Chapter 475: Ghostly Fetus Hidden Knot

Ban Gongcuo pondered; Qin Mu’s proposal was indeed very sincere, yet also full of cunning. If Ban Gongcuo were to violate the oath, it would essentially cripple his Soul Worshipping Sorcery. Should he ever attempt to perform it again, he would instantly die.

With this divine ability rendered useless, his power would no longer be so formidable. This particular art would become a lost secret, never to reappear in the world. Consequently, Ban Gongcuo’s threat level and influence would be significantly diminished.

In fact, Qin Mu’s consistent ability to stand his ground against Ban Gongcuo, repeatedly beating him black and blue and leaving him in disarray, was primarily because Ban Gongcuo’s Soul Worshipping Sorcery was ineffective on him. For anyone else, even if their cultivation realm was one or two levels higher than Qin Mu’s, a single bow from Ban Gongcuo would likely be fatal, with no other outcome possible! Only Qin Mu, whose very name was a facade, could withstand Ban Gongcuo’s most potent technique, forcing Ban Gongcuo to confront him head-on.

“Very well!” Ban Gongcuo declared readily, “We shall swear an oath to God Wei Wu!”

He immediately performed his Soul Worshipping Sorcery, and an altar materialized behind him, upon which a phantom image of God Wei Wu appeared. The two promptly swore their oaths to God Wei Wu, each scrutinizing the other’s words for any exploitable loopholes. However, they soon discovered that the other’s oath was exceedingly clever, leaving almost no vulnerabilities—and any seeming weaknesses were merely traps!

“That wily old (or young) fox!” both thought simultaneously.

Ban Gongcuo exhaled sharply and said, “I’ve hidden God Wei Wu’s physical body in Yangshan, at the southernmost point of the Great Ruins, and I’ve suppressed his spirit in Yinshan, at the northernmost point. You can find him if you go to those two places.” He looked up at Qin Mu, who was outside the mirror, and said, “Cult Master Qin, it’s time for you to uphold your promise.”

Qin Mu probed, “You must have set up some seals, right? Why not tell me about them too?”

Ban Gongcuo offered a faint, knowing smile. “Cult Master, our oath doesn’t include that. Besides, even if I told you, would you believe me?”

Qin Mu let out a hearty laugh, his face wreathed in smiles. “I wouldn’t believe it. However, while I said I wouldn’t kill you, that doesn’t mean the Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace won’t.”

Ban Gongcuo burst into laughter. Suddenly, he transformed into a black shadow, darting out of the mirror. He landed, regaining his physical form, and chuckled, “The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace is currently being held back by True Heavenly Mother. They’re at a critical juncture; their abilities are evenly matched, and it’s hard to tell who will win.”

He circled Qin Mu twice, then abruptly launched a deadly attack, cackling, “Cult Master Qin, our oath was that you would let me go and not kill me, but it said nothing about *me* not taking the opportunity to kill *you*!”

Qin Mu’s expression shifted abruptly as he rapidly retreated. Ban Gongcuo attacked him relentlessly, laughing boisterously, each strike executed with exhilarating satisfaction, feeling as though his past humiliations had once again vanished. Qin Mu struggled to parry, finding it difficult to defend. The gap between them wasn’t vast, but if their roles in offense and defense were reversed, Ban Gongcuo would gain a significant advantage and continuously widen it! In the end, it seemed entirely possible that Qin Mu might genuinely fall victim to him!

“Venerable One,” Qin Mu suddenly drew his sword, fiercely counterattacking with a grin. “My oath said I wouldn’t kill you, but it didn’t say I couldn’t cut off your arms or remove a few of your legs! Don’t worry, my medical skills are divine. Even if I amputate you up to your neck, I can guarantee you’ll survive. At most, I’ll reattach your head to a pig!”

Ban Gongcuo barely avoided having his arm severed. He quickly retreated, furious. “You son of a bitch!”

