Chapter 727 — The Old Stubborn Bull
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 4
Over a hundred li from the center of the blast, Shen Mu crawled out of a huge crater in a sorry state, his clothes hanging in tatters. He slapped at the flames still burning on him; sputtering and hissing, they scorched his body until the air around him carried a smell of roasted meat. A moment ago, he had ignited the Heavenly Fire with his demonic essence, and the explosion had come without the slightest warning.
Fortunately, he had been cautious and used only a wisp of demonic primal qi to drive the Heavenly Fire, so the blast that followed was not terribly violent — it had merely hurled him a hundred li away.
Even so, it had nearly blasted the life out of him; luckily, he had cultivated the Creation Art of the Red Sovereign and the Bright Sovereign, and so had managed to keep his life. "Youdu belongs to the demonic path, and Xuandu to the divine path," he muttered.
"Using the demonic qi of Youdu to kindle the Heavenly Fire of Xuandu was bound to go wrong, it seems. " The youth extinguished the demonic flames on his body, then glanced back over his shoulder.
The back of his clothes had also been blown into several large holes, exposing half of a snow-white buttock. These clothes had been forged by Yu Zhaoqing together with the masters of the Skyfeather Clan, and they were wonderfully made — the garment could grow or shrink at will, and could even change color with his mood, so that it was never monotonous.
He had worn them all this while; now they could no longer be worn. "I will just have to ask Sister Yu for help and have a few new sets forged.
" He rose into the air and felt a cool draft at his backside. Shen Mu returned to the center of the explosion to find his sword core. During the blast just now, he had aimed the force of fire directly at the sword core, and the core had borne the full collision of demonic fire and heavenly fire; he had no idea whether it had been scorched or blasted apart.
"Eh?
" Shen Mu gave a soft exclamation.
The sword core had shrunk a great deal more, and was now only the size of a fist — whether part of it had been vaporized, or whether it had truly been forged into something smaller, he could not tell.
At this moment the sword core gave off a calm, dim light, like a night pearl. The glow was not intense; it flowed out from the core's interior like water, held in rather than let loose, making the core look as if it were made entirely of light. He reached out and took the core in his hand.
It was exceedingly heavy and solid to the touch, no lighter than it had ever been, which showed that the great explosion of demonic fire and heavenly fire had not vaporized it.
Shen Mu was a little taken aback. Alternate tempering with divine fire and demonic fire could indeed quickly refine a sword core until the sword became like flowing water, but what had just happened was a violent explosion of demonic fire mixed with heavenly fire. To have the sword core refined to a flowing-water state under those circumstances was almost beyond belief.
He gripped the core tightly. Inside it, a sword like a stream of light seeped out between his fingers, bending and streaming at his will. This sword light was very serene, very mysterious.
When it cut through the air, it made no sound at all; even at lightning speed, no whistle of parting air was heard — a silence so profound it was frightening. And yet, when Shen Mu gently stroked the sword light, he could distinctly feel the cold, solid texture of the blade.
This nature told him that the sword's flexibility had reached a degree nearly equal to flowing water, while the blade's strength was extraordinary as well. Both the toughness and the strength of the sword core had attained a perfect level. "My own skill in forging and smelting has never reached such a level," he thought. "Even Grandpa Mojiang might not be able to do as much.