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1Chapter 231: Killing The Monk
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5"Vajra Unbeatable!"
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7Buddha rays shone brilliantly from Monk Ban Chi, and his muscles swelled, becoming twelve yards tall. The nine rings monk staff also became bigger like a huge sun behind the head of a huge buddha.
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9This was Vajra Unbeatable Technique of Buddhism, a kind of technique whose forte was the divine arts of the corporeal body.
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11There are many kinds of techniques in Buddhism. The forte of some of them is the frame of mind, so they cultivate spells and divine arts; while others are known for their wisdom and cultivating knife and sword skills; there are also those of the battle techniques school, whose forte are divine arts of the corporeal body.
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13Even though Vajra Unbeatable Technique took the path of the battle techniques, it was different from others. Some spells were mixed into this technique. However, unlike Chancellor Ba Shan's fusion of battle techniques and spells, the spells of Vajra Unbeatable Technique were hidden in the monk staff or prayer beads. Through the daily cultivation with their monk staff and prayer beads, the monks would chant the buddhist scriptures non-stop, refining their evil thoughts into the prayer beads and the divine arts in the buddhist scriptures into the monk staff.
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15When it came to battle, they could release the evil thoughts in their prayer beads, transforming into a fiendish battle stance, while the spells in the monk staff were methods to catch an enemy off guard with a surprise attack!
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17Qin Mu had experienced the strong points of Vajra Unbeatable Technique before. This technique would turn one's body incomparably durable after executing the body of Vajrayaksa, to the extent that the person could take on the blow of Junior Protector Sword.
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19Furthermore, the monk's strength would become so outrageous that he could push Qin Mu's treasure ship down.
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21Qin Mu executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, and his body trembled. A ray of golden light shot down from the sky and poured into him, transforming his corporeal body into a golden god. Tiger claws, fur, and head grew out from his body while he stepped on twin dragons and held a bronze battle-ax formed from golden qi, which was like a huge hatchet.
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23A golden snake hung on Qin Mu's left ear and hissed while taking in and sending out golden qi.
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25What he had executed was Venus Sovereign Gold Marquis Technique, a god transforming into the form of Venus Sovereign to control all the gold qi in existence.
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27There were many secrets hidden in Five Elements Realm, and Qin Mu originally had an extremely high achievements in it. With the guidance of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, cultivating the god transformation of the Five Great Star Sovereigns had allowed him to surpass the other strong practitioners of Five Elements Realm by leaps and bounds.
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29"Truly, the spell of devils!"
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31Monk Ban Chi saw his body transforming and sneered. The nine rings of his monk staff danced in the breeze and swelled up before smashing down suddenly like a huge hammer with nine golden rings!
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33As Qin Mu's bronze battle-ax clashed with the nine-ringed monk staff, a terrifying power exploded from the both of them. Qin Mu moved back repeatedly from the vibrations, and the twin dragons under his feet flew out to climb onto Monk Ban Chi's body, tangling with his legs. At the same time, the golden rings of the nine-ringed monk staff flew out one after another and hit Qin Mu's head, causing sparks to fly out in all directions. Qin Mu ended up tumbling back a distance away.
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35Monk Ban Chi was of the Six Directions Realm, after all, and he was a divine arts practitioner with a lot of tricks up his sleeves. With a trample, both of the golden dragons were shattered into pieces. Once he grabbed his monk staff and leaped back up in the air, the nine golden rings whooshed back onto his monk staff while he was in mid air.
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37Boom!
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39Monk Ban Chi smashed his monk staff downwards onto Qin Mu. His feet were on the ground, but he couldn't stop himself from sliding backwards, plowing a deep pit in the ground. The bronze battle-ax in his hand was also smashed into pieces.
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41Monk Ban Chi rushed over at an extremely fast speed and was in front of him in a few steps. His monk staff swept forward, and another loud boom rang out as he smashed Qin Mu repeatedly until the other couldn't get a stable footing and flew backwards.
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43The monk staff hummed while the nine golden rings clanked as they smashed onto Qin Mu's chest, throwing him hundreds of yards away and destroyed a part of the forest.
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45"Mount Meru Mudra, tut!"
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47Monk Ban Chi rose into the sky and started to chant an incantation as he smacked Qin Mu down with a palm. The ground trembled, and the trees collapsed, revealing a handprint that was the size of three ares, deeply imprinted into the ground. In the meantime, an apparition of Mount Meru materialized above this handprint, with countless symbols of buddhist texts swirling it.
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49"Amitabha, the demon of the devil path has finally been executed, due to a virtuous achievement of this little monk."
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51Monk Ban Chi landed on the ground holding the monk staff with one hand while the other was in front of his chest. Standing outside of the handprint, he paid his respects. "Little monk isn't a person that's fond of killing and exhibiting such a swift means today was merely to rid the evil from this world. There was no other choice. Little monk shall recite a paragraph from the Scriptures of Rebirth in the Pure Land, sending the damned soul of the cult master to paradise, to not do evil anymore…"
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53Just as he was about to chant the scripture, he felt his hair standing up on end and immediately leaped away. The ground split open, and gold qi spikes rose up from the ground, frantically stabbing into the air!
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55The monk staff of Monk Ban Chi smashed down, and the nine rings swept in all directions, crumbling the gold qi spikes. He then saw the apparition of Mount Meru crumbling as gold qi gathered to form countless sword lights. They then gathered into one which was dozens of yards long and stabbed into the chest of Monk Ban Chi with a ding.
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57The monk felt pain when his chest was stabbed by that sword light. He suddenly shouted loudly, and buddha voice came from the prayer beads on his neck. Buddhist runes poured out from the vibrations, and the scriptures were like hoops that covered that sword light, layer after layer. As the scriptures continued swirling, they finally stopped the sword.
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59At this moment, light suddenly flashed in front of Monk Ban Chi, and a huge wave rushed into the sky in front of him. Before it, Qin Mu transformed into a red-haired snake body of Water Marquis Mercury Sovereign, who was holding a trident in his hand.
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61The trident stabbed towards Monk Ban Chi, and huge waves rushed up, transforming into a huge mudra which came pressing down on the opponent.
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63Monk Ban Chi shouted loudly, and his buddha rays shone brilliantly. He raised his hand to block, but found that a boundless strength was overwhelming him, smacking him away ruthlessly.
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65The trident reached his chest and transformed into a three-headed dragon which surged forward while pressing onto his body. He heard a loud bang as it and the torrent slammed him against the ground, creating a huge pit around him.
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67The wave dispersed, and Monk Ban Chi immediately stood up. In his face was a bull-headed human-bodied monster who rushed at him while stepping on two fire dragons. The heart of this monster's brows opened up, revealing its bull eye, and a beam came rushing over at a speed of lightning. Monk Ban Chi raised his hand to defend his neck and felt a searing pain on his palm. Two of his fingers had been severed.
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69Panic started to arise in his heart. He grasped the nine-ringed monk staff with a hand and used it like a hammer. The head of the staff swelled up, becoming larger and larger. The staff then was like a mountaintop smashing forward, while his other hand made a mudra which smashed forward.
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71Qin Mu transformed into Mars Sovereign's form and gave a angry bellow. His strength was boundless, and a fire bottle gourd appeared behind his back. When he took this fire bottle gourd into his embrace, blazing true fire spewed out from inside it, and the flames scorched the nine-ringed monk staff red hot. Molten gold leaked out from it continuously.
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73Monk Ban Chi was astonished. Nine-ringed monk staff was the spirit weapon he had painstakingly refined and one which had the blessing of Buddha. Yet it couldn't defend against the true fire from this bottle gourd, and if it was melted, he would lose a major weapon.
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75However, now was not the time to think it through; he could only risk his spirit weapon getting destroyed and brace himself to smash Qin Mu to death!
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77Bang!
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79The fire bottle gourd exploded from the attacks, and the two fire dragons under Qin Mu's feet also shattered into pieces. Monk Ban Chi immediately followed up with Mount Meru Mudra, and Qin Mu's body suddenly trembled. A ray of green light shot down from the sky, and he transformed into the form of Wood Marquis Jupiter Sovereign, which had a human head, bird's body, and bird feet. With two wings on his back and two green dragons under his feet, he flapped his wings and rose into the sky to avoid Mount Meru Mudra. Once he came into the sky above Monk Ban Chi, the willow whip in his hand came smacking down against Monk Ban Chi.
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81The moment the monk raised his hand to defend against the whip, he felt that something was wrong. This whip was actually incomparably soft and coiled around his arm like a green snake. The willow whip then suddenly grew and coiled around his whole body.
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83In the blink of an eye, the willow whip had become thick as a water barrel, turning into a willow tree which coiled around its target tightly.
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85At the same time, the two green dragons under Qin Mu's feet were shrinking as they transformed into two trails of green qi which entered Monk Ban Chi's nostrils.
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87"Arriving in this world empty-handed, leaving this world empty-handed! Six senses, be sealed!"
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89Monk Ban Chi sealed his senses so that the two trails of green qi couldn't enter his body and were then purified by his buddha rays. The prayer beads on his neck exploded one after another, and evil thoughts poured out from them, returning to his body.
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91The evil in Monk Ban Chi erupted, and he gave a bellow. His corporeal body swelled up once again and shattered that willow tree in pieces as he gave an angry roar, "When Grandpa Buddha gets angry, even the Heavens have to give way! Demon, die!"
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93Just as he shouted that out, Qin Mu transformed again, turning into a human-headed snake-bodied form while the Gate of Heaven Influence appeared behind him. With two Pig Slaughtering Knives in his hands, he rushed straight at his enemy.
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95Explosive sounds rang out endlessly. The buddha rays and sparks burst out continuously from the surroundings of Monk Ban Chi, and there was not a single scratch on him that was caused by the Pig Slaughtering Knives.
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97"Grandpa Buddha had the body of vajra, nothing can break through it!"
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99Monk Ban Chi had a malicious expression as the monk staff in his hand smashed down frantically. Qin Mu's knives collided with it, and a huge bang rang out, which pushed the birds and beasts in the forest around them into fleeing.
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101Suddenly, the knives in Qin Mu's hands cracked and exploded, unable to withstand the immense power of the two's fight. At the same time, the monk staff in Monk Ban Chi's hands also exploded.
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103"Die!"
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105Monk Ban Chi screamed continuously, and his fists which were as heavy as mountains came raining down. Qin Mu roared in anger, and his muscles bulged as electricity surrounded his body. He executed Thunderclap Eight Strikes, and the green dragon coiled around his body as he clashed directly with Monk Ban Chi.
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107The two small giants exchanged heavy blows in the forest when suddenly Junior Protector Sword flew out and stabbed into the huge sun behind Monk Ban Chi's head at a lightning speed.
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109Monk Ban Chi was astonished and immediately raised his hand to defend. At this moment, Qin Mu punched like sunshine refining the yang soul in the sky. Monk Ban Chi's soul wavered for a moment, and he didn't manage to block that sword light, allowing Junior Protector Sword to pierce through the huge sun behind his head.
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111His Vajra Unbeatable Technique was instantly broken, and his body started to shrink. Qin Mu sent another punch his way, and the bones in Monk Ban Chi's body trembled violently as he grunted and retreated.
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113Qin Mu's punches rained down like howling wind and torrential rain, causing pain to Monk Ban Chi. He became more and more frightened, then turned around to run. With a few ups and downs, he had already escaped to the sky.
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115Qin Mu paused for a moment as he looked at the sky. The speed of the escapee was extremely fast; he run six-seven miles in just a few breaths' time. Only then did he stop so a lotus could bloom under his feet to lift up his body as he thought to himself, "This devil is powerful since he has too many tricks up his sleeves, but his speed isn't that fast so he can't catch up to me. I can still reorganize myself…"
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117Just as he thought this, a loud boom rang out, and he immediately turned back to have a look. At that moment, he couldn't help being stunned when he saw Qin Mu breaking through the air like he was flying. His speed was such that the monk could not even see him clearly!
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119Boom!
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121Qin Mu's fist bashed into Monk Ban Chi's face, and it caved in its entirety. The power of Tempest of the Nine Dragons poured into his head and exploded with a bang.
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123In the sky, blood light was accompanied by forty-five green dragons that bore fangs and brandished claws. Among their snarls, a headless corpse fell from the sky.
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125"Dumb monk, I could let you run ten miles first."
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127Chapter 232: Apothecary’s Pot
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131"Ow, so painful!"
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133Qin Mu descended and searing pain filled all his limbs, making him suck in cold air.
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135The monk's Vajra Unbeatable Technique had made his body incomparably durable, to the point that even spirit weapons couldn't injure him. All kinds of divine arts were also useless against him, making this fight abnormally exhausting for Qin Mu.
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137The power of Monk Ban Chi's attacks was also astonishing, so Qin Mu's flesh had burst open. This was especially so because of that the nine-ringed monk staff which had almost shattered his head. Luckily, the monk's attacks were pretty straightforward, so he had still died under Qin Mu's hands.
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139"Divine arts practitioners of Six Directions Realm are pretty strong, I can't underestimate them."
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141Qin Mu touched the bump on his head and sucked in cold air. He executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique to circulate his blood and qi so as to not let his blood clot up.
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143Two of his ribs were broken, and the flesh on his back was a bloody mess. These injuries were probably from when Monk Ban Chi had smashed his Mount Meru Mudra on him.
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145Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique had an extremely good effect on healing injuries, but it was still incomparable to spirit pills and miracle medicine. Luckily, the current injuries were not fatal.
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147"Let me return to the village first to heal up before finding devil ape."
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149Qin Mu reattached the ribs that had broken off and threw the monk's corpse away. There was no rule to bury corpses in Great Ruins since the blood from the corpse would attract wild beasts which would devour it. At most, only the bones would be left.
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151While if the luck wasn't in the dead person's favor, even the bones might not be left.
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153Qin Mu returned to the village and plucked a few spirit herbs from the herb garden outside the village. He refined two furnaces of spirit pills, one of which was used to heal external injuries, while the other internal injuries. He then asked for some dragon's saliva from the dragon qilin to harmonize the medicine.
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155The dragon qilin noticed his beaten up state and gave a bewildered look; however, he didn't probe into it.
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157The dragon qilin squatted motionlessly at the village entrance in a guarding pose like he had done at Imperial College. But Qin Mu felt that he might be guarding only in name. Instead, he was actually lazing off, unable to be bothered to even move.
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159Dutian Devil King remained motionless as well. The dragon qilin was too lazy to move, while he was fixed in place by Deaf.
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161Qin Mu recuperated at ease. When night fell, Deaf still didn't return. The rest of the people in the village also remained away.
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163The next day came, and Village Chief and the rest still didn't return, either. Qin Mu's lungs were still aching, so he couldn't breathe in heavily, but the injuries on his ribs and back had already healed.
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165"If a person wants his injured lungs to heal faster, it is best for that person to steam themselves, allowing the medicinal gas to enter the lungs. However, there is no one to help me maintain the fire…"
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167The youth executed Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique and slowly walked. He breathed in and out slowly, to let the injured lungs heal slightly faster. Suddenly, he thought of a question, "After New Year, will I be fifteen or sixteen years old?"
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169His age was always a debate among the people in the village. Village Chief and Granny had argued a few times over this but come to no clear solution.
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171Granny Si had picked Qin Mu in the swaddling clothes during spring, and he had been two to three months old at the time. She believed he was born before New Year while Village Chief believed that he was born after New Year.
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173If he was born before, he would be sixteen years old. If it was after, he would still be fifteen years old.
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175During each and every New Year, the two would fight over this matter, and he reckoned they were going to fight this time as well.
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177As he was thinking about it, Qin Mu heard a buzzing and raised his head to have a look. He saw a few golden-colored insects flying over from the forest outside the village.
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179He blinked, and the golden insects buzzed away, disappearing into the forest.
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181More insects came out later on and circled around the village before disappearing back into the forest.
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183"That woman from Three Wonders Castle has arrived!"
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185Qin Mu's gaze flickered. The woman from Three Wonders Castle was much stronger than Monk Ban Chi and could control swarms of insects. They were venomous and had been refined by her until they were like steel, able to bite cleanly through spirit weapons.
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187The woman could control thousands of them. With such an amount, Qin Mu would definitely be unable to fight against all of them if they were to pour over at him all at once. He would be cleanly eaten in an instant!
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189"Rather than letting her slaughter her way into the village, why don't I settle it outside!"
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191Qin Mu looked around and came to Apothecary's herb shop. He carefully brought out a broken pot with a couple scorpions inside waving their pincers at each other. The barbs on their tails swept forward as they fought over the spirit pills Qin Mu had fed them earlier.
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193He carried the broken pot out of the village, and the dragon qilin took a glance at him before asking in a low voice, "Cult master, what are you going to do?"
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195"Fight!" Qin Mu said ruthlessly.
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197"Fight again…" the dragon qilin said with disinterest. "Don't come back with injuries everywhere this time."
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199Qin Mu carried the pot to the riverside while a couple insects kept following him, hiding among the bushes and leaves.
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201Qin Mu stopped and waited for a moment. He saw the number of insects growing around him as they lay down on the river's surface. It was like a layer of gold was covering it.
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203The insects lured the huge fish of Surging River over, and a couple of them leaped out from the water, wanting to eat the shining prey. However, when the huge fish leaped into the air and opened their huge mouths maliciously, the insects started chirping weirdly and became three yards long. They then pounced onto the bodies of the huge fish and started gnawing at them. Soon, only the bones were left, which fell back into the water.
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205The corners of Qin Mu's eyelids twitched. The fish monsters of Surging River were very powerful, their strength comparable to that of martial arts practitioners of Spirit Embryo Realm and Five Elements Realm. However, in front of the venomous insects raised by the woman from Three Wonders Castle, they were unable to withstand a single blow.
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207"Heavenly Devil Cult Master."
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209A voice came from downstream, and Qin Mu looked towards the source of it. He saw the woman from Three Wonders Castle stepping on the golden-colored insect swarm flying over from downstream of Surging River.
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211She couldn't fly, but the insects could. They surrounded her in uncountable numbers, and there was also a golden-colored female insect that was much bigger in size than the other venomous insects. The woman was standing on the back of this female insect.
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213Qin Mu smiled sweetly and asked, "How may I address big sister?"
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215Qiu Yue was several hundred yards away from Qin Mu when she stopped her insect swarm to ask curiously, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master has such an important position and should be the one holding supremacy under the heavens. Why are you so polite to your enemies, calling me big sister?"
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217Three Wonders Castle had three wonders: insects, poison, and beautiful women.
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219This woman had a heart-wrenching beauty. One look at her would make people ignore the scalp-numbing venomous insects. Instead, their hearts would throb violently from being struck by her beauty.
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221Qin Mu shook his head. "Once I'm in Great Ruins, I'm no longer the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult and am now the child of my elders in the village. This big sister, if you are willing to let go of your grudges, I can invite you into the village for New Year. The celebrations in our Great Ruins are actually pretty bustling with noise and excitement."
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223Qiu Yue said, "After killing you, I could return home for New Year…"
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225Her complexion then darkened, and sorrow entered her eyes. "I've forgotten, my home no longer exists, it was destroyed by you and Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor… My home is at Three Wonders Castle, my grandmaster is True Lord Tian, my teacher is Tian Youfei. In the battle of Daxiang City, Heavenly Devil Cult transported Eternal Peace Army into the city and killed countless senior brothers and sisters of mine. My teacher covered my escape only to die under the hands of Grand General who crowns the Army…"
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227She seemed to be laughing and yet not laughing, crying and yet not crying. With a cold gaze, she said in a soft voice, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master, you were already the cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult then, weren't you? To be able to mobilize so many experts of Heavenly Devil Cult, there is none one else capable of this. You were the one who mobilized the experts of Heavenly Devil Cult to destroy the great cause of our volunteer army, to destroy our Three Wonders Castle!"
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229With an awe-inspiring gaze, she added, "I had gone back to Three Wonders Castle secretly, but it had already been destroyed. My family members were treated as rebels and executed in public! Heavenly Devil Cult Master, do you think I should kill you?"
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231Qin Mu sighed. "You should. However, you shouldn't have rebelled in the first place. When you rebelled, you should have known that if the rebellion failed, this would be the only outcome for your family."
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233Qiu Yue took a step forward and said sternly, "Righteousness must be upheld by the people even in the threat of being executed. Justice may be won only by using the lives of people! Otherwise, where would the righteousness be, where would the justice be? Even though I'm from the devil path, I'm willing to be this kind of person! Heavenly Devil Cult Master, no need to say anymore. Please make your move, I'll send you on your way!"
