Chapter 655 — The Star Lord's Riddle

Only then did the First Ancestor Human Emperor breathe a sigh of relief, and he instructed him earnestly: "This saber is terribly ill-omened. It was forged from the skull of a mighty one of the Emperor Throne; you cannot possibly master it.

If you can do without it, do not use it.

" Ling Yuxiu, her soul only just settling back into her body, was frantically patting herself down; only when she found her head still on her shoulders did she relax.

Ban Gongcuo too was feeling at his own head, and finding it still attached, he let out a long breath.

"To have missed the chance to cut down the Great Venerable while we had it — what a pity. . . " Shen Mu put the box away, crouched, and examined the body of the Fire Crow god-man on the deck.

The god-man lay headless, his blood and vital essence utterly gone, not a trace of gore to be found anywhere, as though in the instant his head was struck off the divine blood within him had been drained away, leaving two lengths of dried corpse.

"A truly ill-omened thing. " Shen Mu's heart hammered: "One touch of that blade and there is no living through it. And what is most terrifying is that if the divine saber in this box fails to strike the foe, it will most likely go for its owner instead.

. .

Yet it is indeed useful — like slicing through melons and vegetables, it cut down a god.

.

. " The First Ancestor Human Emperor asked, puzzled: "I never saw you cultivate my seal arts. Why, then, have you refined them to such purity — so pure that you can even instruct me, their creator? " Shen Mu rose, stretched, and laughed: "I have an Overlord Body. Of course I learn things at a glance.

" The First Ancestor Human Emperor's face fell, and a melancholy air rose from him.

Shen Mu said hurriedly: "I did not cultivate them directly, but I have run them through my mind a thousand times over.

First Ancestor, your seal arts are indeed not bad — but you have far too little experience facing battle formations. I think I can teach you how to charge a line and break a formation in the shortest time. As for breaking formations, I learned from the blind grandpa of my household, and I have been through no few wars. " Hearing this, the First Ancestor was downcast: "You would teach me. . .

" He was like a frost-bitten eggplant, limp and dispirited. Shen Mu said: "To break a formation, you must look at no one. That Fire Crow Formation just now looked formidable — four thousand eight hundred Fire Crow god-men, their formation shifting ceaselessly; strike the head and the tail comes, strike the tail and the head comes.

Once you fall into the formation your eyes are dazzled and you cannot lock onto a single enemy.

At such a time you must treat them as nothing but numerical symbols, four thousand eight hundred numbers in all. As these numbers move and change position, you will quickly see through to the crux of the formation. " The First Ancestor's interest stirred.

He recalled the scene, and the Fire Crow Formation reappeared in his mind; he replaced the Fire Crow god-men with numbers, and sure enough, every mystery of the formation lay bare before him.

Thus the Fire Crow Formation had traces to follow.

"But these Fire Crow god-men shift their formation too fast, and there is a strange spiritual communion among them that makes the formation's flaws vanish in a flash. How then should the formation be broken?

" The First Ancestor Human Emperor quickly spotted the problem and asked humbly.

Shen Mu guided him patiently along: "What move did I teach you to use to break the formation?

" "Heaven Spins, Earth Turns, the Heart Unmoved! " The First Ancestor understood in a flash and laughed: "Heaven and earth spin, space falls into disorder, the numbers are thrown into disarray, and the formation breaks.

So that is how it is. " Shen Mu laughed: "Do you understand now? " "This disciple underst—" The First Ancestor Human Emperor caught himself mid-word, shut his mouth in alarm, his old face burning red, and lifted his sleeve to hide it.

Shen Mu's teaching had made him unconsciously feel that a master was earnestly instructing him, guiding him on so patiently, so that he had been about to say, without thinking, "this disciple understands. " Fortunately, he had reacted quickly, and had not finished the sentence. Chi Xi swept the tower-ship, gathered back the various treasures that had been struck down, tossed the Fire Crow god-men's corpses off the ship, and came over: "The Fire Crow god-men have a strange spiritual ability; they can communicate across enormous distances. That these Fire Crow god-men found us means the Great Sun Star Lord is not far off either. The Fire Crow god-men we threw off cannot catch us, but the Great Sun Star Lord certainly can. We must leave at once!

" Shen Mu walked to the deck and looked back. The Fire Crow god-men whom the First Ancestor Human Emperor had sent flying were still in dogged pursuit, but this time they could not borrow the sun's power to accelerate, so that their distance from the tower-ship kept growing. "Abandon ship.

" Shen Mu said suddenly: "Fly to where the Fire Crow god-men cannot see us, then abandon ship, leave on another vessel, and let this one draw the Great Sun Star Lord's attention.

Do we have another ship? " Chi Xi shook his head; the First Ancestor Human Emperor shook his head as well. "Senior Chi Xi, you knew enemies would come hunting us — why not prepare a second ship?

If I were refining poison, for instance, I would prepare an extra dose, against the day it was needed.

" Shen Mu shook his head: "You people are far too unseasoned in your dealings. " Ban Gongcuo hastily produced a small notebook and wrote this down, thinking: "The more I understand him, the easier he will be to deal with!

" Chi Xi said: "My Chiming Divine Dynasty was destroyed.

To have preserved even one ship like this is already remarkable. " The First Ancestor Human Emperor pondered: "We cannot abandon the ship; we can only fight head-on.

Formidable as the Great Sun Star Lord is, we are not the sort to be trifled with either!

Only by gravely wounding him will we have any chance of shaking him off! " Chi Xi hesitated. The First Ancestor Human Emperor's earlier showing made plain that he had never been on a battlefield; faced with a formation's encirclement he had been at a loss, and had even been lectured by Shen Mu.

Of course, Chi Xi was no general of the battlefield either, and did not know how to answer a battle formation. Had Shen Mu not been through the slaughter of battle lines, and had he not mastered the First Ancestor Human Emperor's arts and divine abilities, then the Fire Crow Formation alone would likely have left them blackened with defeat.

The Great Sun Star Lord was a sacred one of great renown, long famous, his strength unfathomable.

If he caught up, the combined strength of the First Ancestor and Chi Xi would likely not withstand him. Ling Yuxiu said suddenly: "Look at that sun!

" Everyone aboard looked quickly. The sun they had flown away from was changing.

That sun was undergoing a wondrous transformation: its surface was collapsing, forming layer upon layer of complex rings, folding inward ceaselessly; looked at closely, those rings were formation patterns composed of unimaginably intricate runes.

Soon, from the sun's surface to its interior, an incomparably complex formation took shape.

The rings' patterns contracted, and seen from afar it was like a colossal pupil. "The Great Sun Star Lord has arrived! " Chi Xi said, panic-stricken, voice hoarse.

The First Ancestor Human Emperor drew a long breath, planted his feet at the stern in no tidy stance, and said in a low voice: "One against one, we may yet have a battle in us! Since it is hard to escape the Great Sun Star Lord's tracking and pursuit, then we may as well wound him gravely, so that he dare not give chase!

" Shen Mu watched the ever-changing sun, dazed.