Chapter 1496: A Supreme Treasure of the Sword Path
“I am still the strongest Artisan, but Carefree Realm is no longer the era of the Kaihuang Era back then.”
These words were like a sharp blade, their edge fully exposed, causing even Kaihuang to feel a pang of gloom. Even though his sword path imprints spanned thirty-five layers of void, he could hardly withstand it.
Although Carefree Realm had swept away its former decadence, it still lacked many things compared to the Kaihuang Era of old. It could not restore itself to that bygone age of resolute reform, enterprising spirit, and relentless struggle.
Throughout Carefree Realm, the will to fight remained unchanged, but the accumulated problems were too deep to reverse. Every time Kaihuang visited Eternal Peace, he felt a vibrant, burgeoning spirit—a sense of constant renewal. But upon returning to Carefree Realm, he could not sense that same energy.
This was Eternal Peace as it stood now!
Eternal Peace could gather the finest talents from across the world, forging a sword for Qin Mu with the strength of the entire nation, infusing the spirit and essence of the era into the sword’s creation.
Today’s Carefree Realm could no longer achieve such a feat.
Li Youran stepped into the Dao Fire. As the most powerful Artisan of the Kaihuang Era, his realm was extremely high, surpassing even the strongest Artisan of Eternal Peace, the Mute.
With his involvement, the forging speed immediately increased.
But it was at this moment that Li Youran realized that, in the art of casting, the Mute was no longer inferior to him, and in some aspects, had even surpassed him. In casting, the Mute had achieved a unity of the macro and the micro. When he swung his hammer, his technique was vast and without corners, great vessels took time to complete, and great forms had no shape.
Yet his hammer technique was also incredibly delicate. Every strike landed on the tiniest particles, carving exquisite patterns into them.
This was a skill Li Youran did not possess.
In the grand scale, he far surpassed the Mute. Both Carefree Realm and the Ark of the Other Shore were colossal beyond measure, and even the Heavenly Court could not forge divine artifacts of such immense scope.
But in the minute scale, he was far behind.
He also wished to help the Mute reach greater heights, so he acted as his assistant, using his own understanding of casting to guide the Mute, helping him advance further in the path of forging and grasp deeper principles.
One by one, the divine weapons of prehistoric powerhouses erupted with earth-shattering might within the Dao Fire. But the Dao Fire was so fierce that the Dao imprints hidden within these weapons began to disintegrate and melt, causing the Dao that those prehistoric beings had refined into their weapons to collapse and dissolve!
The Dao destroyed by the Dao Fire broke apart, transforming into Dao domains. These Dao domains then collapsed within the Nine Heavens of Dao Fire, turning into Dao patterns.
The Dao patterns then disintegrated further, becoming runes.
This scene allowed everyone involved in the forging, as well as those outside the Ancestral Land of Dao Fire, to glimpse many secrets of cultivation.
Although the divine abilities and Dao techniques of today’s cultivators, gods, and demons were growing increasingly profound, they had not yet reached the flourishing heights of the past universe.
For a long time, the path followed by cultivators, gods, and demons had been: Dao runes, divine abilities, Dao patterns, and Dao patterns forming Dao chains to create domains.
As for domains, they were only mastered by a few, kept as closely guarded secrets.
It was not until Kaihuang transmitted the Dao Realm system and the Sword Domain to Eternal Peace that domains—this higher level of cultivation—gradually became known to cultivators, gods, and demons.
Domains represented the mastery of rules. At this stage, cultivators, gods, and demons across the world felt that the road ahead had ended, that they had reached a dead end.
Yet beyond domains, there was still a deeper path of cultivation. Kaihuang’s layers of Sword Dao Realms, on the road to the Ultimate Void, had not yet reached the final Sword Dao Great Luo Heaven. Until the very last moment, he himself did not know what scenery lay beyond the domains.
Wei Suifeng and the Netherworld Prince had glimpsed deeper truths from a single Dao pattern in the Miluo Palace, but they had not spread that knowledge.
