Chapter 93 — Deceiving Heaven, Swapping the Sun

"I yield."

Elder Huo let out a turbid breath and smiled with contentment. "One force subdues ten techniques. Shen'er, your strength is now great enough to make up for any lack in your moves. You have passed. By the way, how did your cultivation rise so much all at once? Even I had no time to deflect the force of your blow."

Shen Mu breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "The Village Head and I went out, and on the way back my Spirit Fetus..."

The Village Head coughed again and again. Shen Mu asked, puzzled, "Village Head, what is it?"

"I was startled by that move of yours just now."

The Village Head coughed twice more and said, "You have already passed the first trial. And the second?"

The Lame Elder pulled the pig's trotter from his mouth and came limping over, chuckling. "Shen'er, let us not compete in fist techniques, but in leg techniques. Raise your head and look up — do you see that cloud?"

Shen Mu looked up and saw a white cloud drifting slowly past. The Lame Elder said with a grin, "Race me on foot, and let us see who reaches that cloud first."

Shen Mu hesitated, then nodded. The Lame Elder smiled with an artless look. "You are young, and I cherish the young. I will let you take the first step."

Shen Mu, an artless smile on his face, said, "I respect my elders. The elder goes first."

"You are young, you go first."

"Your old bones are not what they once were. You had best go first."

For a long while the two stood there with artless, feigned smiles, courteously yielding the honor back and forth, until the Butcher snatched up two great cleavers and roared, "Enough of your drivel! That cloud is already drifting far off! If you do not run now, I will chop you both into mincemeat!"

Shen Mu and the Lame Elder shot off at almost the same instant. Shen Mu's feet trod again and again, wind rising beneath his soles, and all at once he trod upon the gale and soared into the air; but just then the Lame Elder had already run into the sky a step ahead of him. Shen Mu pressed his palm downward, and the wind beneath the Lame Elder's feet blew straight down toward the ground; the old man tumbled out of the air, arms and legs flailing.

Shen Mu rushed forward at once and overtook the Lame Elder. Even as he trod the wind onward, his legs suddenly tightened — both legs bound fast — and he was upended, head down, falling.

The Lame Elder laughed aloud. A lash of vital energy appeared in his hand and bound Shen Mu's legs.

Shen Mu fell. The old man who was missing a leg stepped on him and was about to leap into the air.

But at that moment Shen Mu's vital energy burst forth, snapping the lash of energy; he seized the Lame Elder's leg, and drove his own leg at the old man's face. The two crashed to the ground with a great boom, raising dust and smoke on every side.

The Lame Elder set his crutch against the ground and unleashed his Heaven-Stealing Leg Technique, so exquisite it seemed divine, attacking Shen Mu. Shen Mu lay flat and struck only at the crutch, kicking out more times than could be counted; he took more than a dozen kicks from the Lame Elder, but at last kicked the crutch to splinters.

The Lame Elder stood on one leg and said angrily, "You little wretch, who taught you such a vicious trick?"

Shen Mu slapped the ground hard with both palms and shot up into the sky, head down, feet up, spinning as he rose. The Lame Elder snorted coldly, crouched on his single leg, then sprang and leaped into the air.

Scarcely had he leaped up when Shen Mu, above his head, struck down at him with both palms. His vital energy turned straight into Black Tortoise vital energy; ripples of water appeared in the air, then took the form of a water dragon charging straight at the Lame Elder.

"Mere trickery!"

The Lame Elder chuckled, wind rising from his hands. He struck at the water dragon and knocked it aside; his vital energy then took the form of a leg and foot, somewhat translucent, and those two legs ran swiftly, threatening to overtake Shen Mu.

Shen Mu spread his legs in midair into a full split, pressed the air with his palms, and at once turned from head-down to head-up; then he brought his legs together and ran with all his speed, striking a deadly blow at the Lame Elder's back.

The two ran through the air, unleashing their leg techniques, every move vicious and underhanded, their bodies shifting and weaving so fast that the crowd below grew dizzy watching.

Suddenly the Lame Elder's arm moved like a shadow, unfathomable as ghost or god; he unleashed his Heaven-Stealing hand technique. Before Shen Mu could perceive how he had struck, he felt his belt loosen, and the Lame Elder had pulled his trousers down to his ankles.

He tripped over them at once, and then felt a chill on his body — the Lame Elder had stripped off his clothes as well, pinning his hands. Shen Mu dropped out of the air, hurriedly tore free of the garment, pulled up his trousers, and fastened his belt as he ran, shouting in fury, "Grandpa Lame, you never taught me that move!"

The Lame Elder roared with laughter. "Catch me first, and I will teach it to you!"

Shen Mu chuckled and threw a punch; dragon-shaped fist force rushed forward at once. The Lame Elder cried out in alarm, hastily shuffling his steps, his body dodging again and again.

Shen Mu refined his vital energy into threads; threads of energy as thick as an arm coiled toward the Lame Elder like great serpents — once entangled, escape was hard. The Lame Elder dodged again, but Shen Mu had already caught up with him, and he said helplessly, "Fine, I will teach you."

The two drew near each other in midair, faces wreathed in smiles. The Lame Elder was just about to make his move when Shen Mu, swift as lightning and sparks, sealed his three souls and seven spirits, then kicked the old man down out of the sky.

Thud!

The Lame Elder hit the ground and smashed out a man-shaped crater, then slowly crawled out of it, weeping with joy: "Worthy indeed of being my pupil — you did not readily trust another."

Shen Mu ran swiftly through the air and caught up with that cloud, then ran slanting down, charged forward several steps on the ground, and only then came to a stop.

The Lame Elder said with a smile, "What I promised you just now, I will never go back on. Once you have passed all nine trials, I will teach you the Hand that Steals Heaven and Swaps the Sun."

Shen Mu was overjoyed.

The Butcher raised his cleavers and said with a smile, "Shen'er, do you need a rest?"

Shen Mu nodded at once, sat down to rest, drank tea to replenish his fluids, rested a good while, then ran off to put on another set of clothes. The Butcher's face went black, and he muttered, "You little wretch, with vital energy that deep and mighty, and you still need rest? Why not just fight? If we fought, I would still have a chance..."

After another moment, Shen Mu picked up another slaughtering blade from the collapsed smithy, crossed the two blades, and said, "Grandpa Butcher, I am well rested!"

The Butcher sneered, "You originally used one blade. Why two now?"

Shen Mu held one blade forward-gripped in one hand and the other reverse-gripped. The Butcher's expression turned grave; he too reversed his blade, holding it reverse-gripped in his left hand, and sneered, "Little wretch, you want to brawl at close quarters with me? You are still a bit green..."

The Alchemist coughed and warned, "Butcher, you have no lower body. If he gets in close, you are at a great disadvantage — you have less muscle than he does."

The Butcher's face went black again, and he said sullenly, "He cannot get close to me. My blade technique will hold him off..."

Elder Huo warned, "His vital energy is abnormally deep and mighty — two or three times yours. If your blade meets his, it will be knocked flying, and you will be sent flying with it. You can only beat him with skill."

"Then what the hell is the point of fighting?"