"Nai Kui, even if you flee to the Great Ruins, what difference will it make?"
The young man stood with his hands behind his back, watching the True Heaven Palace divine skill users attack the woman protecting the little girl. His expression was calm. "You have already lost. The True Heaven Palace now belongs to the Yu family. Don't blame me for being heartless. There's a saying in the Central Plains: 'If you don't pull up the roots, the spring wind will make them grow again.' The True Heaven Palace no longer belongs to your Xiong family."
This place belonged to the ruins of the Western Heavenly Palace of the Great Ruins. The experts of the True Heaven Palace had to be extremely cautious when using their divine skills here. The cultivation of the True Heaven Palace was based on the principle that all things possess spirits and divinity. Everything had a spirit: mountains had mountain spirits, stones had stone spirits, water had water spirits, and even grass, trees, and wild beasts possessed spirits, all of which could be transformed into their divine skills.
Their perception of nature was incredibly keen, but in the ruins of the Western Heavenly Palace, they sensed danger. Everything here harbored immense power, as if ancient, unfathomable gods were slumbering within!
Their magical arts and divine skills could command all things in heaven and earth to fight for them, but if they awakened the gods here, it would likely bring about great peril.
The power within the Western Heavenly Palace ruins was not something they could control.
Therefore, they had to proceed with caution, doing their best not to disturb this sleeping, magnificent force. Fortunately, they had each forged their own spirit weapons. These spirit weapons were also different from those of the Yankang cultivators. Most spirit weapons took the form of grass, trees, mountains, stones, water, or white clouds. Even exotic beasts were refined into spirit weapons. When infused with primordial energy, the tiny beasts would suddenly swell a thousandfold in size, devouring living people—a very peculiar sight.
Even without using their divine skills, they could easily eliminate these few people with their spirit weapons alone. The two spotted deer had been killed or severely wounded. The woman had to protect the child and couldn't move, forced to stand and take their attacks, putting her at a complete disadvantage!
The woman spat blood and collapsed to the ground, but struggled to stand up again, continuing to shield the little girl.
"Traitor!"
The man transformed from the male deer leaped into the air, suddenly revealing his true form as a giant male deer to meet the attacks, shouting fiercely: "The Palace Master treated you well! You took advantage of the Palace Master's passing to rebel. Where is your conscience? Why must you drive us to extinction?"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Countless attacks struck him in an instant. The great male deer was slain in midair, but before death, he used every ounce of his strength to launch his massive antlers, stabbing toward the young man!
The strength of these two deer was extraordinary, not at all inferior to the Dragon Qilin. Unfortunately, the enemy vastly outnumbered them, and in the end, they could only meet their demise with regret.
Over a dozen divine skill users immediately flew forward, grabbing the branches of the antlers. Though their feet touched the ground, they still struggled to counter the force emanating from the antlers, forced to retreat again and again. The earth and rocks beneath their feet churned as the antlers continued to carry them forward, slamming toward the young man.
Yet the young man didn't move an inch, sneering: "The Xiong family has occupied the True Heaven Palace for far too long. It's time you yielded the position of Palace Master. Killing requires drawing blood, and pulling up roots requires complete eradication. As long as your Xiong family isn't completely wiped out, our Yu family will always have to worry about your counterattack."
Before him, a puppet-sized exotic beast suddenly swelled in size, thumping its chest and letting out a heaven-shaking roar. It seized the incoming antlers with both hands, stopping them abruptly.
Thud.
The corpse of the male deer fell from the sky, landing beside the female deer, motionless.
The young man laughed heartily: "Kill Nai Kui and the little princess. Let's go back and report!"
The True Heaven Palace divine skill users stepped forward, and spirit weapons flew into the air. The woman showed a look of pity, turning to embrace the little girl in her arms, speaking softly: "Nan Nan, it will be over quickly..."
"Mother, can we see Grandpa and Grandma?" the little girl asked, her eyes bright.
The woman's heart trembled: "Yes..."
"And Daddy?" the little girl asked, her eyes shining.
The woman wept: "Yes, you can see him..."
The little girl was calm, comforting her mother: "Mother, I'm not afraid. Don't cry. I miss Grandpa and Grandma. Daddy looked so scary before he died, covered in blood, which made me cry. But when we see him now, he should be smiling, right..."
Whoosh!
The spirit weapons transformed, and spirit trees and exotic beasts flew into the air, diving toward them. Just as these spirit weapons were about to land on them, a sudden flash of light appeared, and Qin Mu stood before the mother and daughter. He spread his arms, and his brocade robe automatically flew off him, heading toward the front.
The young man struck with a palm, landing on the brocade robe. Qin Mu's arm spun, and the robe whirled, growing larger and larger, instantly becoming a great robe over ten zhang in size. The True Heaven Palace experts' spirit weapons bombarded the brocade robe, which caught them like a net, then vanished along with the weapons!
Moments later, hundreds of zhang away, countless sword lights blazed to life. Eight thousand swords moved as one, shredding the brocade robe and all the spirit weapons within!
The True Heaven Palace divine skill users were startled, suddenly finding they had lost all connection with their spirit weapons. Among them were experts at the Celestial Being realm, whose spirit weapons were incredibly powerful, yet even those had been shattered.
Just as everyone was about to charge forward, the young man quickly raised his hand to stop them, testing: "Fellow Daoist, this is a private matter of our True Heaven Palace."
Qin Mu's heart ached with loss, grieving for his brocade robe. This robe had been a "bribe" from Hall Master Qu of Mishui Pass and the Gu Hall Master. Since its creation, it had repeatedly protected Qin Mu from harm. Moreover, Qin Mu's teleportation runes were inscribed upon it.
