Chapter 1412: The Blade of Law and Order
"Just so-so."
Qin Mu had just humbly uttered a word when the Butcher rapped him on the head, forcing him to add, "Last time, I entered the dao through the blade and comprehended a move called Striking the Southern Heavenly Gate, but after that, there was no further progress."
The Butcher shot him a cold glance, and Qin Mu felt as if he had been slashed by a blade, shrinking down a notch.
"Your blade dao has no advancement, so your sword dao must be the same, right?"
The Butcher sneered, "Medical dao, painting dao, buddhist dao, formation dao, thieving dao, forging dao—none of them have made any progress, am I correct?"
Qin Mu was genuinely impressed and praised, "Grandpa Butcher, your dharma eye is unmatched; you saw through my predicament at a single glance!"
The Butcher made a move as if to strike, and Qin Mu quickly said, "But I have already comprehended twenty-six heavens in terms of divine abilities!"
"You comprehended them from the innate dao, didn't you?"
The Butcher restrained his urge to beat him and said, "The innate dao has been studied by countless elites throughout the ages. The Heavenly Court's Ten Celestial Venerables, the Dao Sect—all have diligently delved into the innate dao, analyzing the great dao of the ancient gods. You only need to learn it, then you can use it, and after integrating it thoroughly, you can enter the dao. Even in the Ancestral Court, you can comprehend many divine abilities and dao techniques. But why haven't you comprehended deeper levels of blade dao, sword dao, or painting dao?"
Qin Mu pondered for a moment and said, "Because blade dao and sword dao are both acquired. They require creating something from nothing, self-enlightenment, and personal exploration and organization."
"This is precisely why, even after comprehending the great dao of the ancient gods, you cannot make further progress in blade, sword, calligraphy, or painting."
The Butcher said, "Mu'er, you have been away from the mortal world for too long. The acquired dao originates from the mundane world of mortals. Since you ascended to the Heavenly Court, you have faced the majestic gods above the court and the divine saints below the court, scheming against the Ten Celestial Venerables. In the mortal world, you could comprehend your three heavens of sword dao in just a few years, but once you reached the Heavenly Court, you made no further progress. Mu'er, you have strayed far from the acquired dao. I am no longer certain whether you can still maintain the original heart of that youth from the Great Ruins back then."
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow. "My dao heart is stable; it's impossible for me to forget my original heart."
"Is that so?"
The Butcher drew his blade, intending to toss it to him, but then thought better of it. Instead, he broke off a three-foot-long piece of iron from the side of the painted boat and stuffed it into Qin Mu's hand. "Seal all your cultivation—your celestial palace, your divine hides—seal them all and become a mortal. I'll take you to see your original heart."
"There's no need for such trouble."
Qin Mu let out a low shout, sealing his Spiritual Embryo Divine Hide and also sealing his primordial spirit within the divine hide.
The Butcher glanced at him and said, "You haven't sealed your physical body yet."
Qin Mu's fingers flew, tapping various points on his body, sealing all the hundred orifices of his physical body. Instantly, he felt his body grow heavy, with not a trace of primal energy left within.
The Butcher leaped out of the painted boat and said in a deep voice, "Bring your blade and follow me."
Qin Mu jumped out of the painted boat, landing with a heavy thud at the bottom of the river. After a moment, he surfaced, then began to run wildly across the water, finally rediscovering the feeling of walking on the waves of the Yong River from back in the day.
Soon, they reached the riverbank. Qin Mu was about to use his primal energy to dry his clothes when he remembered he had no primal energy to use.
The Butcher walked unhurriedly ahead, and Qin Mu did his best to keep up. Gradually, he began to feel the flow of the wind again, his body growing lighter. Suddenly, he leaped into the air, stepping on the tips of the wind as he moved.
The Butcher arrived at a modest city. Qin Mu looked around; this should be a new city in Jiangling, one he didn't recall from memory.
In recent years, the Yan Kang Empire had been changing rapidly, with new cities appearing everywhere. If Qin Mu didn't return to the Yan Kang capital for three to five years, he would even get lost.
"Mu'er, there's a local tyrant in this city. Go take your blade and kill him," the Butcher suddenly said.
Qin Mu frowned slightly. "Grandpa Butcher, the nation has its laws. If he's a tyrant, let the authorities handle him. As the Yan Kang Imperial Preceptor, how can I arbitrarily kill someone?"
The Butcher raised an eyebrow, looking down at him with a sneer. "Your original heart has changed. Where is the Qin Mu from back in Xianglong City, who, in a fit of rage, drew his blade and left the palace, cleaving Fu Yueting in two? National law, national law—if national law were truly omnipotent, how could there be tyrants?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "That was the courage of a common man. In the Great Ruins, there was no national law, so the blade was used to eliminate evil. But Yan Kang has a legal system..."
