Chapter 376 — Only Natural

"That's not the smile."

Long Jun fixed his gaze on Shen Mu's face and shook his head. "Once, your smile was the kind that made people lower every guard they had, the kind that could put a knife through their heart and still stir no suspicion whatsoever. But now you are forcing your cheer, a false smile, not that simple-hearted, guileless smile that rises from the depths of your being."

Hearing his words, Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai, and Long Yu, all at Shen Mu's side, shuddered again and again. Even the great deer's eyes betrayed a flicker of dread.

They had not spent much time with Shen Mu, but they counted themselves friends. When in his company, it was easy to forget that besides the title of Human Emperor, he bore another identity: the Sect Master of the Youmo Sect!

The foremost demon lord of the Youmo Sect!

In truth, in Shen Mu's presence it was easy to forget all his identities, whether Sect Master of the Youmo Sect or Human Emperor. Instead, one simply felt he was a friend to whom one could bare one's heart.

And now, hearing Long Jun's words, they felt a chill run down their spines.

"Truly worthy of the Youmo Sect Master. No wonder they call him the old demon lord…"

Long Yu thought to himself, "This generation's Human Emperor is truly unfathomable. Even a god like Long Jun has come off the worse."

Shen Mu shook his head. "Long Jun, you make me out to be far too terrifying. I have never schemed against my friends."

His expression was earnest, lending him an air of dependability. Seeing that look, the unease in Wang Muran and the others' hearts melted away.

"That's the very look."

Long Jun sneered. "Earnest from the bottom of your heart! And still you wear that sincere smile, even a slightly bashful smile! How laughable — you turned right around and made off with my dragon!"

His aura abruptly turned savage. It burst forth, whipping up terrifying waves of qi that lashed out in all directions. The waves slammed against the walls surrounding the great hall with a roar like breakers splitting the shore!

Shen Mu's heart lurched. He circulated the Mystic Body Three Cores Art, and in an instant his flesh grew incomparably dense. At the same time the sword sheath exploded, the Wuyou Sword swept across to bar his front, and he retreated at flying speed.

The next moment, with a thunderous boom, he and the Wuyou Sword were sent hurtling backward together. Even in midair his feet kept shifting step after step as he executed the Lame Old Man's Sky-Rending Divine Legs to shed Long Jun's immense force. But Long Jun's power was simply too great; even a wondrous technique like the Sky-Rending Divine Legs could not wholly disperse it. At last he had nowhere left to retreat, and he crashed thunderously into the wall behind him!

Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai, and Long Yu hesitated no longer. One after another they struck, each unleashing their strongest means against Long Jun.

All three were disciples of Little Jade Capital. Little Jade Capital took disciples in the traditional way: first walking the mortal world, selecting youths of the finest aptitude, then observing their conduct along with their patience, comprehension, adaptability, and every other capacity. Only after passing layer upon layer of trials would one be accepted as a disciple.

The three of them had entered Little Jade Capital in just this manner, and what they were taught were Little Jade Capital's finest arts and divine powers. Their cultivation was naturally formidable in the extreme. It could be said that every step they took was utterly solid, that in every realm they had almost no weak points at all. At the Six Harmonies realm, there were precious few under heaven who could surpass them!

What Long Yu employed was the Heavenly Eye Sword Heart. Two sword lights shot from his pupils, one horizontal and one vertical, slashing toward Long Jun.

What Mu Qingdai employed was the Daoqi Jiayan Sutra, a method of dual cultivation in Buddhism and Daoism — still as the bodhi tree, moving as an immortal's stride. Where her hand rose, ten thousand rays of light gathered into an enormous palm, yet the palm technique itself was exceedingly graceful.

Both of them had devoted themselves to a single art of Little Jade Capital, pouring bitter effort into one discipline. Wang Muran, however, took another path. Because of the death of his master, Zhen Sanren, he had learned from painful reflection and had long resolved to take vengeance on the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping. He held the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping as the enemy in his mind and cultivated a great many arts.

He knew that with only Zhen Sanren's arts and divine powers, no matter how well he practiced them, he could never surpass Zhen Sanren — and Zhen Sanren had died at the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping's hands. Only by opening a different path could he possibly surpass the Imperial Preceptor.

Qingyou Shanren and the others understood his heart as well, and they cared for him greatly, personally instructing him and passing on their own secret learnings. Thus, though Wang Muran was the youngest among Shang Cang's disciples, his cultivation and strength were the highest.

Yet none of the three's divine powers touched Long Jun.

Long Jun's speed was simply too great. What they struck was the afterimage left in his wake. Only when the afterimage shattered did they realize their divine powers had missed.

Long Jun paid the three of them no mind at all, charging straight for the hurled Shen Mu. His speed was so great that it was nearly impossible to catch!

The great deer's steps were exceedingly swift. In the space of four hoofbeats it appeared before Long Jun, antlers dancing, a match for a primal weapon.

"Out of the way, beast!"

After a single explosive boom, the great deer's body was sent flying. It tumbled out of the great hall and crashed into the torrential rain outside.

"Open your eyes!" Wang Muran barked fiercely.

Mu Qingdai and Long Yu understood at once. Long Jun's speed was too great for the naked eye to catch his traces. Only by opening pupil techniques like the Sage's Pupil or Heavenly Eye could one capture his form.

Long Jun had been checked for a moment by the great deer, his speed slowing slightly, but at once it climbed again. The air in the great hall was dragged along by his movement and compressed into a wall.

Behind him, Wang Muran and the other two felt themselves pulled forward by a powerful suction. They simply borrowed that force and charged at Long Jun.

And ahead of Long Jun, Shen Mu swallowed the blood surging up his throat. From the Taotie Pouch, countless flying swords shot up into the sky with a swish-swish-swish, and in an instant came Swordshod Rivers and Mountains!

The first move of the sword diagram the village headman had taught him — Swordshod Rivers and Mountains. The sword light flickered, and rivers and mountains suddenly appeared. Before the move's full power could be unleashed, the rivers and mountains before him shattered in an instant.

Long Jun, like a savage dragon, tore Swordshod Rivers and Mountains apart by main force and plunged into that landscape of mountains and waters.

Shen Mu's eyes lit up. The Wuyou Sword thrust out.

This was the chance he had been waiting for!

He was only at the Six Harmonies realm; Wang Muran and the others were likewise at the Six Harmonies realm; the great deer could not even beat the dragon qilin; and the dragon qilin and the other flood dragons, cowed by Long Jun's aura, dared not stir. None of them could possibly be Long Jun's match.

So the only chance to kill Long Jun was to use the sword diagram to block Long Jun's sight, with the Wuyou Sword lying in ambush behind it.

The instant Long Jun broke through the sword diagram and charged before him would be the moment the Wuyou Sword took his life!

He could not win by fighting, so he could only use cunning!