Chapter 878 — The Shadowed Maga Codex

Shen Mu smiled. "That is already quite good. I myself have not entered the Dao through divine power. Entering the Dao through divine power is very difficult; presently I have only achieved entering the Dao through the sword, through the martial path. But the Jingping Reforms that Khan Luandi studied are decrepit beyond measure; the results of the reforms he taught you are long out of date. Bring forth what you have learned and attack me; I will use my divine powers to defend. I admire you. Once you have survived this, go seek out your fellow disciples and account for yourself."

Mo Santong's eyes lit up, and his aura erupted.

Behind him, demon wheels rose one after another. His primordial spirit appeared before the enormous demon wheel, slowly standing, growing ever more imposing.

It was a primordial spirit in the form of a pot-bellied demon god, with four arms, and eight eyes arrayed in a line across its forehead. Streamers formed of Youdu runes fluttered in all directions.

To wield divine powers through one's primordial spirit allowed those powers to be displayed to their utmost. To manifest one's primordial spirit in entering the Dao through divine power was clearly an attainment far beyond the ordinary!

Mo Santong roared. His four-armed, eight-eyed demon-god primordial spirit drove the Great Black Heaven Combat Method and attacked Shen Mu!

In that instant, the might of the Dark Maga Sutra was laid bare in full!

Demonic-path divine powers were already uncanny and unfathomable, yet the Dark Maga Sutra possessed a grand and majestic aspect as well!

The four-armed, eight-eyed demon-god primordial spirit drove its divine power; demon wheels hurtled toward Shen Mu along with all four arms. Not only that—from the eight eyes of the demon-god primordial spirit, more demon wheels flew at Shen Mu as well.

These demon wheels bore exceedingly complex Youdu runes, and the power hidden within them was terrifying in the extreme!

Shen Mu raised a hand, and the divine power he invoked was the Great Yuanci Divine Power created by Granny Zhu. Before and behind him, rivers of stars swirled, and the primordial magnetism erupted as he clashed head-on with the attack.

Shen Mu had not entered the Dao through divine power, but Granny Zhu was a great master who had entered the Dao that way. He had merely learned Granny Zhu's Dao-entering great divine power and wielded it with casual ease.

In the rear courtyard of the Great Black Palace, storms rose in succession. Within that storm, Mo Santong was sent flying backward, slamming hard into a thick pillar.

Then came another thunderous boom. He was crushed flat against the ground, and the earth suddenly gave way into a crater tens of zhang wide and tens of zhang deep!

The power hidden within the yuanci divine power carried the force to warp space itself, stretching and flattening his body and primordial spirit by turns. The various forces shifted countless times in an instant. At the bottom of the crater, Mo Santong was in extraordinary agony, nearly torn apart.

Shen Mu dispersed his divine power, and the rivers of stars around him dispersed with it. Stepping to the edge of the crater, he said, "I am inferior to you in the refinement of divine powers; I merely have several times your depth of cultivation. But because you have entered the Dao through divine power, it is very difficult for me to kill you with divine powers. Now you may go back and give your fellow disciples an account."

Mo Santong struggled to his feet and climbed out of the crater, then bowed to Shen Mu.

Shen Mu returned a slight bow. "Your Youdu runes are still somewhat lacking. You cannot fully bring out the power of the Youdu Dao runes."

Mo Santong had intended to leave, but hearing this, he paused, then bowed slightly and said, "May I presume to ask the Overlord Body to grant instruction."

Shen Mu said gladly, "There is no harm in instructing you. Manifest your demon-god primordial spirit once more and drive the Great Black Heaven Combat Method."

Mo Santong did as he was told and unleashed the Great Black Heaven Combat Method. Shen Mu came to his primordial spirit and plucked dozens of Dao runes from the demon wheels. With a slight movement of his mind, he transformed his primal qi into demon yuan, altered the structure of these Dao runes, and said, "Try driving your great divine power again."

Mo Santong drove the Great Black Heaven Combat Method and at once felt the power of his Dao-entering great divine power rise by twenty to thirty percent. Astonished and delighted, he hastily sought instruction: "May I ask the Overlord Body, why alter them thus?"

Shen Mu looked around him and saw the area in complete disarray. He smiled. "It is too messy here. Let us find a clean place and talk in detail."

Mo Santong went with him to a pavilion within the palace. Mo Santong wished to unleash the Great Black Heaven Combat Method again, but his cultivation was too depleted, and he could not summon it.

Shen Mu refined a furnace of Demon Yuan Pills for him and said, "After you take these, drive the Dark Maga Sutra, and your cultivation will swiftly recover."

Mo Santong did as he was told and drove the Maga Sutra. His cultivation indeed recovered swiftly, and he was filled with admiration for Shen Mu.

Shen Mu instructed him in the Youdu Dao runes. Mo Santong found every word pearl and jade, and his admiration only deepened. He put forward the problems he had encountered in his cultivation as well, and Shen Mu, after brief thought, answered them offhand.

Mo Santong was filled with boundless admiration.

The two talked for half a day. Mo Santong had long since been won over. He stood, bowed to Shen Mu, and said, "Beneath great renown there is no empty fame. Overlord Body Shen, your learning reaches into heaven and man—I am utterly convinced."

Shen Mu hastily helped him to his feet, smiling. "I must also thank you. You may go back and meet your fellow disciples now."

Mo Santong felt some doubt in his heart, but did not presume to ask further. He turned and left.

He rounded a few long corridors and was soon stopped by some fellow disciples. Mo Santong hastily said, "He instructed me for half a day. My divine powers are more perfect than before!"

Before long, a voice came, boiling with rage: "Jingping's Overlord Body Shen, you bullied my junior brother—I come to avenge him!"

Shen Mu rose, smiling. "May I ask who you are?"

The burly demon who came striding over put his hands on his hips and sneered. "Xue Taidou, of Great Black Heaven's school!"

Shen Mu said with a smile, "Brother Xue, by what have you entered the Dao?"

Xue Taidou said coldly, "I entered the Dao through the demon blade."

Shen Mu looked somewhat troubled. "My blade technique has not entered the Dao. Very well—Brother Xue, deploy your Dao-entering divine power, and I will meet it with my blade technique."

Xue Taidou stared at him, then suddenly beamed. "After you defeat me, will you instruct me as well?"

...

In the main hall of the Great Black Palace, Great Black Heaven sat in the seat of honor, leisurely drinking tea. The thunderous reports of divine powers and Dao arts erupting behind him reached his ears, and before him appeared a massive black pool. The pool was like a mirror, revealing clearly and completely the scene of Shen Mu's clashes with his disciples. It could even shift to different angles, so that every aspect of Shen Mu's divine powers could be observed.

"Great Black Heaven, though he instructs your disciples, in truth he is secretly stealing your Dark Maga Sutra."

Suddenly, a youthful voice laughed. "Surely you can see that."

Great Black Heaven set down his teacup, frowning slightly, black light gathering in his eyes. "We wished to observe his divine powers and Dao arts, yet he means to learn my supreme art through my own disciples. Can there truly be such a thing as the Overlord Body in this world?"

"The legend of the Overlord Body is of long standing."