“Could it be she controls this sword with that fine thread? But how can such a thin thread make the sword turn?”
Qin Mu had no time to unravel this mystery. He immediately sprang to his feet and fled, hearing only a dull thud as the sword whizzed past him and plunged deep into a large tree.
The sword seemed almost alive, wriggling twice within the tree trunk but unable to pull free. The woman then floated towards it, her slender hand gripping the hilt, and with a pull, she extracted the treasure sword. Annoyed, she muttered, “My White Tiger True Essence is still insufficient. I cannot command the sword as easily as my limbs…”
“Junior Sister Qing, to be able to transform your True Essence into a fine silk and control your sword to slay your enemies is already quite impressive.”
The man who had trod the waves with her now stood by her side, chuckling softly. “What you lack is not cultivation, but experience. This time, Master brought us to the Great Ruins for training precisely to mend this weakness. Previously, we cultivated in isolation, lacking real combat. This little demon beast is our opportunity for actual combat. You will soon master controlling your qi to wield your sword.”
The other three youths caught up. One of them laughed, “This little demon beast transformed into a deer. Deer are naturally agile, which is why it could dodge Senior Sister’s sword control.”
Junior Sister Qing’s spirit was greatly roused. She continued to control her sword, thrusting it towards Qin Mu, and giggled charmingly, “Senior Brother Qu, please refrain from acting for now. Leave this little demon beast for me to practice my sword arts.”
Senior Brother Qu, the young man who had arrived with her, nodded upon hearing this and laughed, “Three Junior Brothers, let us all appreciate Junior Sister Qing’s exquisite swordplay.”
Qin Mu exerted himself to evade the flying sword light behind him, his heart filled with confusion. “Controlling a sword with qi? Could that woman’s thread not be real thread, but her True Essence? Can True Essence be used to this extent, controlling a treasure sword? Can I do it?”
He had learned the Pig Slaughtering Knife techniques from the Butcher, but the Butcher had only taught him to wield the knife with both hands, never how to use True Essence to control it. He was completely ignorant in this regard.
Seeing Junior Sister Qing control her sword with qi, Qin Mu’s mind began to churn. If one could control a sword with qi, could one use True Essence to drive other objects?
But Junior Sister Qing’s relentless pursuit with her sword left him no time to ponder. Moreover, he had been transformed into a deer by Grandma Si, his limbs awkward, and the True Essence within his body had fallen dormant, unlike its usual vibrant state.
*Chi—*
A sword light flashed, attacking from behind, grazing Qin Mu’s back. Qin Mu felt a sudden chill on his back, followed by a searing pain. His heart sank, knowing he had been injured by Junior Sister Qing’s sword.
“This is bad. Although a deer is fast, it’s not as nimble as my true body. I’ve been turned into a deer by Grandma, and now I’m injured. It will likely be difficult to escape this disaster…”
Just as this thought crossed his mind, he suddenly felt his mouth crack open.
This was not a true cracking, but the part of the deer skin covering his mouth was detaching from his body!
Qin Mu immediately recalled Grandma Si’s action when she urged him to flee quickly: she had quietly removed a needle from “his” brow. This needle was precisely the one fixing his celestial soul!
Soon, his head and the deer skin separated.
Sword qi tore through the air behind him with a series of *chi chi* sounds, slashing towards him. Qin Mu exerted force and rushed forward, bursting out of the deer skin completely. He tumbled and rolled for more than ten zhang before leaping up and sprinting away.
Behind him, the deer skin was being sliced into pieces by Junior Sister Qing’s sword control with qi. The sword moved like floating flowers, coming and going with lightning speed. It was clear that this woman’s sword arts had greatly advanced during her pursuit of Qin Mu!
Qin Mu’s shedding of the deer skin had still caused a momentary delay. One youth stepped on leaves from the forest canopy above and descended in front of him, blocking his path.
The distance between them was only two or three zhang. A distance of two or three zhang was traversed in an instant. The next moment, the two would be face to face!
Qin Mu had no time to change direction. His mind was devoid of other thoughts. His body instinctively employed the leg techniques Cripple had taught him. His head lowered, his feet lifted, and his legs swept out like a whirlwind!
“Green Dragon Arm!”
The youth, several years older than Qin Mu, revealed a mocking smile. He sealed his hands in a defensive posture. Two hazy green lights emanated from his arms, and skin-like dragon scales and dragon claws surfaced from beneath his skin. Immediately, Qin Mu’s legs collided with his arms. Two metallic *ding ding* sounds echoed. The smile on the youth’s face had not yet faded when he groaned. His footing unsteady, he was swept back and forced to retreat.
The cloth of his two arm sleeves exploded with a *bang bang*, the sleeves fluttering like paper butterflies, fragments flying everywhere. Only then was it visible that his two arms were seemingly carved with dragon claw tattoos, the dragon claws intertwined with his arms.
But after enduring Qin Mu’s two leg strikes, his two arms instantly became red and swollen.
“Are there iron ingots hidden inside your legs?”
The youth’s hands trembled with pain, both surprised and angry. His gaze then fell upon Qin Mu’s feet. “Are your shoes also made of iron?”
Qin Mu supported himself with his hands, his two feet landed, and he sprinted away wildly.
However, the youth’s words also reminded him that he indeed had iron ingots tied to his legs. Cripple’s leg techniques required him to keep iron ingots tied to his legs. He couldn’t untie them even when getting up, lying down, or walking; they had to be carried at all times.
