Chapter 28: The Shadow on the Wall
Qin Mu steadied his mind. The map from before the Great Ruins catastrophe was extremely useful. It marked many ruins within the Great Ruins. If he went out hunting and couldn't make it back to the Cripples' Village in time, he could follow this map to enter these ruins and take shelter from the darkness's invasion.
"With this map, I can avoid many dangers."
He committed it to memory, imprinting the map in his mind. After a moment, he found the location of this valley. On the map, this valley was called Zhenyang Palace.
"Zhenyang Palace? 'Yang' means calamity, disaster."
Qin Mu had learned to read and write from Deaf, and while he couldn't claim to be well-versed in literature, he had still acquired a fair amount of knowledge. He murmured to himself, "Zhenyang Palace means the palace that suppresses calamity. What kind of disaster was this palace built to suppress?"
He looked around and noticed that the demon ape had slipped out at some point and was no longer in the hall. It seemed the ape was worried that staying there would disturb him, so it had run off.
"Big guy is quite considerate."
Qin Mu walked out of the hall and called the demon ape over. "Big guy, is there anything strange around here?"
The demon ape scratched its head, thought for a moment, and then hurriedly ran toward a side hall of Zhenyang Palace. Qin Mu quickly followed, and the silly moose behind them also tagged along.
"Here!"
The demon ape entered the side hall and pointed. Qin Mu followed its finger and saw it pointing at a white wall. On the wall was drawn a small human shadow, no bigger than a thumb.
Qin Mu examined the white wall up and down but found nothing besides this tiny figure.
The silly moose sniffed its way over to the wall, sniffed at the human shadow on it, and was about to lick the wall when suddenly a hand reached out, and the moose vanished!
Qin Mu was startled. The demon ape pounded its chest in fury and roared at the wall, but dared not approach.
On the wall, next to the tiny human shadow, a drawing of a moose appeared, vivid and lifelike. Then Qin Mu watched as the figure on the wall began to move, bit by bit. Its mouth opened, growing larger and larger, filled with nail-like teeth, and then it swallowed the moose in one gulp!
Qin Mu was horrified. After devouring the moose, the shadow on the wall suddenly took a step and began walking toward them!
Then Qin Mu watched in shock as the figure, though it never left the wall, grew taller and larger. It soon reached the size of a normal person, but it didn't stop; it kept advancing.
Before long, the shadow had filled the entire wall, and even the ceiling of the side hall was covered by its silhouette—a head with a wide-open mouth. Then its hands spread from one wall to the other two.
"Little one, run!" The demon ape grabbed Qin Mu and leaped out, barely escaping the shadow's grasp.
A furious roar came from the wall, shaking it violently and sending dust flying. Then the black shadow spread from inside the side hall, and in the blink of an eye, the entire hall was shrouded by the shadow on the wall!
The shadow tried to break free from the walls of the side hall but couldn't escape.
"Is this a demon?"
Qin Mu stopped, blinked, and turned back to test, "Qikedo Samoye, Banruo Banruo Samoye, Qikedo Banruo Samoye."
The shadow enveloping the side hall suddenly fell silent. Then the hall's window lattices opened wide, like two pitch-black eyes. Qin Mu felt as if he were being stared at by a pair of terrifying eyes, sending a chill down his spine.
Then the side hall's door slammed shut, only to open again by itself. As it opened and closed, a hoarse voice came through: "The Great Freedom Mantra. Are you a junior of my race? How pitiful. Your mantra hasn't been passed down properly. Has my race fallen to such a low point?"
Qin Mu tested further, "Senior, do you know the true Great Freedom Mantra?"
"Of course I do!"
The door opened and closed, and a voice full of pride rang out: "My race's Great Freedom Mantra contains supreme power—the majestic power to create worlds, the power to attain true freedom! But in your hands, it's become like this? Utterly useless! Have this monkey step back, and I will teach you the true mantra!"
Qin Mu looked at the demon ape. The ape shook its head and rumbled, "Trust, ghost!"
"This senior is of the same race as me; he won't harm me. Go wait outside for a moment," Qin Mu reassured.
The demon ape was still uneasy but was pushed out by Qin Mu.
The side hall's door opened and closed, and the demonic voice said, "Mantras are the essence of practice, containing the power of gods and demons. You only have the syllables of the mantra, not its spirit, nor the method to unleash its power. This method is called the Great Freedom Seal, the core technique of my race! My power is sealed within this hall and cannot last long. Watch carefully—I will only teach you once. How much you learn depends on your ability!"
