Chapter 456 — The Evil Cult Overlord's Might
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Yu Bochuan's expression changed drastically; he scrambled backward and shouted in a harsh voice, "The wretch is feigning death! Disciples of Zhentian Palace, destroy this painting and he is finished!
" The women at his side rushed forward at once and struck as one at the painting—and in that instant sword-light burst from the canvas. The sword-light gave a sudden shudder, and a wondrous transformation came over it: it was sword-light no longer, but an expanse of green mountains sweeping straight at them. The dozen and more female disciples of Zhentian Palace were drowned in an instant by green hills and blue waters; their graceful bodies seemed frozen in the landscape, locked stiffly in place, and then their silhouettes drained away and scattered like sand.
The flood of hills and waters came on with terrible speed, swallowing the perfumed carriage in a breath and engulfing Yu Bochuan behind it. Array Master He Yiyi did not stir. Astonishment showed on her face, and she praised him: "Truly superb swordsmanship—not a whit inferior to Sword Master Luo Yinyu.
" Behind her, the masters of Juncheng's great clans and mighty houses stirred restlessly, on the verge of striking out to kill Shen Mu; He Yiyi raised a hand. "No need to help.
Young Master Yu came here to ask us to set the array and to keep the Central Plains' Sect Master Shen in place—that is the one and only thing he asked of us, and we have no obligation to aid him a second time. " The others had no choice but to hold back.
Shen Mu's Sword Treads Rivers and Mountains did not surge toward them. He Yiyi murmured, "He knows his measure too. . .
" The Sword Treads Rivers and Mountains had gathered its full momentum; more than a dozen beauties of Zhentian Palace had all lost their lives, and Yu Bochuan could not help but tremble with cold dread.
He cried out loudly, "Sect Master Shen, why do we not have a talk? " His sleeves and skirts flapped, and though he was a man, he wore trinkets of every description—silver bracelets, jade bracelets, wrist chains, jade pendants, rings, thumb rings, necklaces, hairpins, longevity locks—and every one of them came flying out with a great clatter!
Those were his primal weapons. Their power was immense; plainly they had not been forged by Yu Bochuan himself, but were protective treasures granted him by his elders.
Their might was terrifying. One azure dragon hairpin gave a light shake and became an azure dragon; the dragon's roar rolled out and blasted a great hole through the green hills and blue waters! Yu Bochuan rejoiced inwardly and leaped out through that hole—and all at once lost his sense of the azure dragon hairpin.
Then his connection to every other treasure vanished as well. Terror seized his heart: with incomparably exquisite swordsmanship, Shen Mu had severed the vital-energy link between him and those treasures, cutting off all resonance, leaving him possessed of so many treasures and able to use none of them.
Such divine swordsmanship was dreadful beyond measure! Scarcely had he leaped clear of the Sword Treads Rivers and Mountains when the dragon-qilin's enormous claw came smashing down before him.
In a panic he tore off his own robe; the garment rose on the wind, growing larger and larger, like a mass of gray cloud.
The dragon-qilin brought its claw down into the robe, but the cloth was soft as nothingness itself, and the beast sank deeper and deeper. Bare-shouldered, Yu Bochuan turned to flee—only to hear the dragon-qilin roar behind him. Flames blazed up; the robe caught fire and burned away to nothing.
"Array Master, save me!
" Yu Bochuan cried in panic. "If I die in your Juncheng, not one of you will escape blame! " At that moment his cries for help carried over, and the hundred-odd masters behind her all knitted their brows.
A woman said in a low voice, "Array Master, Young Master Yu is, after all, a son of the Lord of Zhentian Palace.