Chapter 155: Talisman Treasure Unsealed
Simuluo’s wings flipped and fluttered, shielding his body as the swords forming his wings constantly shifted positions, trying to block Qin Mu’s attack. But the next moment, the Drill Sword Style pierced straight through his wing defense!
Simuluo’s heart jolted. A sharp pain struck his chest—his golden body couldn’t withstand the Drill Sword Style. He immediately flapped his wings and rose, stirring up a fierce gale.
Whoosh!
The gale had just risen when Qin Mu stepped onto the wind and charged forward. Fear flickered in Simuluo’s eyes—Qin Mu’s speed while running through the air was even faster than his own winged flight!
The Cripple’s Heaven-Stealing Footwork was unmatched in speed. If Simuluo hadn’t flapped his wings and stirred up the gale, Qin Mu would have struggled to catch him in midair. But once the wind rose, the sky became solid ground for Qin Mu.
“Go!”
Simuluo barked an order. Golden swords flew from the wings on his back, shooting toward Qin Mu to block his approach. In an instant, his wings were stripped bare, leaving only two gleaming, fleshy stumps.
His body immediately plummeted. At that moment, a waterfall of blade light clashed with the rapidly stabbing golden swords. With a sharp *chi* sound, one golden sword pierced through Qin Mu’s blade waterfall and lodged into his left shoulder—exactly at the midpoint of his shoulder blade.
Meanwhile, Qin Mu’s form reached Simuluo, brushing past him. The gleaming blade light swept across Simuluo’s neck.
The blade light was thin, as if it had cut into Simuluo, sinking into his neck and emerging from the back, yet it seemed to cause no harm.
Simuluo landed. One by one, the golden swords flew back with a clatter, reforming into two wings behind him.
The two gleaming golden wings snapped open with a whoosh, radiating golden light.
“Well done, Senior Brother Simuluo!” a voice called out, startled and delighted.
Other shaman warriors were also encouraged, shouting one after another, “Senior Brother Simuluo, crush this slave from Yan Kang!”
“Yan Kang people are nothing but two-legged sheep, fit only for cultivation, unworthy of living in this world!”
…
Qin Mu landed. One by one, his flying swords flew back, clattering into the sword case on his back.
The young man pulled the golden sword from his shoulder and tossed it to the ground. His brocade robe remained intact—the sword had been blocked slightly by the robe when it struck, but it still pierced through, carrying the fabric into his shoulder blade.
So-called invulnerability to blades and spears wasn’t absolute. Though his robe, woven from Six-Winged Golden Silkworm silk, had blocked the golden sword, he still got injured.
Beneath the Golden Platform, cheers thundered. Simuluo still stood with his wings spread, majestic, as if savoring the crowd’s acclaim.
Qin Mu walked forward. The cheers gradually faded. He reached out, pulled the two blades from his back and returned them to their sheaths, then approached Simuluo. But Simuluo remained motionless, still spreading his golden wings, offering no defense or resistance.
Qin Mu raised his hand, grabbed Simuluo’s hair, lifted gently, and pulled his head from his neck, tossing it off the platform.
The cheers beneath the Golden Platform grew quieter. Only the distant shouts of shaman warriors who hadn’t seen the scene still rang out, gratingly harsh. The head rolled and tumbled off the platform, bouncing past those still cheering, until the noise faded completely.
Simuluo, who had cultivated the sect’s supreme technique, the Shaman Lord Louluo Sutra, was dead. Just when he seemed to have victory in his grasp, Qin Mu had beheaded him with a single stroke.
Ling Yuxiu hurried forward, wanting to bandage his wound. Qin Mu waved his hand: “It’s nothing. I said I would crush their will, and I will. Just rest assured.”
Ling Yuxiu frowned slightly, feeling Qin Mu was a bit too confident.
“Cowherd, your shoulder is injured. The flaw there will be bigger. If another great shaman who cultivates the Shaman Lord Louluo Sutra appears…”
Before she finished, another young great shaman with a golden body walked forward from before the holy hall of the Loulan Golden Palace, a smile on his face. He said softly, “Junior Brother Simuluo was still too green, not steady enough, so he died. I, Danbaluo, at the Six Harmonies realm, have sealed my Six Harmonies secret realm.”
Qin Mu’s expression turned grave. Suddenly, he drifted backward, his feet tapping rapidly, and with a whoosh, he leaped onto the roof of a golden hall.
Danbaluo laughed heartily, chasing him like a shadow, gripping a large hammer. The hammerhead was a massive skull, dark gold in color, with seven bone spikes growing from it. On each spike was a smaller skull, only fist-sized.
In the eye sockets of these eight skulls, there were actually eyes, terrifying and dreadful.
Though the hammerhead was large, the handle was very short, barely enough to grip.
Danbaluo lightly shook the hammer. The seven smaller skulls immediately opened their eyes, their eyeballs rolling wildly, then opened their mouths. Streams of black smoke spewed from the skulls’ mouths, seven plumes weaving up and down like black flood dragons, shooting straight toward Qin Mu on the golden hall.
Swords flew from Qin Mu’s sword case. The tips of the blades flicked, severing the heads of the black smoke flood dragons. But the next moment, the flying swords lost control and clattered to the ground.
The seven swords fell onto the golden hall, still clattering and jumping, with black qi darting back and forth within them.
Qin Mu immediately felt his primal energy being contaminated. His heart jolted. The Shaman Lord Louluo Sutra, like the Great Yu Heavenly Demon Sutra, clearly encompassed everything, with more than one technique. The Simuluo from earlier had cultivated one path, focusing on sword techniques and divine abilities.
