Chapter 223 — The Dead End of the Yellow Springs
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Three pill furnaces exploded, and three more tremendous blasts followed; shattered dark iron and dark copper flew whistling in all directions. The violent shockwave destroyed swaths of mountain forest, and above the woods billowed black mushroom clouds, dark as pitch.
Xue Hu'er was startled and looked at Shen Mu: "Young Master, didn't you say the landing would just be a bit bumpy?
" "Mm. " Shen Mu nodded, then shouted, "Long Fatty, if you don't run faster, you'll be eaten before the New Year even comes! " The dragon qilin shuddered and scrambled into a headlong sprint.
The fire clouds beneath its feet churned and thickened, greatly increasing its speed—yet after running only a dozen li it was already panting hard. At that moment, more than ten mirrors suddenly rose up around the dragon qilin.
These mirrors rose from the peaks below.
Each was octagonal, and they came howling to surround them. Facing the wind, the mirrors swelled to about a zhang across, hovering a hundred zhang or so away.
Seeing danger, the dragon qilin sank downward—but at that moment a mirror flew up from below and blocked its path. As it tried to run upward, another mirror hung inverted above. A sword light flew out from the mountain with a ding and shone upon one of the mirrors.
The mirror reflected the sword light onto another mirror.
Then mirror after mirror reflected one another, while more sword lights flew up from the peaks below and were bounced back by those mirrors.
The sword lights multiplied until in an instant they became a net, denser and denser! And from the peaks, even more sword lights came flying, shooting toward the mirrors.
"What a bizarre formation!
" A chill ran down Shen Mu's spine. This was a sword formation that used mirrors to lay its trap; the mirrors reflected the sword lights, making them ever denser with almost no loss of power.
"But breaking this sword formation is simple enough—just destroy the mirrors.
" Shen Mu raised his hand, and the Chubao Sword slashed down at one of the bright mirrors.
Suddenly countless sword lights struck the Chubao Sword; a burst of ding-ding-dings rang out, and the sword was knocked down! It wobbled and fell into the forest below. "His cultivation is far above mine. I'd guess a divine-ability practitioner of the Six Harmonies realm, or maybe the Seven Stars realm.
" Shen Mu's heart sank a little.
He drew out the sword sheath, preparing to recall the Chubao Sword. The dragon qilin's room to maneuver was growing narrower and narrower—then it suddenly shook its head, opened its mouth, and let loose a mighty roar.
The roar was like ten thousand thunderbolts exploding in unison; the mirrors in midair shattered all together with a clattering crash! The incomparably dense net of sword lights, robbed of its support, vanished at once. From the peak below came a startled voice: "What a formidable beast!
To think its skill runs so high! " Hearing itself called a beast, the dragon qilin flew into a rage and spat a ball of flame down at the peak.
A sword light flew off to one side from the mountaintop—man and sword merged as one to dodge the dragon qilin's attack. The peak exploded with a thunderous roar; billowing clouds of fire swept and crashed in all directions, forcing man and sword apart and sending them tumbling and rolling into the forest.
But the man still did not die.
He shot into the air, a bright mirror hovering before him; the mirror's light blazed, and a pillar of sword light swept over. The dragon qilin took to its heels, leaving the sword light behind. Yet the sword light was still faster than the dragon qilin. It caught up behind them, and the dragon qilin's body swayed, growing larger and larger, revealing its true form—a colossal beast over forty zhang long.
Its enormous tail swept backward and smashed the sword light to smithereens.
"What a huge beast! " The swordsman was stunned for a moment, then cried out involuntarily. The dragon qilin flew into a fury.