Chapter 616 — Following the Same Pattern
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 4 of 4
The beak was split open in a great gash, the windpipe in the neck severed — yet the golden light of the Phoenix Shriek to the Nine Heavens falling upon him let him block Shen Mu's blade head-on, and the beak struck Shen Mu hard in the chest.
Shen Mu flew backward, tumbling and rolling to the ground, both hands braced on his sabers, steadying himself.
Qi Jiuyi, all golden radiance, beat his wings and flew over, nine heads swaying, the flying swords dropping to the earth; the nine phoenix heads slowly drew back and returned to human form, and the golden phoenix wings behind him vanished as well.
"Shen Fengqing, be still!
" Qi Jiuyi sneered, raised a mirror in his hand and turned it upon Shen Mu, saying calmly, "The Divine Child of the Nether Capital, sealed by Tubo — did you think I truly was no match for you?
I only came down into the mortal world on orders to capture you.
My aim was never to take your life, but to shatter your seal and release the true you.
This mirror was forged by the Black Emperor who governs the northern heavens in the Heavenly Court, made expressly to fix you, the Divine Child of the Nether Capital, in place!
You are quite good, to have wounded me.
.
. " "Made to fix me?
Let me have a look! " Shen Mu reached out and seized the mirror; Qi Jiuyi was aghast as it was snatched from his hand, and what met him was a pure white great saber, chopping down upon his brow. Qi Jiuyi reeled with pain, his brain nearly shattered by the blow, and before he could help it he shook himself and revealed his true form: a nine-headed phoenix, each of the nine heads hung with a slaughtering saber that had surely hacked into the brain.
Qi Jiuyi beat his wings to rise, about to flee, when Shen Mu had already stepped onto his back, one fist after another hammering down at the nine-headed phoenix beneath him, every blow landing on flesh, sending feathers flying and flesh to a bloody blur.
Below, Zhe Huali, wounded from head to foot, walked over quickly and picked up the small box from the ground, joy showing on his face — but then he raised his head and saw Shen Mu riding the phoenix to battle, and could not keep the horror from his face. "Brother Shen is truly formidable, able to suppress Qi Jiuyi; his strength is indeed a notch above mine.
The mantis stalks the cicada — but I am the oriole!
The box is in my hands, and my God-Slaying Mystic Saber will surely carry my blade art one step further into the Dao. . . "