute the Village Head knew next to nothing — only that someone had cut out his tongue, that he was a master hand at artifact forging, and that he scraped out a living making kitchen knives, plows, hoes, and the like for the villagers of nearby settlements. From the way he had guided Shen Mu and made his primordial energy erupt with power, the Mute's cultivation and attainment were probably the highest in the village after his own. "Mu'er, can you refine your qi into a thread now?" Granny Zhu asked expectantly. Shen Mu tried to gather his primordial energy into a fine thread. The next moment, his primordial energy burst out of him — as thick as an arm, wreathed in flames. This huge, coarse "primordial thread" wrapped itself around the cleaver and chopped down, and the log before him, as thick as a bucket, split clean open — a frightful display of force! The villagers gawked at the arm-thick thread and were all left speechless. Shen Mu's thread was certainly mighty enough, but refining qi into a thread meant refining primordial energy into a fine and delicate filament, so that it became all the more nimble and versatile — able to control a treasured sword, drive a flying sword with qi, and execute many techniques that could not be used at ordinary times. What Shen Mu produced could not be called a thread; it might more properly be called a primordial arm. A primordial thread this thick devoured a prodigious amount of energy, besides. The Lame Elder scratched his head and said, "I think a primordial arm is fine too. It's like sprouting an extra arm — no small advantage in a brawl." Everyone did not know whether to laugh or cry. Granny Zhu shook her head. "A primordial thread is far more agile. A primordial arm is too thick and coarse — in toughness, strength, and agility it is far inferior to a thread. Mu'er, you must refine your qi into a thread as soon as possible." Shen Mu nodded. It was only while observing fire that he could make his primordial energy reveal a fire attribute, like Vermilion Bird primordial energy; as s