Chapter 832 — Slaying a God

Zhe Huali looked around. On one thick dragon keel, runes of every kind were clearly imprinted, from south to north; and on the vault above there was likewise a pattern of runes running north to south.

Two of the kun ribs had also been branded with runes.

But the interior was too vast. The places Shen Mu had branded made up only a tiny part of it; far more remained unmarked.

"What is the meaning of this, Cult Master Shen?" Zhe Huali was deeply puzzled.

Shen Mu's chest heaved violently; the cost had clearly been enormous. Suddenly the treasured sword in his hand shrank back into the sword core.

The sword core burst!

Countless sword lights filled the interior of the hull, darting wildly this way and that, and the runes Shen Mu had just branded blazed up at once, their light dazzling, as though the flying swords had roused the power within them!

The radiance of countless runes shone upon the flying sword lights and was reflected by them, and at once, above and below, on the four walls, rune after rune emerged, more and more of them, more and more complex!

Zhe Huali was dumbstruck. Then all the sword lights vanished in an instant, becoming a sword core that spun at furious speed and came to rest at the point between Shen Mu's brows.

And in the space within the ship, countless runes still danced through the air!

Shen Mu formed sword fingers with both hands, index and middle finger pressed together, thumb over ring finger and little finger.

His right sword finger stood upright at the point between his brows; his left sword finger turned up and supported his right wrist. Slowly he lowered both hands.

At the same time, phantom arms appeared behind him, as though he had a thousand arms, each forming a different sword seal, slowly drawing in and merging one after another with his own two arms.

At last the thousand phantom arms vanished.

"Halt!"

Shen Mu shouted low. In the vast space within the hull, the darting runes drove one after another into the four walls and into the vault and floor. Their brilliance faded, and seventy-two paintings emerged, each one different from the rest!

Shen Mu gasped for breath and dropped from the air, falling to one knee, his vital essence gravely depleted.

"Cult Master Shen, did you break apart your own sword Dao and drive it into the space within the hull?"

Zhe Huali looked at the seventy-two murals slowly fading from view and said in a low voice, "No — not only sword Dao abilities, but martial abilities, formation abilities, blade abilities... hmm, and primordial magnetic ability too! I saw primordial magnetic ability with the Earth Mother! You also used painting Dao ability, painting seventy-two pictures. Seventy-two abilities in all, seventy-two abilities forming a chain killing formation! You have learned such a jumble of things!"

Shen Mu nodded and activated the Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art, straining to recover his vital essence. His voice was a little hoarse. "The formation is set now, and my vital essence is spent. I can only rely on you. Zhe Huali, are you confident you can merge into my seventy-two pictures and cut down that Plume-Crested Fire Pheasant Dragon?"

Zhe Huali drew a long breath and said calmly, "In this war to slay a god, in the killing of Lin Xiao, you have already accomplished nine parts of ten, Cult Master. All that remains is for me to raise my blade and take his head. If I cannot bring you his head, what face would I have to contend with Xu Shenghua? To contend with you?"

Shen Mu smiled.

Just then, a rumbling boom came again and again from the passage, and Lin Xiao's voice reached their ears. He laughed. "I have been aboard this ship so long and never found the way inside. To think that Heavenly Lord Mu should find it. Heavenly Lord Mu, you are remarkable. To tell you the truth, when I heard you tell that Sword God that you were Heavenly Lord Mu, I was shaken too. I never imagined I would land such a big fish here!"

He was beside himself with excitement.

A thick light came. Lin Xiao flew on beating wings, a great sun rolling beneath him, and roared into the space within the hull. Its scorching radiance became sword light shooting in every direction.

Suddenly the golden sword qi halted in midair; the golden swords formed of light stood still in the air.

Lin Xiao, rooster-crested, bird-headed, human-bodied, spread both wings and settled slowly onto the great sun, his bird claws gripping it tight, and looked at the two of them in high excitement.

Hum, hum, hum.

The great sun trembled, and more golden swords appeared before them, locking onto Shen Mu and Zhe Huali.

"The Heavenly Emperor and the gods conferred titles on the Nine Heavenly Lords — Yu, Hao, Ling, Yue, Huo, You, Yun, Mu, Shen. Each of the Nine Heavenly Lords achieved something extraordinary."

Lin Xiao stared at Shen Mu, paying Zhe Huali no mind. "The names of the Nine Heavenly Lords ring too loudly. Heavenly Lord Hao is now Emperor Hao of Heaven, ruling the Longxiao Heavenly Court; Heavenly Lord Yun is called Emperor Yun of Heaven, ruling the Xiaohan Heavenly Court; the other Heavenly Lords are no small matter either. Only Heavenly Lord Mu and Heavenly Lord Shen show a dragon's head but never its tail, appearing only now and then. To think that on this ghost ship I could cut down a Heavenly Lord Mu from a later age! Heh heh heh!"

Zhe Huali looked lost.

Shen Mu said calmly, "I do not know what you are so pleased about. Lin Xiao, do you know that the Plume-Crested Fire Pheasant Dragon is nothing but a dish on the dinner table in later ages?"

"Bullshit!"

The dragon scales on Lin Xiao's neck burst apart, feathers sprouting from beneath them, and his flesh swelled at furious speed. He chuckled. "The Plume-Crested Fire Pheasant Dragon is the offspring of the golden rooster and the divine dragon, of noble blood, high and exalted, governing the course of the great sun. You humans are the ones who belong on the dinner table!"

"Strike!"

Shen Mu roared. At once the whole interior of the hull blazed with unbearable light, and the seventy-two formation diagrams erupted in an instant!

One of them was the primordial magnetic ability; in a single instant it made Lin Xiao's body immeasurably heavy, as though Mount Sumeru after Mount Sumeru were pressing down on him, crushing him and the great sun together to the ground with a thunderous crash!

The other diagrams erupted, and terrible great abilities came from above and below, from all four directions, hammering down on the pinned Lin Xiao!

The space within the hull was nearly torn apart by these extraordinary abilities; in their wake the space was twisted, folded into shapes beyond counting, so that not a single step could be taken!

Zhe Huali drew the demon blade, roused his cultivation, and entered the Dao through the blade, reaching his peak in an instant!

Then the light of one formation diagram shone upon him — the teleportation diagram.

Zhe Huali seemed to pass into the world within a painting, and as the painting pitched up and down he flew through violently shaking space.

Now at last he understood why Shen Mu had asked about his sense of space. In this moment the teleportation ability tossed him about until he had no idea which way was which!

Zhe Huali fought down the urge to vomit and madly drove the demon blade, madly raising his cultivation.

Shua —

His form appeared at the left side of the bird-headed god, whose body was covered in wounds. Zhe Huali roared, bellowed, took one stride, and brought his blade up and down, pouring every ounce of his strength out through the blade!

There was still a glimmer of astonishment in Lin Xiao's eyes. Then his head flew from his shoulders, and divine blood gushed forth.