Chapter 243: Convinced
Qin Mu was repeatedly plastered onto the walls, and one by one, landscape patterns appeared on the walls of the Cripples' Village, leaving only Granny Si's house unmarked.
Qin Mu was about to charge again when he suddenly realized his primal energy was exhausted. He slumped in defeat.
Defeated.
The Overlord Body had lost, utterly and completely. Not only was his swordsmanship inferior to the Village Chief's, but his primal energy was also not as abundant. It seemed he could only accept the title of Human Sovereign.
The Village Chief said gently, "You can recover your primal energy and then compete again."
Qin Mu steadied himself. "Alright!"
The Village Chief's face darkened as he watched the cowherd sprint away, practicing his bizarre Overlord Body Three-Dantian Technique to recover his cultivation.
"You cheated." The Medicine Master approached, watching Qin Mu's retreating figure.
The Village Chief was stunned. "How so?"
The Medicine Master sneered, "Your sword technique consumes a great deal of primal energy. With your level of cultivation, at the Five Luminaries realm, you could execute it twice, at most three times. How many times did you just use? Seven, wasn't it?"
The Village Chief's face fell, and he stammered, "The depth of my primal energy is beyond your imagination. I can control it to execute the technique four times, using the minimum amount each time... But Mu'er's primal energy is indeed abundant. I thought at the Five Luminaries realm, our primal energy cultivation would be similar, but I didn't expect..."
The Medicine Master smiled. "You didn't expect him to be like a large water vat while you're just a bucket."
The Village Chief sighed and shook his head. "At the Embryonic realm, he could be more than twice as deep as me, but at the Five Luminaries realm, it shouldn't be that much more. I have no weaknesses at the Five Luminaries realm, but he... he also has none. You noticed, but don't say anything."
The Medicine Master chuckled. "With the same sword technique, he can't defeat you. He's already lost. Why would I say anything? But earlier, you said the Human Sovereign only carries responsibility and burden, with no benefits. Isn't that a bit off?"
The Village Chief said lazily, "What benefits could there be? Why don't I know?"
The Medicine Master's eyes flickered. "I've heard some legends about the Human Sovereign and the Human Sovereign Seal. The Human Sovereign Seal seems to be tied to many ancient inheritances, some dating back tens of thousands of years, even hundreds of thousands. Some sacred lands were founded by Human Sovereigns. It's said the Human Sovereign Seal is more effective than the Emperor's jade seal."
The Village Chief said calmly, "That's a legend from countless years ago. Now the Human Sovereign Seal is just a lump of black iron. Who would obey a lump of black iron?"
The Medicine Master smiled slightly. "There's a legend that once the Human Sovereign Seal appears, it can command all the heroes under heaven."
The Village Chief yawned, languidly. "The Human Sovereign Seal is with Mu'er. Let him take it out and show it off. See which sect listens to his command? He'd be lucky not to be beaten to death."
The Medicine Master said resentfully, "If you know it's so dangerous, why give him the Human Sovereign Seal?"
The Village Chief stopped being lazy, a glint of sword light flashing in his eyes. He said solemnly, "This is responsibility, and also a burden. The burden passed to my shoulders, and I couldn't bear it, so my limbs were severed. But this burden must be borne by someone. I can't just put it down and take it with me into the grave!"
"Some things, even if they are clearly dangerous, still need to be done!"
The Village Chief exhaled a turbid breath. "If you do it, you might fail, you might die, but there's still a glimmer of hope. If you don't do it, there isn't even a shred of hope. The things past Human Sovereigns have done are far more than you can imagine. Mu'er is very good."
The Medicine Master said sadly, "I just feel a bit sorry for Mu'er, being dragged onto your old path. How can Mu'er surpass you?"
"He can't surpass me."
The Village Chief's tone carried a hint of pride. "With Sword Traversing Mountains and Rivers, he can never surpass me. Although Sword Traversing Mountains and Rivers is composed of the fourteen basic sword stances, after my polishing, it has no flaws. He wants to integrate the National Teacher's three basic sword stances into my sword technique, which requires modifying Sword Traversing Mountains and Rivers. His idea is good, but his vision isn't as high as mine. As soon as he modifies it, there will be flaws. The more he modifies, the more flaws there are."
The Medicine Master was dumbfounded. He exhaled a turbid breath and looked at Qin Mu, who was walking quickly, his heart full of sympathy.
"However, he can use my hand to hone his sword technique."
The Village Chief smiled. "The more he modifies the move Sword Traversing Mountains and Rivers, the deeper his understanding of the sword becomes. The deeper his understanding, the more he can transcend sword techniques, transcend sword methods, and approach the Dao. If his understanding of the sword reaches the level of the Dao, then whether there are fourteen basic sword stances or seventeen doesn't matter anymore."
"Learning sword techniques and applying sword techniques is only the realm of technique. Technique is learning and applying. To advance to the realm of method, one needs to innovate. The Yan'kang National Teacher is at this stage; innovation is the realm of method. Going further, setting aside both method and technique, that is the realm of the Dao."
The Village Chief said, "Mu'er is now between technique and method. Using my hand to polish his sword technique improves him more than if I directly taught him."
After a long time, Qin Mu's cultivation returned to its peak state, but he didn't immediately seek out the Village Chief. Instead, he sat down quietly, meditating deeply, trying to perfect his Sword Traversing Mountains and Rivers, making it flawless.
How to integrate the National Teacher's three basic sword stances into Sword Traversing Mountains and Rivers without leaving any flaws—that was what he wanted to achieve.