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235Qin Mu felt a deep veneration and said resolutely, "People who walk different paths cannot work together, young lady, please."
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237Qiu Yue shouted sternly, and her sleeves fluttered. Venomous insects swarmed towards Qin Mu from all directions, and they were too varied and numerous to count. Some would expand in the wind: the bigger ones would grow to three-six yards in size while the smaller ones would become as big as a wash basin. There were others that didn't expand but shrunk down instead.
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239These kind of venomous insects were the most dangerous as the smaller they were, the harder it was to guard against them. They could tunnel into a human's body when they were not prepared and gnaw on their five viscera and six bowels. There were even some venomous insects that could swallow the soul and absorb the opponent's vital qi cultivation.
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241Qin Mu opened up the pot, and his vital qi poured inside it. The couple scorpions jumped out and suddenly expanded, becoming over sixty yards long. The black shell on their bodies was covered with exceptionally beautiful and strange rune markings which lit up continuously. Terrifying aura swept through the air, and the insect swarm which was surging over suddenly dropped out of the sky like rain!
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243Qiu Yue was astonished and immediately turned to escape. Suddenly, the tail of a huge scorpion swept out and extended endlessly like a chain, hooking the woman and killing her in one strike.
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245Qin Mu sighed. He saw these scorpions fighting over Qiu Yue's corpse, which resulted in the waves churching in the river. When the waves overflowed into the sky, he activated the pot and the scorpions shrunk down. They returned inside and continued to fight there.
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247Qiu Yue's corpse had already been torn to pieces by them and sunk into the river, where it got washed away by the current.
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249Qin Mu carried the pot back into Disabled Elderly Village, and the dragon qilin sized him up at the village entrance. He saw that that youth wasn't too happy, so he didn't say anything.
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251Qin Mu placed the pot down and pulled Dutian Devil King over. He punched, kicked, and even summoned wind and lightning over to strike the god statue several times before letting him off.
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253Dutian Devil King lay on the ground motionlessly, having lost dozens of parts. He felt extremely grieved and grumbled, "When have I provoked you?"
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255After beating Dutian Devil King, Qin Mu felt much better. Suddenly, he heard someone shouting from outside, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master is here! Everyone, come quickly!"
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257Qin Mu's face darkened. He went to Granny Si's room and took the mirror which she used to dress and groom herself. When he walked out of the village, he saw a couple divine arts practitioners rushing over.
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259He raised this copper mirror, and his vital qi poured inside it. The light from the mirror shined on the divine arts practitioners, and their souls flew away, having been scattered. Their corpses then fell from the sky.
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261The youth returned to the village and placed the mirror back onto Granny Si's dressing table, thinking to himself, "Will there be an end to this? Won't they let me have a proper New Year?"
262
263Chapter 233: Paper Boats
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266
267Qin Mu's injuries had healed, so he brought the presents he had prepared for the devil ape out of the village, walking towards the valley of Doom Suppression Palace. Just as he left, he saw a strange beast which was dragging a corpse. When it saw him coming, that strange beast immediately hissed and the fur on its neck stood up.
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269The river water babbled as a couple strange beasts jumped out from the water and rushed for the other corpses. These strange beasts with the head of a fish and the body of a human stopped immediately when they saw Qin Mu and fell on the ground, afraid to move forward.
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271Qin Mu paid no attention to them. During his two days of recuperation, divine arts practitioners from Eternal Peace had found their way over one after another. However, before they could enter the village, they were all gotten rid of by items that were lying around the village.
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273There were plenty of items there that were extremely terrifying. Other than the insects in the pots, there was also the rake that gathered up the grass, the curtain in the smithy, the water cauldron, the sword pellets under Granny Si's bed, Butcher's whetstone, the trough used to feed the hens, and also the wash basin that was taken by the dragon qilin to use as the rice bowl.
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275There were quite a lot of people who were chasing after Qin Mu's life as well. Other than Long Jiaonan and that batch of strong practitioners, there were experts from other sects. Many of them had found their way here during Qin Mu's two days of recuperation.
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277It was not hard to find Disabled Elderly Village, since if they followed the river, it was only a thousand miles away from Border Dragon City, which was not far from Eternal Peace's border pass. That's why if they wanted to find him, they could easily do so.
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279Qin Mu reckoned there were about forty to fifty people who had found this place during the past two days. Of course, they were all dead people by now.
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281"Long Jiaonan haven't found her way here. Could she have gotten lost or was she killed on the way? Or…"
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283When Qin Mu was in the village, he always felt a gaze staring at him from outside the village. It was like a huge venomous snake was hidden in the dark corners, ready to pounce anytime.
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285"She's nearby?"
286
287Walking out of the village this time was also to lure Long Jiaonan out.
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289This woman had a deep hatred with him. The demise of Dragon Rider Sect was singlehandedly caused by Qin Mu. If it was not for him summoning Dutian Devil King in Heaven Wave City, Dragon Rider Sect wouldn't have perished so easily.
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291Qin Mu came to Doom Suppression Palace and saw a lot of wild beasts there. However, the devil ape and the dragon elephant were not among them.
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293He looked around and couldn't find any trace. The wild beasts in the valley sadly didn't know how to cultivate or speak, so he couldn't ask them where the devil ape had went.
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295Qin Mu could only return back to Disabled Elderly Village. Two more days passed, and he finally couldn't sit still any longer. It was very close to New Year now, with only two-three days remaining, yet Granny Si, Village Chief, and the rest had still not come back!
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297"The elders of the village are truly worrisome!"
298
299He went to Doom Suppression Palace once more and still couldn't find the devil ape, which made him even more impatient.
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301"Fatty dragon, get up!" Qin Mu packed up his stuff and fed the insects and hen dragons once more. He then wiped off the fix word on Dutian Devil King's body and called the dragon qilin. "Let's find them in the depths of Great Ruins!"
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303Dutian Devil King stretched his body and sneered, "If a half-god existence like Deaf couldn't come back after going into Great Ruins, what's the use of you going?"
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305Qin Mu shook his head. "Even though my strength isn't high, I have a helper. Devil king, you are from the Heavenly Devil Tribe, am I right?"
306
307Dutian Devil King said proudly, "So you want to borrow my strength. If you treat me nicely, it's not impossible for me to help you. However, you beat me up for no reason and made me upset. Please me, only then will I help you."
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309Qin Mu asked curiously, "How can I please Lord Devil King?"
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311Dutian Devil King became excited and was about to say what he normally said, but he felt that something was wrong. If he said it, the one kneeling down and licking the toes would be him.
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313Qin Mu said resolutely, "If you put in all your effort to help me find them, I'll release you. How's this condition?"
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315Dutian Devil King's eyes lighted up. "You promise?"
316
317"I promise!"
318
319Qin Mu finished packing up and walked out of Disabled Elderly Village, making the dragon qilin head upstream. Everyone had went to find the whereabouts of Carefree Village, and Village Chief had brought him upstream last time to the depths of Great Ruins, to the origin of Surging River where they had met numerous strange happenings.
320
321However, what they had found then wasn't Carefree Village but the Moon Ship of Fengdu.
322
323Moon Ship had guided the jade pendant on Qin Mu's neck, because of which the pendant had floated up, luring Qin Mu to that place.
324
325He felt that if Village Chief and the others wanted to find Carefree Village, they would definitely start their search there. They also might have left some trails behind.
326
327The dragon qilin's speed wasn't slow, but compared to the speed of Village Chief, he was much slower. When Village Chief had brought Qin Mu, he was like a god giving off brilliant rays in the darkness, moving at an extremely fast speed.
328
329Qin Mu could only enter Great Ruins during the day. When night fell, he could only find other villages or ruins to avoid the darkness.
330
331Great Ruins during the day and Great Ruins at night were two completely different worlds. Village Chief had guessed that Great Ruins during the day was the real world, while at night, some dark world overlapped with it.
332
333If Village Chief and the rest had entered that world of the darkness and were brought away by it, Qin Mu would not be able to find them. He could only hope that Village Chief and the rest had found Carefree Village.
334
335Not long after he left Disabled Elderly Village, a girl wearing a long dark green dress came to its outskirts. A red-colored earring that hung from her ear had stretched itself to look so, but it was actually a little red snake.
336
337"Treasures are all around this village, I wonder if I can steal some of them," Long Jiaonan said in a low voice. "Xiao'hong, call some helpers."
338
339The little red snake hanging from her ear hissed, and huge red-crowned snakes slithered out from the forest. It slithered into the village, but just as it entered, a black spider sprawling on the spirit herb suddenly leaped up from the herb garden and landed on the huge snake's head to bite it.
340
341That huge snake instantly died, and its flesh and blood decomposed into mush which got sucked clean by that spider. Only the snake's skin was left.
342
343The spider became bigger and bigger. After sucking dry the huge snake, it spewed balls of true fire to burn itself out to return to its previous size and jumped back into the herb garden to hide.
344
345The corner of Long Jiaonan's eyes twitched, and she immediately turned around to leave. The den of snakes behind her scattered off in all directions. "This village, not even Celestial Beings could enter it!"
346
347The dragon qilin followed the river upstream for six thousand miles. Qin Mu raised his head to take a look at that time. The sky was already getting dark, so he immediately surveyed his surroundings to look for a place he could settle.
348
349"On the geological map of Great Ruins, there should be a place called Monster Management Palace, maybe it's a place where I can seek shelter."
350
351Qin Mu recalled the geological map of Great Ruins and found his bearings. Suddenly, his eyes lighted up, and he ordered the dragon qilin to go ashore. Not long later, they found the ruins of a palace, with some strange beasts already hiding there.
352
353Qin Mu entered the ruins of Monster Management Palace and saw many skeletons of huge beasts all around. They were very quiet, not moving even when he entered.
354
355Qin Mu raised his head to size them up. The skeleton of the huge beasts in Monster Management Palace was simply too humongous. They were dozens of times bigger than the dragon qilin's transformation. If they were still alive, they would be three thousand yards tall and be like moving mountains!
356
357Not long later, a couple Daoists came to the ruins, who were probably experts who had come into Great Ruins for experience. When they saw Qin Mu, they revealed astonishment, but they remained silent, setting their own fire to cook their meals.
358
359Qin Mu cooked up a few dishes and ate dinner before lying down beside the dragon qilin to sleep.
360
361The couple Daoists looked at one another but remained silent. They wrote words on the ground, and as they did that, the ground suddenly trembled. Bellows came from outside, and obscure and hard to understand voices spoke from the darkness, sounding like devil gods whispering to each other.
362
363Qin Mu sat up and saw the skeletons of the huge beasts suddenly shine brilliantly with divine light. The tremors of the ground grew more and more violent, and he saw the huge beasts suddenly raising their legs from the ground. These skeletons seemed to have come alive, for they walked out of the ruins.
364
365World shaking roars came from outside, and there was divine light shining over through the darkness once in awhile. Through these divine lights, those inside could see that the huge beasts had actually grown flesh and transformed into beast gods that were fighting with the devil monsters in the darkness.
366
367The Daoists were bewildered, and Dutian Devil King was also shocked.
368
369Qin Mu wasn't surprised by these strange sights and lay back down again. He then said in a low voice, "Dutian, stop looking, I've seen weirder things."
370
371Dutian Devil King said quietly, "Those Daoists are slightly weird."
372
373Qin Mu was unconcerned. "I know. One of them is Long Jiaonan."
374
375After a moment, he began snoring, and Dutian Devil King could only restrain himself from making a move.
376
377The battle outside the ruins lasted the whole night. When dawn came, the ground trembled as the indomitable divine beasts returned back to the ruins. Once they sprawled onto the ground, their flesh vanished. They turned into the skeletons that lay half buried in the soil, which was exactly how Qin Mu had seen them when he entered.
378
379The darkness retreated back like the flood, and sunlight shone down from the sky. The other strange beasts moved out from the ruins and dispersed in all directions.
380
381Qin Mu made fire again to cook breakfast while the other Daoists did the same as well. All of them did not say a word and ate their own breakfast.
382
383The dragon qilin took out the wash basin from Disabled Elderly Village which he had somehow hidden for this long and placed it in front of Qin Mu to wait for his food.
384
385Qin Mu poured half a bucket of Scarlet Fire Spirit Pills and took out another wash basin, pouring half of it with Jade Dragon Lake's water.
386
387The dragon qilin ate to his fulfillment, and they set off. The Daoists looked at one another, then extinguished the fire and followed closely behind Qin Mu.
388
389He stopped at that moment and turned around with a smile. "Is there anything I can help senior brothers with?"
390
391One of the Daoist retorted, "Great Ruins are so huge, is this your home? We'll go our way and you will go yours, no one is interfering with you!"
392
393Qin Mu smiled and continued forward.
394
395They had set off earlier today so they reached the end of Surging River before sunset. Qin Mu saw a dilapidated village nearby, and his eyes lighted up. He made the dragon qilin head over.
396
397The Daoists followed him in and saw that this village was in ruins. Spiderwebs were everywhere, and even the stone statues had been worn out by time.
398
399What was weird was that all the other ruins had strange beasts seeking shelter from the darkness, but there wasn't even one here.
400
401The Daoists were bewildered. Long Jiaonan, who was a beautiful female Daoist now, said in low voice, "There's something weird about this place…"
402
403As she was saying it, darkness descended, and the temperature turned abnormally cold. A lonely boat floated over leisurely from another world with a lamp hanging at its bow. Under the lamp was an elder who was folding paper humans, paper horses, and paper boats.
404
405That elder came to the village and disembarked. Everyone shuddered as they felt their souls freeze over.
406
407The elder placed down a paper boat which floated away. One of the Daoists instantly noticed he had somehow landed onto that paper boat which sailed weightlessly towards the darkness.
408
409Astonished, he immediately looked over to see another him still sitting in the village.
410
411That was his shell.
412
413"Dao brother."
414
415Qin Mu executed Saturn Sovereign's Earth Marquis True Technique and transformed into a human-headed and snake-bodied form. The Gate of Heaven Influence appeared behind his back as he greeted the elder. After saying a phrase in Youdu's language, he took out the portraits of Village Chief, Apothecary, and the rest to ask, "May I ask Dao brother if you have seen them before?"
416
417Chapter 234: Killings In The Snowy Night
418
419
420
421The elder took a look and nodded. "I've met them before. They came to me to ask for directions."
422
423Fear arose in the heart of the Daoists in the village. This elder was standing right in front of them, but they couldn't see his face.
424
425Even though they were so close to him, the facial features of this elder were extremely blurry. They used all kinds of third eye, but they still couldn't see him clearly. It seemed like he wasn't a living person.
426
427Dutian Devil King also kept quiet out of fear and didn't dare to make a sound.
428
429This elder was Youdu's messenger of death, a god that was his subordinate. Nearly every world had such people, but the jobs that they were responsible for were different from one another. Some of them were responsible for guiding the wandering souls in the world of the living, some of them were responsible for extraditing the dead, and some were responsible for capturing the great divine arts practitioners that had escaped death.
430
431The orders of Youdu and the world of the living were handled by them.
432
433Dutian World had once experienced a war at a world destruction level that had nearly destroyed it entirely. At that time, skeletons of the dead filled the open ground and there were corpses everywhere.
434
435The sun in Dutian World was extinguished, and nearly everything was plunged into darkness. However, among the endless darkness, countless specks of light came out, and under each of them was a similar elder coming forward to extradite the wandering souls.
436
437Back then, Dutian Devil King had luckily survived the great war and become the ruler of Dutian. He had been considered young then and was hot-blooded. When he saw these messengers of death coming to extradite the souls of his Dutian people, he immediately went forward to fight, but he ended up severely injured and almost had his soul taken away.
438
439Because of this, when Dutian Devil King saw this messenger of death, he was still slightly afraid and didn't dare to say a word.
440
441Qin Mu asked respectfully, "May I ask where they had gone?"
442
443The elder raised his hand and pointed towards the darkness. "Carefree Village. But they will never find that place and just get trapped. There's a messenger of death ready to take their souls."
444
445The babbling of water came from the riverside as the drenched men and women popped their heads out from inside it. They slowly walked towards the village with ashen faces, not saying a word.
446
447Paper boats flew out from the village, and these men and women boarded them. The paper boats then sailed into the darkness unhurriedly.
448
449The other Daoists in the village were greatly shaken and immediately moved far away from the strange elder. At this moment, they noticed that two of their comrades were not moving from their spots.
450
451On two of the paper boats that had sailed into the darkness, there were two figures that vaguely resembled the motionless people.
452
453The remaining three Daoists felt their hair stand on end. Long Jiaonan, who had donned a Daoist's outfit, was also shaking. She wanted to turn and run, but she didn't dare to escape because outside of the village was darkness.
454
455"Lower your head, don't look at that elder!" An elderly Daoist came to realization and said immediately, "He is the messenger of death! If your gaze crosses with his, your soul will be taken away!"
456
457Long Jiaonan and another young Daoist immediately lowered their heads, not daring to look at the elder anymore.
458
459Qin Mu's tone became even more sincere. "May I ask Dao brother for guidance on the location of Carefree Village?"
460
461That elder continued to point to the darkness, not saying anything more.
462
463Qin Mu frowned. The direction in which this elder had pointed out was the living realm of the dead. There was another netherworld there, which was where Fengdu was located.
464
465That time Village Chief and he had barged into the living realm of the dead, they had nearly not been able to come back alive!
466
467"That place is not Carefree Village. May I ask Dao brother where is the real Carefree Village?"
468
469The elder shook his head and still pointed towards the darkness.
470
471Qin Mu asked again, but the elder was no longer talking.
472
473Qin Mu frowned, since he had no ability to travel through the darkness. Other than Village Chief, he reckoned it would be somewhat difficult for everyone else in the village as well unless they were able to carry the stone statues.
474
475He quietened down. There were no other sounds in the village, only the snores of the dragon qilin who had fallen asleep.
476
477After some time, there were no more corpses walking out from the water, and the little boat that the elder was sitting on disappeared into the darkness.
478
479Everything in the village returned back to normal, and it wasn't as cold as before. Everyone let out a sigh of relief. By then, only three Daoists were left in the village, while Qin Mu's side still had both Dutian Devil King and the dragon qilin.
480
481The worn out stone statues gave off ghostly light that forced back the darkness in the surroundings. Qin Mu had a strange feeling, and he looked towards the female Daoist with a smile before asking the other two, "Daoist priests look very unfamiliar, where are you from?"
482
483Between the two, one was much older than the other. "Since Heavenly Devil Cult Master asked, I won't dare to hide from you. Us master and disciple are from Heavenly Star Catcher Sect. This hermit is Daoist Chi Yun and this is my disciple Shao Yun. The other two have also been this hermit's disciples, but luck was not with them and they had their souls taken away by the messenger of death."
484
485Qin Mu felt a deep veneration and said, "So you're experts from Heavenly Stars Catcher Sect. Its Master is called Sect Master Luo Xinghe, am I right?"
486
487"Sect Master Luo is my teacher who has already passed away," Daoist Chi Yun said sadly. "That day when Heavenly Devil Cult transported the mountain of Daxiang City, my teacher died in the hands of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor."
488
489"I see." Qin Mu nodded.
490
491The cold wind in the darkness outside the village whooshed and howled. The few people in the village quietened down once again and didn't say a word. The two Daoists took down the sword cases on their backs and cleaned them carefully. Long Jiaonan smiled and gently stroked the earring hanging from her ear.
492
493Qin Mu stretched his hand into taotie sack, but he didn't pull anything out as a smile remained on his face.
494
495Sparkling and translucent snowflakes floated down from the sky and landed around everyone.
496
497This night wasn't too peaceful, and the snow actually started falling as well.
498
499Dutian Devil King saw that there was something wrong with the atmosphere and secretly kicked the dragon qilin. The fat dragon woke up and looked around before going back to sleep when he saw nothing abnormal.
500
501Dutian Devil King was furious. "What's the point of raising a lazy bum like him?"
502
503The snow grew heavier and heavier, and soon everyone was covered in a layer of white.
504
505At this moment, one of the many names of Buddha sounded out, and everyone was astonished. This name of Buddha had come from the darkness. Qin Mu pulled out his hand from the taotie sack, Long Jiaonan lowered her hand that was stroking the earring, and the two Daoists placed their sword cases down.
