Chapter 6: Little One, Dead
“Is she using that thin thread to control this sword? But with such a fine thread, how does she manage to make the sword change direction?”
Qin Mu had no time to figure out the mystery. He immediately sprinted away, and with a *thud*, the sword grazed past him and embedded itself deep into a large tree trunk.
The sword seemed alive, twitching twice within the wood but unable to pull free. Then the woman drifted over gracefully, her slender hand gripping the hilt and pulling the sword from the tree. She said with frustration, “My White Tiger True Essence still isn’t strong enough. I can’t command it as easily as I move my own arm…”
“Junior Sister Qing, being able to transform your True Essence into a fine thread to control a sword and kill enemies is already quite impressive.”
The young man who had been walking on the waves with her came to her side and said gently with a smile, “What you lack isn’t cultivation, but experience. This time, Master brought us to the Great Wasteland for training, precisely to make up for this weakness. In the past, we only cultivated on our own, lacking real combat. Now, this little demon brat is our chance for practical experience. You’ll soon master controlling the sword with your energy.”
The other three youths arrived, and one of them laughed, “This little demon brat transformed into a deer. Deer are naturally agile, so he managed to dodge Senior Sister’s sword control.”
Senior Sister Qing’s spirits lifted greatly. She continued to control the sword, thrusting it at Qin Mu, and said with a charming laugh, “Senior Brother Qu, don’t strike yet. Leave this little demon brat for me to practice my swordsmanship.”
Senior Brother Qu was the young man who had been walking on the waves with her. Hearing this, he nodded and smiled, “Junior brothers, let’s all enjoy Junior Sister Qing’s swordsmanship together.”
Qin Mu dodged the flying sword light from behind with all his might, puzzled: “Controlling a sword with energy? Could it be that the thread in that woman’s hand isn’t real thread, but her primal energy? Can primal energy reach such a level, controlling a treasured sword? Can I do it too?”
He had learned the butcher’s knife techniques from the Butcher, who only taught him to control the knife with both hands, never with primal energy. He knew nothing about this aspect.
Seeing Senior Sister Qing controlling the sword with her energy, Qin Mu’s mind stirred. If one could control a sword with energy, could one also use primal energy to control other things?
However, Senior Sister Qing’s sword pursuit gave him no time to ponder. Moreover, he had been transformed into a deer by Granny Si, making his hands and feet inconvenient, and his primal energy had fallen into a deathly stillness, far less lively than usual.
*Ssssh!*
The sword light flashed, striking from behind and grazing across Qin Mu’s back. He felt a chill on his back, followed by a searing pain, and knew that Senior Sister Qing’s sword had wounded him.
“Damn it. Although the deer is fast, it’s not as agile as my real body. I’ve been turned into a deer by Granny, and now I’m injured. I’m probably doomed…”
Just as he thought this, he suddenly felt his mouth split open.
It wasn’t a real split, but the deer skin’s mouth part had come loose from his body!
Qin Mu immediately remembered that when Granny Si told him to run, she had quietly removed a needle from “his” brow—the very needle that had pinned down his Heavenly Soul!
Soon, his head separated from the deer skin.
Behind him, the sword energy cut through the air with a *sssh sssh* sound, slashing down at him. Qin Mu charged forward with all his strength, bursting out of the deer skin, tumbling and rolling over ten *zhang* before leaping up and sprinting away.
Behind him, the deer skin was shredded by Senior Sister Qing’s sword control. The sword moved like drifting petals, coming and going like lightning. Clearly, this woman’s swordsmanship had greatly improved during the chase!
But breaking free from the deer skin had still cost Qin Mu a moment. A youth stepped on leaves above the forest, descended from the sky, and landed in front of him, blocking his path.
They were only two or three *zhang* apart—a distance that could be crossed in an instant. The next moment, they would be face to face!
Qin Mu had no time to change direction. No other thought crossed his mind. His body instinctively used the leg techniques the Cripple had taught him, flipping upside down and sweeping his legs out like a whirlwind!
“Azure Dragon Arms!”
The youth, a few years older than Qin Mu, sneered and raised his hands to block. A faint azure light emanated from his arms, and dragon-claw scales emerged from the skin of his hands. Then Qin Mu’s legs collided with his arms, producing two *clang* sounds like metal striking metal. The youth’s sneer hadn’t even faded before he grunted, lost his footing, and was forced back by the sweep.
The sleeves of his arms burst apart with a *bang*, shredding like paper butterflies, fragments flying everywhere. His arms seemed to be etched with dragon-claw tattoos, the claws coiling around them.
But after taking Qin Mu’s two kicks, his arms instantly turned red and swollen.
“Do you have iron ingots hidden in your legs?”
The youth’s hands trembled from the pain, both shocked and furious. His gaze fell on Qin Mu’s feet: “Are your shoes made of iron too?”
Qin Mu pushed off with both hands, landed on his feet, and sprinted away.
But the youth’s words reminded him. He did indeed have iron ingots tied to his legs. The Cripple had taught him leg techniques, demanding that he always wear iron ingots on his legs, never removing them while sleeping, sitting, or walking, and always keeping them on.
