Chapter 223: Dead End

Qin Mu shook off Yuan Shan and immediately inspected the surroundings. He saw that the treasure ship was riddled with holes from flying swords, leaking air everywhere.

Yuan Shan, from the Ape Lord Sword Sect, had agile footwork, skilled in jumping and thrusting attacks, and his swordplay was sharp and strange. Fortunately, the ship's hull was made of dark iron, making it sturdy enough to withstand the attacks of this sword master.

However, the ship's cabin was also leaking air, which slowed down the treasure ship.

Furthermore, the bow had collided with a massive ice sword, opening up a large gash. When flying at full speed, wind rushed into the hull, significantly reducing its speed compared to its prime.

"If I could stop, I could repair it in half a day, but these guys won't give me that time. Thankfully, we're not far from the Great Ruins."

Just as he thought this, Fox Spirit's voice came: "Young Master, the bronze beast at the bottom of the ship had its head cut off. Is that serious?"

Qin Mu paused, then replied, "It's not serious. It just might be a bit bumpy when we land."

"How bumpy?" The little fox poked her head out of the cabin and blinked, asking.

Qin Mu asked, puzzled, "Why do you ask?"

"We're out of medicinal pills."

Fox Spirit chirped, "Didn't Young Master notice? Our ship is falling, and we'll be landing soon."

Qin Mu indeed saw that although the treasure ship was still flying forward, it had begun to slowly descend into the sea of clouds.

Qin Mu declared firmly, "Ling'er, wake up that pig! It's his turn to contribute!"

The Heavenly Devil King was enraged. "Brat, who are you calling a pig? I've clearly been helping!"

Fox Spirit gave him a disdainful look. "He wasn't talking about you, stop being so conceited. Young Master meant Fatty Dragon. Fatty Dragon, wake up, stop sleeping! The ship is about to land, and Young Master said it'll be a bit bumpy!"

The Dragon Qilin slowly stood up and ponderously crawled out of the cabin, belly-down, a bit disgruntled. He grumbled, "Just a few days ago, you were calling me Elder Dragon..."

"Can this fellow still fly?"

Qin Mu was a little worried. He quickly swept up the remaining New Year's goods in the cabin and put them into the Taotie Bag. Then, he held down the Heavenly Devil King and tried to stuff him into the bag.

The opening of the Taotie Bag was small, only barely big enough for one leg.

Just as Qin Mu was about to dismantle the devil god's body, the Heavenly Devil King angrily said, "What are you doing? Don't dismantle me! My consciousness is currently dispersed throughout this body; if you break it apart, you'll scatter my consciousness too... Don't you know how to use this bag? You need to use your vital qi to light up the Taotie's mouth..."

Qin Mu's eyes lit up. His vital qi surged forth, illuminating the Taotie patterns on the bag. Suddenly, the bag's opening expanded into a huge Taotie mouth, about six or seven zhang in circumference, and it swallowed the Heavenly Devil King in one gulp.

"This is indeed much easier to use."

Qin Mu was both surprised and delighted. He tied the bag to his waist, then jumped onto the Dragon Qilin's back with Fox Spirit and commanded, "Abandon ship, let's go!"

Fiery clouds appeared beneath the Dragon Qilin's feet, and he ascended from the ship. The ship had already dropped below the clouds and was beginning its descent.

The Dragon Qilin innocently mumbled, "Cult Master, Sister Ling'er, have you two gotten fat again? You're much heavier than before."

"You're the one who's fat!"

The little fox said angrily, "Look how fat you've gotten now! The adults in Young Master's family are fierce. If you get any fatter, you'll be butchered for the New Year!"

As they spoke, the treasure ship crashed into a large mountain with a deafening roar, splitting into pieces. Three alchemy furnaces exploded, causing three more huge bangs. Shards of dark iron and dark copper flew wildly in all directions. The intense shockwaves devastated large sections of the forest, and thick, dark mushroom clouds rose above the mountains.

Fox Spirit jumped in fright and looked at Qin Mu. "Young Master, did you just say the landing would be a bit bumpy?"

"Yes."

Qin Mu nodded and shouted, "Fatty Dragon, if you don't run faster, you'll be eaten before the New Year!"

The Dragon Qilin shivered, then immediately broke into a frantic run. The fiery clouds beneath his feet churned, intensifying and greatly increasing his speed. However, after only running ten li or so, he was panting heavily from exhaustion.

Just then, more than ten mirrors suddenly rose around the Dragon Qilin.

These octagonal mirrors ascended from the mountain peaks below, whistling as they surrounded them. The mirrors expanded against the wind, becoming about a zhang in circumference, positioned a hundred zhang away.

The Dragon Qilin saw the unfavorable situation and tried to descend, but at that moment, a mirror flew up from below, blocking his path.

As the Dragon Qilin attempted to rush upward, another mirror hung upside down above him.

A sword light flew out from the mountain, striking a mirror with a clang. The mirror reflected the sword light onto another mirror.

Then, mirror after mirror reflected the light, and more sword lights flew from the mountain peaks below, reflected by these mirrors. The sword lights multiplied, instantly forming an increasingly dense net of light!

And from the mountaintops, even more sword lights flew towards the mirrors.

"What a strange formation!"

Qin Mu felt a chill down his spine. This was a sword formation that used mirrors to arrange itself. The mirrors reflected the sword lights, making them increasingly dense with almost no loss of power!

"However, breaking this sword formation is simple: just destroy these mirrors."

Qin Mu raised his hand and pointed. The Junior Protector Sword slashed towards one of the bright mirrors, but suddenly countless sword lights struck the Junior Protector Sword, causing a flurry of sharp clangs and knocking it down!