On the wall of the side hall, the black shadow shrank, and then a figure about Qin Mu's height appeared. Inside the shadow, lines began to emerge, moving in patterns—the paths of energy flow.
The demonic voice said, "The Great Freedom Seal has four forms: the Demon God's Mighty Strength Seal, the Heavenly Demon's Freedom Seal, the Great Wisdom Seal, and the final form, the Three Seals United: the Great Freedom Heavenly Demon Seal! This is the first seal: the Demon God's Mighty Strength Seal! You must accompany it with the demonic sound to unleash its power—Qikedo!"
Qin Mu stared intently at the black shadow on the wall outside the side hall, memorizing the energy paths. Inside his body, his own energy began to flow along the same trajectory.
"Qikedo!"
He suddenly uttered the demonic word, and immediately felt a surge of terrifying power within him. This force drove his fingers to form a strange seal, and he struck forward uncontrollably!
Boom!
A dull sound rang out. With this palm strike, Qin Mu had achieved the thunderous sound he had long dreamed of—the Palm Thunder!
Qin Mu was stunned, finding it hard to believe.
The Demon God's Mighty Strength Seal that the shadow on the wall had taught him was astonishingly powerful. In terms of variation, it was inferior to Ma Ye's Eight Forms of Thunderclap, but in raw power, it far surpassed them.
However, this seal also consumed an enormous amount of energy—several times that of the Eight Forms of Thunderclap!
The shadow on the wall writhed, as if pulled by some force, and was involuntarily drawn back into the side hall. Panting, it said, "This side hall's power is too strong; it keeps suppressing me. I don't have much time. Watch closely—this is the second seal: the Heavenly Demon's Freedom Seal! Samoye!"
On the inner wall, the energy flow path within the black shadow changed again, but the side hall was dim, and from a distance, it was hard to see clearly.
Qin Mu steeled himself and unconsciously took a step forward, finally able to see the shadow's energy flow and changes clearly.
"Samoye!"
He silently recited the demonic sound, and as his energy circulated, another strange power surged from within him, forcing his body into a different movement.
An involuntary smile spread across his face. His fingers formed a gesture like picking a flower, and he struck out with a seal.
This seal didn't seem very powerful—in fact, it appeared to have no power at all. Yet Qin Mu felt that one of the Eight Forms of Thunderclap had a similar effect to the Heavenly Demon's Freedom Seal.
The fifth form of the Eight Forms of Thunderclap: Sunlight Yang Soul Refined in the Sky!
The technique Ma Ye had taught him seemed unimpressive at first glance, but its essence lay in attacking the soul of a cultivator!
The key to Sunlight Yang Soul Refined in the Sky was a fist like the blazing sun in the sky, with palm thunder refining the soul!
The Heavenly Demon's Freedom Seal that the shadow taught him also seemed weak, but it targeted the soul as well, sharing the same principle as Ma Ye's technique.
The only difference was that Ma Ye used the sun's yang thunder to destroy the opponent's soul—fierce and direct—while the Heavenly Demon's Freedom Seal pulled the opponent's soul into the palm, where the palm itself became a heavenly realm, grinding the soul to nothing. It was more insidious and deadly, catching one off guard.
Fierce and direct attacks could be defended against, but the Heavenly Demon's Freedom Seal was impossible to guard against.
Qin Mu was puzzled. The shadow's seals and Ma Ye's techniques had many parallels. They clearly shared the same principles, but the way they expressed them was completely opposite—one was the righteous path, the other the demonic way.
Which was better? Qin Mu couldn't say. Each had its strengths.
Ma Ye's Eight Forms of Thunderclap were better for direct confrontation, crushing the enemy with overwhelming force, while the Great Freedom Seal was better for sudden strikes, catching the opponent off guard.
The shadow on the wall shrank further, as if struggling under the suppression of Zhenyang Palace. Panting, it said, "Watch closely—this is the third seal: the Great Wisdom Seal..."
The shadow on the wall grew blurry. Qin Mu unconsciously took two more steps forward, nearly stepping into the side hall's doorway. Suddenly, he stopped, not entering. Instead, he activated the Nine Heavens Eye-Opening Technique that Blind had taught him, adding an extra pupil to his eyes. Though the shadow on the wall was dim, it became clear to him.
"If you don't come in, can you see clearly?" the shadow on the wall asked.