Chapter 200: Dutian in Hiding
Whether it was the number one demon sect, the Heavenly Demon Sect, aiding the Imperial Preceptor of Yankang, or the Heavenly Demon Sect using teleportation banners to bring the Yankang army to massacre the disciples of various sects and schools, any of these could cause these sect master-level existences to tremble in their hearts, their minds shaken, their spirits thrown into chaos.
Although their mental disturbance was brief, before an existence like the Imperial Preceptor of Yankang, having one’s mind thrown into chaos essentially sealed their fate of certain death.
Although sect master-level existences were often great experts at the Divine Bridge realm, even within the Divine Bridge realm there were strong and weak. As the Imperial Preceptor of Yankang himself said, he was someone without any weaknesses at any realm. No matter how wide others’ angles were, they could not match the length of his straight line.
His cultivation surpassed others, and his strength also surpassed others.
In a sneak attack, basically no one could be his opponent, and they couldn’t even withstand a single move from him.
Just like at Tianbo City, when Dutian Demon King was fighting against the Mute and was slain by a single sword strike—that strike was also a sneak attack.
Qin Mu estimated that the Imperial Preceptor of Yankang could take advantage of the moment these experts lost focus to kill at least four formidable foes. As for how many he could wound, that would depend on the Imperial Preceptor’s skill.
However, although this battle was exceptionally brilliant, showcasing the pinnacle of combat power in the current world, there were few who could actually see the battle’s details. Among the hundreds present, the only ones who could clearly grasp every move of everyone on the battlefield were probably the Left and Right Protector Envoys.
Even the hall masters of the three hundred and sixty halls could likely see only a limited number of techniques.
Qin Mu stared at the battlefield again but still couldn’t see the detailed situation. He could only see afterimages caused by rapidly moving figures, and besides that, the light from spells, divine abilities, and sword techniques.
But every short moment, a beam of light would vanish, signifying the death of an expert.
Now, there were only eight figures left.
“Besides the Imperial Preceptor of Yankang, there are seven others.”
Qin Mu’s eyes flickered. Among the seven, they should all be relatively powerful. Which seven were still alive?
He could see the blazing figure of the Imperial Preceptor moving and shifting, but couldn’t tell who was who.
“Not being able to see the battle details means missing a great opportunity. I wonder if I can open my Bixiao Heavenly Eye?”
Qin Mu mobilized his primal qi, channeling more into his eyes, trying to construct the formation patterns of the Bixiao Heavenly Eye. His eyes already had three pupils: the first was his own pupil, the second was the pupil formed by the Shenxiao Heaven, and the third was the pupil formed by the Qingxiao Heaven. If he could condense the Bixiao Heaven, it would form a fourth pupil, allowing him to see more.
Just as he channeled his primal qi into his eyes, he suddenly felt something different entering his eyes along with his primal qi.
Qin Mu was startled, and then suddenly everything on the battlefield became incredibly clear!
He shook his head and looked at the battlefield again—still incredibly clear!
And now, he hadn’t even formed the formation patterns of the Bixiao Heaven!
“There’s another person’s eyes in my eyes!”
Qin Mu’s hair stood on end. He could now even see every move of the Imperial Preceptor and the others, the layers of each technique or sword art, the internal structure of the techniques or sword arts!
Every person’s movements, expressions, were all vividly clear!
This was not something his own eyes could see, but what another person’s eyes saw—or rather, another person was using his eyes to watch the battle!
Who was using his eyes to watch the battle?
He suddenly remembered that when he summoned the demon at Tianbo City, he had called forth Dutian Demon King. The Demon King’s consciousness and power had entered the demon god statue through his body, blasting open his brow, where lightning flowed like a stream into the statue. At that time, he was circulating the Overlord Body Three Dan Art.
As the art ran, he felt something enter his body along with the primal qi.
Then, disciples of the Hongshan Sect arrived and used the Demon Expulsion Command. Although the command couldn’t drive Dutian Demon King back, when it shone on him, Qin Mu felt the summoning interrupted, and the power and consciousness flowing from his body into the demon god statue were cut off.
That meant part of Dutian Demon King’s consciousness and power had been trapped inside Qin Mu’s body!
“So, the one inside me, using my eyes to watch the battle, is Dutian Demon King!”
Qin Mu felt a surge of fear. This Demon King’s consciousness was hiding inside him—where exactly was it? Why had he never noticed anything unusual while practicing the Overlord Body Three Dan Art all this time?
What was Dutian Demon King plotting?
Granny Si had a demon sect leader, Li Tianxing, inside her. If he had a Dutian Demon King inside him, that would be a huge problem.
Qin Mu remained expressionless. Dutian Demon King using his eyes to watch the battle was also a good thing for him, allowing him to see the battlefield clearly. The techniques and divine abilities displayed by the experts in their duel could greatly broaden his horizons.
“What I’ve trapped is just a strand of Dutian Demon King’s consciousness and power. No matter how strong, it can’t be that powerful. As long as I can find him, I can definitely deal with him! For now, I won’t alert him; it’s better to pretend I don’t know.”
He could finally see the battle clearly now.
The Imperial Preceptor’s sword was not a real sword but a sword aura formed from his primal qi, ever-changing, gathering and dispersing at will.
His body blazed with light and flame, like a deity—a light Qin Mu had seen before in the Village Chief.
When he wielded his sword techniques, even the most basic sword forms displayed an incredibly complex and mysterious state.
His sword techniques were not just basic forms; they also involved more complex calculations and changes.
