Chapter 154: Crushing Their Will
"Kill!"
A female shaman with a leopard's head and tail let out a sharp cry, raising a bronze mirror to shine at Qin Mu. Within the mirror, countless souls appeared, ferocious and malevolent.
Ding.
A flying sword suddenly appeared before the bronze mirror, nailing itself to its surface. The mirror was incredibly hard, managing to block the sword, but in the next instant, the flying sword spun, transforming into a drilling technique that directly bored through the mirror. Sword light pierced through, stabbing through the female shaman behind it.
"What fear is there in shamanic poison?"
Qin Mu's robes fluttered as he raised his hand to retrieve his flying sword. Another shaman sprouted tiger fur, tiger claws, and a tiger tail, charging forward with a howl, kicking up a gale as he closed in, refusing to give Qin Mu any chance to draw his sword.
Qin Mu turned sideways and threw a punch. Their steps tangled, and a rapid series of thumping impacts rang out without end. The shaman's head shook as a tiger's head grew forth, his roar like thunder, booming incessantly, using the tiger's roar to assault Qin Mu's soul.
Qin Mu used his fist as a seal, punching out with "Sunlight Refining the Yang Soul in the Sky." He spread his fingers into a palm and struck with "Ma Ya Sa," unleashing the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Seal. His palms and fists alternated between Buddhist, Daoist, and demonic seals. The tiger's roar only managed to sound three times before Qin Mu shattered the shaman's soul, sending him crashing straight to the ground.
Another great shaman at the Open Secret realm suddenly lunged out. His cultivation was far stronger than the previous shamans, his divine abilities flowing freely as he maintained a normal human form and appearance.
Though he had already sealed his Open Secret secret realm, the moment he activated his technique, he transformed, becoming like a violent ape wielding a golden staff as thick as a pillar. He swept through like a force of a thousand armies, possessing immense strength and incredible agility.
Qin Mu reached out and plucked his bamboo staff, using it against the golden staff. The two clashed like lightning, and suddenly, the countless golden staff shadows and light converged. The shaman's heart was struck by the bamboo staff, a look of shock appearing on his face.
But he was, after all, a great shaman of the Open Secret realm, not an ordinary shaman. He decisively unsealed his Open Secret secret realm. The moment his secret realm was released, his heart was pierced through by the bamboo staff, and his corpse fell to the ground.
Qin Mu withdrew the bamboo staff from his chest. In Yan Kang, a great shaman of the Open Secret realm was called a divine ability user—just a different name, with no essential difference.
If this divine ability user hadn't sealed his Open Secret secret realm, Qin Mu would have found it very difficult to kill him. But as long as they fought at the same level, Qin Mu had the strength to slay his opponent, regardless of whether the other party was originally at the Open Secret realm or the Seven Stars realm!
Thud.
A golden warrior leaped onto the golden platform, landing heavily. On his back was a blade pouch taller than a man. He suddenly opened his mouth wide and roared at Qin Mu. From the blade pouch on his back, sword light howled out, a flurry of countless blade shadows raining down on Qin Mu.
At the same time, the golden warrior wielded two blades, charging in with them. The two blades sometimes appeared before him, sometimes behind him, like two great pythons coiling around his body, rolling toward Qin Mu.
Qin Mu held one butcher knife in his right hand and another in his left, reversed grip. From the sword case on his back, flying swords hissed out, meeting the descending blade light.
Horizontal and Vertical, a Single Line of Sky!
The two bodies were vastly different in size—the golden warrior stood half again as tall as Qin Mu. They collided fiercely. Two streaks of blade light, one horizontal and one vertical, flashed. The horizontal was a mountain blocking the path ahead; the vertical was a blade cleaving through that mountain. The blade light, tinged with blood, soared into the sky, as if a giant swung a blade, cutting a path through a thousand-mile cliff face. The golden warrior's body split into four pieces, slain by that horizontal and vertical blade light.
