Chapter 90: Sword Across the Knee, Beheading the Phantom
At the village entrance, the old man smoking the bone pipe was startled. He turned around to face him. Qin Mu came charging with overwhelming momentum, riding the surging waves as they roared forward, pressing down like the sky itself!
Water—as long as it was swift enough—could shatter everything, cut through everything, destroy everything!
This was the wonder of Black Tortoise primordial energy. When water controlled by Black Tortoise primordial energy reached a speed of forty-six zhang per instant, it could slice through steel. Striking a human body, it would absolutely cut them in two—nothing could withstand its edge! ①
Qin Mu stood atop the wave crest, directly crushing down toward the old man, his aura overwhelming!
With the painting from Deafy activated, plus the Flood Dragon treasure blood, and the furnace that Mute had hidden inside his body, he had confidence to deal with anyone!
At the village entrance, the old man smoking the bone pipe raised his hand and collided violently with the descending river of overwhelming force. The entire river, advancing like a giant python, collapsed, scattering into floodwaters that spread in all directions!
At the same time, the old man's two fingers gently pinched together—and the Young Protector Sword, thrusting from within the water, was actually stopped in its tracks!
"Have you found the Land of No Worries yet?" the old man chuckled.
The very instant the old man pinched the Young Protector Sword, Qin Mu's palm had already gripped the hilt. All the power in his body exploded as he thrust forward!
This old man's strength exceeded his expectations, but his eyes had opened the Nine Heavens Divine Eye, allowing him to perceive the trend of power changes within the old man's body.
When the old man raised his hand to block the river and pinched the sword tip, his power had already reached its limit. Adding Qin Mu's own physical strength at this moment would exceed what he could withstand.
The Flood Dragon treasure blood and Deafy's painting had pushed his physical strength to the extreme. The power his body could unleash was absolutely no less than his current frenzied magical power!
As this thrust was delivered, the old man's expression changed. His two fingers could no longer hold the sword tip. The Young Protector Sword pierced through his palm, and the tip drove into his chest with a *chi* sound!
"Old man, I'll send you to the Land of No Worries right now!"
Qin Mu pushed off with his feet, the Young Protector Sword driving the old man backward. The old man had been sitting motionless, but now he dropped his legs down—yet even so, he couldn't withstand Qin Mu's astonishing strength. His two legs plowed two deep furrows in the ground!
*Dang!*
The old man swung his bone pipe with his other hand, striking heavily against the Young Protector Sword. Qin Mu's arm trembled numb, and he immediately released his grip. His primordial energy swept up the Young Protector Sword, circling it flat in the air, slashing toward the old man's neck!
Cloud Sword Style!
His swordsmanship had been guided by the Village Chief. Though it was only the simplest of moves—thrust, circle, lift—their power was terrifyingly great.
The old man hurriedly dodged backward, but the Young Protector Sword kept spinning in circles, relentlessly chasing his neck, forcing him to retreat continuously!
If he retreated any further, he would reach the boundary marker of the Realm of the Dead.
Meanwhile, the scattered floodwaters rose again, roaring in from all directions like giant pythons coiling toward the old man.
Suddenly, the bone pipe in the old man's hand flew up to block the Young Protector Sword. Dense fog sprayed from the pipe, and within the fog, the smoke condensed into skull after skull, shrieking eerily as they charged at Qin Mu, burrowing into his body to tear at his soul.
Qin Mu used the Creation Demon Heaven Sutra to seal his own soul, letting those smoke-formed skulls gnaw and tear as they pleased—they could never pull his soul out of his body.
Qin Mu opened his mouth and inhaled, then suddenly blasted out a gale!
*Whoosh—*
The fog, along with those skulls, was blown away by that single breath. He had never learned any wind-controlling spells or divine abilities, but now his cultivation had been forcibly elevated by Deafy and Mute to heights he'd never imagined. Even breathing was spell and divine power!
The pipe clashed with the Young Protector Sword, and countless sparks were knocked loose. Those sparks instantly transformed into fiery red molten rock flying at his face. Qin Mu's footsteps shifted as he dodged the molten impacts, his assault growing even fiercer.
The giant pythons formed from floodwater coiled around the old man, and immediately countless water blades stabbed toward every part of his body.
The old man's pipe bowl suddenly expanded, like a great black cauldron inverted, emitting a terrifying suction that drained all the floodwater away—though the fire within the pipe was also extinguished.
Qin Mu closed in with ghostly footwork, his arms whipping through the air—now fists, now palms—like a thousand-armed Buddha, frenziedly attacking the old man. Suddenly his fist technique shifted, blade light flashing within the punches, his footwork unpredictable, making his attacks even harder to defend against.
The old man kept retreating. His raw strength was still above Qin Mu's, but Qin Mu's footwork, stance, fist techniques, and blade techniques were all bizarre and unpredictable. Especially that Young Protector Sword—its sharpness was unmatched, and even his pipe couldn't withstand it. The moves this sword executed were incredibly simple, yet extremely effective: fast, powerful, and repeatedly breaking through the pipe's defenses, driving straight for his weaknesses!
Qin Mu was like a master swordsman. Though his sword forms were simple and crude, they gave the old man a feeling of great skill hidden in plainness—extremely troublesome, forcing him to retreat.
