Chapter 223 — The Dead End of the Yellow Springs

Shen Mu shook Yuan Shan off and swiftly glanced around. The treasure ship had been riddled with holes by flying swords, leaking wind on every side.

That Yuan Shan of the Yuan Gong Sword Sect was nimble in body, leaping, thrusting, and striking with a swordsmanship both keen and uncanny; fortunately the hull was cast of dark iron and sturdy enough to weather the assault of this sword master. Even so, the cabin was leaking wind, and it dragged the treasure ship slower. On top of that, the prow had rammed into a gigantic sword of ice and been cut open with a great gash; when it flew at full strength, wind poured into the hull, and its speed was now far below its peak.

"If I could stop, I could repair it in half a day—only these fellows won't give me half a day.

Fortunately, the Barren Ruins aren't far now. " He had barely thought this when Xue Hu'er's voice reached him: "Young Master, the bronze beast on the bottom of the ship has had its head cut off.

Is that serious? " Shen Mu was taken aback for a moment, then said, "It's nothing serious.

Just a bit of a bumpy landing. " "How bumpy?

" The little fox poked her head out of the cabin, blinking as she asked.

Puzzled, Shen Mu said, "Why do you ask?

" "We're out of medicine.

" Xue Hu'er said in her crisp, bright voice, "Haven't you noticed, Young Master?

Our ship is falling. It won't be long before it lands.

" Sure enough, Shen Mu saw that though the treasure ship still flew forward, it had already begun to sink slowly into the sea of clouds. Shen Mu said decisively, "Ling'er, wake that pig up.

It's his turn to pitch in!

" The Dutian Demon King flew into a rage: "Who are you calling a pig, you brat?

I've been pitching in all along! " Xue Hu'er shot him a glare: "Nobody's talking about you. Look at you, all puffed up.

The Young Master means Long Pang. Long Pang, get up, stop sleeping—the ship is about to land, and the Young Master says it'll be bumpy!

" The dragon qilin slowly rose and crawled sluggishly out of the cabin, belly dragging on the ground, rather displeased.

In a muffled, rumbling voice it grumbled, "A few days ago you were still calling me Big Dragon. .

.

" "Can this fellow even fly anymore? " Somewhat worried, Shen Mu swiftly swept up the remaining New Year goods in the cabin and stuffed them into the Taotie Bag; then he pinned down the Dutian Demon King and tried to shove him in as well. The mouth of the Taotie Bag was not large—only a single leg could barely be squeezed inside. Just as Shen Mu was about to dismantle the demon god's body, the Dutian Demon King raged, "What are you doing?

Don't take it apart! My consciousness is scattered through this body right now—if you dismantle it, you'll scatter my consciousness as well. .

.

Don't you know how to use this bag? Use your primal energy to light up the Taotie's mouth.

.

. " Shen Mu's eyes lit up.

His primal energy surged forth and lit the Taotie pattern on the bag; all at once the bag's opening expanded into an enormous Taotie maw more than sixty zhang wide, and with a single gulp it swallowed the Dutian Demon King whole.

"This really is much more convenient. " Both startled and delighted, Shen Mu tied the bag at his waist and leaped onto the dragon qilin's back with Xue Hu'er, shouting, "Abandon ship!

Go! " Fire clouds sprouted beneath the dragon qilin's feet and it rose from the ship; the vessel had already dropped below the clouds and begun its descent. In its honest, simple voice, the dragon qilin said, "Sect Leader, Sister Ling'er, you two have gotten fat again, haven't you? Much heavier than before.

" "You're the one who's fat! " the little fox snapped.

"Look at how fat you've gotten now!

The elders in the Young Master's household are very fierce—if you keep getting fatter, you'll be slaughtered for the New Year! " Just as she spoke, the treasure ship struck a great mountain with a thunderous boom and split apart.

Three pill furnaces exploded, and three more tremendous blasts followed; shattered dark iron and dark copper flew whistling in all directions. The violent shockwave destroyed swaths of mountain forest, and above the woods billowed black mushroom clouds, dark as pitch.

Xue Hu'er was startled and looked at Shen Mu: "Young Master, didn't you say the landing would just be a bit bumpy?

" "Mm. " Shen Mu nodded, then shouted, "Long Fatty, if you don't run faster, you'll be eaten before the New Year even comes! " The dragon qilin shuddered and scrambled into a headlong sprint.

The fire clouds beneath its feet churned and thickened, greatly increasing its speed—yet after running only a dozen li it was already panting hard. At that moment, more than ten mirrors suddenly rose up around the dragon qilin.

These mirrors rose from the peaks below.

Each was octagonal, and they came howling to surround them. Facing the wind, the mirrors swelled to about a zhang across, hovering a hundred zhang or so away.

Seeing danger, the dragon qilin sank downward—but at that moment a mirror flew up from below and blocked its path. As it tried to run upward, another mirror hung inverted above. A sword light flew out from the mountain with a ding and shone upon one of the mirrors.

The mirror reflected the sword light onto another mirror.

Then mirror after mirror reflected one another, while more sword lights flew up from the peaks below and were bounced back by those mirrors.

The sword lights multiplied until in an instant they became a net, denser and denser! And from the peaks, even more sword lights came flying, shooting toward the mirrors.

"What a bizarre formation!

" A chill ran down Shen Mu's spine. This was a sword formation that used mirrors to lay its trap; the mirrors reflected the sword lights, making them ever denser with almost no loss of power.

"But breaking this sword formation is simple enough—just destroy the mirrors.

" Shen Mu raised his hand, and the Chubao Sword slashed down at one of the bright mirrors.

Suddenly countless sword lights struck the Chubao Sword; a burst of ding-ding-dings rang out, and the sword was knocked down! It wobbled and fell into the forest below. "His cultivation is far above mine. I'd guess a divine-ability practitioner of the Six Harmonies realm, or maybe the Seven Stars realm.

" Shen Mu's heart sank a little.

He drew out the sword sheath, preparing to recall the Chubao Sword. The dragon qilin's room to maneuver was growing narrower and narrower—then it suddenly shook its head, opened its mouth, and let loose a mighty roar.

The roar was like ten thousand thunderbolts exploding in unison; the mirrors in midair shattered all together with a clattering crash! The incomparably dense net of sword lights, robbed of its support, vanished at once. From the peak below came a startled voice: "What a formidable beast!

To think its skill runs so high! " Hearing itself called a beast, the dragon qilin flew into a rage and spat a ball of flame down at the peak.

A sword light flew off to one side from the mountaintop—man and sword merged as one to dodge the dragon qilin's attack. The peak exploded with a thunderous roar; billowing clouds of fire swept and crashed in all directions, forcing man and sword apart and sending them tumbling and rolling into the forest.

But the man still did not die.

He shot into the air, a bright mirror hovering before him; the mirror's light blazed, and a pillar of sword light swept over. The dragon qilin took to its heels, leaving the sword light behind. Yet the sword light was still faster than the dragon qilin. It caught up behind them, and the dragon qilin's body swayed, growing larger and larger, revealing its true form—a colossal beast over forty zhang long.

Its enormous tail swept backward and smashed the sword light to smithereens.

"What a huge beast! " The swordsman was stunned for a moment, then cried out involuntarily. The dragon qilin flew into a fury.