Now, as the treasures of prehistoric beings disintegrated within the Nine Heavens of Dao Fire, everyone present saw even more profound cultivation insights.
The treasures Qin Mu had collected—their owners had not achieved Dao, but many had touched the edge of it, and some had even gone further than Kaihuang!
As their treasures melted in the Dao Fire, they decomposed layer by layer from deep Dao realms into Dao chains, Dao patterns, and Dao runes. Even for Kaihuang, this was a great revelation.
However, even the Dao runes continued to disintegrate in the Dao Fire, turning into the purest spiritual energy and spiritual essence.
Within the Dao Fire, Artisans raised their hammers, driving this spiritual energy and essence into the molten liquid. Array masters stepped in, imprinting Qin Mu’s runes, Dao patterns, and domains.
Even the Four Ancient God Emperors watched in stunned amazement. Each of those melting treasures was no weaker than a Heavenly Lord’s divine artifact, and some were even stronger!
Every single treasure was likely not inferior to Kaihuang’s Carefree Sword!
More importantly, there were over a hundred treasures of this caliber!
Bringing out one or two was one thing, but producing so many at once—even the Four Ancient God Emperors combined did not possess such immense wealth!
“With so many treasures melted down, they could fill an entire sea!”
East Emperor Azure Dragon shook his head and muttered, “What kind of sword needs so much divine material? Such a sword is impossible to forge. Even using one percent of all this divine gold and divine material would be impressive.”
Upon hearing this, Kaihuang raised an eyebrow, drew his Carefree Sword, and said calmly, “East Emperor, do you know how much divine gold and divine material this sword of mine used?”
East Emperor Azure Dragon studied the Carefree Sword. It was about four feet long, and forging such a sword likely wouldn’t require much material. But the Carefree Sword’s reputation was immense, its power astonishing. Kaihuang had once wielded it to enter the Heavenly Court, battle the Heavenly Alliance, and slay the Heavenly Emperor.
Such a treasure could not possibly have been forged from just a few pounds of divine gold.
“This sword of mine contains thirty-three layers of heavens within it. The sword body is hollow, capable of holding all of Carefree Realm.”
Kaihuang sheathed his sword and said calmly, “When Li Youran forged this sword for me, the divine gold and divine material used were more than just mountains piled high. Even several hundred great mountains could not forge such a sword. East Emperor, the path of casting has become a Dao in itself, beyond your ability to fathom.”
East Emperor Azure Dragon fell silent, disgruntled.
With his temperament, if anyone else had spoken to him like that, he would have obliterated them with a wave of his hand. But since it was Kaihuang speaking, he could only listen.
After the hundred or so treasures had melted, thousands of Artisans began forging the first layer of heavens for the divine sword. Countless divine gold and divine materials flowed like water to the towering Artisans, who shaped them. The sheer amount of materials consumed was staggering.
This was the forging of a great artifact—a symbol of the Eternal Peace era.
Eternal Peace had been forbidden by the Heavenly Court from forging great artifacts. For a long time, aside from building some large ships and vessels, Eternal Peace had only constructed Spirit Energy Teleportation Bridges. The Heavenly Court had also miscalculated Eternal Peace’s manufacturing capabilities.
Now was the moment for Eternal Peace’s manufacturing prowess to shine!
Dark Emperor and Martial Emperor had already begun to act, drawing the waters of the Netherworld Yin Sea to quench the divine weapon. The Netherworld Yin waters were supremely cold and yin, perfect for tempering treasures.
After quenching, the Dao Fire blazed even more fiercely, heating the forged heavens until they were red-hot and nearly molten. Thousands of Artisans stood on the surface of the first layer of heavens, hammering away. Their massive hammers rose and fell, the sound shaking the heavens.
