Chapter 595: A Harmless Smile
If Qi Jiuyi hadn't been struck by a surge of boldness and tried to attack Qin Mu and Zhe Huali at the same time, he would have smoothly defeated Zhe Huali and wouldn't have ended up in his current predicament. Both Qin Mu and Zhe Huali knew his divine abilities were astonishing, so when he attacked them both simultaneously, they struck first to severely wound him. After that, Qi Jiuyi became nothing more than a side dish between the two of them, with only Qin Mu and Zhe Huali fighting, eight thousand flying swords and countless blade lights clashing like a sudden storm battering pear blossoms.
Qi Jiuyi found himself in the center of their battlefield, surrounded by the sword and blade lights of Qin Mu and Zhe Huali. Every time he prepared to erupt with power, he would be struck down by both of them simultaneously—a scene he had never anticipated.
Qin Mu and Zhe Huali moved swiftly, now close, now far, primarily clashing with swords and blades, supplemented by spells and divine abilities, occasionally colliding with physical divine powers.
Zhe Huali gradually fell into a disadvantage. Qi Jiuyi saw an opportunity and suddenly, as Qin Mu attacked Zhe Huali, he also struck at Zhe Huali, attempting to join forces with Qin Mu to take him down first.
At that moment, a chill spread across his chest. He looked down and saw a sword tip protruding from his chest.
At the same time, Zhe Huali was sent flying by the combined attack from him and Qin Mu, tumbling and rolling over ten miles before stopping, also severely wounded.
Qi Jiuyi's nine heads all turned at once, and he saw a harmless smile on Qin Mu's face.
Qin Mu struck out with a palm, his five fingers spread wide—it was the Yin-Yang Overturning Hand he had learned from the Third Patriarch, the Human Sovereign. Between his five fingers, he also wielded the Five Thunder Sky-Supporting Bell of the Fifth Patriarch, the Human Sovereign.
Over ten miles away, Zhe Huali had just steadied himself when the power of Qin Mu's palm strike followed. Zhe Huali's body flew up like a torn sack, frozen into an ice sculpture by the pure yin power of the Yin Hand. At the same time, a Five Thunder Bell appeared above his head. As soon as the bell rang, it would shatter him from his frozen state into pieces!
Meanwhile, Qin Mu's other hand gripped the sword formed from his sword pellet, which was made of eight thousand swords. His mana surged into the eight thousand swords, tiny flying swords brewing a sword technique inside Qi Jiuyi's body, with sword light even charging into Qi Jiuyi's divine hideaways!
The second form of the Sword Diagram: One Sword Opens the Imperial Way, Blood Like an Ocean!
Around Qin Mu, a bloody mist spread like a sea of blood engulfing him. The young man's smile, reflected in the blood-red light, seemed to become eerie and evil, sending chills down one's spine.
"In a group fight, I've never lost..."
Qi Jiuyi heard his voice and felt a shiver run down his spine. Finally, the power of One Sword Opens the Imperial Way, Blood Like an Ocean erupted, and the Five Thunder Sky-Supporting Bell enveloped Zhe Huali as the bell rang!
Both of these young experts would die by his hand!
At that moment, the bell shattered. Fu Riluo's mana surged like a torrent, shattering the Five Thunder Sky-Supporting Bell with a palm strike. On the other side, Lu Li pointed a finger at the sword tip piercing Qi Jiuyi's chest, and the flying swords flew back out of Qi Jiuyi's wound!
The Butcher drew his blade, the Blind Man gripped his spear, and behind the Mute, flames surged into the sky. Each took a step forward, while the Lame Man scooped up Qin Mu and retreated rapidly, flickering in and out of sight, appearing behind the Butcher and the others!
Fu Riluo and Lu Li each saved Zhe Huali and Qi Jiuyi but did not continue attacking. Lu Li smiled and said, "Young friend Qi, you've spent too long in the Heavenly Court and have no idea how treacherous the hearts of the lower realm can be. You've suffered for it now, haven't you?"
