Chapter 32: Witnessing the Divine Spear
Qin Mu’s hair stood on end. Without a second thought, he reached out to grab the flying spirit sword. Instantly, a sharp pain shot through his palm as the sword cut into his flesh.
“Mu…”
Granny Si couldn’t help but call out, but the Village Chief shot her a glare, and she fell silent.
Qin Mu seized the spirit sword. It writhed in his grasp, slicing deeper into his palm, turning his flesh into a bloody mess. His vigorous primordial energy protected his hand, preventing the sword from severing it entirely.
But in the next moment, a third spirit sword broke free from the formation, followed by a fourth, then a fifth!
Qianqiu’s eyes flickered. The victory was already decided. Qin Mu was younger than him, and reaching this level of cultivation was impressive. But after all, Qin Mu only had two hands—how many swords could he possibly catch?
Suddenly, Qianqiu’s pupils contracted. Qin Mu’s hands moved in a blur, as if he had grown dozens of arms, snatching each of his spirit swords by the hilt!
Before his swords could even strike, Qin Mu had already grabbed them!
The eighth form of the Thunderclap Eight Forms—Thousand-Handed Buddha!
Qianqiu’s expression shifted. His threads of primordial energy trembled, and the spirit swords in Qin Mu’s hands began to violently jerk, nearly breaking free. At the same time, the remaining swords shot toward Qin Mu’s eyes and throat!
Qin Mu now held five sword hilts in his hands, leaving seven swords to attack. These seven swords spun through the air like tops, whistling as they aimed to drill through his skull and bore a gaping hole in his throat!
Granny Si couldn’t bear to watch. Suddenly, Qin Mu let out a roar. A massive surge of primordial energy burst from his body, whipping around to grab the butcher knife at his back and slash downward.
Clang!
The seven swords were severed almost simultaneously, clattering to the ground!
“Such thick threads of primordial energy!”
Qianqiu’s heart jolted. Qin Mu’s strike had come out of nowhere, catching him completely off guard. Moreover, Qin Mu’s primordial energy threads defied all logic—they were absurdly thick, and the power within the blade was monstrous!
And that butcher knife—it was unnaturally sharp, even sharper and tougher than a spirit weapon!
With Qin Mu’s immense strength and the razor-sharp butcher knife, cutting through his seven spirit swords was effortless!
Before his shock could subside, Qin Mu suddenly flung the five swords in his hands back at him. The swords tore through the air with a piercing whistle, moving at an unimaginable speed.
But Qianqiu smiled. He raised his hand, and his threads of primordial energy howled as they lashed out toward the five incoming swords. At the same time, more spirit swords flew out from his sword pouch.
His pouch didn’t look large enough to hold much, yet sword after sword emerged from it—a bizarre sight.
However, the moment Qianqiu’s threads of primordial energy touched the five flying swords, his face changed drastically. Qin Mu’s terrifying primordial energy was hidden within the blades, surging and overwhelming. His threads were shattered before they could even coil around the swords!
Qianqiu reacted swiftly. The swords from his pouch immediately shot forward to intercept the five incoming ones.
At the same time, Qin Mu charged forward. Qianqiu pointed behind him, and another spirit sword flew out to meet him!
A strange sound escaped Qin Mu’s lips—short and fleeting, yet carrying an eerie, sinister, and malevolent rhythm. Accompanying this sound was the young man’s hand seal, formed like a plucked flower. Still over ten feet away, he struck out with the seal!
“Samoye!”
Qianqiu felt the wind from his palm but sensed no power. Just as he was about to focus on blocking the five spirit swords, his soul suddenly flew out of his body, sucked into Qin Mu’s palm. Terror seized him.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Five soft impacts rang out. Without his control, the five spirit swords pierced his body one after another, lifting him into the air before he crashed backward.
Boom—
The pillar at the village center, still bearing the meat shop banner, shook. Qianqiu’s corpse hung from it, his head drooping, motionless.
Blood still dripped from Qin Mu’s palm. He suddenly clenched his fist, and the blood squelched. The soul of Qianqiu in his grasp was crushed.
The Heavenly Demon Self-Existence Seal excels at destroying souls.
Qin Mu turned around, a smile on his face. “Granny, I won.”
Granny Si relaxed, then erupted in fury. “You brat! You cut your hand! I’ll beat you to death when we get back! Don’t you dare wipe blood on your clothes—I just made them, and if they get stained, I’ll beat you to death too!”
The Village Chief’s gaze was deep and dark, fixed on Mu Beifeng sitting before him. He said calmly, “Brother Mu, your disciple has lost. Should we take him down, dress him in burial clothes, and put him in a coffin?”
Mu Beifeng looked up at Qianqiu’s corpse hanging from the pillar and shook his head. “I’ll take his body back and give him a proper burial. But this young man—despite his profound cultivation—used demonic arts and demonic sounds. His methods are despicable and beneath contempt.”
