Chapter 539: Brotherhood (Second Update!)
The Woodcutter Sage took the easy way out to save face, but Zhe Huali found himself riding a tiger with no easy way down.
Cold sweat beaded on Zhe Huali's forehead as he stared at his right arm. Luo Wushuang had no right arm; he wielded his blade with his left hand, and all the mysteries of his blade art were executed with that left hand.
If Zhe Huali wanted to perfectly replicate Luo Wushuang's blade technique, he would have to sever his own right arm!
The cold sweat on his forehead grew heavier. He was unwilling!
He hadn't even fought Qin Mu yet, and he was supposed to cut off his own arm? Who could endure that? Who would willingly accept it?
But if he didn't sever his right arm, his blade art wouldn't be as perfect as his master Luo Wushuang's. Facing Qin Mu with an imperfect technique, he truly had no confidence.
"Mindset has little effect on actual strength."
Suddenly, a voice came from behind him, startling Zhe Huali out of his dilemma.
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow, looking at the approaching Asura demon. He had been busy forging and didn't recognize Jiang Yi.
Jiang Yi was covered in blood—whether his own or someone else's was unclear, but judging by the wounds on his body, his injuries were severe. He looked as if he had been sliced like a fish fillet by a chaotic blade, with over a hundred wounds large and small scattered across him.
Despite his grievous injuries, his battle intent burned fiercely, his aura was intense, and his blood energy surged skyward. As he approached, the stench of blood and rotting corpses washed over him, as if he carried an ocean of corpses with him.
Jiang Yi's gaze shifted from Zhe Huali to Qin Mu, and he said, "Mindset is not strength. A cultivator's strength lies in their physical body, primordial spirit, and Dao techniques. Mindset has negligible impact on strength. The bystander sees clearly. Zhe Huali, you've fallen into his trap. Why don't you break free?"
Zhe Huali's eyes brightened, and his breathing steadied.
Jiang Yi was one of his few close friends in the Supreme Heavenly Realm. They often exchanged insights and were sworn brothers, bound by life and death. On the battlefield, Jiang Yi had saved his life, and he had saved Jiang Yi's.
Jiang Yi continued, "What truly affects strength is the physical body, primordial spirit, and Dao techniques. Zhe Huali, both your physical body and mine are stronger than his. Your primordial spirit is stronger than mine, so naturally, it surpasses his. As for Dao techniques, your blade art is inherited from Divine Blade Luo Wushuang, and you've also learned the demonic arts of True Demon Vajra. You combine the strengths of both divine and demonic paths. Could your Dao techniques possibly be weaker than his? He hasn't even successfully cultivated a true divine body. How high can his Dao techniques really be?"
Zhe Huali's confidence suddenly returned, and his demeanor relaxed. He smiled faintly, "Sometimes, a cultivator needs a good teacher and a good friend. I already have a good teacher. Jiang Yi, you are my good friend!"
With Jiang Yi's awakening, he finally regained his confidence, and his mindset unknowingly returned to its peak.
His strength lay more in his body of a young true god and his primordial spirit of a young true god.
Although his blade art and techniques hadn't reached the level of Dao, in terms of raw power, he feared no one in the sand table world!
His advantage was his young true god body—undoubtedly surpassing Qin Mu—granting him superiority in speed, strength, reaction, and technique power.
His second advantage was his primordial spirit, as powerful as a young true god's. While the role of the primordial spirit wasn't fully realized for cultivators at the Seven Stars realm, using it well could be key to victory.
He had two masters: Luo Wushuang and Vajra. Vajra, meaning "diamond" in demon tongue, had an extremely powerful primordial spirit. From Vajra, Zhe Huali had learned techniques to further enhance his own primordial spirit.
He was confident that Qin Mu couldn't match him in this regard.
His third advantage was his blade art and demon blade. The demon blade was his spiritual weapon, personally forged by Luo Wushuang, while the blade art was Luo Wushuang's divine blade technique, honed for nearly forty thousand years to reach its peak!
His only disadvantage was his mindset, but mindset had little impact on strength.
Falling short of Qin Mu in mindset wasn't the deciding factor in victory!
Jiang Yi smiled, gratified, and said, "Your strength still surpasses mine. You were merely influenced by his words and unknowingly fell into his trap."
Zhe Huali also smiled. With a friend like this, what more could he ask for?
One such true friend was enough!
Qin Mu frowned slightly. One Zhe Huali was already troublesome enough; adding Jiang Yi left him with little chance of victory.
Suddenly, Sang Hua poked her head out, her two braids dangling down, and excitedly waved at Qin Mu. "Grain thresher! Don't worry, I'm here! Is it just us? Where are Senior Sister Yu He, Senior Brother Shu Yao, and Senior Brother Huang Yue? Did they die in battle?"
As soon as she spoke, Yu He walked out with a helpless expression, followed by Shu Yao, who was frowning deeply.
Sang Hua said excitedly, "Senior Sister Yu He, Senior Brother Shu Yao, what were you hiding in that hollow for? Now there are four of us, more than enough to handle those two! Where's Senior Brother Huang Yue? Is he hiding in the hollow you were just in?"
Yu He's helplessness deepened, and Shu Yao's frown tightened.
They had been hiding in the shadows, planning to ambush Jiang Yi and Zhe Huali, but this girl had called them out, forcing them to reveal themselves less than honorably.
Zhe Huali said calmly, "I sensed you two long ago. You were hiding there, unable to conceal your killing intent. As for Huang Yue, I killed him with one strike."
Yu He said helplessly, "Junior Sister Sang Hua, we saw Junior Brother Huang Yue's corpse. The others are dead too. Only we remain. They died with honor, taking down so many demons and perishing together with those demon experts, giving us a numerical advantage."
