Chapter 40 — The Wind Blade First Appears, Rending the Vast Sky

Shen Mu's eyes flew wide.

This unassuming staff could be worth enough to buy Jianglong City? "This staff is called Ximiluo—four strands and twelve rings, forged by the Tathagata of the Great Tingming Temple.

It can serve well enough for striking people too, and its value should match that of Jianglong City. " Huo Ye explained: "But the staff's greater purpose lies in cultivation. Take hold of the staff, and when your heart moves, the rings move; once the rings move, the stray thoughts in your heart melt away. It is a treasure for excising inner demons. The twelve rings can sever twelve kinds of stray thoughts and banish twelve kinds of inner demons. When an inner demon is born, a ring sounds, and the demon is caught in the ring and refined to ashes.

The staff divides into four strands—to sever the four modes of birth, to contemplate the four noble truths, to cultivate the four equalities, to enter the four dhyanas. With this staff in hand, cultivation brings twice the result for half the effort. " Granny Zhu's eyes lit up at once, both blazing as she fixed them on the staff in Shen Mu's hand, and she laughed: "Shen'er, let granny borrow that staff for a while.

A great inner demon dwells in granny's heart and has plagued granny for so long! " Shen Mu handed the Fanji Twelve-Ring Staff to Granny Zhu and asked in curiosity: "Granny, what inner demon dwells in your heart?

" "An old fellow.

" Granny Zhu sighed, her brow heavy with worry: "An old fellow that no amount of refining can kill. I have slain him a thousand times over, and still he lives on, dwelling in my heart and making trouble for me! If this time the staff can refine him to death, I may finally rest easy.

" Shen Mu still could not guess what the old devil in her heart really was, and Granny Zhu said no more. The moment the staff came into her hands it burst into a loud clatter, all twelve rings shaking at once, deafening to the ear. Granny Zhu's demonic nature surged to full tide; a dreadful, heart-clutching aura spread over her.

This aura was utterly unlike her—it seemed to belong to another being! Shen Mu could not help shuddering with dread.

Another person truly dwelled within Granny Zhu's body!

Blind Old Man, Huo Ye, Lame Old Man, Alchemist Master, and Silent Artisan all felt their hairs stand on end and hastily retreated a step apiece; even they found this dreadful aura immeasurably perilous! After a long moment, Granny Zhu sagged, returned the staff to Shen Mu, and said: "This thing is useless.

It cannot touch the old devil. Blast it—why can he never be killed!

" Shen Mu took the staff and wanted to tuck it behind his back beside his bamboo pole, but the staff was too long—on his back he could not walk—so he had to carry it in his hand. "Throw that thing onto the ox cart.

You are no monk," Huo Ye said.

"At today's market you have passed, and passed the ordeal. You need fight no more. To have defeated a disciple of the Great Tingming Temple is itself a mighty achievement. But that Chenghuai was not a disciple of the Tathagata—he is far from that rank.

Do you understand? " Shen Mu casually tossed this priceless staff onto the ox cart and asked with curiosity: "How strong are the Tathagata's disciples?

" Huo Ye said flatly: "I myself was once a disciple of the Tathagata. Only when you can defeat me can you be called a true Overlord Body.

" Shen Mu's heart gave a slight tremor. When he practiced boxing with Huo Ye every day, Huo Ye called upon no more than the cultivation of the Spirit Embryo realm—and even so, Shen Mu was beaten black and blue by him.

And Huo Ye had but one arm!

If both his arms were whole, how appalling would his power be?

Shen Mu knew he still had a very long road to walk in the Spirit Embryo realm. The market at Granny Temple would not close until the second day. Come evening, many people began to pack up their wares and move into the temple. The temple was exceedingly broad, guarded by stone statues, by no means an ordinary place; hidden here, the darkness could not invade—a haven of safety.

Shen Mu drove his ox cart inside and looked up to see the setting sun resting on the mountain crest, shining over this Canglang Palace. Only after entering the temple did he understand why Canglang Palace on the map was called Granny Temple—because the main hall enshrined an old woman of kind and endearing face.

The old matron had gentle brows and kindly eyes, like a little grandmother from a neighboring village, yet with a touch of cunning in them; the carving was wonderfully expressive, vivid as life. Shen Mu actually thought she bore a strong resemblance to Granny Zhu and gave her a second look, but when he looked again through his Lingxiao Heaven Eye, he got a tremendous shock.

This kind-eyed, gentle-browed old woman was actually radiating a towering, sky-scaling aura; her divine light coalesced into a colossal, immeasurably massive giant wolf, head raised to the heavens in a roar, as though it would devour the heavens! Besides the main hall there was also a front hall and two side halls, along with a spacious garden and a pond.

But the garden no longer held flowers or grass, and the pond had dried up; at the bottom of the pond lay several bones. Shen Mu leaned in to look.

They looked like fish bones, but huge—roughly six or seven zhang long—and strangely enough, these fish bones actually had a dragon's skull! The Alchemist Master called him back and fetched salve to dress his wounds.

On the other side, Blind Old Man and Silent Artisan were frying eggs; the crested fire-pheasant dragon had laid an egg the size of a coconut and was clucking "cluck-cluck-cluck" in a fuss. In Granny Temple the other villagers likewise began to light fires and cook supper. The sun was sinking beyond the western hills; after the evening meal they would sleep.

Just at that moment, a young man came running into the temple from outside, his face frantic, crying at the top of his voice: "Midwife! Is there a midwife here?

My wife is about to give birth! " The people within rose and looked at him, but no one spoke. Granny Zhu stood up, trembling, and said: "This old woman has delivered children in her time; my hands are practiced.

Can your wife wait a little?

It will soon be dark. If she can hold out until tomorrow, this old woman can make the trip.

.

. " The young man fell to his knees with a thud, kowtowing again and again, and cried: "There is no time! Please, midwife, stretch out your skilled hands and rescue us!

The child is stuck—the village midwife cannot deliver it! " Granny Zhu looked at the setting sun, a troubled look on her face.

"Help!

Help!

" The young man knocked his forehead until it bled and wept loudly: "In the last few years my wife has been pregnant several times, and every child was lost at the moment of birth—born dead! If this one is lost too, my family will have no heir! " Granny Zhu was startled: "They all died in childbirth?

" The young man nodded desperately.

Granny Zhu asked suspiciously: "If she can conceive and carry to term, it is impossible the child should die as soon as it is born. There must be something strange here.

Is your village far?

" "Not far! Barely twenty li from Granny Temple! " Granny Zhu glanced at the setting sun and let out a breath: "Less than twenty li?

You are from Zhang Family Stockade.

That is close—we can make it before dark. Blind Old Man, Shen'er, you come with me. There is something amiss. " Shen Mu was amazed.

Granny Zhu was so queer-tempered in ordinary days—he had never dreamed she could be such a warm-hearted soul.

The man scrambled to his feet and sprinted toward Zhang Family Stockade.