Chapter 348 — The Flawless Humanoid Killing Machine

Shen Mu looked at the other two. One man, one woman, both of striking and lofty bearing. Wang Muran had once said that few in Little Jade Capital were of his own age; these two had surely grown up alongside him, only a little older than he.

The girl was seventeen or eighteen and already lovely enough to stir the heart, demure and ethereal, in a gown of green shading toward blue, the cuffs and the edges of her lapels lined with blue embroidery, her sash-ribbons one green and one white, and across her brow a chain of jadeite beads, one strand hanging before her forehead while the other bound up her coiled hair. She must be fond of jade-green; even her ornaments were jadeite. Whether from the mountain wind or from her own primal essence, her ribbons streamed and flew behind her, the long green and white bands drifting like spirit serpents. "A little thin, but not as pretty as Ling Yuxiu.

Yuxiu's chest is far fuller than hers.

" Shen Mu drew his gaze back and let it settle on the other young man, who was more mature than the jadeite girl; his dress and grooming were less fastidious than hers, a long gown and long robe, a jade pendant at his waist, yet there was about him a certain air of Daoist bone and immortal bearing. His eyes were quick and alive, at one moment like scattered starlight, at the next like a blazing sun wreathed in fire.

"Little Jade Capital is foremost among the holy lands of the world, and each of them seems to cultivate a different art, none of them inferior to the Great Thunderclap Temple's or the Daoist Sect's," Shen Mu thought.

"Senior Brother Shen. " At the sight of him a spark kindled in Wang Muran's dark pupils; clearly he remembered Shen Mu. Then the light dimmed at once.

Clearly Shen Mu had reminded him of his master, Zhen the Wanderer.

He and Zhen the Wanderer had come to the Kingdom of Jingping to bar the Jingping Imperial Preceptor from riding south to put down a rebellion, and it was there that he had met Shen Mu. Shen Mu was about the same age as Shen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, Yun Que and the rest of them, so though the meeting had been brief, each had left a deep impression on the other.

Zhen the Wanderer had been killed by the Jingping Imperial Preceptor; Wang Muran had carried his master's body back to Little Jade Capital, and they had not met since.

"Brother Muran," Shen Mu saluted him and asked, "and these two, senior brother and senior sister, are. .

. ?

" "This is Senior Sister Mu Qingdai. This is my senior brother Long Yu.

" Wang Muran said, "Senior Sister Mu is a disciple of Ding Qian the Wanderer; Long Yu is a disciple of Tianyun the Mountain Hermit. " Shen Mu's heart stirred faintly.

Little Jade Capital held many lineages; likely it could produce a dozen arts no lesser than the Great Thunderclap Temple's Thunderclap Mahayana Sutra or the Daoist Sect's Primordial Grand Mystery Art.

Every so-called immortal of Little Jade Capital mastered one cultivation art or several, but did Little Jade Capital possess a supreme learning standing above them all?

If not, then however many top-rank arts were gathered here, a man's energy was finite and no one could refine them all to their very peak; after all, not everyone was an Overlord Body like himself.

Suddenly Qingyou the Mountain Hermit's voice came to him: "Xu Shenghua's skills are no small thing.

Mu Qingdai lost to him in twenty-seven moves, Long Yu in twenty-four, Wang Muran in twenty-three. But do not imagine Wang Muran is weak; in truth, of the three, Muran is the strongest.

Yet against Xu Shenghua, the stronger you are, the faster you lose. " Shen Mu started slightly and looked down; sure enough, Qingyou the Mountain Hermit was no longer in the pit.

By now the Mountain Hermit was standing off to one side with the village headman as though nothing had happened, not a scratch on him, not a speck of dirt nor a crease in his clothes, as if the one Shen Mu had just beaten was not him. "The old immortal is truly extraordinary; your speed is too great," Shen Mu praised. "I never even saw when you climbed out, or when you straightened your clothes.

" The Mountain Hermit's face took on a greenish tinge. Shen Mu went on, "Immortal Qingyou, why do you say that against Xu Shenghua, the stronger one is, the faster one loses? " The Mountain Hermit glanced at Wang Muran. "Muran, you explain. " Wang Muran assented and said, "Xu Shenghua's art is uncanny; it grows strong against the strong.

His divine abilities are uncanny too, of the adaptive kind; many of them seem to be improvised on the spot, invented on the instant.

The stronger his opponent, the stronger he grows; the finer his opponent's divine abilities, the finer his own. " Shen Mu's expression turned grave.

"He has already leapt beyond technique and reached the realm of method?

" Wang Muran said, "I cannot tell.

It may be the nature of his art; it may be that he has entered that realm. " Shen Mu fell into a daze.

If such a cultivation art existed, it would be a fascinating thing indeed.

Arts that developed creativity were exceedingly rare; in the past his Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art had been incomplete and he had had to develop and create it himself, and the Woodcutter's Transmission was likewise a method for developing creativity. But that was because the true Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art survived only among the Shen clan of Carefree Village; once Shen Mu had received the complete art from his father Qin Hanzhen, there was no longer any need for it. If Xu Shenghua's art truly could develop creativity, then it was a cultivation art of another order altogether. Against such a man, in how many moves would a duel between the two of them be decided?

One move?

Or dozens, or hundreds?

"Truly a fearsome opponent; worthy of the name of a false Overlord Body," Shen Mu murmured. The Mountain Hermit's face stiffened. He turned to the village headman and said in a low voice, "Brother Dao, an Overlord Body is one thing, but where does this 'false Overlord Body' come from?

" The village headman's face darkened as well; he snorted and said, "Your knowledge is shallow. Best not to ask.

" The Mountain Hermit gave a humph and addressed the three of them: "Human Emperor Shen is both the Sect Master of the Heaven Sage Sect and a Human Emperor, heir to two great lineages; his arts and divine abilities are exceedingly uncanny and his magic power is deep.

When you cross hands with him, do not contend with him in raw power, or he will press you down and beat you.

" At this he could not help feeling ashamed; just now he had traded magic power with Shen Mu, and had been crushed all the way down, with no chance to unleash a single exquisite move.

Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai and Long Yu listened with all their attention, committing every word to memory.

"His modes of attack are many and motley; his body arts and footwork are uncanny and his speed extreme.

Do not let him entangle you, or you will find it hard to break free. " Qingyou the Mountain Hermit continued to instruct the three: "His fist art is the Great Thunderclap Temple's Thunderclap Eight Formulas, a fist divine ability of the Indra-Heaven realm with extremely high attack power.

If you trade fists with him, his magic power and his brute strength will overwhelm you; beware.

He has also cultivated the Ling family's Nine Dragons Emperor Art, and his divine abilities are not weak either. And moreover, he weaves the art of treasure-forging into combat. You must guard against it!

" This was what gave him the worst headache: Shen Mu had uprooted a bronze pillar and wielded it as a spear, his assault overbearing, his primal essence even melting the pillar down and turning the bronze into a sword. That one blow had crushed him utterly, and what Shen Mu had used was precisely the treasure-forging method.

Forging treasures in the midst of battle and turning forging into striking power; such a way of fighting he had never encountered in all his life!