Qin Mu shook off Yuan Shan and immediately surveyed his surroundings. The treasure ship had been pierced by flying swords until it was riddled with holes, leaking wind from every direction.
Yuan Shan of the Yuan Mountain Sword Sect was agile and nimble, leaping and thrusting with a sword technique that was sharp and bizarre. Fortunately, the ship was forged from dark iron and remained sturdy enough to withstand the attacks of this sword expert.
However, the cabin had also been breached, slowing the treasure ship's speed.
To make matters worse, the bow had crashed into an enormous ice sword, carving a massive gash. When flying at full power, wind gushed into the hull, reducing its speed considerably compared to its peak performance.
"If I could stop for half a day, I could repair it. But these guys won't give me that kind of time. Fortunately, we're not far from the Great Ruins."
Just as this thought crossed his mind, Hu Ling'er's voice rang out: "Master, the bronze beast at the bottom of the ship has had its head cut off. Is that a problem?"
Qin Mu froze for a moment, then said, "It's fine. Just a bit bumpy when we land."
"How bumpy?" The little fox poked her head out of the cabin, blinking as she asked.
Qin Mu looked puzzled. "Why do you ask?"
"We're out of medicinal stones."
Hu Ling'er said brightly, "Haven't you noticed, Master? Our ship is descending. We'll be landing before long."
Qin Mu looked and saw that the treasure ship, though still flying forward, had indeed begun to sink slowly into the sea of clouds.
Qin Mu said decisively, "Ling'er, wake up that pig. It's his turn to put in some work!"
The Dutian Demon King flew into a rage: "Who are you calling a pig, you brat? I've clearly been putting in effort!"
Hu Ling'er rolled her eyes at him: "He wasn't talking about you. Look at you getting all worked up. Master is talking about Dragon Fatty. Dragon Fatty, wake up! Stop sleeping! The ship is about to land, and Master says it's going to be bumpy!"
The Dragon Qilin slowly rose to his feet and crawled out of the cabin at a leisurely pace, his belly dragging along the ground. He grumbled in a disgruntled tone, "Just a few days ago you were calling me Great Dragon..."
"Can this thing even fly anymore?"
Qin Mu was worried. He quickly swept through the remaining New Year supplies in the cabin, stuffing them into the Taotie Bag. Then he grabbed the Dutian Demon King and began shoving him into the bag as well.
The opening of the Taotie Bag was small—barely enough to fit one leg through.
Qin Mu was about to dismantle the demon god's body when the Dutian Demon King roared, "What are you doing? Don't dismantle me! My consciousness is spread across this body—if you take it apart, you'll scatter my consciousness too... Don't you know how to use this bag? Infuse vital energy to light up the Taotie's mouth..."
Qin Mu's eyes lit up. He flooded the Taotie Bag with vital energy, illuminating the Taotie patterns on its surface. Suddenly, the bag's mouth expanded, transforming into a massive Taotie maw several dozen feet wide, and swallowed the Dutian Demon King whole.
"That works much better."
Qin Mu was both surprised and delighted. He tied the bag around his waist, then leaped onto the Dragon Qilin's back together with Hu Ling'er. "Abandon ship! Let's go!"
Fire clouds materialized beneath the Dragon Qilin's feet as he rose from the ship. The vessel had already plummeted below the cloud layer and was plummeting toward the ground.
The Dragon Qilin said in his slow, dopey voice, "Sect Master, Sister Ling'er, have you two gotten heavier? You weigh much more than before."
"You're the one who's fat!" The little fox snapped. "Look at how bloated you've become! The elders at Master's home are very strict. If you keep getting fatter, you'll be slaughtered during the New Year!"
Just as she said this, the treasure ship crashed into a massive mountain with a thunderous boom, shattering into pieces. Three furnaces exploded in succession, sending dark iron and dark copper fragments flying in every direction. The violent shockwave obliterated swathes of forest, and a billowing mushroom cloud rose above the treeline, turning the sky black.
Hu Ling'er jumped in fright and looked at Qin Mu: "Master, you said landing would be 'a bit bumpy'?"
"Mhm." Qin Mu nodded, then bellowed, "Dragon Fatty, if you don't run faster, you'll be eaten before the New Year!"
The Dragon Qilin shuddered and broke into a desperate sprint. The fire clouds beneath his feet churned and intensified, boosting his speed significantly. But after just over ten miles, he was already panting heavily.
Just then, more than a dozen mirrors suddenly rose up around the Dragon Qilin.
These mirrors emerged from the mountain peaks below. Each was octagonal in shape, whistling through the air as they surrounded them. The mirrors expanded with the wind to roughly ten feet across, positioned about a hundred yards away.
Realizing the danger, the Dragon Qilin lowered his body to dodge—but a mirror flew up from below to block him. He tried to charge upward, but another mirror hung upside down above them.
From the mountains, a streak of sword light shot out with a clear ring, striking one of the mirrors. The mirror reflected the sword light onto another mirror, and then mirror reflected mirror, while more sword lights flew from the peaks below, bounced back by the mirrors. The sword lights multiplied, and in an instant, they wove into an ever-tightening net!
And on the mountain peaks, even more sword lights were streaming toward the mirrors.
"What a bizarre formation!"
Qin Mu's skin crawled. This was a sword formation—one that used mirrors to lay the array. The mirrors reflected the sword lights, multiplying them endlessly with almost no loss!
"But breaking this sword formation is simple—I just need to shatter those mirrors."
Qin Mu raised his hand and pointed. The Shao Bao Sword slashed toward one of the gleaming mirrors, but suddenly countless sword lights struck the Shao Bao Sword. A rapid series of clangs rang out as the blade was knocked spinning out of the air!
The sword wobbled as it plunged into the forest below.