506
507Light came from the darkness, and a chubby-faced big-eared monk came walking in. Looking around, he placed his palms together. "Benefactors, sorry to disturb."
508
509Qin Mu didn't dare to neglect him and immediately rose. "We are also guests, so it's not considered disturbing us."
510
511Behind this senior monk walked a robust man who was covered in black hair. He had bulging muscles all over his body and was five yards tall. He had a thick devil qi around him and was like a human-shaped violent ape. With a monk staff in his hand, he cried out in astonishment, "Young'un!"
512
513Qin Mu was also indescribably astonished. He looked at the monk staff and recognized it as the khakkhara staff that he had given to the devil ape. He cried out, "Big fella! What are you doing here? You changed your form?"
514
515The demon-like ape was surprised and delighted. He came forward to acknowledge Qin Mu before pointing to the big and fat monk, "Baldy, little!"
516
517Devil ape then pointed at himself and said in a low, muffled voice, "Great, baldy, teach. Baldy, little, little!"
518
519Qin Mu was confused and probed, "What you mean is that this great monk is from Little Thunderclap Monastery? He found you and taught you abilities. He then left and came back to bring you back to Little Thunderclap Monastery?"
520
521The devil ape nodded repeatedly.
522
523Everyone in the village was confused. Dutian Devil King muttered, "How did you even comprehend the meaning of what he was saying…"
524
525Qin Mu was astonished. To be able to bring the devil ape to travel in the darkness meant that this chubby-faced big-eared monk was an existence on the same level as Old Rulai and Village Chief!
526
527A god-like existence.
528
529Fear arose in Long Jiaonan, Daoist Chi Yun, and Daoist Shao Yun's hearts. They secretly moved back as far as they could, to the point where they would enter the darkness if they went an inch farther.
530
531The three of them grumbled inwardly. The messenger of death earlier and now the Little Rulai of Little Thunderclap Monastery were all people Qin Mu knew. Just a word from him could make them lose their lives!
532
533What they didn't know was that Qin Mu was also extremely nervous. Little Rulai of Little Thunderclap Monastery was a demon cultivator, a great demon that had defected from Great Thunderclap Monastery. He was a Great Demon King!
534
535His comprehension of Buddhism was extreme. He had once used a copper buddha to suppress the Centipede Xian Qing'er. That buddha had then ended up getting pushed over by Qin Mu who had made use of the ice tide to save Xian Qing'er!
536
537The chubby-faced, big-eared Little Rulai looked really like a buddha. He was like a living buddha that had a dignified appearance. With a glance at Qin Mu, he said, "So it's little benefactor. Does little benefactor still remember spoiling my merit?"
538
539The eyes of Long Jiaonan and Daoist Chi Yun lighted up as hope was reignited in their hearts.
540
541Qin Mu said, "I remember."
542
543Devil ape stood in front of Qin Mu and declared loudly, "Baldy, brother!"
544
545Little Rulai looked at him and shook his head. "Don't worry, my enemy is coming, so I won't make a move now. My enemy is here, so stay, I'll go meet him."
546
547Just as his words were spoken, a laugh came from the darkness. "Little Rulai, you're pretty interesting to make a battle appointment late at night."
548
549In the snowy night, an elder wearing a bamboo hat walked into the dilapidated village covered in snow. Qin Mu was stunned and cried out, "Daoist Ling Jing!"
550
551The elder raised his bamboo hat, and his gaze fell on the youth. He revealed a smile. "So it's the old sword god's disciple who borrowed Fengdu coins from me. Do you have the money to return now?"
552
553Qin Mu was embarrassed and replied honestly, "Those Fengdu Coins were all spent."
554
555Long Jiaonan, Daoist Chi Yun, and Daoist Shao Yun's complexion froze again. Another top notch practitioner that was able to travel through the darkness arrived, but he was also someone who Heavenly Devil Cult Master Qin Mu was familiar with!
556
557How many god-like existences did this Heavenly Devil Cult Master know exactly?
558
559"It's not late to pay me back in the future."
560
561Daoist Ling Jing took off his bamboo hat and placed it beside a wall. Looking at Little Rulai, he said without hurry, "Heavy snow and dark sky, what a great time for murder. Little Rulai, let us go farther away to fight."
562
563"Alright."
564
565The two top notch practitioners went into the darkness, and the village was silent once again. Qin Mu looked at Long Jiaonan and her two companions who were also looking at him. The few of them remained motionless.
566
567The devil ape saw this situation and was bewildered. Terrifying pulses came from far away, and the snow in the sky turned into fine rain pattering down. The divine arts of Daoist Ling Jing and Little Rulai melted the heavy snow in the dark night, turning snow into rain.
568
569Snowflakes fell from the sky at times, but at others, they were turned into fine rain. It was hard to say for how long this lasted when suddenly the crows of roosters came from the darkness. The darkness rapidly surged back towards the west. and at this moment, Qin Mu, Long Jiaonan, Dutian Devil King. and the rest sprung into action. They instantly delivered killing blows at one another at nearly the same time!
570
571The dragon qilin roared angrily and shook himself, revealing his true form. With blazing fire around his body, he raised his front claws to press down on the head of the red snake pouncing over, smashing it into the ground. Qin Mu rushed toward Daoist Chi Yun's side in an instant, while Daoist Chi Yun's countless swords were blocked by Dutian Devil King who was standing behind Qin Mu's back.
572
573The devil ape leaped up from behind Dutian Devil King and smashed his khakkhara staff onto Daoist Chi Yun's head.
574
575Chii!
576
577A sword light pierced Daoist Chi Yun's chest, and with a flick of Qin Mu's finger, that sword light went slicing horizontally through the neck of Daoist Shao Yuan who was still in a daze as well.
578
579Long Jiaonan grabbed the tail of the huge snake, and it shrunk in size. The woman rose into the sky and disappeared in a flash.
580
581Chapter 235: Qin Mu Borrowing Ship
582
583
584
585Thud, thud.
586
587The corpses of Daoist Chi Yun and Daoist Shao Yuan collapsed onto the ground. Qin Mu put away his sword and raised his head to have a look. Long Jiaonan had already gone far away, the speed of the red snake really fast. It wouldn't be easy to catch up to her.
588
589"Tonight, the messenger of death will have wandering souls to take away, it's just a pity that we didn't manage to send Long Jiaonan on her way as well. This woman is indeed very intelligent. She had also managed to escape in the battle in Heaven Wave City."
590
591Qin Mu let out a sigh of relief. Now that Long Jiaonan was left by herself, it would be difficult for her to achieve anything. If she dared to come after him again, she would certainly die.
592
593The main reason why this battle had gone so smoothly was mainly due to everyone's coordination. After all, Daoist Chi Yun's cultivation and strength weren't low, and he wasn't any weaker than Long Jiaonan.
594
595Since Daoist Chi Yun carried a sword case, it meant that he was most proficient in sword battles. With Dutian Devil King blocking his swords with his eight arms, Qin Mu could rush to Daoist Chi Yun's side without any worry.
596
597The devil ape's power lay in his incredible strength. With the Khakkhara staff and Rulai's Mahayana Sutra, the devil ape's strength was enough to stun Daoist Chi Yun, so Qin Mu could take his life in a single attack.
598
599Long Jiaonan's battle prowess lay mainly in the huge red snake which was almost a flood dragon from all the refinement. The dragon qilin, however, was a perfect match for the red snake. Once he pressed down the red snake with his strength, Long Jiaonan was no longer able to save Daoist Chi Yun.
600
601Because of this, the old man was doomed.
602
603However, now that Long Jiaonan had escaped, Qin Mu wasn't able to chase her because he would definitely die if he went after her. His companions—Dutian Devil King, the dragon qilin, and the devil ape—sadly were not fast enough to catch up to her, so they could only let her escape.
604
605"Big fella, did Little Rulai of Little Thunderclap Monastery give you trouble?" Qin Mu asked.
606
607The devil ape shook his head and pointed at himself. "My, name, Kong."
608
609Qin Mu waited for a moment. The devil ape was probably talking about his name in religion, but what religious name was only one word? Was it really Kong? And if not, then what was Kong?
610
611The devil ape thought that he had already understood and didn't say a word more. This devil ape treated his words like gold and would never say an extra one.
612
613"It's good for you to follow Little Rulai to cultivate. Little Rulai knows Rulai's Mahayana Sutra and is a strange beast that achieved the Dao, so he's the most qualified to guide you on your cultivation."
614
615Qin Mu waved his hand and said, "My elders are lost so I have to go find them and can't stay here any longer. Come home when you're free, Ling'er misses you too!"
616
617The two of them bade farewell.
618
619Qin Mu followed the direction pointed out by the messenger of death, and this time he no longer felt Long Jiaonan's gaze on him. The girl must have believed that she couldn't kill him and thus retreated.
620
621"I wonder how the battle between Little Rulai and Daoist Ling Jing went…"
622
623Even though Qin Mu kept thinking of that fight, finding Village Chief and the rest was more important. He sat down on the forehead of the dragon qilin who began running forward, while Dutian Devil King chose to stand on the back, his four faces looking in four directions to take note of any movement in the surroundings.
624
625The deeper they went into Great Ruins, the stronger the strange beasts became. The abilities of some of them were no inferior to those of the dragon qilin or the huge red snake. Luckily, most of these strange beasts had their own territories.
626
627Having lived in Great Ruins since he was young, Qin Mu was quite the expert in differentiating between the territories of strange beasts, so they could easily avoid them on their journey and stayed relatively safe.
628
629"If we continue on, we'll reach Eastern Heavenly Gates."
630
631Qin Mu recalled the geographical map of Great Ruins and the place in it called Eastern Heavenly Gates. Besides it, there were three more places that had the name Heavenly Gates, and they were obviously Northern, Western, and Southern Heavenly Gates.
632
633At that moment, the dragon qilin suddenly stopped and sniffed the air. "There's a scent of blood."
634
635"This fellow is a huge dog and not a dragon qilin!" Dutian Devil King thought to himself.
636
637Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. "Blood scent? Go and take a look."
638
639The dragon qilin followed the blood scent, and after a moment, Qin Mu saw an old Daoist in the distance leaning against a tree while panting heavily.
640
641"Daoist Ling Jing!"
642
643Astonished, Qin Mu immediately called the dragon qilin to a stop. "He has placed a restriction around him, so don't step into it."
644
645Daoist Ling Jing raised his head weakly and took a glance at him. As he took a breath, he suddenly coughed violently and vomited out a mouthful of blood. "The eyes of Sword God's disciple are extraordinary. I'm injured so I placed a restriction around myself to avoid getting engaged by the strange beasts."
646
647Qin Mu said, "Daoist, I'm proficient in the art of healing. Do you need my help?"
648
649Daoist Ling Jing raised his hand and lifted the restriction. He wanted to get up but was unable to move, so he said while gasping for breath, "Come over."
650
651Qin Mu had the dragon qilin walk to the tree. He then jumped down from the head to examine Daoist Ling Jing's injuries. This elder was heavily injured, and these wounds were probably caused by Little Rulai.
652
653The crucial point was that Daoist Ling Jing was pretty old and his body was not like what it used to be. This resulted in the injuries becoming even more severe, making it difficult for him to heal naturally.
654
655Qin Mu mumbled to himself as he took out the dragon's saliva to treat external injuries. He then took out a few Spirit Buddha Pills to repair the damage to Daoist Ling Jing's spirit. After that, he rummaged through his taotie sack and took out some herbs he had bought in Imperial College for emergency usage. Even though there weren't many herbs, they were enough to create spirit pills for Daoist Ling Jing's injuries.
656
657Qin Mu made the spirit pills on the spot, with his hand techniques fast and perfect. Soon, a furnace of spirit pills was finished, and he let Daoist Ling Jing consume them.
658
659The complexion of Daoist Ling Jing turned for the better, and he said in astonishment, "The disciple of Sword God actually has such high attainments in the art of healing. Little Dao friend, won't you be my disciple? I have a lot of enemies and with you by my side, you could assure my safety. Don't worry, even though the Old Sword God is powerful, what I can teach you won't be any worse than him."
660
661Qin Mu shook his head. "I'm the cult master sacred teacher of Heavenly Devil Cult so I can't become your disciple."
662
663"So it's the devil cult master." Daoist Ling Jing struggled to get up, then bowed in greeting with a respectful face. "I thought I was above you in seniority, never expecting us to be senior brothers of the same seniority, Ling Jing pays respects to devil cult master."
664
665Qin Mu immediately returned his greeting. "Senior Brother Ling Jing is too polite. Your injuries are not a problem now, but if you want to get rid of them from their roots, you will have to nurse yourself to health."
666
667Daoist Ling Jing smiled. "Seems like it was the right choice to give you those two Fengdu coins. The Old Sword God still owes me two Fengdu coins, but I reckon that guy won't return them to me. He's pretty stingy, having even chopped off one of my fingers back then." He opened up his right hand and said, "See."
668
669The ring finger on his right hand was gone, and it was clearly a sword wound.
670
671"If it was not for this broken finger, how would Little Rulai of Little Thunderclap Monastery have been able to injure me this heavily? However, his injuries are pretty severe as well. Hehe, without a divine physician at his side, I reckon he will have to roll back to Little Thunderclap Monastery and suffer for two to three years before fully recovering."
672
673Daoist Ling Jing let out a pent-up breath. "That fellow is younger than me and has a good foundation. He was the disciple of the previous Rulai and is the junior brother of the current Rulai. When the previous Rulai passed on the position to his senior brother, the Little Rulai was indignant and felt that the reason why the previous Rulai had not passed on the position to him was because he was from the demon race, so he had slaughtered his way out of Great Thunderclap Monastery and founded Little Thunderclap Monastery. That's right, why are you wandering in the depths of Great Ruins alone?"
674
675Qin Mu mixed a few herbs together and brewed a medicinal decoction. "The elders of my village have lost their way, so I've come out to look for them."
676
677"Elders of your village?" Daoist Ling Jing was bewildered.
678
679"It's none other than Old Sword God and the other elders. Among them are Jade Face Poison King, Thief God, Ma Wangshen, and also my Heavenly Devil Cult Patriarch. Has senior brother met them?"
680
681Daoist Ling Jing was startled. Suddenly, he began laughing until tears almost rolled down his cheeks. The injuries that had just fused split open once more and made this elder suck in a cold breath from the pain. "Old Sword God and Heavenly Devil Cult Patriarch have lost their way? These two old goofballs, they actually lost their way!"
682
683He laughed until he couldn't breathe, and Qin Mu immediately said, "Stop laughing, your wounds have opened up again. Has senior brother seen them?"
684
685"I haven't." Daoist Ling Jing shook his head.
686
687Qin Mu then took out the portraits of Old Ma, Granny Si, and the rest to ask, "In that case, what about them?"
688
689Daoist Ling Jing took a look at the paintings and pondered. "I saw this blacksmith carrying a chest. His speed was very fast and his ability was no weaker than mine. When I met him, we even competed with our leg power. He didn't say a word and had a weird temper. It's rare to meet this kind of strong practitioner, but I had never heard of such an expert before."
690
691Qin Mu's spirit was aroused. "That's Grandpa Mute from my village! Does senior brother know where he went?"
692
693Daoist Ling Jing replied, "He went into a restricted area. It's very treacherous there, so it's one of the most dangerous grounds in Great Ruins. I chased him all the way to that dangerous land but did not go in. He's a mute? No wonder he gave me the cold shoulder when I was talking to him."
694
695"Grandpa Mute went to a restricted area in Great Ruins?" Qin Mu became nervous again, and he thought for a moment before asking, "Has senior brother heard of Carefree Village before?"
696
697"Carefree Village?" Daoist Ling Jing shook his head. "I've not heard of it before."
698
699Qin Mu muttered to himself irresolutely for a moment. Daoist Ling Jing frequently wandered around Great Ruins and knew numerous secrets that no one else knew. If even he didn't know where Carefree Village was, Qin Mu had little hope to find Carefree Village by himself.
700
701He pondered over it before suddenly asking, "Senior brother, can I ask you for a favor? I would like to go to the living realm of the dead once more."
702
703Daoist Ling Jing smiled. "This is simple. When the night comes, I'll bring you there."
704
705Qin Mu calmed himself down and healed the other's injuries, so when the night arrived, Daoist Ling Jing had pretty much recovered. He immediately brought them into the darkness of Great Ruins and said, "Living realm of the dead is the territory of the King of Hell. This world is very mysterious and the two worlds only overlap at night. If you want to enter the living realm of the dead, you need to have Fengdu coins. I've signed a contract with the King of Hell to not go to Youdu after I die but straight to Fengdu."
706
707Looking around, he took out a token and shone it towards the darkness. "The origin of Fengdu is very weird. It doesn't have a fixed location but floats here and there in Great Ruins, creating a very mysterious world by itself. I have a token of Fengdu, so as long as I activate it, an envoy of Fengdu will come and fetch me."
708
709Just as he was saying that, a light came shining over from the middle of two large mountains. Daoist Ling Jing immediately brought Qin Mu over there. That light was sometimes bright and sometimes dim, guiding them on their way.
710
711Without noticing it, they passed by a couple large mountains and got closer to that light only to see it was but a ball of a will-o'-the-wisp which suddenly vanished.
712
713The jade pendant on Qin Mu's chest gave off a ghostly light then and slowly floated upwards to lead the way.
714
715Daoist Ling Jing brought Qin Mu and the rest forward until they passed through what felt like a formless barrier. The sight in front of them suddenly changed and the vastly mysterious living realm of the dead appeared in front of them. There, they could only see a small boat sailing unhurriedly through the sea of fog among the countless white bone mountains.
716
717Daoist Ling Jing brought Qin Mu and the rest to the boat, and the skeleton inside brought them into the dense fog. After some time, they reached the docks.
718
719The stone tablet of the living realm of the dead was right in front of them.
720
721Daoist Ling Jing asked curiously, "Devil cult master, what are you coming here for? Your cultivation is too weak, so even if you sell your soul, Fengdu won't want it."
722
723Qin Mu walked forward, passing by an empty village. After crossing the huge mountain in front of them, he saw the incomparably large Moon Ship that lay in front of Fengdu. It was like a three-legged toad that was carrying an enormous ship.
724
725Once he said it, he said solemnly, "I'm here to borrow a ship!"
726
727"Borrow a ship?"
728
729Daoist Ling Jing was stunned for a moment, while Qin Mu sprinted over rapidly. He broke through in no time and landed on the Moon Ship in a few steps.
730
731On his chest, the jade pendant which he wore since he was young floated up even higher, and the light coming from it became even brighter.
732
733Dutian Devil King looked around, incredibly shaken as he muttered, "Is this a god artifact?"
734
735"Visitor from Carefree Village…"
736
737On the Moon Ship which was in a mess, the ruined star in the sky turned into fireballs which descended non-stop, making the situation quite dangerous. A strange, trembling voice rang out. "You're from Carefree Village! What are you here for? I'm not a betrayer, I only escaped! Their deaths are not my fault, hehe, they're not my fault. I'm just a coward…"
738
739Qin Mu looked toward the source of the voice and came to the center of the Moon Ship. In the middle of several huge pillars, a face of several acres that was stuck to the ground looked at the jade pendant floating in front of his chest in terror.
740
741"Not my fault, I didn't betray my tribesmen—" that face shrieked.
742
743Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then let out a shaky breath and stretched out his palm to touch one of the pillars. Daoist Ling Jing frowned. "I've been here before and there was nothing here except for this lunatic. I've checked these pillars before as well, but there were no abnormalities."
744
745"Don't touch!" that face shouted in despair.
746
747When Qin Mu's palm touched the huge pillar, an incomparably terrifying energy suddenly came pouring into his body. Cracking sounds rang out all around him as his body grew taller and bigger. The divine energy that came pouring in caused his body to undergo a dramatic transformation!
748
749He felt his tailbone growing frantically, turning into a third leg that grew out from his back and landed steadily on the ground. Bones and flesh also rapidly grew under his armpits, turning into arms.
750
751Bang! Bang! Bang!
752
753Qin Mu stretched out his arms and grasped the other pillars. Everything in his surroundings seemed to shrink rapidly, but that was just a misconception. He was actually the one becoming larger.
754
755Due to the divine energy of Moon Ship reconstructing his body, deafening explosions came from his body. This noise originated from all the divine treasures opening within him. In the blink of an eye, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Celestial Being, and Life and Death Divine Treasures had all opened up. The Divine Bridge Divine Treasure had even opened up and reached straight to the opposite shore!
