Chapter 967 — Frenzy and Demonic Possession

He said to Shen Mu, "Shen the Overlord Body, I feel there is something wrong with this Master Yue.

Ought we not to leave? " Shen Mu hesitated a moment; Yue Tingge was still in his corner, muttering at the beast's leg: "But that whelp the Heavenly Venerate Mu is shifty too, no honest man. .

.

We have already done for two Heavenly Venerates; doing for one more is no great matter.

.

. " Shen Mu hesitated no longer. "He is indeed mad!

We go! " he said, deciding on the spot.

Yue Tingge came over with the leg on his shoulder, the ferocity gone from his face, with the bones of a Daoist and the air of an immortal, very much the sage, and said with a chuckle, "Heavenly Venerate Mu, you wish to know where the Heavenly Venerate Shen and the Sorrowless Land are?

Please, come with me.

" Shen Mu blinked.

Luo Wushuang shook his head. "Shen the Overlord Body, he is lying to us.

Do not fall for it!

" Shen Mu gritted his teeth and stepped after Yue Tingge. Meanwhile, several hundred li beyond the city, Lian Huahun was locked in combat with another young deity. That young god was a True God, mighty in strength, with four tiers of heavenly palaces drifting behind him, his dharma power vast beyond measure.

And Lian Huahun, though only a wielder of divine arts at the Divine Bridge realm, could contend with him — and even held the clear upper hand. The two struck fast against fast, their myriad divine arts and dao techniques dazzling to the eye.

Soon all was still, and the two came down to earth. The young deity clutched his chest and said in a hoarse voice, "Junior Sister Lian, why. .

. " A divine art of Lian Huahun's had invaded his body, an uncanny art like an abyss that ceaselessly devoured his vital essence and blood, so that he was swiftly reduced to skin and bones.

Nor was that all: his seven great divine repositories began, one after another, to topple into that abyss.

Even of the Youdu great dao and the Youdu divine arts the Heavenly Court had no lack of masters — there was even one like Yin Tianzi, who had brought the Youdu divine arts to their consummation.

But of Guixu the Heavenly Court knew little.

The Guixu divine arts remained a secret to the Heavenly Court, and few had ever studied them, to say nothing of the great dao runes of Guixu. Strong as this young man was, his skill surpassing even that of the True God named An Qingyu whom Shen Mu had met, before the unfathomable Guixu divine arts he could only swallow his hatred and die.

He only could not understand: he and Lian Huahun were both disciples under the Heavenly Venerate Hao, and in ordinary days he had looked after this young junior sister of his rather well.

Never in his wildest dreams had he expected Lian Huahun to raise a hand against him — and to strike with intent to kill!

"There is no why, Senior Brother Liao. " Lian Huahun said softly, "I simply did not wish you to find the Heavenly Venerate Mu before I did. " Senior Brother Liao gave a stifled groan.

The abyss within him had already devoured his Heaven-Man repository, and was about to devour his Life-Death repository and his Divine Bridge repository! His vital essence and blood had drained away clean, and his body was like a skeleton draped in skin.

"You could never have beaten him. " Lian Huahun explained, "Unable to beat him, you would have resorted to the Heavenly Venerate Hao's Mu-Slaying Arts.

But even with the Mu-Slaying Arts you might not have killed him; instead he would have seen through them, and thereby perfected his own techniques and divine arts. " Senior Brother Liao's Life-Death repository and Divine Bridge repository collapsed and plunged into the abyss; the abyss came before the Southern Gate of Heaven and began to devour his heavenly palaces! And his flesh, now stripped to bone, began to collapse inward. Such a death was agony beyond words.

"There are only eighteen methods in the Mu-Slaying Arts, and every one he sees through is one fewer sure kill against the Heavenly Venerate Mu. Your skills were too slight, and you were foolish besides. Rather than wait for the Mu-Slaying Arts to be unraveled one by one and let him grow ever stronger, it is better to keep those arts in reserve.

" Lian Huahun said softly, "Without resorting to my own ultimate arts, I too would find it hard to kill him. So I cannot allow the Mu-Slaying Arts to be exposed, and therefore I had no choice but to dispose of you.

Does this explanation satisfy you, Senior Brother Liao? " One after another, Senior Brother Liao's heavenly palaces gave out thunderous roars; thousands upon thousands of halls plunged into the abyss.

His primordial spirit could not escape either, and fell into the abyss together with his collapsing body!

In the end he vanished utterly from the world, leaving not the slightest trace; his soul too disappeared without a shadow — no soul fragments, no black soul sand.

He had been wholly digested by the abyss.

And that abyss divine art came flying back and entered Lian Huahun's brow.

A red mark surfaced on the girl's brow, then vanished. She took out a mirror. Upon it appeared five red dots, four of which were moving.

This was a treasure the Heavenly Venerate Hao had refined for the nineteen disciples on this expedition. It was called the Soul Mirror, and through the red dots upon it each disciple could swiftly find the others, so that they might gather and join hands to kill Shen Mu.

But the Heavenly Venerate Hao had never once dreamed that the Soul Mirror would become the death warrant of his own disciples! "Of the Heavenly Venerate Hao's eighteen disciples, five have already died by my hand.

There are four left; once those four are dealt with, I can go and deal with the Heavenly Venerate Mu. " A smile came to Lian Huahun's face. Holding up the Soul Mirror, she flew toward one of the red dots: "The other nine either perished on the road or entered Taixu and perished in its uncanniness. I only do not know whether any were disposed of by the Heavenly Venerate Mu, nor how many of the eighteen Mu-Slaying Arts remain. But to kill the Heavenly Venerate Mu, I will not need many of them.

" Soon she caught up with one of the red dots, and saw a young woman racing across the wilderness, a mirror held up in her hand as well. "Senior Sister Li!

" Lian Huahun called out loudly.

Senior Sister Li's face changed drastically, and she flew on faster, racing away, and said with a cold laugh, "Lian Huahun, just now I saw on the Soul Mirror that after the dot representing you touched another dot, that dot went out. You killed that senior brother, and now you have come to kill me too, have you not? " Lian Huahun's expression shifted slightly, and she gave chase: "Since Senior Sister knows, then all the more I cannot let Senior Sister live. Stop running — you cannot escape my grasp.

" Though Senior Sister Li was a True God, she did not dare cross swords with her, and fled in panic for her life. Lian Huahun pointed a finger, and ahead of her a black vortex appeared; she threw herself into the vortex and vanished.

Senior Sister Li was in full flight when of a sudden a black vortex appeared beside her.

She was about to halt when the vortex abruptly swelled and swallowed her. The vortex trembled violently in midair, as though two monstrous beasts were within it, fighting to the death, a slaughter most savage.

Before long Senior Sister Li suddenly burst out of the vortex and fled at speed; but as she ran her body grew lighter and lighter, until at last she became a sheet of human skin, which the wind caught up and sent tumbling and rolling away. Her flesh was hollow: the blood and flesh and bone beneath that skin, and even her divine repositories, her heavenly palaces, and her primordial spirit, had all been devoured!

Lian Huahun stepped out of the vortex, studied the Soul Mirror a while, then set off in one direction: "Three left. .