Chapter 821: Slaying the God

To join forces with Zhe Huali and kill a god?

Qin Mu pondered. He and Xu Shenghua understood each other deeply and were both exceptionally intelligent. They could anticipate each other's next moves and keep up with each other's thoughts. Therefore, even without prior practice, they could cooperate seamlessly to defeat powerful enemies. Regarding Zhe Huali, Qin Mu wasn't worried about the power of his saber technique or saber dao. His only concern was whether Zhe Huali could keep up with his thinking, similar to Xu Shenghua. If not, their cooperation wouldn't be perfect.

Dealing with ordinary deities would be one thing, but Lin Xiao possessed an extremely high cultivation level. He had voluntarily severed his own cultivation, lowering his realm to that of a Venerable God. Although his cultivation dropped, his insight and experience far surpassed those of other Venerable Gods, which was why he managed to escape from the Village Chief's sword. Furthermore, the cultivation he severed transformed into the small sun within the lantern. The energy contained within it was terrifying, blowing a large hole in the Village Chief's sword diagram! The energy of this small sun remained undiminished to this day, making it evident how powerful Lin Xiao must have been at his peak! If their coordination was poor, they would undoubtedly be killed by him!

Suddenly, Qin Mu activated his teleportation divine art again. A light from behind shone, vaporizing their previous hiding spot. The lantern flew over, and the small figure inside looked around. Not finding any trace of them, it chuckled, "Where can you hide? I've thoroughly explored this entire ghost ship. You have nowhere to run, nowhere to hide!"

The small figure flew out of the lantern and landed on the ridge of the great hall. It flapped its wings, and the lantern exploded, the sun within rolling out and settling under its talons. Its body expanded rapidly in the wind, and the sun beneath its feet also grew larger. Its body quickly reached a hundred zhang in size, with a rooster's head, a human body, dragon scales on its neck, and vibrant multi-colored wings that flapped loudly as it tilted its head back and crowed. The rooster's crow signaled dawn! The small sun beneath its feet also transformed into a hundred-zhang great sun, becoming even brighter with its cries, radiating boundless light. Streams of golden light, like flying swords, shot out in all directions! Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The ghost ship's halls were pierced by the great sun's golden light, riddled with holes, and the ground was battered like a sieve! Lin Xiao flapped his wings and flew, the great sun beneath him rolling along with his figure. Golden light swept down from above, leveling palaces which were then ignited by the intense light, burning fiercely. Lin Xiao swept through, laughing, "Heavenly Venerate Mu! No need to hide, come out quickly!"

Meanwhile, a flash of light marked the appearance of Qin Mu and Zhe Huali in the great hall where the coffins of the Emperor and Empress were stored. "Lin Xiao will find this place soon," Qin Mu said. Qin Mu set Zhe Huali down and quickly moved around the hall, searching. "Zhe Huali, how is your sense of space?" he asked. Zhe Huali paused, puzzled, but replied honestly, "Although my saber techniques are rigid and precise, they require an extremely strong sense of space to execute. We've fought before; you should know that every landing point of my saber light in the air requires meticulous calculation. Only then can I ensure the saber technique is executed perfectly." Qin Mu nodded, then suddenly stopped and stomped on the ground. Zhe Huali watched him. Vitality flowed from Qin Mu's feet, transforming into rune imprints. As he moved, one rune after another was branded onto the ground. These runes were incredibly complex, involving too many principles for Zhe Huali to fully comprehend. Qin Mu moved, back and forth, left and right, traversing a six-zhang area repeatedly. Suddenly, with a crack, a passage appeared in the ground, leading directly to the ship's hold. Zhe Huali was stunned. Qin Mu had already entered the passage and beckoned to him. He hastily followed, whispering, "Cult Master Qin, how did you know there was an entrance here?" "This layered ship was likely designed and built by my Senior Brother; its layout is similar to the layered ships of my Heavenly Saint Sect. According to our sect's ship structure, the passage to the ship's hold should be right here, so I simply tested it out," Qin Mu explained with a smile. "I've built layered ships for the Eternal Peace Empire, so I'm very familiar with ship layouts," Qin Mu added. Zhe Huali fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Cult Master Qin, is there anything you haven't done?"

