**Chapter 83: The Ultimate Armament**
"These statues — one can truly extract many formidable divine techniques from them!"
These past days, Qin Mu had been living among the dragon pillars and temples of Xianglong City, sleeping at night either inside a temple or sprawled upon a pillar, and upon waking he would plunge back into rapt study of the city's sculptures.
Using the Shenxiao Heavenly Eye, he examined the three qualities of each statue — form, qi, and spirit — and contemplated the three aspects of essence, momentum, and measure. Gradually, in his eyes, these divine figures ceased to be mere statues. They became diagrams of how essence flows: form and spirit fused together, momentum commanding and vast, essence condensed from qi, measure driven by flow, power born from the marriage of form and breath.
He was still only a martial artist, far from the realm of divine techniques, yet his mind was already scheming to create techniques of his own based on the methods by which the gods had carved these idols.
Before him stood a sculpture of a goddess treading upon the Yong River. Qin Mu's own essence began to circulate in lively imitation. Suddenly, with a rush, his qi transformed into surging water that burst from his palms — a torrent of power, waves cresting and rolling like a living river. Every palm strike carried the sound of crashing waves, his hands weaving back and forth across his waist until the roar of the torrent filled the temple.
His palm force grew fiercer and fiercer. With a final strike, his qi erupted as a howling river that shot forward four zhang and smashed a boulder at the temple entrance to dust.
This was not a divine technique. It resembled a spell, yet was not quite a spell. It shared qualities with martial arts, yet did not fit neatly into that category either. Something entirely new.
"Forgive me."
Qin Mu bowed deeply to the goddess-treading-river sculpture, then withdrew to the neighboring ancient temple.
Inside this temple stood a deity with a human face and tiger claws, treading upon twin dragons. Qin Mu studied it at length, sitting and lying beside the sculpture, turning it over in his mind again and again.
Three or five days passed in this trance-like state. Having mastered the three rhythms and three aspects of the sculptures, his essence began flowing of its own accord along the paths he had observed. Suddenly, radiant golden light surfaced across his skin, and every motion — still or moving — rang like the clash of metal upon metal!
His bearing resembled the statues themselves. Before and behind him, seven golden discs materialized — their edges razor-sharp, their centers blazing with concentrated golden light.
Qin Mu shifted his stance, forming the Sword-Hand Seal. The discs moved in concert. His essence surged and the light at their centers grew brighter. With a thrust of his sword-finger forward, seven threads of golden light erupted from the discs — thin as silk, like seven slender golden swords of light.
*Shing, shing, shing —*
The seven golden threads lanced forward like lightning, piercing the spot his sword-finger had indicated!
Qin Mu lowered his hand. A deep sword-hole marred the ground where the threads had struck.
"Still not as powerful as Grandpa Ma's fist arts... Wait — when did my essence become White Tiger qi?"
A sudden realization struck him. Before he could ponder further, a violent tremor erupted within his Spirit Womb Divine Treasury. The Spirit Womb drew a deep breath and absorbed every last wisp of golden light from the Golden Sea in a single gulp.
A void seemed to open at the center of Qin Mu's brow. His mind went blank; a wave of dizziness washed over him. When consciousness returned, he found that the Spirit Womb had fallen asleep once more.
"That is wrong. The Village Chief clearly said the 'three dan' of the Supreme Body Three-Dan Art means the Spirit Womb will awaken three times. Why does mine show signs of a fourth awakening?"
Qin Mu frowned in confusion. The Spirit Womb's deep slumber left him with only half his usual strength. Maintaining the Shenxiao Heavenly Eye was becoming a strain, so he stepped out of the ancient temple.
"Young Master, the Ancestor has sent word."
No sooner had he crossed the threshold than he found an old man in green robes standing at attention outside — he had been waiting there for who knew how long. The elder hurried forward, drew a letter from his sleeve, and offered it. "The Young Master is invited to read it personally."
"A letter from the Ancestor of the Demonic Sect?"
Qin Mu set aside the matter of the Spirit Womb's fourth awakening for the moment and accepted the letter. The green-robed elder retreated. Qin Mu unfolded the missive:
*"Junior Cult Master — our parting at the Yong River was already three years ago. They say that in age one comes to understand heaven's mandate. I am old now, and I see that heaven grants me seven more years. I hope that before I die I may see you once more. I eagerly await your ascension."*
Qin Mu folded the letter. The Ancestor was saying he had seven years left to live and wished to see Qin Mu one final time before he passed — to formally install him as the Cult Master.
"Ling Yuxiu asked me to come to the capital of Yankang. The Ancestor also summons me. It seems the time has come to choose my path."
Qin Mu steadied himself. Did he truly want to leave the Great Ruins? To leave the Village of Broken Elders? To leave the family that had raised him?
He summoned the green-robed elder. "Tell the Ancestor I will leave the Great Ruins before long and travel east to meet him."
The elder bowed and departed.