756
757Qin Mu couldn't resist howling, and as he did so, the incomparably enormous Moon Ship gradually stood up. Then, the broken moon floated into the distance.
758
759Chapter 236: Carefree Village
760
761
762
763Daoist Ling Jing's expression changed drastically, and he moved back continuously. Dutian Devil King and the dragon qilin were also forced to move back by Qin Mu's aura. Even when they were thousands of yards away from him, they still couldn't get a stable footing.
764
765Meanwhile, under Qin Mu's feet, the face of the Moon Guardian had sunk into the Moon Ship by the pressure from the feet. Originally, he had still been hanging by a thread, but when he got stepped onto, he fused completely with the Moon Ship, becoming part of it and dying.
766
767The old Moon Guardian died.
768
769Daoist Ling Jing was shaken. The death of the old Moon Guardian didn't concern him since this person was a lunatic, but the growth of Qin Mu's body attracted all of his attention. The youth had actually broken through the shackles of the living realm of the dead.
770
771When entering the living realm of the dead, even existence like Daoist Ling Jing would have their blood and flesh stripped off, leaving him a walking skeleton.
772
773When Qin Mu had entered here with him, he was also left with only his bones. It was the same for the dragon qilin, while Dutian Devil King sported no changes only because he had no flesh or bones.
774
775And then, not only had Qin Mu's flesh returned, his body had also become larger and larger, as if he was a heavenly god with divine light surrounding him. He replaced the last Moon Guardian of the Moon Herders to become the new Moon Guardian.
776
777The power which he controlled now was too strong, so it broke through the limitations of the living realm of the dead, which resulted in them being able to do nothing!
778
779This was something that was nearly impossible.
780
781Daoist Ling Jing had come to this Moon Ship many times and examined everything here numerous times. He had touched the pillars countless times, but he had never undergone such an astonishing transformation like Qin Mu.
782
783He had thought that only the Moon Herders had this ability and not even all of them. Just the ones who had a special constitution.
784
785The human body is like a large smelting furnace. An ordinary Moon Herder should not be able to contain the terrifying energy from the Moon Ship, so only those with a special constitution could receive such a large amount of energy.
786
787The Moon Herders should have been wiped out, with this elder on the ship being the last of them. However, he had now also sunk into the Moon Ship and lost his life.
788
789For Qin Mu to be able to control the Moon Ship and its energy, could he be a Moon Herder, and one with a special constitution among his kind?
790
791However, Qin Mu was not a Moon Herder.
792
793Grasping the huge pillars was considered an abnormally dangerous act to other people, even if they were Moon Herders. However, it was very safe for him to do it. It was as if his body could naturally withstand this energy and automatically reconstruct his body and soul to handle it.
794
795"What powerful energy!"
796
797Qin Mu was surprised and delighted. The energy in his body had reached an unimaginable realm, which gave him a sensation that his previous power was like a water droplet in front of the ocean. It was simply insignificant!
798
799Now, with just a raise of a hand, he felt like he could change the landscape, to change and even control the rules of the world!
800
801Rings of moonlight covered Qin Mu's surroundings. Those rings seemed to flow down from the top of his head like flowing water, going down to the bottom of his feet before disappearing into the Moon Ship.
802
803His feet had already started to sink inside, fusing with the ship.
804
805This was Moon Ship's counterattack.
806
807Qin Mu had once seen this kind of counterattack on the body of the Sun Guardian of the Sun Ship.
808
809Sun Guardian was Sun Herder Yan Jingjing. Since the sun of the Sun Ship had been extinguished, she had to bear the counterattack of the Sun Ship by burning her life to control and receive its immense energy. The longer she controlled the Sun Ship, the faster her life was drained away.
810
811The broken moon above the Moon Ship was also extinguished and had no light emanating from it. For Qin Mu to control the ship and borrow its energy, the price was his own life!
812
813He had to move quickly and borrow the power and speed of the Moon Ship to delve deeper into the darkness to find Carefree Village, Village Chief, and the other villagers. Otherwise, the price would become too huge for him to bear if he wanted to break free!
814
815"Senior Brother Ling Jing, thank you for your help." Qin Mu looked down at him from above and said in a booming voice, "But now, I have to find Village Chief and the rest while the darkness is still here, farewell!"
816
817Daoist Ling Jing suppressed the shock in his heart and flew off the Moon Ship to float in mid-air.
818
819This Daoist was now a skeleton and the Daoist robe on his body had also become tattered. Raising his head, he said, "Cult master, please!"
820
821Boom!
822
823The enormous Moon Ship took a stride. Below the body of the ship was the shape of a three-legged toad formed by the majestic mountains. With a step, they could cover ten miles.
824
825With a few steps, the Moon Ship walked out of the gate of Fengdu with its chains dragging the broken black moon still in mid-air out of the living realm of the dead.
826
827Meanwhile, in Fengdu, the strong practitioners all flew out to see the traces of the Moon Ship leaving into the distance.
828
829These strong practitioners of Fengdu didn't give chase. When Moon Ship had entered Fengdu back in the day, Yama of Fengdu had not received the Moon Guardian; he only let the Moon Ship stay at the wasteland outside the city.
830
831Now that the Moon Ship was leaving, Yama of Fengdu didn't bother to pay attention to it.
832
833A bird-headed and human-bodied mutant came flapping over and called out to Daoist Ling Jing. "Daoist Ling Jing, Yama requests the pleasure of seeing you."
834
835Daoist Ling Jing immediately followed him into Fengdu and walked into the Hall of Yamaraja.
836
837At this moment, tens of thousands of yards of light shone from Qin Mu's body, which made him look like a heavenly god that was crafted from a moon. He controlled the enormous ship to walk out of the living realm of the dead, cross the sea of fog, and enter the Great Ruins which were shrouded in darkness.
838
839He could feel the boundless energy in his body, and every single one of the divine treasure in his body was opened. No matter if it was Spirit Embryo, Five Elements, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Celestial Being, Life and Death or Divine Bridge—they were all filled with terrifying energy, and there was still even more energy pouring in.
840
841On the inside of the Moon Ship were incomparably complicated formations, and when his palm had gotten into contact with the huge pillar, the formations had been activated. Boundless energy poured into him to reconstruct his body, his soul, his spirit embryo, and allow his realm to surpass divine bridge, reaching an unimaginable realm.
842
843The realm of heavenly gods.
844
845It was hard to imagine what kind of realm this energy would reach if this was a complete ship!
846
847"Carefree Village, Village Chief, I'm coming!"
848
849As the huge Moon Ship moved forward through the darkness, the scenery around it flashed past like flickering lights and passing shadows. The jade pendant on Qin Mu's neck had also become huge and floated up in the night to point towards a faraway place in the darkness.
850
851Suddenly, this jade pendant came off from his neck and flew into the distance.
852
853Qin Mu controlled the Moon Ship to increase its speed to not lose the jade pendant which was flying swiftly through the darkness. As the ship moved faster, it compressed the space, which caused thunder and lightning to occur at the same time, tearing apart the darkness continuously.
854
855Above the Moon Ship, there were huge rocks crashing down continuously from the broken moon. As they streaked across the sky, they left trails of fire as they descended into the darkness of Great Ruins.
856
857Wherever the Moon Ship walked, meteors fell in its wake. This caused the surroundings of Moon Ship to be filled with fire and smoke, stinging the eyes.
858
859On the deck of the Moon Ship, there were too many palaces to count. This was where the Moon Herders had lived, but after a great battle, they had all been wiped out. The last Moon Herder was the Moon Guardian, but even he was consumed by the Moon Ship when Qin Mu became the new Moon Guardian.
860
861Dutian Devil King and the dragon qilin hid in a palace that had yet to collapse so as to avoid Qin Mu's world-shaking aura. The dragon qilin soon shut his eyes from all the shaking and fell asleep. Dutian Devil King was not sleepy, so he looked out from the window of the palace.
862
863He could see the majestic Qin Mu standing at the center of the pillars like a tall mountain. His power had materialized into the rings of moonlight that were falling down his body, and they were extremely terrifying.
864
865"This world is not as lowly as I thought. These god artifacts require an extremely profound path, skills, and divine arts. It's not something that an ordinary civilization could create."
866
867Dutian Devil King's gaze wavered, and he found himself at a loss. "Am I really going to invade such a world? What worries me are actually not the heights which the civilization of this world had reached, but the thing that had destroyed something like it…"
868
869Countless monsters in the darkness of Great Ruins were alarmed and surged over. Even though these monster were massive in size, they weren't that great when compared to the Moon Ship. They were like ants and were slow as well.
870
871The Moon Ship crushed all of them, and among the constant booms, crunching sounds could also be faintly heard. It was hard to say how many mysterious organisms had been flattened into pancakes and turned into a pile of mush in the darkness.
872
873There were countless devils pouncing towards the Moon Ship as well, and devil voices could be heard. These devils were trying their best to board this land ship, but they were immediately killed by the lightning created by the movement of the Moon Ship, and their corpses dropped down like rain.
874
875"Chandra naavah (Sanskrit, Moon Ship)!"
876
877In the darkness, a terrifying aura surged forth as a black figure became bigger and bigger. With feathers like clouds, it flew over from the darkness and leaped into the thunder layer formed by the Moon Ship, bringing devil clouds to invade it.
878
879From the devil clouds, the enormous devil popped out its heads, and all nine of them spewed devil flames towards Qin Mu who was at the center of the pillars.
880
881The blazing flames lighted up the night sky, and the body of the enormous devil rolling back into the clouds could be seen. It seemed like a bird, but a flood dragon as well. It was as if the devil was a monster that was a fusion between the two different species.
882
883"Garuda!" Dutian Devil King cried out in astonishment.
884
885Moonlight lingered around Qin Mu's body, blocking the devil flames. Suddenly, a crescent opened up in the heart of his brows and slowly turned into a full moon like a door opening.
886
887Soon, a full moon appeared in the heart of his brows. This wasn't a real full moon but an eye that was giving off a light that was similar to moonlight.
888
889Pew!
890
891A snow-white light flashed across the horizon and sliced apart the darkness. It cut through the devil flames that filled the sky, and the heads of the devil started to fall from mid-air. There were exactly nine heads, no more and no less, while behind them were necks that were squirming like dragons and spurting blood.
892
893The full moon on Qin Mu's forehead slowly closed and turned into a crescent again, which disappeared as well.
894
895Dutian Devil King shut his mouth and didn't say a word. "After this brat let me go, I'll definitely not invade this twisted world!"
896
897The Moon Ship continued traveling forward while devils continued to surge towards it. Suddenly, shrieks came from the darkness, and the countless devils suddenly retreated, disappearing into the darkness.
898
899Qin Mu's jade pendant which was floating in front of the ship looked incomparably small as though it was a speck of dust. Suddenly, it clanked as though it had collided with a formless barrier.
900
901As if it was water of the lake stretching vertically from the heaven to the earth, ripples started to gently undulate on the barrier. They spread out with the jade pendant at the center, growing larger and larger. Meanwhile, at the center of the ripple, another world was gradually showing the tip of its grandeur.
902
903This was Carefree Village.
904
905Chapter 237: Restricted Area
906
907
908
909Qin Mu stood on the majestic Moon Ship with his hands stretched out to hold the pillars. He was like a giant getting punished as he looked at the world that had appeared in front of him.
910
911Behind him, the broken moon floated in the sky while meteors fell down from time to time. As they crashed around the Moon Ship, the incomparably black darkness was lighted up.
912
913Behind the light, the devils were in a disorder. They were bustling with activity and making a commotion.
914
915In front of the ship, however, was a pure land that had never been invaded by the darkness. It was cut off from the rest of the world, tranquil, mysterious, and filled with the unknown.
916
917It was hard to imagine that there was such a serene place in Great Ruins.
918
919In front of Qin Mu were a vast forest and an endless mountain range. However, at a place farther away, the ground was suddenly cut off as if it was emptied out by someone. With the sea and clouds separating them, there was a city that stood tall and upright in mid-air. It was like the place where immortals lived.
920
921The sky was filled with golden clouds and light, while below palaces towered into the cloudy heaven. Floating high up in the clouds was an unbroken chain of mountain peaks which revealed their bright golden peaks.
922
923In the depths of the clouds, majestic god statues stood like an emperor protecting his territories.
924
925A huge machinery floated three thousand yards away from the sky, operating quietly. Countless formations were imprinted into the mysterious iron and gold structure, forming an incomparably complicated large-scale machine. Energy produced by it materialized into trails of flowing light which connected the city and the sky.
926
927However…
928
929Everything was already destroyed.
930
931Qin Mu was stunned. In front of him was a ruined Carefree Village. The one dazzling sky city was now a ruin. The palaces that towered into the clouds were riddled with holes and the unbroken chain of peaks that was floating in the sky had been smashed and shattered. Broken rocks of all shapes and sizes floated in the sea of clouds while majestic god statues stood slanted, missing limbs here and there.
932
933In the middle of the sun in the sky was a huge black dot which had already swallow more than half of the sun. Only the golden halo around it remained, looking like a golden hoop.
934
935The city above the clouds had been destroyed, and the great machinery that stood upright in the sky was broken as well. Its shattered components floated quietly around.
936
937Only a couple huge pieces of machinery remained operating, maintaining the barrier of Carefree Village.
938
939Not far from the Moon Ship, there was a horizontally inscribed board stabbed diagonally into the forest. On that toppled overly large inscribed stele, two words were written. They said 'xiao Pal"
940
941The horizontally inscribed board was broken.
942
943A pang of sorrow suddenly surged through Qin Mu, and it grew frantically until it filled his whole heart.
944
945There was no Carefree Village in this world anymore.
946
947There was no place to be carefree anymore.
948
949This giant who was standing on the Moon Ship and holding the pillars seemed to be bearing the punishment of heaven as he lowered his head.
950
951He knelt down, and tears dripped droplet by droplet onto the solid floor.
952
953The home that he longed for had already been destroyed, and nothing remained of it anymore.
954
955He had looked for such a long time, fantasized about his home in his dreams, his family, neighbors, and friends, but all of them had suddenly been shattered with the appearance of this world in front of him. It was like a drawing done on the sand, vanishing with the gust of a wind.
956
957There was no longer any home, any mother waiting for her son, any stern father… All of the things he had fantasized about were no longer there…
958
959He awoke from his dream. He was still the orphan adopted by the numerous old, weak, sick, and elderly people.
960
961His hometown was gone.
962
963Dutian Devil King raised his head and looked out the window to see the giant kneeling among the pillars. The giant that was shrouded in the hazy moonlight had his face facing downwards so only the shaking of his shoulders could be seen.
964
965At this moment, Dutian Devil King could well imagine the youth's pain.
966
967When his Dutian World was annihilated, he had felt the same sorrow. He was inconsolable and couldn't suppress his emotions. While he was bawling, he blamed the world, and with his overflowing anger, he had fought with the messengers of death from Youdu, trying to save the lives of his clansmen!
968
969He was struck down countless times, and his body was broken along with his soul. Then, he had finally submitted, submitted himself to fate.
970
971In Qin Mu, he saw himself the past, the him when he was young, the him that was about to be struck down and submit to fate.
972
973When life is weak and one's direction is lost, coming and going like a lunatic.
974
975When playing in the mud, it's hard to know the luminosity of a pearl. How many trials and how many hardships, how much obliteration must one suffer to temporarily return back to fear?
976
977Where is home?
978
979Where is my home?
980
981Qin Mu gradually raised his head up with a cold gaze. His eyes were like the bright luster given off by the moon. When he closed his eyes, that light vanished, but when he reopened them, they were like two bright moons.
982
983As he stood on the Moon Ship, his emotions rose and fell as myriads of thoughts went through his mind. He was unable to calm down for a long time.
984
985"I didn't come here to find Carefree Village, but to search for Village Chief, granny, and the rest. They are my kin and Disabled Elderly Village is my hometown, it's the Carefree Village of my heart!"
986
987Qin Mu composed himself and looked around. Suddenly, he saw a couple of stone statues placed at the border of the barrier.
988
989Even existences of the god realm would find it hard to travel through the darkness of Great Ruins unless they were carrying god statues. However, god statues were extremely dense and even existences of cult master level would find it hard to carry them. They would be unable to travel far with them.
990
991The stone statues at the edge should have been transported here using great magical power to force the darkness back.
992
993After entering Carefree Village, these stone statues were no longer useful and was thus left behind.
994
995Qin Mu's heart stirred. Village Chief could have brought Apothecary to walk in the darkness and deal with all kinds of strange peculiarities, while Mute should have a method of his own to deal with the darkness.
996
997As for Old Ma, Cripple, Butcher, and Blind, they would have needed the stone statues to be able to move in the darkness. Old Ma, Cripple, and Butcher's body had already recovered, so they could walk a longer distance while carrying a god statue.
998
999No one knew the extent of Deaf's abilities, but not even ghosts and gods dared doubt the greatness of his painting skills. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor was his hardcore admirer who took honor in collecting his paintings.
1000
1001While what concerned granny, the previous Cult Master Li Tianxing was hidden in her body so she should be able to carry the god statue as well.
1002
1003These statues here should have been left behind by the villagers.
1004
1005"In that case, they must have found their way here. Could it be that they entered this place and got trapped, which is why they couldn't return to the village for New Years?"
1006
1007Qin Mu opened his eyes and looked around. Vigorous energy poured into his eyes, and he executed the Nine Heavens Eye Awakening Skill that Blind had taught him to its maximum. "I'm here. Village Chief, granny, I'm going to bring you guys back for New Years!"
1008
1009He didn't step into Carefree Village straightaway but first checked it out from outside.
1010
1011Village Chief and the rest were extremely strong, so if they had really entered Carefree Village, it wouldn't look as serene as it was now. There must be no lack of danger inside, because of which they got trapped.
1012
1013Even the Moon Ship couldn't guarantee Qin Mu's safety.
1014
1015His gaze landed on the forest in front of Carefree Village and saw the traces that Village Chief and the rest had left. The divine arts of great practitioners like Village Chief and Mute would cause astonishing damage to the surroundings.
1016
1017However, this wasn't the case by the forest. Although there were traces of a battle there, the damage wasn't extensive.
1018
1019Qin Mu's gaze followed the traces and saw a few ruins in the forest. The path that Village Chief and the rest had taken went along them.
1020
1021The reason why the path was along these ruins was that this was the only path, the only safe way to enter Carefree Village!
1022
1023Other than this path, every other place was restricted!
1024
1025Qin Mu looked with Nine Heavens Divine Eyes and saw faint rays of light which were extremely treacherous in the forest. However, he couldn't see what the restrictions were.
1026
1027These restrictions were extremely dangerous, so the path along the ruins was much safer in comparison.
1028
1029Qin Mu continued to stare fixedly forward. At this moment, he saw a few strands of fine light bursting forth from a ruin which was about three hundred miles away from him, but not far from the end of the forest.
1030
1031Qin Mu's vital qi burst forth, and he plucked down the jade pendant from the barrier. Activating Moon Ship, he took a stride forward and entered the barrier.
1032
1033Hnnn.
1034
1035A gentle tremor came over him, and he felt like he had crossed into another world. The darkness which shrouded Great Ruins instantly vanished behind him, and when he turned his head to look behind, he could see nothing.
1036
1037At this moment, he suddenly heard weird laughter. Countless devils that had been hugging the body of Moon Ship leaped off the ship and surged into the forest like a flood.
1038
1039A devil god that had two heads and five tails rose into the air. She also had eight long legs which had palms instead of feet which she used to scurry through the air while shouting sternly, "Vadhah (Sanskrit, Kill)!"
1040
1041Dutian Devil King jumped in shock. He totally didn't expect that there were would be so many devil secretly hiding on the ship in the cover of darkness.
1042
1043The devil god turned her head back and chuckled at Qin Mu who was on the ship. "Fancy finding by sheer luck what one has been searched for far and wide! We had wanted to enter Carefree Village for quite a long time, so we must thank you for leading us here!"
1044
1045This devil god was none other than that one Qin Mu and Village Chief had met in the living realm of the dead. It was also this devil god who had lured Qin Mu out into the darkness after he had met the Sun Ship in Border Dragon City to kidnap him.
1046
1047It was evident that this devil god had long ago hidden herself on the Moon Ship to wait for a chance.
