Chapter 531 — Mystic Mastery of the Battle Array

The river of blood parted. The eight-clawed woman saw the starlight within the moonlight, and all eight claws moved at once, stabbing madly at the points of light. A burst of ding-ding-dings rang out, and the moonlight and starlight passed through her body; the eight-clawed woman was torn into four pieces.

The sixth stance of the Butcher's Livestock-Slaughtering Saber Art: Long Sabers Hang the Moon's Soul, Swift Horses Startle the Stars' Essence.

Shen Mu released his grip. The two long sabers flew up and split into countless flying swords that whirled around him, blocking the thousands of demon sabers that came cutting in.

He struck backhanded with a seal, and the demon saber master charging at him gave a muffled groan and burst apart entirely.

Boom, boom, boom—thunder crashed, exploding for more than ten li. Wherever Shen Mu's Yin-Yang Heaven-Flipping Hand passed, men and horses were overturned.

He struck forehanded with a seal, freezing more than ten li. Then he touched his fingertip to his brow, and sword after sword spun forward along the path carved by the Yin-Yang Heaven-Flipping Hand, grinding ahead—leaving a river of blood in their wake!

Sword-Circling Style!

Suddenly two great pythons coiled around his body, spinning madly. A snake woman flew through the air, her arms transformed into serpents, binding him fast.

Shen Mu looked up, and two rays of light shot from his eyes. The snake woman's chest was pierced open, and she was nailed flying through the air—yet her serpent arms still carried him up into the sky.

Below, a hideous woman suddenly slapped the gourd behind her. The gourd's mouth opened, and with a whoosh, blood-colored demonic qi sprayed from it, shooting straight for Shen Mu in the air.

"True Dragon Overlord Body!"

Shen Mu roared, snapping the serpent arms. He struck out a seal, and behind him a volcanic phenomenon suddenly appeared—a great volcano towering high, then abruptly erupting!

Primordial Magnetism Blazing Fire Palm!

He brought his palm down, and the blood-colored demonic qi burst into flame, burning to ash along with the hideous woman.

"A fine divine power! Among the Seven Star Realm divine-power wielders I have seen, you rank in the top ten!"

A harsh voice rang out. Shen Mu's heart jolted. He looked down and saw a heavenly demon general charging onto the altar, raising his head to look up at him.

Banners were planted in rows behind that heavenly demon general. Suddenly his body shook, and he revealed four heads and eight arms, holding long sabers. The four sabers crossed, his footwork unfathomable, and he cut down the entire army of divine-power wielders charging onto the altar.

"Primordial Spirit Leaving the Body!"

The heavenly demon general suddenly slapped the flat of his saber against his brow, and a primordial spirit more than ten zhang tall leaped from his body, roaring at the sky. He raised a hand and struck a seal at Shen Mu—a great hand-seal fully half a mu in size, its lines tangled, displaying demonic patterns of every hue, flickering bright and dim.

The demonic patterns danced. Before they even reached Shen Mu, chains of demonic runes appeared around him, binding him fast.

The power of this palm strike was so great that he absolutely could not withstand it!

The Carefree Sword and the other flying swords were on their way, but it was far water trying to quench a nearby fire.

At that very moment, Shen Mu saw, in the distant enemy camp, the Woodcutter Sage curl his five fingers, fusing the various divine powers recorded in the Great Nurturing Nether Demon Scripture into one, unleashing its might and shattering a demon god. A flash of inspiration struck him, and he too curled his five fingers in the same way.

His Mystic Body Three Elixir Art suddenly began to circulate according to a wondrous rhythm. The spirit fetus merged with the soul; the Five Luminaries blazed; the Six Harmonies were unified; the Seven Stars hung in the sky; the sun and moon cycled.

Bang, bang, bang—a surging, majestic power poured from Shen Mu's body, snapping the demonic rune chains around him. He raised his hand to meet the heavenly demon general's primordial spirit and its ferocious palm.

Shen Mu gave a muffled groan, his body flung high, shooting toward the upper sky—but the upper sky was filled with the divine powers of countless gods and demons, the might of divine weapons and demon weapons raging unchecked. To fly up there was certain death with no burial ground!

Countless runes surged around him, wrapping him and spinning with a clatter. In the instant before he would have plunged into the forbidden zone of the sky, Shen Mu's figure vanished.

Bang—

He crashed down more than ten li away. The terrifying force of the heavenly demon general's primordial spirit palm still sent him tumbling and rolling, knocking over swaths of divine-power wielders charging into battle.

Shen Mu rolled dozens of times before he finally steadied himself.

Countless divine-power wielders rushed forward past him, raising all manner of primordial weapons as they ran. In midair the primordial weapons slanted down like rain, studding the ground ahead, and who knew how many demons were buried beneath those saber and sword primordial weapons.

"I'm still alive?"

Shen Mu hastily felt over his body and found that although he was covered in wounds, the heavenly demon general's seemingly certain-kill strike had not harmed him. He was both startled and delighted.

"That move of the Woodcutter Sage—its power was inconceivably great! Could it be that he knew I was in danger and deliberately used that move so I could learn it and survive a certain-death situation?"

He reached out and grasped at the air. The Carefree Sword came whistling over with the other flying swords and transformed in his palm into a sword elixir.

Suddenly, a crisp voice came from behind him: "I think I've seen you before!"

Shen Mu turned to look, and saw a majestic deity appear behind him. On that deity's shoulder, a girl with two long braids tilted her head and studied him.