Chapter 442: Desert Dragon

The young man reacted with incredible speed, immediately crashing backward and diving into the sheepskin tent as soon as Qin Mu moved his sword.

The sheepskin tent ripped apart, and countless streaks of sword light shot out from all directions within it. Suddenly, the sword light abruptly halted, then, like a roaring dragon, plunged into the earth. This was because the young man had immediately burrowed into the ground upon retreating into the tent.

Bang—

In the fiery desert a mile away, eight thousand rolling, swirling flying swords burst from the ground, chasing the young man's figure skyward.

The young man leaped into the air and suddenly spread his arms, as two shimmering golden wings grew from his back. The wings vibrated furiously, and countless golden feather-swords met Qin Mu's sword light, clashing with a metallic clang. Sparks flew in mid-air, and flying swords scattered everywhere.

Qin Mu reached out with his large hand. The chaotic flying swords in mid-air abruptly halted, converged toward the center, and clashed together, forming a continuously spinning metallic ball about ten feet in diameter.

That was his Sword Pellet!

This Sword Pellet was truly enormous, hovering and continuously rotating in the air with a strong metallic presence.

A fiery tornado swept in, engulfing the young man. His figure was swallowed by the fire tornado, but the next moment he appeared at its top, standing on the vortex. He laughed loudly, "Sect Master Qin! Human Emperor Qin! You really are a persistent ghost! Do you think I'm afraid of you just because of your tattoo? Accept my bow—"

This young man was Ban Gongcuo. Standing at the tip of the tornado, he bowed to Qin Mu.

As he bowed, a sinister altar instantly appeared behind him. On the altar, a demonic god emerged, also preparing to bow!

Qin Mu abruptly splayed his fingers, pressing them toward the ground. The earth beneath the fire tornado immediately twisted, and the sand and rocks on the surface spun wildly, swallowing the fire tornado into the earth.

Ban Gongcuo, at the tip of the tornado, became unstable. Unable to complete his bow, he looked up to find that the Sword Pellet had dispersed at some point. Eight thousand swords spun madly, like a gaping mouth covered with sword tips, devouring him.

Sword Winding Form.

"A Finger to Fix the Nation!"

Four continuous loud bangs echoed from within Ban Gongcuo as divine treasures opened one after another, and his magic power surged instantly. He pointed his left hand at the ground, and the earth immediately stopped twisting and spinning as fiery lotus flowers emerged from beneath, stabilizing it.

He pointed his right hand at the gaping mouth devouring him from the sky. Fiery lotus flowers also emerged within the gaping mouth formed by countless flying swords in the air, clashing with the swirling, entwined flying swords, blocking Qin Mu's move.

Ban Gongcuo scoffed, "Sect Master Qin, I am already at the Seven Stars Realm. Being one realm higher is like being one heaven higher; it can crush people! Have you felt my despair-inducing magic power?"

Suddenly, the fiery lotus flowers shattered with a crash. Ban Gongcuo was startled. "His magic power is no less than mine!" he thought. "I'm already at the Seven Stars Realm; how could he have refined his magic power to this extent?"

As someone who had reincarnated over a dozen times, he wouldn't claim to be the best at refining magic power within the same realm, but he was certainly among the top few in the world. There were very few who could surpass him in the sheer magnitude of magic power within the same realm. While Qin Mu was one of them, he hadn't surpassed him by much.

He had fought Qin Mu several times before. The first time, both were at the same realm, the Six Directions Realm, and their magic power was almost identical, nearly on par.

Qin Mu, relying on the variations of his cultivation techniques and divine arts, had constantly drawn him in, forcing him to exhaust his adaptability, which allowed Qin Mu to seize the initiative and defeat him.

However, during their second direct confrontation, his cultivation realm had advanced faster than Qin Mu's, and his magic power had already significantly surpassed Qin Mu's. Qin Mu had relied on the extraordinary power of the Eight Thousand Swords, his massive Sword Pellet, to contend with him without falling behind.

Yet now, he was a Seven Stars Realm divine arts practitioner, while Qin Mu was still at the Six Directions Realm. Logically, Qin Mu's magic power should be utterly crushed by him. Qin Mu should be unable to break his divine arts!

But now, in their first direct clash, Qin Mu's flying swords still crushed his "A Finger to Fix the Nation" divine art. Although this was due to the sharpness of the flying swords, it also indicated that Qin Mu was not much inferior to him in terms of magic power. Even if he was not as good, the gap was not significant.

