Chapter 54: Three Hundred and Sixty Rooms
In the village, Grandpa Ma withdrew his fist and asked Qin Mu, "Did you see clearly?"
"I saw clearly!"
Qin Mu pondered, "Each type of dragon force represents a different power. The order of the dragon forces differs, the fist force differs. If the hundred types of Azure Dragon fist force sequences are scrambled, the move Nine Dragons Riding Wind and Thunder will produce countless variations! Others might block my first punch, but they absolutely cannot block my second punch with the same technique! Even if I throw a hundred punches, a thousand punches, each punch's power will be completely different!"
Grandpa Ma rarely showed a smile, saying, "In the past, your Overlord Body primal energy had no attribute, making it impossible to cultivate the Tathagata Great Vehicle Sutra. Moreover, I promised the Great Thunderclap Monastery that I would not pass on the Tathagata Great Vehicle Sutra. Now that your Overlord Body primal energy has gained the Azure Dragon attribute, I still won't teach it to you. However, as long as you thoroughly comprehend the principles of fist techniques, learning the Tathagata Great Vehicle Sutra or not no longer matters. You have already grasped the dragon's rhythm, form, momentum, spirit, and essence. Even if you have never seen the Hundred Dragons Diagram, you can deduce its mysteries. With your Overlord Body Three Elixir Technique, the power of the Thunderclap Eight Forms will not be inferior to the Tathagata Great Vehicle Sutra!"
Qin Mu's spirits soared. Grandpa Ma was always cold and rarely praised others. Receiving his commendation made Qin Mu very happy. Moreover, Grandpa Ma's words gave him inspiration, sparking other ideas. The Thunderclap Eight Forms' Nine Dragons Riding Wind and Thunder mainly relied on dragon force. What about the first form, Alone in the Eastern Sea Carrying Spring Thunder?
Could observing a great river cascading down, surging into the sea, with spring thunder and roaring waves, yield the essence of this form?
And what about the move Flicking Finger Startling Thunder Pipa Hand—was it related to musical rhythm?
As for moves like Kuafu Chasing the Sun Amid Wind and Thunder, and Sunlight Illuminating the Soul Refined in the Sky, they surely had their own methods of enlightenment!
The more he thought, the more excited he became, eager to leave home immediately and travel the world, observing the mysteries of heaven and earth and exploring the wonders of creation!
"Tomorrow, remember to get up early and go pay respects at the neighboring village." Granny Si said with a smile.
Qin Mu was puzzled, "Grandma, the neighboring village is the Demon Sect. Why do they call you the Sect Leader's Wife? Why do they want you to be the Sect Leader? If you refuse, why do they want to kill us?"
Granny Si patted his head and chuckled, "You'll know in the future."
The next morning, Qin Mu washed up, ate breakfast, and collected eggs. The hen-dragon charged at him ferociously, and they fought for a while, evenly matched. The hen-dragon flapped its wings, using sword-like feathers to slash at the egg thief, and spat out a great blaze. Qin Mu, with an Azure Dragon coiling around his body, used Flicking Finger Startling Thunder Pipa Hand to block the feather swords.
"Mu'er, stop fighting with it. Go pay a visit to the neighboring village." Granny Si came over and chased the hen-dragon away.
Qin Mu quickly followed her, but the hen-dragon chased after them again until Granny Si scared it off.
She led him to the neighboring village. The Law Enforcement Elder came to greet them, sizing up Qin Mu, and said to Granny Si, "Sect Leader's Wife, everything is prepared. The three hundred and sixty rooms—the young master only needs to pass through each one once."
Granny Si blinked, "Passing through all three hundred and sixty rooms in one go? Isn't that a bit too demanding?"
The Law Enforcement Elder smiled, "If he cannot pass through the three hundred and sixty rooms, then please, Sect Leader's Wife, return with us."
Granny Si gritted her teeth, "Can he rest?"
"Rest as much as he likes. Each room has food and drink, beds and bedding, healing medicines, spirit pills—everything you need."
Granny Si looked at Qin Mu, gritted her teeth again, and said, "Mu'er, go to the three hundred and sixty rooms and pay your respects. Remember, address them as senior brothers and sisters, not as elders."
Qin Mu nodded, walked toward the first wooden building's first room, and said with a smile, "Three hundred and sixty rooms—I wonder how long this will take. Grandma, I'm going in."
Granny Si watched his back and suddenly said, "Mu'er, do you know what you'll face when you go in?"
Qin Mu turned back with a smile, "I know. I won't let them take you away, Grandma."
Granny Si felt a warmth in her heart and turned to leave. Back then, she had picked up this child by the river, never imagining that the infant would one day share her burdens.
Qin Mu entered the first room of the first building. The room was spacious, with a sallow-faced man inside. His face was as yellow as if he had eaten a bitter gall, with a goatee beard, holding an abacus like an accountant in a counting house.
"Senior Brother."
Qin Mu stopped, bowed first, then took off the butcher knife, bamboo staff, Xiqiluo, sword pouch, Shaobao Sword, and other items from his back, placing them by the door. "Senior Brother, please."
The accountant looked at the eleven- or twelve-year-old boy with surprise and interest, "Do you know what you're here for? Did the Sect Leader's Wife tell you?"
Qin Mu stretched his body, his primal energy surging fiercely and blazingly, and laughed, "No need for Grandma to say it plainly—I know!"
