Chapter 1010: The Village Chief’s Sword, The Cripple’s Leg
Lang Wan and Shu Jun exchanged a glance, suppressing the shock in their hearts. Without time to think further, they hurriedly dove into the Gate of Heavenly Sustenance.
Qin Mu instructed Dutian, Yan’er, and the others to drive the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Chariot through the Gate of Heavenly Sustenance. He was about to enter himself when a paper boat sailed over. The old man of the Netherworld on board said, “Heavenly Venerate Mu, please hold a moment.”
Qin Mu stopped. “What guidance does Netherworld Heavenly Venerate have?”
The old man of the Netherworld replied, “Lord Tu Bo sent me to ask Heavenly Venerate Mu why you are mingling with the Creator race. Lord Tu Bo says the Creators are vicious and evil, committing countless atrocities. In ancient times, they plagued the universe and did every conceivable wrong. If you collude with them, you are aiding the wicked and will lose the support of the ancient gods.”
Qin Mu nodded respectfully. “Tell Lord Tu Bo that I earned the title of the Ten-Thousand-Calamity Indestructible Grandmaster solely through his and Lord Heavenly Lord’s unwavering support. Naturally, I would not act recklessly. As for the Creators, I am merely borrowing their strength to deal with the Grand Emperor—a mutual exploitation. I have no intention of using them to oppose the ancient gods. I humbly submit to Lord Tu Bo’s judgment, filled with awe and trepidation.”
The old man of the Netherworld stared at him wide-eyed. After a moment, he said, “That last part was a bit much, wasn’t it? Lord Tu Bo isn’t the Heavenly Emperor, so why the groveling?”
Qin Mu said solemnly, “After all, Lord Tu Bo watched me grow up. As a junior, it’s only right that I show utmost respect and reverence.”
The old man of the Netherworld continued to stare at him, then shook his head. “Go on. I’ll speak with Lord Tu Bo.”
Qin Mu thanked him and asked, “How is Heavenly Venerate Yu doing?”
He shouldn’t have brought it up. The mention of Heavenly Venerate Yu made the old man of the Netherworld furious. “Stolen!” he snapped.
Qin Mu was startled. “Heavenly Venerate Yu was stolen? Who would be so bold as to sneak into the Netherworld and steal him? Didn’t you keep a close watch on him?”
“I have to harvest souls everywhere, ferry the dead, and split into countless avatars. Do I have time to watch him constantly?” the old man of the Netherworld retorted irritably. “He’s my brother, not my son. I could only have an avatar watch him while he wandered the Netherworld. Then some thief sneaked in and stole him away.”
Qin Mu grew suspicious. “Where did the thief who stole Heavenly Venerate Yu come from?”
“Where? From your home, of course!”
The old man of the Netherworld sneered. “Keep your elders in check! They have some nerve, daring to cause trouble in the Netherworld! I won’t pursue this matter. Staying in the Netherworld was indeed hindering Heavenly Venerate Yu’s growth. But your elder taking him around to steal things is hardly a good thing. Be careful they don’t get caught by the Heavenly Court.”
Qin Mu acknowledged this. “I’ll be sure to discipline Grandpa Cripple properly and keep him from causing trouble. Netherworld Heavenly Venerate, rest assured.”
The old man of the Netherworld saw him off, then sailed back to the third eye on Lord Tu Bo’s brow, where he repeated Qin Mu’s words to Lord Tu Bo’s primordial spirit.
Lord Tu Bo was surprised. “I humbly submit to Lord Tu Bo’s judgment, filled with awe and trepidation? He actually said that?”
The old man of the Netherworld nodded. “His attitude was very sincere.”
“Rare for him to be so polite. Let today’s matter slide, but make a note of it.”
The old man of the Netherworld agreed and asked, “Now that Heavenly Venerate Mu and the Netherworld Godchild have separated, should we keep separate accounts?”
Lord Tu Bo said, “In the past, they were one. The wrongs committed by the Netherworld Godchild were also his wrongs. We must be fair and not forget his past mistakes just because they’ve split.”
The old man of the Netherworld praised, “Lord Tu Bo is just and impartial.”