"Blade dao is precisely the courage of a common man!"
The Butcher roared angrily, "When you encounter injustice, settle it with a single slash! Last year, when Jiangling was building a new city, a tyrant with far-reaching influence annexed land. This place was originally a village with a population of one hundred and twenty-four. The tyrant forcibly bought the land, forcing the villagers to relocate. Those who refused: six died, forty-nine were injured. You speak of national law? The villagers went to Jiangling to report to the authorities, and the tyrant was sitting right in the yamen, slamming the table and demanding, 'Who dares to accuse me?' Where was the national law? Two more of those villagers who reported him were beaten to death. Where was the national law? Your national law doesn't reach here!"
Qin Mu frowned. "Why does the Jiangling yamen tolerate a tyrant causing harm?"
"Mu Celestial Venerable, you are too close to the heavens and too far from the earth. You have lost your original heart!"
The Butcher sneered. "Your blood has gone cold, your blade has dulled. You stand too high and can no longer see the darkness and filth lurking in the shadowy corners of the mortal world. You dwell in the high halls of the court, commanding the grand trends of the world, yet you cannot see the common folk. If it were the Qin Mu of old, what would he do?"
Qin Mu shook the three-foot iron piece in his hand and strode toward the city, his blood surging. He said in a deep voice, "I can still awaken my hot blood. Who is this tyrant?"
The Butcher walked behind him. "The son of Wei Yong, Wei Qinghe."
Qin Mu stopped and turned his head.
The Butcher sneered. "What's the matter, Mu Celestial Venerable? Does the son of Wei Yong make you hesitate? Your blade is already rusted. You have become no different from the Ten Celestial Venerables. You float in the heavens all year round, never touching the earth, never touching the mortal world. You have dulled. You are no longer worthy of using a blade. Get lost. Go back to your Heavenly Court and be a Celestial Venerable!"
Qin Mu's blood surged, his killing intent soaring. Gripping the three-foot iron piece, he strode toward the bustling market in the city.
"Which one is Wei Qinghe?" he stopped someone and asked.
"You don't even know Wei Qinghe?"
The man laughed. "He's the famous Wei Celestial Venerable, the master of the new city of Jiangling! Go straight ahead; the young man in the red robe listening to music on the Sparrow-Catching Terrace is him."
Qin Mu walked forward, hearing the pleasant sounds of music. Amidst the jade pavilions and jade towers, singing girls sang, dancing girls danced, and musicians played string and bamboo instruments. Qin Mu looked up and saw a man in a large red robe on the high platform, surrounded by women, laughing and joking with many cultivators around him, their laughter shaking the heavens.
Qin Mu walked up and began to ascend the tower. Cultivators at the bottom blocked him, saying, "The master has rented out the entire Sparrow-Catching Terrace for listening to music. Please turn back."
Qin Mu leaned in, his shoulder muscles flexing, and with a loud bang, the cultivator was sent flying backward, smashing a large hole in the Sparrow-Catching Terrace.
Shouts came from above, and many cultivators leaned down. Qin Mu flicked his fingers, and one by one, the cultivators were sent flying upward by his finger wind, crashing through the building with thuds.
Qin Mu continued up the stairs when he heard the sound of swords. He casually tapped with his iron piece. The cultivator's flying sword was extremely sharp, and his iron piece was merely a piece of common iron flattened out, but when it touched the flying sword, the sword exploded into pieces, while the iron piece remained unharmed.
He wasn't using any cultivation; he was only using the simplest of techniques.
Technique, method, dao.
These were the steps in a cultivator's learning progress. First, one learns techniques—sword techniques, dao techniques, blade techniques, formation techniques, medical techniques. When techniques are mastered, one moves on to methods—sword methods, dao methods, blade methods, formation methods, medical methods.
Only when methods are perfected can one comprehend the dao.
The dao cannot be learned; it can only be comprehended.
What Qin Mu used were the simplest blade techniques passed down from the Village of the Disabled, while his opponent used exquisite sword methods, classic sword techniques passed down from Yan Kang, which even bore traces of a few sword moves created by Jiang Baigui and Qin Mu.
But Qin Mu had already reached a level where great skill seemed artless. Although he used the simplest blade techniques, breaking his opponent's exquisite sword methods was effortless.
He reached the platform, and dozens of sword lights flew at him. The men with Wei Qinghe all rose in anger, cursing as they drove their swords at him, all using Yan Kang's most exquisite sword techniques.
In Qin Mu's day, these sword techniques were rare in the world, even worthy of being sect-guarding sword techniques. But now, anyone could learn them.
Qin Mu held his iron piece, lightly parrying and tapping. With crisp cracking sounds, he kept walking forward, with exploding flying swords all around him.
