Chapter 102: The Supernatural Practitioner
"It really is the son of the Corpse Immortal Sect's Sect Leader..."
Qin Mu's face darkened. Wasn't this too much of a coincidence? The Sect Leader's son had to target him, and he was so weak that he couldn't even withstand a single strike from his sword.
This time, the Corpse Immortal Sect would definitely not let him go!
Before the flying corpses in the air had even approached, he caught a whiff of a foul, rancid odor. The nails of these flying corpses were a murky green, clearly poisonous!
"It's corpse poison!"
Qin Mu smelled this scent and immediately identified the toxicity. The pharmacist had taught him pharmacology, which included distinguishing different toxins and medicinal properties from various smells. Qin Mu had been practically force-fed medicine by the pharmacist since childhood, giving him an extremely high ability to discern medicinal and toxic properties.
These dozen or so corpses had corpse poison on their nails. If the skin were punctured, the blood would first coagulate, then the muscles would stiffen, becoming as hard as rock and impervious to blades. Eventually, consciousness would vanish, and the soul would disintegrate!
Qin Mu sprinted, but the flying corpses behind him were faster, their distance closing rapidly.
Sheets of yellow paper continuously spread forward, and the flying corpses in the air leaped repeatedly, about to catch up to them!
Behind him, He Yin waved his hand, and a firebird flapped its wings through the air. Before it even approached, a wave of scorching heat rolled in, stirring up a hot wind. The green grass on the ground instantly withered, completely devoid of moisture!
This person seemed to be walking two paths: spell techniques and sword control. He cultivated both the spell technique school and the sword control school simultaneously. Such a situation was rare in the past, but since the Yan Kang State Preceptor had boldly reformed the old systems, gathering all the sects of the world for the imperial court's use, he had broken many inherent barriers, making the divisions between schools less deep. Thus, a convergence had emerged.
Evil sects like the Corpse Immortal Sect had also taken advantage of this great transformation to improve their own sect's techniques and supernatural powers, developing many new spell techniques and supernatural abilities.
"No, it should be three schools! The moves these flying corpses are using belong to the combat technique school!"
Qin Mu frowned. Suddenly, his feet exerted force, and his body moved like a winding dragon, dodging the flaming bird that attacked from behind.
Unexpectedly, the flaming bird exploded with a loud boom. The fire blast instantly formed a massive fireball seven or eight zhang in diameter, rapidly expanding. The surging airwaves and flames sent Qin Mu flying violently!
Before Qin Mu could land, he saw sheets of yellow paper fluttering noisily. Eight or nine flying corpses stepped on the yellow paper, passing through the blazing explosion, and charged at him!
These flying corpses were all at the level of martial arts masters in the Five Radiance Realm. Their bodies had been refined to be as hard as spiritual weapons. Their moves were simple—scooping, cutting, shearing, stabbing—but if he were surrounded, there would be no way for him to escape.
Flying corpses pursued him on the ground, while others attacked from the air. On top of that, He Yin used supernatural powers to strike. The situation was extremely unfavorable for him.
Sheets of yellow paper fluttered noisily, cutting through the air with sharp whistling sounds. He Yin appeared to be driving the yellow paper, but in reality, he was using sword techniques. These sword techniques were extremely refined, not much inferior to those of the Li River Sword Sect.
Most crucially, the talismans drawn on the yellow paper with cinnabar and blood gave him a very bad feeling.
If they were ordinary paper, they would certainly not be as powerful as a sword. But with talismans drawn on them, it meant the talismans contained hidden power!
Qin Mu, still in midair, immediately used the Creation Demon Technique to seal his own soul. Then, his primal energy vibrated, shaking the little fox out of his bundle. His ten fingers moved rapidly, sealing her soul within her body as well.
Hu Ling'er, poked and prodded by him, felt both shy and annoyed. She squeaked and burrowed back into the bundle, refusing to come out.
Sealing the soul required touching hidden parts of the body. After all, she was a female fox and felt a bit shy.
But Qin Mu had no time to worry about this. Yellow paper was paper money burned for the dead. Drawing talismans on it meant the talismans' power was likely aimed at the soul. If he collided with these yellow papers, the talismans' power would erupt, likely injuring his soul. So he sealed his soul in advance to avoid being caught off guard and falling victim to it.
Whoosh—
The yellow papers in the air fell down, along with eight flying corpses. The yellow papers flew out from both sides of Qin Mu, and the eight flying corpses surrounded him, closing in from all directions.
Qin Mu was in midair, beginning to fall. Below him, five tattered flying corpses leaped up, attacking him from below!
At the same time, sheets of yellow paper passed through the crowd of corpses.
"Hold!" He Yin shouted.
A sheet of yellow paper suddenly caught fire. The talisman written in cinnabar and blood did not disappear but floated in the air, growing larger in the firelight, shining down on Qin Mu!
Qin Mu seemed unaffected. Behind him, the fish-dragon leaped up, spitting out a sword. The youth from the Crippled Village burst forth with primal energy. An arm-thick strand of primal energy wrapped around the Young Guardian Sword. He pressed his fingers together and slashed horizontally.
Sword-Slashing Technique!
The sword energy cut through the air, and a flying corpse's head tumbled off.
He Yin, rushing over quickly, was startled. Sheets of yellow paper erupted with power, trying to immobilize Qin Mu.
His immobilization talisman was meant to fix a person's three souls and seven spirits. If the soul was fixed, the body couldn't move either. But the previous immobilization talisman had failed to work, leaving him puzzled.