Now, the robe had been destroyed along with the True Heaven Palace experts' spirit weapons by his own Sword March of Mountains and Rivers. How could he not feel as if his heart were being cut by knives?
"I knew doing good deeds never ends well. What a huge loss..."
Qin Mu forced a smile onto his face: "How should I address you, young friend?"
"I am Yu Bochuan of the Yu family of the True Heaven Palace."
The young man smiled warmly, like a refreshing spring breeze: "Fellow Daoist, you probably saw this orphaned mother and daughter and felt pity, wanting to save them. But you are unaware that these two have committed numerous atrocities, killing countless people. Our Western Land True Heaven Palace has chosen righteousness over family ties, so I was sent to lead this group to eliminate them."
Qin Mu said solemnly: "I see. I was rash. Please forgive me, Brother Yu."
Yu Bochuan smiled affably: "Ignorance is no crime. I hope you can give us face and let us complete this difficult task and report back. To eliminate these two traitors, we've already lost many of our brothers."
Qin Mu said earnestly: "Of course, your business is important. However, I cannot simply take your word for it. I need to ask them and verify if what you say is true."
Yu Bochuan, still wearing a pleasant smile: "Fellow Daoist, I've already given you a way out. Don't be ungrateful."
Qin Mu also smiled pleasantly: "The Cult Master of the Heavenly Demon Cult doesn't need anyone to give him a way out. If I ask them and find that what you say is true, I will turn around and leave, and you can continue dealing with your traitors. But if—"
"No need!"
Yu Bochuan raised his hand and ordered those around him: "Kill him. Let's go back and report!"
"Yes!"
The True Heaven Palace cultivators responded in unison, leaping toward Qin Mu. Qin Mu laughed heartily, turned, and grabbed the mother and daughter to flee.
A Celestial Being realm expert roared angrily: "Do you think you can escape?"
Behind him loomed a magnificent tree, its roots coiling like green dragons. This was his primordial spirit. The cultivation methods of this Western Land True Heaven Palace were different from those of Yankang. In Yankang, the primordial spirits of experts were usually divided into four categories: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. Upon reaching the Celestial Being realm, their primordial spirits manifested behind them, typically taking the form of these four divine beings, similar to the four stone statues in the Village of Broken Elders.
Even if there were differences, they were minimal, all belonging to these four categories.
But the primordial spirits of the True Heaven Palace experts were far more bizarre. This Celestial Being realm expert's primordial spirit, though also belonging to the Azure Dragon lineage, resembled a giant tree—a very rare sight.
The great tree's roots and branches lashed out, whistling as countless rootlets and branches danced like green dragons, surging toward Qin Mu's back at incredible speed, leaving streaks of cyan light in the sky!
Though Qin Mu was carrying two people, his movements were exceptionally fast, blurring past the sound barrier with a crack of thunder!
The Heaven-Stealing Divine Legs of Cripple were the fastest in the world, but Qin Mu was still only at the Six Directions realm and couldn't bring them to the level the Cripple could achieve. The Celestial Being realm expert's power was too great, and those rootlets and branches caught up to Qin Mu in the blink of an eye, stabbing toward his back.
But just then, sword lights erupted once more around him. Eight thousand swords moved like wind and clouds, and in an instant, a landscape scroll formed behind Qin Mu. Clang! Clang! Clang! The sounds of fierce impacts echoed as they struck the incoming rootlets and branches!
The power of the sword diagram was extraordinary, and Qin Mu's swords were all forged from the finest materials. Many of the divine tree primordial spirit's rootlets and branches were severed.
But the Celestial Being realm was still the Celestial Being realm. That expert's divine tree primordial spirit surged forward with a heaven-shaking crash, and the sword diagram instantly disintegrated, the eight thousand swords shooting off in every direction!
"Dragon Fatty!" Qin Mu shouted.
The Dragon Qilin charged forward from the front. Though fast, his tone remained slow and unhurried: "Cult Master, you've gone and stirred up trouble again..."
The Dragon Qilin's body grew larger and larger, colliding head-on with the divine tree primordial spirit. Fierce true flames erupted all over its body, burning with extreme heat, causing the divine tree to sizzle and scream!
The Celestial Being realm expert hastily retracted his primordial spirit. Behind him, a large man wearing a padded jacket charged forward with heavy footsteps. A stone giant appeared behind him—his mountain god primordial spirit, possessing inexhaustible strength. A single punch sent the Dragon Qilin flying through the air.
The Dragon Qilin flailed its four legs in midair, but being too fat, it couldn't control its fire cloud. It immediately tucked its limbs in and called out: "Brothers of the Bat family!"
Two white bats fluttered forward, emitting silent sound waves from their mouths. The waves knocked the pursuers into chaos.
The Dragon Qilin thudded into the ground, pulling its head from the earth and shaking it furiously: "I was asking you to catch me!"
The two white bats flitted nimbly back and forth, dodging attacks from below. Suddenly, they grabbed two people, hanging them upside down in a tree to drink their blood. But the tree suddenly transformed into an expert's primordial spirit, binding the two bats tightly.
Qin Mu took out a large white bone hammer and shook it gently. Immediately, countless skeletons erupted from the eye sockets, nostrils, ears, and mouths of the bone skull, flying through the air with eerie shrieks, diving into the crowd, biting everyone they encountered, and burrowing into their bodies.
The Dragon Qilin charged in again, its mouth spewing fierce true flames onto the cyan tree primordial spirit, rescuing the two white bats.
Seeing this, Yu Bochuan quickly shouted: "Retreat! We can't fight properly here. Let's meet them outside!"