Chapter 240: Controlling the Giant Ship
The palm prints struck by the two men collided violently.
True Qi surged, and electric light flashed in all directions.
"Boom!"
Mu Qing's entire body trembled as he felt a massive force surge from the young man's palm, disrupting his True Qi and forcing him to involuntarily retreat backward.
At the same time, Zhang Ruochen rotated his right hand, swung his war sword, and executed a move called "Heaven's Heart Full Moon," slashing downward toward the head.
The sword light was like a bright full moon, with countless sword qi converging together, carrying a terrifying sharp aura as it struck toward Mu Qing's neck.
One hand used a palm, the other used a sword—this was a technique of "one mind, two uses."
Zhang Ruochen seemed to split into two, becoming two top-tier experts attacking Mu Qing simultaneously.
"You can use one mind for two tasks, so can I."
Mu Qing's cultivation had reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm, so his spiritual power was naturally above the twentieth level, allowing him to also use one mind for two tasks.
"Snap!"
Mu Qing's left hand touched his waist, drawing out a golden-threaded long whip. He flicked it into the void, sending it flying like a beam of golden light. The whip snapped, producing a loud air-burst sound!
That golden-threaded long whip was refined from the sixteen meridians of a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist, reaching the level of a seventh-rank True Martial Treasure.
A martial artist's meridians, under the constant nourishment of True Qi, become increasingly tough and resilient.
Especially the meridians of a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist, which are incredibly tough—unbreakable by blades, unburnable by fire—making them excellent materials for artifact refining.
The golden-threaded long whip in Mu Qing's hand was crafted by an artifact-refining master, who extracted sixteen complete meridians from the body of a deceased Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist, twisted them together, inscribed runes, and after continuous forging, turned them into a seventh-rank True Martial Treasure.
That golden-threaded long whip was as thin as a strand of hair, three zhang long, and in the hands of a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist, it was sharper than a blade or sword.
Once a martial artist was touched by the whip, their neck would be severed instantly.
"Whoosh, whoosh!"
Mu Qing's whip technique was extremely skilled. The whip, seemingly as fine as cow hair, was unpredictable in his hands, forcing Zhang Ruochen to retreat continuously.
"Hiss—"
A flash of gold light, and a pine tree as thick as a bucket beside Zhang Ruochen was cut in half at the waist by the whip, crashing down with a loud thud, sending snowflakes falling from its leaves.
The corner of Zhang Ruochen's robe was also grazed by the golden-threaded whip, and the fabric instantly tore. A palm-sized piece of white cloth fell to the ground.
Since close combat was impossible, he had to resort to long-range attacks.
"Blood Qi Condenses Soldiers!"
Zhang Ruochen's blood qi surged out, turning into strands of blood light, forming the phantom images of nine blood swords around his body.
Having reached the Earth Extreme Realm, the blood sword phantoms had become more solid.
The nine swords spun rapidly around Zhang Ruochen, emitting streaks of crimson sword qi.
"Hiss!"
Zhang Ruochen pointed forward with his finger, and the nine swords merged into one, turning into a beam of blood light flying toward Mu Qing's chest.
The blood sword's speed was like lightning.
Even with Mu Qing's speed, he couldn't dodge it. His expression changed, and he immediately channeled True Qi into a jade pendant hanging on his chest.
The defensive formation runes in the jade pendant were activated, condensing a light shield three meters long and half a meter thick, suspended before him.
"Bang!"
The blood sword struck the light shield, piercing halfway through before the blood qi dissipated.
That light shield also turned into wisps of spiritual energy, dispersing into the air.
Mu Qing was still shaken. That young man's blood qi was too powerful—he could actually condense nine blood swords. Fortunately, he had a protective treasure, or he would have died at Zhang Ruochen's hands just now.
Purchasing a protective treasure required spending a huge amount of silver coins, and it could only be used once.
Mu Qing looked at the now-lusterless jade pendant on his chest, feeling deeply pained. That treasure had cost him a third of his assets.
"He actually had a protective treasure. What a pity!" Zhang Ruochen shook his head slightly. Such a good opportunity, and the man had escaped with his life.
Mu Qing realized he had underestimated the young man's strength. Fearing a mishap in the gutter, he immediately turned and rushed toward the Red Spider Giant Ship.
As long as he returned to the Red Spider Giant Ship, he could use the ship's power to easily crush that young man.
Zhang Ruochen naturally wouldn't give him the chance to return to the Red Spider Giant Ship. He fully unleashed his True Qi, manifesting the celestial phenomenon of "Hundred-Zhang Blazing Field."
"Sizzle, sizzle!"
The True Qi burned, turning into a hundred-zhang sea of fire, enveloping Mu Qing in the flames.
"Break for me!"
Mu Qing struck out with a palm, tearing apart Zhang Ruochen's celestial phenomenon and charging out.
Just as he emerged, a massive war sword slashed down from above, accurately targeting his head.
"How is it so fast... no..."
Mu Qing realized that the sword wasn't in Zhang Ruochen's hand but was slashing down from midair.
"Flying Sword Art!"
Mu Qing's expression changed drastically, and he immediately sidestepped to the right, trying to dodge.
"Pfft!"
Mu Qing didn't fully evade. The Abyssal Ancient Sword struck his left shoulder, cutting off a large chunk of flesh and even shaving off a piece of bone, barely missing severing his entire left arm.