On the other side, thousands of array masters activated their formations, driving Qin Mu’s Dao runes, Dao patterns, and Dao chains into the treasure. Qin Mu’s Dao laws fell under the hammers, and with the Artisans’ strength, the imprints were driven deeper and deeper.
Dark Emperor and Martial Emperor once again summoned the Netherworld Yin waters to cool the first layer of heavens, making the divine sword’s first layer harder and more stable.
This process was repeated dozens of times—quenching and forging—until the first layer of heavens was finally formed. Even the Nine Heavens of Dao Fire could no longer melt it.
East Emperor Azure Dragon looked at the first layer of heavens and his heart skipped a beat. Qin Mu’s Dao runes within it had formed sun, moon, and stars, mountains and rivers, lakes and seas, winds and clouds, lightning and thunder. This forging technique indeed exceeded his expectations.
But what did this have to do with a sword?
He was puzzled.
As soon as this first layer of heavens took shape, the metal energy surged. The metal energy emanating from it unleashed a terrifying power, threatening the many Artisans forging the treasure.
At that moment, West Emperor White Tiger acted, suppressing the metal energy within the Nine Heavens of Dao Fire. She contained it within the first layer of heavens, preventing it from leaking out.
This female emperor’s methods were like a dance, gracefully moving within the Dao Fire—a beautiful sight in itself.
The thousands of Artisans and array masters worked without rest, forging the second layer of heavens.
Days passed. By the time the Artisans had forged the thirteenth layer of heavens, East Emperor Azure Dragon and the others finally saw where the sword was.
The layers of heavens were stacked together, forming the sword’s body.
From the hilt to the guard, and then to the blade—it was all taking shape, bit by bit, under the hammers of these giants!
Even more astonishing was that Qin Mu had imprinted his own Dao onto each layer of heavens, each layer stronger than the last, with almost no repeated Dao used across the layers.
This was the terror of Mu Tianzun.
When the Artisans finished forging the twenty-third layer of heavens, Qin Mu’s Dao was exhausted. The Mute was about to stop, but Li Youran shook his head and said, “Continue forging! Leave some redundancy!”
The Mute’s heart stirred, and he continued with the other Artisans. They forged all the way to the thirty-sixth layer of heavens before stopping.
Kaihuang, Village Chief, Jiang Baigui, and other sword path experts unleashed their own sword paths. Above the Netherworld Yin Sea, within the Ancestral Land of Dao Fire, sword paths clashed and rang out, tempering the divine sword. After a long while, they finally ceased.
Kaihuang even raised his Carefree Sword to stimulate the divine sword’s sword light, sword aura, and sword intent, honing it!
East Emperor Azure Dragon breathed a sigh of relief, snapping out of his shock. He muttered, “The divine sword is finished, right? Even though this divine sword is excellent, it still can’t use up all that divine gold and divine material…”
Just as he said this, the myriad sword paths vanished. The sword path experts withdrew their divine swords, and the Artisans, after a brief rest, resumed hammering.
East Emperor Azure Dragon’s eyes widened in confusion.
“The first domain is complete.”
Kaihuang pointed out from the side, “There should still be thirty-five domains to go.”
East Emperor Azure Dragon’s expression froze. Suddenly, he laughed heartily and said, “Mu Tianzun, the materials are sufficient, but is the sword-wielder skilled enough? Even if this divine sword with thirty-six domains is truly forged, I doubt even you could control such a supreme treasure, could you?”
Kaihuang said calmly, “Mu Tianzun’s talent and aptitude in the sword path are no less than mine—in fact, they surpass me. Whether he admits it or not, he is my descendant, of the Qin family’s bloodline, naturally steeped in the sword path. He has simply been delayed by worldly affairs, spending too much effort on other matters.”
He paused for a moment, then said, “When he was young, his sword techniques were already the best in a million years. In this world, only he can wield this sword.”
East Emperor Azure Dragon felt very displeased and thought to himself, “You’re just boasting for Mu Tianzun. How could he possibly deserve such praise?”