Chapter 590 — The Calamity of Wuwang City

The two threw all they had into pressing forward and breaking through the uncanny forces in space. Zaifu suddenly looked down, and saw that the whole of Wuwang City had already sunk completely into the lava; below was a sea of fire.

Out of that sea of fire there suddenly welled an incomparably uncanny demonic qi. This demonic qi was unlike that of the demon race's territory in Taihuang Heaven — the latter was only spirit-qi tainted with demonic nature, whereas the demonic qi flowing from the cracks in space was more primal, more ancient!

That was the demonic qi of Youdu!

Plainly, the demon-monster within Shen Mu's body had woken, tearing the barrier between the world of the living and the world of the dead, linking reality with Youdu!

They had come at last before Shen Mu, only a zhang or two away — yet that zhang or two seemed infinitely far. The two of them walked with agonizing difficulty; Zaifu's saber and the Blind Elder's spear were pinned in the air by a mighty force, all but immovable!

Their flesh was squeezed by the forces surging in from every direction until it creaked and groaned; the Blind Elder's body grew smaller still, and Zaifu too was pressed a good deal shorter.

Both were nearly swollen into balls. Zaifu roused all his strength to open a road for the Blind Elder, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, while the Blind Elder, trembling, thrust out the Dragon Tuo divine spear and stabbed toward Shen Mu's third eye.

He was a great master of formations, his sealing arts exceedingly high — yet that spear could never reach Shen Mu's brow.

"Shen'er, wake up!"

The Blind Elder clenched his teeth and drove the Dragon Tuo divine spear forward with unspeakable difficulty; the skin of his hands began to split, and bead after bead of blood rose from the torn, evaporating skin and flew backward.

"Pig-butcher, I can't hold on..." Blood welled up in the Blind Elder's throat, and he spoke with difficulty.

The dragon head of the Dragon Tuo divine spear gave a mournful cry as well: "My lord, I too can hold on no longer..."

The spear tip had already begun to crumble and dissolve, and the Blind Elder's hands were trembling; the flesh and blood of his hands were beginning to break apart.

At that very moment, Shen Mu raised his palm, seized the jade pendant at his chest, and tore it off.

"Don't throw it away..." The Blind Elder forced out a turbid breath.

Shen Mu's face was indifferent. He spread his five fingers, and the jade pendant slipped from his hand, falling toward the lava and sea of fire below.

Everyone's heart sank in despair. The Lame Elder sped through one space after another, wanting to catch that jade pendant, but it was already too late.

Just then the lava suddenly surged, and two nine-curved horns rose slowly out of it, revealing a mighty god-demon with an ox's head, tiger's eyes, and a body of molten rock.

The Lame Elder hurriedly dodged aside and shrieked: "Tu Bo—"

"Tu Bo, you mean to spoil my good work again!" An angry voice came from Shen Mu's mouth.

That molten-rock Tu Bo caught the jade pendant and pointed a finger; the pendant touched Shen Mu's brow and sealed that demon eye. The moment the jade pendant touched Shen Mu's third eye, it abruptly vanished, entering into the third eye.

The dreadful disturbances all around stopped at once; the riven space returned to normal; the body of the molten Tu Bo crumbled and turned into rolling lava that plunged down into the lava sea of fire beneath the earth.

Shen Mu, too, fell headlong from the air. The Blind Elder flung out the Dragon Tuo divine spear in a panic; the spear swam through the air and became a black dragon skeleton that caught Shen Mu and bore him up into the sky, landing outside the ruins of Wuwang City.

The Blind Elder spat blood, and he, Zaifu, Granny Zhu, and the others gathered a breath and came outside the ruins, where they came down to land.

Shen Mu had fallen unconscious, and the third eye had closed. The Lame Elder came racing over and, looking at the Shen Mu who slept and would not wake, said with a lingering fear in his heart: "That thing in his eye — is it still there? Why don't we lift his eyelid and have a look, just to be sure..."

The others turned on him with savage glares, and the Lame Elder hastily shut his mouth.

Granny Zhu pondered a moment, then said: "Though that strange thing in the eye has been sealed by Tu Bo, it would still be best to make certain..."

Trembling, she reached out a hand to open the eyelid of the vertical eye at Shen Mu's brow — when suddenly that eye opened and fixed upon her hand.

Granny Zhu's heart lurched. Shen Mu sat bolt upright and said in puzzlement: "Granny, what are you all standing around here for?"