Chapter 408: Two Big Swindlers
Qin Mu urgently activated his Nine Heavens Eye-Opening Technique and looked. He saw two saber lights, one horizontal and one vertical, slicing the chest in half. Countless arms, legs, and body parts scattered, flying wildly in all directions—soaring into the sky, diving into the forest, and burrowing into the earth.
"Heavenly Saber!"
Xing Han's voice came from all directions: "Sooner or later, you will become one of my collections too!"
A burly figure charged to that spot. With a swift stroke of his blade, he chopped the severed limbs that hadn't managed to escape from the chest into pieces.
"Grandpa Butcher, don't let Xing Han get away!" Qin Mu shouted loudly.
But his cultivation wasn't strong enough to carry his voice that far. Granny Si quickly transmitted the message. The Butcher let out a thunderous roar, and a butcher knife descended from the sky, plunging into the earth. Saber qi slashed in all directions underground, trying to force out Xing Han's remaining body parts that had burrowed into the ground. At the same time, another knife flew into the air and vanished into the distance.
After a moment, the two knives flew back. The Butcher grabbed both butcher knives, leaping and bounding as he moved, his voice carrying over: "He's been hit by my saber qi; he can't escape my senses! I'll be back soon!"
"The Village Chief and the others haven't returned?"
"They're still visiting Grandpa Ma. I was worried about what was happening here, so I came back early!"
Qin Mu felt relieved. Suddenly, the Blind Man beside him swayed and fell from the air. Qin Mu quickly caught up and caught the Blind Man in his arms. But then his body suddenly became incredibly heavy—the Blind Man's Dragon-Tuo Divine Spear had also fallen. This black dragon divine spear, like the Blind Man, had suffered severe damage.
However, this spear was transformed from a black dragon's bone. Dragons were divine beings, intelligent and spiritual, making it extremely heavy. It pressed down on Qin Mu, causing him to plummet uncontrollably.
Granny Si reached out and grabbed him, but she was also dragged down from the sky. They only managed to stop just before hitting the ground.
The three landed safely. The last remaining flood dragon on Qin Mu's body slid off him, lying on the ground like a dead snake, panting heavily with blood frothing from its mouth.
Qin Mu barely managed to stand, his hands and feet trembling uncontrollably. His injuries were also extremely severe. He had narrowly escaped death several times. If the Blind Man, the Lame Man, and the Deaf Man hadn't come to his rescue in time, he would likely have been captured or killed by Xing Han.
Even with the help of over a dozen flood dragons, he had forcibly inserted himself into this battle. Yet, whether in combat power or battle experience, he had shown serious shortcomings. In a life-or-death struggle against an existence like Xing Han, he could only rely on some clever tricks to turn the tables.
Fortunately, the reversal was somewhat successful.
But as he looked around, seeing the manor grounds covered with severely injured experts, his heart still shuddered in fear.
Not to mention beings like the Blind Man, the Deaf Man, the Lame Man, Emperor Yanfeng, and Li Tianxing—even Qin Mu's dozen or so flood dragons were far more formidable and terrifying than some sect leaders in the martial world!
With so many strong warriors, plus the Empress Dowager and other heroic women, and someone like Yu Zhaoqing, they had still almost been completely wiped out. If not for Qin Mu's tonic, everyone would have died at Xing Han's hands!
"Strong, damn strong... Ouch! Ouch!"
Just as Qin Mu said this, his ear suddenly hurt as Granny Si grabbed it and pulled him down.
"Swearing again!"
Granny Si said irritably, "Who taught you that? The Butcher? The Ancestral Master? Or did you pick up some shady friends outside?"
"It hurts! I won't say it anymore, Granny, let go!"
Granny Si released her grip. Qin Mu sighed in relief, rubbed his ear, and tentatively asked, "Granny, Lord Li has left. You don't have to keep pretending to be ugly anymore, right? Don't be sad..."
"Who's sad?"
Granny Si walked forward, shaking her head. "With Li Tianxing dead, I can put down a burden. I should be happy." Even as she said this, she didn't smile; instead, there was a hint of sorrow on her face.
