Chapter 222: Besieging the Heavenly Demon Cult Leader
"This monk is a master!"
Qin Mu grunted, his body suddenly shaking as he transformed into the Blazing Fire Star Lord form, with an ox head, human body, and feet treading on twin dragons. His Overlord Body Three-Dantian Art operated according to the Blazing Fire True Art, his primal energy cultivation skyrocketing as he withstood the pressure descending from above.
The third ox eye on his forehead opened, and a beam of fire shot upward. A dull thud came from the sky above. The great sun behind the giant Buddha's head was pierced by the firelight, the sun shattered, the Buddha vanished, and it became a young monk.
Qin Mu's pressure greatly decreased. Flames blazed all around him, fire flowing like liquid, whooshing across the hull of the ship, melting the icicles on the vessel.
The treasure ship's speed increased sharply, diving into the clouds and sailing forward. In midair, the robust young monk, holding a nine-ringed staff, stood on one leg, his other foot dripping with blood, as he looked around.
He had just used the Indestructible Vajra Art to clash head-on with Qin Mu's Drilling Sword Technique. As a result, the leg that blocked Qin Mu's sword strike was a bloody mess—the Indestructible Vajra Art had failed to fully withstand the Drilling Sword Technique.
Qin Mu, in his Blazing Fire Star Lord form, had broken through the Buddha manifestation created by his Indestructible Vajra Art, forcing him to withdraw his technique.
"There!"
The burly monk's eyes suddenly lit up. He sprinted with all his might, leaping repeatedly across the clouds. With each step, a white lotus bloomed beneath him, supporting his body and allowing him to unleash even more power.
Within the sea of clouds, the treasure ship appeared and disappeared. Qin Mu looked back and saw the monk rapidly pursuing them, his speed not slow at all.
These people blocking his path were all experts. Long Jiaonan and the woman surnamed Qiu were naturally formidable, both being Seven Stars realm ability users. And the scholar from earlier, along with this young monk, were also extraordinary.
That scholar had his sword pellet split open by Qin Mu using the Shaobao Sword. Without his spirit weapon, he caught the Shaobao Sword's attacks bare-handed. Although his clothes were shredded by the sword, he himself was unharmed.
The Shaobao Sword was the ceremonial blade of a first-rank court official. Although Qin Mu couldn't fully unleash the sword's power, it was still incredibly sharp. For that scholar to protect himself, he was naturally very powerful.
And this burly monk was absurdly strong as well, withstanding Qin Mu's Drilling Sword Technique and only suffering a leg injury. This showed just how tough his body had been tempered to be.
If Qin Mu hadn't seen through that the great sun behind his head was the key to his Indestructible Vajra Art, he might have been crushed down to the ground along with his treasure ship!
Even if these two weren't Seven Stars realm masters, they were at the peak of the Six Harmonies realm.
Although the monk was injured in the leg, he was still very fast, showing signs of catching up to the treasure ship.
"Ling'er, speed up!"
Fox Ling'er heard Qin Mu's command and gradually increased the ship's speed, leaving the monk behind. Seeing the treasure ship getting farther and farther away, the burly monk stopped chasing and praised, "What a fast ship!"
Seeing this, Qin Mu's heart sank. Both the monk and the scholar had pursued him with all their might, indicating they were confident he couldn't escape their encirclement.
That meant there were indeed more experts waiting for him ahead!
The treasure ship sailed for a while, then gradually slowed down. There wasn't much medicinal stone left. If the furnace's firepower was fully unleashed, it would waste some medicinal stone, and they wouldn't have enough to fly the ship back to the Great Wasteland.
"As long as we fly out of the cloud cover, we'll reach the territory of the Great Wasteland. Then we won't be far from the village—only a little over a thousand miles."
Qin Mu dispersed his Blazing Fire Star Lord form and went to the bow to look ahead. This sea of clouds still showed no end in sight.