When Imperial Preceptor Yankang attacked the Loulan Golden Palace and Khan Luandi surrendered to him, Ban Gongcuo knew the Loulan Golden Palace would inevitably fall. So he fled overnight before Imperial Preceptor Yankang launched his assault, abandoning all the grand shamans and shaman kings in the Loulan Golden Palace. Even the Shaman Venerable didn't know he had escaped in the night.

With the Loulan Golden Palace destroyed and the Shaman Venerable slain by the Imperial Preceptor, Ban Gongcuo reflected deeply on his defeat. He knew that the grasslands were no longer safe for him, and Imperial Preceptor Yankang would surely order his experts to search for his whereabouts. Thus, he hid in the fiery desert.

As a reincarnated being, his cultivation progressed at an astonishing speed, giving him an advantage that other divine arts practitioners could not match. Every day he hid in this oasis, and at night he would go to the Western Lands to capture its common people, bringing them to the oasis to cultivate. In less than half a year, he broke through to the Seven Stars Realm.

He had originally planned that after recovering his past life's cultivation, he would return to Yankang to exact revenge. By then, who could withstand his "Accept My Bow" technique?

However, this encounter with Qin Mu left him somewhat flustered. He had advanced to the Seven Stars Realm, which should have given him an overwhelming advantage. Yet, Qin Mu's strength had also progressed by leaps and bounds. He still couldn't gain an advantage!

"Ban Gongcuo, you are outdated!"

Qin Mu suddenly burst out of the fiery desert's oasis. His body seemed to glide horizontally, crossing a mile or so, looking as if he were walking on the wind. His muscles shifted like coiled dragons, his physical body incomparably powerful. He calmly stated, "Hiding here, you probably don't know that since your Golden Palace was destroyed, the progress of Dao arts and divine arts has been astonishing. The Six Directions Realm can now cultivate primordial spirits, and there's almost no difference from the Seven Stars Realm except for one divine treasure. Purely in terms of realm, you are not higher than me!"

Ban Gongcuo's body was like a golden Buddha. Their physical bodies crashed together, and dragon roars and Buddha chants reverberated continuously. Ban Gongcuo's golden face instantly turned ashen white. His arm snapped with a loud crack, and he flew backward.

"That's not the Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique!" he sharply cried.

The Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique was extremely proficient in physical cultivation and was Emperor Yanfeng's unique art. Although Ban Gongcuo had not obtained this technique, he had fought Qin Mu before, and Qin Mu had used the Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique.

However, back then, while the Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique was formidable, there were quite a few other powerful divine arts that could rival it. Therefore, Ban Gongcuo had no fear.

But this time, he suffered a great loss from the "Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique." The "Nine Dragons Imperial Cultivation Technique" unleashed by Qin Mu was incredibly fierce. His physical strength was unparalleled, almost like a human true dragon. The power bursting from his muscles, sinews, and bones was like countless barbaric dragons simultaneously exerting force!

Facing this nearly savage power, his Great Buddha Golden Body directly crumbled. His arm fractured with a loud crack, and a broken bone pierced out from his elbow!

"Sword Burst!"

Qin Mu slammed his palm downward. Swish, swish, swish—countless flying swords rained down from mid-air. The sword light surged like a wave from an explosion, instantly engulfing Ban Gongcuo.

Ban Gongcuo endured the sharp pain. His body sank downwards, burrowing into the desert before the sword light reached him.

As the eight thousand swords descended, the desert almost boiled. Fine streaks of sword light crisscrossed among the grains of sand!

Qin Mu landed. His clothes fluttered, stirring up a great wind that forcibly suppressed the desert flames. He touched the ground with his toes, then soared into the air again. Wherever he passed, the flames automatically parted to either side.

The desert miles away boiled, and countless streaks of sword light shot skyward. Qin Mu roared, his vital qi raging. He charged forward, pressing against the fiery red sand and rocks as he furiously rushed ahead. Instantly, fiery red sand dragons appeared in the desert.

Dozens of sand dragons weaved through the crimson sand desert, undulating up and down, diving in and out of the sand. In mere moments, they arrived at the place where sword light soared skyward. The power of the divine art suddenly erupted, dragon roars reverberated mightily, and countless grains of sand exploded with a bang!

Amidst the sand and dust, streaks of flying swords flickered erratically. Ban Gongcuo's figure appeared vaguely, standing on a large cauldron. The cauldron vibrated, and sound waves materialized into a tangible force, deflecting the flying swords.

