Chapter 319 — Sorcery of Soul Sacrifice

The sun came out, and Shen Mu rose to his feet, slid the Sorrowless Sword into the scabbard he had carved the night before, kicked the Dragon Qilin, and roused the two white bats. The Dragon Qilin climbed to his feet, eyes bright and piercing.

"Cult Master, today's rations?

" Shen Mu rummaged in the Taotie pouch; the crimson-fire spirit pills were nearly gone, but he fed the beast until it was full.

The two white bats released their claws and dropped from beneath the eaves to the ground, and the three demon monks opened their eyes as well, taking clear water and flatcakes from their packs; their food was cakes pressed from insects. The monks of the Little Thunderclap Temple were all demons by origin, eating both meat and vegetables without scruple, with none of the many rules of the Great Thunder Roar Temple; these three demon monks were birds and strange beasts, and they still loved to eat insects, so for ease of carrying they pressed the insects into cakes.

Ding Jue broke off half an insect cake and gave it to Shen Mu. Shen Mu tasted it — it was unexpectedly good, fragrant and crisp.

The beast herd began to move, and the people among the ruins followed the herd out, each on his guard; Shen Mu alone was somewhat distracted.

This place was already near the western edge of the Wasteland, and he very much wanted to see where the darkness vanished. Since the darkness of the Wasteland surged in from the west, there was sure to be a place where it originated; find the origin of the darkness, and perhaps he could uncover the source of the Wasteland's catastrophe.

The herd walked out of the ruins. Shen Mu glanced back and gave a slight start: the treasure carriage was also coming this way, but the woman in the black scarf with braided hair and a small red flower, and the man with white cloth wound about his head, could no longer be seen — only a stag and a doe with plum-blossom spots drawing the carriage.

The stag's antlers were bound with white cloth; the doe's ears were tied with a black silk scarf, her chest hung with gold and silver necklaces, rings, and pendants and a small red flower, and above her two forehooves she wore a dozen or so bracelets of gold, silver, and jade. "So they were demons after all. " Shen Mu blinked.

Last night he had not seen that the young couple were transformed beasts; there was no demon aura on the two of them, and he had never expected they would turn out to be two deer that had cultivated into human form. "A technique of this kind is quite extraordinary — it should be an orthodox cultivation method. Are they visitors from the Western Lands?

" he thought to himself.

The hundred-odd alien adepts of divine power followed silently behind the carriage. Shen Mu looked over; a small head poked out of the carriage, two little braids tied on it, peering behind, and was at once pulled back inside by two fair hands, which shut the carriage door.

Shen Mu withdrew his gaze and sat on the Dragon Qilin's back, the Sorrowless Sword ready to leap from its sheath at any moment, while the flying swords in the Taotie pouch stirred and strained as well.

The two white bats rose without a sound and threaded through the herd, while the three demon monks, great sleeves billowing, trod the ground with bird claws and covered a great distance with every step. Ban Gongcuo's eyes flickered as he looked around.

They were in the midst of the herd now, and among the Wasteland's strange beasts there was no lack of abnormally fierce ones; the beasts had their own rules, and if battle broke out among the herd at this moment and angered it, he feared the herd would turn and attack them as well.

At last the herd began to disperse. Then, abruptly, the two deer raced off with the carriage at full speed, and the hundred-odd adepts behind them quickened their pace in turn and shot after them with wild whistles.

"Naikui, do not flee! " (Naikui, in the Miao tongue, means "the mother of the princess. ") Primal power surged within the carriage, and in an instant countless grasses and trees shot up in mad growth, swelling beyond all measure, and more than ten mu of woodland seemed to come alive.

The ancient trees of the Wasteland tore themselves from the earth, becoming tree giants; they strode on thick root-legs that stamped the very ground to trembling, their trunks turning into enormous fists that sent pursuers flying with boom, boom, boom!

The trees of the Wasteland were huge to begin with — many stood dozens of zhang tall, and not a few were as tall as mountain peaks — and, driven by the woman's wondrous divine power, they grew still more towering, their strength without limit!

The vines of the forest turned into veritable demons; thick green creepers coiled like serpents about adept after adept and strangled the life out of them!

Shen Mu's eyelids jumped. This divine power was rarely seen; it was somewhat similar to the Creation Earth Origin Skill but was far more overbearing!

For a time the earth shook and the mountains reeled as the tree giants ran rampant. Yet the remaining alien adepts reacted with extreme swiftness, each urging his own divine power; shrill cries rose from great tree and green vine alike, and white lights, half spirit and half soul, flew out of trunks and creepers, whereupon the tree giants toppled and the vines withered.

One adept waved his hand; a mountain peak rumbled, and countless boulders clattered this way and that across the ground, transforming in the blink of an eye into a mountain giant that swung a vast fist at the carriage! The doe before the carriage raised a hoof, and more than ten rings of gold and silver flew from it, looping around the onrushing fist and crushing the giant's stone fist to pieces; when the giant's other fist hammered down, the doe let out a muffled groan.

The stag stamped; countless blades of grass shot madly up from the earth, cutting like swords as they thrust into the crevices between the giant's stones, taking root and sprouting, and the mountain giant at once split apart and collapsed.

The two deer then pulled the carriage forward in a headlong dash.

"What divine power is this?

" Shen Mu was astonished. These people all seemed to borrow the might of heaven and earth, magnifying natural force, and turn it into divine power — a method completely different from those of Jingping State and the states around it. "It is the divine power of the True Heaven Palace of the Western Lands," the Dragon Qilin said in his rumbling voice.

"I once went to the Western Lands with the Patriarch. The True Heaven Palace is the holy land there.

Its divine powers differ a little from those of the Central Plains. They believe that all things have spirits, that all things have gods — that even grass, wood, and stone have spirits, with gods hidden within. So their divine powers follow the path of 'all things have spirits, all things have gods.

' The Patriarch said, 'Not bad at all. '" "All things have spirits, all things have gods?

" Shen Mu marveled.

This divine power of the Western Lands had walked a road unlike any other, and it was well worth learning from.

For the young Patriarch to praise it as "not bad at all" showed that the True Heaven Palace truly lived up to the name of holy land. The mountain giant in particular was truly stunning — a whole mountain came alive and became a giant to do battle, shaking heaven and earth; in sheer destructive power it achieved an inconceivable feat and opened one's eyes!

"It's just that the destructive power is too great!

" Cult Master Shen grew excited. "I wonder if the Western Lands still have any houses left standing? I'm afraid even a single mountain may not remain, eh? If I could learn this trick, I'd make a fine hand at demolishing mountains to build roads!

" "Strike!