“You son of a bitch!” Qin Mu retorted furiously. “Weren’t you also harboring little schemes, waiting to ambush me when you swore the oath?”

Ban Gongcuo dodged and weaved, looking utterly disheveled. He hastily patted the Taotie bag at his waist, and a sword casket flew out, from which numerous flying swords soared into the air, forming the Sixth Chapter of Dao Sword. “Seven golden lotuses manifest their wonder, pure and new, abundant and glorious!” This was a sword technique from the Dao Sect’s Dao Sword Seven Stars realm: swords flying as seven stars, seven stars forming lotuses, concealing the Five Elements, absorbing the sun and moon, possessing immense power.

Qin Mu roared, also unleashing the Sixth Chapter of Dao Sword. Their sword techniques collided, sending Ban Gongcuo flying backward. He then abruptly burrowed underground. Qin Mu charged forward, shouting, “Fatty Dragon, I’ll wound him; you kill him!” With that, he too plunged into the earth.

In the distance, the Dragon Qilin had been observing, consistently keeping his distance. Hearing Qin Mu’s words, he quickly rushed over with great urgency. No sooner had he arrived at the spot where Qin Mu and Ban Gongcuo had vanished than the desert exploded more than ten miles away. Two figures shot into the sky. Just as the Dragon Qilin was about to give chase, the two mid-air figures simultaneously shimmered with teleportation runes, their forms disappearing. When their figures reappeared, they were already more than ten miles further away, sword lights clashing noisily.

“These two are masters of escape! How can I possibly keep up?” The Dragon Qilin groaned in frustration. Just as he was about to resume his pursuit, Qin Mu and Ban Gongcuo’s figures vanished again, only to reappear once more. Sword lights covered the sky, clashing with intense frequency, and streaks of blood scattered from the air.

“Cult Master, don’t run forward anymore!” The Dragon Qilin looked ahead, his face changing drastically, and shouted, “That’s the battlefield of the Imperial Preceptor and True Heavenly Mother!”

Qin Mu pursued Ban Gongcuo, who, in turn, resolved to escape at all costs, gritting his teeth and rushing into the sandstorm. Qin Mu also plunged into the sandstorm. Fierce winds howled, swirling sand and dust, forming a terrifying tempest. Lightning flashed and thunder roared within the storm, and countless flying sand particles, like tiny spiritual weapons, struck his body, almost breaking his skin and causing considerable pain.

“True Dragon Hegemon Body!” Qin Mu roared. The results of his recent fusion of the Nine Dragons Emperor’s Art and the Three-Pill Hegemon Body Art immediately manifested. Primordial qi coiled around his body like dragons, blood flowed ceaselessly like dragons, and his muscles moved with the explosive power of thunder. Countless flying sand particles struck his body, bouncing off one after another, causing him little pain. Two rays of light shot from his eyes, evaporating the incoming sand before it even reached him.

Qin Mu looked around, his vision unable to penetrate far, but Ban Gongcuo was not far away, so Qin Mu immediately charged forward. Ban Gongcuo had a large shield under his feet, adorned with turtle shell patterns. These patterns emitted light, reflecting splendid turtle shell designs around him, protecting him layer by layer. The number of his treasures was beyond imagination. The last time the Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace devastated the Golden Palace, Ban Gongcuo must have taken away many of the spiritual weapons he had collected or refined over the past ten thousand years. This turtle-patterned shield was clearly also an extremely powerful exotic treasure.

The two encountered each other in the sandstorm. Within such a ferocious tempest, both found it difficult to steady themselves, their bodies swept by the terrifying winds. Even spiritual weapons could not fly too far, lest they be carried away by the storm. Thunderbolts repeatedly struck within the sandstorm, continually falling around and on the two of them. Suddenly, a terrifying spatial fluctuation assailed them, shaking their bodies violently and bouncing them high. Their bodies were stretched and compressed, sometimes reaching sixteen or seventeen feet long, at other times shrinking to only five feet tall, causing immense discomfort.

