Chapter 273: Three Punches and Two Slashes

"Fierce!" Qin Mu, circulating the Creation Heavenly Demon Merit, sealed his own divine soul, his heart turning cold.

The cultivation arts of the Lou Lan Golden Palace were exceedingly wicked, focused on the soul. Regardless of whether it was the soul of a human, monster, god, or beast, all could be used for cultivation.

Ban Gong Cuo's gaze was no ordinary glance; within his eyes lay a hidden divine ability targeting the soul. A single look could instantly act upon the opponent's soul. Without defense, one could truly be glared to death!

The Creation Heavenly Demon Merit happened to counter this kind of soul-targeting divine ability. Of course, this was also because the power of Ban Gong Cuo's eye divine ability had not yet reached a realm beyond the Creation Heavenly Demon Merit's defense.

If his eye divine ability had not targeted the soul, but rather the physical body or Dao heart, then the Creation Heavenly Demon Merit would have been powerless to defend.

"Heaven Knife's blade art?" Ban Gong Cuo raised his eyebrows, then relaxed them. "Does the Heaven Record Pavilion possess such a cultivation art?"

"The Heaven Record Pavilion does not, but I do," Qin Mu chuckled, his hand reaching for the handle of the pig-slaughtering knife.

As his palm grasped the hilt, the books and scrolls within the Six Harmonies Hall rustled and flipped, as if an invisible giant had unleashed a blade strike, stirring up a gust of wind!

Across from him, Ban Gong Cuo's facial skin rippled with wrinkles, and several strands of his hair silently snapped off.

Shen Wanyun, Yue Qinghong, and the others were slightly shocked. *Qin Cult Master's abilities have risen considerably,* they thought. *His blade has already refined a blade intent! He only returned home for the New Year; how could his blade art have improved so much after the festivities?*

They had all followed Qin Mu to the Southern Border to suppress the rebellion, facing danger and tempering themselves alongside him. They knew Qin Mu's capabilities. At that time, Qin Mu's blade art, while formidable, was far from the overbearing power it now possessed.

To refine blade art to the level of blade intent was a qualitative leap, not something achievable with mere days of diligent practice!

They did not know the difficulties Qin Mu had faced returning home for the New Year. One could say he had experienced nine deaths and one life, encountering ten-sided ambushes, heavy encirclements, constant battles, and surviving countless hardships and dangers to finally reach Great Ruins' Crippled Old Village.

Moreover, even in the Crippled Old Village, his New Year was not peaceful. After the festivities, he sparred daily with the various elders of the Crippled Old Village. Butcher, Grandpa Horse, Cripple, Blind, and the others fed him techniques daily, explaining their various insights, and even Village Chief, a formidable expert, sparred with him.

This trip home for the New Year had brought about an enormous elevation for Qin Mu, equivalent to two or three years of strenuous cultivation.

Not only had his blade art undergone a qualitative leap, but his sword art, movement techniques, Buddha methods, hand techniques, eyesight, and Dao heart had all achieved qualitative advancements!

Ban Gong Cuo's eyebrows twitched. Qin Mu's blade intent pressed down upon them, making it seem as though this single strike could unsheath at any moment, and upon unsheathing, would cleave his eyebrows!

Just as he was about to react, Master Tai Hong Fa suddenly appeared horizontally between the two, cutting off Qin Mu's blade intent.

"This is the Six Harmonies Hall, a place for cultivating the Six Harmonies and opening the divine treasure, not a place for your brawls," Master Tai Hong Fa swept a glance over the two of them, speaking indifferently. "The Imperial College has its rules. Those who cultivate in my Six Harmonies Hall are my disciples and must abide by my Six Harmonies Hall's rules. You have just broken through to the Six Harmonies divine treasure, and your divine abilities have just taken their first steps. Your foundations are not yet stable. What good is such blazing aggression?"

Ban Gong Cuo offered a smile. "Master Tai speaks correctly. Qin Cult Master, we shall receive your Heaven Knife another day." He then turned and walked towards the hall entrance.

Qin Mu walked beside him, a slight smile on his face. "Why wait for another day? Hasn't the class ended? Now is the perfect time. Outside the Six Harmonies Hall, Master Tai can no longer control us."