She felt deeply powerless toward this girl from the Sang Ye Divine Clan. Sang Hua had exposed their hiding spot, rendering their earlier plan useless.
Moreover, even with their numbers, it didn't help much.
Sang Hua's strength was low; she hadn't passed the Town God Tower's trial and lacked the potential of a young true god. She was useless in battle. Yu He could imagine that Sang Hua must have hidden as soon as she entered the battlefield, surviving only because this naive girl hadn't encountered any enemies.
As for Qin Mu, he was just a young man who only knew how to forge, acting recklessly. Before entering the sand table world, he had been buried in his forging, neither communicating with his companions nor observing his opponents.
Qin Mu had survived, Yu He guessed, purely by luck, like Sang Hua. The demon experts sent to kill him must have encountered Supreme Heavenly Realm young experts on the way and perished together, allowing him to live.
In Yu He's mind, having Qin Mu and Sang Hua as allies was no different from having none. Defeating the two strong cultivators Zhe Huali and Jiang Yi still depended on her and Shu Yao.
"Hopefully, these two clueless ones won't cause trouble..." she thought to herself.
But even with her and Shu Yao, she had no confidence in defeating Zhe Huali and Jiang Yi.
Shu Yao looked at Qin Mu, frowned again, and said with a gentle smile, "Grain thresher Senior Brother Qin, done forging?"
Qin Mu smiled at them. Yu He's smile vanished, and she said nothing. Shu Yao pretended not to see him. Sang Hua, however, rushed over excitedly and asked, "Is your sword finished?"
Qin Mu nodded and said gently, "Sang Hua, the sword is done."
Sang Hua's eyes sparkled. "How powerful is it?"
Qin Mu replied, "Zhe Huali just said his master told him to show me his blade art, so I haven't had a chance to test the sword yet. I don't know its power."
The two whispered and chatted about how to test the sword. Yu He, on high alert, tried to steady her mind and ignore their chatter, focusing on Jiang Yi and Zhe Huali. She said quietly, "Junior Brother Shu Yao, you handle Jiang Yi. I'll take on Zhe Huali. I'm not sure I can beat Zhe Huali. Jiang Yi is more injured, so take him out quickly and come help me!"
Shu Yao took a deep breath and said firmly, "Senior Sister, rest assured. Jiang Yi is mine!"
Zhe Huali's eyes flickered, and he whispered, "Brother Jiang Yi, do you choose the strong or the weak?"
"Use the weak to block the strong, and the strong to strike the weak—that's the art of war!"
Jiang Yi laughed heartily, his spirit soaring to the heavens. "I'll block the strong one. You kill the weak one. Then, as brothers, we'll join forces and secure victory!"
Zhe Huali's expression darkened. "You're badly injured. You might die."
"Don't underestimate me. I studied under True Demon Sumo and haven't yet used the Demon Sacrifice."
Jiang Yi laughed. "Trust me, I'll survive!"
He strode forward, heading toward Qin Mu.
Yu He and Shu Yao were stunned. Jiang Yi had said he would block the strong one and let Zhe Huali kill the weak one, but now he was walking toward Qin Mu. Had this demon lost his mind, thinking Qin Mu was the strong one and they were the weak?
"Be careful of a trick," Yu He whispered.
Shu Yao nodded, watching Zhe Huali approach.
On the other side, Qin Mu looked at Jiang Yi, frowned slightly, and said, "Sang Hua, wait a moment. I'll test the sword."
Sang Hua stepped back. Qin Mu pointed at his brow, and the sword orb floated out, hovering at his forehead.
Suddenly, Vajra's voice came from beyond the sky, echoing through the sand table world. "We concede. Abandon Li City. Cease hostilities!"
Everyone inside and outside the sand table world was stunned. Even the Supreme Heavenly Realm deities were both surprised and delighted.
Jiang Yi showed an incredulous expression, looking up and shouting, "I haven't died yet! Why say we've lost? Vajra, I don't accept this!"
Beyond the sky, Vajra's massive face covered the heavens, coldly glancing at him. "Ungrateful brat. Sumo, discipline your disciple. Make him concede and come out now!"
True Demon Sumo frowned and said, "Jiang Yi, we've lost this round. Concede along with Zhe Huali."
Jiang Yi was furious, his voice sharp. "So many demon brothers died to take Li City, and we just give it up? Master, you may be willing, but I am not!"
Sumo sighed helplessly and said to Vajra, "Senior Brother, I know your wisdom is unmatched, but conceding like this and losing Li City—is that really appropriate?"
Vajra said coldly, "Losing Li City is better than losing the lives of our disciples. This battle is already lost..."
"Demon Sacrifice!"
Jiang Yi shrieked, unleashing all his cultivation. Instantly, a sea of blood surged in the sand table world. Countless rotting corpses piled up into a massive flesh altar. Jiang Yi stood atop it, charging at Qin Mu, and roared, "As long as I don't die, the demons haven't lost!"
A sword light pierced the air, stunning the age. It cut through the sea of blood, flashed past Jiang Yi's brow, and tore through the sky for ten miles.
Qin Mu lowered his sword finger from his brow. The sword light contracted back into a sword orb and flew back.
"Zhe Huali, this move is called 'Opening the Calamity.'"
Qin Mu said calmly, "Zhe Huali, you can take this corpse back and let your master see my sword technique."
Zhe Huali stared at the body falling from the altar. His eyes split at the corners, and two streams of bloody tears flowed down his cheeks. Suddenly, his aura erupted wildly, his hair standing on end as he screamed without end.
"Concede!"
Vajra's icy voice came from beyond the sky. "You alone cannot defeat the four of them!"