Qi Jiuyi was silent for a moment before saying, "Jiuyi is willing to join forces with the Regional Commander."
Fu Riluo moved his mind slightly, and the pure yin energy on Zhe Huali, who was ten miles away, dissipated, freeing him from his frozen state.
Zhe Huali, still shaken, saw the earth suddenly fold. In the next moment, without moving a step, he arrived beside Fu Riluo from ten miles away, clearly due to Fu Riluo folding space.
The Butcher and the others felt a chill. Fu Riluo's strength was far beyond their expectations—it seemed to be more than just that of a True Demon!
Fu Riluo's left face looked at Zhe Huali and said calmly, "Victory and defeat are common in war. True victory and defeat are life and death. As long as you're not dead, you haven't completely lost. Understand?"
Zhe Huali withdrew his demon blade and sheathed it on his back, bowing, "Disciple understands."
Fu Riluo was very pleased and said, "With this tempering of your Dao heart, your future achievements will surely surpass Luo Wushuang's."
Behind the Butcher and the others, the Lame Man was overjoyed. He heavily patted Qin Mu on the shoulder and said, "Mu'er, you didn't let your Lame Grandpa down! That move just now was truly treacherous—a hidden dagger behind a smile, shooting from the shadows. Truly taught by me! When I saw your smile, I couldn't help but shiver a few times!"
Qin Mu quickly humbled himself, saying, "This is all thanks to Lame Grandpa's excellent teaching. Without Lame Grandpa, I wouldn't have been able to defeat them. When it comes to hiding a dagger behind a smile and shooting from the shadows, I can at most rank second. Lame Grandpa is still the number one in the world!"
The Lame Man stroked his goatee and laughed heartily, quite pleased with himself.
The Deaf Man sneered, "The hearts of men are not what they used to be..."
Lu Li, ignoring the tense Butcher and the others, looked into the distance at the divine city drawn by the Deaf Man and suddenly laughed, saying, "Fu Riluo, can you see through its reality now?"
Fu Riluo turned his head left and right, his three faces each looking at the divine city. After a moment, he said, "I cannot see through it. Please enlighten me."
Lu Li smiled and said, "Look at the souls of the gods and demons on the divine city."
Fu Riluo was surprised and humbly asked, "How does one observe souls?"
The Butcher, the Mute, and the Blind Man sensed trouble and slowly retreated.
The Deaf Man's expression changed slightly, and he immediately realized that Lu Li had seen through his trick. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Although his paintings could pass off the fake as real, creating a world within the painting, and even connect the painted world to reality without any flaw, he could not recreate souls!
This Lu Li should be a powerful expert from the Nether Capital, with profound skill in soul techniques. She could see the mysteries in the Deaf Man's painting.
Everyone was sweating nervously as they urged Qin Mu to retreat toward the divine city behind them, their unease growing stronger.
But Fu Riluo and Lu Li seemed to ignore them, allowing them to retreat.
Lu Li turned around, raised her delicate hand, and drew a circle in the air. Light overflowed from the circle's circumference, connecting into a mirror, forming a bright, shiny mirror floating in the air. "Honored King, please look at the scene in the mirror."
Fu Riluo looked into the mirror. The mirror reflected the magnificent divine city, including the souls of the Butcher, Qin Mu, Granny Si, and the others standing before the city. Some of their souls stood before the Southern Heavenly Gate of the Heavenly Palace, some stood on the Divine Bridge, and one stood in the Life-and-Death Divine Hideaway, with the dark Nether Capital beneath their feet.
But strangely, the divine city in the mirror was nothing but a vast abyss. Not only did the divine city not exist, but even the gods, demons, and the million-strong army on the city were absent!
