Chapter 35 — Storm Clouds Rise Over the Market of the Desolate City

"Eat. Strong!"

In the valley of the Misfortune-Averting Palace, Shen Mu took out a Condensed Essence Pill he had refined himself, the size of a fist, and gestured with it toward the Xuanliao Demon Ape. "Strong. Sturdy!"

The Xuanliao Demon Ape scratched its head, took the Condensed Essence Pill, and swallowed it. There was no reaction at all. Doubtfully it said, "Strong?"

Then suddenly, the Xuanliao Demon Ape went berserk. Its fur grew wildly all over its body, and a sapling sprouted from the top of its head, which then grew into a great forked tree branch.

—It must have been that a tree seed had fallen into the Xuanliao Demon Ape's fur, and stimulated by the Condensed Essence Pill, it had begun to grow madly.

Its size too was growing madly, its muscles bulging without cease, its bones growing thicker and more powerful, stretching the Xuanliao Demon Ape until it howled and roared, smashing this way and that. Shen Mu stepped forward to stop it, and was hammered to the ground by a single punch from the Xuanliao Demon Ape. The ape's second punch struck the ground, jarring him up out of the soil, and then he was sent flying by another punch.

Shen Mu rushed back. The Xuanliao Demon Ape's roars would not cease, and man and ape once more fell to fighting furiously in the valley, beating each other until rocks burst and flew in all directions.

After this Xuanliao Demon Ape had taken the Condensed Essence Pill Shen Mu had refined, its frame had grown larger and stronger, and its strength had risen by a great margin. When Shen Mu faced it head-on, his own strength was actually crushed by it—he simply could not contend with the Xuanliao Demon Ape in raw power.

Left with no other choice, Shen Mu could only transform his vital essence into the fire attribute. His scalding vital essence circulated within his body, and on the skin of his back there faintly emerged the dragon markings of a great dragon, the dragon's four limbs joined to his four limbs, the dragon's claws positioned exactly at the place of his palms, overlapping with his fingers.

A five-clawed fire dragon!

The fire-attribute vital essence belonged to Vermilion Bird vital essence, but Shen Mu was not a Vermilion Bird spirit fetus—he was a human-form spirit fetus. The dragon markings that appeared on his back were not an effect brought about by his vital essence, but an effect brought about after he had practiced the Eight Formulas of Thunderous Resonance that Old Man Huo had taught him.

Old Man Huo's Eight Formulas of Thunderous Resonance, in the circulation of vital essence, were incomparably marvelous. The course of the vital essence within the body formed a dragon marking that spread over the whole body. If it were Old Man Huo, a Azure Dragon spirit body, performing the Eight Formulas of Thunderous Resonance, his vital essence would carry the attributes of wood and thunder, and the dragon marking on his back would be azure, interwoven with thunder.

But Shen Mu had not refined Azure Dragon vital essence, and could only use Vermilion Bird vital essence, so beside the dragon marking on his back there were clusters of fire clouds.

Only when he urged the Eight Formulas of Thunderous Resonance into motion would the dragon marking and fire clouds emerge on his body. So long as he did not use the Eight Formulas of Thunderous Resonance, these strange patterns would gradually dim and vanish.

As Shen Mu circulated his vital essence, his strength increased greatly, and at last he was able to stand against the Xuanliao Demon Ape head-on. But the Xuanliao Demon Ape had gone berserk and did not follow any normal rules in its attacks; it would trade blows just to land one on him. In the end, man and ape alike were black and blue, lying flat on their backs on the ground, panting heavily, unable to move.

The great forked tree on the Xuanliao Demon Ape's head had already grown into a tree as thick as a water bucket, hung with bright red fruit. The medicinal power of the Condensed Essence Pill faded, and the great tree stopped growing.

There was indeed something wrong with this batch of Condensed Essence Pills Shen Mu had refined. The medicinal power was too strong, too fierce, not so balanced and gentle. It was only because the Xuanliao Demon Ape's body was powerful enough to withstand the impact of the medicinal power; any other martial artist at the spirit fetus stage would likely have been burst apart and killed by it.

Now that the medicinal power was exhausted, the Xuanliao Demon Ape's body began slowly to shrink, but it was still much taller than before, and much more robust, which made Shen Mu feel that there was probably something a little wrong with the Condensed Essence Pills he had refined.

Still, judging from the Xuanliao Demon Ape's behavior, the problem should not be great—and even if there was a problem, it was a good thing.

He plucked a fruit from the tree on the Xuanliao Demon Ape's head, peeled it, and ate it. It was very sweet and moist in the mouth, and carried a medicinal fragrance.

The Xuanliao Demon Ape sat up and pulled the great tree off its own head. The tree's roots had crawled all over its face. The Xuanliao Demon Ape stripped off a handful of leaves and fruit and ate them slowly.

Shen Mu handed it the remaining Condensed Essence Pills and instructed, "You may only eat one at a time. You absolutely must not eat more. Also, if you want to fight, go out and find other strange beasts to fight. You cannot tear down the Misfortune-Averting Palace."

The Xuanliao Demon Ape's eyes shone. It hurriedly put the Condensed Essence Pills away and nodded repeatedly.

The Condensed Essence Pills Shen Mu refined were too large. The pills a pill master refined were only the size of a little finger, while his, because his technique was unrefined, were the size of an ordinary person's fist. Thus this batch of Condensed Essence Pills was not great in number—only a little over twenty.

Shen Mu left with peace of mind. After he had gone far, the Xuanliao Demon Ape immediately took out one absurdly large Condensed Essence Pill and hurried off in high spirits to the nearest strange beast territory to settle a score.

The strange beast next door had a grudge against it, often invading its territory, plundering wild beasts to fill its belly, and had beaten it soundly several times. Shen Mu's palm print was on the cliff wall, and that strange beast knew another master had arrived, so it had not invaded for some time recently.

The Xuanliao Demon Ape arrived at its enemy's place, opened its mouth, and swallowed that Condensed Essence Pill. With a roar, it charged into the enemy's territory.

Two days later, the day of the temple fair finally arrived. Granny Zhu brought cloth, Old Man Huo brought some furniture he had newly made, the pill master carried a medicine basket on his back, and the butcher placed a strange beast the Lame Elder had captured yesterday onto the cart—he probably intended to slaughter and sell meat at the fair. The butcher sold the meat, the Lame Elder took a share of the money; the two had a clear division of labor.

The Silent Craftsman also brought his furnace and blacksmithing tools, the Deaf Elder brought brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and they called Shen Mu along. The group hitched up the ox cart and headed for Granny Temple.

The ox cart was stuffed to the brim with things, rumbling and creaking as it rolled toward Granny Temple. Shen Mu drove the ox cart, his spirits not high. Going to market was the sort of thing that had once held some attraction for him as a child, but now his horizons were much broader than before, and going to market was no longer so interesting.