He stomped his foot, and in one step, he charged before the accountant. Boom! A thunderclap erupted from his palm, the boy's primal energy blazing like fire!
"Isn't it just fighting from the first room to the three hundred and sixtieth?"
The accountant quickly raised his hand to block, only to feel a tremendous force crashing into him. He was sent flying backward involuntarily, crashing through the wooden wall behind him with a loud crack, landing in the yard. He slid more than ten zhang before stabilizing himself.
Shocked and angry, he looked up through the hole in the wall and saw Qin Mu walking back to the door, picking up his butcher knife, bamboo staff, and other items, heading to the next room.
"Why should I get angry at a kid?"
The accountant fumed, then laughed at himself, shouting to the other wooden buildings, "Be careful! This little brat is sharp! His primal energy at the Spirit Embryo stage is incredibly dense—twice as much as mine was at that stage! Don't let him catch you off guard!"
"Twice as dense as yours?"
A woman's silvery voice came, surprised, "Such cultivation—truly worthy of being the young master. I wonder how his spells are."
Qin Mu reached the next room and pushed the creaking door open. Inside was a scholar, deeply engrossed in a book, shaking his head as he read.
"Senior Brother." Qin Mu bowed.
The scholar looked wary and smiled, "You want to ambush me while I return the bow? I won't give you that chance."
"Qike duo!"
Boom!
Thunder exploded, and a violent tremor shook the room. Wood splinters flew everywhere as the scholar was sent flying backward through the debris, crashing into a towering tree.
The scholar landed and shouted, "Watch out! This kid is skilled—he knows demonic true words better than our Sacred Sect's!"
Boom—
As his words fell, another thunderclap rang out. An elderly, frail-looking private tutor was blasted out of the wooden building, tumbling and crashing into a stone pillar. He roared in fury, "Bullshit! I fell for it! I was too focused on guarding against his demonic true words, and he nearly injured my soul with the Great Thunderclap Monastery's techniques! Don't be fooled—he's using the Thunderclap Eight Forms from the Great Thunderclap Monastery!"
"Bullshit!"
A woman's shout came from the fourth room, furious, "Old Xie, you set me up! He used the Heavenly Demon Creation Art to seal my three souls and seven spirits! You little brat, don't run! You groped all over and ruined my reputation!"
Qin Mu's face flushed slightly as he left the fourth room. The techniques of the Heavenly Demon Creation Art required striking the opponent's perineum, lungs, and navel—three areas that were private for women, making it very difficult to execute. Especially the perineum, which was quite indecent.
"I'm still young. I don't understand these things." The cowherd boy from the Crippled Elder Village blinked, thinking to himself.
In the fifth room, a man as thin as a skeleton watched Qin Mu approach and sneered, "Whether you use demonic or devilish techniques, you won't get past me. Yansheng Golden Toad Art!"
As he walked toward Qin Mu, he took a long breath, and a gurgling sound came from inside his body. The sound grew louder, like a toad spirit's croaking roar!
Qin Mu was amazed as he watched the thin Demon Sect hall master's body swell. He had been skin and bones, but as he kept inhaling, muscles beneath his skin grew thick and bulged!
This Yansheng Golden Toad Art followed a demonic path, imitating the Yansheng Golden Toad, a rare beast that was normally only the size of a washbasin but could expand a hundred or a thousand times when inflating, even swallowing tigers and lions whole.
When the Demon Sect's Yansheng Golden Toad Art was used, it granted immense strength, with especially dense primal energy. Though the increase wasn't as terrifying as the golden toad's, it was still formidable!
As the Demon Sect hall master inhaled, Qin Mu also breathed in, but unlike the Yansheng Golden Toad Art, Qin Mu's chest didn't puff out. However, his breath was astonishing—he nearly sucked all the air in front of him dry. The air rushing in to fill the void caused a slight breeze in the wooden building, even making the window frames tremble!
The hall master's primal energy became explosively violent. After one full breath, his muscles bulged hideously, each lump like rock, stretching his clothes taut as if they might burst at any moment!
His body also grew taller, eventually reaching over a zhang, like a small giant!
Qin Mu's body remained unchanged, ordinary as ever.
"Yansheng Golden Toad Art—invincible strength! One punch can shatter you! Guu—"
The hall master raised his hand, now as large as a palm-leaf fan, blood-red, filling the room with a crimson glow. He threw a punch that nearly split the air, hurtling toward Qin Mu!
Qin Mu threw a punch in return. Their fists, one huge and one small, collided with a thunderous impact, shaking the entire wooden building violently.
The hall master grunted, stepped back, and the muscles on his arm writhed as if a dragon had burrowed inside, rippling like waves under his skin, racing toward his heart!
His expression shifted. He raised his other hand and chopped at his arm, severing the dragon force. He stepped back again, and his arm bulged as if two dragons were churning under his skin. He chopped again!
By the time he retreated four steps, the wall behind him had shattered into pieces. On the fifth step, he landed outside the building. After four more steps, he backed into a large tree. The tree suddenly shook violently, its trunk reduced to powder, and its crown fell straight down.
Wood chips flew everywhere, and amidst the debris, a pattern of nine dragons galloping, riding wind and thunder, burst from behind the hall master. The dragons roared, thunder and lightning intertwined!
He had failed to intercept the ninth layer of force from Nine Dragons Riding Wind and Thunder.