Qin Mu returned to the mortal world and saw the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Chariot parked not far away, with Divine King Lang Wan and the others waiting. Divine King Lang Wan and Shu Jun still looked somewhat pale.
“Divine King Sister, you’re not afraid of Heavenly Venerate Qin or any other heavenly venerate, so why are you so terrified of Lord Tu Bo?” Qin Mu asked, puzzled.
“Lord Tu Bo is the natural enemy of the Creator race,” Divine King Lang Wan said, shaking her head. “Even your brother, Little Tu Bo, slaughtered my Creator race so badly we threw away our armor and weapons. What more of Lord Tu Bo?”
Qin Mu was stunned. In the Other Shore World, Carefree Realm had always been on the defensive until Qin Fengqing arrived and changed the situation. Although the Creators of the Other Shore World possessed unparalleled divine consciousness, they suffered heavy losses against the Netherworld Godchild Qin Fengqing, with many being devoured by the big-headed child.
The Dao of the Netherworld seemed to indeed counter the Creators.
Shu Jun said, “We excel in divine consciousness but are weak in primordial spirit. A weak primordial spirit means a weak soul, making it easy for Qin Fengqing to directly strip away our souls and devour them. Qin Fengqing is Little Tu Bo. When facing the real Lord Tu Bo, the Creators’ weakness becomes even more apparent. Lord Tu Bo kills Creators with ease. In the great war of the ancient era, more Creators died at Lord Tu Bo’s hands than at the hands of the Heavenly Emperor, Lord Heavenly Lord, and Mother Earth Primordial combined!”
Divine King Lang Wan added, “I didn’t witness the ancient war, but I’ve heard the ancestral spirits speak of Lord Tu Bo’s fearsome reputation. When I led the Creators of the Other Shore World in reform, adopting the Divine Treasury Heavenly Palace system and beginning to cultivate primordial spirits, it was to eliminate the Creators’ weakness. Yet even against Little Tu Bo Qin Fengqing, there was still a vast gap.”
Qin Mu laughed. “You’ve only learned the primordial spirit cultivation methods of Carefree Realm, which are already far behind those of Eternal Peace. At the same cultivation level, Eternal Peace cultivators and gods have much stronger primordial spirits. For example, at the same level, my primordial spirit could beat his primordial spirit by this much!”
He held up one hand and gestured.
Lang Wan and Shu Jun didn’t believe him. Shu Jun, in particular, had seen Qin Mu fight the Kai Emperor. Though Qin Mu was slightly stronger, it was only by a hair—not by much.
They didn’t know that this time, Qin Mu wasn’t exaggerating.
The Kai Emperor’s strength lay in his combat power. The attack power of Sword Twenty and the Thirty-Four Heavens of the Sword Dao was so immense that it compensated for his insufficient cultivation. Qin Mu, on the other hand, excelled in primordial spirit and dharma power. His primordial spirit cultivation was incredibly deep; the dharma power of his single Embryonic Divine Treasury and primordial spirit could rival that of a celestial god at the Jasper Terrace realm. After reaching the Venerable God realm, his dharma power even approached that of experts at the Execution Platform realm.
The reason his battle with the Kai Emperor seemed close was that the Kai Emperor’s Sword Dao was far superior to his.
But in terms of primordial spirit alone, the Kai Emperor was far inferior to Qin Mu.
Qin Mu looked around and frowned slightly. He had originally planned to travel from Fallen God Valley to Jiangling, but entering and exiting the Netherworld had drastically changed the geography. This place was farther from Jiangling but very close to Bazhou.
“Since that’s the case, let’s go to the Heavenly Saint Academy first to see Granny Si and the others.”
He sat down with Divine King Lang Wan and Shu Jun and ordered Dutian Demon King to set off for the Heavenly Saint Academy. Inside the chariot, Qin Mu took out the jade bottle sealing the Grand Emperor’s divine consciousness. “Refine the Grand Emperor’s divine consciousness. I don’t want his cultivation; I only want his memories and his Supreme Boundless Divine Consciousness. His divine consciousness belongs to you two divine kings.”