1048
1049She seemed to have known that Qin Mu would definitely return to the living realm of the dead one day and borrow the Moon Ship to return to Carefree Village.
1050
1051And now, she had finally succeeded.
1052
1053"My children, take over the last of the pure land! From today onwards, this world shall be ours!" that devil god cried out and brought the omnipresent devils to surge towards the other end of the forest.
1054
1055Qin Mu was expressionless as he gazed at these heavenly devils.
1056
1057Suddenly, a cryptic pulse came from the forest and the flesh and bones of the tens of thousands heavenly devils that had surged forward melted away. Only their skin was left, but when the gust of wind blew past, even it turned into ashes and scattered away.
1058
1059The devil god who had rushed into the sky above the forest instantly rushed out. "Sa Parami!"
1060
1061A huge whirlpool appeared and sucked her in.
1062
1063Qin Mu had seen this method before. When fighting against the Village Chief, that devil god had created the space leading to the other shore and pulled Village Chief into it, trying to trap him there. Never had she then expect to fall inside it as well.
1064
1065Now she had executed this method not to trap anyone, but to avoid the danger in the forest by hiding in the other shore!
1066
1067Right then, a ball of fire rose from the forest, and a beam shot out from it into the depths of the space.
1068
1069In the sky, a trail of fresh blood flowed out, and the corpse of that devil god appeared fell down. Once it crashed into the forest, the corpse turned into ashes.
1070
1071On the Moon Ship, Dutian Devil King was quiet out of fear, his blood running cold. "This goddamn world, can it not be so treacherous?"
1072
1073The pure white moonlight in Qin Mu's eyes drifted like mist, and a booming voice sounded out as he muttered to himself, "Your deaths have affirmed my guess. This restricted area is not to defend against any invasion of enemies, but to prevent people of Carefree Village from walking out! It was left behind by the existence that destroyed Great Ruins."
1074
1075Chapter 238: The Late Motherly Love
1076
1077
1078
1079Dutian Devil King heard what Qin Mu said and was slightly stunned, then instantly understood what he was saying.
1080
1081This restricted area in the forest was not to defend against the invasion of enemies, but to prevent people of Carefree Village from walking out!
1082
1083If it was to defend against outside enemies, then only people who barged in would be attacked by the restricted area.
1084
1085Whereas here, no matter if people were trying to go in or to come out, they would all receive ruthless obliteration!
1086
1087The ruins to the side should be the path that the people of Carefree Village had opened up by force to escape Carefree Village and not a path that had formed naturally.
1088
1089'To understand the situation from the slightest clue… ordinary people would have never noticed this. The ones who taught this brat are definitely absolute villains that are incomparably cunning.'
1090
1091Dutian Devil King shuddered uncontrollably. It was obvious that the heavenly devils that had clung to the ship hadn't escaped Qin Mu's detection. The reason he didn't reveal his knowledge was to have them test the path!
1092
1093Such a ruthless and sinister youth would definitely have absolute villains for his teachers!
1094
1095Dutian Devil King sized up the restricted area and thought to himself, 'With just the Moon Ship, we can't enter this place. Moon Ship is too huge, and if we barged in, we would definitely trigger the restricted area. If it was so simple for the restricted area to obliterate that female devil god, destroying the Moon Ship shouldn't be too troublesome either…'
1096
1097Just as he thought this, the Moon Ship suddenly trembled and gradually squatted down. A huge tremor shook the enormous three-legged ship as it lay down on the floor and stopped moving.
1098
1099Dutian Devil King immediately felt the heavenly god aura around Qin Mu gave disappear, and he let out a sigh of relief. If Qin Mu had driven the Moon Ship into the restricted area, even he would have been destroyed.
1100
1101Even though Qin Mu had seen the destruction of Carefree Village, he still possessed his rationality, which astonished Dutian Devil King.
1102
1103He then kicked the dragon qilin awake.
1104
1105The dragon qilin shook his head and followed behind him while asking in a low and muffled voice, "Iron lump, where are we?"
1106
1107Dutian Devil King became furious. "You slept all the way and still have the face to ask me?"
1108
1109The dragon qilin smiled. "You also don't know where we are? Apparently, you have also slept all the way."
1110
1111At the center of the huge pillars, Qin Mu's body returned back to normal, and he pulled back his legs that had sunk into the ship.
1112
1113The body of the ship had fused with his legs, but since Qin Mu's body had grown extremely gigantic earlier, he had left huge footprints after he had shrunk in size. This allowed him to pull out his legs.
1114
1115Qin Mu stood up, and his mind immediately trembled. He was incomparably weak at that moment, and the divine treasures that had been opened up by the huge amount of energy from the Moon Ship closed one after another. Only Spirit Embryo and Five Elements Divine Treasures did not leave him.
1116
1117The ship's energy was too great for the current him, so if he wanted to control it, he had to exhaust his life force as a price.
1118
1119'Yan Jingjing has always lived on the Sun Ship, so she had exhausted way more life force than me. It's been really hard on her…'
1120
1121Qin Mu took in two deep breaths and consumed some spirit pills to supplement his body. He rose then and said, "Devil King, Fatty Dragon, let's enter this restricted area."
1122
1123Dutian Devil King let out a shaky breath and said, "You're planning to use my knowledge and vision to avoid the dangers and find the villains of your village?"
1124
1125Qin Mu nodded. "You are the devil king of Dutian World, the king of devil gods. Your knowledge and vision are much greater than mine, so only you can bring me in."
1126
1127Dutian Devil King laughed out loud and said proudly, "That's right, only I can bring you in and out safely, you can lick my feet…"
1128
1129Qin Mu's expression changed slightly, and Dutian Devil King immediately changed his words as he laughed. "I'm joking, look at you. I can bring you in and out, but you must release me as you promised. You agreed to it!"
1130
1131Qin Mu smiled. "Don't worry, I will definitely not eat my words. I can sign the Pact of Earth Count with you!"
1132
1133Dutian Devil King shook his head. "No need for that. If we sign the Pact of Earth Count, I won't believe you anymore. You will definitely dig a hole for me to jump into."
1134
1135Qin Mu laughed coarsely and thought to himself, 'Dutian Devil King really knows me well. With just a verbal promise, I find it embarrassing to trick him… Grandpa Cripple is right, I'm still too kind.'
1136
1137He jumped onto the dragon qilin's back and Dutian Devil King also got on. Fire clouds grew under the dragon qilin's feet, and they slowly descended onto the ground. Soon, they reached the edge of the restricted area.
1138
1139Dutian Devil King was extremely nervous and spat out a few gears from his mouth. "Even though there's a safe path here, this safe path was established from inside. If we follow it to walk out, there won't be much danger, but if we use it to walk in, we'll face quite some danger. You must keep close to me and not take the wrong path. If you trigger the restricted area, we'll all die!"
1140
1141Qin Mu immediately moved forward and opened up the god statue's chest to adjust the gears there. Adding a few more spare parts, he reminded, "Devil King, don't try to play any tricks or you will be trapped as well."
1142
1143Dutian Devil King replied in a bad mood, "Don't worry, I understand. Stick close!"
1144
1145Qin Mu followed after him, and the four faces and twelve eyes of Dutian Devil King looked around. His four mouths muttered as he saw through the dangers in the restricted area and did his calculations.
1146
1147Qin Mu even saw Dutian Devil King using his devil qi to execute methods of space calculation. Countless numbers and runes moved in the air as he did incomparably complicated calculations.
1148
1149"Devil King, your attainments in algebra are extremely high," Qin Mu said in astonishment.
1150
1151Dutian Devil King replied in a bad mood, "You don't say. If you don't learn your algebra properly, you will only know the form of most of the divine arts but not their essence."
1152
1153"Can you teach me?" Qin Mu asked with excitement. "I have a Canon of Supreme Mystery which I still have yet to study thoroughly. Canon of Supreme Mystery uses the divinatory symbols of the eight divinatory trigrams to represent one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, and eight. It's an octal number system which is quite thorny."
1154
1155Dutian Devil King said in astonishment, "Octal number system? You will have to use the eight trigrams to calculate, which are Heaven, Earth, Thunder, Water, Mountain, Wind, Flame, and Lake. If you used numbers to replace them, it would be quite troublesome to calculate, but if you used the eight trigrams as an abacus to operate the transformation, that would be much easier… We'll talk later, don't talk to me now. If I calculate wrongly, we are all finished!"
1156
1157Dutian Devil King's attainments in algebra weren't extremely high, but simply too profound to understand for normal people. A sentence he had said without thinking gave Qin Mu the feeling of having been enlightened.
1158
1159He had been studying the Canon of Supreme Mystery these days, but he didn't achieve much. It was too profound and calculating it was incomparably troublesome.
1160
1161However, if he used the eight trigrams as an abacus, it would become an exquisite tool for calculation. All the problems that he had faced could easily be solved!
1162
1163'There's not only the octal number system from the eight divinatory trigrams. There is also yin and yang binary, four phases quaternary system!'
1164
1165Qin Mu managed to deduce many things from one answer. There were many mathematical physics in Canon of Supreme Mystery, but there were no tools of calculation listed there. After getting advice from Dutian Devil King, he finally had a chance to actually comprehend the Canon of Supreme Mystery completely!
1166
1167'If I wanted to do that, I would need to have a formation for calculation, the eight trigrams of taiji!'
1168
1169Qin Mu took out the Canon of Supreme Mystery and browsed through it. His vital qi transformed into the four phases of yin and yang before forming the runes of the eight divinatory trigrams which floated in front of him.
1170
1171With a pull of his hand, the eight trigrams of taiji split into forty-nine copies. The yin and yang revolved, the four phases operated, and the eight divinatory trigrams transformed.
1172
1173"So that's how the Dayan calculation in Canon of Supreme Mystery works…" Qin Mu looked at the transformation diagram and muttered as numbers formed in his mind.
1174
1175"Don't be distracted!" the back-face of Dutian Devil King scolded him.
1176
1177Qin Mu immediately dispersed the eight trigrams. With Dutian Devil King leading the way, he considered himself safe. Dutian Devil King was the ruler of Dutian World, after all, so his knowledge and vision far surpassed that of Qin Mu. Even though he didn't have the ability to break the restrictions in this restricted area, avoiding them were not difficult for him.
1178
1179In addition, the restrictions along the path had already been broken by people from the inside. Village Chief and the rest had also broken the restrictions by force, so the journey was relatively safe.
1180
1181In no time, they came to the first ruins and Qin Mu stopped. This place was a village with only four households. The pots, bowls, and stoves were all still here, but no one lived here anymore.
1182
1183Qin Mu saw eleven graves, but there was no tombstone erected. The yellow dirt grave was big, but he saw no clue who was buried inside.
1184
1185"This place is safe!" Dutian Devil King said.
1186
1187Qin Mu walked into the village and looked around. Suddenly, his heart trembled when he saw a cradle in one of the households. There was also a wooden horse and a few infant's clothing on the bed which looked very delicate.
1188
1189On the chest of one of the pieces of clothing was a word 'Qin' sewed on.
1190
1191Qin Mu took out the jade pendant which also had the word 'Qin' on it.
1192
1193The youth closed his eyes for a long time. There were no tears in his eyes when he opened them, as they were long dried up.
1194
1195'Is this my home?'
1196
1197He walked past the kitchen stove and looked at the pots hanging above it, the bowls covered on the table. He wanted to find more items, to obtain more information, but there were no more clues.
1198
1199He came to the door and suddenly froze. He stood there silently.
1200
1201There was a 'xi' word pasted on the door. Even though there was no wind and rain here, the passage of time had faded the handwriting.
1202
1203This 'xi' word meant that the owners of this house had married. They had married right in this restricted area.
1204
1205The small wooden horse in this courtyard must have been prepared for the unborn child by the owner of this house. The delicate clothing should have been tailored for that child as well.
1206
1207"It's time to go," Dutian Devil King hurried him. "Once this is done, I'll be returning. I don't want to stay another day in your goddamn world!"
1208
1209Qin Mu sorted out his emotions and continued to head deeper into the restricted area with him. Four hours later, they came to another ruin.
1210
1211This was a small town with about a hundred households. Outside the ruin, there were rows and rows of graves.
1212
1213Qin Mu walked around and saw that there was a school in the town, so there should have been youths learning knowledge here…
1214
1215Once upon a time, this should have been a bustling place where people came and went. Even there was the incomparably treacherous restricted area just outside, this place should have been brimming with life.
1216
1217Yet in the next village, only four households were left…
1218
1219They continued to venture forward, and the third ruin was a city. Huge pieces of shattered spirit weapons were scattered all over the ground here. If these were sold in Eternal Peace Empire, one would definitely become the richest person in the world, but here they just lay all around.
1220
1221"Let's continue!" Qin Mu said solemnly.
1222
1223"We're so dead!" Granny Si's angry voice came from the distance. "You old geezers, you even got this old woman fall for it and die alongside you!"
1224
1225Chapter 239: The Older The More Unreliable
1226
1227
1228
1229At the end of the forest, Blind's expression became solemn. He propped himself on his cane to rest while Butcher swung his knives. Around them was a layered space that kept changing in a peculiar way. This space was layered, and every time it changed, the scenery would transform as well. Sometimes it was a vast forest, and sometimes it was a blistering hot desert. Sometimes it was waves overflowing to the sky, and sometimes it was stars from space flying into their faces.
1230
1231Every time it changed, a different restricted law would burst forth. When the power of the divine restrictions hidden in the space activated, Butcher would need to clash with them.
1232
1233Butcher shouted angrily, "Blind, Granny, my waist is about to break. Have you two finished resting?"
1234
1235Blind sighed. "I'm old and my bones aren't like before, let me rest a while more."
1236
1237"I ain't much younger than you!" Butcher said angrily. "Furthermore, my lower body was just reattached and it's not as strong! If I have to continue fighting, my upper and lower bodies will separate for you to see!"
1238
1239Blind said slowly, "Granny is still young, let her take over."
1240
1241An old voice came from Granny Si's mouth and sneered, "Even though I'm very strong, my wife's body can't withstand it anymore. Wife, let me take over your body…"
1242
1243"Scram!" Granny Si said angrily.
1244
1245Butcher and Blind's expression turned weird. Granny Si's 'illness' was becoming more and more severe. After she had found them and they met danger again and again, Li Tianxing frequently jumped out and took control of her body.
1246
1247'The devil seed is becoming stronger and stronger. Old Woman Si will be replaced by Li Tianxing sooner rather than later.'
1248
1249The changing of the space around them was like a god throwing a dice. Each side of the dice represented a divine restriction, and they were in that dice. On which side the dice landed on, the divine restriction on it would activate. However, this wasn't a six-sided dice, but one which had a hundred and eight sides.
1250
1251Now they landed on the side of the stars, and the land under their feet disappeared as their surroundings transformed into a boundless starry sky. There was nothing above them and no land below them.
1252
1253The flashing stars were not real stars but mirrors. Suddenly, the lights from them gathered together and shone at the trio with a hum.
1254
1255Butcher shouted out and slashed at the terrifying divine light with Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining. The divine light split into half and brushed past their bodies, destroying everything that was not immediately behind Butcher.
1256
1257Granny Si immediately shouted, "Deaf, Deaf, come here quickly!"
1258
1259On the other side of the starry sky, Deaf drew with a brush and contended with the stars. Blind said, "Deaf can't hear your voice…"
1260
1261Before he could finish saying that, Deaf tried to fly over. A starlight unexpectedly hit him, and he was blown away, disappearing somewhere.
1262
1263"Butcher, rest for awhile, it's my turn!" Li Tianxing's voice said from Granny Si's mouth.
1264
1265Butcher immediately moved back, and Granny Si went forward. The body circulated Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scriptures and carefully looked at the changes of the space surrounding them.
1266
1267It was not only the three of them who were trapped in the layered space. Deaf, Old Ma, and Cripple were also trapped, but they were in different sides of the dice, which made it difficult for them to regroup.
1268
1269When Granny Si came and saw Blind and the rest trapped inside, she had tried to unravel this restriction. But to her surprise, she had fallen in as well. Later, Deaf found his way here and also tried to solve this restriction but got swept in instead.
1270
1271"This space restriction has one hundred and eight divine restrictions, but the central administration that operates these formations is not within this one hundred and eight sides."
1272
1273Blind stood up, and his god mind's eyes were as penetrating as a mirror as he looked in all directions. "Our bodies are in the dice of a god. Old Ma and Cripple are on another side, but they still land in the same side sometimes. Deaf will also enter this plane once in awhile, which means that the space restriction had operated for too long and there is already slight deviation in its mathematical calculation."
1274
1275He did some mental calculations, and his eyebrows suddenly rose. "The god that laid down this space restriction had only calculated to the Shun Xi decimal fraction; he didn't calculate to the smallest decimal! After this divine restriction operates for a period of time, it will crumble by itself!"
1276
1277By then, the space restriction had changed into the volcano whose divine flames were like dragons. With thunder and lightning booming out, Granny Si tried her best to contend against them as Li Tianxing's spoke with her mouth, "How much longer until this restriction crumbles by itself?"
1278
1279Blind calculated for a moment and said, "Twenty-four thousand years."
1280
1281"Shut up, Blind!" Butcher shouted out, wanting nothing more than to hack him into half with a knife.
1282
1283At this moment, a voice came from outside, "Brat, your elders are trapped inside, there are six of them."
1284
1285In the space restriction, everyone was astonished and looked outside, but they couldn't see anything.
1286
1287Blind was extremely nervous as he commanded sternly, "Mu'er, don't come in! You don't have the power to withstand the divine restrictions!"
1288
1289Qin Mu's voice came from outside, "Devil King, do you have a way to save them?"
1290
1291"This space restrictions use a Secret Technique of Space Matrix to layer one hundred and nine spaces, separating them into one hundred and eight sections. It might look like there is one hundred and eight of them, but there's actually one hundred and nine."
1292
1293That voice then continued, "However, the god that laid down this Secret Technique of Space Matrix should have taken the easy way out and not calculated all the way to the smallest possible decimal which was why some flaws were left. This secret technique will automatically crumble after operating for twenty-four thousand years, but if one managed to find the one hundred ninth space, it shouldn't be hard to solve this. Give me a moment to calculate…"
1294
1295In the space restriction, Granny Si, Butcher, and the rest looked at one another. 'The person beside Qin Mu sure is remarkable, to be able to see the marvel of this restriction with a look. He's much more reliable than Blind.'
1296
1297After a while, that voice spoke again, "Do you have some treasure you don't use? Something that's quite solid so I can throw it into the one hundred ninth space. If a solid thing entered that place, it would be something like an extra object appearing in operating gears, automatically jamming them. This formation would then be naturally solved."
1298
1299Qin Mu's then said, "I picked this up in Rolan's Golden Palace, is it useful?"
1300
1301"Eh, this treasure isn't bad. For you to pick up this kind of treasure, you sure are lucky. No wonder I couldn't trick you, your luck is heaven-defying so it's not me that's incapable."
1302
1303…
1304
1305Just as he was saying that, Granny Si and the rest saw a luminous pearl flying in front of them. That pearl grew bigger and bigger until there seemed to be mountains and rivers within. It was as if there was a complete world in the pearl with majestic mountain ranges and never-ending waterfalls.
1306
1307The luminous pearl streaked across the horizon, having become an enormous object. The circular sky had mountains and rivers which disappeared the next instant.
1308
1309"Be careful, when the restriction is unraveled, it will be a little rough," the voice outside warned.
1310
1311Just as he finished, violent tremors suddenly came from the depths of the space. The layers of space crumbled one after another, while the land, water, fire, and wind poured forth frantically, sweeping across everything. The power of the divine restrictions in each layer of space cracked, and terrifying energy spewed out in all directions!
1312
1313The people who were in the restriction immediately roused their vital qi to execute their strongest defensive methods to fight against this violent energy. Luckily for them, this energy wasn't directed at them but was simply spewing out in all directions, so they could still handle it!
1314
1315If it was directed at them, they would have definitely been shattered into pieces!
1316
1317Qin Mu stood in front of a part of the forest which had suddenly turned into ashes. The surging shockwave had swept in all directions and turned all trees into fine powder.
1318
1319Thud, thud, thud, thud.
1320
1321Four figures appeared out of nothing and crashed heavily against the ground, creating pits beneath them.
1322
1323Qin Mu shook his head. "So old yet can't spare people from worrying…"
1324
1325"Cripple, move away!" Deaf's voice came from above as this elder fell upside down from the sky. Below him, Cripple gave a grunt as Deaf crashed onto him.
