Chapter 26 — One Arm Holds Up the Heavens, Strength Grows Ever Mightier

so long as he did not contemplate fire, his vital essence remained ordinary. And to contemplate fire while refining his vital essence into a thread was still somewhat difficult for him. The Headman and the others saw the problem too, and each frowned: Shen Mu could bring out the fire attribute only while contemplating fire, and the water attribute only while contemplating water. In battle that was extremely unfavorable! In battle, would an enemy give you the chance to contemplate fire or water? They had once thought it remarkable that Shen Mu's Overlord Body vital essence possessed the attributes of water and fire; now they were no longer so sure. "Ah! Ah!" The Silent Smith gestured with his hands, smiling in his plain, honest way. The Deaf Elder understood and laughed. "The Silent Smith is right. Shen'er has only just grasped the knack; practice makes perfect — if he keeps cultivating, he will surely master it!" Vital essence of the two attributes, water and fire, was the equivalent of awakening both the Black Tortoise spirit body and the Vermilion Bird spirit body at once: when Shen Mu contemplated fire it was Vermilion Bird vital essence, and when he contemplated water it was Black Tortoise vital essence. In the village, Shen Mu wielded his arm-thick vital essence thread to execute the slaughtering saber art; the saber whirled high and low, again and again nearly cleaving him in two, and whenever danger came, the Blind Elder at his side would ward off the blade with his bamboo staff, lest he truly chop himself dead. To refine vital essence into a thread and drive a flying sword with vital essence, one had to cultivate step by step, using the vital essence thread to command a precious sword and ride the sword to slay enemies — but it was extremely perilous, and only through diligent practice could one wield it at will. The Butcher's slaughtering saber art belonged to the combat-technique school. Though the Butcher had absorbed certain merits of the divine-arts school and could send his saber flying from his hand, the combat-technique school was after all vastly different from the divine-arts school in its moves, and to train in driving a flying sword with the slaughtering saber art was extremely perilous. The Butcher's moves were truly too frenzied, too dangerous; that in his madness he would cut even himself was no empty saying. And the Eight Arcane Arts of the Thunder's Roar that Old Master Huo had taught Shen Mu was purely of the combat-technique school, and its methods could not be used to drive a flying sword. The Nether Demon Metamorphosis Art Granny Zhu had taught him belonged to the arts of magic. The Lame Elder's leg techniques, the Blind Elder's staff art, the Deaf Elder's calligraphy and painting, the Alchemist's pill-refining art, the Silent Smith's blacksmithing — plainly none of these could be used to train in driving a flying sword. So to cultivate the driving of a flying sword, Shen Mu could train only with perilous moves like the slaughtering saber art. At the village entrance, the Headman lounged in the sun with the Alchemist standing beside him. Turning to look back at Shen Mu, who was cultivating the driving of the flying sword with all his might, the Alchemist suddenly said, "The Blind Elder passed the Sacred Pupil to Shen'er; the Butcher taught him his saber art, and there are the Lame Elder's leg techniques, the Deaf Elder's painting... So what of you, Headman?" The Headman turned his head and looked at him. The Alchemist's tone was somewhat aggressive: "Each of us has his own specialty, but none of us is deeply accomplished in driving a flying sword. Your insight surpasses any of ours, your skills are higher than any of ours — why will you not teach him? In the driving of a flying sword, I ask you, whose sword art under heaven could be stronger than yours?" The Headman's face fell, and lowering his head to look at the hands and feet that were not there, he said softly, "I want to teach him, but Shen'er cannot bear it. In the years when I still had all my limbs, I could not bear it either — otherwise I would not need to hide in the Ruins... Do you know how my hands and feet were severed?" The Alchemist shook his head. "By a sword wound." The Headman raised his head and said woodenly, "My hands and feet were cut off by a sword. Whoever inherits my art must shoulder my burden. I cannot bear it, and he, as he is now, can bear it even less."