Chapter 601 — A Seemingly Harmless Smile
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Had Qi Jiuyi not been so carried away by his own heroic ardor that he insisted on striking at Shen Mu and Zhe Huali at the same time, he would have beaten Zhe Huali cleanly, and would never have come to this pass. Both Shen Mu and Zhe Huali knew how terrifying his great divine power was, and so, the moment he attacked them both at once, they struck first and wounded him gravely; after that Qi Jiuyi was reduced to a mere garnish in their duel, and it was Shen Mu and Zhe Huali alone who fought, eight thousand flying swords and countless blades of saber-light clashing and ringing like a downpour beating upon pear blossoms.
Qi Jiuyi stood at the very center of the battlefield where the two men clashed; everywhere were the flash of Shen Mu's and Zhe Huali's blades and swords, and the instant he made ready to erupt, both of them would strike him at once. Such a scene was the last thing he had ever expected. Shen Mu and Zhe Huali moved with flying steps, now near, now far; the two contended chiefly with blade and sword, aided by spells and divine powers, and now and then their very bodies clashed in the exercise of those powers. Zhe Huali gradually gained the worse of it.
Qi Jiuyi saw his advantage, and all at once, at the instant Shen Mu attacked Zhe Huali, he struck at Zhe Huali as well, hoping to join forces with Shen Mu and finish Zhe Huali off first. Just then a chill came over his chest. He looked down and saw a sword tip protruding from his own breast.
At the same moment, Zhe Huali, struck by both him and Shen Mu, was sent flying, tumbling and rolling more than ten li before he came to a stop, gravely wounded as well. Qi Jiuyi's nine heads all turned at once, and saw on Shen Mu's face a smile that seemed harmless to man and beast alike.
Shen Mu struck out with one palm, his five fingers splayed: it was the Yin-Yang Heaven-Overturning Hand he had learned from the Third Ancestor, the Human Emperor, and between his five fingers was clasped the Five-Thunder Heaven-Supporting Bell of the Fifth Ancestor, the Human Emperor. More than ten li away, Zhe Huali had just steadied himself when the force of Shen Mu's palm came hard upon him.
His body flew up like a torn burlap sack, frozen into an ice sculpture by the pure yin force of the yin hand, and at the same time a great Five-Thunder Bell appeared above his head; a single toll of that bell would shatter him to powder where he stood frozen.
Shen Mu's other hand gripped the keen sword that the sword core had transformed into; the blade was formed of eight thousand swords, and now his mana poured into all eight thousand, each tiny flying sword brewing its own sword move. Inside Qi Jiuyi's body, the sword light even surged into his spirit treasury!
Second Form of the Sword Diagram: One Sword Opens the Sovereign, a Bloody Ocean!
Blood-colored light spread all around Shen Mu, drowning him as in a vast ocean of blood. The smile on the youth's face, lit by that crimson glow, seemed to turn uncanny and evil, enough to make one's blood run cold.
"In a group brawl, I have never lost. . . " Hearing his voice, Qi Jiuyi felt a chill run through him.
At last the power of One Sword Opens the Sovereign, a Bloody Ocean burst forth, and the Five-Thunder Heaven-Supporting Bell closed over Zhe Huali; the bell tolled! Both of these two young masters were about to die at his hands! Just then the great bell crumbled.
Vajra's mana came surging in vast waves, and one palm shattered the Five-Thunder Heaven-Supporting Bell; on the other side, Lu Li touched a single finger to the sword tip that pierced Qi Jiuyi's chest, and one flying sword after another came flying back out of his wound!