Chapter 226: One Sword Opens the Imperial Way, Blood Like an Ocean
In the main room, Fox Ling'er lay motionless on Dragon Qilin's back, secretly opening her eyes to watch heads rolling to the ground.
The scene was eerily strange. There was clearly no enemy, yet every Celestial Being realm expert who stepped into this courtyard died on the spot!
The others braced themselves as if facing a great enemy. One Celestial Being realm expert shouted, his sword aura like frost, silver frost swirling around his body as he slowly walked into the courtyard, his gaze vigilant, scanning in all directions.
His swordsmanship was fierce. Countless sword lights swam around his body like tiny fish, cheerfully circling him.
He adopted a passive defensive strategy. Thousands of tiny sword-fish swam around him, containing his immensely profound cultivation. As soon as they encountered hostility, they would immediately counterattack, delivering a fatal blow to the enemy!
He had no choice. The enemy came without shadow or trace, and he couldn't even see where the enemy was or how they struck. So many Celestial Being realm experts had already lost their lives—it was utterly bizarre.
He encountered no danger, but still dared not relax his vigilance. He slowly moved his steps toward the main room where Qin Mu and the others were sleeping. Then, he saw the painting hanging in front of the hall.
Qin Mu had lit a candle in front of this painting, illuminating it.
The painting depicted the back of a middle-aged man carrying a sword on his back. The man's face was turned slightly, as if using the corner of his eye to glance at the painter.
The corner of his eye revealed a shocking murderous intent.
This fleeting glance had been captured by the painter and turned into this painting.
Although the painting only showed this middle-aged man, it gave the impression that there was infinite information hidden in the blank spaces of the painting.
It was the aftermath of a terrifying battle. Countless corpses of powerful experts lay fallen at the feet of this middle-aged man. In a vast sea of blood, corpses floated, white bones stained red with blood, taking on an eerie hue. Countless wronged souls beneath his sword were being seized by underworld messengers and dragged into the darkness.
And in that dark world, a demon god with two nine-curved horns was hosting a joyous feast, celebrating that the souls of these powerful experts had become his guests and food.
This was the information hidden in the blank spaces of the painting!
In the courtyard, the Celestial Being realm expert saw this painting and the figure within it. He suddenly froze, then saw his own head sliding off his neck. He felt everything become so slow, as if he were slowly falling into a lightless darkness, sinking deeper and deeper, endlessly, never reaching the bottom.
Thud.
His head hit the ground, rolled twice, his eyes still wide open.
Suddenly, a large hand reached out and grabbed his head.
Outside the courtyard, nine others stood there, their faces filled with terror. Only the white-browed old man, Green Mountain Daoist, remained calm. It was he who had grabbed the head of the Celestial Being realm expert.
He was also the only Great Expert of the Life and Death realm among them.
Green Mountain Daoist looked into the eyes of the Celestial Being realm expert and exhaled a turbid breath. "Fine sword."
The other eight quickly leaned in. "Senior Green Mountain, what did you find?"
"Look at his eyes."
The eight leaned closer and saw that in the left and right pupils of this Celestial Being realm expert, there was a sword light each. The sword seemed to strike head-on, and in the next instant, the expert's life was ended!
Green Mountain Daoist held up the head, turning it toward the main room where Qin Mu and the others were sleeping. "The sword came from there. What is there?"
He slowly shifted his body, carefully searching for the right angle, then saw the flickering candlelight, followed by a corner of the painting. "It's a painting. I see the hem of the figure's clothes..."
"Senior Green Mountain, why go through all this trouble? Why not just destroy the house and everyone inside?"
A Celestial Being realm expert suddenly struck. His sword orb soared into the air, and from it, a pillar of sword light roared toward the house where Qin Mu and the others were!
The sword pillar was massive, and everything in its path was shredded by the spinning sword light!
The Encircling Sword Style created by the Yan Kingdom National Teacher!
The Yan Kingdom National Teacher was not a secretive man. Many of his sword styles had already spread to the martial world, and many sword sects practiced the National Teacher's swordsmanship. The one who struck was an expert among them!
His mastery of the Encircling Sword Style surpassed many others.
This sword strike was grand and majestic. If it struck the main room, it would surely grind everything inside to dust, leaving nothing behind. Whether it was Qin Mu in the room, the All-Heaven Demon King, or Dragon Qilin, all would be obliterated!
"Don't direct killing intent at that painting!"
Green Mountain Daoist's face changed drastically. He wanted to stop it, but it was already too late.
The sword pillar suddenly seemed to hit an invisible barrier, freezing in midair. Then, inch by inch, it disintegrated, and with a crack, the sword orb exploded.
The expert who had just struck now had a red mark on his forehead. A drop of blood trickled from the mark, and then he swayed and fell to the ground with a thud.
"Be on guard!" Green Mountain Daoist shouted sharply.
His aura exploded, and six booming sounds came from within his body—the six divine repositories of Spirit Embryo, Five Luminaries, Six Harmonies, Seven Stars, Celestial Being, and Life and Death all opened!
Around him, the Celestial Being realm experts couldn't hold their ground and were forced back by his overwhelming aura.
Whoosh—
Behind Green Mountain Daoist, a phantom of a god and demon appeared. It had a dragon's head and a human body, like a divine being descending. Half of its body was in the void, half stepping into reality.
Green Mountain Daoist held a bright mirror in his hand, staring nervously at the main room where Qin Mu and the others were sleeping. His voice hoarse, he said, "Aren't you going to be on guard? Do you want to die?"
