Chapter 32 — First Glimpse of the World-Suppressing Spear in the Desolate City
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 1 of 3
Shen Mu's hair stood on end; without a second thought he reached out to seize the spirit sword, and at once a stab of pain shot through his palm as the blade bit him.
"Mu—"
Granny Zhu could not help crying out, but the headman silenced her with a glare, and she said no more.
Shen Mu held fast to the spirit sword. It thrashed in his palm, opening wound after wound until his hand was a blur of blood and flesh. Yet his primal qi surged thick and strong, shielding his hand from being severed by the blade.
But the very next moment, a third spirit sword broke from the column of swords, then a fourth, a fifth!
Qianxun's gaze flickered. The victory was already decided. Shen Mu was younger than he was; to have cultivated this far at his age was no small feat. But when all was said and done, Shen Mu had only two hands. How many swords could he catch?
Abruptly, Qianxun's pupils shrank. Shen Mu's hands shot out again and again, as though he had grown dozens of extra arms, catching his spirit swords one after another!
Before a single sword could even be thrust forth, Shen Mu had seized them by the hilt!
The eighth form of the Thunder Cry Eight Secrets — the Ten-Thousand-Armed Vajra!
Qianxun's expression shifted slightly. His primal-qi threads trembled. The spirit swords in Shen Mu's hands leaped and struggled wildly, almost wrenching themselves free from his grip, even as the remaining swords stabbed at Shen Mu's eyes and throat!
Shen Mu had caught the hilts of five swords with his two hands; seven swords remained. The seven shot toward him in a cluster, spinning through the air with a sharp hiss, like tops, bent on boring through his skull and drilling a great hole in his throat!
Granny Zhu could not bear to look. Suddenly Shen Mu let out a violent roar. An immense column of primal qi burst from his body, swept up the butcher knife at his back, and brought it down in one stroke.
Clang—
The seven swords were cut through almost at once and clattered to the ground together!
"Such thick primal-qi threads!"
Qianxun's heart lurched. Shen Mu's slash had come out of nowhere; he'd had no warning at all. And Shen Mu's primal-qi threads defied all reason—shockingly thick, and the power stored in that blade was monstrously great!
And that butcher knife—it was absurdly sharp as well, sharper and tougher than any primal-refined divine weapon.
With such prodigious strength joined to an incomparably sharp butcher knife, severing his seven spirit swords was a trivial matter!
Before the shock in his heart had faded, Shen Mu suddenly flicked his wrists and hurled the five spirit swords in his hands back at him. The swords tore through the air, hissing, at an almost unimaginable speed.
Qianxun, however, broke into a smile. He raised his hand, primal-qi threads howling out to coil around the five incoming swords, while several more spirit swords flew out from his sword pouch.
His sword pouch looked small; by all rights it should not have held much. Yet sword after sword flew out of it—a most unnatural sight.
Unexpectedly, the very moment Qianxun's primal-qi threads wrapped around the five flying swords, his expression changed drastically. Shen Mu's terrifying primal qi was hidden within the sword bodies, surging and swelling, and his primal-qi threads were shattered before they could even take hold!
Qianxun was quick to react; the swords from his pouch shot forward to block the five incoming swords.
At the same time, Shen Mu charged forward. Qianxun reached a hand behind himself and pointed, and another spirit sword flew out to meet Shen Mu!
From Shen Mu's mouth came a strange sound—very short, gone in a flash, yet carrying with it an inexplicable cadence: bizarre, uncanny, sinister. With the sound came the young man's hand seal. His fingers pinched as though plucking a flower, and though he was still more than a zhang away from Qianxun, he struck out with the seal!
"Samaya!"