Chapter 222 — Encircling the Lord of the Demonic Path
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"This monk is a master!
" Shen Mu gave a muffled snort; his body shook violently and he transformed into the Yinghuo Star Lord — ox-headed, man-bodied, feet treading twin dragons. His Mystic Body Three-Core Art turned in accordance with the Yinghuo Fire-Phase True Art, his vital essence surged, and he braced himself hard against the pressure bearing down from above. The third eye, the ox eye at the center of his brow, opened, and a shaft of firelight shone upward.
A muffled boom sounded overhead; the great sun behind the giant Buddha's head was pierced through by the firelight, the great sun shattered, the Buddha vanished, and in its place stood a young monk. The pressure on Shen Mu eased greatly. Fire blazed all around him, and the flames, like water, swept with a hiss across the ship's hull, melting the ice that caked it.
The treasure ship picked up speed and dove into the cloud layer, pressing forward. In midair, the burly young monk stood on one leg, nine-ringed staff in hand, the other leg slick with blood, and looked around.
He had just used the Vajra Invincible Art to take Shen Mu's Drilling Sword Stance head-on, and the leg that had blocked Shen Mu's sword move was now a bloody mess: the Vajra Invincible Art had not been able to hold off the Drilling Sword Stance. Shen Mu had taken the form of the Yinghuo Star Lord and shattered the Buddha conjured by that Vajra Invincible Art, forcing him to withdraw the move. "There!
" The burly monk's eyes suddenly lit up. He gathered his strength and ran, leaping again and again over the clouds; with every step a white lotus bloomed to hold him up, giving his feet purchase so that he could unleash still greater power.
In the sea of clouds the treasure ship flickered in and out of sight.
Shen Mu looked back and saw the monk racing after him, and no slow pace either.
The men who had hemmed him in were all masters. Long Jiaonan and the woman of the Qiu family needed no saying — both were divine-ability cultivators of the Seven Stars realm — and the scholar and this young monk were no small matter either. The scholar had had his sword core split open by Shen Mu's Chubao Sword; without his essence weapon, he had caught the Chubao Sword's attacks bare-handed.
His clothes had been shredded to powder by the blade, yet the man himself was unhurt. The Chubao Sword was the sword worn by a first-rank official of the imperial court.
Shen Mu could not bring out the full might of the blade, but the sword was unmatched in keenness; that the scholar could keep himself whole spoke volumes. And this burly monk was absurdly strong as well — he had taken Shen Mu's Drilling Sword Stance head-on and come away with only a wounded leg, which showed how hard his body had been tempered.
Had Shen Mu not seen through the great sun behind the monk's head as the crux of his Vajra Invincible Art, the man would likely have pressed the treasure ship down out of the sky! Even if these two were not Seven Stars realm masters, they stood at the peak of the Six Harmonies realm.
Though the monk's leg was wounded, his speed was great, and he looked set to overtake the treasure ship. "Ling'er, faster! " At Shen Mu's command, Xue Hu'er coaxed the treasure ship to greater speed, leaving the monk behind.
Seeing the ship draw farther and farther away, the burly monk gave up the chase and praised: "A fine swift ship! " At the sight, Shen Mu's heart sank a little.
Both the monk and the scholar had pursued him with all their strength, which meant they were certain he could not escape their net. In other words, there were indeed more masters waiting for him on the road ahead!
The treasure ship flew on a while, then gradually slowed again.
Little medicine stone remained; if the elixir furnace burned at full blast, the medicine stones would be somewhat wasted, and there would not be enough to carry the ship all the way to the Wasteland Ruins.