Chapter 1416: The Blade Nurtures the Spirit
On the Yong River, blade light flashed as five figures clashed and scattered. These five individuals directly employed their Dao-imbued divine abilities, elevating their cultivation to the utmost with the very first collision!
Among the divine ability practitioners of Yankang, there was a common saying: "Those who wield blades are all roughnecks."
Although this statement was somewhat biased—for instance, the Butcher appeared to be a roughneck but was actually a great scholar—those who used blades indeed engaged in far less probing than practitioners of divine ability schools or sword techniques.
The blade was a martial technique school, and moreover, a close-combat school within that tradition. Its close-quarters striking went even deeper than martial arts. For example, blade techniques included back-to-back fighting, relying on muscle and qi resonance to find an opponent's weakness and deliver a killing blow.
Divine ability sword techniques had many probing moves, but the blade was a short-range weapon. If one probed while the opponent used full force, the one at a disadvantage would be oneself.
The Butcher, Zhe Huali, Tian Shu, and Luo Wushuang attacked Qin Mu almost simultaneously. Zhe Huali had spent years on Yankang's western front, honed through countless battles.
The battlefield was different from gang fights in the martial world. Years of training had deepened his blade Dao, a skill forged on the killing ground—every move aimed at taking life, his blade Dao growing increasingly profound and eerily unpredictable.
At the same time, he possessed the majestic grandeur of the Heavenly Blade. His blade technique occupied both the "strange" and the "orthodox," incorporating Daoist numerology and Luo Wushuang's discipline, making it truly exquisite.
He had already reached the ninth heaven of entering the Dao through the blade. The moment he clashed with Qin Mu, he immediately sensed that Qin Mu's magical power was about the same as his own, and he relaxed, thinking to himself: "That kid Qin Mu went to the Heavenly Court to be Celestial Venerable Mu. Sure enough, he's been living in comfort and slacking off. My cultivation has sharply risen to the Yaotai realm; he's probably at Yaotai too, about the same as me. Back then, his cultivation was far deeper than mine!"
Luo Wushuang had cultivated to the eighteenth heaven of the blade Dao, and his cultivation realm had reached the Lingxiao realm. Yankang's Dao techniques and divine abilities were flourishing, and coming here had allowed his cultivation and strength to skyrocket.
However, when he extended his moves and clashed with Qin Mu's blade, he felt Qin Mu's magical power was endless, like a surging heavenly river flowing without cease, matching his own cultivation. His heart tightened: "Impressive! No wonder he's the Overlord Body. His cultivation has advanced so quickly; he's probably already a master of the Yujing realm!"
He knew that Qin Mu had almost no rivals at the same realm, only Celestial Venerables could contend with him, so he thought Qin Mu's Yujing realm was enough to match his own Lingxiao realm.
The Butcher's Heavenly Blade clashed with Qin Mu's blade, and he also felt that Qin Mu's cultivation and strength were about the same as his own.
"Mu'er has cultivated to the Zhan Shen Tai realm over the years, which isn't slow, but his magical power isn't as astonishingly deep as I expected. Back then, none of us in the Village of Cripples could take his moves at the same realm."
On the other side, Tian Shu the Heavenly King unleashed overwhelming imperial might. Behind him, a heavenly palace burst forth, with a majestic primordial spirit seated on the throne of the Lingxiao Treasure Hall!
The Divine Que Blade was in his hands, its full power activated. The Butcher called it an imperial blade, and that was indeed true!
Tian Shu the Heavenly King had gone to the Taixu Realm to seek his original heart. After experiencing the bloody battles there, the barriers at his cultivation realm vanished. Breaking through in battle, he cultivated to the Imperial Throne realm, becoming another great master of that realm in the Kaihuang Heavenly Court.
The Divine Que Blade was a divine blade forged for him by the Heavenly King Indra. For a long time, its power had surpassed Tian Shu's own strength. With one blade, it cut off the Earth Lord's horn and carved out a Fengdu.
With one blade, it severed the Daxu mountain range, sealing the strangeness and darkness of Daxu within it.
Now, Tian Shu the Heavenly King's power was enough to perfectly control the Divine Que!
He was the emperor of blades, and his blade could sever souls and seize spirits—a demon blade of the Netherworld!