1326
1327In mid-air, the aura of Buddha shone brightly as a huge buddha descended. A golden spring poured out from the ground and a lotus bloomed inside it. The huge buddha placed his legs down and stepped onto the lotus.
1328
1329The lotus and golden spring vanished, and the great buddha dispersed, turning into an elder in green. He was none other than Old Ma and despite his clothes being slightly tattered, he was in a much better state than the rest.
1330
1331Everyone got up and looked at one another; they had actually survived and come out of that space. Even though they had all suffered heavy injuries, none of them were fatal.
1332
1333Everyone raised their heads to see Qin Mu standing in the distance. The youth of Disabled Elderly Village kept shaking his head in disdain at them becoming even more unreliable as they got older.
1334
1335In front of Qin Mu stood a proud iron lump. With his eight arms on his waist, he was like a lantern and had a look that expected them to worship him.
1336
1337Behind Qin Mu was a dragon qilin that was as fat as a pig. He looked like he still hadn't fully woke up from sleep and was sluggish, having no interest in anything.
1338
1339"Mu'er, why are you here?" Granny Si was astonished and came forward to size Qin Mu up. After examining him, she grumbled, "How dare you barge into such a dangerous place! You're too gutsy, are you hurt anywhere?"
1340
1341"Granny, stay farther away from him." Blind went up, slightly nervous as he looked at Qin Mu. "Granny Si is somewhat unable to handle the devil seed in her Dao heart. She's sometimes male and sometimes female, and we don't know when she'll be taken over by Li Tianxing. Be careful of her laying her hands on you!"
1342
1343An old voice came from Granny Si's mouth which was filled with a devilish nature. "Don't worry, he is the current cult master of our sacred cult. As the previous cult master, I naturally won't lay my hands on him."
1344
1345Suddenly, Granny Si's voice became female again. "Li Tianxing, go back!"
1346
1347Cripple went forward and sized up Dutian Devil King who had his eight arms on his waist. "Mu'er, your iron lump sure is useful. What's his name again?"
1348
1349Old Ma said, "Dutian Devil King."
1350
1351Butcher came forward to have a look and asked suspiciously, "Where did you get him? The last I saw you, you didn't have this iron fellow. He's still pretty useful."
1352
1353"So ugly," Deaf said.
1354
1355Dutian Devil King became furious and wanted to blow up, but Qin Mu swiftly interrupted, "This is Dutian Devil King, the supreme ruler of Dutian World which I have invited to save all of you. He has extremely high attainments in divine restrictions so he can definitely bring us to safety."
1356
1357Dutian Devil King instantly became happy. 'This brat still knows what to say, even though his intentions are a little bad, his methods a little cruel, his heart a little too cautious…'
1358
1359"Where's Village Chief?" Qin Mu asked. "As well as Grandpa Apothecary and Grandpa Mute, did they reach this place?"
1360
1361Blind shook his head. "My eyesight is good and I saw traces of Apothecary and Village Chief, but I didn't see Mute."
1362
1363The other people nodded silently.
1364
1365Granny Si said, "Apothecary and Village Chief should have faced no problems since they are together, there's also Patriarch and Elder of Discipline with them. However, we haven't seen Mute and this fellow never says a word. Whatever he plans to do, he won't share it with us. If he's alone, I reckon he'd find it hard to hold on. Mu'er, this place is so dangerous yet you still had to find your way here, you've had it hard."
1366
1367Qin Mu instantly got angry. "All of you wandered off instead of coming back home for New Year! If you got lost, what could I do but come and find you! Devil King, you shall lead the way. And you all, stop wandering off!"
1368
1369"En en." The bunch of elderly nodded in a flurry.
1370
1371Chapter 240: New Hope
1372
1373
1374
1375Dutian Devil King raised his head up high as he brought the old, weak, sick, and disabled elders of Disabled Elderly Village forward.
1376
1377'There are many able-bodied people in the village so why is it called Disabled Elderly Village?' he thought to himself.
1378
1379Disabled Elderly Village today no longer fit its name. It even had young people like Granny Si and Qin Mu in the village, so the word elderly itself owed some discussion.
1380
1381Old Ma, Butcher, and Cripple were already able-bodied, while Granny Si might still be disabled in her heart, her body was fine.
1382
1383The only ones who were still missing parts of their body were Blind, Apothecary, Village Chief, Mute, and Deaf.
1384
1385However, Dutian Devil King didn't know that to the people of Disabled Elderly Village, the disability of the body was not a disability. Their true disabilities lay in their hearts.
1386
1387Village Chief was exhausted from not being able to fulfill his responsibility, which left him disheartened. Even if he was able-bodied, he still wouldn't walk out of Great Ruins.
1388
1389Apothecary had sliced his face off due to the pressure caused by the debts of relationships. Even if he regained the looks of his golden age, he still wouldn't dare to go out and face people.
1390
1391The reason why Blind was down was not because he had turned blind. And even though Old Ma had regained both his hands, he still couldn't pull himself together after the death of his wife and child. He was still unable to forgive himself.
1392
1393Granny Si's heart devil, Cripple's past, Deaf's homeland, Mute's mysterious past, and the reason Butcher raised his knives at Heaven were all shackles that restrained them.
1394
1395The disability in their heart was their true disability. They had sunk into a sorrowful past and were unable to break free of it. This was the reason behind Disabled Elderly Village.
1396
1397If it was not because the child they had raised ran out, the people of Disabled Elderly Village would have stayed quietly in the village and awaited their deaths, digging a pit to bury themselves.
1398
1399Qin Mu's arrival had gradually livened their hearts, but even he couldn't make them walk out of the past that had left them disabled.
1400
1401The true disability is when both the body and the heart are disabled.
1402
1403Because of this, these people could only rely on themselves to walk out.
1404
1405Dutian Devil King was truly the devil king of another world. He knew so much that even Blind was endlessly impressed by his knowledge and concrete details. Dutian Devil King had completely convinced him with his attainments in algebra.
1406
1407They came to the border of the forest, which was near the end. There were only two more miles or so, but Dutian Devil King had to spend half a day just to cross these two miles.
1408
1409"It's New Year's Eve," Granny Si suddenly said.
1410
1411Old Ma shook his head. "It's not considered New Years until all the people of the village are present."
1412
1413Butcher's voice was loud like a bell. "We must find Village Chief, Mute, and Apothecary, see their bodies. Even if they're dead, we'll drag them back for New Years!"
1414
1415There was no more path in front of them, just the crumbling Carefree Village.
1416
1417There was no more land here at the end of the forest but a clean cross-section. Standing at the edge of the cliff, Qin Mu looked down and saw another forest.
1418
1419He couldn't help being stunned.
1420
1421'Another forest?'
1422
1423He said in astonishment, "This forest grows on the cliff so how are the trees perpendicular to the ground?"
1424
1425Dutian Devil King jumped off the cliff and gave a thump as he stood steadily on the side. His body was perpendicular to Qin Mu's as he walked to and fro."The seal here is much more complicated than what I thought. It's formed by a cube which seals Carefree Village within it, controlling the electromagnetic force of this place. You guys will know when you walk over here to take a look."
1426
1427Qin Mu stretched out his leg carefully and suddenly felt an attraction force below his feet. Placing his feet down and lifting up the other leg, he realized that he was standing on the cliffside without any discomfort.
1428
1429Not only that, from where he stood, it seemed like was standing at the edge of the cliff while Granny Si, Old Ma, and the rest were standing on the cliffside. Only he and Dutian Devil King were standing on flat ground.
1430
1431He looked around and was slightly shook. He saw that the opposite side also had a forest that was perpendicular to the ground.
1432
1433Other than that, the sky in the other directions also had forests.
1434
1435This kind of situation was like pieces of land wrapping around Carefree Village to form an enormous hollow ball.
1436
1437However, looking from the geography, it didn't seem like a simple hollow ball. It seemed to be pieced together by thousands of cubes of different heights while at the center of it was Carefree Village.
1438
1439Every cube was a thousand miles of forest that was folded up, and every side of the cube was the obverse side.
1440
1441This kind of divine art was beyond what he could imagine. Even an existence like Imperial Preceptor wouldn't have been able to imagine that such a divine art could exist in this world, right?
1442
1443"The electromagnetic force here has changed." Blind also walked over and felt the force of attraction. "This great divine art is no small matter to cover the entire Carefree Village, I'm afraid the only exit is the place from which we came."
1444
1445"Countless seals just to prevent the people of Carefree Village from walking out." Granny Si also walked over and raised her head to look at the debris of Carefree Village floating silently. They were still quite a distance away from it, and she said, "Village Chief and Patriarch possess remarkable abilities, so they should have gone in there, right?"
1446
1447Dutian Devil King raised his head and walked back onto the path they had come from before shaking his head. "There are many restrictions in the sky, and it would be hard to avoid them if one was to fly over. I would need to calculate for some thirty-fifty years to find the safest path. If my true body was here, I could do it faster, but it would still take me one or two years. The god that left behind this seal is too strong, not something that you guys can handle. If anyone tried to fly into Carefree Village, they are most likely dead…"
1448
1449He muttered, "The entire Great Ruins is a cursed land, with a peculiar rule that shrouds it. It's really hard to live in a world like this, so Cult Master Qin, even if you invite me into this world, I won't come back again. This world is too twisted!"
1450
1451Blind muttered, "Village Chief is definitely alive. That old fellow doesn't take anything seriously, but once he does take something seriously, he will definitely be able to do it… Wait a minute, don't you guys think that the shape of Carefree Village looks like a ship?"
1452
1453Everyone raised their head to look. Carefree Village was extremely huge, but even though it was in ruins, they could still see the glorious and magnificence sight it was in the olden days. There was also a sun that was about to sink into the darkness hanging farther away.
1454
1455However, if they pieced these shattered peaks, huge pieces of machinery, and the destroyed city together, its shape did indeed look like a huge and grand ship that was inconceivable!
1456
1457In comparison, the Sun and the Moon Ships were nothing.
1458
1459"Carefree Village is a ship?"
1460
1461Qin Mu felt it was too much for his brain to handle. Even though the sun in the sky was a man-made one, it was extremely huge. If the city and mountains were combined, it would become even larger and surpass the size of the Sun and the Moon Ship by a thousand times.
1462
1463Could there be such a huge ship in this world?
1464
1465"Great observation, Blind!" Cripple's eyes lighted up, and his breaths became rapid as he pointed towards the sun that was half-consumed by darkness. "This sun should be the source of energy for this ship! It's a huge pill furnace, an unimaginably huge pill furnace…"
1466
1467Granny Si rolled her eyes at him. "You can't carry it home."
1468
1469Dutian Devil King was also slightly shaken and said under his breath, "Such a huge pill furnace, what was this ship used for? Why is it sealed here? Could it be… Ha haha, I must be thinking too much."
1470
1471He laughed coarsely and didn't speak another word.
1472
1473Old Ma said, "Ships are used for ferrying passengers. They bring people to their destination, so this ship must have its own destination as well."
1474
1475Deaf who had been silent suddenly said, "Isn't it Carefree Village? Carefree Village is carefree, so why does it need a destination? With a destination, it won't be Carefree Village anymore. If it's not Carefree Village, what's its destination?"
1476
1477Everyone looked at one another in the eyes and said in unison, "The true Carefree Village!"
1478
1479Qin Mu stared blankly. The guess of these elders from his village left him even more at a loss. True Carefree Village, wasn't this place Carefree Village?
1480
1481However, what Old Ma and the rest said made sense. Since such a huge ship was constructed, it definitely had its destination, and the destination of this ship might really be the true Carefree Village.
1482
1483Yet this ship was discovered by the enemy which had destroyed and sealed it. The people who were lucky enough to survive tried to escape from the seal but ended up suffering disastrous casualties. They had then spent countless years to pave a way out.
1484
1485The devils in the darkness were also searching for Carefree Village and even thought that this was Carefree Village. However, this was only a ship that was headed to Carefree Village.
1486
1487'If Carefree Village is not here, where's the true Carefree Village?' Qin Mu was at a loss. 'Where exactly is my hometown? Did any of my clansmen survive?'
1488
1489His mind was in a mess, and at this moment, a silver light flashed across the sky. A silver boat flew out from the city, and on that silver boat stood Mute who was holding onto a wooden chest. On the boat were also two white-haired elders, a faceless man, and a youth.
1490
1491Mute controlled the silver boat, flying nimbly in the air to avoid the divine restrictions in the sky.
1492
1493Dutian Devil King was dumbfounded. The path that the silver boat was taking now was the safest path that he had to take dozens of years to calculate!
1494
1495This silver boat ferrying the people traveled back and forth among the divine restrictions. It was like a clever fish going in all directions to avoid all kinds of danger.
1496
1497After some time, the silver boat descended from the sky and landed in front of the group. Apothecary carried out Village Chief and walked down the boat while the young patriarch shook his head. "Why do you have to carry him? He can clearly fly by himself."
1498
1499Apothecary was stunned and placed Village Chief upright on the ground with a smile. "I'm already used to it."
1500
1501Qin Mu and the rest immediately came forward, and Mute opened up the wooden chest. The silver boat melted and turned into silver pellets which went tinkling into the wooden chest.
1502
1503Mute closed the lid with skill and picked up the chest. When he saw everyone walking over, he revealed a grin and waved his hand. "Ah, ah!"
1504
1505Everyone went forward and surrounded the newcomers, full of all kinds of questions for everyone, especially Mute.
1506
1507How did he know about the safe path that even the extremely knowledgeable Dutian Devil King required dozens of years to calculate?
1508
1509What exactly did they see when they went into the city in the sky?
1510
1511What that place Carefree Village or not? Were there any survivors?
1512
1513Everyone was about to say something when Village Chief floated over and smiled at Qin Mu. "Mu'er, let me tell you a piece of good news. We have finally found your surname. Apothecary, hand the things to him."
1514
1515Apothecary poured out many things from his pouch. There was a waist tag, bronze mirrors, a horizontally inscribed board, an imprint, a jade pendant, and some clothes. On all of these items, there was one word - Qin.
1516
1517"Your surname is Qin." Apothecary smiled. "There are many such items in that city and Village Chief asked me to gather a few. Look at the handwriting on them, doesn't it look like the handwriting on your jade pendant?"
1518
1519Qin Mu's mind was blown. He looked back at the small village he had passed by on the way here.
1520
1521A flicker of hope reignited in his heart.
1522
1523Village Chief seemed to know what he was thinking and said, "That place may or may not be where you were born, and that family may or may not be your parents. There is still a chance that your parents are alive."
1524
1525Chapter 241: The Next Human Emperor
1526
1527
1528
1529They went back on the path they had come from and when Qin Mu saw that empty village again, he walked into the room that had pasted the 'Xi' word and picked up that baby clothes that had the 'Qin' word sewed on it.
1530
1531The more he cared, the more flustered he became. When he had come here the first time, he was deeply affected and couldn't keep calm for a long time, therefore he couldn't see any of the tiny clues.
1532
1533The 'Qin' word on these items that Apothecary had brought out was nearly the same as the one of that baby clothing. They looked like they came from the same template but if one examined carefully, there was still some difference.
1534
1535Qin Mu had learned calligraphy from Deaf before and if he could calm his heart down to look at it with an ordinary state of mind, he could also see that the 'Qin' word on the baby clothing was different from the 'Qin' word on his jade pendant.
1536
1537However, his emotions were out of control then which had influenced his judgment.
1538
1539Now that he had examined carefully, the 'Qin' word on this baby clothing should have been traced out before sewing thread by thread onto the clothing. The 'Qin' word was indeed different from the one on his jade pendant.
1540
1541The other people in the village surrounded Village Chief and Patriarch to ask them about their encounters and what they had seen on that ship. Village Chief shook his head, "It was too dangerous inside and we didn't delve deeper. We only circled around the outskirts and had almost died. Luckily, Mute was here, therefore, we could safely retreat."
1542
1543Everyone immediately asked Mute how he knew about that safe path and managed to bring Village Chief, Patriarch, and the rest in and out?
1544
1545Qin Mu walked out of the courtyard and he had the same suspicions as well.
1546
1547Even Dutian Devil King said he would take one to two years time to find a safe path into that ruined ship if his true body descended so why did Mute managed to barge in so easily?
1548
1549Everyone kept asking him for a long time and Mute didn't say anything. He only revealed an honest smile and gave two ahs when he got anxious from the pressing questions.
1550
1551Everyone immediately looked at Deaf. Deaf and Mute were the closest buddies and Deaf knew Mute's intention the best. Deaf was always the one translating when everyone didn't understand what Mute meant.
1552
1553However, Deaf was at a loss this time. It was obvious he didn't know what Mute was saying as well.
1554
1555"This mute don't want to say anything!"
1556
1557Granny Si said angrily, "You'll stifle to death sooner or later!"
1558
1559Everyone rest in this small village while that dragon qilin stuck close to the young patriarch. Now, this dragon qilin was full of energy and rubbing himself around Patriarch.
1560
1561Patriarch struck a posture wanting to beat him which managed to chase him further away. However, he would come back in the next moment and raised his dragon tail as he rubbed against the young patriarch's clothes which were now filled with holes made by him.
1562
1563"You're getting too fat!"
1564
1565The young patriarch said bitterly, "I had already said I'm going to die of old age, I'm abandoning you, stop rubbing yourself on me… Don't think of jumping into my arms, I can't carry you now! Shoo shoo, go away!"
1566
1567On the other hand, Blind was annoying Dutian Devil King about some questions regarding algebra. Dutian Devil King was slightly fearful of the people in the village, therefore, he also tried his best to answer his questions. However, he only answered Blind's questions and didn't offer to impart more profound algebra to him.
1568
1569Apothecary hurried from person to person to check on their injuries and treating them.
1570
1571Qin Mu walked into that house. Even though this might not be the house of his parents, this place made him feel at peace.
1572
1573Mute also walked in and looked around. His rough hands caressed that small wooden horse and picked up that piece of clothing. This thick and solid man had a very gentle gaze.
1574
1575Qin Mu looked towards him and Mute turned his head to give him a grin.
1576
1577"It's time to go!"
1578
1579Granny Si hurried, "Go back to the village to celebrate New Year's Day! Patriarch, that plump pig that you had raised can finally be slaughtered to eat! Butcher is skillful at that and can still whip up a few good dishes, just enough for two tables!"
1580
1581"You dare!"
1582
1583The young patriarch was nervous and shouted, "Don't think about touching him, ever since you were young you were already sneaking crafty glances at my dragon qilin, always wanting to eat him… Go away, stop rubbing against me, I'm not going to pat you… Elder of Discipline, drag him away!"
1584
1585Elder of Discipline chased the dragon qilin over to Qin Mu. The young patriarch looked over and saw the dragon qilin moving its buttocks to walk to Qin Mu. He was so fat that his buttocks were as round as a ball. He was as fleshy as rhinoceros and every time he took a step, his round buttocks would jiggle uncontrollably.
1586
1587"This fellow must have been cadging meals from the cult master and his meals aren't bad as well. When I met him back then, he was small like a cat and rubbed himself against my leg to cheat food out from me. He ended up becoming fatter and fatter from me feeding him and glued himself to me…"
1588
1589The young patriarch sighed. The dragon qilin then was so small and he could even embrace him and caress his head.
1590
1591"What a huge ship!"
1592
1593Everyone came to the front of Moon Ship and couldn't help being astonished. Cripple planned to steal this ship away and got scolded by Granny Si, "Damned Cripple, even if you can steal it, where are you going to park it? I'll break your leg if you place it in the village!"
1594
1595Cripple could only drop his thoughts. He asked Qin Mu how he had managed to drive this ship here and after hearing Qin Mu's encounter of driving the ship. Cripple's thought sprung into action again, "Attaining the mighty strength of heavenly god after becoming the Moon Guardian?"
1596
1597He quickly ran to touch the giant pillar on the ship but when he found that there was no transformation, he could only return.
1598
1599There were too many unsolved mysteries in Great Ruins and Moon Ship was just one of them.
1600
1601When they walked out of that formless barrier, the sun was already hanging high up in the sky. It was noon but the weather was still very cold as snow had fallen some time ago and the land had a brilliant snow white cover. The mountain ranges were also dyed in white and they gave off crunching sounds as they walked in the snow.
