Chapter 36 — The Ancient Thunder-Sound Temple Startles the Mortal World
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 3
On his palms and soles his vital essence sharpened into claws like knives. He sprang suddenly, so swift he was a blur of light and shadow, and pounced at Shen Mu! With that pounce, Shen Mu felt as though he had been fixed upon by an incomparably ferocious beast; a foul wind came head-on, as if a tiger roared from the ridge.
This kind of momentum he did not possess—it must be a knack that could be comprehended only through the trials of life and death!
Behind Shen Mu appeared dragon markings; dragon patterns coiled about his body. His feet moved like the long river hung upside down, rushing into the sea, wave upon wave like thunder. He used the water-natured Black Tortoise essence to drive the first form of the Thunder-Sound Eight Formulas. Though he could not yet make his palm crack like thunder, he gave full, free rein to the momentum of a river pouring down from high mountains and plunging into the sea!
The instant the two clashed, Shen Mu's fist met his opponent's, and the water-nature power of the Black Tortoise essence burst forth, forming about his fist the likeness of a dragon's head, riding the waters in full spate, surging forward! The young man at once felt the other's strength to be incomparably great, crushing his own vital essence like rotten wood; startled at heart, he was sent flying by this one move of Shen Mu's.
In that very instant of being sent flying, the man actually kicked off the ground with both feet toward Shen Mu's chest. His soles, like tiger claws, were sharp beyond measure; with a ripping hiss they tore Shen Mu's clothing and all but opened his belly!
Hastily, Shen Mu stood on one leg and fell backward, while his other leg flashed out and kicked the man tumbling head over heels through the air, to fall more than ten zhang away, flung off the platform. That man flipped over and sprang up, and had just steadied himself when his leg gave a crisp crack—his leg bone had been broken by Shen Mu's kick.
The Alchemist's voice drifted over, long and unhurried: "Fine wound medicine—a broken bone healed by the next day, and no delay to your hunting. "
Huo Ye said loudly: "A pair of crutches, made of dragon-eye wood, sturdy beyond compare.
"
The Blind Elder said clear and loud: "If your luck runs ill, come to me and I will defy heaven and change your fate.
"
"A pair of fu characters, and great fortune comes knocking," said the Deaf Elder in a loud voice.
Shen Mu's face darkened.
He steadied himself.
The moment before had been perilous in the extreme, and yet the Alchemist and Huo Ye were still fretting over whether their goods could be sold!
"But Huo Ye and the others are right. I lack the trials of life and death.
That man's cultivation was not high at all, far lower than mine, and he was sent flying by a single move of mine, yet in the instant he was flying he could kick like a tiger, nearly opening my belly and turning defeat into victory! "
Shen Mu drew a long breath, light flickering in his eyes: "I have far too little experience in this. The temple fair is a rare chance—I can cross arms with the fighters of the villages within two hundred li and draw on their combat experience!
This platform I must hold to the very end, hold to the last! "
Below the platform the crowd grew greater, voices in an uproar. Shen Mu's fight with the young man had been seen by all, and they at once perceived that his cultivation was deep indeed, but that his experience was wanting.
To survive in the Desolate Ruins, virtually every village had its fighters; some villages even had those who wielded divine powers. For the Ruins were perilous, and the villagers honored the martial; they were full of wildness, brave and skilled in war.
Soon another leaped onto the platform, a girl. Her vital essence was a mutant strain of the Black Tortoise essence, but her strikes were vicious.