荒墟牧神 - 四極靈髓入體 - 書海閣

Shen Mu pressed his lips to the second white porcelain cup. It held White Tiger spirit blood. Drinking it was like drinking molten copper and iron mixed with slag—astringent, stinging. Once it entered his body, a piercing pain spread through him. Before long, the stinging faded.

"Not a White Tiger Spirit Body." Granny Zhu shook her head, somewhat disappointed.

"Shen Mu, the third cup," said the Village Head in a grave voice.

Shen Mu drank the third cup—Azure Dragon spirit blood, refined from the great green serpent. This cup made his muscles swell and bulge, his blood swell and bulge, his five organs and six viscera squeezed until he was wretched with discomfort. But the swelling, too, soon faded.

Old Ma's face showed disappointment. He shook his head. "Not an Azure Dragon Spirit Body."

"Then he must be a Black Tortoise Spirit Body." For once a trace of a smile appeared on the alchemist's face, making his features all the more hideous.

Shen Mu drank the last cup, the Black Tortoise spirit blood. It made his body grow light, as though he were steeped in river water—yet this feeling also quickly faded.

"He is not a Black Tortoise Spirit Body either," the alchemist shook his head.

The villagers by the fire all fell silent. The butcher said, "So then, he is just an ordinary man, plain and common."

Granny Zhu burst into tears, choking out, "We are all old, all broken. If we die, he cannot survive. This place is so perilous—he could not last a single day..."

Shen Mu took her hand and said softly, "Granny, don't cry. Granny and Grandpa are good people. None of you will die..."

"Good people? Heh heh..."

Old Ma laughed at himself. "We wrecks were driven into the Wilds and have scraped along to this day. The Wilds are too perilous—without us, Mu'er truly would struggle to survive. We ought to send him out of the Wilds. It is much safer outside..."

The butcher said coldly, "Send him out, and our enemies will find us. We will all die, and he will be dragged down with us. He will die too."

Yincan Village fell silent once more. Then suddenly the Village Head said, "Good."

Granny Zhu was puzzled. "What's good?"

The Village Head smiled. "I said his constitution is good. He is a fine seedling."

The butcher, the alchemist, and the others were all taken aback, not understanding. The Village Head said, "I believe Mu'er must have another kind of constitution—a Tyrant Body, one that combines the strengths of all four great constitutions!"

"A Tyrant Body?" Granny Zhu and the others looked doubtful. They were people of wide experience, yet none had ever heard the name Tyrant Body.

"Yes, a Tyrant Body."

The Village Head said, "Ordinary spirit blood can hardly awaken a Tyrant Body. Only by gathering the blood of all four true spirit beasts can a Tyrant Body be made to manifest. There are no four great spirit beasts in the Wilds, but their descendants are not hard to find. Keep hunting tigers and great serpents, refining spirit blood. Drink enough, and his Tyrant Body will naturally be awakened."

The Village Head commanded great authority. The old men and women of the village, missing arms and legs, were all delighted to hear it. Granny Zhu said, "Tomorrow I will go with old Cripple to catch tigers too! Mu'er, you sleep early tonight—tomorrow you still have spirit blood to drink!"

The crowd dispersed. The alchemist and the mute blacksmith carried the Village Head back to his room. The mute left, but the alchemist did not. He said in a low voice, "There has never been any such thing as a Tyrant Body."

The Village Head nodded. "I made it up. If I had not said so, the people of this village would find it very hard to go on living."