Chapter 949 — The Hundred Methods of Slaying This Man
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
" Shen Mu cleared away the tea things and went to the shore of the Jade Sea below the pavilion to wash the cups and the pot, thinking leisurely: "I have died eighty-one times at Heavenly Venerable Hao's hands, each time slain flawlessly, and never once by the same death.
He has indeed broken my Kalpa-Raising Sword, my Kalpa-Opening Sword, and my other arts. This fellow is formidable indeed. Nineteen methods remain.
.
. " Then, suddenly, his brow creased. A faint tremor passed through the space within the pavilion; clearly Heavenly Venerable Hao had sensed something! "The art of Unchanging I grasped from the peach-wood hairpin and the ghost ship is still too shallow. Trapping him is easy, but my art is far from as perfect as Heavenly Venerable Ling's.
" Alarm stirred in Shen Mu's heart: "After eighty-one cycles, the flaws have grown greater and greater.
The thread of consciousness Heavenly Venerable Hao hid within his clone has likely already spotted them!
" Within the space of Unchanging, Heavenly Venerable Hao struck Shen Mu down. Shen Mu lay on the ground, every bone in his body broken, slowly breathing his last.
Heavenly Venerable Hao stared at the corpse, the doubt in his eyes thickening. At that moment, matter flowed backward, returning to its original state; the memories in the mind of Heavenly Venerable Hao's Shen Mu clone were washed away, and all was as before.
He stood at the edge of the pavilion gazing at the Jade Sea, and across its waters Shen Mu came walking. The doubt on Heavenly Venerable Hao's face deepened.
He glanced back at the pavilion—within it lay a severed foot, dripping with blood.
He turned back to the Shen Mu walking over the sea. That Shen Mu was missing a foot, yet his stride remained utterly steady!
Bewilderment showed on his face; then bewilderment faded, and his three eyes grew clearer and clearer.
"You dare play tricks before me? What audacity!
" A consciousness of incomparable might came crashing in from beyond the heavens, striking the space of Unchanging around the pavilion! At once, in the eyes of Heavenly Venerable Hao's Shen Mu clone, the world around him shattered and crumbled away, and the true Jade Pool appeared before him!
Cold sweat sprang out on his forehead. He sensed that something was amiss, and his true body sent a bolt of consciousness from afar to break Shen Mu's spell—only thus did he escape falling back into the cycle!
Yet his true body's consciousness, crashing down as it did, would surely alert the other powers of the Heavenly Court.
Once alerted, they would come to investigate, and he would never again have the chance to kill Shen Mu silently and take his place!
His plan to fashion a new Heavenly Venerable Mu and replace Shen Mu collapsed then and there; his rivals in the Heavenly Court would never give him a second chance! Heavenly Venerable Hao was enraged.
The Shen Mu in the pavilion whirled about and saw Shen Mu standing outside, watching him with a half-smile. Heavenly Venerable Hao quickly composed himself and smiled. "Heavenly Venerable Mu, what skill.
Your elder brother admires you. " "You flatter me, you flatter me. " Shen Mu said with concern, "Heavenly Venerable Hao was not startled, I hope?
Of your Hundred Methods of Slaying Mu you have demonstrated only eighty-two; eighteen remain unseen. Shall we go through it again?
" Heavenly Venerable Hao's heart went cold, but he smiled. "I think that will not be necessary.
" "I think it is.
" From between Shen Mu's brows, a sword elixir drifted slowly out of his third eye, slowly reshaping in the air into a precious sword.
Shen Mu smiled. "You cannot get away, and you are fated to die here. Why not display the remaining eighteen arts of Slaying Mu?
This time I will not use consciousness arts.
I give you the chance.