Chapter 278: Warming the Wine
A multitude of Buddhist scripture runes emerged around Qin Mu's body, revolving around him like a great bell descending. The Five Heavens of the Tathagata Great Vehicle Sutra faintly appeared, with Buddhist sounds swirling.
At the same time, he activated the Nine Dragons Emperor Art. The dragon qi from the nine great dragon veins around the capital surged towards him, causing his aura to break through once more!
The Nine Dragons Emperor Art was the supreme ultimate technique of the Imperial Ling Clan, personally taught and guided by Emperor Yanfeng. Now, as Qin Mu activated it, the dragon qi from the nine dragon veins even materialized, the qi invading the river waters. Dragons leaped out from the water, surging towards Qin Mu!
He had seized the initiative. Regardless of whether Banguo Gong had revealed a flaw or not, by taking the first move, he could attack first, crush Banguo Gong, suppress all his exquisite techniques with an exceptionally vigorous primal energy, and overwhelm him with unmatched power, crushing and shattering him!
The best way to deal with Banguo Gong was to use absolute suppression of magical power, not to compete with him in techniques!
Boom——
The river surface exploded. The towering floodwaters stood upright, forming the image of a great Buddha. Water dragons coiled around the Buddha, its body over ten zhang tall, like a water mountain on the river. Its five fingers were like five mountains, fingers and palms embodying the five elements. With a thunderous crash, a palm descended towards Banguo Gong!
The nine dragons roared. He had merged the Nine Dragons Emperor Art with the Nine Dragons Riding Wind and Thunder from the Thunderclap Eight Forms. This strike fully displayed the vast divine powers of the Buddhist sect and the invincible aura of the imperial family!
The nine dragons surged forward, bang bang bang, the water currents breaking the sound barrier, erupting with thunderous roars like spring thunder, unstoppable!
What is divine ability?
This is divine ability!
Magical power—Qin Mu's greatest strength was his magical power, more than double that of his peers. Even an old monster like the Village Chief, at the same cultivation level, was far inferior to him.
Now, even Banguo Gong's magical power was far behind Qin Mu's. He intended to crush Banguo Gong with absolute force, rendering all of Banguo Gong's past life cultivation and eleven thousand years of experience utterly useless!
The moment Qin Mu's attack erupted, Banguo Gong's counterattack erupted simultaneously. He used a sword, a sword pellet the size of a fingertip, but in the next instant, the sword light burst from the pellet, so dazzling!
From the Fourteen Chapters of the Dao Sword, the second chapter: Five Qi and Three Origins Forming Excellence, Ascending, Cloud Chariots Intertwining!
He directly employed the ultimate technique of the Daoist sect, the Primordial Grand Mystery Art, using the purest Primordial Grand Mystery Art to drive the second sword of the Dao Sword. The sword light contained the Five Qi: Wood Jia, Fire Bing, Earth Wu, Metal Geng, and Water Ren. These were the Five Qi. The Three Origins were Heaven Origin, Earth Origin, and Water Origin. Heaven Origin was the sun, called the Great Yang; Water Origin was the moon, called the Great Yin; Earth Origin was the neutral.
When this sword technique was executed, the sword light constructed the ideal world of the Daoist sect: a sword sun, a sword moon, a sword earth, the Five Qi facing the Origin!
The Daoist sect's sword techniques had extremely high attainments in numerology. This sacred land of the Daoist sect was based on numerology, believing that all great principles of heaven and earth could be explained through numbers.
As the saying goes, the Dao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, three gives birth to all things. Numbers constitute everything in heaven and earth. Any thing, even life, could be constructed with numbers, ultimately boiling down to wonderful numbers.
Therefore, the Daoist sect created the circular Wuji Diagram, the Taiji Diagram dividing the two principles, as well as the Four Symbols Diagram, the Eight Trigrams Diagram, and the Sixty-Four Hexagrams Diagram, used to calculate the great principles and all things of heaven and earth.
When these principles became sword techniques, using the sword to form various patterns, continuously operating and evolving into the myriad things of heaven and earth, they possessed the majestic power of the Dao!
Each of the Fourteen Chapters of the Dao Sword was an ideal world, pure numerology evolving into beautiful patterns, interpreting the wonderful principles of heaven and earth.
This was the greatest difference between the Daoist sect and the Buddhist sect. The Daoist sect was the study of numbers; the Buddhist sect was the study of the mind.
There was a joke among Daoist disciples: "Bad at numerology? Then why cultivate the Dao? Better go home early and hold a baby."
Their divine abilities clashed—one was a sword technique divine ability, the other a physical divine ability and a spell divine ability. When the divine abilities formed by magical power collided, it was so terrifying. The fearsome force shook the river surface, suspending the great waters, and shook the ground, making the earth tremble.