Qin Mu shook his blades, flicking off the blood, and sheathed the two butcher knives. Suddenly, he raised a finger, and with a clink, a flying sword left its sheath, piercing the brow of a shaman who had drawn a bow with primal energy, ready to shoot an arrow at him.
"Kill him! Avenge our fellow disciples!"
More shamans kept charging. Qin Mu sidestepped, twisted his body, and kicked backward. With blade or sword, fist or foot, he killed every shaman who came to challenge him on the spot.
After a moment, the surroundings fell silent. Before the mountain gate of Lou Lan's Golden Palace, on the golden steps, over forty corpses lay scattered in disarray.
Qin Mu looked down from the platform. Below were faces filled with fear, eyes full of terror. When their gazes met his, they involuntarily looked away, dodging and evasive, not daring to meet his eyes.
These shamans had strong mental fortitude and willpower, but after Qin Mu had killed over forty of them in succession, that spirit and will inevitably declined. Once it declined, it would fall further, giving rise to fear, to a cowardice that admitted they couldn't defeat him, to reverence and awe for Qin Mu!
Everything Qin Mu had seen on his journey had filled him with anger toward Lou Lan's Golden Palace. When General Tuolimu had ordered his soldiers to collect the souls of the rebels, he'd said they were to be offered to Lou Lan's Golden Palace. Qin Mu hadn't understood then, but now he realized that Lou Lan's Golden Palace actually used souls to cultivate their arts.
He hadn't come to blockade their gate; he had come to retrieve the Butcher's lower body. But since the lines between enemy and ally were now clear, he would crush this sect's will and spirit, shatter their confidence, trample their techniques and methods underfoot, and make them understand that their divine abilities, cultivated with the souls of others, were worthless!
"Which of you has cultivated the Lou Lan Golden Palace's Shamanic Sovereign Lou Luo Sutra?"
Qin Mu swept his gaze around, his face cold. Then a faint smile slowly crept onto his lips. "Come out. I want to kill one."
Before the mountain gate, there was silence.
Behind the mountain gate, the faces of the great shamans of the Golden Palace, who seemed cast from gold, gradually turned iron-gray. After a moment, a young man stepped forward. A middle-aged great shaman beside him said in a deep voice, "Simuluo, his weakness is two-thirds of the way down his left shoulder blade. It's a flaw in his technique, a place he hasn't fully tempered."
The young great shaman said solemnly, "I had already noticed it, but I couldn't pinpoint the exact location. Thank you for the guidance, Shaman King."
Ba Shan Academy Master's face darkened, and he sneered, "Shaman King, as an elder, isn't this a bit too shameless?"
"Wu Kehan, if you please!"
The middle-aged great shaman's expression was wooden. He raised his hand and said, "Years ago, I was defeated by you. I reflected deeply on that defeat, and over the years, my cultivation and strength have advanced by leaps and bounds. I've always wanted to wash away that shame. Heaven has taken pity on me—you've finally delivered yourself to my doorstep."
Ba Shan Academy Master suddenly soared into the air, the light he emitted like a hundred-zhang-long great blade cleaving the sky as he sped away. His voice came from afar: "The cultivations of the people here are too low. I fear that if we fight, we'll shake them to death. Let's go to the snowy mountains to clash!"
The middle-aged great shaman looked at the Shamanic Sovereign. The Shamanic Sovereign rose and said in a deep voice, "Go!"
Shua—
Streaks of golden light shot into the sky, chasing after that blade light, heading into the snowy mountains.
The lofty peaks and vast white snow suddenly blazed with golden light, melting the heavy snow. Within the golden light, a flash of blade light as bright as snow could be seen. There, a battle of earth-shattering proportions was taking place, but by the time it reached Lou Lan's Golden Palace, only faint ripples remained.
At the foot of the Golden Palace's mountain gate, Qin Mu turned around and looked at Simuluo, who was walking down from the sacred hall.
Ba Shan Academy Master had lured away many of Lou Lan's Golden Palace's experts, likely to make it easier for Qin Mu to search for the Butcher's lower body. However, a few of the Golden Palace's older-generation experts remained before the sacred hall.
