Chapter 390: Chapter 360: Interception
BOOM!
With a world-shaking roar, the already damaged Flying Boat was caught in a pillar of light shooting toward the sky. It exploded in a brilliant flash, utterly annihilated.
In its wake, several figures leaped from the seabed, chasing after the fleeting flash of Chu Mu’s blade.
"Wangcai."
Chu Mu called out in a low voice. As he released the power restraining Wangcai, his right hand made a grasping motion, and a Flaming Blade formed in an instant. Mid-flight, he abruptly spun around and stopped short.
"ROAR!"
Wangcai let out a roar, the gentleness in its eyes vanishing instantly. Its metallic sheen gleamed brightly under the blazing sun. With perfect coordination, it stopped on the sea’s surface not far from Chu Mu, its savage demon eyes locked onto the several approaching figures.
"An inland Cultivator?"
The leader seemed somewhat surprised. As he spoke, the two men behind him moved to flank Chu Mu, tacitly cutting off his escape route.
Chu Mu looked at the four pursuing Cultivators, his expression growing grim.
Four Bloodline Cultivators: three at the Middle Stage of Foundation Establishment, and one at the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment.
’Such a sudden ambush... It’s clear I’ve been targeted by them.’
"Friend, you’ve been at sea for nearly six years. The haul must be considerable, no?"
The lead man said with a smirk, sizing Chu Mu up, clearly looking as if he had victory in the bag.
"How about this: you hand over everything you’ve gathered from the sea, and we four brothers will spare your life. What do you say?"
Chu Mu’s expression faltered, as if he hadn’t quite processed what was said. But in the next instant, his face turned cold. As Spiritual Radiance flowed within his eyes, a faint hum of a blade suddenly rang out.
Immediately after, a flash of blade light appeared. As a sharp Sword Intent swept out like a tidal wave, a streak of crimson light had already beheaded one of the men.
Whether they were at the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment or even Foundation Establishment Perfection, the outcome was more or less the same if they couldn’t defend against a single strike from his Man-Sword Unity.
In the blink of an eye, a fountain of blood erupted, and a mangled corpse fell from the sky into the sea.
Then, Chu Mu reached out, grabbed Wangcai again, and reactivated his Human Sword Unity Technique. In an instant, he had once again flown hundreds of feet away.
"Third Brother!"
"You’re dead!"
"Kill him!"
This sudden turn of events was met with a torrent of curses and shocked cries. What followed was a barrage of attacks, brimming with killing intent, relentlessly pursuing the fleeing Chu Mu.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Amidst a series of roars, brilliant flashes of light flickered across the sky. Behind the darting figure of Chu Mu were three pursuing Cultivators.
But just then, Chu Mu, who had seemed to be fleeing, stopped short once more. In a flicker, he launched a surprise counterattack.
The condensed Flaming Blade and surging Sword Intent erupted once more. This time, his target was the leader, the man at Foundation Establishment Perfection.
"ROOOAR..."
Wangcai roared furiously. It leaped forward, its Demon Body swelling as it opened its cavernous mouth and lunged at the man.
"You’re courting death!"
The man’s face turned ugly. Seemingly sensing the threat of the incoming blade, a look of grim resolve appeared on his face. He slapped his chest hard, coughing up a mouthful of blood. With a low shout, the blood abruptly dispersed into a mist that enveloped him.
Wangcai lunged, its claws—every bit as tough as a Spiritual Artifact—SIZZLED and corroded the instant they touched the blood mist.
"ROAR!"
The intense pain seemed to trigger Wangcai’s savage instincts. After several swipes proved fruitless, it roared and began to bite and tear relentlessly. The man, however, showed no intention of fighting back.
The blood mist protected him securely, like a tortoise shell.
Just then, the blade of light that had been aimed at the leader abruptly changed direction, slashing fiercely toward another approaching Cultivator.
The man’s expression changed drastically. He threw out several defensive Spiritual Artifacts as his normal-looking body suddenly transformed. Wings sprouted from his back. In the blink of an eye, they folded together to completely encase him, making him look like a giant metal egg.
But under the slash of the blade, the defenses he had hastily thrown up were as fragile as paper, shattering one after another in an instant.
"Die!"
At that moment, the other man appeared in a flash, his hands now sharp claws that glinted with green light as they shot toward Chu Mu.
"Begone!"
Chu Mu shouted, his voice like a clap of thunder from within his body. The Great Sun True Flame erupted violently. In an instant, a sea of fire stretched across the sky, and the terrifying Great Sun True Flame poured down on the attacking man like a river from the heavens.
The blade, having already switched targets once, changed direction again. The crimson blade light swung back in an upward arc, and together with the cascading Great Sun True Flame, it completely engulfed the attacker in a mere instant!
The very air seemed to twist, and the sky was dyed red. Only the flash of the blade, still carrying a sharpness that could annihilate anything, cut through the raging True Flame and finally struck the sea.
The seawater vaporized, revealing a fissure in the ocean several zhang deep. Water and fire were still warring with each other.
As for the man... he was gone without a trace.
Chu Mu’s face was now pale. The blade slashed the body; the intent slashed the soul.
And his Human Sword Unity Technique, when used for attack, slashed both body and soul.
His Human Sword Unity Technique stemmed from the fusion of True Flame and Sword Intent.
For him, each strike was clearly an immense burden.
Two slashes, and two Cultivators had fallen.
Now, two remained.
One with wings on his back, seemingly of some Flying Bird bloodline.
The other was the man at the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment, the one who had coughed up blood to form a protective mist. His bloodline was unknown.
