Chapter 19: Overlord Body Awakens
“An oasis a hundred miles downstream?”
Qin Mu returned to the Remnant Elder Village as evening fell. The boy unloaded the treasures from the bamboo raft and carried them back into the village. The villagers couldn’t help but be curious, gathering around to ask questions.
Qin Mu recounted his experiences. Blind’s expression shifted slightly, and he blurted out, “The temple in that oasis is suppressing a lord-level mutant beast, a demon spirit skilled in transformation and very formidable. Her name is Wu Nu. You went to that temple? And you actually snatched all her treasures away?”
Granny Si also exclaimed, “That Wu Nu? I passed by that dilapidated temple once. Seeing how many people she devoured, I gave her a beating. But she hid behind that Buddha statue. I found the statue eerie, as if it wanted to subdue me, so I didn’t kill her. That statue is very strange…”
“I’ve seen her too. She’s very powerful, a great demon matching the strength of a Seven Star realm expert.”
Lame added, “Mu’er, how did you steal Wu Nu’s things and escape from her?”
Seeing that he couldn’t hide it, Qin Mu told everyone about learning the demon language from the canyon ruins and recounted in full how he had used the divine, demonic, and Buddhist sounds to refine Wu Nu.
The villagers listened with wide eyes and gaping mouths. After a long moment, Grandpa Ma exhaled a turbid breath and said, “Promising youth, promising youth.”
Lame, Deaf, and the others nodded in agreement, giving enthusiastic thumbs-ups.
Wu Nu, this great demon with the strength of a Seven Star realm expert, had been blackmailed and robbed by Qin Mu. Truly promising youth! They felt honored by his achievements, as if sharing in his glory!
Mute picked up a few weapons, gestured, and shook his head, making “ah ah” sounds with hand signals, meaning these spirit weapons were of poor quality and useless.
“Tomorrow, I’ll take them to Xianglong City to sell these spirit weapons. I’ll also buy some oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, cloth, and fine wine.”
Granny Si laughed, “I should sell those livestock of mine too.”
Qin Mu’s spirits soared. Go to Xianglong City?
He had grown up in the Remnant Elder Village and had only recently been allowed to go out. He had heard of Xianglong City but had never been there!
“You can’t go. You’re still too young.” Granny Si shook her head.
Disappointed, Qin Mu hesitated, then gathered his courage and said, “Grandma, Grandpa Ma, there’s one more thing.”
“My Overlord Body has awakened.”
The surroundings fell silent.
After a moment, Grandpa Ma, Lame, Blind, and Granny Si all cheered. Mute also made “ah ah” sounds incessantly. Only Deaf, who hadn’t seen what Qin Mu said, didn’t understand why the old folks had suddenly gone crazy—until he saw Qin Mu repeat it, and then he burst into laughter!
Blind shouted excitedly, “Village Chief, Medicine Master! Come quick! The Overlord Body has awakened!”
Butcher was so thrilled he let out a long howl toward the sky: “Village Chief, Medicine Master, the Overlord Body has finally awakened!”
When Qin Mu returned to the village, the Village Chief was in front of his house, and Medicine Master sat beside him, brewing a pot of tea. He poured a cup for the Village Chief, but since the Chief had no hands, Medicine Master lifted the cup to his lips.
The two often drank tea like this, leisurely and content.
The Village Chief had just taken a sip when he heard Blind and Grandpa Ma’s shouts. The tea sprayed out from his nose, eyes, and mouth. Thin streams of water shot up high from the small holes under his lower eyelids.
Crack.
Medicine Master crushed the teacup in his hand, splashing tea all over the Village Chief’s face. Both stared at each other in shock, mouths hanging open, unable to close.
Medicine Master came to his senses and stammered, “The Over… Overlord Body has awakened?”
The Village Chief looked equally dazed, clearly not yet recovered.
Lame limped over, nodding emphatically, and laughed, “That’s right, the Overlord Body has awakened! I just checked. His primal energy is three times more abundant than this morning, purer too. And at his brow, the spirit embryo has awakened, emitting a strange fluctuation—clearly fused with his consciousness! This is exactly the sign of spirit embryo awakening!”
Qin Mu walked over and saw Medicine Master’s mouth gaping as if stuffed with two large duck eggs, while the Village Chief’s lower eyelids were still spraying water. He thought to himself, “Grandpa Village Chief and Grandpa Medicine Master are certainly surprised—maybe a little too surprised?”
Medicine Master closed his mouth and quickly asked, “Mu’er, has your Overlord Body really awakened?”
Qin Mu nodded. “It just awakened without me even noticing.”
Medicine Master nearly choked. “Without you even noticing…”
The Village Chief finally snapped out of it and chuckled, “Mu’er is the Overlord Body—this is absolutely certain. My knowledge is vast, so of course I wouldn’t be mistaken. Awakening is only natural… Ahem, ahem!”
Medicine Master’s expression was extremely odd, and he quickly coughed a few times to cover it up, laughing, “The Overlord Body awakening is great news! But Mu’er, now that you’ve just awakened, you must not become arrogant. Your path of cultivation has only just begun, understand?”
Qin Mu nodded in agreement.
The Village Chief smiled, “Medicine Master is right. The path of the Overlord Body is arduous and must not be taken lightly. Medicine Master, I’m a bit tired. Send me back to my room first.”
Medicine Master understood and escorted him inside.
In the room, the two old men stared at each other. After a long silence, Medicine Master lowered his voice as much as possible: “Village Chief, is Mu’er really the Overlord Body?”