Outside the hall, two Great Shamans of the Lou Lan Golden Palace stepped forward, one on each side, and followed behind Ban Gong Cuo. One of the Great Shamans spoke lightly, "Qin Cult Master, why such haste? If you are itching for a fight, we, your attendants, can accompany you anytime."

Inside the Six Harmonies Hall, Wei Yong, Shen Wanyun, Qin Yu, and others emerged successively. Qin Yu frowned. "Qin Cult Master is a bit too aggressive. After all, Ban Gong Cuo is a foreign envoy who has come to our country to study. Even if they were formerly enemies, one must still adhere to proper etiquette and not be disrespectful."

Monk Cloud Que nodded. "He is a bit aggressive. Qin Cult Master must have a grudge against him, yes?"

Qin Mu glanced at the two Great Shamans of the Lou Lan Golden Palace and said leisurely, "I have been to the Lou Lan Golden Palace. A single pot of medicine rendered almost all the Great Shamans of the Golden Palace numb and terrified, causing the Witch King to flee in panic. Were you two also made numb by me?"

The faces of the two Great Shamans darkened, and they remained silent.

"Or, were you beaten by me?" Qin Mu pondered, then shook his head. "Perhaps because I killed too many people in the Lou Lan Golden Palace, I don't remember the two of you. On that Golden Path of the Lou Lan Golden Palace, corpses rolled down one after another, their blood staining the Golden Path red. I used two knives, cleaving from the outer court disciples of the Golden Palace to the inner court disciples, and then on to the disciples of the Witch Venerables. How many Shamans and Great Shamans did I kill? One hundred? If not one hundred, then at least eighty, until the Shamans and Great Shamans of the Golden Palace were cold-hearted and no one dared to move."

The faces of the two Great Shamans grew even darker, their palms trembling slightly. One of them gradually emitted golden light from within, and his head began to transform into a bird's head. He said sharply, "That was because I was not in the Golden Palace! I was traveling outside! If I had been in the Golden Palace, ten of you would have been killed by me!"

Behind them, the scholars from the Six Harmonies Hall followed closely. Hearing Qin Mu speak of this matter, each of them was greatly shocked and somewhat horrified.

Although they were classmates with Qin Mu, none of them knew that Qin Mu had actually gone to the foreign sacred ground, the Lou Lan Golden Palace, and challenged them at their gates, even killing so many experts of the Lou Lan Golden Palace!

"I know!" Wei Yong suddenly cried out. "I know who defeated the Dao Child and the Buddha Child!"

Qin Yu, Shen Wanyun, and the others were extremely shocked and cried out in surprise, "Are you saying that when the Dao Child and the Buddha Child challenged us, it was Qin Cult Master who repelled them?"

Monk Cloud Que exclaimed, "No wonder, absolutely no wonder! I was wondering which expert had defeated the Buddha Child and the Dao Child without even leaving their name. It was actually Qin Cult Master!"

Si Yunxiang's eyebrows furrowed slightly, feeling a bit unhappy in her heart. She muttered, "The Buddha Child was clearly defeated by me..."

Shen Wanyun said in a low voice, "I heard news from the Dao Sect that the Buddha Child died, and he was killed by our Qin Cult Master."

Yue Qinghong whispered, "Not long ago, the Crown Prince plotted to harm the Emperor and attempted to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor. I heard that it was Qin Cult Master who led the Heavenly Saint... the experts of the Heavenly Demon Cult in a charge into the Imperial City's Heavenly Altar, and Qin Cult Master personally beheaded the Crown Prince!"

The crowd exchanged the rumors they had heard, becoming more and more shocked. Their classmate Qin had actually accomplished so many earth-shattering deeds.

Master Tai Hong Fa glared at them. "You several, stop discussing blindly! Also, from now on, stay away from Qin Cult Master. He is, after all, the demon cult master of the Heavenly Demon Cult. Especially you, Yunxiang, you are walking too closely with him. If he drags you into the Heavenly Demon Cult, your life will be ruined!"

Si Yunxiang replied rather helplessly, "Understood, I will definitely draw a clear line between us."

Master Tai Hong Fa said in a loud voice, "Qin Cult Master, this is the Imperial College, not your Heavenly Demon Cult. The Imperial College has its rules, and Yan Kang Country has its royal laws. Restrain yourselves!"