These days, Cripple had seen his body grow increasingly sturdy and his strength increase. Therefore, the iron ingots tied to his legs had also become heavier. Not only that, Cripple had also had the blacksmith, Mute, forge Qin Mu a pair of iron shoes to increase the weight.
A pair of thick-soled iron shoes, weighing up to ten jin, and single leg iron ingots, weighing up to twenty jin each. Qin Mu carried a total weight of fifty jin on his two legs!
Cripple required him to practice until he could no longer feel the weight of the iron shoes and iron ingots before he could remove the iron ingots and take off the iron shoes. Qin Mu had already grown accustomed to the iron shoes and iron ingots these days. When he sprinted just now, he hadn’t even realized he was running with such a heavy load.
Stopping to take off his shoes and untie the weights would surely allow his pursuers to catch up. He absolutely could not stop.
“Step Break Sumeru Mountain!”
As Qin Mu ran, he suddenly exerted force with his right foot, executing the move Step Break Sumeru Mountain. The thick sole of the iron shoe he wore was crushed as if splashed mud, the iron shoe splitting into four or five pieces, fragments scattering everywhere.
At the same time, his calf muscles tensed, grouping into bulging masses that caused the iron ingots to burst outwards, shooting into the surrounding trees like sharp arrows with a *duh duh* sound.
Qin Mu stepped forward with his other foot, landing and similarly executing Step Break iron shoe, the iron ingots bursting free.
*Hu—*
His body suddenly felt lighter. He crossed in a single stride to the top of a tree, startling himself.
Qin Mu, now barefoot, stepped on the treetop, and his body began to sink.
Below, a sword light flashed, thrusting upwards from below. What met his eyes were dozens of sharp sword tips!
Junior Sister Qing’s sword control with qi had become even more powerful. She was not controlling dozens of swords, but rather shaking out dozens of sword flowers from a single sword!
Qin Mu suddenly remembered Cripple’s words: “Do not think that the places your feet land must bear your weight. As long as you run fast enough, water is solid ground, grass is solid ground, air is solid ground. Everywhere is a smooth path!”
He lightly tapped his toes and ran wildly. The sword light behind him rushed into the sky, cutting the crown of the very tree he had just stood on into pieces!
Two youths leaped up, jumping onto the treetops, and looked with horror as Qin Mu stepped on the tops of trees one after another, whistling away like a mad wind. His speed was astonishing!
“This fellow, younger than us, how can his speed be so fast? His cultivation seems… seems even a bit stronger than ours…”
Just as the two youths thought this, they saw Senior Brother Qu whistle up with a whoosh, chasing towards Qin Mu. His speed was even faster than Qin Mu’s.
“Senior Brother Qu is indeed a Spirit Fetus peak expert. His strength is far superior to ours.”
The two praised, “With Senior Brother Qu personally taking action, this little demon beast will find it hard to escape disaster.”
Just at this moment, a massive shadow suddenly rose between the mountain forest. A huge, mat-sized furry palm swept towards Senior Brother Qu, batting the speeding Qu Shixiong in mid-air!
Qu Shixiong was swatted into a spin like a top, flying back and falling to the ground with a boom. He tumbled and rolled for who knows how many circles before finally stopping. As he sat up, he coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood and said sternly, “Don’t go there! That is the territory of the Magic Ape! There is a Magic Ape living there!”
The other four quickly stopped. They saw that the shadow in the mountain forest was indeed a terrifying black gorilla as big as a small hill, its eyes red, its fangs protruding. It beat its chest with both fists towards them, the sound echoing like war drums. “Little one! Die!”
And Qin Mu, who had been sprinting wildly in front, was also swatted down by this Magic Ape with one palm, falling beside the Magic Ape’s huge feet, motionless. No one knew if he was alive or dead.
Junior Sister Qing whispered, “Even Senior Brother Qu was severely injured by this Magic Ape’s palm. That little demon beast was also struck by the Magic Ape’s palm. He should be dead, right?”
Her words had not even finished when she saw Qin Mu, lying beside the Magic Ape, quietly turn his head and open his eyes, secretly observing the Magic Ape. Junior Sister Qing was startled. “This fellow isn’t dead?”
The pitch-black Magic Ape roared a few times. Seeing that everyone dared not approach, it gave up, lowered its head, looked at Qin Mu, stretched out two fingers, and flipped Qin Mu over. “Little one, die?”
All they saw was Qin Mu’s eyes wide open, blood flowing from his seven orifices, and his tongue even sticking out. He was clearly as dead as could be!
The Magic Ape hummed twice, threw Qin Mu’s “corpse” to one side, and sat down with a thud, leisurely pulling up a tree and eating its leaves.
“The Magic Ape is so fierce, yet it’s a vegetarian.” Qin Mu continued to flow blood from his seven orifices, his eyes wide open, quietly moving his shoulder outwards.
The Magic Ape suddenly turned back. Qin Mu’s “corpse” did not move at all. The Magic Ape stared at him intently. Qin Mu’s “corpse” still did not move at all.
The Magic Ape poked the “corpse” with a finger, finding the “corpse” ice cold and already hard as rock. It was very satisfied. “Little one, die.” So it no longer paid attention and turned its head to concentrate on eating leaves.
In the distance, Junior Sister Qing couldn’t help but say, “Big guy, the little one’s corpse became hard as rock so quickly. Don’t you find it strange?”
The Magic Ape seemed to understand her words. It patted its own forehead, immediately turned back, and saw the little one’s “corpse” stand up straight and sprint away wildly.
