Qin Mu frowned deeply. Ban Gongcuo was wary of the poison he himself had refined and didn't dare to attack, so he could only retreat. But the Soul-Worshipping Sorcery he unleashed in his anger was truly terrifying!
Ban Gongcuo was still in the Six Directions realm, but even experts in the Seven Star realm would die from a single bow. These three demon monks from the Lesser Thunderclap Monastery were all quite powerful, especially since they were beast spirits who had cultivated successfully.
The Golden-Winged Great Peng were famous species even in the Great Ruins, extremely powerful with tough physical bodies. Combined with the Buddhist techniques of the Lesser Thunderclap Monastery, their primordial spirits were particularly stable.
Having bowed three Golden-Winged Great Peng to death one after another, this divine ability was something even the Butcher had to guard against!
In the past, Ban Gongcuo had some composure, with the demeanor of a sect master. But now, having repeatedly suffered setbacks at Qin Mu's hands, he had become angry and lost all restraint in his attacks.
This time he had bowed three Lesser Thunderclap Monastery demon monks to death; next, he might target the people around Qin Mu.
Who could withstand his bow?
"However, after Ban Gongcuo bowed these three, he seemed to have suffered serious injuries. Obviously, the backlash from this technique is enormous and cannot be used recklessly."
Qin Mu's brows remained furrowed. Even if the backlash was significant, a divine ability that killed whoever you bowed at was indeed difficult to defend against and hard to guard against.
"Let's bury these three monks; we can't leave their bodies exposed in the wilderness."
The group buried the three Golden-Winged Great Peng bodies. Qin Mu bowed and sighed, "Rest in peace, gentlemen. Another day I'll burn a Ban Gongcuo as a sacrifice to you. Let's go... wait!"
Dragon Qilin stopped immediately. Qin Mu closed his eyes, and after a moment opened them. He took out brush, ink, paper and inkstone, and his vital energy rose as he spread the paper neatly in the air.
He dipped his brush in ink and began painting in the air. Before long, he had depicted a god-demon statue standing on an altar.
Qin Mu was about to add the final stroke, but stopped. He took out a seal and stamped it on the painting, only then adding the final stroke.
"The key to Ban Gongcuo's Soul-Worshipping Sorcery should lie in this god-demon."
He looked it over from top to bottom to confirm he hadn't made any mistakes. Deaf had taught him calligraphy and painting, where capturing form, meaning and spirit in an instant was crucial. Qin Mu often went out of the village with him to sketch various things. Although the god-demon behind Ban Gongcuo hadn't appeared for long, he had managed to capture its specific form and spirit, painting it accurately.
"I don't recognize this god-demon, but the Great Ruins contains all sorts of divine statues. Village Chief, Grandpa Ma and the others are knowledgeable and would probably recognize it. Since we're in the Great Ruins anyway, let's return to the village and ask them. Even if they don't recognize it, there's always the Heavenly Saint Cult and Yan Kang Kingdom—someone will know!"
Qin Mu put the painting away, thinking: "Once this god-demon is identified, there might be a way to break Ban Gongcuo's sorcery! Otherwise, the only option is to eliminate him at all costs."
Eliminating him at all costs meant conquering the Loulan Golden Palace. And conquering such a holy place as the Loulan Golden Palace would first require conquering the grasslands and destroying those grassland nations.
One could imagine how difficult that would be.
So the last resort could only be, in desperation, to incite the Emperor to send troops to the grasslands and level the Loulan Golden Palace. The Heavenly Saint Cult alone didn't have that ability.
Dragon Qilin moved forward. Qin Mu summoned two White Wings to treat their injuries. After they recovered, protected by the White Wings, Qin Mu flew high into the air to survey the terrain.
After a while, Qin Mu descended with a slight frown. He hadn't seen the Yong River.
If he could see the Yong River, he could determine his position. Without seeing it, relying only on the markers on the Great Ruins map, it was very difficult to find his exact location.
They traveled another hundred li eastward. Qin Mu flew high again to continue examining the geography, comparing it with the Great Ruins map in his memory.
