Chapter 49 — A Crimson Heart Shines Through Ten Thousand Layers of Mist

Shen Mu thought for a moment: the head of the Surging River Sect, Mu Beilan, was of the second rank, and this old man named Gu Lihan was of the first rank—he must be even more formidable. "This old senior is telling the truth," he said to Hu Ling'er. Hu Ling'er asked, puzzled, "How do you know he's telling the truth?" "The mist is breathed out by the dragon soul." Shen Mu pointed at the Dragon Mother's soul roaming through the hall; wherever the dragon soul passed, the mist gradually grew thicker, and wherever the mist passed, dried corpses stood up one by one, as if they could smell Shen Mu's location, and drifted over of their own accord. "This mist can put these corpses into a state neither alive nor dead. It is a means to protect her son, and also a means to protect this great hall," Shen Mu analyzed. Hu Ling'er had noticed that too. After the mist breathed out by the Dragon Mother's soul scattered, those corpses would fall to the ground and lie still; but when the mist enveloped them again, the corpses would revive and try to attack anyone entering. These dried corpses were like guardians of the great hall, guarding it so that no one could seize the Dragon Pearl and interfere with the young dragon's "healing." And the origin of these corpses, no doubt as the old man had said, was the Dragon Pearl at work, draining dry the qi and blood of every martial artist who broke into this Dragon Palace, and using others' qi and blood to sustain the young dragon in the ice. Shen Mu said, troubled, "Senior Gu, though I have the heart to rescue you, my strength is slight. I fear I have the will but not the means." Gu Lihan chuckled. "Naturally you do not have enough power to dissolve the Dragon Pearl's mystic ice, but I do. As long as you follow my directions, you can free me! Once I am free, you can have whatever you want!" His words carried pride; clearly the office of Junior Guardian to the Crown Prince was one of great elevation. "Though this old man is trapped in the mystic ice, my cultivation is still intact. This ice cannot freeze me to death." Gu Lihan continued, "I will use the last of my cultivation to move the sword at my waist out of the ice. Take the sword and slay the Dragon Mother's soul! Once her soul is cut down, the Dragon Pearl will never hold me again! When I get free, I can even give you the Dragon Pearl!" Shen Mu started, and blurted out, "Slay the Dragon Mother's soul? Senior, I have only just cultivated to the Spirit Embryo realm. I am an insignificant martial artist—how could I possibly slay the Dragon Mother's soul?" Gu Lihan sneered. "Naturally you cannot. But with my sword in your hand, you naturally can! This sword of mine is no ordinary object, nor is it that low-grade thing you carry on your back. This is a first-rank sword of the imperial court! The Jingping court gathered the finest craftsmen under heaven and forged it from the most superior treasures! In the kingdom of Yanning there are only sixteen first-rank official posts, and only sixteen such swords, each with its own name! My sword is named the Chubao Sword!" Shen Mu hesitated. "How does this sword compare with the staff in my hand?" Gu Lihan scoffed, "The old monk's Ximilo is certainly very good, and the Great Thunderclap Temple is one of the rare renowned sects under heaven. But how can a treasure forged by one sect's strength be compared with a treasure forged by the strength of an entire nation? In the kingdom of Yanning there are still two or three great sects like the Great Thunderclap Temple." Shen Mu's heart shook a little, and he was puzzled. "Senior, since you have such a treasure, why did you not slay the Dragon Mother's soul yourself?" Gu Lihan was silent for a moment, then said, "I did not see the crucial point at first. When I saw the Dragon Pearl, I meant to wipe out that hidden danger for later generations. In a moment of carelessness, I fell into its trap. By the time I realized I could not escape the ice, it was too late! After I was sealed, I could only defend my yuan qi and keep myself from freezing to death in the mystic ice. I no longer had the strength to command this sword. Do you know how many years I have been sealed here?" He sighed. "Fully two hundred years! For two hundred years I have been sealed here. Simply managing to keep myself alive until now has been no easy feat!" Shen Mu was deeply sympathetic. "Two hundred years of ice-sealing—if it had been me, I'm afraid I would have gone mad long ago. That you've persevered until now is truly remarkable." Gu Lihan sighed. "Fortunately you came. I will use the last of my yuan qi to send the Chubao Sword out of the mystic ice. Slay the Dragon Mother's soul for me and save me!" Shen Mu nodded and said solemnly, "I will certainly do my utmost!" Gu Lihan stirred up the last of his yuan qi, and the sword at his waist actually began to move in the ice, though very slowly. After more than two hours, the Chubao Sword barely exposed its hilt. After another stretch of time, the whole hilt emerged, but the scabbard was still sealed in the mystic ice. Gu Lihan appeared exhausted and said hoarsely, "My yuan qi is nearly gone. Young man, slay the Dragon Mother as fast as you can!" Shen Mu answered, and a strand of yuan qi as thick as an arm flew out, coiled around the hilt, and with a clang the Chubao Sword came out of its sheath, cold light blazing in every direction! Shen Mu and Hu Ling'er felt a sharp pain in their eyes, as if wounded by the sword light; only after a little while did their eyes recover and let them see clearly again. "What are you doing?" Gu Lihan saw Shen Mu's exceedingly thick strand of yuan qi wrap the Chubao Sword and chase the Dragon Mother's soul, slashing again and again without a single hit. He did not know whether to laugh or cry. "What are you doing? Is that any way to drive a flying sword with qi? Who taught you sword control? Who taught you swordplay?" Shen Mu stopped and said, embarrassed, "I don't know sword control, and I have never learned swordplay." Gu Lihan was half dead with fury, his head throbbing, and he fumed, "You don't know sword control, you don't know swordplay—then why do you carry a sword bag on your back?" Shen Mu said shamefacedly, "This sword bag is very heavy. I carry it behind me as a form of cultivation..." Gu Lihan nearly spat blood. Such clumsy swordplay made him wish he could leap out of the mystic ice. "Very well, I will teach you the sword-control art and the swordplay for commanding a flying sword with qi." He suppressed the anger in his heart and said, "Once you have learned it, you can slay the Dragon Mother." Shen Mu shook his head. "I won't learn." Gu Lihan flew into a towering rage. If he had not been sealed in the mystic ice, he would have jumped out long ago and given that little wretch a sound thrashing. Shen Mu said, "Grandma said that someone would teach me better swordplay. If I learned someone else's swordplay, then that person would not teach me." Gu Lihan was choked with anger, then laughed heartily. "Better swordplay? Do you know that the finest swordplay under heaven is the swordplay of Yanning! The National Preceptor scoured the world for sword techniques, gathered them in one place, summoned the sword masters of the world, and jointly created a sword art! A sword art born of the pooled wisdom of all the world's great sword masters—is that not the best swordplay? Does it not surpass those so-called arts that sect founders created by stumbling about on their own? Those so-called sword sects merely inherit their ancestors' legacy, shut themselves off, and think themselves invincible under heaven—little knowing they have been left behind a hundred thousand li!" Shen Mu was dazed for a moment, and felt that his words had real substance; there was no refuting them. Because of the affair with the Surging River Sword Sect, he had no great love for the National Preceptor in his heart, and yet the National Preceptor's magnanimity won his