Chapter 2 — The Fourfold Spirit Marrow Enters the Body
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
The Village Head's voice carried a certain majesty. In the firelight his face flickered bright and dark. "The seven divine storehouses lie sealed, and the martial artist must open them himself. The barrier that blocks the opening of a storehouse is called a Wall—the Spirit Fetus Wall, the Five Luminaries Wall, the Six Harmonies Wall, the Seven Stars Wall, the Heaven and Man Wall, the Life and Death Wall, the Spirit Bridge Wall. The process of breaking through these seven walls is called Wall-Breaking."
One-armed Old Ma stroked Shen Mu's head gently and smiled. "If the wall cannot be broken, there can be no cultivation. Some are favored by heaven—born with the Spirit Fetus Wall already broken, their spirit-soul storehouse open from birth. Such a constitution is called a Spirit Body, heaven-blessed from the start, a natural-born cultivator. Those with Spirit Bodies possess talent beyond ordinary folk by incalculable degrees, and cultivate with half the effort for twice the result. The Spirit Fetus has four attributes, and so there are four kinds of Spirit Body: the Azure Dragon Spirit Body, the White Tiger Spirit Body, the Vermilion Bird Spirit Body, the Black Tortoise Spirit Body. To test whether one is a Spirit Body, you need the spirit marrow of these four emblems."
The alchemist said, "If you are an Azure Dragon Spirit Body, then after drinking the Azure Dragon spirit blood, the Azure Dragon qi will be aroused. Old Ma is an Azure Dragon Spirit Body."
One-armed Old Ma undid his clothes and stood bare-chested before Shen Mu, then turned his back to him and gave a low shout.
At once Shen Mu saw a wisp of azure qi rise on Old Ma's back, running from the tailbone straight to the base of the skull. The azure qi gradually changed, becoming an Azure Dragon, every scale and whisker rendered in finest detail. One dragon claw extended to Old Ma's single arm, and two more claws coiled about his legs.
"This is the Azure Dragon Spirit Body."
One-armed Old Ma put his clothes back on. "Old Granny Si is a White Tiger Spirit Body."
Granny Zhu shot him a glare. "This old woman is not about to strip down to give you old ghosts a cheap thrill. I will manifest it with qi for Shen Mu to see."
Her body gave a slight shudder, and from behind her came the faint roar of a tiger. A white tiger, twelve feet long with piercing eyes, loomed dimly into being at her back.
"Everyone in this village is a Spirit Body. Once, we had our glory. But now we are nothing but a pack of old, broken-down men and women."
Granny Zhu said, "We crippled old wrecks have nothing to give you but these four cups of fourfold spirit marrow—the material to awaken a Spirit Body. If you are a White Tiger Spirit Body, drinking the White Tiger spirit blood will rouse the White Tiger qi in your Spirit Fetus. If a Vermilion Bird Spirit Body, the Vermilion Bird spirit blood will stir the Vermilion Bird qi in your Spirit Fetus to life. And the same for the Black Tortoise Spirit Body."
"Drink."
The Village Head, Granny Zhu, and the rest all turned to look at Shen Mu in unison, their faces full of expectation.
Shen Mu's heart pounded. He had followed the alchemist in gathering herbs and refining medicines, and had been made to swallow no end of strange concoctions—but none so strange as this.
He lifted one white porcelain cup. The spirit blood within was scalding hot—a cup of Vermilion Bird spirit blood. Shen Mu drained it in one gulp, and felt a line of fire run down his throat to every limb and bone, so that in a daze he seemed to feel a roaring blaze kindled inside him, burning until his very blood seemed about to boil.
After a moment, the burning sensation faded.
"Mute, is he a Vermilion Bird Spirit Body?" asked the Village Head.
The mute blacksmith shook his head.
The Village Head said, "Shen Mu, continue."