Chapter 1096: Entering the Dao Through the Blade (Second Update!)
The Butcher was once a divine cultivator in the military, a man who crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Only later did he become a master of the blade, and his blade techniques nurtured a heroic spirit, making him a literary giant of his era.
He was the most dazzling figure of that age.
When he unleashed his blade techniques, Qin Mu had no choice but to draw his own blade and fight!
Night Battle, City in the Storm!
The blades of the two men were like lightning in the night, so fast that the flow of their techniques was impossible to follow. One could only see their figures shifting like phantoms, their footsteps a blur, while the clashing of their blades merged into a single, continuous note.
Whoosh—
Their blades were so swift that the friction with the air made the divine weapons burn with intense heat. Blazing divine fire erupted within the blade-light, and as the blades collided, they formed two tornadoes of flame, within which countless streaks of blade-light crisscrossed!
They stepped through the void, rising higher and higher. The two fiery tornadoes intertwined, flames raging, towering hundreds of zhang into the sky. Their long blades moved before and behind, left and right, appearing and disappearing with uncanny skill.
"Slow! Slow! Slow! You're still too slow!"
The Butcher's voice came from the sky, wavering and erratic, shifting from left to right. He roared angrily, "Faster! Faster still! Forget your divine abilities! Forget that you are the Celestial Venerable Mu! Forget your other spiritual weapons and divine weapons! In your hand, there is only the blade! The blade is everything you believe in!"
"What is hardest to capture in painting is the spirit! You have the spirit, so turn that spirit into your blade, turn it into your Dao! The blade is the fire in your heart!"
"If there is injustice, cleave it with one stroke!"
"If something blocks your Dao, cleave it with one stroke!"
"If gods or demons stand in your way, cleave them with one stroke!"
"If heaven is unjust, cleave it with one stroke!"
"If the earth is without Dao, cleave it with one stroke!"
"A master of combat arts never lets the blade leave his hand, and scorns divine abilities!"
At the gate of the forge below, the Blind Man and the Mute Man's expressions shifted slightly. The Blind Man whispered, "This butcher fellow, is he about to go mad again?"
The Mute Man nodded repeatedly. "He hasn't had an episode in years. When he goes mad, he even tries to cut himself down... If he really goes for the kill, can you stop him?"
The Blind Man's face was troubled. "It's hard. His strength has always been just a hair above mine. Even though I've comprehended something better this time, he seems to have grasped something extraordinary as well. It would be very difficult for me to block his attack before he cleaves Mu'er to death."
Long Qilin whispered from the side, "Two masters, the Sect Leader is very strong. In the ancient era, he killed the Five Radiance Ancient Gods."
The Blind Man and the Mute Man showed surprise. The two old men squinted, one sitting and the other leaning, and chuckled darkly. "Then there's nothing to fear. Heh heh. Mu'er is suppressing his cultivation to fight the Butcher. I'm actually looking forward to the moment Mu'er enters the Dao through the blade—wondering what kind of mess he'll carve the Butcher into!"
"Heh heh." Their faces twisted with malicious glee.
Yan'er blinked and whispered, "Are all the elders in the young master's family like this?"
Long Qilin hesitated, then leaned in and whispered, "Most of them are. Hardly any are proper. Granny Si is a bit more normal, but she's still quite wicked..."
As they spoke, the blade techniques of Qin Mu and the Butcher in the sky changed again and again. The power contained in their blades grew stronger and stronger: Sun Rising Over the Eastern Sea, A Thousand Layered Waves; Drawing the Blade from the Forbidden Zone; A Single Line Between the Vast Horizons; then The Long Blade Hangs Like the Moon, The Swift Horse Startles the Stars; and finally The Blade Opens the Ring of the Moon. One celestial blade technique after another unfolded, their power increasing with each move!
Looking up from below, one could only see sudden black lines appearing in the sky—the divine blades were so fast they were splitting space itself!
In the sky, starlight flickered continuously. One by one, the gods of the Heavenly Court poked their heads out from the star chart enveloping Yankang, disturbed by the battle as they maintained the operation of the star chart formation over the Yuan Realm.