Divine King Lang Wan hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “A large part of the Grand Emperor’s divine consciousness wasn’t obtained through cultivation but through the sacrifices of the ancient Creators. His divine consciousness is impure, which limited his achievements. There’s a rumor among the ancestral spirits of the Grand Emptiness Creators that the Grand Emperor lost the war against the ancient gods precisely because he boosted his cultivation through sacrifices, creating a weakness. If all his cultivation had been hard-earned, defeating the ancient god Heavenly Emperor and sweeping away all the ancient gods would not have been difficult.”
Shu Jun’s eyes lit up, and he laughed. “You don’t want the Grand Emperor’s divine consciousness? I’ll take it. Divine King Lang Wan, do you want it?”
Divine King Lang Wan hesitated again. “Let’s split it in half. I’ve reached a point where advancing further is extremely difficult. Even if the Grand Emperor’s divine consciousness is impure, I have to try. However, I suggest we split it into three parts. Each of us takes one, and we leave the remaining third for the Holy Infant.”
Qin Mu didn’t understand her intention.
Divine King Lang Wan said softly, “If you ever reach a bottleneck and can’t advance further, you can refine the Grand Emperor’s divine consciousness then to boost your cultivation. Our Creator race can also collectively sacrifice to you, increasing your power.”
Qin Mu thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
The three of them immediately began to activate their divine consciousness refining techniques, focusing on the refinement. The Heavenly Dragon Imperial Chariot sped toward the Heavenly Saint Academy.
In the Eternal Peace capital, the Kai Emperor bowed and asked Sword God Su Muzhe to stop. “After so much discussion, Ye Kai has gained much. Elder, you need not see me off.”
The Village Chief insisted on seeing him out. “What I’ve learned from you is a hundred times more than what you’ve learned from me. Brother Ye’s talent is second only to one other Sword Dao genius I’ve seen. I must see you off.”
The Kai Emperor was surprised. “Elder has seen another with Sword Dao talent comparable to mine? May I ask if it’s Heavenly Venerate Mu?”
The Village Chief shook his head and smiled. “Mu’er’s Sword Dao is very advanced, but his temperament is too restless to sit still and delve into it. His sword heart is impure. The Sword Dao master whose heart can match yours is the former National Teacher of Eternal Peace, Jiang Baigui of Jiangling.”
The Kai Emperor was moved. “Where is this National Teacher now?”
“Captured and imprisoned by the Heavenly Court, locked up in a great prison along with the Retired Emperor.”
The Village Chief said, “Jiang Baigui’s sword heart is utterly pure. His Sword Dao has the wondrous quality of the universe’s creation and the birth of all Daos. He uses the Sword Dao to evolve all Daos, with a transparent and profound sword heart. He is the only one I’ve seen like this. He is also the creator of Sword Fifteen, Sword Sixteen, and Sword Seventeen. If you meet him, you’ll surely have a long and pleasant conversation.”
The Kai Emperor pondered for a moment and sighed. “It’s a pity he’s in prison. I don’t know when I’ll see him again. I still need to visit other academies to witness Eternal Peace’s reforms and have no time to seek him out in prison. If fate allows, I’ll meet him another time! Farewell. Please, stay.”
The Village Chief watched him leave. A long time passed, and he still didn’t return to the Grand Academy.
The Blind Man and the Mute Man came looking for him. The Mute Man’s voice boomed like a bell. “Village Chief, you’ve met that man named Ye Kai? What a genius! Such talent is exactly what Eternal Peace needs. Why didn’t you keep him?”
The Village Chief shook his head. “The Kai Emperor is naturally a genius. How could I possibly keep him?”
The Blind Man and the Mute Man were startled and exchanged glances.
“When he came to see me, I didn’t look at him, but I sensed his aura. I felt a Sword Dao sovereign standing above the Thirty-Four Heavens. At that moment, I knew the foremost Sword Dao master had arrived.”
The Village Chief said calmly, “Those who cultivate the sword, after achieving something in the Sword Dao, will always feel a peak ahead that cannot be climbed or surpassed. That peak is the Kai Emperor, forever standing ahead. This time, he came to gift Sword Twenty to Eternal Peace.”
——Zhai Zhu is thirty-six years old and has just grown wisdom teeth. They’ve been hurting for days, and his cheeks are swollen. Frustrating, and they still haven’t come through. Counting, there are still three or four wisdom teeth that haven’t emerged…