They entered the ship's interior and were immediately awestruck by the magnificent sight before them. Numerous giant dragon skeletons ran north to south, traversing the ship's interior. Though only bones remained, they still emanated brilliant golden light, illuminating the ship's core with incredible brightness. Besides the dragon bones, there were also Kun's ribs, massive ribs about ten zhang thick, inserted in rows onto the dragon bones. Various exotic beast runes, including bird patterns, fish patterns, water patterns, cloud patterns, and mountain patterns, emerged on the Kun bones. These runes lit up in sequence, appearing exceptionally dazzling amidst the golden light of the dragon bones. And on the dome, which was likely beneath the deck, phoenix feathers were embedded, shimmering in seven colors like auspicious multi-colored clouds in the sky. "What a ship!" they exclaimed in unison.

Qin Mu stopped, took out his sword pellet, and observed his surroundings, his eyes flashing. He said, "Having children—that's one thing I haven't done. The Imperial Preceptor showed me a book about childbirth, and the men and women in it were quite scandalous." He tilted his head, thinking about the couples in the book, and a blush crept onto his face. Zhe Huali and his demonic saber both widened their eyes, displaying expressions of disbelief and amusement.

With a flick of Qin Mu's finger, the sword pellet shot out a silver thread, measuring the ghost ship's interior space and the length and circumference of the dragon and Kun bones. He quickly gathered the necessary data. Outside the passage, a bright light approached. Lin Xiao, controlling his hundred-zhang great sun, flew above the great hall, his sun-powered sword light wantonly destroying it. Soon, the hall would collapse, revealing the passage. Qin Mu gripped the sword pellet, closed his eyes in concentration, then suddenly opened them. With a forceful clench, the sword pellet transformed into a precious sword! He rose into the air, holding the sword, and dashed through the ship's interior. He moved like a startled swan, his sword like a swimming dragon, executing various sword moves as if a scholar-knight were using a sword as a brush, splattering ink and calligraphy onto the dragon and Kun bones, and using the ship's walls as paper to express his feelings freely! Soon, he flew up to the dome, his body parallel to it, and swiftly swung his sword, imprinting runes into the gaps between the phoenix feathers and colorful clouds. Whoosh— Qin Mu dropped from mid-air, stopping abruptly three zhang from the ground. His wrist flickered as he wielded his sword, inscribing on the ground. The continuous whirring sounds filled the air. The internal space of this ghost ship was immense, spanning a hundred li. Qin Mu flew close to the ground, his sword light raining down, quickly writing a series of runes from south to north. His figure abruptly halted, hovering in mid-air.

Zhe Huali looked around, seeing various runes clearly imprinted on a massive dragon bone, running from south to north. A rune pattern also ran north to south on the ceiling. Two more bones were also branded with runes. However, the ship's interior space was enormous; the areas Qin Mu had imprinted with runes covered only a small fraction, with many more places remaining untouched. "What is Cult Master Qin doing?" Zhe Huali was greatly perplexed. Qin Mu's chest heaved heavily, indicating extreme exhaustion. Suddenly, the precious sword in his hand shrunk back into a sword pellet. The sword pellet erupted! Countless sword lights filled the ship's interior, darting wildly. The runes Qin Mu had just imprinted instantly brightened, their dazzling light seemingly activating the internal power of the runes, stimulated by these flying swords! The light from countless runes shone upon the flying sword lights, which reflected them. Instantly, runes appeared everywhere—above, below, and on all four walls—multiplying and growing increasingly complex! Zhe Huali watched, dumbfounded, as all the sword lights suddenly vanished, transforming into a rapidly spinning sword pellet that stopped at Qin Mu's glabella. Within the ship's space, countless runes continued to swirl in the air!

Qin Mu formed sword fingers with both hands, his index and middle fingers joined, and his thumb pressing on his ring and pinky fingers. He held his right sword finger vertically at his glabella, while his left sword finger flipped up, supporting his right wrist. His hands slowly lowered. Simultaneously, ethereal projections of arms appeared behind him, as if he possessed a thousand arms, each forming a different sword art. They slowly converged, merging one after another with his own two arms. Finally, the ethereal projections of a thousand arms vanished. "Halt!" Qin Mu roared. In the vast space within the ship, the darting runes successively embedded themselves into the four walls, ceiling, and floor. These runes, bright at first, gradually dimmed, revealing seventy-two distinct patterns! Qin Mu gasped for breath, falling from the air and kneeling on the ground, his vital qi severely depleted.