However, the souls of the Butcher and the others retreating toward the divine city were reflected in the mirror. Fu Riluo glanced at himself and saw his own three-headed true form standing in the Demon God Palace! He was a demon god with three heads; his three faces were just an illusion, as he had actually refined his three heads into one.
Fu Riluo then looked at Qi Jiuyi's reflection in the mirror. Qi Jiuyi's image in the mirror was a nine-headed phoenix, bathed in blazing golden light and divine fire, sacred and extraordinary.
Zhe Huali's reflection in the mirror was a normal human youth, except for the demon blade on his back, which revealed a demon soul under the mirror's light—a terrifying one-eyed beast crawling in demonic aura, extremely fearsome!
But the most terrifying reflection in the mirror was Qin Mu!
The Qin Mu in the mirror had three eyes, glowing with a blood-red light, enormous and immense. The three eyes looked back at him, as if sensing his prying gaze.
Fu Riluo felt his soul tremble and shudder, and the pain in his chest began to ache again.
Lu Li quickly turned the mirror away, no longer pointing it at Qin Mu and the others. She turned around and said, "Do you understand now?"
The mirror faced the direction of the demon camp. Several demon experts behind them looked into the mirror and saw the souls of the demon gods and demons in the camp.
Fu Riluo's disciple, Shu Ye, was startled. He saw a demon soul in the camp that seemed unusual. That person's soul actually stood in the Heavenly Palace! Moreover, his soul was tattered and full of patches, as if stitched together from many different souls!
Shu Ye was about to look closer when Lu Li put the mirror away.
"Did I see wrong?" Shu Ye wondered to himself.
Fu Riluo shuddered and said in a hoarse voice, "Those three eyes..."
"Sealed by the Earth Lord."
Lu Li smiled and said, "You don't need to think about him. Your goal is only the Grand Emperor Heaven."
Fu Riluo steadied himself and said solemnly, "I finally see the true nature of the divine city. Creating flowers out of void, forging reality anew, passing off the fake as real, using the painting as a boundary, connecting the virtual and the real, making it hard to distinguish truth from falsehood. This is using the art of painting to create gods, demons, and all things. In the way of calligraphy and painting, this is the pinnacle."
His voice reached the ears of the Deaf Man, Granny Si, and the others: "Fellow Daoists, you managed to deceive me, blockading my demon army here for several days, giving the Grand Emperor Heaven time to breathe and prepare. Even if you die, you can be proud of yourselves."
Granny Si and the others' expressions changed drastically. They saw the space around them twist. Even though they were retreating, their distance from Fu Riluo was shrinking!
"We're done for, we're done for..." The Lame Man's face turned ashen as he muttered under his breath.
The green ox under Ba Shan's sacrificial wine roared and sprinted toward the divine city, but the faster it ran, the farther it got from the city and the closer it got to Fu Riluo! The green ox quickly stopped, not daring to move.
Lu Li smiled and said, "Honored King, I only want Qin Fengqing. Hand him over to me, and I'll give you the Grand Emperor Heaven!"
"Don't worry. Now that I've seen through the reality, there's no way for them to escape."
Fu Riluo strode toward the crowd. As soon as he moved, space twisted violently, and everyone involuntarily drew closer to him.
The Butcher roared in anger, slashing his blade at the sky and the earth, trying to cut through the twisted space. But his blade light twisted and dissipated as soon as it was released.
Suddenly, the sky shook violently. Fu Riluo stopped and looked up, a look of shock on his face.
Lu Li also quickly looked up, puzzled and alarmed.
In the sky, several incredibly thick beams of light shone down, buzzing as they connected with the earth. Then the light turned into surging blood-red radiance!
A massive, broken planet suddenly squeezed through space, appearing above the Grand Emperor Heaven!
Then came a second battered planet, followed by a third ruined star...
An astonishing scene unfolded in the sky: an immense landmass, pressing down on the suddenly appearing stars, abruptly appeared above the dome of the Grand Emperor Heaven!