Chapter 199: Heart-Pounding Thrill
Chapter 199: Heart-Pounding Thrill
“Want to test my hand?”
Ghost Mother’s face was cold, her eyes fierce. “Gahaha, Mu Feng, did you really think I wouldn’t dare strike?”
Whoosh…
Ghost Mother’s moods were erratic. With a cackle, her nails grew long like three-inch iron claws, shimmering with black light—clearly coated with deadly poison. As soon as she finished speaking, she made a cold grab at Mu Feng through the air.
She thought a casual grab would easily catch Mu Feng, who was only at the Mortal Realm. Unexpectedly, the ever-watchful Mu Feng was prepared and dodged just as she struck.
“Huh, you do have some skill!”
Seeing Mu Feng’s elusive figure, Ghost Mother was somewhat surprised. She lunged fiercely like a vicious hawk, pouncing toward Mu Feng. Her already terrifying nails grew even longer, thrusting straight down toward Mu Feng’s skull without any mercy.
Yinwind Skeleton Claw!
Ghost Mother attacked viciously, immediately using her notorious ultimate move.
“Kill!”
Mu Feng roared, pulling the sword hanging at his waist. Facing Ghost Mother’s ferocious assault, he directly executed a killing move from the Misty Rain Nine Swords.
As his sword pierced forward, raindrops as big as beans and thin mist suddenly appeared atop the Stone Mountain, creating a hazy scene. At the same time, the gravity suddenly increased. Skulls scattered on the ground crunched and cracked, their tops developing fine fissures. Concealed by the thick mist and rain, Mu Feng’s sword thrust back toward the center of Ghost Mother’s forehead.
Misty Rain Prison!
After obtaining the true Misty Rain Sword Manual from Yanyulou, Mu Feng’s swordsmanship, if not yet divine, was far superior to that of ordinary cultivators. Sharp sword energy hissed, cutting through the heavy mist and traveling far.
“A grain of rice dares to shine!”
Ghost Mother snorted coldly. The heavy mist and sudden intense pressure would overwhelm most, but to her, they were nothing. Holding the crystal bottle sealing the Twelve-Winged Golden Cicada in her left hand, she suddenly grabbed with the five fingers of her right hand. With a clang, she knocked the sword out of Mu Feng’s grasp.
Then, the black light on her right hand intensified, her fingers accelerating toward Mu Feng’s head. In the final instant, her speed increased tenfold, pressing directly onto Mu Feng’s crown before he could even dodge. One press of her sharp fingers would pierce his skull, leaving five terrifying holes!
“The True Human Realm—this is the power of a True Human Realm expert?”
Mu Feng was shocked. Feeling Ghost Mother’s icy fingers on his head, his limbs turned cold.
Though he had been prepared, the difference in their strength was immense. That old witch Ghost Mother’s sudden acceleration at the last moment was faster than lightning, leaving no time to react.
“Gahaha, Mu Feng, where is your master?”
Ghost Mother’s right hand pressed coldly on Mu Feng’s scalp as she cackled loudly. “Didn’t you say your master would appear at the crucial moment? Why is there still no sign? Could it be that this so-called master is just made up, and you merely stumbled upon some expert’s Dao Legacy and practiced on your own? You cunning brat—the Twelve-Winged Golden Cicada has already hatched. What use are you now? It’s time for you to experience the power of the Soul Searching Art, gahaha!”
The sinister Ghost Mother finally lost all patience. She was about to use the evil Soul Searching Art to directly invade Mu Feng’s memories and uncover his secrets.
The Soul Searching Art, as the name implied, used formidable power to forcibly invade an enemy’s memories. It saved the trouble and effort of interrogation and was a required skill for many Devil Leaders. Although convenient, it had flaws: against powerful opponents or those with extraordinary will, its effectiveness diminished, possibly only yielding fragments of memory and missing key secrets.
Originally, to fully obtain Mu Feng’s secrets and Innate Divine Ability, Ghost Mother planned to use his essence blood to nurture the Twelve-Winged Golden Cicada and gradually consume his memories. But after more than a month, seeing the Great Thousand World become increasingly unstable while her own bottleneck remained unbroken, she could wait no longer!