"Then I looted the treasure house of the Golden Palace," Qin Mu walked forward neither hurriedly nor slowly, his face indifferent, turning a deaf ear to Master Tai Hong Fa's words. He continued, "All the treasures that your Golden Palace had accumulated for so long, all the various heavenly materials and earthly treasures, all the spirit treasures and strange artifacts, were all taken away by me. However, I did not take any of your Golden Palace's own treasures; I threw them all onto the ground for you. A thief does not return empty-handed, and bandits also have their code. I still understand this principle."

Ban Gong Cuo's face remained unchanged, but the two Golden Palace Great Shamans behind him could no longer endure.

Suddenly, that bird-headed, human-bodied Great Shaman let out a sharp cry, exceedingly piercing. The sound of the cry was as if silver needles were stabbing into people's brains, stabbing into their souls.

Amidst the cry, this Great Shaman's golden, dazzling wings spread open behind him with a rustling sound. With a shake of his wings, countless golden, dazzling feather swords shot out, gathering into a stream in the air, golden light stabbing towards Qin Mu from all eight directions.

At the same time, this Great Shaman lifted his foot, and his two legs had already transformed into golden bird claws, incomparably sharp, capable of splitting stone and breaking monuments, clawing towards Qin Mu's head!

"The transformations of Witch Venerable Lou Luo Jing are indeed interesting. You are a disciple of the Witch Venerable and have already cultivated to the divine ability realm," Qin Mu's eyes brightened. Two pig-slaughtering knives jumped out from behind him. All that could be heard was a dense, incomparably rapid collision sound, like violent rain and pear blossoms. In an instant, blade light erupted, breaking through the golden sword light!

The blade light was like a silken ribbon, three zhang and seven chi long, one horizontal and one vertical, a vast horizontal and vertical line across the heavens, cleaving off one bird claw.

The next moment, Qin Mu closed in, raising his knife with a backhand.

The knife lifted out from between his ribs.

The great knife lifted up, opening the belly and tearing open the stomach.

The Great Shaman's corpse had not yet fallen to the ground when the other Great Shaman behind him shook his body, transforming into an elephant-headed, human-bodied giant. His fist was like a small hill, and he struck out with a single punch.

Qin Mu abandoned his knife and turned his body, his vital qi bursting forth. His hair tie snapped with a *pa* sound, his entire head of black hair standing straight up under the impact of the surging vital qi.

*Hong long!*

The two people's fists collided, their whole bodies of muscles bouncing and contracting. Some muscles even moved and coiled under their skin like pythons.

Qin Mu's vital qi was like green dragons entwined around his body. The Nine Dragons Emperor King Merit and the Rulai Great Vehicle Sutra were almost simultaneously urged, again as if a great Buddha was sitting precariously, a dragon coiling around the Buddha's body. With a loud *hong long*, he unleashed another punch.

That Great Shaman was like a golden elephant god, his strength incomparably great. His fists and feet contained extremely overbearing power, each punch and kick like a giant splitting heaven and earth.

*Peng peng peng,* the two people's fists collided three times. Qin Mu withdrew his fist, dispersing the frightening momentum, his entire body of jumping muscles calming down. Meanwhile, the elephant-headed, human-bodied Great Shaman roared with exertion, unleashing another punch towards his face, the atmosphere majestic, stirring up a gust of wind.

This fist had not yet landed on Qin Mu's body when suddenly, explosive sounds of *pi li pa la* transmitted from within him. In an instant, all the bones in his entire body shattered, his muscles disintegrated, and his vital qi collapsed and scattered. He fell to the ground like a pile of rotten mud, only gasping for air.

Qin Mu's three punches, his fist force and fist intent, had directly reached his body, smashing all his bones, muscles, and vital qi!

Behind him, the scholars from the Six Harmonies Hall stood there one by one, stunned and wooden-faced. Master Tai Hong Fa was even colder all over. Qin Mu was simply a lawless violent offender, beating two foreign envoys to death with three fists and two knives, and moreover, he had made his move within the Imperial College!

Qin Mu did not pay attention to them, turning his body to look towards Ban Gong Cuo, a smile on his face, not at all like a murderer who would kill at the slightest disagreement. He said, "Who's coming over to drag away the corpses and wash the ground? Little Prince, my abilities are still decent, right? Do you feel the urge to make a move?"