Chapter 111 - An Encounter in the Woods
“Many thanks, brother Shi! I’ll rely on you then.” The young Taoist warrior was all smiles, and he quickly took out several pieces of magic paper, a bottle of yellow ink, and a heavenly stone of the earth element. Shi Mu placed and ordered the stuff on his desk, and then spread one piece of magic paper before him. With brush and stone in hand, Shi Mu lost no time in drawing magic characters, which, one-by-one, filled the paper within half an hour. When the last stroke was finished, a brand-new Golden Armour charm was completed.
Shi Mu felt quite gratified at the result - this kind of charm had been the most frequently requested during the war, thus his proficiency in drawing it had saved him the trouble of making use of his supernatural eyesight. He could probably even make it with eyes closed.
Returning the remaining ink, paper, and stone to the Taoist warrior, along with the completed paper charm, Shi Mu smiled gently. He was friendly to all except those who bear enmities against him.
“Brother Shi is just superb at making charms! The charm Adepts of our sect can no long compare with you. They’d waste a dozen pieces of paper and other items without making one charm successfully.” The Taoist warrior took his charm and paid a tribute to Shi Mu’s achievement.
“Hehe, I appreciate that, brother Qin. But I won’t charge you less just because you praise me, haha. The old rule, one charm, two feat points.” Shi Mu made a joke, which he secretly took pride in, and handed his identity token to the Taoist youth.
“Sure.” The youth fished out his own ID token and rubbed it twice; immediately two light dots shot up from his and flew into Shi Mu’s token. All done, thanking Shi Mu again, the Taoist youth exited the room.
Hardly had the youth’s figure disappeared from view, when another blue-robed Black Tortoise disciple walked in, greeting Shi Mu earnestly, “Brother Shi, I’ve been waiting for you for ages! You must make me a Body-Lifting Charm this time!”
Shi Mu looked through his window to find two more disciples waiting outside the door impatiently, which made him grin to himself resignedly. However, White Jade, who had been sitting by the stone table in the meeting room was exasperated by the sight even more. He coldly announced the end of the meeting, and, without turning his head back, went to his room. The image of a soft body floating in his mind, White Jade’s eyes hardened. “Humph! He’d better count his luck! Next time he’ll never make it. A primary Houtian warrior can die at any time in this damned place.” White Jade banged his table and kicked his stool, cursing loudly.
......
It took Shi Mu another hour to finish all the requested charms, and, seeing the added twenty feat points, his face creased into a contented smile. All he had to do now was endure the hardship of war and await his return to the rear base, by which time his accumulated feat points would be of great use. The union of seven sects had gathered all the essential materials at this base, most of which were rarely seen and could only be obtained with feat points, including some precious heavenly stones, powerful magical weapons, as well as some herbs and pills. With enough feat points, even other sects’ arts and techniques were not out of reach.
Shi Mu closed his door and sat cross-legged on his bed. Taking out a small jade bottle, he poured out a Bone-Tempering Pill and downed it. After some time, his complexion changed into an irregular blend of blue and white, and his clothes seemed to bulge, squirming restlessly, as if an invisible vapor stream was flowing beneath them.
Shi Mu did not open his eyes for a long time. Eventually, his face lit up. He had just made another small step forward in the Art of the Heavenly Elephant. It is worth noting that even the smallest advance in this art costs a tenfold investment of time and energy. For the last year, though he constantly received tasks of fighting enemies in every dangerous district and thus led a hard life, he did not slack the slightest in his self-discipline. What’s more, the extreme conditions of war - the killing, the blood shed, etc. - had all stimulated his potential. By now, with the assistance of pills, he had reached the fourth level in Heavenly Elephant Art, not far from the fifth level also, and become a Houtian Warrior of middle stage. Furthermore, due to his Moon-Swallow Art, his Art of Accumulating Spirit Power had also advanced greatly, entering the fourth level months ago. But ever since he had reached this level, the speed at which he crystallized moon energy had slowed down considerably. A month’s effort of accumulated moonlight crystal sized to, at most, as big as a rice grain, and could only enhance his spirit power to the smallest extent. He had not experienced the euphoric sensation of making a spurt of progress in his spirit power by just accumulating a bean-size moonlight crystal for a long time.
But this was not a strange phenomenon. The higher stages of an art requires a greater investment of effort. Shi Mu had a rough estimation that, even with the Moon-Swallowing Art there to facilitate his training, he’d have to spend at least another two years in making it to the fifth level in the Art of Accumulating Spirit Power. Thinking this, Shi Mu sighed, then laughed to himself scornfully, nodding his head. So the old saying is right, one never gets gratified. In introspection, he knew he had been too ambitious, insatiable, and impatient. For any new disciple, to reach such a stage as Shi Mu within two years is indisputably an extravagant hope, not to mention his mysteriously learned Moon-Swallowing Art! In hindsight, the way he got access to this art was unimaginably queer. Who could ever learn a miraculous art of swallowing the moon’s heavenly energy in a dream!
Shi Mu made a self-interrogation in his heart, exclaiming how greedy a human being could be. The realization restored his peaceful state of mind, and, re-closing his eyes, he continued with the training, at an appropriate speed this time.
Soon, night had come. Disciples had returned to the stronghold, one after another, all with haggard faces and worn-out bodies that could only be restored by a good night’s sleep. Apart from the ones on guard, all had fallen asleep.
So it was then that Shi Mu pushed his door open and tiptoed through the mine, making his way to the huge tree at the entrance. Outside the mine, the heavens and the earth were filled with an all-embracing tranquility, and a bright moon hung solitary in the night sky, pouring its clean, liquid light on the earth.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login