The treasure ship was still moving very fast, but the biting cold air was still bearable. Just then, on the bright sea of clouds, he saw a strange sight. About a dozen miles away, multicolored lights were spinning continuously, shining in all directions.
As the treasure ship drew closer, Qin Mu saw that the source of these lights was a series of ice pillars. These ice pillars were like giant ice swords, reflecting sunlight and casting colorful rays, very dazzling on the sea of clouds.
Each of these ice swords was extremely thick, requiring over a dozen people to wrap their arms around.
If used as swords, the one wielding them would have to be an incredibly massive giant.
The ice swords seemed to grow out of the sea of clouds, but strangely, they stood upright, spinning, refracting sunlight into various colors. They were clearly not natural formations.
Qin Mu's expression changed. He immediately turned the wheel hard to starboard. The iron ship tilted so sharply that the deck was almost perpendicular to the sea of clouds, sliding in a stunning arc as it roared past the cluster of ice pillars.
"Ling'er, full furnace power!"
Qin Mu's shout rang out. From the cabin came Fox Ling'er's muttering: "Master, you're always telling me to go full power. If we keep this up, we really won't make it back to the Great Wasteland. There's not much medicinal stone left..."
Qin Mu ignored her. He suddenly turned the wheel again, stabilizing the ship, and looked to the left. The giant ice swords suddenly moved, as if a multi-armed giant had drawn its blades. Massive ice swords sliced through the air with a tremendous roar, slashing fiercely at the treasure ship!
The ship's speed suddenly increased. Qin Mu maneuvered the vessel, narrowly dodging the descending ice swords. In a hurry, he looked back and saw a woman in a blue dress among the giant ice swords. She was quite beautiful but cold as ice, walking among the blades.
The blue-dressed woman's primal energy was also water-blue. She used her energy to form over a dozen arms, continuously making slashing and thrusting motions, and the giant ice swords followed suit with corresponding moves!
"At least she can't catch up to me..."
Just as Qin Mu thought this, the blue-dressed woman suddenly accelerated, racing across the clouds.
As she ran, she casually waved her hand. Qin Mu was momentarily stunned, then a loud crack came from beneath the ship. The treasure ship shook violently, tumbling and rolling in the air, nearly throwing him off!
Qin Mu desperately grabbed the wheel. When the ship finally steadied, he saw that on the sea of clouds, ice swords were sprouting from the mist, hissing as they emerged. The ship had just crashed into one of them. Although the ice sword had shattered on impact, the treasure ship had also taken considerable damage.
"This woman's strength is extremely high—even better than that monk—and she's very fast!"
Qin Mu controlled the ship to dodge the ice swords, but more and more of them kept growing from the surface of the cloud sea, making evasion even harder.
Qin Mu shouted angrily, "Where is the Heavenly Capital Demon King?"
"What do you want?" From the cabin, the Heavenly Capital Demon King walked out lazily, looking like he wouldn't lift a finger even if it killed him.
Seeing him like this, Qin Mu's anger flared. He yelled, "Want to kneel and lick my toes again? If you don't want to, get over here and help!"
"You think I'm afraid of you?"
The Heavenly Capital Demon King sneered but still walked over. "I am, after all, the ruler of the Heavenly Capital. If you want me to save your life, you'd better say 'please.'"
Veins bulged on Qin Mu's forehead. "Please!"
The Heavenly Capital Demon King looked smug, laughing. "So you finally bow your head to me..."
He caught sight of Qin Mu about to explode with rage and quickly dropped his smugness. Loud demonic incantations rang from his mouth. As the incantations grew faster and more urgent, the eight-armed, four-faced demon king raised his eight arms. A black mirror appeared above the ship.
A thick beam of black light shot straight down from the mirror, shining with a hum onto the sea of clouds. The cloud sea looked like a basin of water suddenly filled with black ink. Black mist swept out, and in an instant, the area for over a dozen miles was filled with rolling black smoke, enveloping even the blue-dressed woman chasing from behind.