Simuluo's expression was grave, but there was a hint of excitement in his eyes. His body was also golden. He had been watching from the sidelines as Qin Mu fought those shamans.
He hadn't stepped forward immediately, not only to see if Qin Mu had any weaknesses but also to let those shamans wear Qin Mu down in a battle of attrition, giving him a greater chance of victory.
Now, he had found Qin Mu's weakness, and after Qin Mu had fought over forty opponents, his opportunity had arrived.
Qin Mu's face was as calm as an ancient well, as if he hadn't just endured over forty fierce battles. Suddenly, both of them moved at once. Primal energy burst from beneath Qin Mu's feet, and he was incredibly fast, appearing before Simuluo in an instant and throwing a punch.
"Alone by the Eastern Sea, Carrying the Spring Thunder!"
His fist struck Simuluo's body, but it produced a sound like a great bell or cauldron. Qin Mu immediately felt his surging fist force, like a great river rushing into the sea, hitting a wall of bronze and iron, unable to penetrate at all.
Simuluo's body seemed to be forged from the hardest metal, and solid all the way through.
Simuluo's body shook, and he suddenly transformed into a bird-headed human form, with wings sprouting from his back. Those wings were dazzling gold, composed of countless golden swords. The golden swords clanged as they sliced forward!
Qin Mu's steps faltered as he retreated. From the sword case on his back, flying swords shot out, meeting the slicing sword-feathers.
Suddenly, he noticed that Simuluo's two wings were extraordinary. Between each sword-shaped feather, there were threads of primal energy connecting them. His heart trembled, and he knew something was wrong.
Hua—
The countless swords that made up Simuluo's wings suddenly expanded, flying off his wings and stabbing at Qin Mu from all directions.
On each of these golden swords, a pitch-black eyeball had grown, rolling around, eerie and sinister. Each golden sword contained a soul, trapped within the blade, becoming the sword's spirit.
Qin Mu's gaze fell on those eyes, and he suddenly felt dizzy. Knowing this was bad, he immediately closed his eyes, reached out, and drew his blade.
"Night Battle Amidst the City's Wind and Rain!"
His blade light was swift, flipping and flying around his body—above, below, left, right—without pause. The clashing sounds of ding-ding-dang-dang rang out. The name "Night Battle" in "Night Battle Amidst the City's Wind and Rain" indicated that this technique didn't require the eyes to watch the surroundings.
Simuluo's swords were extremely sinister; looking at them would cause one to fall into a trap, so using this technique was the most correct choice.
"The Shamanic Sovereign Lou Luo Sutra is indeed extraordinary, very demonic."
As Qin Mu's blade clashed with the opponent's swords, he immediately felt that the power in the other's swords was inferior to his own. The strength of the Combat Technique School lay in wielding weapons, allowing one to unleash all of one's power.
Simuluo's golden swords were forced back by the "Night Battle Amidst the City's Wind and Rain" and returned to his back, forming two golden wings with a shua. The wings flapped, clanging as they blocked the flying swords shooting from Qin Mu's sword case.
Suddenly, Qin Mu released both blades and threw a punch. It was like a great sun hanging in the sky, illuminating the yang soul. Simuluo's soul wavered slightly under the illumination of his fist intent, but his technique remained completely unperturbed. However, the eyes on his swords were forced shut by the light, each eye letting out a scream before turning into wisps of green smoke.
Qin Mu struck out with the Heavenly Demon Sovereign Seal in a backhand motion, but Simuluo remained unmoved. The Shamanic Sovereign Lou Luo Sutra used the souls of others as cultivation material, tempering one's own soul to be incredibly stable.
His body was also extremely hard, so much so that even the Eight Forms of Thunderclap couldn't shake it.
Qin Mu frowned slightly. Suddenly, he pointed a finger. The thirty-six flying swords from his sword case merged with a hua-la sound, forming a drilling technique, stabbing down at Simuluo in a single sword strike!
—Second update! There will be three more updates tonight!