Chapter 539 — The Unyielding Stone
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
"The arm of Luo Wushuang, the Divine Blade — was it you who cut it off?
" A sudden sense of profound absurdity swept over everyone around; even Shu You, the steadiest of them, could not help laughing aloud. "Brother Shen, the grain thresher," he said, "you had best keep to your iron-hammering.
" Shen Mu withdrew his gaze, and his expression turned strangely grave. Abruptly Yu He, Huang Yue, Shu You, Sang Hua and the rest all turned, each shifting a step away from him, their hearts seized with astonishment and doubt.
For one fleeting instant they had felt the blacksmith boy beside them become suddenly like a sword on the verge of leaving its scabbard, in another moment to blaze with radiance and pierce with its keen edge — and then, just as suddenly, it slid back into the sheath. That step they took came of pure instinct, a flinching from that dreadful battle intent and killing intent.
Clang.
Clang.
The hammering rang out; Shen Mu stood before the smelting platform, wholly absorbed, tempering his flying swords still.
The others could not help but wonder whether their senses had deceived them.
And across the way, beside Zhe Huali, a demoness glanced over and said in surprise, "The man in your portrait — he looks like that blacksmith boy over there! " Zhe Huali rolled the portrait up and put it away.
"My master has sought him for a very long time," he said calmly. "My master says that whatever he has achieved in his blade arts, he owes wholly to this man. When I descended into this world, the old man once displayed his sword arts before me, and gave me this portrait, bidding me find the man in it and perform his blade arts in his presence. " The demoness could not help but shiver, then broke into a giggle.
"Your master cares a great deal for him. He had you perform the blade arts so the blacksmith boy could see how formidable his saber technique is. I can feel your master's hatred — and beyond the hatred there should be a thread of respect as well. But the blacksmith boy is only a youth; how could he draw your master's attention?
" "That, I do not know.
" Zhe Huali's gaze settled on Shen Mu. "Only a few months ago my master reached across worlds to contact me, saying that the man he sought had appeared, and telling me to go to that world and find him. But with the great war at hand, I had no leisure to go, and never imagined I would meet him here.
" He let out a breath of foul air and said in a low voice, "A man whom even the God of Blades holds in such esteem — I am very much looking forward to meeting him!
" Shen Mu, hammering his iron, seemed altogether unaware of that gaze, forging his flying swords as though there were no one else in the world; yet Zhe Huali keenly sensed that his gaze still made the youth somewhat uncomfortable. When his eyes fell upon Shen Mu, he could distinctly see Shen Mu adjusting his stance.
Zhe Huali smiled and could not help growing excited; the eye on his demon blade grew excited with him, spinning several turns before becoming one great blood-red eye.
Suddenly Vajra's voice came: "Celestial Master, since everyone has arrived, let us begin. " The Woodcutter Sage said, "Shall we set some rules?
" "Rules?
In a life-and-death struggle, what rules are there?
" Vajra laughed heartily.
In the plaza that great black spear was humming and quaking; the plaza split, the ground burst with a crackling roar, and gullies stretched away in every direction. Shen Mu and the others at once lost their footing and hurriedly stirred their vital essence.
The Woodcutter Sage's brows twitched; that great axe of his trembled too, contending with the demon spear.