A sharp pain shot through his left shoulder, numbing half his body—a bone-deep agony.
"Bang, bang!"
The Abyssal Ancient Sword hovered in midair, continuously changing moves, executing over twenty sword techniques in succession, trapping Mu Qing in the center with no chance to return to the Red Spider Giant Ship.
Mu Qing swung the golden-threaded whip in his hand, repeatedly blocking the slashing Abyssal Ancient Sword.
His expression grew increasingly grim. He deeply regretted underestimating that young man earlier. If he had directly used the Red Spider Giant Ship, he wouldn't be fighting so desperately now.
"Peng Shu, activate the Red Spider Giant Ship's formation immediately and help me!" Mu Qing roared, his sound waves spreading outward in rings, as if calling to some evil-path martial artist on the Red Spider Giant Ship.
On the left side of the Red Spider Giant Ship, suspended in the void, an attack formation began to slowly rotate, forming a vortex that absorbed all the spiritual energy from the surrounding space.
A powerful aura of danger descended from the sky, making Zhang Ruochen feel suffocated.
Zhang Ruochen made a decisive choice, executing the perfected Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow. He leaped nine times in succession, his movements fluid and seamless, like climbing a heavenly ladder, landing on the deck of the Red Spider Giant Ship.
"Boy, how dare you!"
Seeing Zhang Ruochen board the Red Spider Giant Ship, Mu Qing grew anxious and immediately pursued him.
He silently cursed his own miscalculation again. If only he had opened the Red Spider Giant Ship's defensive formation, no matter how powerful that young man was, he couldn't have entered the ship.
But the evil-path martial artists on the Red Spider Giant Ship didn't know Mu Qing couldn't handle Zhang Ruochen, so they hadn't activated the defensive formation, giving Zhang Ruochen an opening.
"Peng Shu, quickly activate the ship-protecting formation and kill that young man!" Mu Qing roared.
Once on the Red Spider Giant Ship, Zhang Ruochen glanced back at Mu Qing chasing him, extended his arm, retrieved the Abyssal Ancient Sword, and charged toward the ship's control platform.
Peng Shu stood on the control platform. Hearing Mu Qing's voice, he was about to activate the ship-protecting formation.
Suddenly, a figure flashed, and a young man appeared before him.
"Who are you..."
Peng Shu stared at the young man, but before he could finish his sentence, he saw the young man swing his sword and slash toward him.
Peng Shu was Mu Qing's trusted subordinate and a fierce general, with a martial cultivation at the Earth Extreme Realm Great Perfection.
He was about to execute a palm technique to block Zhang Ruochen's sword strike when he found his head flying up, separated from his neck, and falling to the ground.
Zhang Ruochen pushed out with his palm, shoving Peng Shu's corpse aside, and pressed one hand into the depression on the control platform, activating the spirit crystals one by one.
The spirit crystals embedded in the Red Spider Giant Ship emitted wisps of spiritual energy, triggering the formation runes.
"Rumble!"
A massive formation, hundreds of meters in diameter, hovered above the Red Spider Giant Ship, radiating dazzling light. Chains of light descended, completely enveloping the ship.
If one stood on the ground and looked up from afar, they would only see a ball of blinding light emanating from the Red Spider Giant Ship's position, like a small sun.
"Damn it!"
Mu Qing, who had just chased onto the Red Spider Giant Ship, looked up at the ship-protecting formation above. His heart trembled violently, and he turned to jump off the ship.
Zhang Ruochen had already taken control of the Red Spider Giant Ship and activated the ship-protecting formation. If Mu Qing stayed on the ship, he would surely die.
If he escaped the ship, at least there was a glimmer of hope.
What Mu Qing didn't know was that Zhang Ruochen had not only activated the ship-protecting formation but also the defensive formation.
"Bang!"
Mu Qing slammed into the runes of the defensive formation. A wall of light appeared before him, bouncing him back.
A dignified Heavenly Extreme Realm expert was knocked dizzy, staggering, almost falling to the ground.
"Boy, I'll fight you to the death!"
Mu Qing gritted his teeth and charged toward the control platform.
He had only taken a dozen steps when the ship-protecting formation condensed over twenty lightning bolts as thick as bowls, descending like twenty electric serpents, all striking Mu Qing.
"Bang!"
Mu Qing's body exploded directly, turning into a cloud of black smoke.
In the smoke, a broken skeleton fell to the ground with a clatter. The skeleton still clutched a golden whip in its hand.
When the Poison Spider Merchant Guild forged the Red Spider Giant Ship, they made the ship-protecting formation the top priority, fearing the ship might fall into another martial artist's hands.
Thus, even with Mu Qing's martial cultivation, he couldn't withstand a single strike from the ship-protecting formation.
"Fortunately, I had the Red Spider Giant Ship. Otherwise, killing Mu Qing would have been no easy task."
Zhang Ruochen stepped down from the control platform, released his Space Domain, and began to probe the entire Red Spider Giant Ship.
Although Mu Qing had rushed to rescue Hua Minggong in a hurry and couldn't have brought many people, the Red Spider Giant Ship was still so massive that it couldn't have only Mu Qing and Peng Shu.
There were surely other evil-path martial artists in the ship's cabins. He had to find them all to prevent any accidents.
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