Chapter 132 — The Primordial Mystery Art

" Yue Qinghong sneered. "Blowing a great conch!

Even odds with him -- does that not mean you are more formidable than an adept of the Six Harmonies realm?

" Snow Fox pointed at the girl, her face full of astonishment, and stammered, "Young Master, this girl is the one you knocked into the bronze pillar back to back! I have seen her face!

" Yue Qinghong was overcome with shame and fury; this fox was too hateful.

Shen Wanyun's gaze flickered. "And if it were not a fair and open crossing before the mountain gate?

What would your chances be then, Junior Brother?

" Shen Mu said calmly, "Ten out of ten. In a life-and-death struggle, by any means necessary, he has not the slightest chance.

In truth, I am very strong. " Shen Wanyun's heart gave a lurch, his brows rose a notch, and he began secretly reckoning what his own chances would be if he met Shen Mu in a life-and-death fight. Yun Que laughed.

"Junior Brother Shen, your tone is a bit too grand. .

.

" "Young Master, this monk is the one you knocked unconscious with a single punch! " Snow Fox pointed at Yun Que in astonishment.

"It is this bald head -- I remember this head!

Monk, your clothes are still with the Young Master; how much are you going to pay to redeem them? " Yun Que's smile froze on his face.

Sheepishly he said, "For a monk, wealth is a thing outside the body; I have none at present. When I have money I will go and redeem them.

.

.

" "After all that talk, you are still a poor monk.

" Snow Fox lost all interest in him. "You had better hurry, or the Young Master will pawn your clothes.

" Even as she spoke, another adept walked out from the mountain gate.

This man was imposing in bearing and of no common looks; he stepped forward and saluted the two Daoists who blocked the gate, saying, "Kun Ziyu, Commandant of Rousing Might, begs the Daoist heir to instruct him.

I am of the Seven Stars realm, and I seal my own Seven Stars Divine Treasury. " Lin Xuan rose and returned the salute.

"Senior Brother Kun, please. " Shen Wanyun's eyes lit up at once.

"Kun Ziyu, Commandant of Rousing Might!

He too has come back from the frontier!

" Wei Yong hurriedly asked, "Eldest Senior Brother, how capable is this Kun Ziyu? " Shen Wanyun did not answer; beside him Yue Qinghong said, "We scholars of the Grand Academy are all officials of the eighth rank, while a Commandant of Rousing Might is an official of the sixth rank. Senior Brother Kun's sixth-rank office was won by slaughter on the frontier.

You may well imagine his strength!

In the last great examination of adepts he ranked within the top ten of the Grand Academy!

" Wei Yong was filled with reverence.

"To fight and slay upon the battlefield, to win merit and fame, to rise to the sixth rank -- such men are all remarkable figures! " Shen Mu knew little of this and inquired of them, and Shen Wanyun said, "The Academy's scholars must go down the mountain each year to temper themselves, accompanied by the Directorate of Education; most go to the frontier, some to the Wilderness Ruins, some to the Bureau of Heavenly Works. If they win merit, they are raised in office and title.

Many scholars of the Grand Academy are officials of the sixth rank; some are even of the fifth!

" Shen Mu sighed in admiration: this was Jingping cultivating its officials! Once the Academy's scholars came out from the Grand Academy, they could be given real posts at once, sent to the provinces as officials, or straight into the army! Kun Ziyu's fighting power was dreadful; even with the Seven Stars Divine Treasury self-sealed, his strength surpassed Qu Ping's, and compared with Qu Ping his abilities were better suited to real combat -- he drove his spells while controlling his sword, and his sword art was not bound to forms but answered the moment as it came. He and Lin Xuan actually fought up into the air, crossing blades in midair; streaks of sword-light came and went like lightning, accompanied by peal after peal of thunder, and bolt after bolt of lightning struck down at Lin Xuan, while Kun Ziyu pressed in close for melee, swift as racing thunder -- plainly he had also cultivated an extremely fierce combat skill!

This battle was a dazzling spectacle, leaving the crowd below dizzy-eyed and full of praise.

Shen Mu frowned and said to Shen Wanyun, "Eldest Senior Brother, the cultivation methods of the Daoist sect are no ordinary thing.

What is their origin? " Shen Wanyun shook his head, and only a heavy voice behind them said, "The classic of the Daoist sect, the Innate Grand Mystery Art -- a true-path mystery art as famed as the Nether-Demon Cult's Great Nurturing Nether-Demon Scripture! I fear Kun Ziyu is about to lose.

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