Suddenly, a divine light shot toward his face. Wei Qinghe activated a divine sword, pointing it straight at Qin Mu's face!
Qin Mu raised his iron piece and slashed against the wind. Ding—a crisp sound rang out.
Wei Qinghe showed a delighted expression, jumping up and shouting, "You bought this broken-down commoner to assassinate me, but you don't know who my father is! My father dotes on me and long ago gave me a protective divine sword..."
The iron piece in Qin Mu's hand had not a single nick, but the divine sword suddenly became covered in dense cracks, then exploded with a pop, scattering all over the ground!
Wei Qinghe was terrified. Qin Mu walked up to him and asked, "The son of Wei Yong, Wei Qinghe?"
Wei Qinghe quickly said, "Brother, you're still young, don't do anything rash..."
Shiiing—
The iron piece in Qin Mu's hand burst with a dazzling, breathtaking blade light. He raised the blade and brought it down. A blood line appeared from Wei Qinghe's left shoulder to his right ribs, and then his upper body slid off at an angle.
The platform erupted in chaos. The singing girls, dancing girls, and musicians fled in all directions. Wei Qinghe's attendants soared into the air, shrieking, "Go report to Master Wei! The young master has been killed!"
Qin Mu flicked the blood off his iron piece, sat down with a grand air, poured himself a cup of wine, and waited quietly.
The Butcher showed an appreciative expression and said, "You've come back. I can feel that the youth Qin Mu from the Village of the Disabled in the Great Ruins has returned! Mu'er, aren't you leaving? Wei Yong was a close friend from your childhood. You have deep bonds. If you kill his son, aren't you afraid to face him?"
"Killing one Wei Qinghe is utterly useless!"
Qin Mu said expressionlessly, "I will invite Wei Yong for a drink and let him appreciate my Blade of Law and Order."
The Butcher tilted his head. "Troublesome."
He also sat down, helping himself to wine. Soon, he found using a cup too troublesome, so he simply threw away the lid of the wine jug and drank straight from it.
In the distance, in Jiangling City, divine light flashed, and divine might surged as it rapidly approached.
Thud—
A massive, fat divine being descended from the sky, landing on the Sparrow-Catching Terrace, shaking the entire building. The fat divine being roared, "Who killed my beloved son?"
At that moment, three or five more divine lights descended from the sky, revealing the forms of several divine beings. They stepped forward and shouted, "Where did this thief come from, daring to commit murder?"
"Killing a court official requires no trial; execute him on the spot!"
But the fat divine being stared at the youth sitting behind his son's corpse. His body trembled, and the fat on his face shook along with it.
The other divine beings were about to step forward when Wei Yong suddenly spread his arms, blocking them. Confused, they thought he wanted to personally avenge his son, so they stepped aside.
Wei Yong strode forward and said, "Brother Qin..."
"Brother Wei, it's better to call me Imperial Preceptor."
Qin Mu raised his hand and said indifferently, "I killed your son. You and I have been friends for many years. When I first left the Great Ruins, the first friend I made was you. We took a boat across the Golden River together, heading to the capital to take the imperial examinations. On the way, we encountered the rebellion of the Dragon Driving Gate and fought through many battles—a life-and-death friendship. I killed your son, and I feel deeply guilty, so I poured a cup of wine to wait for you and apologize."
Wei Yong wept loudly. "You could have taught him a lesson, but why did you have to kill him? I won't drink your wine!"
"Whether you drink or not is up to you."
Qin Mu stood up and said in a deep voice, "There are many injustices in this world. I can act with the courage of a common man, wield my blade, and take your son's head, making his blood spill five steps. As Imperial Preceptor, I have this ability. But ordinary people can only be bullied and cheated by your son. This has made me realize that the courage of a common man and the blade of a common man only bring momentary satisfaction; they cannot pacify the world or govern it. So I have comprehended a move called the Blade of Law and Order. Please, Brother Wei, enlighten me!"
He raised his iron piece, and blade light filled the tower. The law and order were strict, with national laws like the Xuan Du Heavenly Principles in the hands of the Heavenly Lord, like the chains of the Netherworld in the hands of the Earth Lord, capturing the heart and soul, raising the righteous spirit of heaven and earth, and extinguishing the arrogance of evil!
"Yan Kang must establish the nation with law and order. Where there is law, it must be followed, without regard for personal favor!"
With the move finished, Qin Mu flicked the iron piece, planting it in front of Wei Yong, and walked past him. "You failed to discipline your son and indulged him in harming the neighbors. Report yourself to the Emperor. Your rank will be reduced by three grades, and your salary will be docked for ten years. If such a thing happens again, I will use the Blade of Law and Order to cut you down. Take care of yourself."