She avoided Qin Mu, not letting him see her vulnerable side, and called over the spirits hiding in the main hall to carry the injured into the hall.
Qin Mu, meanwhile, summoned his injured flood dragons and had them bring over the body parts of Xing Han they had collected, throwing them all into the True Dragon Nest.
The True Dragon Nest contained a hidden space that could block sensory detection. Still not satisfied, Qin Mu turned the Imperial Disc into the True Dragon Lord and sent it into the nest. The Lame Man had fainted while clutching his legs, and Qin Mu had a hard time pulling them out. He also found the Deaf Man's painting and threw it into the True Dragon Nest to seal it.
With that done, Qin Mu sighed in relief and walked into the hall to treat everyone. But there were too many injured people, some with life-threatening wounds. If he treated them one by one, it would take too long, and some might die from their injuries flaring up before he could finish.
Qin Mu had no choice but to summon the Dragon Qilin. "Dragon Fatty, I've raised you for a thousand days to use you for a moment. Lick them all."
The Dragon Qilin hesitated and complained, "Lord, where am I supposed to get that much saliva?"
"Shh, don't say saliva."
Fox Ling'er quickly jumped to the Dragon Qilin's ear and whispered, "Call it dragon's spittle. If you say saliva, we won't be able to sell it later. Lick them well, and I'll have the young master give you extra meals."
The Dragon Qilin perked up and got to work, saying, "Sister Ling, don't forget about the extra meals."
Qin Mu picked out a few of the most severely injured to diagnose first. He took out silver needles to seal their wounds and suppress their injuries, then immediately started refining pills to treat them. But his hands were still trembling, and he ruined two batches of elixirs.
He steadied himself, first treated his own injuries until his hands stopped shaking, and then began diagnosing and treating the others, refining pills as he went.
There were many injured, each with different wounds. Qin Mu first gave them a rough treatment to prevent their injuries from flaring up and endangering their lives, then began to treat them more carefully.
His dozen or so flood dragons were also badly hurt. They bared their wounds, waiting for the Dragon Qilin to lick them, but the Dragon Qilin couldn't bring himself to do it. This made the flood dragons curse "Maha Maha" in anger.
Ling Yuxiu, Yan Jingjing, Si Yunxiang, and Fox Ling'er also came to help. After half a day of treatment, Qin Mu was exhausted and couldn't go on. His own injuries hadn't fully healed either, so he had to rest.
Fortunately, no one had life-threatening wounds anymore, and most had woken up, though full recovery would require Qin Mu's continued treatment.
Qin Mu slept through the night and woke up before dawn. He heard Granny Si's voice and walked out of his room to see her directing a dozen fish-men to prepare breakfast.
Qin Mu sat on the stone steps in front of the hall, watching her back, feeling a sense of peace.
That was Granny Si, not Li Tianxing.
Li Tianxing was truly dead.
Qin Mu had no fondness for this former sect leader. As a sect leader, Li Tianxing was unqualified. He had caused the Heavenly Saint Sect to miss forty years of development. Without the Ancestral Master as a stabilizing force, the sect would likely have been absorbed by the National Teacher and Emperor Yanfeng long ago.
But in the end, he had done what a master should do. He had understood the "Great Nurturing" of the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra and passed it down. Yet, looking at his life as a whole, failure still dominated.
Granny Si turned to look at him. Qin Mu on the stone steps smiled. The east was turning pale, like a big fish showing its belly. The sun rose, roasting the fish's belly a reddish-yellow.
After breakfast, Qin Mu continued treating himself. When his injuries improved a bit, he went to help the others.
Several girls also came to help. After half a day of work, Qin Mu had refined countless batches of pills and nearly exhausted himself again. The medicinal herbs in his Gluttony Pouch were almost gone, and those in Huanlong Jun's pouch were also nearly depleted.
