Chapter 335 — The Peerless Master Who Courts Death

The Shaman Venerable dared not delay, and at once set off for the Western Land. This time those Ban Gongcuo brought were all experts, beings who had formed their primordial spirits.

They rode treasure ships, and Shaman Kings of the Heaven-Human realm transformed into bird wings, beating them to tow the ships in flight, swift as wind and lightning.

Even so, it took five or six days to reach the border. Behind the border, sheep and cattle covered the hills and plains. Khans from every corner of the steppe had brought their tribes' soldiers, slaughtering sheep and cattle for meat.

Jingping was weak, and in the spirit of striking while the iron was hot, Ban Gongcuo personally ordered the steppe tribes to unite under Khan Luandi and attack Jingping.

At the same time he made contact with the Kingdom of Langjuxu to invade from the north, the two to divide Jingping's territory once it fell. The steppe army was halted at Qingmen Pass.

Both sides poured in more troops and more experts, and reinforcements streamed ceaselessly to the battlefield at Qingmen Pass, leaving the war at a stalemate. When Shen Mu and the others arrived, it was the critical moment of the struggle for the Duck's Tongue region — until Lizheng settled the battle with a single move, Sword Strides the Rivers and Mountains. When Khan Luandi heard that Ban Gongcuo had arrived with the Golden Palace's experts, he hastily led the steppe's many khans to welcome him in person.

Though Ban Gongcuo was nominally his son, his true identity was the Great Venerable — a fact that grieved him, yet gladdened him more. After the Great Venerable had seized Ban Gongcuo's body, the Golden Palace's attitude toward him improved greatly, and it began to throw its full support behind his bid to become overlord of the steppe. "We pay our respects to the Great Venerable!

" Khan Luandi and his followers bowed and cried out. Ban Gongcuo hurried forward to raise him up with his own hands, smiling: "You are my father in this life; there is no need for such ceremony.

I already know of the sword-light like a boundless ocean you spoke of. I have come this time to set your mind at ease. " Khan Luandi stood bowed in attendance. Recalling that sword-light that blotted out the sky like a vast ocean, he could not help but shudder: "The Nether Demon Sect Master's powers are extraordinary and his swordsmanship unmatched.

With him at Qingmen Pass, our steppe's finest cannot advance a single step! Great Venerable.

.

. " "The Nether Demon Sect Master? " Ban Gongcuo roared with laughter, stamping his feet again and again before he could stop: "The Nether Demon Sect Master is nothing but a sixteen-year-old brat!

His abilities are shallow indeed — what virtue or talent does he have to warrant such regard from you? You need not worry about him. Since he is on the other side, I will go and pay him a visit, to set your mind at ease.

" Khan Luandi breathed a sigh of relief: "With the Great Venerable and the Shaman Kings to aid us, we are certain to win victory at the first clash and pacify the Central Plains!

" Ban Gongcuo led his people into the pass. Then the gates before the pass swung wide, and he led them out of the mighty fortress toward the Duck's Tongue region. Reaching the space between the two great passes, Ban Gongcuo ordered a man to shout: "Nether Demon Sect Master Shen Mu! The Great Venerable has come to speak with you — do you dare come out of the city to meet him?

" The one who shouted was a Shaman King of Sect Master caliber; his voice was sonorous and carried throughout Qingmen Pass. Shen Mu was refining the Shenxiao Ring with the others.

Hearing the voice, he said in surprise, "That wretch Ban Gongcuo dares show his face? Kill him, and his Soul Worship Shaman Art dies with him! A pity Grandpa Tu isn't here — he'd surely be glad to do him in.

" The Jingping Imperial Preceptor had already come to Shen Mu's side, along with the Lame Elder, Lizheng, and many of Jingping's generals.

Shen Mu took out the portrait he had drawn of Ban Gongcuo's soul-worship deity; the god-devil was rendered to the life. "I've never seen it," Lizheng said, shaking his head. The Lame Elder shook his head too, and the generals all shook theirs: "This god-devil is strange.

We've never seen its like. " Shen Mu looked to the Jingping Imperial Preceptor, who wore a thoughtful expression: "When my wife and I were invited to Little Yujing, I saw a similar sculpture of a god-devil there, but I did not inquire closely. " The shouting came again from outside.

Shen Mu put the portrait away and rose, smiling: "Kill Ban Gongcuo, and there'll be no need to go to Little Yujing!

Grandpa Lizheng, you come too — if words fail, just finish him off! " Lizheng shook his head: "I am the Human Sovereign.

I cannot meddle in worldly strife, or no one will heed the Human Sovereign's word. " "Then what use is this Human Sovereign Seal? " Shen Mu wished he could throw the Human Sovereign Seal away.

The thing was truly useless and came with so many restrictions — but throwing it away would wound Lizheng, and besides, he had yet to defeat Lizheng at the same cultivation level, so by his promise he could only keep it.

"That beast Ban Gongcuo dares steal from my Shen family, and then flaunts it before me — isn't that singing and dancing on his own ancestral grave? " Shen Mu was seething, and said viciously, "Lame Grandpa, come with me!

We'll steal him blind! " The Lame Elder's eyes lit up, and he chuckled: "Let's go, you and I, and see who's the true master shadow thief!

"