Chapter 1444 — The Blade of Law

"So-so.

" Shen Mu had barely gotten out his modest reply when Zaifu rapped him on the head, and he was forced to say, "Last time I entered the Dao through the blade, I comprehended a single move, Knock at the Southern Heavenly Gate. Since then, nothing. " Zaifu shot him a cold glance, and Shen Mu felt at once as though he had been slashed, shrinking a head shorter.

"Your blade Dao has made no progress, so your sword Dao has likewise made none, I take it? " Zaifu sneered.

"The medical Dao, the painting Dao, the Buddhist Dao, the formation Dao, the Dao of thievery, the Dao of forging—none of them have advanced, am I right?

" Shen Mu admired him from the bottom of his heart. "Grandpa Tu's dharma-eye is without equal—one glance and you see my predicament!

" Zaifu made as if to strike him, and Shen Mu hastily said, "But in divine arts I have comprehended twenty-six heavens! " "You comprehended them from the innate Dao, no doubt?

" Zaifu suppressed the urge to beat him. "The innate Dao—countless outstanding figures past and present have labored over it.

The Ten Heavenly Venerates of the Heavenly Court, the Daoist sects—all of them study the innate Dao assiduously, parsing the great Dao of the ancient gods.

You need only learn it and you can use it; once you have mastered it thoroughly, you can enter the Dao. Even in the Ancestral Court you could comprehend any number of divine arts and Daoist techniques. But why have you not comprehended deeper blade Dao, sword Dao, painting Dao? " Shen Mu pondered a moment. "Because the blade Dao and the sword Dao are both acquired. They must be conjured out of nothing, comprehended by oneself, explored and ordered by oneself. " "And that is precisely why, even having comprehended the great Dao of the ancient gods, you cannot advance a single step in blade, sword, calligraphy, or painting. " Zaifu said, "Shen'er, you have been away from the mortal world too long.

The acquired Dao arises amid the dust and red dust of the world. Since you ascended to the Heavenly Court, what you face above the court are the towering gods, and below the court the holy ones of the heavens; those who scheme and wrestle with you are the Ten Heavenly Venerates. In the mortal world you could comprehend your sword Dao's three heavens in a scant few years, but once you reached the Heavenly Court you advanced no further.

Shen'er, you have grown very far from the acquired Dao. I dare not say now whether you can still keep the original heart of that youth from the Barren Ruins.

" Shen Mu's brows lifted. "My Dao heart is firm. It is impossible that I have forgotten my original heart. " "Is that so? " Zaifu drew his blade, meaning to toss it to him, then thought better of it. He broke a three-foot length of iron off the gunwale of the painted boat and thrust it into his hand. "Seal all your cultivation—the Heavenly Palace, the Divine Treasury, seal them all. Become a mortal again. I will take you to see your original heart.

" "No need for such trouble.

" Shen Mu gave a low shout, closed the Primordial Embryo Divine Treasury, and sealed his primordial spirit inside the treasury as well.

Zaifu glanced at him. "You have yet to seal your mortal body. " Shen Mu's ten fingers flew, tapping point after point across his body, sealing all hundred apertures of his flesh. At once he felt his body grow heavy and solid, not a trace of vital essence within him. Zaifu leaped out of the painted boat.

"Bring your blade and follow me.

" Shen Mu sprang out after him and sank with a splash to the bottom of the river. A moment later he surfaced, then broke into a run, and at last found again the feeling of treading the waves of the Surging River as he had in years past.

Before long they came to the riverbank.

Shen Mu was about to rouse his vital essence to dry the river water from his clothes when he remembered he had no vital essence to call upon. Zaifu walked on unhurried, and Shen Mu followed as best he could. Gradually he sensed again the flow of the wind; his body grew lighter and lighter, and suddenly he leaped into the air, treading the ridges of the wind.

Zaifu came to a small city.

Shen Mu looked around. This should be a new city of Jiangling; he had no memory of it. In recent years Jingping had changed with each passing day, new cities rising everywhere. If Shen Mu went three or five years without returning to the capital of Jingping, he would lose his way.

"Shen'er, there is a tyrant in this city. Go and cut him down with your blade," Zaifu said suddenly. Shen Mu frowned slightly.

"Grandpa Tu, the state has its laws. If he is a tyrant, let the authorities investigate and deal with him. As Imperial Preceptor of Jingping, how can I take a life at my own discretion?

" Zaifu's brows lifted. He looked down at him sidelong and sneered, "Your original heart has changed. Where is the Shen Mu who, in Crimson Dragon City, drew his blade in a rage and went out from the forbidden precincts, splitting Fu Yueting in two with a single stroke?

State law, state law—if state law were truly omnipotent, where would tyrants come from? " Shen Mu shook his head.

"That is the courage of a common man. In the Barren Ruins there was no state law, so we removed such men with the blade.

But Jingping has a legal system. . .

" "The blade Dao is the courage of a common man! " Zaifu roared. "Meet injustice, and level it with a single stroke! Last year Jiangling wanted to build a new city. A tyrant with connections reaching to heaven annexed land.

This place was a village of one hundred and twenty-four souls. The tyrant forced the purchase of the land and drove the villagers out; of those who refused, six died and forty-nine were wounded.

You speak of state law—the villagers went to Jiangling to lodge a complaint, and the tyrant sat in the yamen and pounded the table, demanding, 'Who dares accuse this official?

' Where was the state law? Two of the villagers who accused him were beaten to death with rods. Where was the state law? Your state law cannot reach this place! " Shen Mu frowned. "Why does the Jiangling prefectural yamen tolerate a tyrant's depredations? " "Heavenly Venerate Mu, you are too close to heaven and too far from the earth. You have lost your original heart! " Zaifu sneered. "Your blood has gone cold and your blade dull.

You stand too high; you can no longer see the darkness and filth in the shadowed corners of the mortal world.

You dwell high in the court, surveying all from your commanding height, grasping the great trends of the realm—yet you cannot see the common folk who measure their grain by the pint.

If you were the Shen Mu of old, what would you do? " Shen Mu shook the three-foot iron strip in his hand and strode toward the city, blood and qi surging upward. "I can still wake my hot blood. Who is this tyrant? " Zaifu walked behind him.

"Wei Yong's son, Wei Qinghe. " Shen Mu halted and turned his head to look. Zaifu sneered, "What is it, Heavenly Venerate Mu?

Does Wei Yong's son make you hesitate?

Your blade is rusted through.

You are no different from the Ten Heavenly Venerates. You drift in the heavens year after year, never touching the earth's breath, never touching the mortal world. You have gone dull. You are no longer fit to wield a blade. Get out. Go back to your Heavenly Court and be your Heavenly Venerate!

" Shen Mu's blood surged, killing intent soaring to the heavens. Gripping the three-foot iron strip, he strode toward the bustling heart of the city.

"Which one is Wei Qinghe?

" He stopped a man and asked.

"You don't even know Wei Qinghe? " The man laughed. "That's the famous Heavenly Venerate Wei of Jiangling's new city, His Excellency Wei!