These gods wore worried expressions, fearing that the two fighters, blinded by bloodlust, might charge up into the star chart and slaughter them.
Even more terrifying was that one of the two fighters below was clearly a madman, his blade techniques grand and unrestrained, his power immense, with a completely reckless fighting style.
"It seems the last star chart was cleaved open by this very man," they murmured among themselves.
The Butcher, while swinging his blade wildly, bellowed and shouted, his voice like thunder, making even the gods in the star chart feel their eardrums buzzing.
"You have boundless spirit, boundless power, but you haven't channeled them through your blade!"
He grew even more frenzied, hacking at Qin Mu until he was barely able to parry, retreating step by step, his body covered in bloodstains.
He didn't seem to be helping Qin Mu comprehend the Dao of the Blade; instead, he seemed intent on cleaving Qin Mu to death, suppressing his spirit, energy, and will, compressing them until the tiny sprout was trapped within its shell, unable to break through!
The Butcher's eyes were bloodshot, his blade techniques growing even more terrifying. He roared, "Release it! Release it! Release it!"
"Your Dao! What you want to protect! The beliefs you hold fast to! Let them out!"
"Don't hold back! Don't worry! Don't carry any burdens! Release it!"
"Let it the hell out for me!"
Qin Mu's muscles bulged, his hair burst open, and he suddenly opened his mouth and roared: "YAAAH—"
His primal energy erupted, his blood and qi surged, and his spirit turned into a surging tide. Spirit, blood, qi, and primal energy all poured madly into his blade. The suffering of humanity in the ancient ages, the hardships of the ancestors who blazed the trail, the passionate songs and hot blood of the martyrs—all of it burst forth from this single stroke, released!
The blade-light illuminated the sky, and with a screech, it split the star chart above. The long blade suppressed everything, broke through everything, and carried an overwhelming momentum as it slashed toward the Butcher!
At that moment, along the banks of the Tu River, in one forge after another, the countless divine blades that had been forged suddenly clattered and vibrated. Countless blades snapped upright, each emitting streaks of divine light that shot into the sky, brilliant and dazzling!
The Butcher laughed heartily, raised his blade to meet the attack, and roared, "Celestial Blade Domain—"
Hum—
His blade domain expanded outward. The first heaven of the blade Dao, the second heaven, the third heaven bloomed one after another, instantly forming the fourteen heavens of the blade Dao, creating a heavenly Dao domain.
Unlike Luo Wushuang's meticulously calculated Blade Dao Celestial Dome Domain, his Celestial Blade Domain was vast and desolate, lacking those intricate calculations, filled only with the song of the long blade!
Qin Mu's blade descended, cleaving through the Celestial Blade Domain, cutting into the first heaven, the second heaven, the third heaven...
The long blade broke through the waves, layer after layer of blade Dao heavens were split open. This stroke was so fierce, so fast, that it sliced straight through the fourteenth heaven, piercing the Celestial Blade Domain!
The Butcher raised his blade and swung it forward.
Ding.
His blade met Qin Mu's descending blade. The two divine weapons clashed and each came to a halt.
The energy contained in Qin Mu's stroke instantly dissipated into smoke, completely neutralized by the Butcher's blade. At the same time, the countless divine blades in the forges below clattered to the ground, their divine light retracting, and the strange phenomena ceased.
In the sky, Qin Mu took a step back, reversed his grip on the blade's hilt, and bowed deeply to the Butcher.
The Butcher turned his long blade around, also holding it reversed, and returned the salute with a cupped fist. He praised, "You have entered the Dao. My efforts were not in vain. Stay here and think carefully about what to name the first heaven of your blade Dao. I'll go down first and have some wine!"
Qin Mu nodded.
The Butcher descended from the air. The moment he landed, his steps faltered.
The Blind Man said with schadenfreude, "How bad is the injury?"
The Butcher shot him a glare, grabbed Long Qilin, and said with a menacing look, "Where's the dragon saliva? Hurry up and bring it out to heal me!"