Chapter 155 — The Treasure Talisman Unsealed

Simuluo's twin wings whirled before him in guard, the swords that made up those wings shifting and swapping places without cease, changing position as he strove to block Shen Mu's attack — but the next moment the Drilling Sword Style pierced through the defense of his wings! Simuluo's heart lurched and pain stabbed his chest; his golden body could not withstand the Drilling Sword Style.

At once he beat his wings and rose, his two wings stirring up a wild wind. Whoosh!

The instant the gale rose, Shen Mu trod the wind and ran; terror showed in Simuluo's eyes — Shen Mu's speed as he raced through the air was even greater than his own wing-borne flight!

The Lame Elder's Heaven-Stealing Leg Art was unmatched in speed under heaven. Had Simuluo not beaten his wings to raise that gale, Shen Mu would have found it hard to catch him in the air; but once the wind rose, the air was as level ground to Shen Mu.

"Go! " Simuluo barked, and from the wings at his back golden swords flew out one after another, stabbing toward Shen Mu, striving to keep him from drawing near.

In a single instant his wings were emptied, leaving only two gleaming golden fleshy wings.

His body plunged at once; just then saber-light like a waterfall clashed with the swiftly stabbing golden swords, and with a hiss one golden sword pierced through Shen Mu's waterfall of saber-light and buried itself in his left shoulder — precisely at the point where the left shoulder blade divides in two. And Shen Mu's form arrived before Simuluo, passing him by, a snow-bright blade of light sweeping across Simuluo's neck.

The blade-light was very thin; it seemed to have cut into Simuluo, sinking into his neck and emerging from behind it — yet it also seemed to have done him no harm at all. Simuluo landed; golden swords came flying back with a clatter, returning behind him to form two wings. Those two gleaming golden wings spread with a whoosh, golden light shooting in all directions.

"Well done, Brother Simuluo!

" a voice cried, startled and delighted. The other shamans, greatly heartened, shouted one after another: "Brother Simuluo, finish off this slave of Jingping!

" "The people of Jingping are all two-legged sheep, fit only to be used for cultivation, unfit to live in this world!

" .

.

.

Shen Mu landed; his flying swords came one after another, dropping in succession into the sword case at his back.

The youth drew the golden sword from his shoulder and flung it to the ground.

The brocade robe on his body was still intact; when the sword had stabbed at him, the robe had blocked it for a moment, but it had still pierced through the robe into his shoulder blade.

So-called immunity to blade and spear could not in truth fully stop blade and spear; though this garment of his, woven of six-winged golden silkworm silk, had blocked the golden sword, he could not escape being wounded. Below the Golden Terrace the cheers shook the heavens, and Simuluo still stood with wings spread, awe-inspiring, seeming to savor the crowd's acclaim.

Shen Mu walked forward; the cheers gradually died down. Shen Mu raised his hands and slid his two sabers back into the saber sheath at his back, and came to Simuluo's side — but Simuluo still did not move at all, still with his golden wings spread behind him, without any guard or resistance.

Shen Mu raised a hand, seized his hair, and with a light lift took his head from his neck and flung it down from the terrace.

The cheering below the Golden Terrace grew fainter and fainter; only the shamans far off who had not seen this sight still cheered, and it rang all the more harshly on the ear. The head rolled clattering down from the terrace, rolled to the side of the shamans still cheering, and the sound gradually died away. Simuluo, who had cultivated the Shaman Venerable Louluo Scripture, the sect-guarding art, was dead too — at the very moment he seemed to hold victory in his grasp, Shen Mu had taken his head with a single blade.

Ling Yuxiu hurried forward, wanting to bind his wound.

Shen Mu waved a hand: "It's nothing. I said I would break their will, and I mean to do it. Set your mind at ease.

" Ling Yuxiu frowned slightly, feeling Shen Mu was a little too confident. "Cowherd, with your shoulder wounded, the flaw at your shoulder will only grow greater.

If another great shaman who cultivates the Shaman Venerable Louluo Scripture should appear. .

.

" She had barely spoken when suddenly, before the holy hall of Loulan's Golden Palace, another young great shaman with a gleaming golden body walked out, a smile on his face, and said softly: "Brother Simuluo was still a bit green, not steady enough, and so he died. I am Danbaluo, of the Six Harmonies realm, self-sealed within the Six Harmonies Secret Realm.

" Shen Mu's expression turned grave; suddenly his form drifted backward, his feet tapping rapidly, and with a whoosh he leaped to the roof of a golden hall. Danbaluo laughed heartily and pursued him like a shadow, gripping a great hammer in his hand. The hammer's head was a huge skull of a dark golden hue, and the skull had grown seven bone spurs, each spur bearing a smaller head no bigger than a fist.

In the eye sockets of all eight of these heads there were actually eyes — a most frightful, terrifying sight.

Though the hammer's head was very large, its handle was short, barely enough to grip in the hand. Danbaluo gave the hammer a light shake, and at once the seven smaller skulls upon it opened their eyes, their eyeballs rolling wildly; then they opened their mouths, and streams of black smoke spewed from the skulls' mouths. The seven streams of black smoke wove up and down, darting like black flood-dragons straight toward Shen Mu where he stood on the golden hall.

From Shen Mu's sword case sharp swords flew out one after another; with a flick of their tips they severed the heads of the black flood-dragons formed of the smoke — but at once the flying swords lost control and fell clattering to the ground.

The seven flying swords fell upon the golden hall, still clattering and bouncing, black qi darting to and fro within the blades.

Shen Mu immediately felt his vital essence polluted, and was startled. The Shaman Venerable Louluo Scripture was evidently like the Dayu Youmo Scripture, all-encompassing, containing more than one cultivation method. The Simuluo of a moment ago had cultivated one of them, walking the path of sword-technique divine powers.

And this Danbaluo cultivated another, walking the path of spell-technique divine powers. Though both men practiced the Shaman Venerable Louluo Scripture, the roads they walked were different.

Shen Mu shifted his steps; the golden tiles of the hall beneath his feet burst apart with a clatter, and streams of black smoke like black flood-dragons bored in and out of the golden hall, attacking him.

The two figures darted to and fro like hares rising and falcons stooping, racing across the golden hall — even its walls were as level ground to them. Suddenly Shen Mu's body sank, and he dropped into that golden hall. Danbaluo sneered, swung his great hammer to smash open the golden hall, and charged in.

Bang — a figure shot skyward, waving a hand to send flying swords stabbing backward, and Danbaluo burst out close behind, treading a stream of black smoke that surged and rolled ever forward, carrying him in pursuit of Shen Mu. With a bang Shen Mu smashed through another golden hall and slipped inside to evade Danbaluo's killing assault; Danbaluo charged in close behind, fierce and menacing, and the shamans and great shamans of Loulan's Golden Palace, watching, were elated, all their earlier dejection swept away.

The two raced across the tops of the golden halls scattered through the mountains, dealing each other vicious killing blows, drawing farther and farther from the mountain gate. Danbaluo's confidence grew ever stronger and his attacks ever fiercer.