Meanwhile, Wangcai was still tearing at the Late Stage Foundation Establishment man, keeping him occupied.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Chu Mu conjured another blade of light and charged toward the leader once more.
"Fellow cultivator, this is a misunderstanding!"
The man hastily tried to explain, his expression grim.
’He never imagined he would run into such a tough opponent!’
"A misunderstanding?"
Chu Mu scoffed.
’Since this group of Cultivators knew he had gone out to sea six years ago, they must be regulars in the Outer Sea around Crescent Island, specializing in robbery and murder.’
’It wouldn’t be a surprise if they were in cahoots with Cultivators from Crescent Island, possibly backed by a stable network of interests.’
’As for a misunderstanding...’
’Does losing a fight suddenly make it a misunderstanding?’
’In that case, the Cultivation Immortal Realm must be full of misunderstandings!’
Chu Mu gave a low shout. The Flaming Blade formed again, faint True Flame coiling around his body as a razor-sharp Sword Intent swept out in all directions. Standing in the sky, he looked like a Flame Demon God.
"Attack together!"
The man’s face was dark. With a wave of his hand, the blood mist surged. As it collided with Wangcai’s attacking claws, the mist suddenly expanded, completely submerging Wangcai’s Demon Body.
"ROAR!"
Wangcai snapped open its cavernous mouth and, as if biting something solid, began to viciously tear at and devour the blood mist.
"Vile beast!"
The man roared in anger. The blood mist swirled, forming a phantom blood claw that shot toward Wangcai. At the same time, high in the sky, True Flame condensed into a Fireball that plummeted toward the man like a falling meteor.
"Get out of my way!"
The man’s face was etched with terror. His phantom blood claw swatted Wangcai away just barely, and he retreated sharply as the claw shot up to meet the falling Fireball.
BOOM!
A sky-shattering roar. Amidst the exploding flames, a bolt of blade light streaked across the sky, descending from above.
"Block it together!"
The man roared. The blood mist shifted, continuously flashing with the indistinct phantoms of monsters—some were snakes, some were oxen, some were sea fish, and so on.
In a mere instant, all these phantoms merged into his body, becoming one with him.
Suddenly, the man’s body swelled violently. In the blink of an eye, his human form was gone, replaced by a monster covered in spiked Scale Armor.
From a distance, he looked like a monster with ox horns and spines on its back. The bristling spikes resembled a suit of black Scale Armor, and its legs and tail were as thick as massive stone pillars.
"HUUUFF..."
The monster grinned, revealing a mouth packed with dense, gleaming white serrated teeth. A faint Blood Qi swirled with its every breath, creating a truly terrifying and gruesome sight.
At this moment, the other man, the one with wings, also closed in. His feathers were like sharp, cold swords. Following the monster’s fierce roar, the feathers bloomed across the sky like a rain of blades!
And after roaring, the monster actually charged forward with the rain of blades, meeting the descending blade light head-on!
Its claws menacing, it turned to Wangcai, who could still have put up a fight before. But in front of this transformed monster, a single casual swat sent Wangcai flying like a kite with a broken string, crashing down into the sea.
As for the descending blade light...
BOOM!
Another earth-shattering roar. The sea exploded, and the Yun Xiao shattered.
Terrifying fluctuations of Spiritual Qi, like a swirling tornado, swept outwards in all directions, carrying the lingering flames with them.
And within this vortex were figures sent flying backward from the collision.
"ROAR!!"
Wangcai roared, thoroughly enraged by the blow. Its scarlet beast eyes stared death at the humanoid monster that had been sent flying. It sprinted across the surface of the sea, then leaped, pouncing on the recoiling creature.
Its cavernous mouth snapped shut, tearing off a huge chunk of flesh and blood.
The man, now a monster, howled in pain like a beast and plunged his claws into Wangcai’s body. As flesh and blood flew, both man and beast seemed to have descended into a frenzy.
"Big Brother!"
The other man, the winged one, was clearly anxious. He flapped his wings, whipping up a gale. His falling body, which had been out of control, suddenly hovered in place. The next moment, he shot forward like an arrow released from its bow.
SCHLICK!
Just then, the tip of a blade burst through the man’s back.
The man was stunned. He stared blankly down at his abdomen, where a Flaming Blade was now buried completely within his body.
BOOM!
The Sword Intent erupted. In a flash, before the shock on the man’s face could even change, his body was torn to pieces, his flesh and blood sent flying, and his Divine Soul was annihilated!
The pallor on Chu Mu’s face deepened. The Flaming Blade in his hand flickered, its once-solid metallic luster growing visibly unstable.
He looked at the last remaining Bloodline Cultivator, the one at the Late Stage of Foundation Establishment—the monster that had undergone Demon Transformation!
At this, the man who had taken on a Demon Body completely ignored Wangcai’s relentless biting. With his last companion annihilated, he turned and fled!
CLANG!
At that moment, the hum of a blade rang out like a thunderclap.
A Sword Intent sharp enough to destroy everything suddenly emerged.
The lingering sea of fire was abruptly split in two. At the far end of the flames, the fleeing figure froze for an instant, and its body separated.
Its forward momentum carried it on. A fountain of blood sprayed out as the two halves of its body continued their flight...
The blade light faded. Chu Mu’s arm was trembling slightly.
Then, he took a step. His figure flickered, and he reached out a hand, gathering a good number of spoils into his grasp.
"Let’s go."
He had no time to inspect his gains. With a low shout, man and beast shot into the sky, disappearing into the clouds in the blink of an eye, vanishing from this stretch of sea.
This time, however, Chu Mu was not heading toward Crescent Island, but in the opposite direction.
Even though he was no longer far from Crescent Island...
...
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