On this small altar, two blade lights ignited—one horizontal, one vertical. The horizontal blade beheaded that Taoist priest, while the vertical blade sliced through the face of another female Taoist.
That female Taoist was a Six Harmonies realm cultivator. Though she hadn't practiced combat techniques, a golden chain hung across her forehead, with a gemstone at its center that blazed with light, blocking Qin Mu's strike.
Qin Mu dragged his blade. The female Taoist's head split open and bled. Immediately, her qi erupted, and the horsetail whisk in her other hand bloomed like countless pistils. A thousand strands of whisk threads pierced toward Qin Mu.
Her attack had just launched when countless blade lights engulfed her.
Night battle across the city in wind and rain.
Qin Mu's footsteps shifted as he dodged the incoming whisk and circled behind the female Taoist's corpse. Her body had not yet fallen, and behind her stood another Taoist.
That Taoist had recovered. Yellow talisman papers flew from the pouch at his waist. But at that moment, Qin Mu discarded both blades and pointed with his finger. His fingertip qi transformed into a razor-sharp sword light that pierced through the Taoist's brow.
Behind Qin Mu, dragons and elephants soared. Monk Yun Que, coiling dragons and treading elephants, charged in, attacking another female Taoist. With a thunderous boom, he slammed her against the demon god statue.
The female Taoist coughed blood. Her qi erupted, flinging him back. Just as she was about to strike a killing blow, a sword light flashed, grazing her throat with a soft clink.
This female Taoist's qi was incredibly thick. She actually blocked this strike with her qi alone. But the next moment, Shen Wanyun appeared beside her, grabbed the hilt, and unleashed all his power, pinning her against the demon god statue. He wrenched his sword free, and blood sprayed.
Wolf Slave's figure flickered as he leaped onto the statue's head. Two demon blades moved unpredictably, slashing downward, while Yue Qinghong stood on Wolf Slave's shoulder. Sharp swords flew from the sword case behind her, transforming into the Drilling Sword technique and piercing toward a Taoist below!
That Taoist grabbed a white banner planted at the altar's edge. The banner shook, its runes lighting up like red serpents swimming out to block the two demon blades. However, Yue Qinghong's Drilling Sword technique pierced through the banner's surface and drilled into his brow.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Si Yunxiang flickered like a ghost, striking continuously with a peculiar seal technique, forcibly vibrating another female Taoist to death, shattering all her bones.
Shen Wanyun's heart skipped a beat: "Junior Sister Si has been hiding her strength. Her cultivation is formidable!"
He lunged at another Taoist. That Taoist suddenly jumped off the altar and fled at full speed. Behind him, yellow talisman papers flew toward the altar in unison.
Shen Wanyun hurried to give chase, but the talisman papers exploded one after another, blasting him away.
On the other side, Yun Que also blocked the Taoist's path, using the Great Five Platforms seal to obstruct him.
The Taoist sneered, spreading his five fingers. Thunder erupted from his palm, blasting Yun Que into a daze.
The Taoist relaxed and shouted fiercely: "A bunch of juniors who haven't even reached the Six Harmonies realm, yet you dare..."
He had just spoken when a chill pierced his heart. He looked down to see a sword protruding from his chest. He hadn't sensed the person behind him approaching at all.
Qin Mu withdrew the sword. The Taoist rasped hoarsely: "Good footwork!" Then he collapsed and died.
Qin Mu sheathed his sword. On the altar, Yue Qinghong, Wolf Slave, and Si Yunxiang were about to kill the remaining Taoists, but when they circled around, they saw bodies lying haphazardly around the demon god statue.
Some Taoists hadn't fallen but were pinned to the statue. Some were hung on white banners. Others had been blasted into pulp by fist techniques, or had their heads smashed by iron hammers. Their deaths varied.
The three were deeply shaken. Si Yunxiang's expression turned grave as she carefully examined each corpse. These bodies had all been dealt lethal blows by Qin Mu in an instant. Their abilities hadn't even been brought to bear before they met their end.
"Basically no more than two moves were used. Most died from a single strike," she thought, lifting her gaze toward Qin Mu.
Thirteen cultivators. Though their close combat abilities weren't strong, cultivators were still cultivators. Even though everyone said that when a combat technique expert got close, a spell expert was as good as dead, that was merely talk.
If there was a realm gap, the combat technique expert might not be able to break through the opponent's defensive spells.
Though they had caught the enemy off guard this time, Qin Mu's combat power was simply too strong, his speed too fast.
Qin Mu shook the Shao Bao Sword, flicking off the bloodstains, and sheathed it. "Clear the battlefield! Destroy the demon god statue immediately!"
His words had barely faded when a thunderous boom echoed from nearby. In the black fog, blood-red light erupted, dyeing the pitch-black mist crimson.
The blood light towered hundreds of zhang high, clearly visible even from the mountain hollow.
Waves of terrifying power surged from another world, hammering toward where the blood light burst forth.
Then, rolling thunder sounded. Lightning crackled around the blood light—lightning forced out of space by the terrifying power. If the power was too strong, the shockwaves would compress space, causing spatial instability.
When space destabilized, the lightning hidden within would erupt.
Everyone stared blankly as, where blood and lightning converged, an enormous figure slowly rose to its feet. It was a horned demon god statue with four arms and four legs. Though a statue, it now radiated a monstrous aura as if the demon god had descended upon the world!
