The blow shattered Shen Mu outright; flesh and primordial spirit alike, and his Divine Treasury domain with them, were all ground to finest dust.

The power of that blow was passing strange: it froze every particle that made up Shen Mu's body, his primordial spirit, and his Divine Treasury domain, so that his divine art of Imperishable Matter failed utterly.

He had plainly recognized Shen Mu's divine art — the art of Imperishable Matter was the creation of Ling Tianzun, and its greatest strength lay in reversing the flow of matter and conjuring the illusion of time running backward. Yet to a being like the gaunt stranger, one who had already attained the Dao, this divine art, unfathomable though it was, still had a means by which it could be broken.

He needed only to fix in place all the matter composing Shen Mu and keep it from flowing back, and the art would be undone.

Another man would surely lack such immense mana, but for him it was not so hard.

The gaunt stranger glanced at his severed arm, admiration on his face, and spoke again; that phrase was surely praise — that a cultivator as insignificant as Shen Mu could, with such meager strength, wound him so gravely. He went on driving his mana, and the earth around the riven Black Mountain surged up again, while Black Mountain itself kept cracking apart and, roaring, streamed into the monstrous eye behind him.

Then of a sudden a killing formation hidden beneath the earth thundered to life. Astonishment showed on the gaunt stranger's face; in his eyes the power of this killing formation was trifling, and yet a formation had hidden beneath his very nose without his sensing it in the least — that was admirable indeed.

But what astonished him more was that there was more than one killing formation.

When the first was triggered it was like lighting a string of firecrackers: for a thousand li around Black Mountain, formation after formation was set off. The power of one formation could not touch him, but with a thousand of them erupting at once, the might was dreadful beyond words.

Nor was that all — Shen Mu and the Blind Elder had joined hands to lay countless layers of killing formations here, some hidden in the most inconspicuous of places, in the ground the gaunt stranger had shattered, buried in the soil, within the rock of Black Mountain.

That soil and rock, drawn into the monstrous eye behind him, now erupted inside the eye itself.

Beyond the hundred thousand Black Mountains, the Blind Elder, Grandmother Zhu and the rest were on the move, fleeing far from the holy ground of Black Mountain; and then the Blind Elder turned his head, and saw, from the direction of Great Black Mountain in the darkness, a boundless murderous aura surging to the heavens, with countless killing formations working within that aura until the eye was dazzled.

The Great Dao of heaven and earth was drawn along by those formations and turned into formations of the killing dao and the tribulation, their power shaking heaven and earth. "This is the greatest skill I have.

" The Blind Elder said in a low voice, "The dao of formations: when heaven looses its killing intent, when earth looses its killing intent, when man looses his killing intent — the Tribulation Formation of the Three Exterminations of Heaven, Earth, and Man. All the cultivation of my life, joined to the boy Shen's mana: this is the utmost I can do.

.

" His eyes shone with extraordinary brilliance, brimming with hope, and he murmured, "Shen'er, with your mana, rallying the Great Dao of heaven and earth, can you slay that prehistoric existence?

" He had scarce spoken when one formation after another collapsed and dissolved; the Tribulation Formation of the Three Exterminations of Heaven, Earth, and Man crumbled away, swept clean by a power beyond measure. The light in the Blind Elder's eyes dimmed, and Grandmother Zhu's voice came: "Blind Elder, look no more.

We are going.

" The Blind Elder turned and followed her without a word.

Grandmother Zhu said nothing; after a moment's silence the Blind Elder said, "This battle is not without hope of victory. Shen'er and I laid down another trump card — an altar.

.

" Grandmother Zhu said suddenly, "Where is the Lame Elder?

Where has that damned Lame Elder gone? " She looked about her; in the darkness shadows crowded one upon another, and no trace of the Lame Elder was to be seen.

She was about to search when the Blind Elder suddenly caught her arm and shook his head: "No need to look for him.

You know it well — the one the Lame Elder dotes on most is Shen'er. He was sent away by Shen'er, yes, but he crept back long ago.

He will never stand by and watch Shen'er go to his death.

.

. " Grandmother Zhu flew into a fury and cried, "And so we watch him go to his death?

Why did you not stop him? " The Blind Elder said mildly, "If Shen'er could be saved, I too would gladly die.

" Grandmother Zhu's breast heaved violently, and she said no more.

In Great Black Mountain, amid the riven rock, the monstrous eye was in tatters; the Tribulation Formation of the Three Exterminations of Heaven, Earth, and Man had gravely wounded it, and within that eye the gaunt stranger was in a towering rage, hair streaming, wounds covering his body.

In the brief moment he was held fast by the killing formations, Shen Mu, shattered into countless particles, at last broke free of his confinement; the divine art of Imperishable Matter erupted and restored him once more to his former self, still clutching the wooden staff in a death grip.

And at that moment a vast altar emerged beneath Shen Mu's feet. The gaunt stranger looked upon that altar beyond all measure, his gaze cold and sinister.

The altar had already been activated, opening a way to another space.

The sky shattered, and an incomparably mighty aura came through; great heads thrust out from the opening in the sky, and a voice of tremendous resonance rang out: "What lowly being dares summon the mightiest and most majestic sovereign of the Beast Realm?

" A vast dragon head wound down from the heavens and hung above the altar, its eyes like suns, and it said leisurely, "The most ancient of the primeval age, the Divine King Long Xiao, has descended. Tiny life, present your offering.

.

Lord Mutian!

" Long Xiao's vast body was still within the Beast Realm; head after head came above the altar, one head staring at Shen Mu in amazement while the others looked toward the monstrous eye and the gaunt stranger within it. "Screw you, Lord Mutian!

" Long Xiao's nine heads strained to pull back, shrinking toward the Beast Realm, and all nine roared: "Nothing good ever comes of you seeking me out. .

.

" Shen Mu said coldly, "Long Xiao, you promised me three things.

This is the first. Sovereign of the Beast Realm, will you break your word and grow fat on it?

"