The large cauldron abruptly burrowed into the ground, moving through the sand.

Qin Mu pursued rapidly, calling out loudly, "Qingqing, get some water and follow along with Fatty Dragon!"

Xiong Qi'er was puzzled. She said to the Dragon Qilin, "Brother Qin Mu is confused; he called me Qingqing."

The Dragon Qilin shook his head and said, "You don't know Ban Gongcuo's ability. If he knows your name, he can use his 'bow to death' technique on you from a thousand miles away. That's why the Sect Master didn't call your real name. The Sect Master probably isn't confident enough to kill him outright, so he told us to get some water and follow him. The Sect Master is one of the abandoned people of the Great Ruins; he can't last long in the fiery desert. There's no moisture here, so water-element divine arts can't be used. We need to quickly get water and catch up!"

Xiong Qi'er suddenly understood. Just as she was about to collect water from the lake, she suddenly shrieked.

The Dragon Qilin quickly went over. He saw that the lake was filled with bones everywhere beneath the surface. Piles upon piles of bones, countless human remains had been discarded here!

Ban Gongcuo cultivated using the souls of others. He had killed countless Western Lands experts, and their remains were discarded here.

"Are we still getting water?" Xiong Qi'er asked, her face ashen.

The Dragon Qilin bit his tongue, spitting a small mouthful of blood into the lake. The lake surface immediately boiled, and innumerable splashes churned noisily as countless soul-worms in the water competed for the dragon blood.

The Dragon Qilin quickly opened his mouth and bit Xiong Qi'er's collar, lifting her and rapidly retreating to avoid the lake water splashing on her.

"This lake water has been poisoned with soul toxins; it's no longer drinkable."

The Dragon Qilin put the little girl down. He said, "Climb onto the tip of my tail and sit back."

His tail lowered, and Xiong Qi'er quickly climbed on and sat back.

The Dragon Qilin curled his tail upward, and Xiong Qi'er slid all the way down from the tip of his tail onto his back. The little girl repeatedly exclaimed how fun it was: "Let's do it again!"

"No more playing," the Dragon Qilin instructed. "I have a mane on my neck; hold on tight. I need to hurry and chase the Sect Master."

Xiong Qi'er crawled over, burrowing into the long mane. Her small hands tightly gripped two strands of mane. Suddenly, a dragon scale next to her lifted and covered her, as the Dragon Qilin was worried that if he ran too fast, she might slip off.

Previously, with Qin Mu protecting Xiong Qi'er, the Dragon Qilin didn't have to worry. But now that Qin Mu wasn't there, it was up to him to carefully look after Xiong Qi'er.

The Dragon Qilin then used his magic power to shield Xiong Qi'er, forming a barrier. He warned her to be careful. Only then did he set off in pursuit of Qin Mu's direction. His speed gradually increased; he dared not accelerate suddenly, but his speed grew faster and faster, soon exceeding the speed of sound. Fiery sand dunes flashed past like fleeting shadows.

"Fatty Dragon, you're faster than before!"

Xiong Qi'er loudly asked, "Why don't you run this fast in front of Brother Qin Mu?"

"What do you know, little girl?" the Dragon Qilin replied. "To make a horse run fast, you have to feed it well."

The Dragon Qilin smugly chuckled, "I deliberately run a bit slower so the Sect Master will give me better spiritual pills, hoping to feed me better so I run faster. If I gradually increase my speed, he'll know it's the effect of better spiritual pills, and then he'll work even harder to improve the pills, and he'll even pay attention to my taste preferences. If I suddenly become very fast, he won't bother improving the pills; he'll just give me substandard ones mixed with Fire Element Divine Energy Pills. Don't tell the Sect Master, or he'll get lazy."

Xiong Qi'er didn't understand, but she still nodded repeatedly.

The Dragon Qilin ran for a long time but still couldn't catch up to Qin Mu. However, he saw exploding sand dunes along the way, which startled him. Clearly, Qin Mu and Ban Gongcuo had clashed nearby.

A little while later, the Dragon Qilin saw a sand dune in the distance suddenly rise up, transforming into a crimson sand giant, furiously hammering the ground.

"That's a cultivation technique from my Western Lands True Heaven Palace!"

Xiong Qi'er cried out, "Is that Brother Qin Mu?"

The Dragon Qilin shook his head, somewhat cautiously, and said, "The Sect Master doesn't have such immense magic power. We should go around."

He detoured to a distance. Looking at the sand giant, he was taken aback.