Using the Village Chief's sword technique to fight the Village Chief would surely result in defeat, but if he could improve and refine it, there was still hope of victory.
He meditated intently, his mind a chaos of various sword moves, which he then reorganized. In his mind, he fought against a fictional Village Chief with his sword technique.
But every confrontation ended in defeat.
He simulated countless battles in his mind, but no matter how he improved, he couldn't change the outcome of defeat.
After an unknown amount of time, Qin Mu's spirits lifted, and he stood up. In his brainstorming, he had already used his new sword technique to defeat the Village Chief. He eagerly said, "Village Chief, one more time!"
The Village Chief said with a beaming smile, "Alright."
Qin Mu charged forward with a whoosh, unleashing his improved sword technique. Then, Qin Mu flew high into the air, a string of blood droplets scattering in midair, and he crashed into the chicken coop.
A dozen chicken-dragons clucked and cackled, charging at him ferociously. Qin Mu quickly leaped into the air, and the dozen chicken-dragons also flapped their wings, their feathers like swords, spitting fire dragons as they attacked him.
In midair, mountains and rivers appeared, like vast peaks and long rivers, engulfing the dozen chicken-dragons. After one move, a dozen bald chicken-dragons fell from the sky, feathers flying everywhere, drifting and fluttering.
Qin Mu landed, stunned.
The dozen chicken-dragons clucked and scurried back into the chicken coop, closing the wicker door, too afraid to show themselves.
"Cluck cluck!" the old hen screeched sternly.
Qin Mu waved his hand, and several sword-qi marks appeared on the wicker door of the chicken coop.
Panic erupted inside the chicken coop.
Qin Mu was stunned, looking at his own hand. When had he become so powerful?
"Mu'er is so impressive! He can finally beat the chickens!" the Cripple praised.
Qin Mu's face flushed slightly. He continued to meditate deeply. Suddenly, the Mute tossed a sword pellet over, gesturing, "Ah-ba! Ah-ba! Ah-ah!"
Qin Mu thanked the Mute. The Mute meant that he had just forged a sword pellet and wanted Qin Mu to try it.
He gripped the sword pellet, and his primal energy surged into it. Instantly, countless sword lights flew out from the pellet. They were the light of the sword, seemingly without substance, able to twist freely, as agile as his primal energy!
Qin Mu held the sword pellet and punched out. The sword light within the pellet transformed into a giant dragon, roaring as it charged through the small village!
Qin Mu was startled, and the Village Chief was also startled, glaring angrily at the Mute.
Qin Mu withdrew his fist. With a thought, he felt the sword pellet in his palm seemed to be melting. He clenched his fist, and the sword light transformed into a huge blacksmith's hammer. He slammed it down with the force of ten thousand jun, smashing a large pit into the ground.
Qin Mu leaped up, and a blade light flashed. Sun Scorching Eastern Sea, Thousand Layers of Waves—the blade light was like a thousand layers of giant waves, with a great sun rising in the sky.
Then, he retracted the blade technique, and the sword light transformed into a giant writing brush, waving in the air, painting a picture of a flood dragon. The flood dragon twisted and changed into a four-zhang-long spear. Qin Mu charged through the air, spear in hand, striking straight at the heart.
The Village Chief's eyes twitched, and he looked at the Mute with an unfriendly gaze.
The Mute quickly hid in the blacksmith shop, not daring to show his face.
In midair, the spear disappeared, replaced by countless sword lights. In an instant, the sword lights transformed into a vast landscape of mountains and rivers.
Sword Traversing Mountains and Rivers!
Qin Mu landed, both surprised and delighted. The sword pellet the Mute had forged suited him perfectly. It seemed to have extracted the metal qi and iron qi from the profound iron and profound gold, taking their essence and discarding their form.
Although this was called a sword pellet, it could change in countless ways, allowing him to execute his fist techniques, Dao techniques, and sword techniques without any hindrance.
The Mute's forging skill was already approaching the Dao!
Qin Mu put away the sword pellet and didn't use it to challenge the Village Chief. The Mute poked his head out of the blacksmith shop, gestured twice, and made a throat-slitting motion, meaning that with this sword pellet, he could definitely take down the Village Chief at the Five Luminaries realm.
The Village Chief was furious, his wrinkles trembling. If Qin Mu actually used the sword pellet, the power of his sword technique would skyrocket, and he might indeed be able to defeat him.
Qin Mu shook his head. "Grandpa Mute, the Village Chief didn't use a weapon, so I can't either. Otherwise, he wouldn't be convinced in defeat."
The Mute rolled his eyes, with an expression that said, "You're hopeless."
Qin Mu continued to meditate deeply, modifying his Sword Traversing Mountains and Rivers. But every collision ended the same way.
Each failure brought him new insights, making his Sword Traversing Mountains and Rivers more and more perfect. Yet, after every improvement, he still failed.
Finally, after the last failure, Qin Mu realized he could no longer improve this move.
His vision and experience could no longer be elevated.
Qin Mu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly came to his senses. He executed a move from the Setting Sun Sword Technique, Sun Setting Over the Surging River. His sword technique was like surging river water, a red sun half-sunk in the river's heart, with countless sword lights bursting forth from the red sun.
He had only practiced this move once or twice, but the power he displayed was astonishing, as if he had been immersed in this move for a hundred years.
Qin Mu was filled with admiration. He knelt before the Village Chief and performed the disciple's bowing ceremony.
The Village Chief laughed. "Get up. There aren't so many rules. These days, I'll teach you the other moves of the Sword Diagram. With your current skill, it shouldn't be difficult to learn... Mute, you scoundrel! Do you still have the face to come out and congratulate me!"