Chapter 880 A Revived Army
The Heaven and Earth Rings were a pair of imperial artifacts. Legend had it that anyone who had them could defeat the supreme divine soldiers of all the immortal sects. This time, the Thunder Clan and the Ghost Clan teamed up to get the Heaven and Earth Rings.
“Li Mu, ha-ha, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! Hand over the Heaven and Earth Rings.” An elder of the Ghost Clan in the Deity Realm rushed toward Li Mu.
“Kill him!”
Li Mu took action without mercy.
The golden chains of Broadsword Intent ripped through the air and smashed the elder of the Ghost Clan into pieces that drifted in the void like the ashes of burned paper.
“What?”
The other people were all greatly shocked when they saw what had just happened.
“How could he kill a master in the Deity Realm in just a second?
“Although the elder is just a master at the elementary level of the Deity Realm, what Li Mu has done is simply unbelievable.
“Li Mu has gotten on the Heaven Rankings List, but that just means he’s got some fighting ability of a master in the Deity Realm and has the potential to enter the Deity Realm. However, it doesn’t mean that he can really kill a master in the Deity Realm.
“Nevertheless, he has already killed a master in the Deity Realm. How long has it been?
“He has smashed an elder of the Ghost Clan in the Deity Realm into ashes in the blink of an eye!
“What kind of power does he have?”
Many people felt a chill running through them.
“How attractive are the Heaven and Earth Rings?”
“Kill him!”
“We must take the Heaven and Earth Rings from him at any cost.”
The scholar from the Thunder Clan said loudly, “Don’t worry, everyone. He’s just borrowed some power from the Heaven and Earth Rings, and he is not powerful enough to activate imperial artifacts like the Heaven and Earth Rings. Work together to attack him and tire him out! He will die when he runs out of Primordial Qi while trying to use the imperial artifacts.”
When the pract.i.tioners of the two clans heard his explanation, their eyes lit up.
They no longer feared death, and they rushed frantically toward Li Mu.
“All of you deserve to die.”
Li Mu didn’t show any mercy this time.
Four golden chains of Broadsword Intent swept through the sky like divine dragons coming out of the sea, seized the members of the Thunder Clan and the Ghost Clan at the elementary level of the Deity Realm who were rus.h.i.+ng toward Li Mu, and crushed them into powder.
The Four-Blade G.o.d Killing Broadsword was especially effective on the high-level masters of Divine Clans. Li Mu had mastered the use of this broadsword in its true form and figured out its wondrous effects after fighting with several high-level masters like the lord of the Wind Clan. Now, he could practically kill those masters at the elementary level of the Deity Realm in the blink of an eye.
“Oh, no! The power of the Heaven and Earth Rings is so terrifying.”
Some pract.i.tioners of the two clans were shocked. They frantically stepped back, trembling with fear.
The middle-aged scholar from the Thunder Clan shouted, “Don’t fight him head-on. Move about to wear him out and make him run out of vital energy. He’s just a low-level pract.i.tioner in the King Realm. He can’t hold on for long…”
Before his voice faded off…
Swoos.h.!.+
A golden chain of Broadsword Intent swooshed toward him.
“Ah…” He exclaimed in shock. Numerous pieces of pale purple turtle sh.e.l.l flas.h.i.+ng with purple light appeared around him, forming a strange protective s.h.i.+eld.
Boom!
The broadsword hit the protective s.h.i.+eld, and sparks splashed.
The middle-aged scholar was sent flying to somewhere thousands of meters away. He crashed into the city wall in the distance and collapsed to the ground lifelessly. Whether he was dead or alive was unknown.
“You little b.a.s.t.a.r.d, how long do you think you can hold on?”
The lord of the Thunder Clan roared furiously and waved his hand through the air continuously. A bolt of divine lightning ripped through the sky like a world-destroying poisonous dragon and came straight at Li Mu.
“Block it.”
One of the golden chains of Broadsword Intent coiled up above Li Mu’s head to block the attack.
Boom!
The purple lightning bolt broke into pieces like a wave hitting the reef.
Another two golden chains of Broadsword Intent swirled like two dragons and wrapped themselves around the lord of the Thunder Clan from both sides.
“Thunder Blade and Heavenly Broadsword!”
The lord of the Thunder Clan produced several weapons in a row. All of these divine weapons were the precious treasures that he had been nouris.h.i.+ng with his original power. As soon as he took action, lightning started flas.h.i.+ng all over the sky, and countless purple lightning bolts drowned Li Mu like an ocean.
“Greater Cold, Grain Rain, Autumnal Equinox, and Insects Awakening,” Li Mu called in a low voice.
The Broadsword Intents corresponding to four of the 24 Solar Terms burst out along the golden chains of Broadsword Intent.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Amidst the sound of explosions, the weapons of the lord of the Thunder Clan were instantly blown up and reduced to powder.
“Ah …!” The lord of the Thunder Clan cried out miserably and almost spat out the blood that gushed into his mouth. When the weapons that he had been nouris.h.i.+ng with his original power were broken, the reaction force caused internal injuries to him.
The pract.i.tioners of the two clans were scared out of their wits when they saw that. They hurriedly backed off.
“How could that be possible?”
Lei Cang’s eyes flashed with fear and jealousy.
“Back then, Li Mu was just a n.o.body in my eyes, but now, he has easily defeated my master with just a couple of moves. This d.a.m.ned mortal has made incredible progress and becomes so powerful. I’m far from being a match for him now,” he thought to himself.
The successor of the Ghost Clan named “Ghost” was shocked, angry, and jealous beyond words.
He was so angry and jealous because Li Mu, who he thought was inferior to him in both power and status, suddenly surpa.s.sed him, and he just couldn’t catch up with Li Mu. This feeling of anger and jealousy was enough to drive him crazy.