Within the black smoke, the woman grunted. She felt her heart in turmoil, all kinds of distracting thoughts surging up from the depths of her mind. Even her crystalline Dao heart couldn't withstand it, becoming polluted by all sorts of stray thoughts.
Her Art of Resentment Sword Technique was originally based on parting and resentment, suppressing all kinds of desires and distracting thoughts to make the Dao heart like a sword heart—clear and flawless. But now, her sword heart was polluted like black ink. Demons of the mind ran rampant, and she felt her heart filled with all kinds of desires.
"A pity. If I had enough time, I could have this iceberg of a woman licking my toes in half a day." The Heavenly Capital Demon King sighed.
From within the demonic mist, Buddhist chants rang out. The burly monk had arrived. Without hesitation, he activated his nine-ringed staff. The nine golden rings on the staff blazed with light, shining in all directions, cutting through and dispelling the demonic mist.
Just as the monk dispersed the mist, he suddenly felt a scorching hot body throw itself into his arms, nearly disturbing his Buddhist heart. The one who had thrown herself into his arms was none other than the icy woman from the Parting Emotions Palace. Her clothes were already half-undone, almost completely stripped off.
The monk quickly pushed her away and shouted, "Senior Sister Yu, you've been hit by demonic arts. Wake up!"
The blue-dressed woman, Yu'e, was jolted awake by his Buddhist voice. Her demonic mind scattered, and she immediately regained consciousness. Her face slightly reddened as she hurriedly adjusted her clothes. "How embarrassing. I was hit by demonic arts, and they got away."
"The Heavenly Demon Cult Leader, Qin Mu, is naturally proficient in demonic arts, best at seducing people's hearts and ruining their cultivation!"
The young monk shook his staff, the golden rings clattering, helping her suppress her demonic mind. "But with me here, he won't cause much trouble!"
Yu'e shook her head. "His ship is too fast. If he escapes, it will be hard to catch him."
"Senior Sister Yu, don't worry. He won't get away."
The young scholar caught up from behind. "I am Blue Feather, a student of Master Qiongli of the Qiongli Sect. Greetings, Brother Banchi and Senior Sister Yu. This hunt for the Heavenly Demon Cult Leader isn't just us. Almost all our comrades from the martial world have mobilized, setting up a net that covers heaven and earth. He can't escape."
Banchi the monk was about to speak when a swarm of insects surged toward them. Within the swarm, a large red snake slithered through demonic energy, also very fast, quickly reaching their side.
"It's Senior Sister Qiu Yue of the Three Wonders Fort and Long Jiaonan, the young master of the Dragon Gate Sect."
Scholar Blue Feather took a look. "Long Jiaonan has a strange and nasty temperament. He likes men and chased me for half a day because he thought I was handsome. Let's not cross paths with him."
Just then, from the distant clouds, countless sword lights flashed brilliantly, crisscrossing the sky. Banchi the monk's eyes lit up. "I wonder which sword sect master has blocked the Heavenly Demon Cult Leader. Let's go quickly!"
Everyone hurried over. They saw a figure leaping like an ape across the clouds, chasing in the direction the treasure ship had gone.
"It's a master from the Ape Staff Sword Sect, the young swordsman Yuan Shan!"
Blue Feather recognized the man and quickly called out, "Brother Yuan Shan, the Heavenly Demon Cult Leader can't escape. Why don't we join forces to surround him?"
Yuan Shan stopped and waited for them to catch up. "The Heavenly Demon Cult Leader has a precious sword. My sword pellet was destroyed by him. His ship is strange—it's not made of wood but of iron. I stabbed it a thousand times but couldn't destroy it."
"It's forged from dark iron," Yu'e said. "This ship crashed into my Parting Emotions Ice Sword and didn't break. Instead, it shattered the ice sword."
"A flying iron-hulled ship?"
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. How could something so heavy fly?
Blue Feather glanced back and his expression changed. "Long Jiaonan is coming. Let's go quickly!"