Whoosh—

A gigantic black sun rolled past them, surging forward. This black sun carried immense heat, igniting the surrounding sand and storm, turning them into fiercely burning, incredibly swift fire tornadoes. Qin Mu and Ban Gongcuo couldn’t maintain their footing and were sucked into the fire tornado. The enormous whirlwind spun rapidly, pulling their bodies and sending them spiraling high into the sky.

Clang, clang, clang. The two exchanged hundreds of sword strikes within the fire tornado. Then, a horizontally sweeping sword light suddenly severed the fire tornado. Qin Mu and Ban Gongcuo’s bodies spun rapidly. Before they could stabilize themselves, a sand snake, a hundred *zhang* thick, let out a deafening roar and lunged at them with an open maw. Qin Mu sprinted wildly. Ban Gongcuo, on the other side, tumbled and rolled in the air, narrowly and precariously avoiding the colossal sand snake. Then came the deafening roar as the sand snake burrowed into the ground, a shockwave that made both of them vomit blood.

The battle between True Heavenly Mother and the Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace was simply too brutal. The storms caused by the residual power of these two deities' divine abilities were more than they could bear; they could be buried in the sandstorm at any moment.

Ban Gongcuo dodged the sand snake and charged out of the sandstorm. But at that moment, deafening footsteps thundered. Qin Mu and Ban Gongcuo froze as a moving continent-sized object emerged beside them in the desert. Wherever it passed, space twisted, creating layers of ripples. Space is inherently invisible, yet at this moment, as it was crushed by the Sun Ship, its fluctuations became visible!

“Run!” Ban Gongcuo shrieked, but his voice was swallowed by the sandstorm.

Qin Mu ran outwards, but even with Cripple’s 'Heaven Pilfering Divine Leg' technique, he couldn't run fast in the sandstorm; the wind here was simply too strong. An overwhelmingly powerful divine might surged over, making both of them spit blood. Even Qin Mu's True Dragon Hegemon Body and Ban Gongcuo's turtle shield couldn't withstand it. One must understand that their cultivation strength had definitely reached the absolute pinnacle of the Seven Stars realm, just one step away from the Celestial-Human realm. However, the divine might emanating from the sandstorm was simply too powerful.

Thump, thump. Qin Mu was pressed against one of the Sun Ship’s legs, unable to move. The rushing wind blew his face into many layers of wrinkles. The spatial fluctuations suddenly stretched his body to over two *zhang* long. Qin Mu felt his head become thin and pointed, and his vision grew strange. Next to him was Ban Gongcuo, also stretched like a noodle, clinging tightly to the Sun Ship’s leg.

Finally, after this immense strain, the wind intensity subsided, and their bodies rapidly snapped back to normal. Qin Mu, holding his sword in both hands, spun rapidly, striking Ban Gongcuo along the Sun Ship’s leg with clanging blows. Ban Gongcuo, standing on his turtle shell, parried with his sword. Suddenly, he grunted, as half of his leg was severed by Qin Mu.

Boom—

The Sun Ship’s fluctuations came again, but this time they burst outwards, flinging the two away, pressing them into what looked like spheres. Just then, Qin Mu saw a sword light cleave through the sandstorm. The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace walked onto the Sun Ship amidst the terrifying fluctuations, his sword light slicing open True Heavenly Mother’s head, which was at the center of four pillars. However, True Heavenly Mother revealed a cruel smile, as a massive black sun crushed down from behind the Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace.

That black sun crushed almost everything on the Sun Ship, then rolled off and flew away from behind the vessel, causing the enormous Sun Ship to flip backward, be lifted, and roll, only settling down after a long time. Qin Mu was flung away by the terrifying storm. The storm churned madly, sweeping and devouring more of the fiery desert. Even the Dragon Qilin was swept up, struggling feebly a few times before resigning himself to fate, remaining motionless as the storm blew him away.