Chapter 911 — First Trial of the Calamity Blade

Shen Mu laughed despite himself. "Emperor Yanfeng and Jiang Baigui—as two of the three heroes of the reform, they were the chief villains who defied heaven and resisted the mandate of heaven, and for that they were imprisoned by the heavenly court for two hundred years. As Heaven Venerable Mu, I was not taken into custody by the heavenly court, yet now I am to be imprisoned here by the Azure Emperor of the Eastern Heaven. Does the Azure Emperor of the Eastern Heaven have greater face than the heavenly court itself?"

The Divine Sovereign Wuji's expression shifted slightly, then he smiled. "If Heaven Venerable Mu is unwilling to accept the protection of our Eastern Heaven Palace, then there is nothing I can do. To be frank, though the Eastern Heaven Palace is our master's domain, other factions of the heavenly court are present here as well, and many disciples of various major factions train under my command."

The many divine beings under his command were eager to try their hand.

Shen Mu smiled. "Does the Divine Sovereign mean that while the Azure Emperor of the Eastern Heaven dares not kill me, someone else does?"

The Divine Sovereign Wuji sighed. "I too am a small figure and cannot make the decisions. If Heaven Venerable Mu were willing to accept the Eastern Heaven Palace's protection, I would guard you with my life. But since Heaven Venerable Mu is unwilling to accept it, I can only turn a blind eye."

Shen Mu looked at the divine beings under his command. "Could the Divine Sovereign introduce me to a few—which figures wish to do away with me?"

The Divine Sovereign Wuji said hurriedly, "Do away with Heaven Venerable Mu—that is too much. They only wish to teach Heaven Venerable Mu a lesson. This is the disciple of the Yin Son of Heaven, Yue Wuji."

Behind one divine being stood a Heavenly Gate of the Nether Capital, behind which lay thick darkness, and faintly came the surging roar of the Nether Sea. He stepped forward and bowed deeply to Shen Mu. "Yue Wuji pays his respects to Heaven Venerable Mu!"

Shen Mu returned the salute, and behind him appeared a Heaven-Bearing Gate.

The two bowed to each other, and behind each of them appeared their primordial spirit. The two primordial spirits each stood upon an altar, each unfurling a great sacrificial rite, bowing toward the other!

Suddenly, Yue Wuji let out a great cry, blood streaming from both eyes, and fell stiffly to the ground, dead!

Upon the altar behind him, his primordial spirit was bowed to death by Shen Mu. The primordial spirit burned, its soul scattered, and his spirit fetus also died cleanly, dissolving into streams of spiritual qi and spiritual power.

"The disciple of the Black Emperor, the Yin Son of Heaven, actually holds office in the Eastern Heaven Palace of the Azure Emperor of the Eastern Heaven—truly a strange thing."

Shen Mu straightened up and smiled gently. "Divine Sovereign, who is next?"

The Divine Sovereign Wuji was shocked and uncertain, and the other divine beings in the temple felt a chill in their hearts.

"Hahaha! I have long heard that Heaven Venerable Mu is the Divine Son of the Nether Capital, versed in all the divine powers of the Nether Capital and thoroughly familiar with the great Dao of the Nether Capital. Yue Wuji compared Nether Capital divine powers with Heaven Venerable Mu—he died where he belonged!"

The Divine Sovereign Wuji laughed heartily, pointing out the cause of Yue Wuji's death. He smiled. "This is Hua Qing, disciple of the Ancestral God King of the heavenly court. Junior Brother Hua Qing's divine powers are immeasurable and most formidable."

Hua Qing stepped forward and saluted Shen Mu.

Shen Mu looked at him, carefully studying the strange phenomena behind him, then suddenly smiled. "I have met your master. Your master, the Ancestral God King, used an artificial body of the Heaven Venerable Yu to duel me at the same cultivation realm, and I beat him to death."

Hua Qing's expression shifted slightly, then he said calmly, "That was merely a weapon controlled by a wisp of my master's consciousness; it could only display a ten-thousandth of my master's abilities. If my master descended to the mortal world and fought you at the same realm, killing you would be as easy as turning over his hand."

Shen Mu laughed heartily and shook his head. "He used the Heaven Venerable Yu's body and was beaten to death by me. If he descended in person and fought at the same realm, he would die even faster."

Hua Qing sneered. "I hear Heaven Venerable Mu has a domineering physique. I should like to test it. What realm is Heaven Venerable Mu at now?"

Shen Mu thought for a moment. "Roughly the Divine Treasury realm, I suppose."

Hua Qing was brimming with killing intent. "The Divine Treasury has seven realms. Which realm are you at? I will not bully you—I will fight you at the same realm and kill you, to vindicate my master's name!"

Shen Mu shook his head. "My Divine Treasury has only one realm—the Spirit Fetus realm. If you use the Spirit Fetus realm, I could blow you to death with a single breath; that would be bullying you too much. Realm no longer matters much to me. You may use whatever cultivation realm you like."

Hua Qing's eye twitched. The cultivation Shen Mu had displayed when he bowed Yue Wuji to death was not the Spirit Fetus realm. Yet as Heaven Venerable Mu, Shen Mu could not possibly lie about his cultivation realm.

He sealed his own South Heavenly Gate and said, "I will duel you with the cultivation of the Divine Bridge Divine Treasury. What say you?"

Shen Mu nodded. "If you cannot hold out, you may open the South Heavenly Gate and use whatever you wish."

"You dare to look down on me!"

Hua Qing roared and struck without hesitation. His divine power had just activated when suddenly a streak of sword light slashed toward him, swift as a thunderbolt!

As Shen Mu thrust this sword, Hua Qing was startled, feeling he could not withstand it and had no time to dodge. He immediately opened the South Heavenly Gate, and surging divine essence poured down from the heavens, his divine cultivation reaching its peak in an instant!

This sword of Shen Mu's was precisely the third chapter of the Calamity Sword—the Chapter of Meeting the Calamity.

The sword light pierced Hua Qing's body. One streak of sword light destroyed the Divine Bridge, shattering his Divine Bridge Divine Treasury, then drove straight down, pulverizing the Starry Sky, blowing away the Heaven-Man and the Five Luminaries, utterly annihilating his Six Realms Divine Treasury and his Life and Death Divine Treasury!

The next moment, the sword light razed Hua Qing's Primordial Fetus Divine Treasury and Life and Death Divine Treasury!

At this moment, Hua Qing's South Heavenly Gate opened—and divine essence poured down from the heavens. At the same time, the divine essence spacetime collapsed, and deprived of its foundation, the Heavenly Palace immediately grew unstable!

Shen Mu withdrew his sword, and the sword light transformed into a sword core spinning at his fingertips.

BOOM—

Hua Qing exploded, and terrifying waves of divine essence surged in all directions, blowing off the roof of the temple.

Shen Mu gently grasped the sword core, which transformed into an umbrella, blocking the falling rubble from above. He smiled. "Divine Sovereign, please introduce the next fellow Daoist."

Before the Divine Sovereign Wuji could speak, a divine being suddenly seized the chaos to strike, divine might erupting as he charged at Shen Mu to kill him.

At that very moment, the fat maidservant behind Shen Mu—who seemed to weigh three or five hundred catties—abruptly surged with an explosive aura, transforming into a dragon sparrow. It raised a claw and pinned that divine being beneath it.