At that moment, in the main room, Qin Mu, who was pretending to sleep, squinted and saw a figure floating down from the wall behind him. He could only see the back of a middle-aged man, his shadow stretched long by the candlelight.
This figure, who had stepped out of the painting, was tall and lean, carrying a precious sword on his back. He was very still, like a spirit without a physical body, floating toward the courtyard.
The figure looked up at the sky, drew the sword from his back, and danced with it, singing softly. The sword light moved, and fish and dragons danced.
"One sword opens the Imperial Way, blood like an ocean. Mountains and rivers remain, but the heart is lost. Looking left and right, the homeland is no more, and people still wear old clothes..."
Qin Mu didn't dare move. He felt that the world was suddenly filled with sharp sword aura and sword light, shuttling around him, traveling through time and space.
He closed his eyes, but before him, sword lights still flashed through the darkness, tearing it apart.
He heard the sound of sword aura cutting through the air—urgent, brief.
He opened his eyes, and before him, sword lights crisscrossed in all directions. Outside the courtyard, shouts rang out again, and terrifying waves of energy crashed. In the dim night, the other houses in the small village flew into the air, disintegrating and shattering.
Qin Mu's heart pounded wildly. "Deaf Grandpa infused a soul... he infused a soul into the painting of the village chief..."
Suddenly, all sounds and lights vanished. The low singing also disappeared.
Qin Mu's eyes were half-open, half-closed. He vaguely saw a figure walking toward him, as if about to return to the painting behind him. Suddenly, the figure collapsed, turning into a puddle of ink on the ground.
Qin Mu was stunned. He quickly opened his eyes and carefully looked back. He saw that the painting hanging on the wall had turned into a blank sheet of paper.
The candlelight flickered. All around, there was silence.
Qin Mu exhaled a turbid breath. Fox Ling'er opened her eyes and whispered, "Young master..."
"It's safe now. Sleep."
Qin Mu said, "Tomorrow, we have to cross the mountain. There's a long way to go."
Fox Ling'er buried her head. Qin Mu also lay down, looking at the blank paper behind the candlelight, his heart at peace.
The next day, Qin Mu woke up and went to the courtyard. He saw that the small village from last night had turned into a blank expanse. The other houses had vanished without a trace, leaving only their half-courtyard. Most of the walls had collapsed, half of the eastern house had fallen, and the roof of the western house was gone.
Qin Mu washed up, set up a pot, and made breakfast. Fox Ling'er fixed the All-Heaven Demon King's mechanisms and ran out with him, shrieking in surprise.
Dragon Qilin woke up groggily, went outside to take a look, yawned, licked his paw, and used his wet paw to haphazardly wash his face. He asked curiously, "Where are we? Where did yesterday's village go... Sect Leader, is breakfast ready? Can you sprinkle some cumin on my Red Fire Spirit Pills today? I want a change of taste..."
Qin Mu grabbed some cumin, took out half a peck of Red Fire Spirit Pills, and sprinkled it on top.
Dragon Qilin looked down at his meal, then raised his head in confusion. "Only half a peck?"
Qin Mu said angrily, "You're so fat you can barely run now! Half a peck is plenty!"
Dragon Qilin said, "I'm still growing. If you skimp on my food, I won't grow up..."
"You're still growing?"
Qin Mu was furious. He tried to pinch the fat on Dragon Qilin's belly but found he couldn't even grab it. "You're not growing; you're just getting fat. Try pinching yourself—can you even make a fold?"
Dragon Qilin also reached out with his paw and pinched himself. Finding that he indeed couldn't, he said, "I'm the type that gains weight just from drinking water..."
Fox Ling'er ran over and said angrily, "Fatty Dragon, from now on, you'll just drink water!"
Dragon Qilin quickly shielded his Red Fire Spirit Pills and said with a flattering smile, "I'm just afraid of going hungry. I always want to eat a little more. Half a peck is fine. No less, or I'll really be skin and bones."
The All-Heaven Demon King walked over and saw that Qin Mu had already eaten and was taking down the painting, which was now just blank paper, from the wall. "Did your family elder paint this?"
Qin Mu nodded.
The All-Heaven Demon King was silent for a moment. "Is the person in the painting also your family elder?"
Qin Mu rolled up the painting and put it into his Taotie pouch, nodding again.
The All-Heaven Demon King said, "I'm not afraid of them. But locking me inside this demon god statue isn't a solution. Why don't you undo the seal? My consciousness will leave your world and return to All-Heaven, and I won't set foot here again. What do you think?"
Qin Mu didn't commit. "Ling'er, eat up. We need to continue our journey."
The All-Heaven Demon King felt a headache coming on.
After Fox Ling'er finished eating, Qin Mu helped wash the dishes and put them away in the Taotie pouch. He checked the remaining supplies and said, "Enough to last until the Great Wasteland. Demon King, let's go."
The All-Heaven Demon King followed. "I'm not afraid of them. If my true body descends, I fear no one..."
The Divine Severance Mountain Range stretched for countless thousands of miles. Qin Mu and the others arrived at the foot of the mountain, where the cliffs were so steep that even agile apes couldn't climb and birds couldn't cross.
Qin Mu took out the Yan Kingdom Geography Map and carefully searched. He smiled and said, "The Withered Ridge Gorge isn't far from here. Let's go!"
Just as he spoke, a crack suddenly opened in the dark clouds above. A red giant snake poked its head out from the clouds, spewing great flames that burned the clouds away in all directions. Then, a golden swarm of insects flew out from the crack in the clouds, scattering in all directions. A few of the insects flew toward them.