He was referring to the move Qin Mu used to kill Qianqiu, the Heavenly Demon Self-Existence Seal. Though he had never seen such a seal before, the sound from Qin Mu’s mouth was clearly demonic, so the technique must have been demonic as well.
He could tell that Qin Mu’s cultivation was vast and deep, far surpassing Qianqiu’s. But it seemed he lacked real life-or-death experience, holding back and unable to fully unleash his strength.
Winning with demonic arts, in his view, was merely a trick—contemptible.
The Village Chief’s eyes flickered. He didn’t know where Qin Mu had learned demonic arts, but pulling an opponent’s soul from their body and refining it to death was indeed a sinister method.
The only one in the village from an orthodox demonic path was Granny Si. Had she taught Qin Mu?
The Village Chief spoke softly, “Mu’er, destroying souls goes against the harmony of heaven. Use such methods sparingly.”
Qin Mu quickly nodded.
The Village Chief looked at Mu Beifeng across from him and said, “There are still eleven coffins empty.”
Mu Beifeng lowered his eyes. “Since the coffins and burial clothes are ready, they should be used.”
The Village Chief said, “Please.”
Mu Beifeng rose. “Please.”
The Lijiang River Water Dragon Formation roared to life. Behind him, the ten experts of the Lijiang Sect erupted with their auras, merging with Mu Beifeng’s into a single line.
Whoosh—
The river surged, and water vapor filled the air. In the small Cripples’ Village, a long river suddenly appeared, its waves towering!
This flowing water formation was a replica of the Lijiang River in the southern wastelands!
Mu Beifeng and the ten Lijiang Sect experts stood atop this miniature, surging Lijiang River. Countless flying swords darted through the river like silvery, tiny fish.
The Lijiang Sect was renowned for its swordsmanship, the pinnacle of skill in the southern frontier. With ten experts and the sect leader Mu Beifeng deploying the Lijiang Water Dragon Formation, the sheer number of flying swords was unimaginable!
When Granny Si fought the Five Elders of Lijiang, the leader Qi Yanbing’s sword orb contained 6,842 swords—already terrifyingly many.
But the swords in this Lijiang Water Dragon Formation numbered ten times that!
Tens of thousands of flying swords formed a dragon in the water, a silver dragon of sword light. Countless blades swirled within its body, constantly moving, ready to stir up a storm!
Such a terrifying sword formation was something Qin Mu had never seen or even dared to imagine!
If unleashed, it could destroy Cripples’ Village!
The Village Chief still leaned back on his stretcher, his expression unchanged as he faced the fearsome formation. He said softly, “Blind.”
Blindman looked up, as if gazing at the mysteries of the Lijiang Water Dragon Formation, but his eye sockets were empty—no eyeballs. How could he see?
Countless swords let out piercing shrieks, like an enraged dragon baring its fangs, crashing down toward Cripples’ Village in an overwhelming tide!
Blindman raised his bamboo staff with one hand and tapped it toward the incoming storm of sword light. He chanted softly, “I have the art to slay dragons; today, I break the Lijiang—”
Ding.
A single crisp sound drowned out the shrieks of all the swords. Then, the silver dragon in midair froze, and with a crash, a rain of swords fell, thudding into the ground.
Blindman lightly lifted his staff, and the miniature Lijiang River made of water was hoisted into the air. It collapsed, unable to maintain its shape, and sheets of water poured from the sky.
Blindman continued his chant, walking through the water without his feet touching the surface. His bamboo staff tapped left and right. One Lijiang expert was tapped on the forehead, and his brow exploded, the staff tip emerging from the back of his head.
Another raised his hand to block, but the staff pierced through his palm and then through his chest.
Blindman walked from one end of the Lijiang to the other, leaving a trail of falling bodies. Then he came face to face with Mu Beifeng. The two crossed paths, and in that instant, Qin Mu couldn’t see how many exchanges they had or how many techniques they used.
Mu Beifeng landed and took two steps forward.
Blindman’s chant of “today, I break the Lijiang” had just finished the word “Lijiang,” the syllable still hanging in the air.
“Blindman, I know who you are. I never expected you to hide here, nor that even with your eyes destroyed, you’d still possess such strength!”
Mu Beifeng spoke these words, then his face suddenly turned pale. He sat down before the Village Chief and said softly, “Our Lijiang Sword Sect lives by the river. Our custom is water burial—the body must not touch the earth. I ask you to grant this.”
The Village Chief nodded gently. “Rest assured, the river is right outside the door.”
“To witness the divine spear, I die without regret!”
Mu Beifeng exhaled his last breath and passed away with a smile.
Qin Mu circled behind him and gasped. The back of Mu Beifeng’s head was wide open, pierced through with a large hole.