Qin Mu wanted to go himself but had no strength left. He had to write down a list of medicinal herbs and had Fox Ling'er ride the Dragon Qilin to Shuzhou City to get them. "The pharmacy owner is a member of the Heavenly Saint Sect. Fragrance Saintess, you go too. Have them prepare the herbs. If they don't have them, use fast boats to bring them from other places. Also, prepare twenty-six large pots and steamers big enough to boil a person. Some injuries are complicated and need to be boiled or steamed."
Yan Jingjing hopped with excitement: "I want to go too!"
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Good sister, I originally said I'd take you out to have fun, but this happened again. I don't have time to go out and play with you now. You can wander around Shuzhou City more."
Yan Jingjing was overjoyed. Si Yunxiang said, "Since it's the sect's property, we still need to charge money. Mobilizing fast boats also costs quite a few Dafeng coins."
Qin Mu waved his hand. "Ling has money. Don't worry about it."
Fox Ling'er and Si Yunxiang exchanged glances. Sparks seemed to fly between the demon and the human, as if a battle was about to erupt.
The two girls sat on the Dragon Qilin's back as they left the manor. Fox Ling'er sneered, "Fragrance Saintess, you can fool the young master, but you can't fool me. Don't think you can get a single advantage out of me."
Si Yunxiang smiled sweetly. "I naturally know how formidable Ling is, but what I said earlier was also for the sect leader's sake. Think about it. Many of the injured aren't from the sect. If the sect leader has the sect prepare the herbs, we naturally need to charge money. Who do we charge? Not the sect leader, of course—the Emperor! Sister Ling, don't haggle with me. Instead, we should raise the price as high as possible and make a killing off the Emperor!"
Fox Ling'er shook her head. "Business has its principles. You can't cheat the Emperor either. We have to charge based on the value of these herbs."
The two argued, but Fox Ling'er refused to budge. After they settled on a price, Fox Ling'er thought to herself: "I'll buy the herbs from you, then inflate the price when reporting to the Emperor and make a big profit! If I collude with you, I'd have to split the spoils. If I do it alone, I won't have to share!"
It would take over ten days for the pharmacy in Shuzhou City to prepare the herbs. Qin Mu finished treating his own injuries, though some lingering ailments remained. A few days passed with no news, and the Butcher hadn't returned. Suddenly, Qin Mu thought: "Wang Muran has extraordinary insight. He suggested that Yuxiu and I work together to create a cultivation method for the Six Harmonies Primordial Spirit, benefiting future generations. I've been so busy lately that I forgot about it."
He found Ling Yuxiu and mentioned it. Ling Yuxiu was surprised. "If we create a cultivation method for the Six Harmonies Primordial Spirit, would we be considered grandmasters?"
"Grandmasters?"
Qin Mu chuckled. "Is the Yan Kang National Teacher considered a grandmaster?"
Ling Yuxiu immediately showed respect at the mention of the National Teacher. "The Yan Kang National Teacher is more than just a grandmaster! His three basic sword techniques alone are enough to make him immortal through the ages!"
Qin Mu smiled faintly. "His achievement with the three basic sword techniques is slightly inferior to the Six Harmonies Primordial Spirit. Once we complete the techniques and cultivation methods for the Six Harmonies Primordial Spirit, Dao techniques and divine abilities will take a huge leap forward, benefiting all eternity!"
Ling Yuxiu's heart shook, and she found it hard to believe. "The Six Harmonies Primordial Spirit we accidentally cultivated is that powerful? Then what are we waiting for?"
She immediately grabbed Qin Mu's hand and excitedly rushed out of the hall.
Emperor Yanfeng, the Empress Dowager, and other injured were being carried outside by a group of deer demons to bask in the sun. The Emperor was badly hurt and was talking with Yu Zhaoqing. When he saw the young boy and girl rushing out excitedly, he quickly called out, "Xiu'er, where are you going?"
"To cultivate the Six Harmonies Primordial Spirit!"
Emperor Yanfeng was stunned. "The Six Harmonies Primordial Spirit? How do you cultivate that?"
Ling Yuxiu, holding Qin Mu's hand, walked away, her voice drifting back: "Dual cultivation of the primordial spirit! My brother calls it primordial spirit dual cultivation!"