Chapter 755 — Waves and Sword-Light Like a Coiling Dragon

o explode, his aura becoming utterly terrifying, utterly savage. But before his attack could fall, a streak of sword-light had already pierced through his skull. Shen Mu drew his sword, his body twisting in uncanny postures to evade the strikes from behind; his palm closed and seized the hand of another demigod. That demigod's arm was all scales, and one after another the scales flew up, spinning, slicing toward Shen Mu. The sword in Shen Mu's hand abruptly became blade-light; the blade-light split in two, the two blades crossing in their courses, and as the two strokes passed each other the demigod clutched at his throat — but his head had already been flung skyward by the surging rush of his own qi and blood. The other demigods ringed Shen Mu about and shouted in fury as one; columns of seawater towered to the heavens, and one vast figure after another launched attacks upon Shen Mu within the encirclement. "A Marvelous Peak Beyond the Heavens!" Countless afterimages of Shen Mu formed around him, and in an instant the countless afterimages gathered into one. "A Thousand Palms Return!" Rumble! His supreme art, the Way entered through martial skill, erupted; vast bodies flew off in every direction, smashing the sea into a churn of waves. Shen Mu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and strode toward Heavenly Lord Hao, who had been smashed onto the surface of the sea. The sea suddenly split apart with a great splash; a colossal demigod beast lurking on the seabed opened a heaven-devouring maw and bit down at him. Runes flurried around Shen Mu's body, his teleportation art activated, and the demigod's head too was abruptly teleported away, leaving only the headless body to crash into the sea, divine blood dyeing a stretch of ocean red. In the next instant Shen Mu's figure appeared; he drove a punch through the demigod's skull and, without a speck of blood upon him, walked on. Ahead, Heavenly Lord Hao, his features all but destroyed, forcibly suppressed his wounds, turned, and fled, crying out, "Stop him!" A whistling came from above Shen Mu's head: a demigod came on beating wings, swooping down from the heavens, swift beyond measure, like a falling meteor. The demigods carried the blood of the ancient gods; each had his own supreme art, each his own strength, and their fighting power was formidable — the nearer they came to maturity, the greater it grew. Some demigods were not even inferior to the ancient gods. Though the demigods who followed Heavenly Lord Hao were all of the younger generation, their strength was by no means small; yet no sooner had this bird-winged, human-bodied demigod swooped down than Shen Mu vanished from before his eyes. He felt a sudden chill at his neck, and then he saw his own headless body plunge into the sea. "What art is this? I have never seen..." Shen Mu walked on, his gaze locked fast upon Heavenly Lord Hao's staggering, fleeing figure. Ahead the sea burst open, and a divine elephant, snow-white from trunk to tail, came striding over the water, charging at him at speed; two great waves were thrown up from the sea and parted left and right, each wave a hundred zhang tall. The divine elephant trumpeted, a sound to split the ears, and charged at Shen Mu with terrifying speed. Shen Mu raised both hands high, and a stroke of blade-light chopped down. The divine elephant split in two, and the two halves ran on, rushing past either side of him. Heavenly Lord Hao looked back and saw it; his terror knew no bounds. The sea surged; a great fish leaped into the air and, commanding the waters, lifted the ocean up to the heavens and pressed it down upon Shen Mu. The sea shook with a boom and covered Shen Mu beneath it. "Dead! Dead!" the fish demigod cried in wild delight. The other demigods flew over one after another, alighting on the sea, divine light shooting from their eyes as they searched everywhere for Shen Mu. Heavenly Lord Hao halted and spat out the foul blood in his mouth. Just then a dark, heavy gateway suddenly appeared on the sea's surface; the gateway whirled with a shriek, sweeping across demigod after demigod. The crowd cried out, about to flee, when suddenly their souls plunged into the Dark Capital, and they became corpses sinking into the sea. Heavenly Lord Hao's pupils shrank sharply. There beneath the water Shen Mu's head emerged; his body rose slowly, and even in the sea he was still walking, unhurried, toward him. Shen Mu's figure rose higher and higher, emerging once more upon the surface of the sea. "You are not Heavenly Lord Yu. Heavenly Lord Yu had no such terrifying powers..." Heavenly Lord Hao backed away, staring at Shen Mu. The other demigods came killing, one breathing great fire, one shooting divine light from his eyes, one using his own feathers as swords and blades — but to Shen Mu these primitive arts were far too crude. Before these arts could even reach him, the masters of those arts had been cut down beneath his blade and slain beneath his sword. In this age, there was no art worthy of his regard. Even if one possessed the strength of a god, in his eyes such arts were riddled with flaws; the moment the other made his move, death was certain. He walked on. Heavenly Lord Hao fled, teeth clenched, and cried out shrilly, "I know who you are! Heavenly Lord Mu..." He fled onto a divine mountain and cried aloud, "Heavenly Lord Mu means to kill me!" The sea turtle that bore the divine mountain turned its body, looked at Shen Mu coming step by step, and said in a heavy voice: "Heavenly Lord Yu, your powers may be vast, but this is the Jade Pool. Do you know who Heavenly Lord Hao's birth mother is? If you knew..." Shen Mu raised his hand; beneath the sea countless streaks of sword-light went speeding this way and that. The old turtle flew into a rage and sneered, "A grain of rice, and you dare shine before the sun..." "Unseal the Kalpa—" A column of sword-light, blazing like a pillar, more than ten li long, shot out from behind the sea island and ran the old turtle at the prow through the brow. The divine mountain sank. Shen Mu recalled his sword; the sword-light became a sphere, rolling swiftly across the surface of the sea. As the divine mountain sank, Heavenly Lord Hao sprang up at once and fled. Runes flurried around Shen Mu; his body flickered and vanished, closing the distance between them. Suddenly an obscure, dark aura came, setting the surrounding space trembling without cease. Heavenly Lord Hao was overjoyed and cried aloud, "Mother!" Shen Mu's pupils shrank. He pointed a finger, and the sword orb's speed abruptly increased more than tenfold; all his magic power, all his essence, qi, and spirit were poured into that one sword. He would slay Heavenly Lord Hao before that being of incomparable power could descend. — A few minutes late, and this chapter is a little longer as well, three thousand seven hundred words.