Chapter 102 — The One Who Communes with the Gods

Moreover, the flying zombies had neither hun nor po, so spells aimed at the soul were of little use against them either. Shen Mu's level slash had seemed utterly unremarkable, yet it took heads clean off; plainly this sword was a treasure surpassing most primal weapons!

He Yin hastily halted and recalled the five flying zombies below; from the sword pouch behind him, sheet after sheet of yellow joss paper flew to slice at Shen Mu!

Shen Mu seized the chance to land, facing He Yin while his feet carried him backward. He used the Heaven-Stealing Leg Technique taught him by the Lame Old Man to run at speed, and even retreating, his pace was not the least bit slow.

Chhh. Sword light flashed; Shen Mu drove his flying sword with primal essence, stabbing at the oncoming yellow joss paper.

Boom!

A violent explosion rang out. His Chu Bao Sword had just intercepted the first sheet of yellow joss paper when the talisman on it detonated with a roar, and the power erupting from that sheet's runes in turn set off the runes on the other sheets.

A chain of explosions followed; Shen Mu was struck by the blast wave, his chest convulsing violently, the air in his chest all but crushed out of him, and his whole body was sent flying backward beyond his control!

He flew more than ten zhang before Snow Fox, panicking inside the bundle, hastily worked a spell and raised a wild wind to offset that terrifying force, and only then did Shen Mu come to a stop.

But the thread of primal essence linked to the Chu Bao Sword had been shattered to pieces by that dreadful explosion; the Chu Bao Sword went whistling away and fell into the darkness.

Shen Mu landed and drew a long breath, then suddenly coughed violently twice. Though he had been prepared, his lungs and viscera had still been injured by the blast. And this was with him wearing garments woven of hundred-poison golden silkworm silk; without that clothing, that one explosion would likely have cost him his life. "Still not dead?

" He Yin fished out a jar of rank-smelling ointment and tossed it to one of the flying zombies, then flew at Shen Mu to kill him. His yellow joss paper concealed a fire divine power; it could cut and slay an opponent, and it could explode.

The physical damage of the explosion was secondary; the greatest harm was the thunder-sound the explosion produced!

If one faced the thunder-sound of the blast head-on, one's three hun and seven po would be shattered, or at the very least shaken out of the body and destroyed in the explosion! That Shen Mu had actually withstood the explosion, and withstood the thunder that blasted the three hun and seven po, was truly beyond his expectation. But blocking that one strike meant nothing.

Shen Mu's incomparably keen treasure sword had been blown away to some unknown place, and he had been wounded by the talisman blast besides; now only one road awaited Shen Mu, death!

Shen Mu did not retreat but advanced. He unfastened the scabbard from his back and, astonishingly, used the art of driving a flying sword with primal essence, wielding the scabbard as though it were a treasure sword to stab at He Yin, while his feet moved with ghostly, drifting, unpredictable steps, closing on He Yin at great speed! He Yin sneered.

His primal essence burst forth and became a fiery bird that pounced at Shen Mu, while from the sword pouch behind him the yellow joss paper fluttered and sheet after sheet of talismans flew out to cut at Shen Mu!

Shen Mu's steps grew more and more elusive.

Suddenly he gave a shout and thrust out two fingers! Thrusting Sword Form!

The scabbard went whistling at He Yin. He Yin sneered; a sheet of yellow joss paper flew from his sword case to meet the scabbard.

Though Shen Mu's thrust carried no small power, the mouth of the scabbard was turned toward him, and he had not used the sharper tail of the sheath; even if it struck him, the harm would not be great. He need only detonate one talisman to block this strike and blast the scabbard away!

Just then, the scabbard suddenly changed: its mouth became a fish-dragon with gaping jaws, rushing at his face.

He Yin's heart lurched, and then he heard the sound of something tearing through the air behind him; the Chu Bao Sword, blown away by the explosion, had come whistling back to stab at his back!

He Yin dodged aside, about to evade both the Chu Bao Sword and the fish-dragon the scabbard had become, when suddenly a furry little head popped out of the bundle on Shen Mu's back and spat out a whirlwind that held his body fast for an instant.

He Yin broke free of the whirlwind, and his rear shoulder went cold: the Chu Bao Sword had driven into his shoulder blade, piercing clean through it, and carried a jet of blood into the fish-dragon's mouth! Shen Mu's strike had landed, and he was about to press the attack when suddenly the fiery bird, blazing fiercely, engulfed him, and then sheet after sheet of yellow joss paper plunged into the flames.

Boom!

A violent shockwave came; Shen Mu spat blood and was sent flying backward.

His primal essence swept up the Chu Bao Sword and sent it crashing into the mountain forest, then he turned, leapt up, and fled, vanishing with a whistle into the night.