Chapter 494 — The Struggle in the Dark Chamber Behind the Scenes
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 5
Shen Mu buried what he had seen in his heart and drew a long breath. The sword pellet slid from his sleeve and rolled soundlessly to the edge of the chest, then burrowed into the soil. In the earth the sword pellet came apart, and thin flying swords stretched away into the distance, spreading through the ground for a hundred zhang in every direction.
"Strike!"
Shen Mu roared. The two Butcher Knives at his back left their sheaths and were in his hands. In that instant the dozen-odd divine-power masters charged. The Dragon Qilin opened its mouth and roared, true fire gushing from it in a pillar that blasted forward. The fire pillar exploded; the dozen figures wove and scattered, dodging past the pillar to cut down at the Dragon Qilin.
The Dragon Qilin turned its head and swept the fire pillar in all directions. One man clapped his hands downward and the earth heaved up, but the chest pressed it back down, and he could not lift the ground at all. Another spun a blade-light of incomparable skill, whirling madly around the fire pillar and cutting the Dragon Qilin's blow apart. Shen Mu took up his knives and moved back to back with the knife-wielder, step for step.
That divine-power master was formidable too. He knew that once he was locked in the close combat of the martial-arts school, life and death hung on a single instant, decided by each other's blade work and footwork. The two of them spun like tops, swift as flight, their blade-light flaring and falling, and the outcome was already sealed.
"Fine knife work!"
The man's head flew up and dropped into the darkness, and he turned back to offer the praise. His flying head saw his own body toppling, while Shen Mu took a palm strike to the chest from another divine-power master. Yet Shen Mu's body coiled with a flood dragon, his vital essence turning into a flood dragon that bound his foe's arm; and on the other side, the two knives moved too fast to follow, and slash slash slash, countless streaks of blade-light chopped down at his opponent.
"Truly fine knife work!"
The head praised again, and then darkness filled his eyes; he could no longer see Shen Mu's knives. Bang. His head struck the ground, rolled a few turns, and still wide-eyed, his consciousness slowly scattered: "To die beneath knife work like that..."
Ban Gongcuo's blade orbs floated in the air. He struck almost in the same instant as Shen Mu, the orbs crossing, countless blade-lights sweeping low along the ground. At the same time, from the Jade Blood Gourd on his back came a splash, and a waterfall of blood surged into the air, wrapping up a divine-power master who was dodging his leg-severing blade-light. The blood waterfall washed over him, and it was full of every manner of insect; in an instant it ate the man clean.
Ding, ding, ding, the clash of metal rang out. Another divine-power master trod along the blades, stepping one knife after another down, and invaded the space beside Ban Gongcuo. He raised a hand, and divine thunder burst forth, pouring down like rain. Ban Gongcuo, bearing the five thunders striking his crown, raised a hand and swept his sleeve: countless flying daggers poured out and nailed the man over head and face.
The Dragon Qilin roared, revealed its true body of forty zhang, and lunged to fight back, smashing and crushing its foe.
A while later, Shen Mu cut down the last enemy and kicked the corpse away, spitting out a mouthful of bloody phlegm. These divine-power masters were all of high cultivation realms, most at the Six Harmonies or Seven Stars realm, and there was even a Heaven-Human realm expert whom the Dragon Qilin had tangled with. His primordial spirit was powerful, and he nearly lifted the Dragon Qilin and flung it into the darkness. It was only with Shen Mu and Ban Gongcuo joining forces that they killed him inside that hundred-zhang space.