Chapter 579: Dubious Origins
Qin Mu quickly withdrew his sword, looking at the tall old man before him with both surprise and delight. "Grandpa Tu!" he exclaimed happily.
Before his words faded, the other roe deer suddenly split open, figures soaring into the sky to intercept Tianfeng Gou as she lunged at Lord Mulberry Leaf. Tianfeng Gou's sword light was already aimed at Lord Mulberry Leaf, leaving no time to change her move.
A long spear transformed into a black dragon, dispersing the sword light. Tianfeng Gou's delicate body trembled violently. The great spear shifted and changed, each strike as the black dragon landing precisely on the central pivot of her sword techniques, disrupting her magical power intermittently and preventing her from unleashing the full might of her swordsmanship.
She had cultivated the sword path to perfection, and her skill in swordsmanship could be said to be second to none in the Imperial Heaven realm. Of course, after Qin Mu opened the passage between Imperial Heaven and Yan’an, Yan’an’s sword techniques spread to Imperial Heaven, and her swordsmanship could no longer claim that title. In the nation of Yan’an, there were far too many experts whose sword arts surpassed hers.
What terrified her was that this black dragon spear could overcome strength with weakness, shattering her magical power!
In the sky, strange stars flickered, weaving a Daluotian star force field. The moment she collided with the black dragon spear, it struck her chest without warning.
This was an exotic divine ability, one that transformed the power of the stars and constellations into a technique.
In terms of the versatility of divine abilities, Yan’an’s techniques also far surpassed those of Imperial Heaven.
Tianfeng Gou groaned, spitting blood as she rapidly retreated. Suddenly, her back went cold. An old man appeared silently behind her, holding a blade. She collided with his knife, which plunged into her back.
The power of this strike was not strong. Clearly, this honest-looking old man was only good at stabbing people in the back, lacking in the power of his techniques.
Tianfeng Gou swung her sword backward, but before the sword light could reach the honest old man behind her, another old man carrying a furnace on his back slammed down a hammer!
The old man with the hammer had flames soaring from the furnace behind him. This strike was incredibly heavy, its power terrifying. One blow shattered Tianfeng Gou’s bones and tendons, sending her tumbling and rolling to the ground. Her body bounced high, then fell again, then bounced again!
Her strength was formidable, even surpassing Lord Mulberry Leaf’s, and she was still alive. Realizing she had fallen into an ambush and was no match for so many experts, she immediately fled with her injuries.
She leaped a hundred li, then turned back to see an immensely tall old man raising his palm, seemingly folding the sky.
Tianfeng Gou was stunned. This old man’s ears were a pair of gleaming iron ears, and his body appeared incredibly majestic and towering, larger than true gods or demons. He was actually folding the space around her!
"He can’t have such terrifying magical power..."
Just as she thought this, she realized that the iron-eared old man wasn’t folding space. Rather, after being severely wounded by the blacksmith old man, she had landed inside a painting.
Now, she was fleeing within that painting.
Tianfeng Gou immediately activated her divine sword, tearing through space. The painting split open, and a beam of sword light shot straight toward the iron-eared old man’s face.
The iron-eared old man appeared majestic and possessed earth-shattering strength, but in reality, his power was lacking. Seeing the sword light coming, he knew he couldn’t block it and quickly turned to flee.
Suddenly, the black dragon spear thrust forward, dispersing the moves of Tianfeng Gou’s divine sword.
Tianfeng Gou leaped out of the painting, only to find a burly man in mink fur riding a green ox charging at her. His blade technique was exquisite, his moves complex—a style she had never seen before, infused with magical techniques and divine abilities of immense power!
She underestimated the power of this strike and suffered for it. The blade light flashed, and her right hand, holding the sword, was severed cleanly, blood spraying everywhere.
Tianfeng Gou groaned, grabbing the sword with her left hand. Just as she was about to stab the ox-riding burly man, she saw a stunning woman curl her palm inward, causing space to collapse. Tianfeng Gou found herself involuntarily flying toward the woman’s palm.
Boom!
The blacksmith old man charged in from the side, smashing his hammer into her forehead. Tianfeng Gou’s mind went hazy. Another short old man, wielding the black dragon spear, broke through her divine sword techniques. The spear twisted and turned in the air, piercing her chest.
Bang!
Her face slammed into the stunning woman’s palm. The Daluotian star palm force erupted, and her entire face became a bloody mess.
The woman’s hands flew as she circled around Tianfeng Gou rapidly, her ten fingers striking continuously, sealing her primordial spirit and soul.
With a thud, Tianfeng Gou fell to the ground. Even her primordial spirit couldn’t escape, sealed within her battered body.
She hadn’t yet died. Her vision dimmed, and she saw a man in a bronze mask rush to her side, inserting silver needles into her body. The voice of the bronze-masked man seemed to grow distant, fading into her ears. He laughed, "With me here, she won’t die. Don’t worry, just extract her soul for interrogation."
Lord Mulberry Leaf stood there dumbfounded, at a loss. Before he could even engage Tianfeng Gou in battle, these strange people had already dealt with her.
Still, Tianfeng Gou was indeed an extremely formidable existence. Though her strength fell short of a true god, it wasn’t far off. He was certainly no match for her.
Lord Mulberry Leaf had been ready to sacrifice himself at any moment, only regretting that Qin Mu would likely be buried with him. Fortunately, these strange people had appeared from who knows where, fought wildly, and severely wounded and sealed Tianfeng Gou.
Otherwise, both he and Qin Mu would surely have died.
