Chapter 730 — A Paintbrush Cannot Capture Its Spirit
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Beneath the Southern Heaven Gate, a woman suddenly gave a muffled grunt; crushed by pressure so solid and heavy that her bones snapped and her sinews broke, she abruptly shriveled by a full head and was pressed flat to the ground, vomiting blood without cease. A youth walking along suddenly had his leg bones shatter. Another's body burst open in small holes, blood sputtering outward in gushing torrents.
Still another suddenly vomited mouthful after mouthful of blood, his five organs and six viscera burst apart under the immense pressure! As for the others, it was as if they were bearing the Southern Heaven Gate on their backs; some were crushed until their bodies shrank without cease, yet they still advanced against the pressure, and with each step they took the pressure abruptly surged, crushing them until they stood less than five feet tall.
On they went, and their bodies grew smaller still; soon they were crushed to less than a foot in height. Some were crushed to the point of collapse, kneeling with both hands braced against the ground, vomiting mouthful after mouthful of blood, until their arms could no longer support the pressure of the Southern Heaven Gate and their arm bones shattered.
Many more shouted in repeated explosions, their fists and feet swinging wide and open, using the divine powers of their flesh to hold firm against the pressure of the Southern Heaven Gate; their fists and feet were like axes that split open the heavens, cleaving through the pressure step by step as they advanced.
Shen Mu frowned deeply, staring at the Southern Heaven Gate in shock and doubt.
Could this gate really be the doorway of the Imperial Throne, a pressure so immense that only true gods could bear it?
How could divine-power practitioners of the life-and-death realm withstand such crushing force? If this was the Southern Heaven Gate of an Imperial Throne powerhouse, then only true gods would have the strength to cross it; anyone who had not cultivated to true godhood would be crushed, even pressed to death!
The Martial Heavenly Master could not possibly intend to eliminate them by such means, could he?
"The runic marks on the Southern Heaven Gate have not fully lit up. " Shen Mu observed that among the textures and patterns on the gate, not even one percent had kindled, which meant the pressure was still far from the level of a true god.
Clearly, the Martial Heavenly Master also knew how to keep within bounds. Though these gods had already been walking for a long time, the Southern Heaven Gate was too tall and too wide; they had still not crossed half the distance.
Clearly, as the pressure grew greater and greater, this single gate alone would eliminate more than half of the divine-power practitioners. Shen Mu stripped off his clothes, bared his torso, and bound up his trouser legs, laughing: "Dragon Fatty, there is no need for you to go in.
Watch over my clothes for me.
" He handed his garments and the Taotie pouch to the Dragon Qilin, bare-handed, carrying no weapon at all.
The Dragon Qilin sighed with relief, took the clothes, and asked, "Sect Master does not need the sword elixir?
" "No need!
" Shen Mu gave a low shout, one hand rising and one hand falling; azure dragon patterns emerged on his back, gradually coalescing into a great azure dragon. The azure dragon flew out from his body and coiled around his flesh.
He stretched his body again, his bones and sinews crackling; the azure dragon dispersed, and white tiger patterns appeared on his back.
A white tiger leapt out from behind him, its roar shaking the mountain forest. He extended one leg back and bent the other in a crouch; black tortoise patterns emerged, and from beneath his feet rose a great turtle with a dragon's head and a tortoise's body, treading a black sea, a thousand-winged soaring serpent coiled about it, fierce and savage.
Shen Mu spread his arms; the black tortoise dispersed, and behind him flames shot into the sky.