Chapter 1129: Walk Beside Me
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
hem into this sword. But this sword cannot bear such tremendous power." The Silent Craftsman examined the particles on the ground in fine detail, distinguishing one material from another, and said, "In the proportions of the materials, I could not have done better than he. But... this sword may also be counted as forged!" The Blind Elder was slightly taken aback. The Silent Craftsman brushed aside the dust and drew out a sword hilt from beneath it; a broken length of blade still clung to the hilt, only six inches long. He laughed, "This is the sword!" Shen Mu had thought his forging had failed, and his heart had gone dim; hearing this, he hurried to look, and saw that though only six inches of blade remained, it was still keen, its radiance undiminished! The Silent Craftsman flicked the blade and said with a smile, "Shen'er, you thought too perfectly. You wanted to forge a flawless divine sword that would match your own Great Dao. But how could such a thing be done in a single step? The way of man is to take from the lacking and serve the abundant. Just now, when you forged your treasure, you forged too full, and without meaning to you entered the way of man." Shen Mu half understood, and fell to pondering. "You forged too full, but your cultivation method was not yet full; forcing the divine sword into being left it damaged, unable to bear the burden, and so it shattered. As the saying goes, the dragon that flies too high has cause to repent; fullness cannot long endure." The Silent Craftsman said, "But the way of heaven is to take from the abundant and make up the lacking. The broken sword still remains; take your own abundance and make up what the broken sword lacks, and this shall be your Dao sword. There is no need to insist upon perfection. This Dao sword still requires you to keep comprehending, to perfect your cultivation method and your Great Dao, before it can be made whole. On the day your work is complete will be the day the sword is complete." Shen Mu took the broken sword, and at a stir of his thought a shaft of sword light leapt from the broken blade, brimming like water, mirroring his face. The Silent Craftsman had said he forged too full, and those words were indeed not wrong. When he forged this sword, what he had in mind was a divine artifact that could bear his fifteen heavenly palaces, one into which he would brand his Great Dao runes and brand his comprehension of the Dao as well. Among those fifteen heavenly palaces, six were not yet perfected; the deficiency in his cultivation method left his divine sword greatly lacking as well, and yet Shen Mu had insisted on making it flawless, so that the divine sword shattered. The Silent Craftsman laughed, "This sword will grow together with you. Though it is a broken sword, when it is grown its power will surpass other divine weapons and keen blades by I know not how much!" Shen Mu roused the Mystic Body Three Cores Art, and the broken sword suddenly dissolved into countless tiny particles that flowed like water and shaped themselves into a long saber; then he wiped his hand lightly along the blade, and the saber became a dragon spear. The broken sword changed with his will, but each time it took the form of a different weapon, he had to call upon his own runes to make whole the parts the divine weapon lacked. And in each form, the missing parts were different, and the Great Dao runes required were different as well. Shen Mu put away the broken sword, yet some disappointment lingered in his heart; the deficiency in his cultivation method had left the divine sword broken, and still he longed to forge a flawless divine weapon. "Haste makes waste. Those like Grandpa Silent Craftsman and the Village Chief, who cultivate a single heavenly palace, can instead forge divine weapons suited to themselves. I tried to cultivate a Great Heavenly Court, and instead could not forge one at all." He steadied himself, and from outside came the voice of Dutian the Devil King. Shen