1602
1603There were a few bears hiding in the hollow tree in the ruins and the mother bear was embracing the baby bears while sleeping soundly. When that mother bear saw Qin Mu and the rest suddenly appearing, she opened her eyes in astonishment but was so lazy that she didn't move. She only nudged her body before going back into hibernation.'
1604
1605Qin Mu looked back and saw the barrier vanishing. That unimaginable huge ship that was sealed inside, Moon Ship, as well as the incomparably complicated cube seal had all vanished.
1606
1607What replaced it was a vast forest.
1608
1609Only when the night fell would this mysterious seal appear once again.
1610
1611"Let's go, let's return to the village for New Year." Village Chief said calmly.
1612
1613Everyone began to return and this place was very far from Disabled Elderly Village. The journey would still take one to two days but it was a good thing that everyone was safe.
1614
1615The second evening, they had finally returned back to Disabled Elderly Village. Qin Mu, Granny Si, and Old Ma started to get busy decorating the village and preparing New Year's Day dinner.
1616
1617Qin Mu brought red paper over for Deaf to write the auspicious words and Spring Festival couplets. He then called Qin Mu over to let him paste them on everyone's door.
1618
1619"Paste it on the chicken coop also. As well as that ancient tree in front of the village, paste one there to invite prosperity in." Granny Si instructed.
1620
1621Everyone worked hard for quite some time and finally, everyone in the village could sit down to eat and drink fine wine together in cheers and laughter. The young patriarch and Elder of Discipline also sat down and joined them in the hearty New Year's Day Dinner that had come late.
1622
1623Early next morning, the young patriarch and Elder of Discipline bade farewell, "There are still countless mysterious in Great Ruins and it would be pleasant to search and take a look at them before I die. Fellow Dao friends, there's no need to send me off." When he was done, the young and the old left towards the distance while stepping through the thick snow.
1624
1625Dutian Devil King looked at Qin Mu and said, "Devil cult master, it's time to keep your promise."
1626
1627Qin Mu said with a firm look, "Devil king, don't worry. I'll keep my promise and release you."
1628
1629Blind and Cripple came forward and Dutian Devil King became extremely nervous before shouting, "Devil cult master, are you thinking of letting them capture me again after releasing me? How dare you!"
1630
1631Qin Mu was a little embarrassed and shook his head at Cripple and Blind.
1632
1633Cripple muttered, "This fellow is a good helper and if I can make him stay, I can steal even more stuff…"
1634
1635Qin Mu said warmly, "Devil king, don't worry. I shall remove these sealing runes on your body and you'll be able to regain your freedom."
1636
1637He undid the sealing runes on Dutian Devil King's body one by one and only then did Dutian Devil King became at ease, "Little Buddy Qin, Dutian and here are two different worlds, after we part today, we may never meet each other again. After all, the life of you mortal are short and your lifespan is merely a flick of a finger to us, over in an instant. Maybe when I think of you again, you have already died thousands of years earlier. This is actually quite sad now I mention about it…"
1638
1639Qin Mu smiled, "Devil king, I can also contact you frequently, I still know Ghost Transferring God Dispatching Runes Command from Great Mountain Sect."
1640
1641Dutian Devil King laughed loudly, "Your world is too dangerous and even if you summon me over, I won't come. After I go back, I'll be looking for a new world, a new world for my people to survive."
1642
1643Qin Mu undid the last of the seal and said, "Devil king, you can return now."
1644
1645Dutian Devil King gave a try and discovered that there was really no seal before becoming fully at ease, "Let us never meet again!" Once he said that, his consciousness tunneled into the void and vanished.
1646
1647Qin Mu raised his head and smiled, "Who can tell what will happen in the future."
1648
1649Dutian Devil King's consciousness returned to Dutian World and went back into his original body. That majestic Dutian Devil King immediately knew what this consciousness had encountered and was greatly shaken. Letting out a murky breath, he thought to himself, "A dangerous world that is being monitored by gods, it's indeed not a dwelling place for my Dutian's citizens. Looks like it's time to find a new world…"
1650
1651"Mu'er, come over." Village Chief called out.
1652
1653Qin Mu hurried over and Village Chief hesitated for a moment, "I pondered for quite some time but there is still something I have to tell you. Other than the numerous 'Qin' word I have found on that ship, I had also found something else. Apothecary, bring that thing over."
1654
1655Apothecary hesitated, "Is it suitable to give it to him now?"
1656
1657Village Chief shook his head, "I don't have much long to live and if I don't give it to him, when should I give it to him?"
1658
1659Apothecary took out a mirror and handed it over to Qin Mu.
1660
1661Qin Mu took over the mirror and didn't find anything unusual about it. Village Chief said, "Inside this mirror is a geographical map which leads to Carefree Village, we have found this on that ship. You can stop examining it, this mirror has been sealed by me. Only when you can break my seal, you can see the route in this mirror. That place is too dangerous and I don't want to let you go there now."
1662
1663Qin Mu was silent. Suddenly, he knelt down and kowtowed to Village Chief.
1664
1665Village Chief immediately said, "Get up. There's one more thing. Suddenly I feel that there are quite a number of weights on your shoulder, the young cult master of Heavenly Devil Cult, the orphan of Carefree Village, maybe it won't be much if you take on my responsibility as well. Today, I shall take you in as my disciple and hand over my responsibility to you. From today onwards, you will be the next generation's…"
1666
1667"Human Emperor!"
1668
1669Chapter 242: Once More
1670
1671
1672
1673'The next generation's human emperor?'
1674
1675Qin Mu was bewildered. This title was slightly weird. There was obviously an emperor in this world as well as cult and sect masters of all the various big sects. Everything was being managed and governed, so what would the human emperor do?
1676
1677There seemed to be no free space in this world that the human emperor could rule.
1678
1679"Human emperor is not high above, and he doesn't have any power, only responsibility," Village Chief explained. "Human emperor is not a position from which you will rule over all living things nor will it let you give you supremacy to recklessly wage wars to kill those that don't submit to you. Human emperor is a state of mind, a kind of righteousness and justice. Every human emperor has a treasured seal which was has been handed down since the first generation human emperor. I've thrown in under the bed, so go and fetch it."
1680
1681Qin Mu went to Village Chief's room, and there was indeed a black lump under the bed. Once he took it out, he saw that it was a palm-sized black iron seal and with bird-worm seal script carved onto it.
1682
1683Qin Mu passed the black iron seal to Village Chief, who said, "This is the Human Emperor's Seal, the supreme sacred artifact of our bloodline."
1684
1685Qin Mu looked at the seal and mumbled, "Village Chief, does our bloodline have any other sacred artifacts?"
1686
1687Angered, Village Chief smashed the Human Emperor's Seal onto Qin Mu's head, causing a big swelling on his forehead. This iron lump was then placed into Qin Mu's hands.
1688
1689Village Chief said, "The Human Emperor's Seal has been passed to you, so you are now the next generation's human emperor."
1690
1691'So simple?' Qin Mu was stunned.
1692
1693Apothecary was also shocked. Village Chief had always said that his responsibility was too huge, his burden was too heavy, and the title of human emperor was too powerful and shocking. Because of that, he always thought that a grand ceremony would have to be held for Qin Mu to inherit the position of human emperor.
1694
1695Never did he expect Village Chief to just throw a black lump at Qin Mu and be done.
1696
1697"There are not many who know about the title of human emperor anymore. We are not a sect nor are we emperors of a country; it's just an inheritance. It's passed down from generation to generation, so there will only be one in each generation, and usually the smartest person with the best comprehension will be found to inherit the title. The smartest one in this generation is Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, but I don't think he would be interested. He has also already gone down his own path, so it would be hard for him to accept my inheritance and responsibility."
1698
1699Village Chief sighed. "I'm also too lazy to go out, so after thinking for quite some you, I decided that you barely make the cut."
1700
1701Qin Mu consoled, "Village Chief, don't force yourself, I think you can still find someone better."
1702
1703Apothecary had a weird expression while Village Chief almost died from holding back. The brat was obviously finding it troublesome, and since there were no benefits, he really wasn't willing.
1704
1705"Your guts have grown quite a lot since you went out; how dare you be sarcastic!" Village Chief sneered. "Are you going to be the human emperor or not?"
1706
1707Qin Mu begrudgingly said, "Sure, sure, just give me all the dirty work. There's already plenty of it I have to do, so an extra human emperor won't make a difference."
1708
1709Village Chief was speechless from anger. He wished he could grow out an arm just to knock the youth on the head as he scolded, "Countless people begged me to teach them my sword techniques, but I didn't teach them. They begged me to leave behind my inheritance to them, but I didn't give it to them. How dare you reject it like that?"
1710
1711Qin Mu lowered his head and kicked away a pebble as he said resentfully, "I'm not rejecting, it's just that this title doesn't have any use. Village Chief, why don't you just teach me your sword skills and pass this title of human emperor to someone else?"
1712
1713Village Chief smiled with anger and looked at Apothecary. "You say, is he rejecting it or not? Is it that embarrassing to be the human emperor? You're getting more and more ballsy!"
1714
1715Apothecary coughed and said, "You two shall slowly talk this out, I will go take a look at my worms so that they don't freeze to death."
1716
1717Village Chief was filled with anger, but then he suddenly came to the realization and broke out laughing. "Other people begged me to teach them, but I didn't, and now you're making me change my way to beg you to learn, is that right? You're becoming more and more mischievous. Honestly, you're really not fit to be the human emperor. I'm just really too lazy to go out, else I would definitely find an even more outstanding youth than you."
1718
1719Qin Mu muttered softly with a pout, "I have an Overlord Body, who can be better than me?"
1720
1721Village Chief almost choked to death. Qin Mu immediately went forward to massage the old man's back, and Village Chief regained his breath. So when Qin Mu was about to say something, the old man said, "Stop talking and let me relax, it's too much for my brain to handle…"
1722
1723The corners of the old man's eyes twitched. As the initiator of the lie, he had finally received his comeuppance.
1724
1725After some time, he managed to recompose himself. It had been just a white lie which everyone took for a truth, for which he felt secretly proud since everyone believed in it. Yet now he had chosen Qin Mu as his successor, so could he have also come to believe that the youth had an Overlord Body?
1726
1727'Too many lies make me have no choice but to believe them even when I clearly know they're not the truth. Oh well, oh well.'
1728
1729Village Chief relaxed and smiled. "We, as the human emperors, only have one responsibility"—light burst forth from his eyes as though countless sword lights were coming, dazzling Qin Mu's eyes—"to cut down gods, devils, and Heaven itself!
1730
1731"What belongs to the gods is managed by gods, what belongs to the devils is managed by devils, what belongs to the humans is managed by humans! If gods or devils dabble with this, we'll cut off their hands!
1732
1733"If gods or devils stick their necks out, we'll cut off their heads! This is the most basic responsibility of the human emperor.
1734
1735"When you get stronger, you will have even more responsibilities. To cut down gods, to cut down devils, to cut down Heaven! Slay your way up to Heaven… Ey, come back!"
1736
1737Qin Mu threw the Human Emperor's Seal back into Village Chief's hand and turned around to walk away.
1738
1739Village Chief blew up, and his vital qi transformed into a huge hand to grab him back by his collar. With a pleasant countenance, he said, "You are the human emperor of this generation so how can you not know the aim of our bloodline? I haven't finish— Still trying to run? Apothecary, Apothecary, help me grab him!"
1740
1741Apothecary didn't come, but Qin Mu still couldn't break free and was forced to give up.
1742
1743Village Chief continued, "There aren't many rules for our bloodline bearers, and the aims are only these. I will impart my sword skills to you, but how much you will be able to comprehend will be up to you. That's right, we also have the Hall of Human Emperors, so you can drop by when you are free to witness the meritorious exploits of the past human emperors. Also, even if my sword skills are not bad, but if a god or devil saw you using them, they will definitely make a move to kill you— Stop running, you can't escape my grasp! I didn't run back then and succeeded this inheritance without thinking it through."
1744
1745"Granny, save me!" Qin Mu called out for help.
1746
1747Granny Si was full of smiles as she told Blind beside her, "Village Chief that old fellow is finally willing to teach Mu'er his legacy. Look, Mu'er is so happy that's he going to cry."
1748
1749Blind turned his head and said in suspicion, "I heard him calling for help."
1750
1751"He's elated." Granny Si beamed. "Village Chief's legacy has made countless people envious. He was the number one man in the world back then, the famous Sword God, so Mu'er is naturally speaking incoherently from being overjoyed."
1752
1753Qin Mu simply couldn't break free, so he had to accept his fate and throw the Human Emperor's Seal into his taotie sack.
1754
1755Village Chief was very pleased. "You have already learned the first move of Sword Picture, Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, now show me if you improved any after this while."
1756
1757Qin Mu acknowledged this and executed Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers.
1758
1759His execution was different from what Village Chief had taught him since he had incorporated Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's Spiral Sword Form, Drill Sword Form, and Swim Sword Form into it and added numerous variations.
1760
1761After executing the move, Qin Mu retracted his sword qi back and looked at Village Chief nervously.
1762
1763Village Chief was astonished and seemed to be thinking as he said, "This is the basic sword form Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor taught you?"
1764
1765Qin Mu nodded. "Village Chief, I changed the Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers that you taught me, disrespecting you. Do you want to fire me and find another human emperor?"
1766
1767"Not bad, not bad," Village Chief praised. "Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is not bad, to be able to be original and create new moves on top of the fourteen basic sword forms. He is indeed more suitable to be the human emperor… However, you aren't bad as well, to not stick by the rules and even dare to execute the Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers you changed in front of me, very well, very well. Your vital qi thread has also changed, did you use Spiral Sword Form to refine your qi into a thread?"
1768
1769Qin Mu nodded.
1770
1771Village Chief said, "I shall use my Five Elements Realm's cultivation while you will use your new Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, and we will exchange a blow."
1772
1773Qin Mu's eyes lighted up and he smiled. "Village Chief, if I defeat you with my move, can I not be the human emperor?"
1774
1775Village Chief revealed a smile and refined his qi into a sword while saying leisurely, "Alright. If you can defeat me, I'll bring the Human Emperor's Seal to the grave."
1776
1777Qin Mu took a deep breath, and his body suddenly changed. He transformed into the form of Venus Sovereign that had the head of a white tiger and stood on two dragons. His vital qi transformed into gold qi, and he gathered his qi into a sword whose sword lights instantly exploded forth!
1778
1779Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers!
1780
1781Under his sword, the mountains and rivers appeared like a painting being unscrolled to cover the entire village, sending Village Chief inside it!
1782
1783Not only had he incorporated Imperial Preceptor's basic sword form, he had also incorporated the path of painting that Deaf had taught him. With thousands of mountains and rivers bombarding the opponent's face, it was as if the attack was a real world.
1784
1785This kind of profound sword skill could no longer be described as a sword skill. It was a path, the path of a sword.
1786
1787His Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers unleashed its full power, and at that moment, Village Chief's sword light flickered. It was Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers as well, so it was like two worlds colliding with each other. No sword light could be seen as a terrifying power burst forth!
1788
1789Chi, chi, chi, chi!
1790
1791Dozens of blood lights appeared around Qin Mu's body as he got injured in numerous places and flew backward. When he crashed into the wall of Butcher's shop, sword lights appeared and carved a pattern of mountains and rivers around him.
1792
1793These were the traces left behind by Village Chief's sword lights.
1794
1795"Once more!" Qin Mu shouted out and sealed the wounds on his body as he rushed towards Village Chief to execute Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers again. The next moment, a human figure flew out and crashed into Old Ma's house.
1796
1797There was another pattern of mountains and rivers around the youth.
1798
1799Qin Mu was stunned as he slid down from the wall. Applying the dragon's saliva on himself, he pondered hard and continued improving his Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers. After some time, he rushed towards Village Chief once again, "Once more!"
1800
1801Boom.
1802
1803The wall of the smithy gained the imprint of a human and around it was the pattern of mountains and rivers. This pattern was poles apart from the pattern on the other walls.
1804
1805Every time Village Chief made a move, the patterns of the mountains and rivers were different.
1806
1807Mute popped his head out of from the smithy and took a look at Qin Mu before laughing silently.
1808
1809Qin Mu's face turned black as he applied the medicine before continuing to rack his brains. Getting rid of all the weakness in his move, he improved the sword skill.
1810
1811"Once more!"
1812
1813A human figure flew through majestic mountains and rivers before crashing into Deaf's wall.
1814
1815Chapter 243: Convinced
1816
1817
1818
1819Qin Mu smashed into walls time again and again, and pictures of mountains and rivers appeared in almost every wall in Disabled Elderly Village. Only Granny Si's house was not imprinted.
1820
1821Qin Mu wanted to rush over once more when he realized that his vital qi was depleted. He couldn't help but feel stunned by this.
1822
1823Defeated.
1824
1825Overlord Body was defeated. It had suffered a crushing defeat. Not only was his sword techniques not on par with those of Village Chief, even the density of his vital qi could not be compared to that of Village Chief. It looked like he could only take over the title of human emperor.
1826
1827Village Chief said gently, "You can wait for your vital qi to recover before coming again."
1828
1829Qin Mu composed himself, "Okay!"
1830
1831Village Chief's expression darkened as he saw the cowherd boy sprinting away to cultivate his weird Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique.
1832
1833"You cheated," Apothecary said as he came over once he saw Qin Mu's figure disappearing into the distance.
1834
1835Village Chief was stunned. "Did I?"
1836
1837Apothecary sneered. "Your sword skills exhaust an extreme amount of vital qi, and with the density of your cultivation, you can execute them twice in Five Elements Realm, three times at most. How many time have you executed them just now? About seven times, right?"
1838
1839Village Chief couldn't keep a straight face and muttered, "The density of my vital qi is not as you imagine. If I control it and use the lowest amount possible, I can execute my skills four times… However, Mu'er's vital qi is indeed dense. I thought my and his vital qi reserves in Five Elements Realm wouldn't be too different but to my surprise…"
1840
1841Apothecary laughed. "To your surprise, he's a huge cauldron and you're only a barrel."
1842
1843Village Chief sighed and shook his head. "His qi is several times denser than mine in Spirit Embryo Realm, but it's not possible for it to be so much denser than mine in Five Elements Realm. I had no shortcomings in my Five Elements Realm, but he… also has no shortcomings. You noticed it too, but didn't say it out."
1844
1845Apothecary smiled. "He already lost to you with the same sword skill, so why do I need to say anything? However, earlier you said that the title of human emperor only has responsibilities and burdens but no benefits, isn't that false?"
1846
1847Village Chief said lazily, "What benefits does it have? How come I don't know them?"
1848
1849Apothecary's eyes flickered over. "I heard some legends about human emperors and their seal. Human Emperor's Seal is related to many ancient inheritances and some of them can be traced all the way back to tens of thousands of years ago. Some sacred grounds were founded by human emperors, and I've heard that the Human Emperor's Seal is even more useful than the emperor's jade seal."
1850
1851Village Chief said indifferently, "That's a legend from god knows how many years ago, and the Human Emperor's Seal is merely a black iron lump. Who would listen to a black iron lump?"
1852
1853Apothecary smiled. "Legend says that once the Human Emperor's Seal is used, one can command all the heroes of this world."
1854
1855Village Chief yawned and said lazily, "Human Emperor's Seal is with Mu'er. You can let him take it out and show it off, see which sect will be willing to hear his command. It'll be lucky if he won't be beaten to death."
1856
1857Apothecary said resentfully, "You clearly knew it was this dangerous, so why did you pass the Human Emperor's Seal to him?"
1858
1859Village Chief was no longer lazy and a sword light flashed across his eyes as he said solemnly, "This is a responsibility and also a burden. When this burden was placed on my shoulders, I couldn't carry it so my limbs were severed. However, someone must carry this burden, I can't it take into the grave with me! Some things must be done even if it's clearly known that they're dangerous!"
1860
1861Village Chief let out a shaky breath and said, "If something is done, there's a possibility of failure and even death, but there's also a slither of hope. If nothing is done, there won't even be a slither of hope. What the past human emperors did is much more than what you can imagine. Mu'er is pretty good."
1862
1863Apothecary said in sorrow, "I only feel pained for Mu'er to be pulled into your old path. How can he win against you?"
1864
1865"He can't win." Village Chief's tone had a hint of pride when he said, "He will never win against me using Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers. This skill may be formed by the fourteen basic sword forms, but after me polishing it, there's already no flaw in it. When he wanted to incorporate the three basic sword forms of Imperial Preceptor into my sword skill, he had to make some changes. Even though his ideas were good, his horizons aren't as broad as mine. A single change will create a flaw, and the more he changes, the more flaws will appear."
