Chapter 222 — Encircling the Lord of the Demonic Path

"This monk is a master!

" Shen Mu gave a muffled snort; his body shook violently and he transformed into the Yinghuo Star Lord — ox-headed, man-bodied, feet treading twin dragons. His Mystic Body Three-Core Art turned in accordance with the Yinghuo Fire-Phase True Art, his vital essence surged, and he braced himself hard against the pressure bearing down from above. The third eye, the ox eye at the center of his brow, opened, and a shaft of firelight shone upward.

A muffled boom sounded overhead; the great sun behind the giant Buddha's head was pierced through by the firelight, the great sun shattered, the Buddha vanished, and in its place stood a young monk. The pressure on Shen Mu eased greatly. Fire blazed all around him, and the flames, like water, swept with a hiss across the ship's hull, melting the ice that caked it.

The treasure ship picked up speed and dove into the cloud layer, pressing forward. In midair, the burly young monk stood on one leg, nine-ringed staff in hand, the other leg slick with blood, and looked around.

He had just used the Vajra Invincible Art to take Shen Mu's Drilling Sword Stance head-on, and the leg that had blocked Shen Mu's sword move was now a bloody mess: the Vajra Invincible Art had not been able to hold off the Drilling Sword Stance. Shen Mu had taken the form of the Yinghuo Star Lord and shattered the Buddha conjured by that Vajra Invincible Art, forcing him to withdraw the move. "There!

" The burly monk's eyes suddenly lit up. He gathered his strength and ran, leaping again and again over the clouds; with every step a white lotus bloomed to hold him up, giving his feet purchase so that he could unleash still greater power.

In the sea of clouds the treasure ship flickered in and out of sight.

Shen Mu looked back and saw the monk racing after him, and no slow pace either.

The men who had hemmed him in were all masters. Long Jiaonan and the woman of the Qiu family needed no saying — both were divine-ability cultivators of the Seven Stars realm — and the scholar and this young monk were no small matter either. The scholar had had his sword core split open by Shen Mu's Chubao Sword; without his essence weapon, he had caught the Chubao Sword's attacks bare-handed.

His clothes had been shredded to powder by the blade, yet the man himself was unhurt. The Chubao Sword was the sword worn by a first-rank official of the imperial court.

Shen Mu could not bring out the full might of the blade, but the sword was unmatched in keenness; that the scholar could keep himself whole spoke volumes. And this burly monk was absurdly strong as well — he had taken Shen Mu's Drilling Sword Stance head-on and come away with only a wounded leg, which showed how hard his body had been tempered.

Had Shen Mu not seen through the great sun behind the monk's head as the crux of his Vajra Invincible Art, the man would likely have pressed the treasure ship down out of the sky! Even if these two were not Seven Stars realm masters, they stood at the peak of the Six Harmonies realm.

Though the monk's leg was wounded, his speed was great, and he looked set to overtake the treasure ship. "Ling'er, faster! " At Shen Mu's command, Xue Hu'er coaxed the treasure ship to greater speed, leaving the monk behind.

Seeing the ship draw farther and farther away, the burly monk gave up the chase and praised: "A fine swift ship! " At the sight, Shen Mu's heart sank a little.

Both the monk and the scholar had pursued him with all their strength, which meant they were certain he could not escape their net. In other words, there were indeed more masters waiting for him on the road ahead!

The treasure ship flew on a while, then gradually slowed again.

Little medicine stone remained; if the elixir furnace burned at full blast, the medicine stones would be somewhat wasted, and there would not be enough to carry the ship all the way to the Wasteland Ruins.

"Once we fly out from under this cloud cover, we'll be within the borders of the Wasteland Ruins.

From there it's not far to the village — only a thousand li or so. " Shen Mu dispersed the Yinghuo Star Lord form and came to the bow to look ahead. The sea of clouds still showed no end.

The treasure ship was still swift, and the cold rushing at his face was still bearable. Just then, above the dazzling sea of clouds, he saw a strange sight: some ten li away, lights of every color were spinning without cease, casting radiance in all directions.

As the ship drew near, Shen Mu saw that the source of these lights was a host of ice pillars.

Like enormous ice swords, they caught the sunlight and threw back colors of every hue, blazing bright above the sea of clouds. Each of these ice swords was immense; a dozen men with arms linked could not have encircled one.

If they were meant to be wielded as swords, then whoever wielded them must be a giant beyond all measure. The ice swords seemed to grow out of the sea of clouds, but what was strange was that they hung there straight and spinning, refracting the sunlight into every color — clearly not a natural formation.

Shen Mu's expression shifted slightly.

Then he put the helm hard over to starboard; the tower ship of dark iron heeled until her deck stood nearly perpendicular to the sea of clouds, carving a terrifying arc as she howled past the edge of the ice-pillar grove. "Ling'er, open the elixir furnace to full blast! " As Shen Mu's shout went out, Xue Hu'er's grumbling came from the cabin: "Young Master, you always want full blast.

At this rate we really won't make it back to the Wasteland Ruins. There's truly not much medicine stone left. .

.

" Shen Mu turned a deaf ear.

He suddenly spun the helm, righting the treasure ship, and looked to the left: the huge ice swords had abruptly moved, as though a many-armed giant had suddenly drawn his blades. One after another the great ice swords clove the air with a mighty roar and hacked savagely down at the treasure ship! The treasure ship leaped forward.

Shen Mu steered her in a hair's-breadth dance, dodging one falling ice sword after another, and in his haste glanced back: among the giant ice swords walked a woman in a blue skirt, very lovely, but cold as frost and ice. The blue-skirted woman's vital essence was water-blue as well; she had shaped it into a dozen-odd arms that ceaselessly made hacking and thrusting motions, and the great ice swords answered with matching strokes!

"Good thing she can't catch me.

. . " No sooner had the thought crossed Shen Mu's mind than the blue-skirted woman's speed suddenly surged, and she came racing over the cloud layer.

As she ran, she scattered strokes at random. Shen Mu was briefly startled, and then a great crack sounded from beneath the ship; the treasure ship shuddered, tumbling and rolling through the air, nearly flinging him overboard! Shen Mu clung desperately to the helm.

When the ship steadied, he saw that above the sea of clouds ice swords were being born from the mist, hissing up through the surface of the cloud sea. The ship had just crashed into one of them; the ice sword had been shattered, but the treasure ship had taken no light hurt either. "This woman is extremely strong — a cut above that monk — and fast besides! " Shen Mu steered the treasure ship clear of one ice sword after another, but more and more ice swords kept growing from the surface of the cloud sea, making escape ever harder.

Shen Mu raged: "Where is the Dutian Demon King? " "What do you want with me? " The Dutian Demon King sauntered out of the cabin, wearing the look of a man who would sooner die than lift a finger.

At the sight of him, Shen Mu's anger flared.

He shouted: "Still want to kneel and lick toes?

If you don't want to lick, then come help! " "You think I'm afraid of you?