Chapter 478 — Hidden Designs

Ban Gongcuo pondered. Shen Mu's proposal was indeed offered in good faith — and with no small cunning besides.

If Ban Gongcuo broke his oath, it would amount to crippling his Soul-Bowing Witchcraft; and were he to use that witchcraft again, he would drop dead on the spot.

With the divine art crippled, his powers would no longer be so fearsome, and the art itself would become a thing of the past, never to appear in the world again. Ban Gongcuo's menace, his very presence, would be greatly diminished.

In truth, the reason Shen Mu could stand against Ban Gongcuo and beat him black and blue time after time, leaving him utterly bedraggled, lay chiefly in this: Ban Gongcuo's Soul-Bowing Witchcraft was useless against Shen Mu.

Against anyone else — even one or two realms above Shen Mu — a single bow from Ban Gongcuo would mean death, and there was no second possibility. Only Shen Mu, whose very name was a lie, could withstand Ban Gongcuo's strongest measure and force him into a straight fight.

"Good! " Ban Gongcuo said without hesitation.

"Then let us swear before the Witch God Kui! " He at once worked his Soul-Bowing Witchcraft.

Behind him an altar rose into being, and above the altar appeared the phantom of the Witch God Kui.

The two immediately swore their oaths before the Witch God Kui, each turning the other's words over in his mind for a loophole to slip through.

But they soon found that the other's oath was cunningly framed, leaving scarcely any gap at all — and such gaps as there were, were traps.

"This old (little) fox! " both thought to themselves at the same moment.

Ban Gongcuo let out a foul breath.

"I hid the Witch God's mortal body in Mount Yang, at the southernmost edge of the Wilderness Ruins, and his primal spirit I have suppressed beneath Mount Yin, at the northernmost edge. Go to those two places and you will find him.

" He raised his head and looked at Shen Mu beyond the mirror.

"Sect Master Shen, it is time you kept your word.

" Shen Mu probed: "You must have laid down seals of some kind.

Why not tell me about those as well? " Ban Gongcuo smiled a half-smile.

"Sect Master, our oaths do not cover that. Besides, even if I told you, would you dare believe it? " Shen Mu laughed heartily, his face all smiles.

"No, I would not. But my saying I will not kill you does not mean Imperial Preceptor Jingping will not kill you.

" Ban Gongcuo roared with laughter, then suddenly turned into a black shadow and squeezed out of the mirror, landing and resuming flesh. "Imperial Preceptor Jingping is held up by the Old Mother of True Heaven.

The two of them are at a critical juncture even now, and their powers are so evenly matched that neither can gain the upper hand. " He circled Shen Mu twice, then suddenly struck at him with murderous intent, chuckling.

"Sect Master Shen, our oath was that you would let me go and would not kill me — but the oath never said I could not take the chance to kill you!

" Shen Mu's expression changed sharply and he retreated at speed.

Ban Gongcuo attacked like a madman, laughing aloud, every move and stance landing with glorious satisfaction, feeling all his former humiliations vanish once more into thin air. Shen Mu was hard pressed, barely able to parry. The gap between them was not great; with attack and defense reversed, Ban Gongcuo would seize the upper hand and keep widening his advantage.

In the end, Shen Mu might truly fall at his hands.

"Great Venerable.

" Shen Mu suddenly drew his sword and struck back with all his might, smiling.

"My oath said I would not kill you — it never said I could not cut off your arms or take off a few of your legs! Set your mind at ease: this little brother's medical skill is divine.

Even if I amputate you all the way up to the neck, I can guarantee you live — at worst I will graft your head onto a pig!

" Ban Gongcuo barely escaped having an arm cut off, and retreated in a fluster, mad with rage.

"Damn you! " "Damn you! " Shen Mu raged.

"Did you not hide your own little schemes in your oath, waiting to stab me in the back?

" Ban Gongcuo dodged this way and that, utterly bedraggled, and hastily slapped the Taotie Pouch at his waist. A sword case flew out, and flying swords soared into the air one after another, forming the sixth chapter of the Dao Sword.

Seven golden lotuses reveal their marvels; the clear dawn rejoices in grace made new!

This was the sword art of the Daoist Dao Sword at the Seven Stars realm: the sword flies to the seven stars, the seven stars become lotuses, hiding the five elements within and swallowing the sun and moon — a power of tremendous magnitude.

Shen Mu bellowed and answered with the sixth chapter of the Dao Sword as well. The two sword arts collided; Ban Gongcuo was sent flying backward, then abruptly burrowed into the ground.

Shen Mu charged forward and shouted, "Fatty Long, I will wound him — you kill him!

" With that he plunged bodily into the earth.

In the distance Long Qilin had been watching all along without ever drawing near; at these words he rushed over in a frantic hurry.

He had just reached the spot where Shen Mu and Ban Gongcuo had vanished when the desert a dozen li away suddenly exploded and two figures shot up into the sky. Long Qilin was about to hurry over when, all at once, teleportation runes flickered over both men in midair and their forms disappeared.

When their figures flashed into view again, they were more than a dozen li away, sword lights clashing with a din of ringing steel.

"Those two are past masters at running for their lives — how am I supposed to catch up? " Long Qilin complained bitterly.

He was just about to give chase when Shen Mu's and Ban Gongcuo's figures vanished again and reappeared again, sword light blanketing the sky, clashing with incredible density, streaks of bloody light raining down from the air.

"Sect Master, do not run any further!

" Long Qilin looked ahead, his face changing drastically, and shouted, "The battlefield of Imperial Preceptor Jingping and the Old Mother of True Heaven lies straight ahead! " Shen Mu pursued Ban Gongcuo to kill him, and Ban Gongcuo, resolved to flee for his life at any cost, gritted his steel teeth and charged into the sandstorm. Shen Mu charged into the sandstorm as well.

The wind howled, whipping up sand and dust into a terrifying storm; within it lightning flashed and thunder rolled, and countless grains of flying sand, like countless tiny primal weapons, struck his body and nearly broke his skin, hurting fiercely.

"True Dragon Overlord Body! " Shen Mu bellowed, and the fruit of these days of fusing the Nine Dragons Emperor Art with the Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art showed itself at once: his vital essence coiled around him like a dragon, his blood coursed like a dragon without cease, his sinews and flesh were as a dragon, and every motion burst forth like thunder.

Countless grains of sand struck him and were all bounced away; he scarcely felt any pain. Two beams of light shot from his eyes, and the flying sand was vaporized by that divine radiance before it could even reach him.

Shen Mu looked around; his sight could not reach far, but Ban Gongcuo was close by, so he charged straight at him. Beneath Ban Gongcuo's feet was a great shield covered in tortoise patterns; the patterns glowed, casting a magnificent tortoise-shell design around him and shielding him layer upon layer. The sheer number of his treasures was beyond imagining. When Imperial Preceptor Jingping had smashed the Golden Palace last time, Ban Gongcuo must have carried off no small number of the primal weapons he had collected or forged over these ten thousand years; this tortoise-patterned great shield was clearly another treasure of formidable power.

The two met within the sandstorm.