On the other side, Qin Mu carefully reached out to push aside the large blade resting against his neck. The butcher snorted and pressed the blade back against his neck.
Qin Mu pushed again, but the butcher still held the knife to his neck, clearly still angry.
Qin Mu said cautiously, "Grandpa Tu, you were wearing a roe deer skin, and Grandma Si’s technique was so exquisite that I couldn’t see through it. I didn’t know it was you. If I had known, I would never have put my sword to your neck..."
"I don’t care!" the butcher said coldly. "I raised you with all my heart and soul, and yet you want to kill me just because I spanked you? My heart is cold!"
Behind him, Huo Tuluo’s fingers suddenly spread flat apart, each finger falling off like fleshy pillars.
"Gah..."
A strange sound came from Huo Tuluo’s throat. He slowly moved his hands back, tremblingly reaching for his neck. He tried desperately to maintain his balance, moving slowly and cautiously, not daring to rush.
But before he could touch his neck, the head on his shoulders lost its balance and slowly slid to one side.
Huo Tuluo’s hands sped up, grabbing for his falling head.
Bang!
A loud noise rang out. His two hands met above his neck, while his head was falling beside him. Blood spurted from his neck, staining his hands crimson.
"What a fast blade!"
Huo Tuluo’s head let out a piercing scream. It hit the ground, rolled twice, and finally the flames in its pupils died out as his eyes slowly closed.
Qin Mu was full of admiration and praised, "Grandpa Tu’s divine blade is truly extraordinary. I’m far from matching it."
"Stop flattering me!" The butcher’s face was dark, his hand holding the knife motionless, the blade still against Qin Mu’s neck. "You’re biased! You don’t love me! You love those three bad seeds—the mute, the cripple, and the blind man—more than me! I just saw them bumping into you so lively, so I bumped into you too, and then you wanted to kill me!"
"Junior brother!"
Ba Shan jumped off the green ox and ran over joyfully, shouting, "Junior brother, you’ve angered the teacher, haven’t you? The teacher agreed to take me back as a disciple and let me rejoin the sect, but he made a condition: I have to keep my voice down and talk less. They said they were coming to find you, and I said little junior brother is clever and resourceful, so there’d be no problem. And sure enough, no problem! Teacher Tian Dao, why are you holding a knife to junior brother’s neck? Put it down! We’re all family. What can’t be solved with a few words..."
The butcher swung his blade, resting the large knife on Ba Shan’s shoulder. Ba Shan immediately shut his mouth, saying nothing, his face turning red.
Qin Mu asked in surprise, "Senior Brother Ba Shan, Grandpa Tu was just playing dead. He never kicked you out of the sect. Why did you have to re-become his disciple?"
Ba Shan suddenly understood. He pushed the knife aside, his voice suddenly booming two or three times louder as he roared, "Old man, you tricked me!"
The butcher’s ears rang from the noise, and he glared angrily at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu rubbed his rear end, which was still burning with pain.
The blind man, the mute, and the cripple had been ruthless. His buttocks were nearly a bloody mess.
"I should have suspected those stupid roe deer only kept bumping into me. Grandpa Blind, Grandpa Mute, and Grandpa Cripple are the worst. Even Grandpa Tu is being led astray by them..."
The blind man walked over carrying the black dragon spear, looked at Qin Mu, and grinned. Qin Mu scowled and walked toward Grandma Si. The blind man scratched his head and said angrily, "Butcher, you ratted me out!"
The butcher felt a bit guilty and scratched his head. "What are you talking about? Old Blind, don’t slander me."
The deaf man walked over and said, "I heard everything. You ratted out the blind man, and you ratted out the mute and the cripple too."
"You, a deaf man, heard nothing!" the butcher said, laughing in anger.
The mute, his large hammer turned into a stream of sword pellets flowing into a box, walked over carrying the box and said solemnly, "Ah ba, ah ba!"
"Well said!" the cripple clapped his hands. "The butcher just can’t keep his mouth shut!"
The butcher’s eyes darted. He took the knife off Ba Shan’s neck and said kindly, "Ba Shan, I can’t argue with them. You defend your teacher!"
Ba Shan cracked his knuckles, strode up to everyone, cleared his throat, and was about to speak when Lord Mulberry Leaf said, "Seniors, have you come from the Heavenly Court?"
"Heavenly Court? Seniors?"
The blind man looked up at this god and chuckled, "We come from the Great Ruins, not the Heavenly Court. And, if I may ask, senior brother, how old are you?"
Lord Mulberry Leaf smiled and said, "The Great Ruins is the former Imperial Heavenly Court. I am twenty thousand and eighty-four years old this year."
The blind man shrank his head and grunted, "I am five hundred and sixty-two years old..."
Everyone suddenly felt very young and were refreshed.
Qin Mu went to Grandma Si’s side and saw her using her magical power to suspend Tianfeng Gou in the air. She was employing techniques from the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Scripture to try to extract Tianfeng Gou’s primordial spirit for interrogation.
The pharmacist was nearby concocting medicine, using soul-targeting narcotics to soften Tianfeng Gou’s resistance.
The Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Scripture contained many extremely bizarre techniques that looked like demonic arts but could also be understood from a righteous perspective. Qin Mu had also studied these aspects.
Not far away, Lord Mulberry Leaf looked over and, seeing Grandma Si’s methods, hesitated in his heart. "These friends from the Heavenly Court seem to have somewhat dubious origins... They’re even so proficient in demonic techniques... Hmm, Lord Qin also seems a bit dubious..."