This Danbaluo cultivated another, focusing on spell techniques and divine abilities. Though both practiced the Shaman Lord Louluo Sutra, they walked different paths.
Qin Mu’s steps shifted. The golden tiles beneath his feet exploded with a clatter. Black smoke, like flood dragons, drilled in and out of the golden hall, attacking him.
The two figures moved like rabbits and falcons, racing across the golden halls, even running on walls as if on flat ground.
Suddenly, Qin Mu’s body sank, dropping into the golden hall. Danbaluo sneered, swung his large hammer to break through the hall, and charged in.
Bang—
A figure shot up into the air, waving a hand to send flying swords stabbing backward. Danbaluo followed closely, stepping on a plume of black smoke that surged and rolled forward, carrying him toward Qin Mu.
Qin Mu crashed through another golden hall with a bang, diving inside to evade Danbaluo’s assault. Danbaluo pursued, ferocious and aggressive, making the shaman warriors and great shamans of the Loulan Golden Palace feel vindicated, sweeping away their earlier dejection.
The two raced across the golden halls among the mountains, striking viciously at each other, moving farther and farther from the mountain gate.
Danbaluo’s confidence grew stronger, his attacks fiercer. When Qin Mu fell into another golden hall, he charged straight in—only to be met by a magnificent landscape.
Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers.
Danbaluo felt himself rapidly shrinking, falling into that landscape, panic rising in his heart.
Before and after the mountain gate, everyone watched nervously toward the golden hall where the two had fallen. After a moment, a golden figure leaped out from the hall, standing on the roof, one hand gripping the bone hammer, the other holding a head high.
The Loulan Golden Palace crowd cheered, deafening. Ling Yuxiu’s face turned deathly pale, utterly lost. The green ox was stunned too, and Fox Ling’er was frozen.
“The cowherd is dead…” Ling Yuxiu’s mind went blank.
Before the holy hall, the few shaman kings of the Loulan Golden Palace rarely smiled, exchanging glances and nodding lightly.
“Danbaluo is quite good—ruthless, steady, a great talent, surpassing the ordinary.”
An elderly shaman king said with surprise, “Why isn’t he returning to the holy hall?”
“Danbaluo” carried the head and jumped back into the golden hall below, not returning to the mountain gate. Another shaman king laughed, “He’s probably injured too. Danbaluo is cautious by nature; once injured, he’ll immediately heal, leaving no hidden flaws. That’s also something to admire. Now only this little girl is left, and she’ll die soon. I wonder how the battle is going on the other side of the mountain?”
The shaman kings wanted to go to the snowy mountain to check the situation, but they were ordered to stay and guard the holy hall, unable to leave.
Inside that golden hall, “Danbaluo” tossed the head aside, took out a scroll, gently unrolled it, and examined it closely.
“The treasure vault of the Loulan Golden Palace is right next to this hall. I haven’t come to the wrong place.”
He rolled up the geographical map of the Loulan Golden Palace, stood up, and started to leave. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He quickly took a jade bottle from his bosom, glanced at it, and put it back in his sleeve: “I almost took out the Lost Incense…”
He took out another jade bottle, carefully applied some dragon saliva to the wound on his shoulder. Soon, the injury healed, and the pain vanished.
“Danbaluo” put the jade bottle away, thought for a moment, picked up the Shaobao Sword in his hand, walked out of this golden hall, and in a few steps arrived at another grand hall.
Before that hall stood a turtle-backed golden man holding a battle-axe, with a frog-like mouth and a gleaming golden turtle shell on his back, strong and imposing. Seeing him approach, the guard asked in surprise, “Danbaluo, what are you doing here?”
His golden hue was richer than “Danbaluo’s” but paler than the shaman kings’, so his status and strength were likely below theirs.
“Your disciple killed the villain blocking the gate and obtained a fine sword. I dare not keep it for myself and intend to offer it to the holy sect.”
“Danbaluo” presented the Shaobao Sword with both hands, smiling, “I don’t practice swordsmanship. This sword is good for me but useless, so I want to use this treasure to exchange for another precious item.”
The turtle-backed guard took the Shaobao Sword, drew it with a clang, and squinted, dazzled by the cold light. He exclaimed in surprise, “Excellent sword! Even in our Golden Palace, few treasures can match this! You’ve obtained such a treasure—the Shaman Lord will surely reward you greatly!”
He pushed open the hall door. “Danbaluo” quickly said, “Could your disciple also enter and choose a treasure?”
The turtle-backed guard thought for a moment and laughed, “Alright. You’ve rendered such a great service and offered such a heavy treasure. The Shaman Lord’s reward will certainly be excellent. But you can only look at the treasures collected in our Golden Palace—you can’t take them. Only when the Shaman Lord rewards you and lifts the seals can you take them.”
“Danbaluo” was overjoyed and quickly followed him into the golden hall.
The turtle-backed guard stood in the hall, carefully opening several restrictions. He took two steps forward, lifted a few more seals, then took out a talisman treasure—a paper treasure folded into a fourteen-sided, twenty-four-angled cube. He infused it with primal energy, and the talisman treasure floated up, gradually glowing.
The talisman treasure grew brighter, spinning continuously, projecting the runes from each face into the air.
“Danbaluo” saw that before them, the air changed from colorless and transparent to many semi-transparent cubes. Inside each cube was a small figure, fist-sized, with a fierce expression, pacing anxiously within the cube, as if wanting to break out and devour people.
—Third update, fourth update in ten minutes!