Chapter 1195 — The Wondrous Art of Transformation

Lady Tianyin shrank her body, but even shrunk to the utmost she still stood a good deal taller than Shen Mu. She led him into her palace and said with a laugh: "You have gone some days without coming to see me. You are a Heaven Venerable now — I have heard some of your old acquaintances speak of you, and they envy you greatly."

"Hard to tell in a word," said Shen Mu. "Why has your cultivation gone so fast, Lady? You are already at the Imperial Throne realm, are you not?"

Lady Tianyin was delighted, and said joyfully: "You saw it too? Ever since I came back to life, I have felt that whatever I cultivate comes with extraordinary speed. In a few years I had perfected the Spirit Bridge. But then Xu Shenghua came running to me and told me he had opened up the Heavenly River divine treasury, and he made me cast the Spirit Bridge treasury aside. Then he taught me how to open the Heavenly Palace, and I found refining it easy enough."

Shen Mu's face darkened. How hard had his own cultivation been? Nothing like Lady Tianyin, who had sailed with wind and water all the way to the Imperial Throne realm.

Still, it was no wonder. When Lady Tianyin had come back to life she had no realm at all, yet her cultivation strength was already a match for the Yin Son of Heaven. With such splendid capital to her name, it was only reasonable that she should reach the Imperial Throne realm in a mere ten or twenty years.

What was more, her mind was simple and undivided. Xu Shenghua, the Woodcutter and the rest had sorted out the foundational runes of the Great Way of the Tianyin Realm, and once she understood her own Way of Tianyin, comprehending divine powers and fathoming realms alike came to her with utter ease.

And the innate advantage of having once been an ancient god let her attain in the Way of Tianyin a mastery no one could rival.

"You have gained a blessing out of a calamity, Lady," Shen Mu said with a smile. "I have a request I scarcely dare make: would you pass on to me your Imperial Throne cultivation art?"

Lady Tianyin was heartily frank. She laughed: "What is forward about such a request? You are my benefactor — what is one cultivation art worth?"

Shen Mu grew grave: "Lady, you must never be so generous with others. If another learned the mysteries hidden in your art, he could devise means to counter it, and it is all too likely that you would perish."

Lady Tianyin was startled. "You are not thinking of learning my art and then using it against me?" She tilted her head and thought a moment, then laughed: "No, you are not that sort of man."

She laughed merrily: "The Yin Son of Heaven deceived me once already, never fear — he shall not deceive me a second time. My art is called the Mystic Art of Transformation-Birth; it is a most wondrous art, for it can bestow a soul upon life that has none."

Shen Mu was struck blank a moment, then asked humbly: "And what powers does this Mystic Art of Transformation-Birth possess?"

Lady Tianyin went blank as well. After a long while she said, vexed: "I have never thought about that. Ah!" she cried out: "When I created this art, I never once thought of using its divine powers to beat anyone to death!"

Shen Mu was staring and silent for a long time, then bowed low and said in admiration: "Thank you for the instruction, Lady. It is precisely because you never sought to create divine powers of destruction in this Mystic Art of Transformation-Birth that you could seek the Way with all your heart and attain the Imperial Throne realm that everyone else dreams of."

Lady Tianyin, all at a loss, hurriedly raised him up, saying: "I do not know whether this art is of any use to you. At the time I thought only of cultivating, of pressing on along the Great Way of the Tianyin Realm; before I knew it I had reached the Imperial Throne, and I forgot to create any powers of mighty force. To hear you speak so only shames me."

Shen Mu straightened his back and smiled: "Rest easy, Lady. Your art is of great use to me. Because you never created powers that take life, you have become the true Lady Tianyin. But in learning your art I must needs take life, and I shall create the way of killing for myself."

Lady Tianyin imparted the Mystic Art of Transformation-Birth to him, explaining in detail her comprehension at every step of the art, omitting nothing, great or small, concealing nothing at all.

Shen Mu listened quietly to her exposition, and unknowingly fell into a trance of attention.

In truth, as he saw it, in every realm she expounded of the Way of Tianyin there were countless chances to draw out the venomous, terrible aspects of the Mystic Art of Transformation-Birth and turn them into powers of incomparable ferocity.

Yet Lady Tianyin seemed wholly unaware of how fearsome her own art was; she leaned with single-minded devotion toward the bestowal of souls upon soulless life.

He could not but marvel at the purity and clarity of Lady Tianyin's mind; but where she would not lean toward the taking of life, he could not help letting his thoughts run that way, and one after another power of appalling might and sinister venom took shape in his mind.

Some days passed, and Shen Mu had comprehended the Mystic Art of Transformation-Birth through and through. Lady Tianyin picked out certain hard and doubtful points and questioned him, to see what he had grasped.

Shen Mu answered them one by one, but his answers were not quite what Lady Tianyin had expected — one might even say they ran counter to her own way.

Lady Tianyin said, annoyed: "You look a very clever man, but in truth you are a very stupid one; everything you say is wrong! And yet it sounds so reasonable. How very strange..."

She tilted her head and thought, and still could not understand it.

Shen Mu laughed aloud: "Lady, the Mystic Art of Transformation-Birth is your comprehension; you have your own understanding of it. But once you taught it to me, the art I have come to after my own study is mine, and no longer the one you taught. I would dearly like you to keep that pure heart of yours forever, and never set foot in the domain I have grasped — but it may still be that one day you will walk this road of mine."

He rose to his feet: "Lady, the purpose of my journey is to go to Fengdu. I beg you to grant me that."

Lady Tianyin was still savouring his words; at this she said, disappointed: "And here I thought you had come specially to see me."

Shen Mu said hastily: "I did come specially to see you, Lady. Only, since I am here, I should still make the trip to Fengdu and see an old friend."

Lady Tianyin cheered again and laughed: "When you come out of Fengdu, I shall show you a few divine powers of mine, and you will be delighted."

Shen Mu said that he would be glad of it.

Lady Tianyin led the way: "Yama came to me bearing the Tianyin Pearl and asked for my protection. He too has been kind to me, and so I hid Fengdu away. The Heavenly Court's armies of gods and demons searched everywhere, and never found them. The things that happened to you at Jingping — Wentian the Woodcutter told me of them as well; he sighed over them a long while, and said he had done you wrong."

Shen Mu followed close behind her and said with a mild smile: "I understand the choices made by Kaihuang and by Fengdu, and I can sympathize with them. I stopped blaming them long ago."

"Wentian has in fact gone out many times to seek news of you. He cares for you greatly." Lady Tianyin glanced at him and said softly: "When he heard that you had dug out your own soul and dug out your own eyes, he sat there woodenly for a very long time, and said he wished to ask me to intervene and remake a soul for you. But I did not know whether, with a soul remade, you would still be you — and so I refused. This place of mine is small and there are few people in it. I have seen men weep before, but never have I seen a man like Wentian weep."

Shen Mu was silent, then said: "I know."