Chapter 1182 — Only the Bold Dare Cross the River
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
In the eyes of each Creator, the two qi of black and white swirled, as though in wonder; yet they had little thought of their own, and the moment Shen Mu's shout rang out, these Creators howled and charged at him once more!
Those aloft remained aloft; those treading the cliff walls to either side remained upon the cliff walls; those running along the ground broke into a furious sprint!
Their axes and picks still followed their original trajectories, bearing the subtle mystery of the Dao of Yin and Yang, as they came slashing at Shen Mu from every angle!
Boom!
A violent tremor swept through, and in the heavens the black and white yin-yang fish appeared once more, revolving one about the other.
At the foot of the mountain, Dragon Qilin raised his head to look, and wonder stirred in his heart: "This all seems... as though it has happened before..."
Within the mining grounds, time seemed to return once more to its starting point.
Those Creators slaughtered Shen Mu and beat him into a pulp, yet the next moment they had each returned to their former positions, leaning on their axes and picks, standing in an inverted-V formation.
Shen Mu still stood before them, laughing heartily: "Come on—"
Everything seemed to replay itself once more; the Creators charged again, swung their axes and picks again, and once more that incomparably brilliant and terrifying power erupted, the yin-yang fish revolving at the vault of heaven.
Yet this time, Shen Mu survived the blow, standing unsteadily amid the many Creators, not having fallen.
Each time the moves he brought forth were different, and these three times had already let him seek out a path of life.
Shen Mu grinned, his mouth full of fresh blood, and chuckled: "I didn't die..."
Pfft.
Behind him a Creator swung up its axe and pick; the blade stabbed into his forehead and smashed him to bits.
Shen Mu once more stood there perfectly intact, laughing heartily, and cried: "Come on—"
At the foot of the mountain, Dragon Qilin, Yan'er, the Void Beast, and the tiny Earth Count had already grown accustomed to the two black and white pillars of light and the yin-yang fish that appeared from time to time in the sky, and went on about their own business.
The tiny Earth Count lay sprawled atop the Void Beast's head, and together with the Void Beast stared drooling at the primeval giant beasts that came and went uncannily upon the mountain. Yan'er took out the treasure-gathering basin that the Divine King Langwan had given her, intending to conjure more spirit pills, while Dragon Qilin lay dozing before the gate of the village.
And within the mining grounds, Shen Mu was shattered time and again, and revived time and again, each time living a little longer.
Clearly, a self-consciousness had been born within this Taiji ore vein, and it recognized that Shen Mu was using this scoundrel's trick to make himself ever stronger and his understanding of the Dao of Yin and Yang ever deeper, so it simply took advantage of his death to assimilate him first and turn him into a part of the mining grounds!
The yin and yang qi left the bodies of those Creators, and the Creators swiftly turned to stone, becoming stone statues one and all!
Yet when the yin and yang qi bored into Shen Mu's flesh and blood, they clashed violently with the divine ability of Material Immutability; the Shen Mu beaten into pulp now gathered together, now turned into blocks of stone, now flesh and blood appeared again, now became a many-headed monster, now again took on the form of Shen Mu!
Upon the foundation of the Dao of Creation, Heavenly Venerable Ling had opened up the divine ability of Material Immutability, and it clashed violently with the yin and yang qi; the one was Material Immutability, the other the transformation of matter, evolving all things and even life itself.
Of such a clash, one side must surely lose.
If the Immutability ability lost, Shen Mu died.
If the yin and yang qi lost, Shen Mu lived.