The sword wobbled and fell into the forest below.

"Their cultivation is much higher than mine, probably Divine Arts practitioners at the Six Directions or Seven Stars realm."

Qin Mu's heart sank slightly. He took out his scabbard, preparing to retrieve the Junior Protector Sword. The Dragon Qilin's maneuverable space was shrinking. Suddenly, he shook his head, opened his mouth, and roared. The roar sounded like ten thousand peals of thunder exploding simultaneously, and the mirrors in mid-air shattered all at once!

The incredibly dense sword net, now without support, instantly vanished.

A surprised voice came from the mountain peak below: "What a powerful beast! Its abilities are incredibly strong!"

Hearing the word "beast," the Dragon Qilin grew angry. He opened his mouth and spat a ball of flame towards the mountain peak below. A sword light flew out from the peak, a person and sword merged into one, dodging the Dragon Qilin's attack.

The mountaintop exploded with a roar, and rolling clouds of fire swept and surged, separating the person from the sword light. The individual crashed into the forest, tumbling and rolling.

However, that person was still alive. He soared into the air, a bright mirror horizontally before him. The mirror's light shone, and a pillar-like sword beam swept towards them.

The Dragon Qilin immediately bolted, leaving the sword beam behind.

However, the sword beam was still faster than the Dragon Qilin and caught up to them from behind. The Dragon Qilin's body swayed, growing larger and larger, revealing his true form: a colossal beast over forty zhang long. His incredibly thick tail swept backward, shattering the sword beam.

"What a massive beast!" the swordsman exclaimed, stunned.

The Dragon Qilin was furious. He turned his head and opened his mouth, flames blazing within, and a pillar of light shot out. The swordsman knew he was in trouble and immediately flew upward into the clouds to escape. The pillar of light was dazzling and intensely hot, slicing through the clouds with a whoosh.

A miserable scream echoed in mid-air; it was unknown if the swordsman survived. Then, sunlight streamed down from the dense clouds.

"Fatty Dragon is amazing!" Fox Spirit praised.

Qin Mu looked at the sliced clouds with a worried expression.

Among their pursuers, the highest cultivated were Long Jiaonan and the frosty-faced woman from Liqing Palace, both Seven Stars realm masters. Following them were monks, scholars, and others, whose cultivation levels were between the Six Directions and Seven Stars realms.

These individuals were merely the vanguard, their purpose to probe and ascertain if Qin Mu had any masters accompanying him.

After all, as the Cult Master of the Heavenly Devil Cult, Qin Mu would surely have protectors or other formidable beings by his side.

Now, the Dragon Qilin had been revealed through their probing.

The power of the Dragon Qilin's attack was beyond what Long Jiaonan and the others could handle, which meant a stronger entity would have to intervene.

Qin Mu had continuously maintained a state of evasion, never stopping to fight Long Jiaonan and the others. His objective was to prevent any hidden masters from guessing whether he had high-level escorts. If they couldn't guess, they would have no choice but to send Long Jiaonan's group to probe, which in turn gave him an opportunity to enter the Great Ruins.

In that scenario, it would have been the safest option.

Now that the Dragon Qilin had intervened, that opportunity was gone.

The Heavenly Devil Cult's masters had been dispatched by him for disaster relief, so he had no protectors accompanying him.

"We're less than a thousand li from the Great Ruins. Run!"

Qin Mu exhaled a turbid breath and said gravely, "The closer we are to the Great Ruins, the safer we will be."

The Dragon Qilin was incredibly massive, and his speed had greatly increased compared to before. Although still pot-bellied and panting heavily, he moved like a fleeting shadow when running.

Before long, this behemoth had run over a hundred li beneath the clouds without encountering any pursuit. Suddenly, Qin Mu said, "Stop, descend into the mountains below."

The Dragon Qilin stopped, shrinking his body, and descended into the mountains below. They arrived at a valley covered in ice and snow, over a zhang deep. The surrounding mountains were white and desolate, far from any village or inn.

Flames blazed around Qin Mu, melting the deep snow in the valley. Beneath the melted snow, skeletal remains were strewn everywhere.

This must have been an ancient battlefield where a bloody massacre once occurred. Earlier, he had used his Azure Heavens Heavenly Eye to look around and saw an overwhelming amount of resentment here, which was why he decided to stop.

"Right here, I'll meet those who are chasing me, the Cult Master of the Heavenly Devil Cult, and see how they are stronger than me!"

Qin Mu's heart hardened. His vital qi erupted, and countless skeletal remains flew up, clattering as they piled into four bone altars in just moments.

He took out the four devil god statues hidden in the Taotie Bag, placed them on the four bone altars, and then retrieved his Hongshan Sect talismans. Standing on an altar, he began to perform the ritual.

It was the Hongshan Sect's Talisman for Summoning Ghosts and Spirits!

These four statues were devil god effigies of Dutian. The Heavenly Devil King had ordered him to carve five such statues to scheme against devil gods who wouldn't obey his command. However, Qin Mu had only summoned one previously, leaving four devil god statues unused.

"Brat, if you summon my true form, I can help you kill all of them!" came the fierce voice of the Heavenly Devil King from inside the Taotie Bag.

Qin Mu paid him no mind. Obscure devilish incantations emerged from his lips. As the talisman spun, more and more runes lit up on the first devil god statue. Gradually, Qin Mu established a connection with a devil god from another world, becoming a bridge to communicate with the devil gods of Dutian.

"As expected, it's the Demonic Dao, summoning devils by hiding here."

An old voice spoke, "You often claim not to be from the Demonic Cult. What difference is there between your current actions and those of a devil?"

An old Daoist walked over, holding only a whisk and with just one sword on his back.