Yet when the Divine Que Blade clashed with the blade energy formed from Qin Mu's primordial qi, Tian Shu the Heavenly King couldn't help but feel his qi surge, secretly alarmed: "Impressive! To withstand my full magical power, no wonder he's a Celestial Venerable that even the Kaihuang Emperor can't forget. In just over a decade, he's cultivated to the Imperial Throne realm! But, drunk as I am, I'm not afraid of the Earth Lord or the Netherworld Emperor—I'll cut down a Celestial Venerable too! Full combat power isn't my limit!"
He roared with fury, his movements ghostly. Sometimes his body dissolved into demonic qi, sometimes he hung high like a demonic sun, sometimes his muscular form was ferocious with a snake head and human body, towering and controlling the Netherworld's great Dao, sometimes with a goat head and human body, tiny and hard to find.
Yet his blade was utterly decisive, its power never leaking outward, bearing the unique style of the Kaihuang era.
Four great masters of the blade Dao attacked simultaneously, clashing with Qin Mu's blade. Each came to a different conclusion, all feeling that Qin Mu's cultivation realm was about the same as theirs.
Five figures rose and fell like startled rabbits and swooping falcons, each perfectly manifesting their Dao within their blade techniques.
Zhe Huali's eerie wickedness, Luo Wushuang's discipline, Tian Shu's tyranny and demonic path, and the Butcher's grandeur were all fully revealed!
Qin Mu, in his clashes with them, gathered their eeriness, discipline, tyranny, and grandeur into himself.
He used the Blade Dao Heavenly Palace as his main heavenly palace, with other heavenly palaces as auxiliary. One Blade Dao Heavenly Palace, one divine blade formed from his primordial qi, moved freely, simultaneously fending off the four great blade Dao masters.
Earlier, he had followed the Butcher on a journey to hone his blade Dao heart. Whether establishing discipline or protecting the land and its people, it was all about tempering his blade Dao heart, comprehending the most basic Dao-imbued divine abilities of the blade Dao through such refinement.
Unyielding, so he knocked on the Southern Heavenly Gate; unjust, so he established discipline; protective, so he killed.
The blade nurtures the spirit.
Mastering these three foundational spirits of the blade Dao was considered formal entry.
In the future, no matter how his blade Dao changed or evolved, he could not abandon or deviate from these three spirits. To abandon or deviate would be to betray the Dao of the blade.
The Butcher could not teach him more or guide him further, so he had to integrate his own learning and insights.
Around the Yong River, fishing boats had stopped. On the riverbanks, there were fishermen and divine ability practitioners, all stopping to watch. Blade light crisscrossed the river like sunlight on the water, shimmering.
But the shimmer wasn't on the river's surface; it suddenly leaped up, filling the sky. Blade light also traveled through the river water, like great fish or azure dragons.
Streaks of light interwove, splitting the sky, leaving black lines in their eyes.
Yankang's divine ability practitioners' eyes immediately bled black tears, and blade wounds suddenly appeared on their bodies. Startled, they quickly restrained the fishermen on the riverbanks, telling them not to look anymore, lest their eyes be injured.
The battle in the river had reached such a level that, although the power fluctuations of the martial technique school weren't as strong as divine abilities, whose power had a wider range, the spirit contained in the moves of the blade-focused martial technique school could easily harm the Dao heart and spirit of onlookers.
Especially Qin Mu, the Butcher, and the other five, who were grandmasters of entering the Dao through the blade. Their moves seemed not to reach here, but each move contained their Dao. One glance, and one's essence, qi, and spirit were touched, as if a sharp blade had struck the body!
The stronger one's cultivation, the stronger this sensation, and the heavier the injury!
The divine ability practitioners were restraining the fishermen, while the Dragon Palace in the Yong River was also relocating. Large and small divine dragons swam along the riverbed, eyes closed, following the Yong River Dragon King upstream or downstream.
"In the heavens hidden in the Yong River's heart, lock the gates, close your eyes—don't observe, don't look, don't listen, don't feel!"
The Yong River Dragon King was called Huan Long Jun, also a great master in the river with profound cultivation. He was very proud, shouting: "Impressive, right? My lord has returned!"
A fine blade is honed through grinding, and so is the blade.
Qin Mu used his qi as a blade, his essence, qi, and spirit honed sharper and sharper by the four great masters. The same Dao-imbued divine ability, with different mindsets and different moves, produced different blade techniques.
But later, the five of them repeated their Dao-imbued divine abilities thousands of times without being able to defeat Qin Mu, nor could they force him to take another step forward and comprehend a higher Dao realm.
