Chapter 101 — The Immortal Corpse Lineage
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
Between the Six Harmonies realm and the Spirit Fetus realm lay the Five Luminaries realm — the Five Luminaries Treasury. For three years Shen Mu had cultivated without pause; after his fourth awakening of the Spirit Fetus not long ago he already stood at the perfection of the Spirit Fetus realm, and yet he had still not touched the Five Luminaries Treasury.
Between him and that He Yin in the air lay a gap of two whole realms — two chasms that could not be crossed.
Judging by the several arts He Yin had displayed, he must be of the Vermilion Bird spirit body, cultivating fire-type divine powers; and the sword case on his back showed that he practiced the sword as well. Yet since what flew from the case was yellow paper and not swords, he must use his swordsmanship to command the papers. Those papers flew out and returned in perfect order, sustaining more than a dozen flying stiffs aloft and letting the young Daoist walk the air on paper — proof that his swordsmanship was extraordinary.
Beyond that, the papers were surely not merely for flight; upon them were written talismans in cinnabar and fresh blood, and the power of a single sheet could not be small. "If I had Master Huo's Tathagata Seal, or Blind Grandpa's Nine-Heavens Sacred Pupil, I would have the confidence to match him — but I have neither.
. .
" Suddenly a flying stiff swooped down and came racing after him; Shen Mu fled on ahead while more stiffs came chasing behind.
These flying stiffs did not truly fly: He Yin's papers flew ceaselessly to them, settling beneath their feet and holding them up, so that they could walk, even run and fight in the air — which made them look like zombies that could fly. And when these stiffs touched ground they burst into a run of terrifying speed, faster even than a martial artist. Xue Hu'er poked her head from the bundle and blew; at once a great demon wind rose, and within it invisible curved blades of wind slashed at the flying stiffs. Clang, clang, clang — a string of collisions rang out, and Xue Hu'er was startled: the bodies of those stiffs were unimaginably hard, and her arts were utterly useless against them.
Shen Mu frowned.
The flying stiffs' bodies were extraordinarily hard, far tougher than his own — all but the equal of elemental soldiers in human form!
He decided at once and roused the Rain-Moving Art; clouds filled the air, and then a fine rain began to fall. "Ling'er, lend me wind!
" Xue Hu'er understood and at once worked her art.
Shen Mu turned and swept his hand; streams of rain shot backward and became swords of water, while a gale came howling — wind lending force to rain, so that the power of Shen Mu's art swelled at a stroke, stabbing at the stiffs that came racing after.
Ding, ding — the sounds of impact rang out.
With the two of them joined, the art's power grew greatly, and the water swords pierced the unimaginably hard skin of the flying stiffs, riddling the five that chased behind like sieves. But the stiffs seemed to feel nothing, still racing on in pursuit, dodging nothing before them — trees and boulders alike were smashed to powder by their charge. "Sieve you and you still won't die?
Then I'll smash you to pieces! " Shen Mu ceaselessly roused the Rain-Moving Art, and Xue Hu'er ceaselessly roused the gale, until the stiffs behind grew ever more ragged, their limbs beginning to break apart.
Just then a fire bird blazing with leaping flame came winging in from behind the stiffs; the firelight burst forth, and for a dozen zhang around all was roaring flame, the heat immense — and in an instant both their arts were broken utterly. Shen Mu and Xue Hu'er gave stifled grunts; their arts shattered, man and fox alike were left with blood and breath in turmoil from the backwash of vital essence.
"You dare kill the son of our Corpse Immortal Sect's master — has black smoke risen from your ancestral graves?