Chapter 20: Human-Shaped Spirit Fetus
The village chief’s expression was calm as he smiled slightly. “Even before his spirit fetus awakened, his primal energy cultivation was already stronger than that of ordinary spirit fetus realm martial artists, nearly matching mine back in the day. Now that it’s awakened, he’ll only be stronger. Mu’er has worked hard for so many years, and with you all nourishing him with countless Four Spirit Bloods, it’s not unreasonable for him to achieve such results.”
The pharmacist was still deeply shocked, muttering, “But... deeper than yours back then? You are...”
“I’m just an old cripple now.”
The village chief cut him off with a laugh. “You can’t measure today’s youth by my standards. What worries me now is that Mu’er’s primal energy has no attribute. How is he supposed to unleash its power? Let’s go over. We shouldn’t keep them waiting.”
The pharmacist’s heart trembled slightly. It was precisely because primal energy had attributes that it could display power. Since Qin Mu’s primal energy had no attributes, he naturally couldn’t unleash its might.
Even though he had awakened his spirit fetus, even though his cultivation base was far deeper than ordinary people, it was useless if he couldn’t exert any power.
The two arrived by the bonfire. The Deaf Elder pulled out his iron ear, washed it in some wine, then stuck it back into his ear hole. He poured the wine into the bonfire, and the flames surged higher. He laughed, “Village chief, we just tested him. Mu’er has awakened his Overlord Body, but he can’t unleash the power of his Overlord Body’s primal energy. You’ve seen a lot in your time—surely you know how to bring out the power of Overlord Body primal energy, right?”
At that moment, the pharmacist felt as if the old man beside him had grown three heads bigger.
The village chief looked up, staring helplessly at the pharmacist beside him. The pharmacist, in turn, turned his head away and clinked glasses with Grandpa Ma.
“Hmm. Is Mu’er’s Overlord Body primal energy strong?” the village chief asked.
The Deaf Elder read his lips and praised, “Strong! His primal energy is extremely tough—hard to break apart.”
The others nodded in agreement. When Qin Mu had faced off against that Qu Senior Brother of the Five Sons of Lijiang, they had already noticed the extraordinary nature of Qin Mu’s primal energy. When he channeled it into the small wooden stick, Qu Senior Brother’s treasured sword couldn’t cut through it. That proved just how resilient Qin Mu’s primal energy was.
The village chief continued, “Is his primal energy abundant?”
The Deaf Elder said, “Abundant to a terrifying degree! At his realm, my own primal energy cultivation wasn’t as good as his!”
The others felt the same way. Qin Mu’s primal energy was so vast it was almost absurd. His spirit fetus had just awakened, yet it seemed as if he had already been cultivating for decades.
The village chief guided them step by step. “Since his primal energy is so tough and so abundant, why can’t he unleash its power?”
This time, the Deaf Elder didn’t pick up the thread. Instead, he slapped his thigh and shouted, “Yeah! Village chief, why is that?”
The village chief nearly choked to death. He felt as if the Deaf Elder had stabbed him twice in the chest. Fortunately, the Mute Elder got excited, waving his arms and legs, making “ah-ah” sounds nonstop.
“The Mute is right!”
The Deaf Elder suddenly understood. “Mu’er’s primal energy is so tough and so abundant, yet he can’t unleash its power. That means the problem isn’t with Mu’er’s Overlord Body primal energy—it’s that our techniques don’t suit him, so he can’t bring out its power. The problem is on our side!”
The village chief sighed in relief and was about to relax when the Deaf Elder added, “So the question is, how do we unleash the power of Overlord Body primal energy? None of us know. Village chief, you’re well-traveled and knowledgeable—what’s your brilliant idea?”
The village chief wished he could sprout two extra arms to strangle the man. Still, he did understand the reason why Qin Mu couldn’t make his primal energy effective.
The four spiritual bodies each had their own unique attributes. For example, White Tiger primal energy had a metallic nature, able to transform into blades and weapons, with strong defensive and offensive power. White Tiger primal energy could form claws to tear opponents apart or shields to block attacks.
Azure Dragon primal energy had a lightning nature, controlling thunder and possessing some healing properties.
Vermilion Bird primal energy had a fiery nature, fierce and domineering. Both the pharmacist and the blacksmith Mute Elder had this spiritual body. The pharmacist’s alchemy and the blacksmith’s furnace both relied on their primal energy’s attributes.
Then there was Black Tortoise primal energy, which focused on defense and water control. When unleashed, it took on the properties of water.
Because Qin Mu’s primal energy lacked these attributes, its power couldn’t be brought out. Though his cultivation was strong, it seemed to do little for his actual combat strength.
But knowing the cause didn’t mean he knew the solution.
“Mu’er, what does your spirit fetus look like?” the village chief asked Qin Mu.
