Chapter 859 — Soaring to the Azure Clouds
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Once you open the Heavenly River divine storehouse, the Heavenly River will thread through all your divine storehouses, and you will become one of the mightiest of the Imperial Throne under heaven; your achievement will shine down the ages! " The old farmer's face creased into wrinkles, and he said dryly, "I am rather dull.
I sat by the Yongjiang for many days and still could not sense the power of the Heavenly River. The woodcutter was probably right—I have trained my muscles into my brains. " Zaifu did not know whether to laugh or cry.
Just then, thunder and lightning intertwined in the sky, and countless blades of light passed through the thunder; the lightning was drawn along by the blade light, crackling as it bored into the Overlord Blade, and the blade light split again in midair, more and more of it, gathering into a tide that surged toward Shen Mu! Zaifu, the old farmer, and the others all brightened, praising him inwardly.
Zaifu said, "Bashan's Fusion of Combat and Dharma has advanced again, yet he still cannot enter the Dao through the blade, nor through thunder arts, nor through the martial way.
He is still lacking in many respects. " The old farmer said in surprise, "But this power is dreadfully great—there is something strange about it.
. .
" Even as he spoke, countless phantoms suddenly surged up around Shen Mu, as though countless Shen Mus were displaying the peerless arts of the martial way; the sky split apart amid a myriad of strange phenomena and became a single palm strike of magnificent grandeur!
A Thousand Palms Return from the Wondrous Peaks Beyond Heaven! His palm force clashed with Bashan's thunder arts and Overlord Blade; the dazzling blade light burst in all directions, spreading out flat, cleaving the clouds for a hundred li around into two, one above, one below.
The instant Shen Mu executed this move, his figure suddenly stirred, and a sword pellet appeared in his hand; the pellet became an Overlord Blade.
Shen Mu circled Bashan in the air, and the moves he displayed were precisely the Fusion of Combat and Dharma that Libationer Bashan had just used, each form and stance distinct and clear—yet the deficiencies that had marked Bashan's execution were now made whole, and the flaws repaired. Bashan stood motionless in the air, watching him perform his own peerless art around him; though it fell short in power, it was exquisite in its utmost subtlety.
After a while, Shen Mu had run through all seven forms of the Overlord Blade, and when he came to the eighth form he used only half of it, and the blade light suddenly halted.
He halted the blade light, and Libationer Bashan's chest tightened; he was so miserable he wanted to spit blood, and his hair bristled with fury. The Overlord Blade in his hand took up Shen Mu's blade light and carried the move onward, and he shouted, "This is how you use it! " The two blade lights met; Bashan used his own Overlord Blade to draw Shen Mu's blade along, carrying the eighth form through to its end.
Originally, Libationer Bashan had created the seven forms of the Overlord Blade upon the foundation of Zaifu's Nine Arts of the Heavenly Blade, and later, as Grand Libationer of the Lanjiang Academy, he had created an eighth form upon the basis of the seventh. Shen Mu had performed only half a move of his eighth form; to others it meant nothing, but to him it was suffocating, an urge he could not keep down.
Shen Mu smiled faintly and let his blade and his divine art follow where Bashan's Overlord Blade led. Libationer Bashan executed the eighth form and was about to close the move, when suddenly Shen Mu's blade drew his Overlord Blade onward, carrying him into an entirely new domain.