These days, as the Cripple saw Qin Mu’s body growing stronger and his strength increasing, he had made the iron ingots heavier. Not only that, but the Cripple had also asked the mute blacksmith to forge a pair of iron shoes for Qin Mu to add weight.
A pair of thick-soled iron shoes weighed ten *jin*, and the iron ingots on each leg weighed twenty *jin*. Qin Mu’s legs carried a total of fifty *jin* of weight!
The Cripple had demanded that he train until he couldn’t feel the weight of the iron shoes and ingots before he could remove them. Qin Mu had grown accustomed to the iron shoes and ingots over these days. When he had sprinted away earlier, he hadn’t even remembered he was running with the extra weight.
But stopping to take off the shoes and untie the ingots would surely get him caught. He absolutely couldn’t stop.
“Crush Mount Sumeru!”
As Qin Mu ran, he suddenly exerted force with his right foot, executing the move “Crush Mount Sumeru.” The thick soles of his iron shoes were crushed like mud, flying apart. The iron shoes shattered into pieces, debris scattering everywhere.
At the same time, the muscles in his calves tightened, bulging outward, snapping the iron ingots loose. They shot out like arrows, *thudding* into the surrounding trees.
Qin Mu stepped forward with his other foot, landing and similarly crushing the iron shoe and breaking the ingots.
*Whoosh!*
His body suddenly felt light. He took a single step and landed on a treetop, startling him.
Qin Mu stood barefoot, his toes pressing on the treetop, his body beginning to sink.
Below, the sword light flashed, thrusting upward from below, revealing dozens of sharp sword tips!
Senior Sister Qing’s sword control was becoming more and more formidable. She wasn’t controlling dozens of swords, but one sword shaking out dozens of sword blossoms!
Suddenly, Qin Mu remembered the Cripple’s words: “Don’t think about whether the place you step on can bear your weight. As long as you run fast enough, water becomes flat ground, grass becomes flat ground, air becomes flat ground—everywhere is an open road!”
He tapped his toes and sprinted forward. Behind him, the sword light shot into the sky, shredding the crown of the tree he had just stood on!
Two youths leaped up, landing on the treetops, staring in shock as Qin Mu ran across the tops of the trees, speeding away like a gale. His steps were so fast it was breathtaking!
“This guy is younger than us, but how is he so fast? His cultivation seems… seems even stronger than ours…”
Just as they thought this, they saw Senior Brother Qu shoot forward like a streak of smoke, chasing Qin Mu at an even faster speed.
“Senior Brother Qu is truly a peak Spirit Embryo martial artist. His strength far surpasses ours.”
They praised, “With Senior Brother Qu personally acting, this little demon brat is doomed.”
At that moment, a massive shadow rose from the forest. A furry palm the size of a mat swung at Senior Brother Qu, slapping him mid-air!
Senior Brother Qu spun like a top, flying backward, crashing to the ground with a *boom*, tumbling countless times before stopping. He sat up, spat out a mouthful of blood, and shouted sharply, “Don’t go over there! That’s the territory of a demon ape! A demon ape lives there!”
The other four immediately stopped. The shadow in the forest was a terrifyingly large black gorilla, its eyes blood-red, fangs protruding. It beat its chest with both fists, the sound like war drums booming: “Little one! Dead!”
Qin Mu, who had been sprinting ahead, was also slapped down by this demon ape, landing beside its huge foot, motionless, alive or dead unknown.
Senior Sister Qing whispered, “Senior Brother Qu was severely injured by one slap from this demon ape. That little demon brat was also slapped by the ape. He should be dead, right?”
Before she finished speaking, she saw Qin Mu, lying beside the ape, quietly turn his head, open his eyes, and sneak a peek at the demon ape. Senior Sister Qing was startled: “This guy isn’t dead?”
The pitch-black demon ape roared a few times. Seeing that no one dared approach, it stopped. It looked down at Qin Mu, reached out with two fingers, and flipped him over: “Little one, dead?”
Qin Mu’s eyes were wide open, blood flowing from his seven orifices, his tongue hanging out—clearly dead as dead could be!
The demon ape grunted twice, tossed Qin Mu’s “corpse” aside, and sat down, pulling up a tree to leisurely eat its leaves.
“The demon ape is so fierce, but it’s a vegetarian.” Qin Mu continued to let blood flow from his seven orifices, his eyes wide, as he quietly shifted his shoulder and crawled away.
The demon ape suddenly turned its head. Qin Mu’s “corpse” remained motionless. The demon ape stared at him intently. Qin Mu’s “corpse” still didn’t move.
The demon ape reached out a finger and poked the “corpse,” finding it cold and stiff. Satisfied, it said, “Little one, dead.” It then ignored him, turning back to focus on eating leaves.
In the distance, Senior Sister Qing couldn’t help but say, “Big guy, don’t you find it strange that the little one’s corpse got stiff so quickly?”
The demon ape seemed to understand her words. It slapped its own forehead and immediately turned around, only to see the little one’s “corpse” stand up stiffly and bolt away at full speed.