Chapter 840 — Setting Out to Take a Life

The old Daoist hurried off. Shen Mu suddenly froze, then hastily felt at his waist. His expression changed drastically, and he chased after the old Daoist who had just left, but the old Daoist was nowhere to be seen!

Shen Mu stopped, the corner of his eye twitching.

Lin Xuan asked doubtfully, "Sect Master Shen, what is it?

" "One of my Taotie Pouches is missing.

" Shen Mu's face turned blue, his teeth grinding audibly. "That old Daoist just now lifted it!

" Lin Xuan was startled and ventured, "Such methods do not seem like the work of a demigod of the Yuanjie. Rather, they resemble the handiwork of one of the Sect Master's elders. But that old Daoist just now did not look like one of Sect Master Shen's elders. Wait, I seem to have lost something as well! " Daoist Cha hastily patted himself down and cried out, "The steel fork hidden in my Daoist crown is gone!

" "Many of my spirit pills are missing! " the Dragon Qilin wailed as though bereaved.

The Water Qilin's expression changed drastically.

He hastily searched for his own spirit pills; they were still there. Then it dawned on him. "Where is my master?

He was on my back just now; how did he vanish all at once?

" Everyone hurried to look.

The Imperial Heavenly Venerable on the Water Qilin's back had vanished without a trace!

When had the Imperial Heavenly Venerable disappeared?

Not one of them had noticed! They were all aghast. Shen Mu drew a long breath, striving to calm himself, then sneered. "When the old thief makes his move, he never returns empty-handed! One who thieved as often as he did would naturally seldom let anyone see his true face. His art of disguise is supremely skilled; he can alter his bones and features, change his height, change his build.

And after I passed the Art of Creation to him, even if he stood before me as a woman, I would not recognize him! " Dao Master Lin Xuan's expression was awkward.

He coughed.

"Our Daoist sect has also often received this senior's visits. " "He never lets anyone have peace. Sooner or later he will be caught and have his legs broken! " Shen Mu was beside himself with fury, and continued walking toward the Daoist academy. "This old thief long ago stole his way through all of Jingping, pretending to be a good man alongside Blind Grandpa every day, putting on the air of having turned over a new leaf! Now that the seal on the Yuanjie has broken, no one is happier than he. No wonder we did not run into him in the capital earlier.

Needless to say, Qingyun Heaven is far from the first to suffer at his hands; this old thief has surely stolen from countless heavens and holy lands! By the way, what did you lose? " Dao Master Lin Xuan said nothing, his face grim.

His way of walking was somewhat odd; his undergarments had been lifted by the old Daoist just now, only he could not bring himself to say it. They had just entered the Daoist academy when a crowd of Daoists came rushing out. "Have you seen those old Daoists from just now? After they came, our academy lost a great many things; even the guests from the Heavenly Court were robbed!

" Shen Mu raised a hand and pointed.

"Those Daoists went that way!

" "Many thanks! " The Daoists swarmed out, murderous in their bearing, shouting, "When we find those old Daoists, we will break both their ankles first, so they cannot run!

" "Those old Daoists from just now are all senior uncles from the Daoist palace.

Are we to break their ankles too?

" "They stole from our academy; they deserve to have their ankles broken!

" . .

. Soon the Daoist academy was nearly deserted, leaving only a few oddly shaped demigods, who looked their way. Shen Mu turned and had the Dragon Qilin and Water Qilin remain outside the academy to keep watch. He closed the academy's main gate and smiled at the demigods. "Gentlemen, I am Shen Mu, one of the Three Heroes of Jingping's Reform, known as the Jingping Overlord Body, Heavenly Sage Sect Master. This one beside me is Lin Xuan, Dao Master of the Jingping Daoist sect.

Gentlemen, have you heard our names? " These demigods bore the manifestations of various ancient star deities. The disciples of the Star Lord of Zhen were human-headed and serpent-bodied; the disciples of the Star Lord of Yinghuo were ox-headed and human-bodied; the disciples of the Star Lord of the Great Sun were bird-headed and three-footed. Each was different, and few had a fully human form.

These demigods' gazes swept over Shen Mu and Dao Master Lin Xuan. A demigod with a wolf's head and a human body, presumably a disciple of the Star Lord of Kuimu Lang, said carelessly, "Shen the Overlord Body of Jingping? Never heard of him.

" From the one remaining Taotie Pouch at Shen Mu's waist, the sword pellet slowly rose. He lightly grasped it, and it transformed into a whisk in his hand. With a face full of smiles, he said, "You gentlemen will soon hear of it. But it will also be the last time you hear of it.

" Dao Master Lin Xuan tossed aside his whisk, drew his sword, and sword light spilled forth. He began at once with the Fourteenth Chapter of the Daoist Sword!

The Dao nourishes all heavens and the great earth; it sustains the ten thousand laws, and all under heaven returns to oneness!

At the same time, the whisk transformed from the sword pellet in Shen Mu's hand suddenly swelled in the wind. Strand after strand of the whisk's filaments extended madly, slender swords like thin roaming dragons, in an instant reaching tens of li in length, winding through the corridors and palaces of the academy! The whisk filaments were swords, and each filament executed a different sword technique! Daoist Cha, having lost his steel fork, could only hold the rear for them.

Within the academy, roars of fury rang out without cease.

Above the academy, the manifestation of the stars and constellations of the whole heaven rose up.

Just as it soared and transformed into a river of stars, geomagnetic force suddenly erupted, dragging the river of stars down from the sky and smashing it viciously to the ground. Not a single one was able to escape the academy! After a moment, all fell silent. Shen Mu opened the academy's gate and stepped out, Lin Xuan following behind him.

Daoist Cha, bringing up the rear, turned and closed the gate.

Blood welled and flowed out from the crack of the door.