“Is that so? Who said they would kill my disciple and let my Immortal Calculation Divine Ability be lost?”
Just as Ghost Mother’s fingers pressed down, about to pierce Mu Feng’s skull and unleash the Soul Searching Art, an old, hoarse voice suddenly came from the foot of the mountain, accompanied by the screeching sound of an Erhu. Someone was rushing up from below.
When the voice first sounded, the person was still at the mountain’s base, but as the words ended, the Erhu’s screech reached the mountainside. The next moment, it came from below the cliff. The speed was so fast that even the unfathomably powerful Ghost Mother couldn’t help but change her expression.
“Immortal Calculation Divine Ability? The Immortal Calculation Supreme of the Seven Immortal Sect Supremes—Daoist Mayi?”
Remembering the identity Mu Feng had once revealed about his master, Ghost Mother’s face turned grave. Her dark fingers halted on Mu Feng’s scalp, not daring to press further. With his vitals suddenly controlled, Mu Feng didn’t dare move recklessly.
“Correct, I am Mayi. However, I dare not claim any ‘Immortal Calculation Supreme.'”
The old voice spoke again. Soon, an old Taoist in hemp robes appeared atop the Stone Mountain. His beard was gray, he held an Erhu, and his clothes were tattered, looking impoverished—exactly the feng shui master Mu Feng had encountered again three days prior.
“Daoist Mayi, long time no see!”
Looking at the old Taoist standing before her, Ghost Mother’s expression shifted unpredictably. She hadn’t expected Mu Feng’s claim to be true.
After a pause, she coldly continued, “In the art of divination under heaven, your Immortal Divination Sect is unmatched. However, this boy Mu Feng’s Innate Divine Ability is peculiar—Blood Refining Yang Seizing. Since when does your Immortal Divination Sect possess such an ability? My Soul Searching Art has recently seen some progress. Let me see what this is all about.”
Ghost Mother’s face shifted uncertainly. After hesitating a moment, she suddenly attacked. To break through her bottleneck, she was determined to obtain Mu Feng’s mysterious technique. Although the sudden appearance of Daoist Mayi made her wary, it also prompted her to act decisively, attempting to seize the advantage.
“Audacious!”
The Hemp-robed Old Taoist shouted angrily, suddenly drawing a thin, flexible sword from his Erhu. It flashed like cold light, stabbing toward the center of Ghost Mother’s forehead. Compared to Ghost Mother’s Yinwind Skeleton Claw, his speed was no less, forcing her to turn and defend. She splayed the fingers of her right hand to parry his fierce sword thrust.
“Mu Feng, why aren’t you moving?”
The Hemp-robed Old Taoist’s sword moved like lightning. With a whoosh, his sword thrust straight at Ghost Mother’s chest, ignoring her counterattacks as his assaults continued relentlessly. Prompted by his reminder, Mu Feng—whose head felt suddenly lighter—reacted swiftly. His blood energy churned within, and a red light radiated from his body. Instead of attacking the formidable Ghost Mother directly, he took advantage of her fierce battle with the Hemp-robed Old Taoist. With speed too fast to follow, he sharply pierced the cap of the crystal bottle in her hand.
Blood Radiance!
At the brink of life and death, Mu Feng did not hesitate to fully unleash his trump card, Blood Radiance!
The surging, scorching blood energy instantly shattered the icy energy trapping the Twelve-Winged Golden Cicada. Immediately, the cicada—frozen for many days—let out a whimper. Its twelve pairs of wings beat at a speed indiscernible to the naked eye.
“No…”
Caught off guard, Ghost Mother cried out in alarm. She pressed down with one hand, trying to cover the bottle’s mouth and reseal the fearsome Twelve-Winged Golden Cicada.
Her reaction was swift, but it was still too late. The tiny Twelve-Winged Golden Cicada flew out between her fingers. In the next moment, she screamed as blood poured from her eyes—the long-starved cicada had bitten her fiercely on the eyeball. The dreadful venom instantly corroded her entire eyeball into a pool of blood.
“Ah… Kill! I’ll kill both of you!”
Ghost Mother screamed hysterically. The nails on both hands grew sharp and long again as she descended into complete madness.