Chapter 377 — Death Battle

To those who could not win in a fair fight, resorting to poison was a contemptible act—this was the main reason the Jade-Faced Poison King had incurred public wrath back in the day. But Shen Mu felt no such psychological burden about the matter. If you cannot win, then poison them—this was only natural. To kill one's opponent with poison was itself a form of strength. I cannot beat you, and you still insist on coming after me—then poisoning you to death is hardly a problem. Take the scene before his eyes: this had never been a battle between equals to begin with. Lord Dragon Keeper was a high and mighty god of the heavens above, and the avatar formed from his blood possessed extraordinary strength. Never mind fighting Shen Mu and his three companions—even a powerhouse at the Heaven-Human realm might not be a match for this blood-born body. The opponent was a god, so slipping him some poison was perfectly reasonable. The poison Shen Mu used was the Three Shatters Powder he had refined back in the Desolate Ruins during a poison duel with the western poison master Mu Yingxue. The name "Three Shatters Powder" had been given by Mu Yingxue herself. He had a good habit: every time he successfully refined a poison or a spirit medicine, he would make extra—use half, save half, in case it might come in handy someday. The poison Shen Mu smeared on the Heavenly Emperor's Jade Tablet was precisely the Three Shatters Powder. Three Shatters Powder reversed the five elements and disrupted yin and yang; it shattered the body, shattered the spirit, and scattered the soul—hence "Three Shatters." It used great tonics to nourish a great poison, making it extraordinarily toxic. This poison had been specifically designed to counter the divine blood and demon blood of the Root Demon of Withered Ridge, and it had succeeded in poisoning the Root Demon to death. Therefore, using it against Lord Dragon Keeper's blood-born body could well be called the perfect remedy for the ailment. Back then, the Root Demon of Withered Ridge had been immobilized by the Blue Mystic Water Dragon Pearl and could not move, allowing him to poison it at leisure. Lord Dragon Keeper, however, moved freely. So Shen Mu smeared Three Shatters Powder on the Heavenly Emperor's Jade Tablet—as long as Lord Dragon Keeper touched the tablet, he would be poisoned. On the ground, many tiny, dainty blood wyrms scurried in all directions, avoiding the Heavenly Emperor's Jade Tablet and the corrupted blood, trying to regroup. Shen Mu immediately came charging at flying speed and bellowed, "If we don't grind these divine blood drops to nothing, none of us will survive!" His eight thousand flying swords were stuck all over the great hall. With his cultivation level, he could not recall these flying swords. Shen Mu turned his vital essence into threads, coiled them around the Sorrowless Sword nailed to a pillar, and gave a mighty yank, pulling the Sorrowless Sword free. The Sorrowless Sword was a divine sword, incomparably sharp. Though it had been driven deep into the pillar, it could still be pulled out—but the other flying swords could not be extracted. Shen Mu marshaled his remaining vital essence and unleashed various basic sword techniques—Cloud Sword Form, Cleaving Sword Form, Coiling Sword Form, and the rest—slashing at the blood wyrms darting across the ground. On the ground, Long Yu let out a muffled groan. He too could not pull out the flying sword lodged in his chest. Mimicking Shen Mu, he slammed the ground hard, and the flying sword pierced straight through his chest. Long Yu let out a world-shaking scream of agony, gritting his teeth—but just then, two jade bottles came flying toward him. Shen Mu had thrown him two bottles of dragon saliva. Long Yu caught them in a fluster. Not bothering to unstop them, he crushed both jade bottles with brute force. The dragon saliva flowed out, and he immediately swept it up with his vital essence and channeled it into his wound. The dragon saliva took effect. Flesh and blood grew and knit together at his chest, itching and aching at once. Ignoring the searing pain in his chest, Long Yu immediately lunged forward, charging at the tiny blood wyrms scurrying in all directions on the ground. At the same time, Wang Muran and Mu Qingdai did the same. Each of them forcibly tore free from the walls and pillars, the flying swords that had pinned them tearing out chunks of flesh. Shen Mu tossed each of them two bottles of dragon saliva as well, and the two hastily poured it into their wounds. Ordinarily, to avoid leaving hidden ailments, they would have needed to circulate their vital essence to expel the congested blood from their bodies. At this moment, there was no time for such niceties. They each activated their elemental weapons and charged at the tiny blood wyrms. "Don't step on the corrupted blood or the Heavenly Emperor's Jade Tablet!" Shen Mu shouted. "The poison I refined is too potent—even I can't cure it!" The three of them were alarmed and immediately grew far more cautious, avoiding the corrupted blood on the ground. The four of them moved with the swiftness of a hare and the ferocity of a diving falcon, shattering one small blood wyrm after another. But these blood wyrms were, after all, composed of divine blood, and their strength was still insufficient to obliterate divine blood. The blood wyrms, once shattered, would immediately reform. Only Shen Mu's Sorrowless Sword could grind away a portion of the divine blood. "Lend me your dharma power—let us all channel it into this sword together!" Wang Muran and the other two hastily marshaled their dharma power. Vital essence turned to threads and surged toward the Sorrowless Sword. Infused with their dharma power, the Sorrowless Sword's might instantly surged. Shen Mu controlled the Sorrowless Sword, and its sword techniques erupted. One after another, the wyrms darting wildly across the ground were decapitated. Then the sword light abruptly shifted into the Drilling Sword Form, skimming along the ground like a silver dragon swimming, pulverizing each headless blood wyrm! Suddenly, several small blood wyrms huddled together, rolling along the ground to dodge the sword light. When these few blood wyrms came to a stop, the dainty wyrms had vanished, and in their place stood a Lord Dragon Keeper about a foot tall. "Lord Dragon Keeper, even you have come to this?" The four of them were startled and delighted, unable to resist laughing aloud. Suddenly, the tiny Lord Dragon Keeper's foot moved, and his form vanished in an instant. Long Yu's left shin bone snapped with a crack—the tiny Lord Dragon Keeper had kicked his shin bone in two! "Open your eyes!" Wang Muran bellowed, activating his Sacred Pupil. But even so, he could only see the tiny Lord Dragon Keeper moving at incredible speed, flickering through afterimages—almost impossible to catch his figure. Shen Mu thrust the Sorrowless Sword again and again, each strike narrowly stabbing behind the little dot, utterly unable to hit him. "Senior Sister, watch out!" No sooner had Wang Muran's cry rung out than Lord Dragon Keeper appeared beside Mu Qingdai like a ghost, punching toward her. Mu Qingdai let out a fierce shout. Her flowing ribbons coiled around and entangled the tiny Lord Dragon Keeper's arm, and she struck with a palm. Shen Mu flew over, activating the Mystic Body Three Elixirs Art and circulating the Nine Revolutions Three Verifications Mystic Art. His body rapidly shrank until he became a figure a foot tall. The Sorrowless Sword, too, shrank to just three inches. He sent the sword hurtling at Lord Dragon Keeper and shouted, "Don't clash with him head-on—his strength is immense!" Bang! Blood burst from Mu Qingdai's palm, her hand a mangled mess of flesh and blood. Shen Mu darted through the air at flying speed, his qi commanding the flying sword to attack Lord Dragon Keeper relentlessly. Lord Dragon Keeper evaded the Sorrowless Sword with ghost-like speed.