Chapter 320: Is and Isn't

"Nai Kui, what good will it do, even if you escape to the Great Ruins?"The young man stood with his hands behind his back, watching the other Divine Arts practitioners of True Heaven Palace attack the woman protecting the little girl. His expression was calm as he said, "You have already lost. True Heaven Palace now belongs to the Yu family. Don't blame me for being heartless; there's a saying in the Central Plains: 'If you don't cut the weeds at the root, they will grow back with the spring breeze.' True Heaven Palace no longer belongs to your Xiong family."

This area was part of the Western Heaven Palace ruins in the Great Ruins. The cultivators of True Heaven Palace had to be extremely careful when activating their divine arts here. Their cultivation method, "All Things Have Spirits, All Things Have Gods," meant they believed everything possessed a spirit: mountains had mountain spirits, stones had stone spirits, water had water spirits, and all plants and wild beasts had spirits that could be transformed into their divine arts. Their perception of nature was incredibly acute, yet within the Western Heaven Palace ruins, they sensed great danger. Everything here contained immense power, as if ancient deities were slumbering within. While their spells and divine arts could compel all things in heaven and earth to fight for them, awakening the deities here would likely bring immense peril.

The power within the Western Heaven Palace ruins was not something they could control. Thus, they had to proceed cautiously, trying not to disturb this sleeping, magnificent force. Fortunately, they had all refined their own spirit weapons. Unlike the spirit weapons of Yankang's divine arts practitioners, most of True Heaven Palace's spirit weapons took the forms of plants, rocks, flowing water, or white clouds. Some even involved exotic beasts refined into spirit weapons, which, when activated by vital qi, would suddenly expand thousands of times their original size and consume living beings, a truly unique sight. Even without using divine arts, their spirit weapons alone were enough to easily eliminate these few individuals. One of the two sika deer was dead, the other heavily injured, and the woman, intent on protecting the child, couldn't move to dodge their attacks, forcing her to stand and endure the blows, making her extremely passive.

The woman coughed up blood and fell to the ground, but struggled to her feet again, continuing to shield the little girl."Traitors!"The man who had transformed from a stag leaped up, suddenly reverting to his original form as a giant stag to meet the attackers. He bellowed, "The Palace Lord treated you well! How could you rebel and cause chaos the moment she passed away? Where is your conscience? Why do you insist on exterminating us all?"

*Boom, boom, boom!*In an instant, countless attacks rained down upon him. The stag was killed on the spot, but before succumbing, it desperately thrust its massive antlers forward, aiming them at the young man. Both stags were formidable, no less powerful than the Dragon Qilin, but unfortunately, they were outnumbered and ultimately met a bitter end.

More than a dozen divine arts practitioners immediately flew up, grabbing hold of the antlers' branches. Though their feet were on the ground, they struggled against the force emanating from the antlers, being pushed back repeatedly. Dirt and stones flew up from under their feet as the antlers, pushing them, continued to ram towards the young man. The young man, however, remained completely still, sneering, "The Xiong family has occupied True Heaven Palace for so many years; it's time to relinquish the Palace Lord's position. To kill, there must be blood; to cut the weeds, the roots must be pulled. If your Xiong family isn't completely wiped out, our Yu family will always fear your retaliation."

In front of him, an exotic beast the size of a doll suddenly expanded its body, beating its chest with its fists and letting out an earth-shattering roar. It grabbed the charging antlers, bringing them to an abrupt halt.*Thud.*The stag's body fell from the air, landing motionless beside the doe.

The young man laughed heartily. "Kill Nai Kui and the little princess, then report back!"The True Heaven Palace practitioners stepped forward, their spirit weapons soaring into the air. The woman, a look of unbearable sorrow on her face, turned and embraced the little girl. "Nannan, it will be quick…" she whispered."Mom, will I see Grandpa and Grandma?" the little girl asked.The woman's heart trembled. "Yes…""What about Dad?" the little girl's eyes sparkled as she asked.Tears fell from the woman's eyes. "You'll see him…"The little girl was calm, comforting the young woman. "Mom, I'm not scared anymore, so don't cry. I miss Grandpa and Grandma. Dad looked so scary when he died, all covered in blood; it made me cry. But when I see him again, he'll probably be smiling, right?"

*Whoosh!*Spirit weapons transformed, spirit trees and exotic beasts flew into the air, swooping towards them. Just as these spirit weapons were about to land on them, a flash of light appeared, and Qin Mu materialized in front of the mother and daughter. He spread his arms, and his brocade robe automatically flew off his body, soaring forward.

The young man struck out with a palm, landing it on the brocade robe. Qin Mu's arm spun, and the robe whirled, growing larger and larger until it instantly became a cloak more than ten zhang in diameter. The spirit weapons of the True Heaven Palace cultivators struck the brocade robe, were scooped up by it, and then the robe, along with the spirit weapons, vanished! Then, a hundred zhang away, countless sword lights illuminated the area. Eight thousand swords moved in unison, shattering the brocade robe and all the spirit weapons contained within it.

The True Heaven Palace practitioners were alarmed, instantly losing their connection to their spirit weapons. Among them were powerful Heaven Human realm cultivators whose spirit weapons were extremely potent, yet even those were sliced to pieces. As the crowd prepared to attack, the young man quickly raised a hand to stop them and cautiously asked, "Fellow Daoist, this is a family matter for our True Heaven Palace."

Qin Mu's heart ached with regret, pained over his brocade robe. This robe had been a "bribe" from Chief Qu Xiangzhu of Mistywater Pass and the Head of the Gu Hall. Since its refinement, it had repeatedly protected Qin Mu from injury, and moreover, Qin Mu's teleportation array patterns were imprinted on it. Now, the robe, along with the True Heaven Palace cultivators' spirit weapons, had been destroyed by his own Sword Rushing Mountain and River technique. How could he not feel as though his heart was being cut by a knife?"I should've known that doing good deeds never ends well. What a huge loss..."Qin Mu forced a smile onto his face and asked, "And what is your name, young sir?"

