Around Quinn Shepherd, Buddhist scripture sigils shimmered into being, swirling like the tolling of a great bell. The five great heavens of the Grand Buddha Mahayana Scripture loomed faintly above, the air alive with resonant chanting.
At the same moment, he unleashed the Nine-Dragon Emperor Art. Dragon-qi from the nine dragon veins encircling the capital surged toward him, his aura breaking through once more!
The Nine-Dragon Emperor Art—supreme secret of the imperial Ling clan, personally taught by Emperor Evan—now roared to life. Under Quinn's command, the nine dragon veins' qi grew so fierce it took on physical form: dragon-qi even flooded into the river, where water-dragons burst forth and raced toward Quinn!
He seized the initiative. Whether Ben Coates revealed a flaw or not, Quinn only needed the first move. He struck, overwhelming Ben with surging yuanqi, crushing every clever technique through raw force—bearing down, grinding him to dust!
The best way to handle Ben Coates was absolute suppression—crushing him with sheer magical might, not trading technique for technique!
BOOM—
The river exploded upward. Torrents of water shot sky-high, shaping themselves into a colossal Buddha. Water-dragons coiled around its form, the Buddha towering more than ten zhang—like a mountain rising from the river. Its five fingers spread wide, each one a mountain, its palm embodying the five elements. With a thunderous crash, the Buddha's hand slammed down toward Ben Coates!
Nine dragons roared. Quinn fused the Nine-Dragon Emperor Art with the Thunder Chant Eight-Form's Nine Dragons Riding Wind and Thunder, unleashing a strike that radiated the vast might of Buddha and the invincible majesty of the imperial line!
Nine dragons lunged—bang, bang, bang! Water thundered faster than sound, exploding with peals like spring thunder: unstoppable, unbreakable!
What is divine power?
This is divine power!
Quinn’s greatest strength was his magical force—his mana far surpassed his peers. Even the Village Chief, that old monster, would pale by comparison at the same realm.
Now, even Ben Coates could only look up to Quinn’s mana. Quinn aimed to crush Ben with absolute force, rendering all his past cultivation, his eleven thousand years of experience, utterly useless!
The instant Quinn’s attack erupted, Ben’s counterstrike burst forth as well. He wielded a sword—a sword pill, no bigger than a fingertip. In the next moment, sword-light exploded from the pill, dazzling beyond belief!
Second chapter of the Dao Sword Fourteen Forms: “Five Qi and Three Origins Gathered in Splendor, Rising Upward, Chariots of Clouds Intertwined!”
He drew directly on the Dao Sect’s supreme art, the Innate Arcane Canon, channeling its purest energy to unleash the Dao Sword’s second form. The sword-light contained five qi: Wood Armor, Bing Fire, Wu Earth, Geng Metal, and Ren Water—these were the five qi. Heaven Origin, Earth Origin, and Water Origin made up the three origins: Heaven Origin as Sun, Water Origin as Moon, Earth Origin as Harmony.
As this sword technique unfolded, sword-light constructed the Dao Sect’s ideal world—Sword Sun, Sword Moon, Sword Earth, all five qi converging on the origin!
The Dao Sect’s swordsmanship is deeply rooted in numerology; their holy land is built on calculation, convinced that every great Dao under heaven can be deciphered with numbers.
As the saying goes: “Dao gives birth to one, one to two, two to three, three to all things.” Numbers make up everything in heaven and earth; any phenomenon, even life itself, can be constructed from numbers. It all comes down to wondrous numerals.
Thus, the Dao Sect created the circular Wuji Diagram, the dualistic Taiji Diagram, Four Phases, Eight Trigrams, and Sixty-Four Hexagrams—to calculate the great Dao and all things under heaven.
Quinn’s expression didn’t change. The sword pill soared and landed in his hand; in an instant, sword-light burst out from within. Quinn didn’t use Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers—he went straight for the second move of the Sword Diagram!
SWISH—
The riverbank flushed crimson. Blood-red sword-light surged like a vast ocean, and within the bloody glow, it was as if an emperor of gods slowly rose from the sea of blood, sword aimed at his foe, gazing down on all!
One sword opens the imperial blood ocean!
Dao Sword and Sword Diagram collided—Ben Coates gave a muffled grunt. The Five Qi Three Origins shattered instantly, as peerless sword-light and killing intent swept over him.
He leapt into the air, twisting like a dragon, displaying uncanny movement techniques. His steps kept changing—startling swan, swimming fish, flying sparrow, nine phoenixes—but even so, he couldn’t evade all the sword-light.
Shhh-shhh-shhh—blood-red light erupted from his body. He vaulted onto the river’s surface, smashing the water so it exploded in all directions!
