Chapter 599 — Nine Phoenixes Alight on Cangwu

The Lame Elder flew into a fury and bellowed: "Little Shen! You have thrown away every last one of your Lame Grandpa's fine traditions! You would rather go learn brawling and savagery from that pig-sticker, the Butcher—and sooner or later someone will cut you in two with a single stroke. .

.

You pig butcher, what is that expression on your face? Put the blade down. Let us talk this over properly. Everything I say, I say for Little Shen's good. . .

" He cautiously pushed the blade away from his neck.

Shen Mu laughed: "Rest easy, Lame Grandpa. I know my own measure.

The so-called Imperial Throne cultivation method was created by those who came before; it is not one's own. How much power it can unleash still depends on one's own comprehension and cultivation—and there it drops a grade. The Imperial Throne method becomes the Lingxiao method. Moreover, in the Jingping Reformation, the Heavenly Court never underwent reform, and Qi Jiuyi's Imperial Throne method could not possibly have been tempered by that Reformation, so it drops another grade still—from the Lingxiao method to the Yujing method.

" In a few words, he had demoted the Imperial Throne method by two whole grades.

"The Yujing method still stands several grades above a True God method! " the Lame Elder said coldly. "True God, Yaochi, Zhanshentai—only after that comes Yujing! " Shen Mu, brimming with confidence, said: "I created my True God method myself.

Because it is my own creation, I can draw out its full power, and that raises it a grade—enough to rival the Yaochi method. Add to that my Overlord Body, and it essentially stands level with the Zhanshentai method.

The gap is not great. " The Lame Elder choked with rage. Granny Zhu said: "Lame Elder, this is precisely why you have still not crossed the Divine Bridge into the Heavenly Palace. You are too timid.

You shrink and hesitate, terrified that you cannot make the crossing—when in truth your cultivation is more than enough to cross the Divine Bridge. It is fortunate Little Shen did not take after you. Take after you, and he would never amount to much. " The Lame Elder could not work himself into a rage at her.

"Fine, you all spoil him! " he seethed. "I wash my hands of it. We will see how soon he gets beaten to death!

" For all that, he cared for Shen Mu deeply. In those years, after Granny Zhu picked Shen Mu up by the riverbank, he was the first in the village to accept the boy.

Granny Zhu, disgusted by his bed-wetting, had given him away—and it was the Lame Elder who, again and again, patiently stole him back. When Shen Mu grew a little older and had no playmates, it was this old rascal who kept him company—usually by tormenting him, snatching the candied hawthorns Granny Zhu bought him, seizing the toys Lord Huo made for him. Every time, he reduced Shen Mu to tears and earned himself a beating from Granny Zhu, and only then was he satisfied.

In those years, every one of them was in despair.

The Blind Elder's Dao-heart had been shattered by Xing'an; Granny Zhu feared the Fan Xuanshu hidden within her Dao-heart; the Silent Craftsman bent over his forge in silence, speaking to no one; the Alchemist was mired in debts of love; the Deaf Elder would have nothing to do with anyone; at the sight of Shen Mu, Lord Huo thought only of his wife and child, dead before their time; and the Butcher, knowing the truth of the azure heavens, often went mad. At that time none of them had untied the knot in his heart. In the whole village, only the Lame Elder had been driven into Yincan Village by the Jingping Imperial Preceptor—he carried the lightest burden of all, and that was why he could give Shen Mu his whole heart. Across from them, Vajra caught sight of all this noisy quarreling and was astonished.

Among gods and demons, dealings were always courteous; even sworn enemies treated one another with respect. Gods and demons like these of Yincan Village, squabbling day in and day out, were rare indeed.

"Zhe Huali, in your duel with Young Master Qi, you must be careful.

" Vajra did not try to stop him.

"You have now finished your training," he said.

"There is nothing left that I can teach you. The same is true of your other master, Luo Wushuang. From now on you must cultivate and comprehend on your own.

This battle with Young Master Qi is your heart's wish. I will not hold you back. Go. " As a Demon Lord of the demon race, he possessed a rare magnanimity. Though they stood on opposing sides, Vajra's bearing compelled admiration. Zhe Huali thanked him and turned his gaze upon Qi Jiuyi.

In his eyes, blade lights seemed to crisscross and clash.

His blade art had only just taken shape; he urgently needed a battle to prove his strength!

"Vajra, this disciple of yours is no match for Young Master Qi," Lu Li said in a low voice.

"You have no idea how terrifying his lineage is! His master traces back to an ancient giant of the Heavenly Court, a being from remotest antiquity!

The Desolate Wastes were created by that being! " The face on Vajra's left side spoke calmly: "And what of it? From antiquity to this day, the arts of the Dao and divine powers have changed so many times; what is ancient is not necessarily strong.

You make a myth of the Heavenly Court. Zhe Huali is not of the demon race, but he has inherited my spirit.

The stronger the foe, the stronger he becomes; the more he fights, the braver.

And his comprehension is exceptional—the Blade God's single stroke that slew Lord Yangxing was enough to grant him enlightenment. Who else has such terrifying comprehension? In this battle, Zhe Huali may not lose! " Lu Li gave a cold snort and said no more.

Zheng— Blade light flared; Zhe Huali struck! His very first move was Luo Wushuang's blade art.

The blade light split and multiplied; the demon blade in his hand thrilled to life, its demon eye opening wide, locking hard onto Qi Jiuyi. The blade light divided, its numbers doubling! Qi Jiuyi stood rooted, unmoving—then suddenly firelight whirled at his back, like the wings and plumes of a phoenix, sweeping out to meet the blade light.

Wings and feathers tumbled and beat; the gorgeous plumage met the demon blade and was not severed. In a single instant, Zhe Huali's splitting blade art divided into tens of thousands of blade lights—yet against the phoenix feathers it could never break through. One after another, fiery pinions burst through the blade light and flew straight at Zhe Huali.

Zhe Huali's figure abruptly vanished; the next moment it flickered in and out of being. With each stride he took, his form paused a beat, and the demon blade in his hand came crashing down. He unleashed every basic form of the blade art—now like a blazing sun bursting forth, now like a demon god cleaving a mountain, now like lotus flowers and leaves over a pond—a ceaseless parade of strange manifestations, blade light filling the sky as it slashed toward Qi Jiuyi. His speed was immense.

The flesh of a young True God let his speed leave trail after trail of afterimages—a speed in no way inferior to Shen Mu's now. Such speed, such a powerful physique, spread his afterimages almost everywhere within a hundred mu around Qi Jiuyi.

Across that whole expanse, it was as though hundreds of Zhe Hualis appeared at once, all swinging their blades at Qi Jiuyi! Nor was that all—the sky too was filled with Zhe Huali's figure: now lying sideways, now flat on his back, now standing aslant, now head down and feet up, striking from every bizarre, vicious angle!

Qi Jiuyi still stood there, his body motionless, yet it was as though he could see all heaven and earth, all four directions. Around him the phoenix feathers bloomed outward as if swelling; more and more feathers and plumes appeared, gradually filling a space several zhang wide—and within that space Zhe Huali's demon blade could not break through at all.

The plumes, meanwhile, chased Zhe Huali.