After a moment's thought, Qin Mu made his way to the City Lord's Manor. Dusk was falling. Inside the manor, the Village Chief, the Herbalist, and the others had gathered once more. The old men wore the clothes Qin Mu had sewn for them by hand. He had purchased bolts of fine silk and satin in the city, and though it was his first time sewing, the garments fit well enough. The fabrics were perhaps a touch flamboyant — the Village Chief, the Herbalist, the Cripple, and the rest, in their new attire, looked every bit the part of wealthy landowners. Quite dashing, all things considered.
But it was Qin Mu's heartfelt gift, and the elders were delighted.
"Mu'er, the Village Chief has come out of seclusion. He plans to take you into the Dark Realm within the darkness, to find your birthplace."
The Herbalist waved him over with a smile. "We leave tonight!"
Qin Mu's heart hammered. The excitement was overwhelming; his earlier anxieties were swept aside. He hesitated. "The darkness holds many dangers. Grandpa Village Chief..."
"No matter."
The Village Chief smiled gently. "This old body can still endure. Mu'er — when we enter the darkness, you must not stray from my side. Grandma, give him the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra for protection."
Grandma Si produced a ball of thread from her small basket. With a flick of her finger, the thread shot toward Qin Mu's hand, weaving at blinding speed until it formed a glove.
Qin Mu flexed his fingers and let out a soft exclamation. He could barely feel the glove at all.
The Village Chief spoke again. "Cripple, give him your Emperor's Disc. Hang it around his neck."
The Cripple removed a jade pendant from around his own neck — palm-sized, inscribed with strange characters that shifted and flowed ceaselessly. He placed it around Qin Mu's neck, his face twisted with reluctance. "Mu'er, do not lose this. Your Grandpa Cripple traded a leg for it! The Emperor's Disc — it is worth one of my legs!"
"Do not worry. The Emperor's Disc cannot be lost. Mu'er, take off your clothes."
Qin Mu did not understand but obeyed, removing his upper garment to reveal a lean, muscular torso.
The Village Chief cleared his throat. "All of them. Remove everything. Wear nothing."
Grandma Si turned her back. Qin Mu stripped off all his clothes, leaving only the glove on his hand.
The Herbalist produced a plump larva and squeezed it with visible reluctance. "This blood is the precious blood of a flood-dragon — I went to great trouble to obtain it..."
A small cup of blood oozed from the creature.
The Deaf stepped forward, took up a brush, and dipped it in the blood. He began painting on Qin Mu's back — the image of the tortoise-backed elder wrapped by a great serpent, one of the four stone statues of the Village of Broken Elders.
When the dragon blood ran out, the Deaf had finished covering Qin Mu's entire body with the serpent. He squeezed the last drop from the brush, leaving it perfectly clean. "Mu'er, you may dress now."
The Village Chief nodded. "Mute."
The blacksmith Mute stepped forward. His body shook, and blazing flames erupted around him, coalescing into an enormous furnace — within the fire, something like a god or demon seemed to lurk.
The Mute thrust his palm forward. The furnace shot toward Qin Mu.
When Qin Mu's body made contact with the seemingly terrifying furnace, he felt no heat at all. The furnace shrank smaller and smaller, then vanished into his body.
The Village Chief spoke again. "Old Ma."
Old Ma stepped forward. Buddhist chants erupted; radiant light blazed in ten thousand beams. Behind him, his vast essence coalesced into a towering Buddha, ten thousand rays of light radiating from behind its head.
The Tathagata.
The Buddha figure strode forward, growing smaller with each step, until it vanished into the space between Qin Mu's brows.
"Blind One. Your turn."
The Blind One raised his bamboo staff and tapped it against Qin Mu's chest. "Open your eyes!"
A violent tremor shook Qin Mu's body. He felt a tremendous surge of essence rush from his heart and lungs toward his eyes. A humming vibration shook his skull, and nine concentric rings appeared within his pupils!
The Shenxiao Heavenly Eye, the Azure Heaven Eye, the Jade Heaven Eye, the Cinnabar Heaven Eye, the Radiance Heaven Eye, the Crystal Heaven Eye, the Purple Heaven Eye, the Fire Heaven Eye — all nine layers of the Divine Eye, fully opened!
The world before Qin Mu was deconstructed layer by layer, then rebuilt anew. It seemed his eyes could now pierce through everything.
This was the Blind One's own cultivation opening his eyes for him. Though Qin Mu had not opened them himself, the effect of the Nine-Layer Divine Eye was scarcely diminished.
The world he now saw was utterly unlike his everyday vision — this was the world as seen through the Divine Eye.
The Village Chief's body rose into the air, hovering three feet above the ground. "That should suffice. Mu'er, come with me. The two of us are going to the Dark Realm."
Grandma Si opened her mouth to speak but did not stop him. "Mu'er, be careful. If you meet danger, just throw that old fool Village Chief aside and run back on your own."
The Village Chief laughed with confidence, carrying Qin Mu toward the city gates. "Rest easy, old woman! I will bring him back safe and sound!"