WHOOSH—
Quinn sprang up, the sword-light in his hand fading. The sword pill caught the wind and transformed into a broadsword with a hiss, slicing open the river’s surface!
Ben Coates swung his sword pill to meet the attack. Bang-bang-bang! He ricocheted across the water like a child skipping stones—sixty-seven skips before he finally stopped.
On the other side, Quinn raced across the river’s surface, each step detonating the water beneath him. Waves shot out in all directions and, before the spray even fell, Quinn had already dashed hundreds of zhang ahead.
The broadsword formed from his sword pill suddenly recoiled, flowing like water to encircle his fist. Quinn punched out—BOOM! The river shook, and water-dragons, shimmering with blue light, roared forth dozens of zhang, engulfing Ben Coates.
The river erupted in chaos. Forty-five great dragons burst from his punch, merging with the river and plunging toward Ben Coates in a thunderous barrage.
Quinn leapt, fingers splayed, palms to the sky. He yanked downward—lightning flashed across the river, bolts converging with crackling force into the midst of the forty-five dragons!
As Quinn landed, the sword pill in his hand transformed into countless beams of sword-light—Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers!
Sword-light became vast rivers and mountains, crashing down from the sky into the river. Their overwhelming power split the water, and in an instant, a stretch of river over ten zhang wide was sliced into countless droplets, forming a landscape within the water!
Blood blossomed in the water, slanting swiftly toward the riverbed.
Quinn raised his hand, and the Grand Guardian’s Sword at his waist rang out and flew forth. Quinn spun his forefinger, sending the sword whirling madly. Sword-qi swirled around it, forming a drill that pierced the water, shooting straight toward the blood trail at the river’s bottom.
His robes billowed as he floated lightly down, landing on the surging river. Behind him, the sound of water echoed—the waves he’d kicked up during his dash only now falling, cascading down like jade and pearls.
On the river’s surface, Quinn shifted his footing and the water around him transformed. Currents swirled, and beneath the surface, transparent flood dragons wove around him, forming a perfect circle.
WHOOSH—
The Grand Guardian’s Sword burst from the river, spun madly through the air, slowing as it circled. By the time it reached Quinn, it had stopped spinning entirely.
The scabbard at Quinn’s waist transformed into a fish-dragon, opened its maw, swallowed the sword, then changed back into a scabbard and returned to his side.
Quinn’s face remained as calm as ever. He stood quietly, the sword pill flying out from his hand to float before him, like a slightly oversized droplet of water.
All around him, threads of water slowly rose into the air, gathering above his head like rain falling upward. The river water that reached the sky turned to vapor, forming clouds that blanketed more than ten zhang around.
Lightning flickered within the clouds—crackling and flashing, thunder rumbling as glimpses of scales and claws appeared in the glow.
“Ben Coates, you’ve disappointed me.”
Quinn’s calm voice carried across the river: “Is this all your nineteen lifetimes of cultivation amount to? Why won’t you come out? I’m still waiting to kill you and get back to dinner—food gets cold, after all.”
The river remained silent.
Quinn frowned, turned, and walked toward the shore.
He retraced his steps, surrounded by startled faces. The people out for leisure turned their heads to follow his every move.
Quinn ignored them, picked up his scattered brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone, then walked to the iron hammer. He gripped the handle, suddenly swung it, and smashed it down—BOOM! The air before him was hammered into a wall, then shattered.
His strike hit the ground, the earth sank and split, tremors rumbling from below as a figure sped away!
Quinn leapt like lightning, landing by the bamboo staff. He slapped it down—CRACK!—the staff sank into the earth, and a spray of blood shot from the tiny hole it left.
Quinn bounded forward again and again, finally reaching the twin butcher knives. Head down, feet up, he gripped the handles and spun—SWISH SWISH SWISH—countless blades sliced into the ground.
His body spun and moved forward, blades falling like rain and waterfall, cutting deep into the earth.
Suddenly, Quinn spread his legs, slapped the backs of the blades to the ground, vaulted into the air, then landed steadily. He sheathed the knives on his back and turned toward the capital.
Soon, he arrived at Jade Perfume Pavilion, entered Green Bamboo Garden, looped past the South Sea Guanyin statue, and reached the elegant chamber.
Inside, the two grand shamans were still there, staring at him in shock.
Quinn asked, “Is the food still hot?”
One grand shaman stared blankly; the other hurriedly nodded.
“And the wine?” Quinn asked again.
“The wine’s gone a bit cold.”
Quinn waved his hand. “Go warm it up and bring it over. You—stay and pour for me.”