"Their cultivation is far above mine. Probably a Six Harmonies realm or Seven Stars realm cultivator."
Qin Mu's heart sank. He produced a sword sheath to recall the Shao Bao Sword, but the Dragon Qilin had less and less room to maneuver. Suddenly, the Dragon Qilin shook his head and let out a tremendous roar—like ten thousand thunderbolts detonating at once. The mirrors in midair shattered simultaneously with a resplendent crash!
The incredibly dense sword net, having lost its support, vanished instantly.
From the mountain peak below came a startled voice: "What a formidable beast! To possess such power!"
Hearing the word "beast," the Dragon Qilin grew furious. He opened his mouth and spat a fireball at the mountain peak below. A streak of sword light shot off to the side—it was a swordsman merged with his blade, evading the Dragon Qilin's attack.
The mountain peak exploded, and roiling fire clouds swept outward in all directions. The shockwave separated the swordsman from his sword, sending him tumbling through the forest in a flurry of rolls.
But the man was not dead yet. He shot into the air with a gleaming mirror floating before him. The mirror's radiance shone bright, and sword light swept toward them like a pillar.
The Dragon Qilin turned tail and ran, leaving the sword light behind.
But that sword light was faster than the Dragon Qilin. It closed in from behind, and the Dragon Qilin's body swelled, growing larger and larger as he revealed his true form—a colossal beast over forty yards long. His enormous tail swept backward,shattering the sword light into nothing.
"What a massive beast!" the swordsman cried out in shock.
The Dragon Qilin was incandescent with rage. He whipped his head around and opened his mouth, flames blazing within, and a beam of radiant light shot forth. The swordsman knew he was in danger and immediately soared into the cloud layer above to dodge. The beam blazed with searing brilliance, slicing through the clouds with a whoosh.
A scream echoed from midair—it was unclear whether the swordsman lived or died. Then sunlight poured down through the thick, parted clouds.
"Dragon Fatty is incredible!" Hu Ling'er cheered.
Qin Mu stared at the split cloud layer, his face clouded with worry.
The ones who had been chasing them—the strongest among them were Long Jiaonan and that frost-faced woman from the Palace of Severed Feelings, both Seven Stars realm experts. Behind them were the monk, the scholar, and others, whose cultivation likely hovered between the Six Harmonies and Seven Stars realms.
These people were merely the vanguard, sent only to probe—to test whether Qin Mu had any powerful protectors by his side.
After all, Qin Mu was the Heavenly Demon Sect's Demon Lord. Surely he would have guardian cultivators or other formidable beings accompanying him.
Now, the Dragon Qilin had revealed himself.
The power of that last strike from the Dragon Qilin was far beyond what Long Jiaonan and the others could handle. That meant even stronger existences would have to make their move.
Qin Mu had been maintaining his escape without stopping to fight Long Jiaonan and the rest. His goal was to keep the hidden experts guessing—unable to determine whether he truly had powerful protectors. As long as they remained uncertain, they would continue sending the likes of Long Jiaonan to test him, which actually bought him time to reach the Great Ruins.
That, paradoxically, was the safest course of action.
Now that the Dragon Qilin had revealed his strength, that opportunity was gone.
The Heavenly Demon Sect's experts had been dispatched by him for disaster relief. He had no guardian cultivators by his side.
"The Great Ruins are less than a thousand miles away. Run!"
Qin Mu exhaled a breath of turbid air and said gravely, "The closer we get to the Great Ruins, the safer we'll be."
The Dragon Qilin was enormous now, and his speed had increased dramatically. Though he was still pot-bellied and panting heavily, he surged forward like a blur of light.
Before long, the colossal beast had covered over a hundred miles beneath the cloud layer, and no pursuers had appeared. Suddenly, Qin Mu said, "Stop. Land in the mountains below."
The Dragon Qilin halted, shrank his body, and descended into the mountain range below. They arrived in a valley blanketed in snow and ice, where the frozen ground lay more than ten feet deep. The surrounding peaks were white and desolate—not a village or soul in sight.
Qin Mu's body blazed with fire as he melted the heavy snow in the valley. Beneath, the ground was littered with bones.
This must have been an ancient battlefield where a bloody massacre had taken place. Moments ago, he had used his Azure Heaven's Eye to scan the area and spotted the overwhelming resentment here, which was why he had chosen to stop.
"Right here. Let me meet these ones who dare chase the Heavenly Demon Sect's Demon Lord—and see where they surpass me!"
Qin Mu steeled himself. His vital energy surged, and countless bones flew into the air, clattering together. In moments, four altars of white bone had taken shape.
He retrieved the four demon god statues from the Taotie Bag and placed them upon the bone altars. Then he produced the Hongshan Sect's talisman and stood upon an altar, beginning his ritual.
The Hongshan Sect's Ghost-Summoning and God-Dispatching Talisman!
These four statues were demon god effigies of Dutian. The Dutian Demon King had instructed him to carve five demon god statues to secretly strike down those who refused to obey his commands. But Qin Mu had only summoned one so far—the remaining four statues were still unused.
"Brat, if you summon my true body, I could help you slaughter every last one of them!" The Dutian Demon King's menacing voice came from within the Taotie Bag.
Qin Mu ignored him entirely. Arcane demonic syllables tumbled from his lips as the talisman spun. The runes on the first demon god statue glowed brighter and brighter, until gradually Qin Mu established a connection with a demon god in another realm, using himself as a bridge to commune with a god of Dutian.
"So it's the demonic path after all—hiding here to summon demons."
An aged voice drifted over: "You people always claim you're not a demon cult. How is what you're doing any different from demons?"
An old Daoist priest walked toward them, carrying nothing but a horsehair whisk in one hand and a single sword on his back.