Chapter 596 — A Graceful Young Lord Comes from Afar

Qi Jiuyi's eyebrows rose slightly. He did not repeat his earlier words as Shen Mu had wished. His mind was exceedingly keen, and he understood perfectly the hidden barb beneath Shen Mu's words.

Shen Mu was a master of combat on the spiritual plane, skilled in spiritual suppression. When he encountered the strong, he cowered when cowering was called for and fled when fleeing was called for. But when he met a worthy opponent, from the very first glance they exchanged, he would unleash a spiritual assault.

He would begin by attacking his opponent's mind and psyche, suppressing them. Every seemingly careless gesture and word was calculated to bring pressure to bear upon the opponent's mind and psyche. That pressure would cause the opponent to place himself on the weaker side, and imperceptibly his momentum would be pressed down a notch.

And once one's momentum was pressed down a notch, one would enter his rhythm; when blows were exchanged, the subtle balance of offense and defense between the two would shift.

By then, that sliver of advantage would gradually expand, until at last it became the decisive factor in victory or defeat.

Whether it was Ban Gongcuo or Xu Shenghua, both had experienced this style of Shen Mu's.

Those who had endured it—some would develop spiritual and psychological scars, and Shen Mu would become a shadow upon their Dao heart. Others would take this shadow in their lives and turn it into the driving force that compelled them forward, making themselves braver and more ferocious, scaling one peak after another.

The representative of the former was Ban Gongcuo; the representatives of the latter were Xu Shenghua and Zhe Huali.

After Ban Gongcuo was defeated by Shen Mu a single time, he essentially lost all courage to face Shen Mu in direct combat. Whenever he encountered Shen Mu, he would involuntarily place himself in the position of the loser, retreating before a battle was even fought.

Xu Shenghua, however, though defeated by Shen Mu, grew braver the more he fought. He even went so far as to create a method that unified the Six Realms Divine Treasury and the Seven Stars Divine Treasury into one. Shen Mu had humbly sought to learn from him, and thus Xu Shenghua held a slight upper hand.

As for Zhe Huali, after his setback at Shen Mu's hands, he had walked ever farther along the path of entering the Dao through his blade. He had even actively rescued Shen Mu when Shen Mu was in danger. His Dao heart had clearly made tremendous progress, and he made Shen Mu feel considerable pressure. Thus it was that after Shen Mu felt this pressure, he set foot upon the path of entering the Dao through cultivation methods.

Combat on the spiritual plane, though unspectacular, was an immense trial of the Dao heart.

"His spiritual assault—he learned it from this blade master."

Qi Jiuyi looked toward the Butcher and thought: "This Blade God is about to do battle with Lord Yangxing, yet he voluntarily returned Lord Yangxing's hand bones to him. This is an exceedingly brilliant blade technique for striking at the opponent's Dao heart. It looks like returning bones, but in truth it is severing his Dao heart. Lord Yangxing appears to be inquiring about the flesh and blood on the hand bones, but in truth he is countering the blade technique. This Shen Mu—it is from him that he learned it."

The next stage after learning in order to apply it is the unity of knowledge and action, and clearly Shen Mu had already achieved this.

Qi Jiuyi smiled faintly. "This is not a suitable place for you to do battle. Ahead lies the great army of the demon race. If the demon race breaches the city, in the snap of a finger they can reduce this seemingly magnificent Divine City to ruins. The demon army will drive straight in, and annihilating all of you will be simplicity itself. And Lord Yangxing is also worried that you will join forces to kill him, and then cut me down as well. You worry for your own lives; he worries for my safety. Why not fight elsewhere?"

At these words, the Blind Elder, the Silent Artisan and the others all turned to look at him. Shen Mu too reexamined him, his expression grave and appreciative. He had originally thought this youth was merely Lord Yangxing's disciple, but from his words it was clear he was no simple disciple of Lord Yangxing—rather, he had some extraordinary origin.

Moreover, his words had deflected and neutralized Shen Mu's earlier inquiry, clearly demonstrating exceedingly high attainment in the Dao heart.

Such brilliant Dao heart—it even surpassed Xu Shenghua's when Shen Mu had first crossed swords with him.

At that time, Shen Mu had battered Xu Shenghua until his Dao heart nearly crumbled.

"Shen'er, this person will be a formidable rival of yours."

The Blind Elder lowered his voice. "He can see the true nature of the Divine City that the Deaf Elder painted. Varuna and all the other demon gods could not see through it, yet this man clearly possesses astonishing attainment in the Dao of the Sacred Pupil."

Shen Mu nodded. This youth could see through the Deaf Elder's painting—truly there was something extraordinary about him. He promptly asked, "How should I address you, brother?"

Qi Jiuyi smiled faintly, and Lord Yangxing said, "This is Young Master Qi Jiuyi."

Shen Mu was surprised and said slowly, "Yi means young and clever, noble and outstanding. Jiuyi means clever to the point that one head cannot contain it—nine heads are needed to hold his wisdom. I have heard that Jiuyi often refers to Cangwu, and Cangwu is the tree where the phoenix perches, the dwelling place of the phoenix. Therefore Jiuyi is often used to refer to the phoenix. Young Master Qi—you are not of the human race?"

Qi Jiuyi looked at him in surprise. "Brother Shen, your learning is profound. Might I ask who your master is?"

Shen Mu raised a hand and presented the Deaf Elder. Solemnly he said, "My master—the Painting Sage, the Deaf Elder."

Qi Jiuyi saluted the Deaf Elder and praised him. "Since he is the Painting Sage, then this city must be from the Painting Sage's own brush. It is magnificent beyond compare, and well deserves my salute."

The Deaf Elder accepted the salute with composure, his expression haughty.

Shen Mu smiled. "Young Master Qi says this place is unsuitable for our duel. Then where do you think our battlefield should be?"

Qi Jiuyi said unhurriedly, "I have heard that Brother Shen is the Sect Master of the Jingping Nether Demon Sect. Since this place is unsuitable for combat, then why don't we go to Jingping. Fighting you on your own territory—I imagine you would feel more at ease."

Shen Mu's eyes flickered. "Brother Qi, Jingping is quite far from here. It would take several days to reach it. Right now the demon race is attacking the Taihuang Heaven, and we cannot leave. Why don't I choose a battlefield instead?"

Qi Jiuyi frowned slightly. "Then where does Brother Shen choose to fight?"

Shen Mu pointed behind him.

Qi Jiuyi broke into a smile and said calmly, "In this city? This city was painted by the Painting Sage. Are you not afraid it will be smashed apart and your ruse exposed?"

Shen Mu shook his head. "I do not mean within the city. I mean before the two armies. You came here for me, did you not? Since you came for me, then let me choose the battlefield. I choose the ground between the demon race's million-strong host and this Divine City as our field of battle. Brother Qi—do you dare?"

Qi Jiuyi's brows rose.

The Silent Artisan, the Blind Elder and the others exchanged glances, faintly uneasy.

Shen Mu said "before the two armies," but in truth it was only before the demon army. After all, this city was merely painted. The million gods and demons within it, and all those countless cannons, were fake. Whether the true-essence cannons between the battlements or the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon within the city—all were paintings, pleasing to the eye but useless, with little real power.