"That monk is a master!"
Qin Mu grunted, his body suddenly shifting into the form of the Mars Star Lord—a bull-headed, human-bodied figure standing atop twin dragons. The Tyrant Body Three Elixirs Art circulated with the essence of Mars Fire, his cultivation surging as he forcibly withstood the crushing pressure from above.
His third eye on his brow opened, a beam of fire shooting upward. From the heavens came a muffled boom. The great sun behind the colossal Buddha's head was pierced by the light and shattered. The Buddha vanished, revealing a young monk in its place.
The pressure on Qin Mu eased drastically. Flames erupted around his body, flowing like water across the treasure ship with a hissing sound, melting the icicles clinging to its hull.
The ship's speed surged as it plunged into the clouds. In midair, the burly young monk stood on one foot atop the cloud sea, clutching a nine-ring monk's staff. His other leg was a bloody mess.
Moments ago, he had unleashed the Vajra Invincible Art to clash head-on with Qin Mu's Drilling Sword Style. The result: the leg that blocked the strike was torn apart, flesh and blood mangled. The Vajra Invincible Art had failed to stop the Drilling Sword Style.
Qin Mu's transformation into the Mars Star Lord had broken the illusion of the Vajra Buddha, forcing the monk to retract his technique.
"There he is!"
The burly monk's eyes lit up. He broke into a furious sprint, leaping across the cloud sea. With each step, a white lotus bloomed beneath his feet, providing a foothold to unleash even greater power.
Amid the sea of clouds, the treasure ship flickered in and out of view. Qin Mu looked back to see the monk closing in at a remarkable pace.
The ones pursuing him were all formidable. The dragon-woman Long Jiaonan and the woman surnamed Qiu went without saying—both were cultivators of the Seven Stars realm. But the scholar from earlier and this young monk were no ordinary opponents either.
The scholar had faced Qin Mu's Shaobao Sword head-on after his sword pellet was split apart. Stripped of his spiritual weapon, he caught the Shaobao Sword's attacks bare-handed. Though his robes were shredded to pieces, not a scratch marred his skin. The Shaobao Sword was the blade of a first-rank court official. Though Qin Mu couldn't unleash its full might, its edge was unparalleled. The scholar had withstood it unscathed—a testament to his true power.
And this burly monk was terrifyingly strong. He had clashed directly with Qin Mu's Drilling Sword Style and suffered only a wounded leg. His body had been tempered to an extraordinary hardness.
Had Qin Mu not seen through the secret of the great sun behind the monk's head—the key to his Vajra Invincible Art—the treasure ship would have been smashed into the ground!
Even if these two weren't cultivators of the Seven Stars realm, they were at the absolute peak of the Six Harmonies realm.
Despite his wounded leg, the monk's speed was remarkable, and he was gaining on the ship.
"Ling'er, increase speed!"
At Qin Mu's command, Hu Ling'er pushed the treasure ship faster, widening the gap. The burly monk, seeing the distance grow, gave up the chase and praised, "What a fast ship!"
Qin Mu's expression darkened. The monk and the scholar had both gone all out to pursue him. That meant they were confident he couldn't escape their encirclement.
In other words, more experts were waiting up ahead!
After sailing for a while, the ship began to slow again. Their medicinal fuel was running low. If the furnace ran at full power, they'd burn through it too quickly to reach the Great Ruins.
"Just break through the cloud layer and we'll be in the Great Ruins' territory. Then it's only a thousand li to the village."
Qin Mu dismissed his Mars Star Lord form and walked to the bow, gazing ahead. The cloud sea stretched endlessly before them.
The ship was still moving fast, but the biting cold was bearable now. Then, above the luminous cloud sea, he saw something strange. Less than ten li away, multicolored lights spun wildly, radiating in every direction.
As the ship drew closer, Qin Mu saw the source: massive ice pillars rising from the clouds like colossal ice swords, refracting sunlight into dazzling rainbows. Each pillar was enormous—wide enough that over a dozen people could barely encircle it.
If wielded as swords, their user would have to be a giant beyond comprehension.
The ice pillars seemed to grow from the cloud sea itself, yet they rotated steadily in place, bending sunlight into a spectrum of colors. This was no natural formation.
Qin Mu's face changed. He immediately threw the helm hard right. The玄铁-built tower ship tilted so sharply the deck was nearly vertical to the cloud sea, carving a breathtaking arc as it shot past the ice pillars.
"Ling'er, full power on the furnace!"
From the ship's cabin came Hu Ling'er's muttered complaint: "Young Master, you always want full power. If we keep this up, we really won't make it back to the Great Ruins. The fuel is almost gone..."
Qin Mu ignored her. He wrenched the helm back, leveling the ship, and glanced left. The giant ice swords had begun to move—as if a multi-armed giant had drawn its blades, the pillars cleaved through the air with a deafening roar, slashing toward the treasure ship!
The ship's speed skyrocketed as Qin Mu maneuvered it, narrowly dodging each descending ice sword. In a hurried glance back, he spotted a woman in a blue dress walking calmly among the ice pillars. She was strikingly beautiful, yet her expression was as cold as frost.
Her aura was water-blue. Using her energy, she had formed over a dozen spectral arms, each executing slashing and thrusting motions in perfect synchronization with the giant ice swords.
"As long as she can't catch up..."
The thought had barely formed when the blue-dressed woman's speed suddenly exploded. She streaked across the cloud layer, closing in fast.
