Chapter 396 — The Cage of Heaven and Earth
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
And if it was a pure-yang constitution, why was Shen Mu able to control the Soul Ark?
Doubt welled up in his heart, and he dearly wished to seek out the headman and ask him plainly. All this time he had believed himself to be an Overlord Body, a unique Overlord Body, and from this he drew an invincible conviction; of this he had never once doubted. Now, though, the Sunherd clan chief's words left him doubting and shaken.
After the revel, the old clan chief ordered that the choosing of the Sun Warden continue. The Sunherds were rather bewildered, but they obeyed and returned to the Sun Temple. Shen Mu followed with Ling Yuxiu and the others, and as a highness he was honored as a guest of the seat of honor.
Shen Mu looked down and saw many Sunherds come forward to try to kindle the Sun Furnace, but most could only just light it before it went out of itself; none could sustain it for long. Strangely, however, when some Sunherds kindled the Sun Furnace, wondrous apparitions would surface within it—images of fire dragons, fire phoenixes, fire serpents, fire qilin, and other rare kinds, giving forth strange sounds. Ling Yuxiu and the others found it exceedingly strange as well.
Si Yunxiang said in a low voice, "What appears in the furnace looks like a spirit body, though the spirit bodies here are a little different. " They all nodded.
Of spirit bodies there were the four great ones: Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, White Tiger. The four great spirit bodies were a collective term; each was a broad category, not necessarily taking the form of the Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, or White Tiger—other forms were possible. In the kingdom of Langjuxu, for instance, many spirit bodies were dragon-wolf spirit bodies, and the dragon-wolf spirit body was subordinate to the Azure Dragon spirit body. But judging from the apparitions that surfaced in the Sun Furnace, the Sunherds' spirit bodies manifested as fire dragons, fire phoenixes, and the like, resembling branches of the Vermilion Bird spirit body.
Yet the Vermilion Bird spirit body did not appear to be what was called a pure-yang constitution; it was a fire-attribute spirit body, whereas what the Sun Furnace tested ought to be the pure-yang constitution.
Seen in this light, the Sunherds' spirit bodies could not simply be classed among the Vermilion Bird spirit bodies. Shen Mu asked doubtfully, "Clan Chief, can it be that there are more than four great spirit bodies in this world?
" "The four great spirit bodies? You mean the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise?
" The old clan chief shook his head.
"The pure-yang constitution is not among the four great spirit bodies.
" "So it is true!
" The hearts of all present were greatly shaken.
There truly were more than four great spirit bodies in this world—there were others besides!
"The four great spirit bodies must be what the people outside the Ruins say, no?
" said the old clan chief.
"In this world there are not only the four great spirit bodies, but also the pure-yang constitution, the pure-yin constitution, and certain other, stronger spirit bodies. The talk of four great spirit bodies is merely a saying from the age of the end-times. There are legends among my clan that in those years many spirit bodies coexisted in the world, and the varieties of spirit bodies numbered in the hundreds; but after the great calamity came, many spirit bodies vanished. The people outside the Ruins were sealed and imprisoned, and only the four great spirit bodies remained to them. " Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang exchanged a glance, their faces showing bewilderment and alarm. This was utterly different from what they had heard!
What they had heard was that the cast-offs inside the Ruins were the ones sealed and cursed, never to leave the Ruins for all eternity! If a cast-off left the Ruins, they were to be killed without question!