1866
1867Apothecary was dumbfounded. He let out a shaky breath and looked at Qin Mu who was currently sprinting and felt pity.
1868
1869"However, he can borrow my hand to polish his sword skill." Village Chief smiled. "The more he changes the Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, the more he will understand the sword. The more he understands, the more likely he will be to step away from sword techniques, step away from sword skills and come closer to the path. If his understanding of the sword reaches the level of the path, it will no longer matter if there are fourteen or seventeen basic sword forms.
1870
1871"Learning sword skills and using sword skills is only the realm of technique; it's learning and using something. If one wants to go higher, they will have to innovate, which is where Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor is on right now. To go one step further, one would have to abandon skill and technique, which is the realm of path.
1872
1873Village Chief said, "Mu'er is currently between technique and skill. For him to use my hand to polish his sword skill is much better than for him to improve by me teaching him sword skills."
1874
1875After some time, Qin Mu's cultivation recovered to its peak, but he didn't find Village Chief straightaway. Instead, he sat down and comprehended quietly. He tried to perfect his own Sword Treading Mountains and River so that there was no flaw.
1876
1877What he wanted to do was to incorporate Imperial Preceptor's three basic sword forms into Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers and not leave any flaw.
1878
1879He definitely couldn't defeat Village Chief using Village Chief's skills, but if he improved on them, there was a chance he might win.
1880
1881He comprehended diligently, and all the sword moves in his mind were messed up before they were reorganized again. He then simulated an image of clashing with Village Chief's sword skill in his mind.
1882
1883However, every clash ended in a defeat.
1884
1885Various battles were simulated in his mind, but no matter how he improved, he couldn't change his defeat.
1886
1887Sometime later, Qin Mu roused his spirit and stood up. In the storm in his mind, he had finally managed to defeat Village Chief with his new sword skill, so he rushed over with excitement. "Village Chief, once more!"
1888
1889Village Chief beamed. "Okay."
1890
1891Qin Mu rushed over and executed his improved sword skill. He then flew high up into the air and left a trail of blood in mid-air before crashing into the chicken coop.
1892
1893A dozen hen dragons clucked and rushed over fiercely. Qin Mu immediately rose into the air, and the hen dragons also flapped their wings to fly. Their feathers were like swords and they spewed fire at him.
1894
1895Mountains and rivers suddenly appeared in mid-air and flooded the dozen hen dragons. After one move, they fell bare from the sky, and their feathers fluttered everywhere.
1896
1897Qin Mu landed on the ground, stunned.
1898
1899The hen dragons clucked and ran back into the chicken coop, closing the wooden door and not daring to show their faces again.
1900
1901"Cluck cluck!" the old hen clucked in a stern tone.
1902
1903Qin Mu waved his hand and a few traces were left on the wooden door by his sword qi.
1904
1905The chicken coop was in a flurry.
1906
1907Qin Mu was stunned and looked at his hand. When had he become so powerful?
1908
1909"Mu'er is so suave, he can finally defeat chickens!" Cripple praised.
1910
1911Qin Mu's face turned slightly red, but he continued to concentrate on comprehending what he felt. Suddenly, Mute threw a sword pellet over and signaled, "Aba! Aba! Ah ah!"
1912
1913Qin Mu thanked Mute. What Mute meant was that he had just created a sword pellet and he should try it out.
1914
1915He gripped the sword pellet tightly, and his vital qi rushed into it. Countless sword lights instantly flew out, and they were the rays of swords which seemed to have no substance. They could warp according to his will and be as natural as his vital qi!
1916
1917Qin Mu grasped the sword pellet and gave a punch forward. The sword rays in the sword pellet instantly transformed into a huge dragon which rushed out and roared through the small village!
1918
1919Qin Mu jumped in shock, and Village Chief also jumped in shock before giving an angry stare to Mute.
1920
1921Qin Mu retracted his fist, and his mind moved slightly. He could feel as if the sword pellet that he was gripping tightly was melting. He took a firmer grip of it, and the sword rays transformed into a huge smithing hammer. When he smashed down with a powerful force, he created a huge pit in the ground.
1922
1923He leaped up, and knife lights appeared. Sun on East Sea Thousand Layers Wave had knife lights which were like a wave with a thousand layers and a sun rising into the sky.
1924
1925The knife skill was then retracted as the sword rays transformed into a huge brush which swept into the sky to draw a painting of a flood dragon, which soared into the sky and transformed into a long spear that was twelve yards long. Qin Mu grabbed onto the spear in mid-air and stabbed forward.
1926
1927The corners of Village Chief's eyes twitched furiously as he stared at Mute with an unpleasant gaze.
1928
1929Mute immediately retreated into his smithy and didn't dare to show his face.
1930
1931The spear vanished, replaced by countless sword lights which formed vast mountains and rivers.
1932
1933Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers!
1934
1935Qin Mu landed on the ground with surprise and delight. This sword pellet that Mute had forged was to his liking. He must have extracted the gold qi from the mysterious iron and mysterious gold, choosing qi and forgo the form.
1936
1937Even though this sword pellet was a sword pellet, it had a myriad of changes. His fist skills, spells, and sword skills could all be unleashed, and there was no obstruction at all.
1938
1939Mute's forging skills were already close to the path!
1940
1941Qin Mu kept the sword pellet, but he didn't use it to challenge Village Chief. Mute popped his head out and gave two signals, drawing a line across his head. What he meant was that this sword pellet could definitely get rid of Village Chief who was using the Five Elements Realm.
1942
1943Village Chief blew up and the wrinkles on his face twitched. If Qin Mu was to really use the sword pellet, the power of his sword skill would increase exponentially, and he might really be able to defeat him.
1944
1945Qin Mu shook his head. "Grandpa Mute, Village Chief is not using a weapon so I can't use one as well; otherwise he won't accept that he lost."
1946
1947Mute rolled his eyes and gave him a 'you are hopeless' look.
1948
1949Qin Mu continued to concentrate on comprehending and improving his Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers. However, the result of each clash was the same.
1950
1951Every time he failed, he would have new comprehension which allowed him to perfect his Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers more and more. However, he still failed after each improvement.
1952
1953Finally, after one more failure, Qin Mu discovered that he could no longer improve his move.
1954
1955With his current knowledge and experience, he could no longer upgrade his skill.
1956
1957He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly came to realization. He executed one of the moves of Sunset Sword Skills, Sun Sets on Surging River, and his sword skill was like the surging river water that had a red sun half-set in the heart of the river. From the red sun, countless sword lights would burst forth.
1958
1959He had only practiced this move once or twice, but the power he had unleashed was incomparably astonishing. It was like he had spent a hundred years polishing this skill.
1960
1961Qin Mu was then convinced, and he knelt down in front of Village Chief to carry out the rites of taking him as his master.
1962
1963Village Chief smiled. "Get up, there ain't so many rules. I shall teach you the other moves of Sword Picture in no time, and with your current attainment, it won't be hard for you to learn them… Mute, you rogue, you still have the face to come out and congratulate?"
1964
1965Chapter 244: Wreck the Country and Ruin the People
1966
1967
1968
1969Everyone from Disabled Elderly Village came out to congratulate Village Chief for finally having a successor and Qin Mu for succeeding Village Chief's legacy, becoming the current human emperor. However, Village Chief wasn't pleased with Mute and Qin Mu wasn't really happy with being a human emperor.
1970
1971After the commotion, Qin Mu continued to learn sword skills from Village Chief.
1972
1973Sword Picture was a set of sword skills founded by Village Chief and not the sword skills of Hall of Human Emperors. The first form, Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, was the most complicated sword skill that Qin Mu had seen so far. It was even more complicated than the first form of Dao Sword, Yin Yang Come and Go Within Two Modes.
1974
1975However, Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers was the simplest sword skill in the set of Sword Picture. The second form, Sword of Founding Emperor was several times more complicated than Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, and it was extremely difficult to master.
1976
1977When Qin Mu had first learned Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, he had spent over a dozen days to do so.
1978
1979After experiencing Eternal Peace Empire, his horizons had broadened. He had also received teachings from Woodcutter's Rock and comprehended Unity Technique, which had then fused with Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique. Because of all this, his aptitude and comprehension had improved quite a bit as well.
1980
1981However, learning Sword of Founding Emperor still took him over twenty days.
1982
1983Only then did he understand Village Chief's intentions. If they hadn't competed with Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers, he would have needed a much longer time to learn Sword of Founding Emperor. He might have even taken a year and half to master this move.
1984
1985Village Chief had squeezed his wisdom out so Qin Mu could learn Sword of Founding Emperor in just over twenty days. Since he was already at half step to sword skill from sword technique, he could learn it, even if it was strenuous.
1986
1987However, the third form, Calamity of the High Emperor reached the extremes of technique and transformation which a sword skill could reach, so it was not something Qin Mu could master. He could memorize move, but if he wanted to execute it, he would have to comprehend the marvel of it first. But at that time, no matter how much he concentrated on comprehending, he couldn't understand the marvel of Calamity of the High Emperor completely.
1988
1989He was limited by the width of his horizons and knowledge. With narrow horizons and lack of knowledge, his foundation wasn't good enough, so even if Village Chief taught him, he wouldn't be able to learn or use the skill.
1990
1991Qin Mu could only drop his thoughts about mastering it and concentrate on Sword of Founding Emperor.
1992
1993Sword of Founding Emperor Sea Of Blood—Qing Mu had heard the young Village Chief chanting these phrases after walking out of Deaf's painting in a small and empty village in Eternal Peace Empire. At that time, he had sensed a strange emotion hidden within the sword skill.
1994
1995Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers that Village Chief had taught him had an implicit charm and mood to it. It was the feeling of heroes gathering to slay gods and devils, while Sword of Founding Emperor had the mood of commemorating martyrs.
1996
1997The two moods were different, not matching one another at all. Because of this, even though Qin Mu had learned the two sword forms, he still couldn't understand the different feelings behind them.
1998
1999The vital qi needed for Sword of Founding Emperor was astonishing since one move had depleted almost half of his cultivation. If a person wanted to execute this move, it was impossible to do so without dense vital qi.
2000
2001"Village Chief, how many moves are there in Sword Picture?" Qin Mu asked.
2002
2003Village Chief said calmly, "Only eight moves."
2004
2005Qin Mu was astonished. "Eight moves? So few?"
2006
2007"One move in each realm." Village Chief narrowed his eyes. "That's why there are only eight moves."
2008
2009Qin Mu counted with his fingers—Spirit Embryo, Five Elements, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Celestial Being, Life and Death, Divine Bridge. No matter how he counted, there were only seven realms, so why were there eight moves?
2010
2011'A step above Divine Bridge Realm is the level of gods! Could Village Chief's eighth move be the move of a god?' His heart thumped violently.
2012
2013Other than comprehending sword skills these days, he competed with Village Chief and borrowed the pressure Village Chief exerted on him to improve himself.
2014
2015He was trying to incorporate Imperial Preceptor's three basic sword forms into Sword of Founding Emperor. With an existence like Village Chief guiding him, he naturally improved by leaps and bounds.
2016
2017Village Chief's sword skills were close to the path and to him, so it didn't matter if there were fourteen or seventeen forms. However, to Qin Mu, adding Imperial Preceptor's three sword forms could increase the power of his move by quite a lot.
2018
2019As the days passed, his attainments in sword skills increased rapidly.
2020
2021Qin Mu seemed to have returned to the past. Training his fists with Old Ma daily, competing in knife skills with Butcher, stealing from each other with Cripple, learning to forge with Mute, cultivating his god's eyes with Blind, refining medicine with Apothecary, painting with Deaf, and tailoring with granny.
2022
2023Even though he went to bed exhausted every day, it was very fulfilling.
2024
2025After returning to Disabled Elderly Village from his journey away, the things that Old Ma, Butcher, and the rest taught him were much more profound. In the past, they had only taught him entry level techniques, but now that Qin Mu's horizons had broadened, they could teach him more profound abilities. Because of this, all the elders in Disabled Elderly Village were very gratified.
2026
2027"Granny's heart devil is acting up again!" A commotion rose in the village, and Cripple called out in a loud voice, "Blind, come quickly! Granny Si has recovered her true appearance so I can't lay my hands on her. You can't see so you shall deal with this little demoness!"
2028
2029At the time, Qin Mu was competing knife skills with Butcher. when he looked over after hearing the commotion, he saw a woman walking out from Granny Si's room. Upon seeing her, his heart throbbed uncontrollably a few times. He felt as if he had been ruthlessly struck by invisible arrows.
2030
2031Granny Si had revealed her true appearance and even dressed herself up meticulously. The clothes on her body were no longer the old drabs she usually wore, but were tailored from exquisite silk. They fit her perfectly, showing off her good figure.
2032
2033Her make up was also applied meticulously. With her bright eyes and white teeth, her face was lightly powdered and her astonishing beauty was on full display.
2034
2035She wore a bracelet on her left wrist that was made of green jade and pearl earrings that were shaped like tears hanging from her ears. When she walked out, the winter suddenly seemed to turn into spring and summer. Even though the weather was still freezing, everyone in the village felt the warmth of summer blossoming.
2036
2037She walked out like a goddess descending from paradise into the mortal world, stunning everyone in the village.
2038
2039Apothecary felt inferior and covered his face in shame to walk away. Deaf dropped his brush onto the table and hurriedly took out a bronze mirror to tidy himself. Mute ran to the water cauldron in a hurry to wash his face while Old Ma chanted the names of Buddha to suppress his heart devil. Butcher used his Pig Slaughtering Knife to shave his favorite full beard while Cripple just shut his eyes and shouted for Blind to come over.
2040
2041Village Chief was also a little flustered and turned his head around to shout, "Blind, Blind!"
2042
2043Blind walked over towards Granny Si with his bamboo cane and asked calmly, "Are you Cult Master Li or Granny Si?"
2044
2045Cripple said angrily, "Of course she's Cult Master Li, that pervert! Granny Si can't suppress him anymore! You can't see her true appearance so you shall be the one to suppress Cult Master Li!"
2046
2047A rough and old voice came from Granny Si's mouth which smiled flirtatiously. "My wife is no longer a match for me, and now she's the one being suppressed. Look at me, aren't I beautiful?"
2048
2049She smiled very sweetly, obsessed with her own beauty. When she spoke next, her voice was still rough, but her tone was very gentle, and her breath smelled like irises and orchids. "When I married my wife, I realized that I was no fit for such a beauty like her. And it wasn't only me like that, none of the stinky men in this world were fit to be with her! However, I still decided to marry her, and I knew that she was willing to marry me since I was her master. She couldn't resist it.
2050
2051"I knew she was preparing to kill me the night we would consummate our marriage, but I was willing to let her kill me. That was because…"
2052
2053She raised her wrist and examined her flawless white skin that was even whiter and more exquisite than fine white tallow jade. Even the flawless bracelet was serving merely as a prop, unfit to be on this wrist.
2054
2055Cult Master Li covered the mouth and giggled. "That was because I was too envious of her. I didn't want to marry her, I wanted to become her. After she killed me and I became her, wouldn't I gain the best of both worlds?"
2056
2057Blind walked over with his cane. Even though the woman before him was extremely beautiful, it didn't have any influence on Blind. He said unhurriedly, "Cult Master Li, you're too much. Have you forgotten that you once were a man?"
2058
2059"What is there to miss about being a stinky man?" Cult Master Li's body was charming when it rolled its eyes at him. "Damn it, Blind. Both your eyes and heart are blind, you don't know the benefits of being a woman at all. Don't block my way, you can't block me alone. I'm leaving, I shall live another lifetime as a woman!"
2060
2061Qin Mu shut his eyes tightly to not look at the beauty, but he could resist opening his eyes almost right away. "Cult Master Li, you're getting a little sick in the mind! As a fellow cult master sacred teacher of Heavenly Saint Cult, I despise you as a human!"
2062
2063Blind propped himself on his bamboo cane while smiling. "Well said, Mu'er."
2064
2065Cult Master Li shot a glance at Qin Mu, and Qin Mu instantly felt his mind turning blank. There were no more thoughts in his mind other than that the woman was really beautiful.
2066
2067"Talk some more and I'll kill you to become sacred cult master once again." Cult Master Li laughed while pinching the orchid-shaped fingers.
2068
2069Qin Mu's heart thumped violently. He felt that if such a beautiful woman wanted his life, he would be willing to give it to her.
2070
2071"No, no! She's Granny Si… Eww, eww, it's Cult Master Li, a damned old man! Eww, eww, it's not okay even if it was Granny Si, she's the granny that raised me!"
2072
2073Cold sweat rolled down Qin Mu's forehead as a heart devil was almost planted in his heart. He hurriedly shut his eyes.
2074
2075Cult Master Li walked towards the outskirts of the village, and the devil qi around the body grew heavier and heavier, the devil nature growing stronger and stronger. On the road in front of the woman stood a blind man with a bamboo cane.
2076
2077The two people made their moves almost at the same time. Among the sparks and flames, the outcome was decided in an instant.
2078
2079Energy surged forth in all directions, and numerous treasures that were lying all around the village were activated by the terrifying shockwave from the clash of the two people. A brilliant light shone as terrifying throbs bursts of it scattered all the clouds in the sky!
2080
2081Cult Master Li grabbed his chest and collapsed. "Blind, my wife's cultivation is too weak, or else I wouldn't be inferior to you, I'd certainly be stronger than you…"
2082
2083Blind propped himself on his bamboo cane and said indifferently, "We had never exchanged blows before so how do you know you'd be stronger than me?"
2084
2085Qin Mu rushed into Granny Si's room and fetched a human skin and old clothes to cover Cult Master Li. The old man turned back into an old woman and screamed, "I don't want to be like this! I'm the most beautiful woman in the world, I don't want to be so ugly! I want to wear the most beautiful clothes and be the most beautiful woman!"
2086
2087Old Ma hurried over and chanted the names of Buddha to suppress the devil nature, suppressing Cult Master Li entirely. After some time, Granny Si regained her consciousness and thanked Old Ma.
2088
2089Apothecary immediately came forward to check on her injuries. After treating her, he said, "Blind, you're too harsh. Mu'er, you are faster than me in refining pills so you shall refine the spirit pills."
2090
2091Qin Mu acknowledged and refined spirit pills right away.
2092
2093Blind sighed. "I had no choice but to be harsh. Granny Si's cultivation is improving too fast; she's almost at Life and Death Realm. Cult Master Li's primordial spirit must have fused well with her. Furthermore, Cult Master Li's Unity Technique is simply too strong."
2094
2095Granny Si got up and consumed the spirit pills that Qin Mu had brought over. "I'm fine, much better now."
2096
2097Village Chief floated over and shook his head. "Granny, it's lucky that you were in the village. If you were outside and Cult Master Li took over your body, I'm afraid you would have wrecked the country and ruined the people. His devil nature is extremely strong, so it's quite normal that he would bring great turmoil to this world. Even the emperor wouldn't be able to hold himself back, and the entire Eternal Peace Empire would be ruined at the hands of Cult Master Li."
2098
2099Old Ma said, "Your heart devil is becoming stronger and stronger, so dragging things out isn't an option any longer. My buddhist skills aren't as profound as those of Old Rulai, so maybe he could help you suppress Cult Master Li. Why don't you take a trip to Great Thunderclap Monastery?"
2100
2101Butcher touched his face and discovered blood all over his hands. He had shaved his beard too fast and cut his face with his Pig Slaughtering Knife. However, at the time he had been too infatuated with Granny Si's beauty, so he hadn't felt anything. Only when Granny Si put on her old woman's skin once again did he come to realize what had happened and said in a hurry, "There's no time to lose, it's best if granny sets off now! The longer you delay, the more danger we'll be in!"
2102
2103Village Chief coughed lightly, then said, "We will be going to Great Thunderclap Monastery to ask Old Rulai to suppress granny's devil nature and not to eradicate that place, so there's no need for too many people.
2104
2105"Old Ma knows the way there so he must go, and Blind can ignore granny's appearance so he needs to go as well. Mu'er is clever and has cultivated Heavenly Devil Creation Technique, so he can also help out, and he's proficient in the art of healing as well. You three shall accompany granny to Great Thunderclap Monastery." His expression was grim when he said solemnly, "Remember, never let Cult Master Li run away, or else the world will be in utter chaos!"