"Yu Bochuan of the Yu family, True Heaven Palace."The young man smiled broadly, his demeanor pleasant as a spring breeze. "Fellow Daoist, you probably saw this mother and daughter, felt pity, and wished to save them. However, you don't know that these two have committed countless evil deeds and murders in their daily lives. Our True Heaven Palace of the Western Lands, acting for the greater good, ordered me to lead our forces here to eradicate them."

Qin Mu said solemnly, "I see. It was presumptuous of me. Please forgive me, Brother Yu."The young man, Yu Bochuan, smiled. "Ignorance is no sin. Please, brother, grant us this small courtesy and allow us to complete this difficult task and report back. We've already lost many fellow disciples trying to eliminate these two traitors."

Qin Mu replied seriously, "Of course, your official business is important. However, I cannot simply take your word for it. I need to ask them if what you say is true."Yu Bochuan's expression remained pleasant as he chuckled. "Fellow Daoist, I've already given you a way out. Don't be ungrateful."

Qin Mu's expression also remained pleasant as he chuckled. "The Heavenly Devil Cult Master does not need anyone to give him a way out. I will ask them. If it is truly as you say, I will turn and leave, and you can continue to deal with your traitors. But if—""No need!" Yu Bochuan raised his hand and instructed those around him, "Kill him. Then report back."

"Yes!"Numerous True Heaven Palace qi practitioners responded in unison, their bodies darting forward to attack Qin Mu. Qin Mu burst into laughter, turned, grabbed the mother and daughter, and fled.A Heaven Human realm expert roared furiously, "Can you escape?"

Behind him, a majestic tree materialized, its roots coiling like a green dragon; this was his primordial spirit. The cultivation method of True Heaven Palace in the Western Lands differed from that of Yankang. In Yankang, the primordial spirits of powerful cultivators were often categorized into four types: Green Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. Upon reaching the Heaven Human realm, their primordial spirits would manifest behind them, typically as deified versions of these four spiritual entities, similar to the four stone statues in Crippled Old Village. Even with variations, they largely fell into these four categories. However, the primordial spirits of True Heaven Palace cultivators were more peculiar. Although this Heaven Human realm expert's primordial spirit belonged to the Green Dragon lineage, it resembled a large tree, which was quite rare.

The great tree's roots and branches lashed out, *swish, swish, swish*, like dancing green dragons, extending rapidly towards Qin Mu's back, flashes of green light streaking through the air! Although Qin Mu was carrying two people, his movement technique was incredibly swift, like a fleeting shadow. In an instant, he surpassed the speed of sound, creating a thunderous boom!

Crippled's Heaven-Stealing Divine Legs possessed the fastest speed in the world, but Qin Mu, limited by his current cultivation realm, couldn't utilize them to Crippled's level. The Heaven Human realm expert was too powerful; in the blink of an eye, the roots caught up to Qin Mu, stabbing towards his back. But at that very moment, sword light erupted once more all around him. Eight thousand swords moved like swirling wind and clouds, and instantly, a scroll painting of mountains and rivers appeared behind Qin Mu. *Clang, clang, clang!* Intense clashing sounds echoed ceaselessly as the swords struck the incoming roots and branches!

The power of the sword diagram was extraordinary, and since Qin Mu's swords were crafted from the finest materials, many of the divine tree primordial spirit's roots and branches were actually severed. However, the Heaven Human realm was, after all, the Heaven Human realm. The powerful cultivator's divine tree primordial spirit moved and crashed forward with an earth-shattering roar, instantly disintegrating the sword diagram, sending the eight thousand swords scattering in all directions!

"Dragon Fatty!" Qin Mu shouted loudly.The Dragon Qilin galloped over from the front. Though its speed was swift, its tone was slow and drawn out: "Cult Master, you're causing trouble again…"The Dragon Qilin's body grew larger and larger, colliding with the divine tree primordial spirit. Its entire body erupted into blazing true fire, the extremely high temperature causing the divine tree primordial spirit to crackle and sizzle!

The Heaven Human realm expert quickly recalled his primordial spirit. From behind, a burly man in a padded jacket charged forward with heavy steps. Behind him, a stone giant appeared—his mountain god primordial spirit, possessing immense strength. It unleashed a punch, sending the Dragon Qilin flying. The Dragon Qilin flailed its four legs in mid-air but, being too corpulent, couldn't control its fiery cloud. It promptly retracted its legs and shouted, "Brothers Bat!"

Two white bats flew over, flapping their wings, and emitted silent sonic waves. The sonic blast knocked the pursuing soldiers off their feet. The Dragon Qilin *plunked* into the ground, pulled its head out of the soil, shook it, and indignantly exclaimed, "I told you to catch me!"

The two white bats flew nimbly, dodging the attacks below. Suddenly, they grabbed two individuals, hung them upside down from a tree, and began to drink their blood. However, the tree suddenly transformed, revealing itself to be a powerful cultivator's primordial spirit, which then bound the two white bats tightly.

Qin Mu pulled out a large bone hammer and gave it a gentle shake. Instantly, countless skeletons spewed forth from the eyes, ears, nose, and mouth of a bone skull. They flew all over the sky, shrieking eerily, rushing forward, weaving through the crowd, biting anyone they encountered, and then burrowing into their bodies.

The Dragon Qilin charged again, opening its mouth to spew blazing true fire at the green tree primordial spirit, rescuing the two white bats.

Seeing this, Yu Bochuan immediately shouted, "Retreat! We can't fight effectively here; engage them outside!"