However, no matter how jealous Lei Cang and Ghost felt, they had no choice but to retreat.
After all, Li Mu could kill a master in the Deity Realm with a single blow in the blink of an eye, let alone them.
Li Mu landed on the execution platform and took action without any hesitation. Four golden chains of Broadsword Intent pulled the four short swords out of General Qin Zhong’s hands and feet.
Rumble!
A blood-red lightning bolt streaked across the sky.
“Is that red lightning? Good heavens! What kind of monster is born?” The lord of the Ghost Clan was appalled. He felt like a small ant under the red lightning in the sky.
The lord of the Thunder Clan was even more frightened. The power of the red lightning bolt was many times greater than that of his Thunder Skill. He glanced at Li Mu and said, “You ignorant brat! What have you done? You’ve released a real demon.”
As a matter of fact, Li Mu felt very nervous about what he had done.
What he had experienced in the illusionary world made him instinctively believe that General Qin Zhong was a kind man who followed the rules. “What if the body of General Qin Zhong was possessed by some malicious demon after he died? …That shouldn’t be the case.”
With his hands and feet freed, General Qin Zhong slowly rose to his feet from the floor of the execution platform and stood up straight under the flickering light of the blood-red lightning bolts.
He moved his neck and then stared at Li Mu with his eyes flas.h.i.+ng with red flames.
“You will get yourself killed! You deserve it!” Lei Cang roared and cursed furiously from the distance. “You idiot! You have released the demon!”
Li Mu didn’t say anything.
Just then, Qin Zhong started speaking very slowly in a very strange voice. What he said almost made Li Mu shed tears.
He asked, “Li Mu, why haven’t you left yet?”
Li Mu looked at the general who had survived countless battles and was standing right in front of him now, not knowing what to say.
He couldn’t understand what was going on. “If everything that has happened before is just an illusion, what about the things that are happening right now? They should not be an illusion. After all, tens of masters of the Thunder Clan and the Ghost Clan are right here, but why did this dead general know and call out my name?”
“General… I…” Li Mu wanted to say something.
Bang!
A terrifying bang came from the direction of the giant stone gate with the patterns of ancient mythical animals.
“The demons are coming.” General Qin Zhong suddenly turned around. The red flames in his eyes were burning wildly. He said, “All soldiers of the Armored Battalion! Get in formation and prepare to fight and defend our homeland.”
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Loud drumbeats reverberated in the air.
The drumbeats that once echoed over this land rang out once again.
“Get in formation!”
“The s.h.i.+elds of the Armored Battalion are in position.”
“The long broadswords of the Armored Battalion are in position.”
“The arrows of the Armored Battalion are in position.”
“Fight to the death to protect our home!”
All kinds of battle cries came from the skeletons standing up from the ground.
Countless skeletons and dried corpses lined up neatly.
The faces that they had when they were alive loomed amidst the flickering light and flying shadows.
Li Mu saw w.a.n.g Dehu, Zhen Menglong, Zhao Meng… and many warriors of the ancient Celestial Court who died in that battle in the illusionary world. They had come back to life, holding rusty weapons in their hands. Their bodies might be broken and incomplete, but they still stood on the drill ground with a look of great determination on their faces. They lined up and glared at the rumbling stone gate with the patterns of ancient mythical animals on its panels.
The pract.i.tioners of the Thunder Clan and the Ghost Clan looked at each other in dismay.
They had realized that these skeletons and dried corpses didn’t seem to be a big threat, and the real terrifying threat came from the other side of the closed gate.
Rumble! Rumble!
Some formidable demons seemed to be crazily slamming the gate from the other side.
The giant gate was shaking, making sad creaking sounds, and even the drill ground seemed to be shaking at the same frequency.
“What… what the h.e.l.l is going on?” The lord of the Thunder Clan glanced at the lord of the Ghost Clan.
The lord of the Ghost Clan said with a terrified look on his face, “Could they be the legendary Ghost Soldiers?”
Ghost exclaimed in shock, “Are they… are they the Ghost Soldiers from h.e.l.l? This… Do Ghost Soldiers really exist in the world?” He was trembling with fear.
On the execution platform…
“Brat, what are you doing? Get back in line!” General Qin Zhong reminded Li Mu.
Li Mu didn’t know what kind of feeling he was having, but he felt like he was full of high spirits and hot blood. Without thinking, he gave a military salute and said, “Yes, sir.”
He walked straight to the foremost line of the army.
“I’m Li Mu, the lighter of the beacon fire. I’m back,” he announced his return in a loud voice.
He had completely blended in with the environment.
The stupid dog was hiding in the distance. When he saw what happened, he opened his eyes wide in surprise. “That’s too bad. My human pet has lost his mind. He’s gone crazy…”
The people of the Thunder Clan and the Ghost Clan were greatly shocked.
“What?
“Is that mortal named Li Mu a soldier of the ancient Celestial Court? Is that his real ident.i.ty?
“Does that mean he has lived for several thousand years?
“He has such a close relations.h.i.+p with those dried corpses and skeletons. Could it be that he is also a corpse that has crawled out of h.e.l.l?”
These thoughts of the pract.i.tioners of the two immortal sects made their hair stand on end.
When they looked at Li Mu again, their eyes were full of deep awe and horror. Even Lei Cang and Ghost, who were very jealous of Li Mu, did not dare to provoke him at all. They kept stepping back from him.
Rumble!
Thump!
In the end, the giant stone gate with the patterns of ancient mythical animals was smashed open and collapsed on the ground with a thump.
A puff of dust rose up into the air.
“Aowoo!”
A strange howl came from the other side of the gate.
Countless black figures swarmed through the gate like black mud.
Li Mu’s pupils shrank.
“They are Extraterritorial Demons. The demons are coming!”