Chapter 966 — Once the Treasured Blade Is Drawn, Who Can Stand Against It?

" Shen Mu said, "These few are disciples of Heavenly Venerables, yet you cringe and fawn before them, and when you are insulted you dare not let out so much as a breath. Such a one, who bullies the weak and fears the strong, is unworthy of my sword. And you call yourself a divine blade? " Luo Wushuang's eyelids lifted; blade-light flickered in his eyes, held back and unspent. Shen Mu went on, "The Blade God I met was wild and heroic, fearing no power, with no terror in his heart, daring to draw his blade against Heaven, never shrinking because his foe was too strong, never lording it because his foe was too weak.

Before the mighty he dared strike his blade and drink blood, taking the emperor's head. Before the weak he gladly humbled himself, hiding in the marketplace as a butcher of pigs and a slaughterer of fowl. That is a Blade God.

And you. .

.

" He sneered, "You are nothing but a bladesmith who has hammered his blade art square and proper, not even the equal of Zhe Huali. You say you have slain the god within your heart; I say there are no telling how many gods still pressing down upon it.

" Luo Wushuang's hair bristled with fury; his momentum erupted in an instant, like a treasured blade that split the sky in a breath and clove it in two!

"Sovereign Tyrant Body, you dare belittle me! " Luo Wushuang's rage was beyond containing.

His vital essence, mixed with blood and qi, rushed to the heavens and became a blood-colored blade-light, a great blade ten thousand zhang long, then, as the blood and qi condensed, shorter and shorter! Though the blade shrank, its power only grew! "Tyrant Body Shen, the blade art you saw before was my blade art after I became a god. The blade art you saw on the ship is what I have comprehended in these years. " Luo Wushuang's gaze was cold; his blood and qi condensed to the utmost and became a long blade that his single arm caught up into his hand, killing intent surging and churning.

Grimly he said, "The man on the ship and the man before you now are no longer the same, and the blade art on the ship and the blade art now are no longer the same! I want you to see the blade art of who I am now! " The three disciples of Heavenly Venerables exchanged glances and smiled.

The woman laughed softly, "If Divine Blade Luo makes his move, we may save ourselves some trouble. This Heavenly Venerable Mu is no weakling, after all, and the crime of slaying a Heavenly Venerable is no small matter either.

.

.

" The young man looked at the ferocious-faced Daoist not far off and frowned slightly, saying in a low voice, "Who is this Daoist?

Why is he here? " The three studied the evil Daoist's features; they felt they had seen him somewhere, yet could not recall where.

Luo Wushuang's momentum bloomed fully; the might of the divine blade erupted: "Pray instruct me! " Blade-light rose, blood-color flooding the sky.

One of the three disciples had not yet reacted when Luo Wushuang's divine blade came without warning and cut him down!

The other two, shocked and furious, roared in unison and charged at him, raging, "Luo Wushuang, are you turning rebel? " Luo Wushuang paid no heed; he unleashed his blade art, his blade way. His blade art was square and exact, disciplined and proper, every cut striving for precision; every force contained within the blade, every angle of every strike, every technique, was as if measured out by the finest of craftsmen.

Yet in this moment, within that very squareness, his blade art harbored an untrammeled heroism, possessed the spirit to slay Heaven with a single blade. If the sword is the gentleman, then his blade is the king.

He had leapt free of the shackles of his former blade art, slain the god within his heart, trampled down all fear, leaving only pure Dao!

His blade rose; blade-light formed layer upon layer of heavens, with stars shining, blue sky and white clouds, pouring rain, gentle sunshine, wind-rolled clouds, lightning splitting the sky, might beyond all measure. One layer of the great Dao for one layer of heaven.

He was the Heavenly Court's Blade God, the Heavenly Court's first divine blade; his blade rose vast as heaven, fell grim as a wall, fusing finest precision and grandest spirit into one! In the past he had investigated things to attain knowledge, seeking the ultimate mystery of the blade way. He was powerful then, yet never fearsome.

Now he had united knowledge and action, fusing his state of mind into it, melting all that his investigations had learned into his own blood, qi, and spirit.

Such a Luo Wushuang, though one-armed, was the most fearsome of all! The two disciples of Heavenly Venerables struggled to hold out beneath the firmament of his blade way.

Behind each of them hovered three heavenly palaces; what they cultivated was, astonishingly, the Lesser Heavenly Court's techniques.

Luo Wushuang's wounds were not yet healed; at most he could exert the cultivation of a True God. To the disciples of Heavenly Venerables, Luo Wushuang was a wild path, his cultivation techniques unorthodox, his divine arts unorthodox.

Blade art is a way of the acquired; what they cultivated was the innate way that came from the ancient gods.

Acquired and innate, the difference between mud and cloud. They cultivated Emperor's Throne techniques taught by Heavenly Venerables, three kinds of them no less, and by means of those techniques entered the Dao and comprehended the highest divine arts; surely they far surpassed an unranked wild path like Luo Wushuang.

Yet now, two against one, they struggled desperately, peril upon peril.

This battle came quickly and ended quickly. In the blade-light, blood-light flashed.

Luo Wushuang pushed his blade across with a backhand and cut the young True God in two at the waist. The woman panicked, soared into the air to flee; Luo Wushuang roared, his flying blade slashing out.

The woman's head fell to the ground, yet her body still ran on, until it flew out of this city of the Creators and only then crashed down into the dust. Luo Wushuang sheathed his blade; the long blade formed of blood and qi hissed back into his body. He turned and looked at Shen Mu, and the two beams of his gaze were like blade-edges pointed straight at him.

"Tyrant Body Shen, how is my blade art?

Am I worthy to challenge you?

" Shen Mu watched the change in his momentum, watched the change in his blade art, and could not help smiling with relief.

"It will do.

Divine Blade Luo, please, sit. " Luo Wushuang strode over, his clothes fluttering; as they fluttered, the air beneath was stirred by his momentum, as if ten thousand blade energies clashed and coursed there. He came before Shen Mu, his aura already calm, and sat down.

The evil Daoist not far off turned his head to look their way and praised, "One Hand, your blade art is passable. " Luo Wushuang's gaze went to him, and suddenly thunder roared in his mind; he remembered where he had seen this evil Daoist.

His whole body shook, and he cried out, "You are Daoist Master Yue!

" Shen Mu was startled. "Daoist Master Yue?

Which Daoist Master Yue? " Suddenly he too understood, recalling Yun Chuxiu's words aboard the ship.