After repeating this several times, he finally identified their position based on the terrain and mountain trends.
"We're near the Western Heavenly Palace, not far from the West Territory."
Qin Mu identified the direction, breathed a sigh of relief, descended, and told Dragon Qilin the route. They traveled another hundred li eastward. As Qin Mu estimated they were approaching the Western Heavenly Palace marked on the Great Ruins map and was looking around, the road suddenly became steep.
A huge landmass jutted at an angle into the Great Ruins like an enormous disc, much higher than the surrounding mountains, as if this land had flown in from beyond the sky and crashed into the Great Ruins!
Dragon Qilin stopped. Qin Mu looked at this enormous landmass, where dense jungles grew but magnificent architectural ruins could still be seen among the greenery.
In places where the ground had cracked, metallic glints were visible—something made of metal lay buried deep beneath this land, its nature unknown.
Some towering divine statues stood upright while others lay toppled.
They spent some time circling this landmass, then froze. Before them lay a basin, littered with land fragments—some driven into the ground, some overturned to reveal mountain-like bases, others split into pieces. Some fragments still contained complete ruins—remains of cities where beast spirits roamed. Powerful beast lords occasionally let out heart-chilling roars, threatening any living beings that dared approach their territory.
Where these land fragments had broken apart, long metallic structures were exposed, uneven like pipes of a sheng.
When wind blew through the basin, these metallic structures emitted humming sounds, actually quite melodious, like music.
"How could such a great civilization fall to such a state?"
Qin Mu gazed into the distance, then withdrew his gaze. This place should be relatively safe, with darkness having difficulty encroaching, so beast spirits were numerous. One had to be extremely careful walking here.
If they detoured, it would take an extra day to get around, so they could only continue forward.
Qin Mu jumped off Dragon Qilin's back to lead the way personally. After all, he had grown up in the Great Ruins and knew beast spirit habits well. If Dragon Qilin or the White Wings led the way, they would surely cause trouble.
As they ventured deeper into the basin, Qin Mu suddenly frowned at the wheel tracks on the ground. These tracks should have been left by the fragrant carriage of the True Heaven Palace of the West, along with some scattered footprints from the cultivators who had been pursuing it.
They had obviously entered this place, but from their route, these people were also well-versed in the rules of the Great Ruins and hadn't gone wrong.
However, the True Heaven Palace of the West's techniques were quite peculiar, with both the scale and commotion of their spells being remarkable. If they fought here, it would easily anger the beast lords.
"Following the same path as them risks getting dragged into trouble."
Qin Mu intended to find another route, but there was only this one safe path through the basin nearby. To detour would require crossing a great swamp.
He looked toward the swamp, and suddenly the water churned. A giant crocodile stood upright on the water's surface, nostrils smoking, picking at its knife-sharp nails.
This beast lord wasn't to be trifled with. Detouring this way would be seeking death.
On the other side was a city of ruins with towering temples like porcupine quills. Many red-crowned, black-necked cranes flew about there, dancing gracefully, appearing quite peaceful.
However, inside the city, a pair of male and female cranes were forging swords. With each wing beat, countless sword lights filled the sky, arranging themselves in circles with a ringing sound. From the speed of the sword lights, Qin Mu felt these crane leaders were even more dangerous than the giant crocodile leader.
"This is the only way!"
Qin Mu exhaled a turbid breath and whispered, "The True Heaven Palace of the West's family matters—we absolutely won't intervene. I'm not one who enjoys fighting or meddling. We'll just pass by..."
The basin was quite lively. Four rhinos clad in heavy bone armor approached, completely snow-white without any impurities. Their small eyes glanced alertly at Qin Mu and Dragon Qilin behind him, as well as the White Wings flying about and hanging upside down from trees.
One of the female rhinos spoke in human language, "That big dog is fatter than a pig, yet can still walk."