The talismans on the other yellow papers erupted with power. Strange talismans appeared all around Qin Mu, but he wasn't immobilized at all. He pressed his fingers together and lifted them. The Young Guardian Sword changed from the Sword-Slashing Technique to the Sword-Lifting Technique, splitting another flying corpse in two from bottom to top. Then it shifted to the Sword-Wiping Technique, and the Young Guardian Sword circled around a third flying corpse's neck.
The tip of the Young Guardian Sword pointed outward. The sword moved in a circle, tracing a full circumference. The heads of the surrounding flying corpses fell to the ground!
In the blink of an eye, the eight flying corpses were directly beheaded, falling to the ground.
Sword-Cloud Technique.
Qin Mu's sword technique was extremely fast. The simpler the move, the quicker his sword strike. With the sharpness of the Young Guardian Sword, he killed all eight flying corpses before they could even attack him!
He Yin's face showed pain. The flying corpses, when surrounding opponents, were a surefire way to capture practitioners of combat techniques or spells. But against a sword cultivator like Qin Mu, it was somewhat difficult.
Especially when the sword cultivator's sword was incredibly sharp, it almost specifically countered his flying corpses.
He used corpse-nurturing grounds to refine his flying corpses. Their bodies were extremely tough, and ordinary spiritual weapons couldn't harm them. Moreover, the flying corpses had no souls or spirits, making soul-targeting spells useless against them.
Qin Mu's horizontal sword slash seemed ordinary, but it directly cut off heads. Clearly, this sword was a treasure surpassing most spiritual weapons!
He Yin quickly stopped, recalling the five flying corpses below. From the sword pouch on his back, more sheets of yellow paper flew out, cutting toward Qin Mu!
Qin Mu took the opportunity to land. Facing He Yin, he stepped backward. He used the Heaven-Stealing Leg Technique taught by the Cripple to sprint. Even moving backward, his speed was no slower.
Swoosh—
A flash of sword light. Qin Mu used his primal energy to control the sword, thrusting it at the flying yellow paper.
Boom—
A violent explosion came. The moment his Young Guardian Sword intercepted the first sheet of yellow paper, the talisman on it exploded. The power of this talisman triggered the talismans on the other papers. A chain of explosions followed. Qin Mu was struck by the airwave, his chest shaking violently. The air in his lungs was almost squeezed out. He was involuntarily sent flying backward!
He flew more than ten zhang away. Hu Ling'er in the bundle quickly activated a spell, stirring up a gust of wind to counteract the terrifying impact, finally stopping Qin Mu.
However, the strand of primal energy connected to the Young Guardian Sword was also shattered by the terrifying explosion. The Young Guardian Sword whistled away, falling into the darkness.
Qin Mu landed, took a deep breath, and suddenly coughed violently twice. Despite his preparations, his lungs had been injured by the explosion. This was only because he was wearing clothes made of Hundred Poison Golden Silkworm Silk. Without this outfit, this explosion would have killed him.
"Still not dead?"
He Yin pulled out a jar of foul-smelling ointment and threw it to one of the flying corpses. Then he immediately flew toward Qin Mu to attack. His yellow papers contained fire-based supernatural powers, capable of cutting and killing opponents or exploding. The physical damage from the explosion was secondary; the greatest harm was the thunderous sound produced by the blast!
If one faced the impact of the explosion's thunderous sound, even if the three souls and seven spirits weren't shattered, they would be shaken out of the body and destroyed in the explosion!
Qin Mu had actually blocked the explosion and also withstood the thunderous sound that could kill the three souls and seven spirits. This truly surprised him.
But blocking this attack was nothing. Qin Mu's extremely sharp sword had been blown away, its whereabouts unknown. He was also injured by the talisman explosion. Now, only death awaited Qin Mu!
Qin Mu didn't retreat but advanced. He unsheathed the sword scabbard from his back and actually used the technique of controlling the sword with primal energy, treating the scabbard as a sword to thrust at He Yin. At the same time, his steps shifted like a ghost, erratic and swift, rapidly closing in on He Yin!
He Yin sneered. His primal energy burst forth, forming a flaming bird that pounced at Qin Mu. Meanwhile, yellow papers fluttered from the sword pouch on his back, flying out to cut at Qin Mu!
Qin Mu's steps grew even more erratic. Suddenly, he let out a shout and thrust his fingers together!
Sword-Thrusting Technique!
The scabbard whistled toward He Yin. He Yin sneered. A sheet of yellow paper flew out from the sword pouch, meeting the scabbard.
Qin Mu's thrust was powerful, but the scabbard's mouth was facing him. It wasn't using the sharper tip. Even if it hit him, the damage wouldn't be too great.
He only needed to detonate one talisman to block Qin Mu's attack and blow the scabbard away!
Just then, the scabbard suddenly transformed. Its mouth turned into a fish-dragon with a wide-open maw, charging at his face.
He Yin was startled. Then he heard a sound of something breaking through the air behind him. The Young Guardian Sword, which had been blown away by the explosion, was whistling toward him, aiming for his back!
He Yin dodged, trying to avoid both the Young Guardian Sword and the fish-dragon transformed from the scabbard. Suddenly, a furry little head popped out of the bundle on Qin Mu's back. It spat out a whirlwind, freezing He Yin's movement for a moment.
He Yin broke free from the whirlwind. A chill ran through his shoulder. The Young Guardian Sword pierced his shoulder blade, drilling through it. It carried a trail of blood and shot into the fish-dragon's mouth!
Qin Mu, having succeeded, was about to pursue. Suddenly, the flaming bird engulfed him in blazing flames. Then, sheets of yellow paper were thrown into the fire.
Boom—
A violent shockwave came. Qin Mu spat blood and flew backward. His primal energy wrapped around the Young Guardian Sword. He crashed heavily into the mountain forest. Then he turned, leaped up, and fled, disappearing into the night with a whoosh.