“Of course not!” the Village Chief said decisively.
“Then how did he awaken…”
“How should I know?”
The two old men stared at each other again, unable to explain Qin Mu’s phenomenon. After a long while, Medicine Master ventured, “Can an ordinary body break through the spirit embryo wall?”
“An ordinary body breaking through? I’ve never heard of it. Mu’er is the first.”
The Village Chief suddenly smiled. “Medicine Master, maybe Mu’er really will become the Overlord Body and walk an extraordinary path. Wasn’t that our original goal?”
Medicine Master also smiled. “The ordinary body is the Overlord Body. Mu’er has already awakened his ordinary body. His path as the Overlord Body is about to begin. I can almost see him punching a dragon to death!”
The Village Chief nodded, laughing. “Exactly. Perhaps, with this spirit, this will, he can go further than we ever did.”
The two old foxes exchanged knowing smiles and walked out of the room.
The Village Chief coughed and called Qin Mu over, asking how he had awakened his spirit embryo. Qin Mu recounted how, in the instant the divine, demonic, and Buddhist sounds clashed, his primal energy had surged through the spirit embryo wall and broken through.
The Village Chief’s gaze went blank. He murmured, “There’s such a method?”
He couldn’t help but marvel. Qin Mu’s opportunity was likely unrepeatable for anyone else. The clash of divine, demonic, and Buddhist sounds, combined with Qin Mu’s sheer audacity in daring to learn demon language and demon sounds to counter the divine sounds—this was an act of reckless courage, as if he didn’t know the meaning of death!
Even if someone else had this opportunity, they probably wouldn’t break through the spirit embryo wall. Instead, they would be killed by the power contained in the demon, divine, and Buddhist sounds!
Others might not know the danger involved, but he knew it all too well. That was the power of gods and demons—how could mortals covet it? Mortals who coveted the power of gods and demons only courted death!
Yet Qin Mu had succeeded, and succeeded inexplicably, leaving him somewhat puzzled.
What he didn’t know was that Qin Mu had nearly been killed by the clash of divine and demonic sounds. Only the jade pendant on his chest had protected his life, preventing his death.
The Village Chief carefully examined Qin Mu’s cultivation progress, revealing a look of surprise before quickly masking it. He encouraged him, “Mu’er, cultivate well. Don’t let down our expectations. Now that your Overlord Body has awakened, you are a martial artist, no longer a child.”
Qin Mu nodded firmly.
By then, it was dark. A bonfire was lit in the village. Grandpa Ma and the others roasted the mutant beasts they had caught to celebrate for Qin Mu. Granny Si trotted over on her bound feet and pulled Qin Mu back, saying, “Village Chief, Medicine Master, come over too! Let’s eat and drink together!”
“You go ahead. Medicine Master and I will be there shortly.”
The Village Chief watched Granny Si and Qin Mu walk away, then said in a low voice, “Medicine Master, Mu’er’s primal energy is formidable. In the spirit embryo realm, he is almost the deepest-cultivating martial artist I’ve ever seen.”
Medicine Master looked at the crowd laughing and celebrating around the bonfire and asked quietly, “How deep?”
“At my spirit embryo realm, my cultivation was about the same as his—maybe even a bit less.”
The Village Chief said calmly, “I’m talking about my cultivation at the peak of the spirit embryo realm. And he has just entered the spirit embryo realm; he will continue to grow.”
Medicine Master’s body trembled violently. He stared at him in disbelief and blurted out, “On par with you at the spirit embryo realm? What kind of existence are you? How could he possibly…”
“But he did it anyway.”
—Some readers have been discussing Samoyed as a pet dog. Here, Zhai Zhu briefly explains: Zhai Zhu borrows from Sanskrit. Samoyed is two words: “Sa” means to create or produce, “Moye” means illusory world, with the extended meaning of the Realm of Freedom. Together, Samoyed means “creating the Realm of Freedom.” In that demon language, “Qikedo” is a word Zhai Zhu created, meaning the majestic power of a demon god. The full sentence means: “The demon god’s majestic power creates the Realm of Freedom; ultimate wisdom opens the Realm of Freedom; the demon god of ultimate wisdom uses majestic power to open the Realm of Freedom.” Used in the canyon ruins’ conflict, the thing in the darkness intended to open a Realm of Freedom territory within the ruins for the demon god to enter and annex the ruins.
In the ancient temple, why did the Buddha statue explode upon hearing this sentence?
Because the Buddha’s mother was called Mahamaya. “Maha” means great, and “Mahamaya” means Great Realm of Freedom. The demon language says the demon god of ultimate wisdom used majestic power to create the Realm of Freedom, meaning the demon god created the Buddha’s mother, who then gave birth to the Buddha. This is an insult to the Buddha, so the statue exploded on contact.
Zhai Zhu doesn’t know Sanskrit and is just piecing things together. He doesn’t know if it’s correct, so Sanskrit experts, please don’t laugh.
As for the divine language’s “tian, shi, dui, xi, wei, ling, nu,” it comes from the Chu Ci. It’s a rather bloody sentence: “Tian shi dui xi wei ling nu, yan sha jin xi qi yuan ye,” meaning the heavens darken, the majestic gods rage, all living things are annihilated, and corpses fill the wilderness.
When Zhai Zhu writes divine, demon, and Buddhist languages, he doesn’t write randomly or smash his face on the keyboard. There is actually some knowledge behind it.