"Cult Master Qin, did you decompose your sword dao and implant it into the ship's interior space?" Zhe Huali gazed at the seventy-two gradually fading murals and said in a deep voice, "No, it's not just sword dao divine arts, but also martial dao divine arts, formation divine arts, saber dao divine arts... And even Prime Magnetic divine arts! I've seen Prime Magnetic divine arts from the Earth Mother! You also used painting dao divine arts, creating seventy-two paintings, totaling seventy-two divine arts, all forming a continuous killing array! You've learned so many things!" Qin Mu nodded, activating his Overlord Body Three Elixirs Art to desperately recover his vital qi, his voice hoarse. "Now that the formation is set, my vital qi is exhausted; I can only rely on you. Zhe Huali, are you confident you can integrate into my seventy-two formations and slay that rooster-dragon?" Zhe Huali took a deep breath and calmly replied, "In this god-slaying battle to kill Lin Xiao, Cult Master has already completed ninety percent; all that's left is for me to wield my saber and sever his head. If I cannot bring you his head, what face do I have to contend with Xu Shenghua? Or with you?" Qin Mu smiled.

Just then, continuous rumbling sounds echoed from the passage, and Lin Xiao's voice reached their ears. He laughed, "I've been on this ship for so long and never found a passage to its interior. I never imagined Heavenly Venerate Mu would discover it! Heavenly Venerate Mu is truly remarkable. To be honest, when I heard you tell that Sword God that you were Heavenly Venerate Mu, I was truly shocked. I never expected to catch such a big fish here!" He was inexplicably excited. Intense light streamed in. Lin Xiao flapped his wings and flew, a great sun rolling beneath his feet, rushing into the ship's interior. The scorching light transformed into streams of sword light, shooting out in all directions. Suddenly, those golden sword qis abruptly halted in mid-air. The golden swords formed by light remained suspended. Lin Xiao, with his bird's head, human body, and rooster comb, spread his wings and slowly descended onto the great sun. His bird talons tightly clutched the sun beneath his feet, and he looked at the two with excitement. Buzz, buzz, buzz. The great sun vibrated, and more golden swords suddenly appeared in front, locking onto Qin Mu and Zhe Huali.

"The Heavenly Emperor and the various gods bestowed titles upon the Nine Heavenly Venerates: Yu, Hao, Ling, Yue, Huo, You, Yun, Mu, and Qin. Each of the Nine Heavenly Venerates achieved extraordinary feats." Lin Xiao stared at Qin Mu, ignoring Zhe Huali. "The reputation of the Nine Heavenly Venerates is too resounding. Heavenly Venerate Hao is already Emperor Hao, governing the Dragon Heaven Court. Heavenly Venerate Yun is also known as Emperor Yun, governing the Cloud Sky Court. The other Heavenly Venerates are also not to be underestimated. However, Heavenly Venerate Mu and Heavenly Venerate Qin are like dragons whose heads are seen but not their tails, only occasionally appearing. I never expected to be able to slay Heavenly Venerate Mu, who is from a later era, on this ghost ship! Cackle, cackle, cackle!" Zhe Huali looked somewhat bewildered. Qin Mu calmly said, "I don't know what you're so proud of. Lin Xiao, do you know that in the future, a rooster-dragon will just be a dish on the dinner table?" "Nonsense!" Dragon scales erupted from Lin Xiao's neck, feathers burst forth from beneath them, and his physical body rapidly expanded. He chuckled, "Rooster-dragons are descendants of golden roosters and divine dragons, possessing noble and supreme bloodlines, overseeing the operation of the great sun! You humans are the ones who are dinner table dishes!" "Attack!" Qin Mu roared, and instantly, the entire interior of the ship became incredibly bright. The seventy-two formation diagrams erupted with power in an instant! One of these formations was the Prime Magnetic divine art, which in a single instant made Lin Xiao's body incredibly heavy, as if one Mount Sumeru after another was pressing down on him, forcing him and the great sun to crash to the ground! Other formations erupted, and various terrifying grand divine arts surged from above, below, and all four directions, bombarding the suppressed Lin Xiao! The ship's interior space was almost torn apart by these unusually powerful divine arts. After the divine arts passed, the space was twisted, folded into countless shapes, making it impossible to move an inch!

Zhe Huali drew his demonic saber, his cultivation surging. With his saber entering the Dao, he instantly reached his peak! At that moment, the light of a formation diagram shone upon him—it was a teleportation formation. Zhe Huali felt as if he had traveled into a painted world, flying through violently fluctuating space, bobbing up and down with the 'painting'. He finally understood why Qin Mu had asked about his sense of space; at this moment, the teleportation divine art disoriented him completely! Zhe Huali suppressed the urge to vomit, frantically urging his demonic saber and raising his cultivation. Swoosh— His figure appeared to the left of the heavily injured bird-headed divine being. Zhe Huali roared and bellowed, taking a step forward. His saber rose and fell, unleashing all his power through it! Lin Xiao's eyes still held a glimmer of surprise, then his head flew off, and divine blood gushed out.