The lead rhino's face turned ashen. He immediately rolled on the ground, transforming into a rhino-headed humanoid giant. Under the bone armor was a body of bulging muscles. He cupped his forehooves and bowed to Qin Mu, "Fellow Daoist, my wife just likes to wag her tongue. Please don't take offense!"
Qin Mu laughed, "No offense taken. Dragon Fatty is indeed a bit plump."
The rhino leader breathed a sigh of relief and led the three female rhinos away quickly, complaining, "Can't you see? These guys are all ruthless characters, fierce-looking one and all—especially that human and those two White Wings, wrapped in countless resentful spirits."
Qin Mu was surprised. Dragon Qilin said, "They say white rhinos are spiritual and can see the underworld and resentful spirits. Impressive. But they've got me wrong—I'm not a big dog, and I'm not fat, I'm muscular..."
Suddenly, sounds of spells and spiritual weapons clashing rang out ahead, very intense. Qin Mu recalled the White Wings and cautiously moved forward.
Before they had gone far, a battlefield appeared before them. Those True Heaven Palace powerhouses were besieging the fragrant carriage, all bearing wounds.
Upon seeing their arrival, those True Heaven Palace cultivators suddenly stopped fighting. Instead of attacking, they all turned to look at Qin Mu, motionless.
"Fellow Daoist."
A youth stepped forward from the crowd and bowed to Qin Mu, "Family matters."
Qin Mu returned the bow, "I'm just passing through."
The youth smiled and waved, "Clear a path. Let them pass."
Qin Mu smiled and nodded to those on either side. He led Dragon Qilin and the White Wings brothers past. Before them, the fragrant carriage was already broken, its wheels and dome shattered. One of the sika deer had transformed into human form and sat slumped beside the ruined carriage, while the other had reverted to its original form—probably the female deer, covered in wounds, lying there.
The mother and daughter they had been protecting had also emerged from the carriage. The young woman was covered in blood, panting heavily, shielding the child behind her.
"Righteous one..."
The male deer, in human form, suddenly reached out and grabbed Qin Mu's robe hem, lifting his head with difficulty, his breath like a thread, "Righteous one, please..."
Qin Mu lifted his robe hem, freeing it from the man's grasp, and continued walking forward.
As he passed the female deer, he paused slightly. The female deer with the small red flower was already dead, without breath.
Qin Mu withdrew his gaze and continued forward. Suddenly, the woman called "Nai Kui" grabbed his hand, looking at him with hope, her voice hoarse, "Take my child... as long as she can survive..."
Qin Mu froze. Behind him, the True Heaven Palace youth called out loudly, "Fellow Daoist, this is our True Heaven Palace's family matter!"
Qin Mu freed his hand from hers and continued forward, smiling and nodding to the True Heaven Palace cultivators on either side as he led Dragon Qilin and the White Wings brothers past the battlefield.
Dragon Qilin quickly caught up to Qin Mu, tilting his head to look at his face, hesitating, "Sect Master..."
Qin Mu's face was expressionless, "Someone else's family matter... cannot be asked about..."
Dragon Qilin said, "Not asking is fine. The Ancestor said you always get into trouble. It seems you've really grown up."
Qin Mu was stunned, "Grown up? Is this what growing up means?"
"Understanding how to weigh pros and cons is naturally growing up. Very rational," Dragon Qilin said. "Before, you weren't very rational at all, fighting this person and that, not fearing to offend anyone. The Ancestor had to clean up your messes quite a few times those past months."
Qin Mu fell silent as shouts of battle rose from behind.
"This is growing up... I don't want to grow up like this..."
Qin Mu let out a snort and continued forward. From the Void Treasure Bag, small swords flew out silently one after another, planting themselves in the ground around him. More and more flying swords landed, forming a sword formation.
He continued forward as eight thousand swords also spread out ahead, their steps across mountains and rivers—these swords actually formed the shapes of mountains and rivers.
Clink. The final sword light touched down.
Qin Mu stopped, pressed his hand down, and all eight thousand swords plunged into the earth. He suddenly raised his robe to cover himself, and his figure vanished!
"I refuse to grow up into this kind of adult!"