The Village Chief's simplest sword moves, combined with Blind's Nine Heavens Divine Eye—unstoppable!
The old man took another step back, then suddenly his heart jolted. The corner of his eye caught sight of a boundary marker.
The boundary marker of the Realm of the Dead.
Qin Mu closed in with short steps, pressing into the old man's space, the Butcher Knife about to rise. The old man had no choice but to retreat—and the moment that step was taken, all the flesh and blood on his body vanished, leaving only a skeleton of white bone.
And Qin Mu stepped forward, crossing out of the Realm of the Dead, flesh and blood growing back over his bones.
The old man said not a word. He turned and fled, leaping into the vast sea of fog. Qin Mu had grown back his flesh, and his physical power would only increase further, while the old man's flesh had shed away, his strength declining. With one rising and the other falling, retreat was his only option.
Qin Mu let out a breath of relief. This old man's strength was formidable—if the fight had continued, it might have dragged on until the Flood Dragon treasure blood lost its effect. At that point, the one who died would likely have been him.
He walked to the dock. The sea of fog stretched endlessly, no end in sight. Within the fog, the faint glow of a lantern could be seen approaching.
"Will the Village Chief make it in time?"
Qin Mu looked back. In the Realm of the Dead, ominous demonic clouds were churning, surging toward this direction—clearly the experts from the city were mobilizing to investigate. Before long, the rolling demonic clouds would arrive here.
Qin Mu waited a moment. The boat hung with lanterns drifted over, but the Village Chief still hadn't appeared.
The demonic clouds were already very close. If he didn't leave now, it might be too late.
Qin Mu took out a Fengdu coin and slammed the gold coin into the wooden post of the dock, then boarded the small flat boat.
The boatman in his straw rain cloak worked the oars, steering into the sea of fog. Qin Mu stood at the bow, looking back—the Village Chief still hadn't appeared. His heart sank.
The demonic clouds had already surged to the village and would soon reach the dock. But by now, the little boat had already sailed into the fog, vanishing from sight.
"The Village Chief is so capable—he'll definitely return safely!"
Qin Mu comforted himself. He sat cross-legged beneath the lantern at the bow, took the Young Protector Sword from his back, laid it across his knee, and quietly watched the surging mist ahead. The power within Deafy's painting was already dissipating. The effect of the Flood Dragon treasure blood was also fading. The furnace, too, was growing dim, about to disappear.
The little boat drifted on, farther and farther away.
Suddenly, the fog beneath the boat churned. A skeleton in tattered clothes leaped up from the sea of fog, lunging at Qin Mu on the boat!
Qin Mu seemed to have expected it to leap out. The moment the skeleton's skull emerged above the fog's surface, the Young Protector Sword on his knee was already drawn.
Beheading Sword Style!
Qin Mu remained seated, unmoving, eyes fixed forward as he swung the sword in a flat arc. The skeleton in clothes hurriedly raised its bone pipe to block, but it couldn't stop this breathtaking strike!
The Young Protector Sword cut across its neck before the bone pipe could rise, passing through in a flash. Its head wobbled, then the skull tumbled into the sea of fog. Its body landed on the boat, still standing in a lunging posture, but utterly powerless now.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time—watching you beneath the boat the whole while."
Qin Mu sheathed his sword. The Nine Heavens Divine Eye patterns in his eyes were fading, and the power of the Flood Dragon treasure blood and Deafy's painting was rapidly receding. He said to the headless skeleton: "You swam along beneath the boat, hiding in the fog. I saw it all. I was waiting for you to deliver yourself onto my sword, so I could cut you down."
The skeleton suddenly lost all its strength and collapsed with a clatter, scattering into a pile of bones.
Qin Mu looked at the bone pipe that had fallen onto the boat. He hesitated for a moment, then threw the pipe and all the broken bones into the sea of fog. The pipe had clashed with the Young Protector Sword many times without losing ground—it was a fine treasure, a spirit weapon of extremely high grade. But it was refined from human bones, and he disliked it, so he threw it away.
"Village Chief, you must return safely..." The youth sat beneath the lantern, sword still across his knee, speaking in a low voice.
The little boat drifted past mountain after mountain of white bones, heading toward the entrance of this strange realm.
Meanwhile, in the Realm of the Dead, a vortex suddenly appeared in the sky. The vortex split open—cut in two by a dazzling sword light. The Village Chief fought his way out, bloodied, blood streaming from within the vortex.
The blood-colored vortex hung in the sky, bleeding continuously, looking like a wound in the heavens.
The Village Chief turned back. His ten fingers danced, and beams of sword light flew from his fingertips, driving into the vortex to seal it shut. Blood continued to pour from within the vortex, and something enormous seemed to be furiously attacking the entrance from inside, trying to break through—but it was blocked by the Village Chief's sword light, unable to burst out for the time being.
The Village Chief let out a breath of relief and immediately headed for the Fengdu mountain gate. He was about to fly past the gate when he suddenly stopped. There on the mountain gate stood a strange figure with a bird's head and two wings, standing on one leg, the other leg tucked beneath its feathers.
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Note ①: This can be compared to real-world water jets and high-pressure water cutters. Water flow at 1,448 kilometers per hour can cut through titanium alloy. Additionally, one "instant" is roughly one-third of a second. The "zhang" used in this text follows the Tang Dynasty standard, approximately three meters.