Chapter 617 — Too Hot to Hold

Zhe Huali's gaze flickered as he studied the box, trying to pry it open. But the little box was fitted so tightly that there was no seam to wedge apart; even when he hacked at it with his demon blade, he could not leave so much as a scratch on it.

Cold sweat broke out on Zhe Huali's brow. He tried every divine power for breaking seals, and even ran through the demon-path arts that Binding Sun Luo had imparted to him, but the box would not open.

He looked up and saw phoenix feathers drifting down through the air like autumn leaves in the wind — not withered yellow leaves, but blood-red maple leaves.

Shen Mu was riding Qi Jiuyi in midair, plucking feathers and hammering away, beating that nine-headed phoenix until blood was everywhere on its body.

Yet Qi Jiuyi was fierce beyond measure. Though its nine heads had taken the blade, it twisted its necks around, and the nine phoenix beaks opened wide to spew out bolts of dark radiance to cut Shen Mu down.

Shen Mu paid it no heed and kept hammering savagely, while the Butcher's Blades on Qi Jiuyi's nine phoenix heads suddenly flew out, leaving only the nine flying swords still lodged in the phoenix heads.

The other flying swords deployed Sword-Treading Mountains and Rivers, forming the pattern of a landscape before Shen Mu. No matter how the nine heads bombarded it, the landscape pattern never broke.

And Shen Mu's hammering was truly too ferocious. The divine powers he used to pound Qi Jiuyi's body were not mere physical-body arts — he brought out the Yin-Yang Heaven-Flipping Hand, the Five Thunders Sky-Supporting Bell, and the like, and at times a myriad stars and constellations floated up behind him as he unleashed the Great Luo Heaven Star Palm Force.

The might of any one of these arts was enough to split mountains and shatter stone, and they were not only divine-path arts — from time to time Shen Mu also deployed eerie, sinister demon-path arts. Though inferior in raw power to the divine-path arts — likely because he had not invested much effort in demon-path arts — the demon-path arts were aimed precisely at Qi Jiuyi's physical body, corroding his flesh, eroding his primordial spirit, greatly diminishing his body's resistance!

This was the most terrifying thing of all.

Zhe Huali watched, and could not help but shudder. If those arts of Shen Mu's landed on him, he feared his own skin would split and his flesh would tear; he would not withstand many blows before his primordial spirit was smashed apart and his body pounded into slush!

"Qi Jiuyi can be beaten to this state and still not die — he's truly stronger than me. His body has a strange self-repair ability that lets him hold out longer. But he won't hold out much longer before Shen Mu beats him to death! If Qi Jiuyi dies and I still can't open the little box and obtain the God-Slaying Mystic Blade, then the next person Shen Mu beats to death will be..."

Zhe Huali drew a long breath, leaped into the air, pulled the demon blade from his back, and hurled it from his hand. The demon blade streaked across the sky, and with a sudden shake, a huge, monstrous eye appeared behind it.

When that demon eye appeared, the blade-light shone into its pupil, and at once blade-light filled the heavens, dancing and surging toward Shen Mu and Qi Jiuyi.

The long blade swept vast and mighty. Zhe Huali's blade art differed from the Butcher's Heavenly Blade Nine Methods — the Heavenly Blade Nine Methods walked the straight and upright path, unrefined in calculation, seeking only a vast and majestic aura of noble spirit, transforming the open brilliance in a great scholar's breast into blade-light!

But Zhe Huali's blade art was mostly inherited from the Divine Blade Luo Wushuang. The Divine Blade Luo's art was skilled in calculation, somewhat resembling the Daoist sword — yet the Daoist sword deduced the Great Dao through numerology, whereas the Divine Blade Luo's art established the Great Dao through rules and measure.

This was the greatest difference between the two.

Zhe Huali raised his blade and laughed aloud: "Two senior brothers, let today's matter rest for now. I have come to reconcile your dispute. We all dwell on the same alien star and ought to live in harmony, together finding a way out — why must we slaughter one another?"

Yet despite his words, his blade art showed not the slightest intent of reconciling the dispute. The greater part of its power was aimed at Shen Mu, while the blade-light falling on Qi Jiuyi was merely a token gesture.

After all, Qi Jiuyi was gravely wounded; another blade might be more than he could bear. Shen Mu, by contrast, still looked hale and vigorous, and needed his arrogance beaten down so he would retreat in the face of difficulty.

As his blade-light came surging in, Shen Mu at once reached out and seized. The landscape formed by Sword-Treading Mountains and Rivers — a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers — shrank into his hand, becoming a sword-elixir.

Shen Mu swung his sword. From the sword-elixir a single blade-light thick as a bushel burst forth; the sword-pillar met the demon blade, and he was shaken until his body convulsed, sent flying backward off Qi Jiuyi's back.

He had used great divine powers in rapid succession, scattering every kind of art like rain, and his vital essence was nearly spent — he could not stand against Zhe Huali head-on.

Zhe Huali, failing to cut him down with a single blade, sighed inwardly and withdrew the blade-light filling the sky.

The tens of thousands of blade-lights in the air merged into one, becoming a single demon blade that howled back and slotted into the blade sheath on his back.

After all, Zhe Huali too had just been defeated by Qi Jiuyi and beaten black and blue. Though his remaining vital essence and cultivation were deeper than Shen Mu's, if they truly fought, he doubted he could bring Shen Mu down.

Moreover, if he killed Shen Mu, he would have to face Qi Jiuyi alone — and Qi Jiuyi's strength was above his own, or else Qi Jiuyi would not have defeated him.

Zhe Huali returned his blade to its sheath and said with a smile: "Two senior brothers, on this alien star we are bound to meet again and again. Why not each take a step back and let the sea and sky open wide?"

Qi Jiuyi's true body landed. His frame swayed, he cried out in pain, and slowly transformed into human form. Nine swords were still lodged in his nine heads; when the nine heads merged into one, the nine flying swords did not merge, and nearly tore his wounds open.

Qi Jiuyi hurriedly pulled the swords out. His back was drenched in blood, bones broken and sinews snapped, an unknown number of ribs shattered; he could only hunch over.

He had originally been an elegant, handsome youth. After this beating from Shen Mu, he was in an even more wretched state than the last time Shen Mu and Zhe Huali had ganged up on him. "Handsome youth" was no longer a term that applied.

Fortunately, his self-recovery ability was frightening; so long as he did not die, it was nothing serious.

Shen Mu walked over, and the three of them stood in a tripod formation.

Shen Mu glanced at his nine flying swords and said amiably: "Brother Qi, your abilities are formidable. Had you not been determined to pin me down with this mirror, you might not have lost. Our life-and-death struggle was truly a fifty-fifty thing. Brother Qi, might you return those nine flying swords to me?"

Qi Jiuyi gave a cold snort and gripped the nine swords tightly: "Fifty-fifty? You underestimate the heavenly court's divine powers. Brother Shen, will you return my mirror?"

"No."

Shen Mu waved a hand: "Keep the nine swords for now. Once I kill you, I'll take them back. Senior Brother Li, then can you return this little box to me? I traded my life for it. You two blocked the door with your divine powers — had I not been quick-witted, I'd have died."