This descended demon god towered even higher than the Deer Mountain where they stood. Thick smoke billowed around it, carrying fire and lightning within. Blood-red light pierced the sky, hovering above its head.
"Another location also has Hongshan Sect cultivators summoning demons..."
Qin Mu's limbs went cold. The Hongshan Sect cultivators at the other location had succeeded in their spell, summoning the demon god.
That majestic demon god's gaze crackled like intertwined lightning. Wherever its eyes passed, all trees and rocks sizzled and turned to ash.
Qin Mu exhaled a turbid breath and whispered: "Strip them!"
Everyone was slightly stunned. Monk Yun Que murmured: "We have to strip again..."
Si Yunxiang understood immediately and began stripping the clothes from the corpses on the ground. The others quickly grasped Qin Mu's meaning and hurriedly removed the Hongshan Sect cultivators' garments.
Qin Mu also donned Hongshan Sect disciple robes and whispered: "Pull up those white banners too. Collect the talisman treasures for later use."
Shen Wanyun and the others stepped forward, pulling up white banners and gathering talisman treasures one by one. Everyone dressed properly, only to see the demon god roaring toward the river surface, shaking the Yong River into towering waves.
Everyone's expressions changed drastically. The Dragon Qilin rushed over. Qin Mu spoke quickly: "We must retreat from here immediately. This is no longer a place where scholars of our Celestial Wonders realm can stand. Do you have anything on you that identifies you as Imperial Academy scholars? Give it all to me."
Yun Que took out his waist badge and scholar badge, murmuring: "Are we really going to the Southern Borderlands to die?"
Qin Mu collected everyone's waist badges and scholar badges and placed them in the Gluttony Bag. "We're just detouring through the Southern Borderlands, going around this battlefield. Once we cross the river to the northern bank, we'll be safe."
He exhaled a turbid breath, about to order their departure, when he suddenly noticed the unfinished demon god statue. His mind stirred, and he lifted the statue, tying it to the Dragon Qilin.
"Let's go. Southward."
Everyone's spirits were heavy as they followed his footsteps along the mountain's base, heading south.
After walking roughly ten li, they finally emerged from the black fog's shroud. After another ten li, Qin Mu looked back and saw the black fog like an enormous inverted black cauldron covering both banks near the Yong River. Within the fog, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled. Faintly, they could still see flashes of spells and techniques being unleashed.
Within that black fog towered a colossal gateway—a gateway connecting life and death, linking yin and yang.
"Lizhou. I wonder how many will survive," Qin Mu thought.
Before long, Qin Mu suddenly halted: "An army is approaching."
Yun Que's heart lifted: "An army? Yankang's army?"
Qin Mu shook his head and pointed forward: "The rebel army."
Everyone looked ahead and saw dozens of towered boats sailing toward them. Flags waved on the boats, and exotic beasts of all kinds flew in the air around each towered boat.
Below the airborne army were ranks of warrior cultivators forming soldiers. Among them were massive beasts carrying round, bulky stones on their backs. These beasts stood dozens of zhang tall, like moving hills, each step making the earth tremble.
Qin Mu and the others stood aside, letting the army bound for the Yong River battlefield pass. On one towered boat, a general stood with a gaze like lightning, sweeping past Qin Mu and his companions. He asked an officer beside him: "Who are those people?"
An officer glanced at Qin Mu and his group, then said: "They look like Hongshan Sect disciples. I'll go down and ask."
The officer leaped from the towered boat. With each step he took, a golden lotus bloomed beneath his foot. Step by step, lotus by lotus, he descended from the sky to stand before Qin Mu and the others, leaving everyone's hearts racing.
This was a Seven Stars realm expert. Walking on empty air, killing them would be effortless!
The officer glanced at the demon god statue on the Dragon Qilin's back and said coldly: "Hongshan Sect disciples, fleeing without a fight—what is your crime?"
Qin Mu bowed, neither servile nor arrogant: "Our Hongshan Sect did our best. We summoned a demon god to aid in battle. Far from being guilty, we've rendered a great service."
The officer snorted coldly: "But fleeing the battlefield is a capital offense—execution on the spot!"
Qin Mu's face showed righteous indignation. He cried out: "We were ambushed by Lizhou! Of thirteen brothers and sisters, seven fell! Only six of us remain! Where were you when we were fighting for our lives? My Hongshan Sect has been wiped out! We're all that's left! Must we all die out there? General, leave some seed for our Hongshan Sect!"
The officer hesitated and looked upward.
On the towered boat above, the general spoke gravely: "The Hongshan Sect's numbers are already few. There's no need to press them too hard. They summoned a demon god to aid in battle—that is a great merit. Have them demonstrate a spell to verify their identities, then let them go."
Shen Wanyun, Yun Que, and the others broke into cold sweat. They had never practiced Hongshan Sect spells.
Qin Mu activated a talisman treasure. The general's voice came: "Not a talisman treasure. A spell."
Qin Mu circulated his qi. His qi transformed into a rune that shone upon the demon god statue. A rune on the statue lit up.
The officer bowed: "General Xiaoyi, it is indeed the Hongshan Sect's Ghost-Commanding and God-Sending Rune Decree."
On the towered boat, General Xiaoyi waved his hand: "Let them go. The army sets out to conquer Lizhou... Wait!"
General Xiaoyi's gaze fell upon Qin Mu and his companions again, a hint of a smile at his lips: "Send them to Tianbo City. Have them summon another demon god there as well."