Three days later, there were no more figures charging and shouting on the Yong River. Only five figures stood scattered on the river's surface, motionless, their essence, qi, and spirit clashing.
This scene was even more terrifying!
Blade qi and spirit filled the river's surface, causing spatial distortion. Thousands of blade qi streams clashed fiercely in the air like schools of fish.
The blade nurtures the spirit.
They were clashing with their spirits!
Nearby, many scholars from the former Yong River Academy, now the Yong River Sect, arrived upon hearing the news. As soon as they reached the riverbank, their spiritual weapons uncontrollably flew up, clashing in the air with the blade qi.
Clang, clang.
One by one, their spiritual weapons shattered in the air, startling the scholars.
The closer they got to the Yong River, the faster their spiritual weapons broke.
Strangely, this blade qi was harmless to humans, plants, trees, insects, and fish, seeming to target only weapons.
"Sect Leader Su!"
Several academy scholars quickly passed through the dense forest on the riverbank and arrived at the riverside, where several deities stood by the river, gazing at the river's center. Leading them was Su Yunzhi of the Yong River Academy.
What shocked the young scholars was that Su Yunzhi and the Yong River deities' divine weapons also involuntarily floated up, emitting bursts of overwhelming divine might, as if resisting the blade Dao spirit emanating from the river's center.
And these deities' divine weapons were already covered with blade marks.
The blade Dao spirit seemed to form a vast spiritual imprint here, growing stronger and spreading across the sky, causing the spiritual and divine weapons of those who came here to lose control.
Moreover, this imprint was growing deeper.
Standing by the river, they could see layers of blade Dao heavens in the river's center, imprinted in layers of void, the deepest reaching the eighteenth layer of void!
The Dao realm was like a dome, covering the wilderness, bringing an immensely awe-inspiring feeling.
"Meditate carefully; you can touch their spirits."
Su Yunzhi said to the scholars: "This is a rare opportunity. If you want a deeper understanding of the blade Dao, seize this great chance."
Another half year passed. The imprints in the void grew deeper and clearer, turning this place into a sacred ground. Young people and deities from all over Yankang, whether learning the blade or the sword, came here on pilgrimage.
Around the Yong River, divine weapons floated, clashing in the air, emitting various divine powers.
This was a trick some had thought of: using the blade Dao's power here to hone their own Dao and their weapons' might.
But here, more were young divine ability practitioners and deities from all over Yankang, sitting motionless, cultivating their spirits, honing their blade will and their own primordial qi.
A year later, on both banks of the Yong River, blades, swords, and halberds stood like a forest!
This place had become a sacred ground. Few in Yankang practiced the blade; most refined the sword and cultivated the sword heart. But with the establishment of the blade Dao sacred ground, a trend of learning the blade began.
And the Dao realm dome of the blade Dao in the void seemed to have become tangible, imprinting the figures of the five in the river into the eighteenth void, clearly visible.
"In ancient times, the former State Preceptor Jiang Baigui used the sword to make friends, defeating all martial technique and divine ability schools, elevating the sword's status to the top method of Yankang! Since then, the sword Dao has flourished!"
"Today, these five blade Dao saints, realizing the Dao by the river, establishing the blade Dao sacred ground, is even more awe-inspiring than that! The blade Dao will also flourish!"
Another year passed. Suddenly, the blade Dao heavenly domes trembled, appearing in the nineteenth void.
The blade Dao's might spread, clearly felt for ten thousand miles.
Time: two years and one month, the blade Dao dome covered the twentieth void.
The next month, it covered the twenty-first void.
Two years and three months, it covered the twenty-second void.
By two years and six months, it covered the twenty-fifth void.
The blade Dao's might had covered half of Yankang.
The five blade Dao masters in the river's center were honored as the Five Ancestors of the Blade Dao.
This day, suddenly the Yong River trembled, gradually rising into the sky, floating higher and higher, like a pure white ribbon, rising beside magnificent divine mountains.
Qin Mu suddenly opened his eyes. The time had come.
The eleven great spiritual energy transfer bridges in the Ancestral Court had been completed. The Heavenly Court was beginning its relocation. The entire Heavenly Court and countless divine beings would migrate through the spiritual energy transfer bridge matrix to the Ancestral Court!
The time to eliminate the Heavenly Duke was also approaching!