Qin Mu described the strange spirit fetus in his spirit fetus divine repository. Everyone by the bonfire was stunned. They exchanged glances. A human-shaped spirit fetus?
This was the first time they had ever heard of such a thing as a human-shaped spirit fetus!
Qin Mu was also puzzled. “Grandma Si, Grandpa Ma, aren’t your spirit fetuses shaped like you when you were young?”
Grandma Si shook her head and sighed. “No. No wonder it’s the Overlord Body—even the shape of the spirit fetus is different from ours. How enviable. Grandma’s spirit fetus is a White Tiger spirit fetus—a little white tiger.”
“Mine is an Azure Dragon,” Grandpa Ma said.
The Blind Elder said, “Mine is a Black Tortoise.”
The Mute Elder gestured wildly, indicating that his spirit fetus was a Vermilion Bird.
The village chief narrowed his eyes, lost in thought. The four spiritual bodies were blessed by heaven. Their spirit fetus divine repositories were naturally open from birth. They only needed to awaken their spirit fetuses to become martial artists. Even if the spirit fetuses of the four spiritual bodies differed, they were mostly similar, never escaping these four categories.
Some spiritual bodies weren’t White Tiger, Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, or Black Tortoise, but they still fell within these four types.
Thus, the primal energy of the four spiritual bodies had four different attributes.
Qin Mu’s spirit fetus was human-shaped, with no attributes, making it hard to awaken and difficult to unleash the power of his primal energy.
The village chief fell into deep thought, trying to find a way to stimulate the power of the Overlord Body’s primal energy. Even with his sharp mind, he couldn’t come up with an answer on the spot.
Seeing his expression, Grandma Si suddenly realized something and laughed. “Village chief, you know Mu’er is the Overlord Body, but you don’t know how to train the Overlord Body?”
The village chief’s face flushed slightly, and he nodded.
The villagers showed looks of disappointment. The Blind Elder muttered, “You’re the most knowledgeable among us. If even you don’t know the cultivation method for the Overlord Body, then Mu’er’s Overlord Body is going to go to waste?”
Everyone by the bonfire fell silent.
Suddenly, the Butcher spoke up. “Overlord Body techniques are created by people, right?”
The others looked at him, puzzled.
The Butcher grinned fiercely. “If Overlord Body techniques were created by people, and others could create them, why can’t we? Even if we can’t create them, Mu’er can create them himself! I don’t bow to anyone, so my pig-slaughtering knife technique is my own creation. If you’re scared off by the difficulties in front of you, then I’ll look down on you too! Mu’er, don’t let me despise you!”
Qin Mu nodded firmly, feeling a surge of hot blood rush through him. He shouted, “Grandpa Butcher, rest assured! I won’t let your expectations down!”
The Butcher laughed heartily and patted him heavily on the shoulder. The others joined in the laughter, and the earlier tension vanished.
Seeing this scene, the knot in the village chief’s heart also loosened, and he laughed heartily.
“I deceived them, saying Mu’er was the Overlord Body, tricking them into having the courage to keep living. I never expected to get stuck in my own trap, obsessing over how to maintain the lie. I didn’t realize they already had motivation, while I was still worrying about covering it up.”
His heart unknotted, and he felt at ease. Qin Mu’s arrival had given the villagers of the Crippled Elder Village a reason to live, and it had also given him a reason to strive forward!
The pharmacist glanced at him and smiled. It had been a long time since the village chief had been this happy, or shown such a smile.
“I think we have to push the Overlord Body to its limits to bring out the power of its primal energy.”
Under the bonfire’s glow, the Butcher’s face looked even more ferocious as he said fiercely, “No madness, no success. The Overlord Body is stronger than spiritual bodies, and its primal energy must also be stronger than that of spiritual bodies. But the conditions to unleash it must be harsher, so we have to push it to the limit to force out its power!”
The Lame Elder nodded. “Mu’er’s iron shoes need to be thicker. He needs to carry more iron ingots. We have to force him to run faster!”
The Blind Elder tapped his bamboo staff. “His training in the past was too easy. From now on, it has to be doubled to force out his potential.”
Grandpa Ma said, “Right. To force out his potential, we also have to double our efforts.”
The Mute Elder gestured, making “ah-ah” sounds.
Qin Mu was deeply moved but also felt a sense of dread. He was genuinely touched by how much the village elders cared about him, but why did every sentence they spoke have to include the word “force”?
The pharmacist narrowed his eyes and joined the discussion. “Nourish him! Keep nourishing him! Nourish him until his primal energy is tough enough to unleash its power! The Great Ruins are full of rare beasts and exotic plants. I can brew miraculous elixirs. My herb garden outside the village has every kind of spiritual medicine you could want! Enough to make him so saturated that even pinching his skin would squeeze out some spiritual liquid!”
“Pharmacist, you’re really going all out this time!” the others laughed.