She ran at full tilt, her hands weaving intricate patterns almost absent-mindedly. Qin Mu froze—then came a crack from below the hull. The ship shook violently, tumbling through the air and nearly throwing him overboard!
Qin Mu gripped the helm with all his might. When the ship finally stabilized, he saw it: from the cloud sea below, more ice pillars erupted through the mist with sharp hissing sounds. The ship had just collided with one. Though the pillar shattered on impact, the ship had taken serious damage.
"This woman's strength is extraordinary—far beyond the monk's. And she's incredibly fast!"
Qin Mu steered the ship to dodge the ice swords, but more were sprouting from the cloud sea's surface, making evasion ever more difficult.
Furious, Qin Mu shouted, "Where is the King of Demons of the All-Heavens?"
"What do you want?" The King of Demons of the All-Heavens sauntered out of the cabin, looking as if he couldn't care less.
Qin Mu glared at him, his temper flaring. "Still want to kneel and lick my toes? If not, get over here and help!"
"You think I'm afraid of you?" The King of Demons sneered, but he walked over. "I am, after all, the ruler of the All-Heavens. If you want me to save your life, you'd better say 'please.'"
A vein bulged on Qin Mu's forehead. "Please!"
The King of Demons grinned triumphantly. "So there's a day you bow to me after all..."
Catching Qin Mu's murderous glare, he quickly dropped the smug act. A loud, demonic chant erupted from his throat. As the incantation grew faster and sharper, the eight-armed, four-faced demon raised all his arms, and a black mirror materialized above the tower ship.
A thick beam of black light shot straight down from the mirror, humming as it struck the cloud sea. The clouds turned black as if ink had been poured into a basin of water. Black mist roared outward, engulfing a radius of over ten li in an instant—and with it, the blue-dressed woman in pursuit.
In the black mist, the woman grunted. She felt her mind scatter, a flood of chaotic thoughts surging from the depths of her heart. Even her crystal-clear Dao heart couldn't withstand the assault, tainted by a torrent of base desires.
Her Heaven-Severing Sword Art was built on suppressing worldly attachments—only by mastering such impulses could one's sword heart remain pure and flawless. But now, her heart was stained black as ink, demons ravaging her mind, desires overwhelming her.
"What a pity. Given more time, I could have this ice-cold beauty licking my toes within half a day," the King of Demons sighed.
From within the demonic mist came the sound of Buddhist chanting. The burly monk had arrived. Without a word, he activated his nine-ring staff. The nine golden rings blazed with light, cutting through and dispersing the black mist.
No sooner had the mist cleared than a voluptuous figure threw itself into his arms—nearly scattering his Buddhist heart. It was none other than the ice-cold woman from the Heaven-Severing Palace, her robes half-open, nearly stripped bare.
The monk shoved her away. "Senior Sister Yu'e! You've fallen under demonic arts. Wake up!"
The blue-dressed Yu'e, snapped back to clarity by his Buddhist shout, flushed crimson and hurriedly pulled her robes closed. "My apologies. I fell under demonic influence, and they escaped."
"The Heavenly Demon Cult Master, Qin Mu, is naturally versed in demonic arts—skilled at corrupting hearts and ruining one's cultivation!"
The young monk shook his staff, the golden rings ringing to help suppress her inner demons. "But with this humble monk present, he won't cause much trouble."
Yu'e shook her head. "His ship is too fast. Once he breaks free, he'll be impossible to catch."
"Senior Sister Yu'e need not worry. He won't escape."
Behind them, the young scholar caught up. "Lan Yu of the穷理宗, a student of Master Qiong Li. Greetings to Senior Brother Ban Chi and Senior Sister Yu'e. This hunt for the Heavenly Demon Cult Master isn't just us—nearly every expert in the martial world has mobilized. A net has been cast across the heavens. He cannot escape."
Ban Chi was about to reply when a swarm of insects surged toward them. Within the swarm, a great red serpent rode waves of demonic energy, arriving swiftly at their side.
"It's Senior Sister Qiu Yue of the Three Marvels Fortress and Long Jiaonan, young master of the Dragon Taming Sect."
Lan Yu squinted and said, "Long Jiaonan has a twisted temperament—he's obsessed with handsome men and chased me halfway here. Let's not cross paths with him."
At that moment, from deep within the distant clouds, countless sword lights crisscrossed the sky, blindingly brilliant. Ban Chi's eyes lit up. "Some sword sect expert has blocked the Heavenly Demon Cult Master. Let's move!"
The group rushed forward. In the clouds ahead, a figure bounded like an ape, pursuing the treasure ship's path.
"That's Yuan Shan, a young swordsman of the Ape King Sword Sect!"
Lan Yu recognized him and called out, "Senior Brother Yuan Shan! The Heavenly Demon Cult Master won't escape. Let's join forces!"
Yuan Shan halted, waiting for them to catch up. "The Heavenly Demon Cult Master wields a precious sword. My sword pellet was destroyed by him. His ship is strange—not made of wood, but iron. I stabbed it hundreds of times, but couldn't pierce it."
"It's forged from Black Iron," Yu'e said. "The ship collided with my Heaven-Severing Ice Swords and didn't shatter—instead, it crushed the ice swords to pieces."
"A flying iron ship?" The group exchanged bewildered looks. Something that heavy—how could it possibly fly?
Lan Yu glanced back, his expression tightening. "Long Jiaonan is coming. Let's go!"