“The Dao Sword of the Dao Sect?”
Qin Mu was startled. He saw traces of the Dao Sect’s Dao Sword in the Imperial Preceptor’s sword techniques—extremely complex computational skills. For example, anyone could draw a circle, the Tai Chi symbol, but no one could calculate the ratio between the circle and the curved line cutting through it.
This related to the first form of the Dao Sword, “Reversing Yin and Yang Within the Two Extremes.” The key to achieving this reversal lay in the Tai Xuan Calculation Classic.
To maximize the power of reversing Yin and Yang within the Two Extremes, one needed to calculate to the inexact decimal places. To go even further, one had to calculate to the empty and pure digits.
“The Imperial Preceptor of Yankang has profound attainments in mathematics!”
Qin Mu thought to himself, “I should have asked him about the Tai Xuan Calculation Classic when we traveled south together!”
The ones clashing with the Imperial Preceptor were the three old men and the old woman: Poor Master, Li Sanren, and Tian Zhenjun. They were indeed top experts of the old era, their bodies radiating light and flame like three aged deities, each with their own unique methods.
Poor Master’s large brush looked like a brush but had very long bristles, resembling a fly whisk, though with fewer variations.
Li Sanren was a sword cultivator, practicing sword techniques with exquisite skill, but clearly inferior to the Imperial Preceptor. His sword techniques consisted of the fourteen basic sword forms, though mysterious, they had fallen behind the times.
The times had progressed, but he remained stagnant.
Tian Zhenjun cultivated gu worms, refining them into various strange dragons: a hundred-zhang-long centipede dragon, a silkworm dragon from a heavenly silkworm, a green flood dragon from a green snake, and other bizarre shapes.
Though these venomous creatures were powerful, they kept falling under the Imperial Preceptor’s sword techniques, being killed one after another.
Qin Mu estimated she wouldn’t last much longer.
Besides these three, four others survived. Among them was Qi Dayou of the Beggar Sect, whose Hundred Poverty Mysterious Art was quite unique. His form would sometimes become ethereal and sometimes solid, appearing and disappearing unpredictably. “Hundred Poverty” meant having nothing, and the art had its own merits.
Another survivor was Daoquan True Man, the weakest among them. The Imperial Preceptor seemed to show him mercy, or perhaps he posed no threat, always leaving a sliver of leeway and not killing him.
The third was Zen Master Zhikong of the Great Hero Temple. The four Buddhist seals of Formation, Abiding, Decay, and Emptiness were extraordinarily powerful, but under the Imperial Preceptor’s sword, this enlightened monk was now covered in wounds and had little combat strength left.
The fourth was the bronze-masked man. His attacks were the fiercest and most domineering, and he was also the one who puzzled Qin Mu the most.
His techniques were primarily divine abilities. When they erupted, they manifested the phenomenon of nine dragons, like nine true dragons surging, with immense power!
These nine dragons had countless variations, including various offensive spells and divine abilities, defensive spells, controlling water and fire, evolving Yin and Yang. Their attack power was extremely strong and fierce, capable of being both rigid and domineering or versatile and changeable. Whether attacking, defending, or refining, everything was as he wished.
Moreover, these nine dragons had been cultivated to near-substantial form.
The Nine Dragons Sovereign Art.
This was the art of the Imperial Ling family, only cultivatable by the emperor’s lineage. Even princes and princesses were absolutely forbidden from practicing it.
This bronze-masked man was clearly a member of the imperial family, and judging by his cultivation level, he was among the highest echelons of the royal family.
Although his attacks were overwhelmingly domineering, the Imperial Preceptor did not deliver a killing blow against him, perhaps out of some consideration.
“Who is this person?” Qin Mu was deeply shocked.
Just then, he suddenly sensed something and turned to look west. He saw a vast and majestic phantom of a great mountain rushing toward them.
Qin Mu was stunned. That mountain was unimaginably huge, but it was only a phantom, not solid, formed from the aura of countless oddly shaped monks.
Mount Sumeru.
That phantom mountain had peaks of all sizes. On some peaks, monks sat in lotus position; on others, they stood holding jade bottles; some sat in halls laughing heartily.
And on the highest golden peak, a great Buddha shone with golden light, as if cast from pure gold, with ten thousand beams of light radiating from behind his head, majestic beyond compare!
“Great Thunderclap Monastery, the Ancient Buddha Tathagata!”
Qin Mu’s mind shook violently. The Great Thunderclap Monastery had arrived! The Ancient Buddha himself was leading the monastery’s Dharma protectors, venerables, bodhisattvas, and arhats to this place!
What did he intend to do?
At that moment, the Imperial Preceptor of Yankang seemed to sense it too. He suddenly delivered a killing blow, slaying Zen Master Zhikong of the Great Hero Temple with one sword strike!
Then, the Heavenly Demon Sect experts on the mountain also turned to look at the drifting phantom of Mount Sumeru.
“Bald donkeys!” the Left Protector Envoy sneered.
“Bald donkeys!” everyone said in unison.
Monk Yun Que, seeing everyone call them bald donkeys, reluctantly joined in, calling them bald donkeys as well, since he was now a member of the Heavenly Demon Sect, even though he himself was a monk.
The phantom of Mount Sumeru drifted above the mountain where they stood. The Dharma protectors, venerables, bodhisattvas, and arhats on the mountain all looked down and said coldly in unison, “Demonic heretics!”
Qin Mu’s expression was strange. “The relationship between my Heavenly Saint Sect and the Great Thunderclap Monastery seems a bit tense…”
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