The unleashed shockwaves sent thin streams of water, do do do, piercing through the willow trees along the riverbank. Streams of sword qi struck the rocks on the shore, and in an instant, the reefs were riddled with holes!
The earth-shattering strike Qin Mu unleashed charged into the Daoist ideal world formed by Banguo Gong's sword light. The overwhelming force was decomposed by the mathematical principles hidden within the sword light!
In Banguo Gong's sword technique, the dry and tasteless thing called numerology appeared so enchanting, so brilliant.
Within the enchanting sword light, the nine water dragons and the water Buddha collapsed rapidly, utterly fragile against the second move of the Dao Sword!
Countless streams of sword light flowed, striking the great bell formed by the Buddha light and scripture runes around Qin Mu. Ripples appeared on the bell's surface, and in the next moment, the bell was shattered!
Qin Mu's expression remained unchanged. The sword pellet flew up and landed in his hand. In an instant, the sword light within the pellet erupted. Qin Mu did not use "Sword Traversing Mountains and Rivers"; instead, he directly executed the second move of the Sword Diagram!
Whoosh——
The bank of the Yong River turned crimson. Blood-red sword light surged like a vast ocean. Within the blood light, it seemed as if an emperor of gods rose slowly from the sea of blood, pointing his sword at the enemy, looking down on all!
One Sword Opens the Imperial Blood Ocean!
The Dao Sword clashed with the Sword Diagram. Banguo Gong grunted, his Five Qi and Three Origins immediately shattered. The unmatched sword light and peerless killing intent rushed towards his face.
His body soared into the air, twisting and turning like a dragon, executing an incredibly marvelous movement technique. His form changed continuously, like a startled swan, a swimming fish, a flying sparrow, a nine-colored phoenix, but he still could not avoid all the sword light.
Chi chi chi, a series of bloody gashes appeared on his body. He leaped and landed on the river surface, causing the water to explode in all directions!
Whoosh——
Qin Mu leaped up, the sword light in his hand vanishing. The sword pellet transformed into a large saber in the wind, and with a chi sound, it sliced open the river surface!
Banguo Gong raised his sword pellet to meet this strike. A series of bang bang bang sounds rang out. He was like a pebble thrown by a child, skipping across the river surface, creating sixty-seven skips before finally stopping.
On the other side, Qin Mu charged across the river surface. With every step he took, the river surface exploded, sending splashing water flying in all directions. Before the water in mid-air could fall, Qin Mu had already sprinted several hundred zhang.
The large saber formed by his sword pellet suddenly retracted, wrapping around his fist like flowing water. Qin Mu punched out. Boom! The river surface shook. Water dragons, glowing with cyan light, roared angrily, surging dozens of zhang forward and engulfing Banguo Gong.
The river surface instantly became incredibly lively. Forty-five great dragons flew out from his single punch, merging with the river water, all plunging towards Banguo Gong. A continuous series of bang bang bang sounds echoed.
Qin Mu leaped into the air, his ten fingers spread apart, palms facing the sky. He suddenly pulled downward. Bolts of lightning illuminated the river surface, the concentrated beams of lightning crackling and striking into the center of the forty-five great dragons!
As Qin Mu's body descended, the sword pellet in his hand had already transformed into countless streams of sword light: Sword Traversing Mountains and Rivers!
The sword light transformed into a vast landscape, descending from the sky and crashing into the river. The overwhelming power decomposed countless river waters. In an instant, the river water within a dozen zhang radius was sliced into countless droplets by the sword light, forming a landscape within the water!
Blood blossoms appeared in the water, rapidly fleeing diagonally towards the riverbed.
Qin Mu raised his hand. The Shaobao Sword at his waist let out a zheng sound as it flew out. Qin Mu's index finger rotated, and the Shaobao Sword spun wildly. Countless sword qi surrounded the Shaobao Sword, forming a drilling sword technique that broke through the great waters, shooting straight into the riverbed, chasing the trail of blood.
His robes fluttered. He lightly descended from the air, landing on the undulating river surface. Behind him came the sound of rushing water—the waves kicked up by his running steps, which had been flung into the air, were only now falling, like flying jade and spilling pearls.
On the river surface, Qin Mu shifted his stance. The river surface around his feet instantly changed. The river water swirled around him, as if transparent flood dragons were weaving and intersecting beneath the water, precisely forming a great circle.
Swish——
The Shaobao Sword broke through the river surface and flew out, circling in the air, still spinning wildly, but its rotation speed gradually slowed. By the time the sword reached Qin Mu, it had stopped spinning.
The scabbard at Qin Mu's waist transformed into a fish-dragon, flying out, opening its large mouth to swallow the sword, then transforming back into the scabbard and returning to his waist.
Qin Mu's expression remained as calm as ever. He stood there quietly. The sword pellet flew out from his hand, hovering before him, like a slightly larger water droplet.
Around him, streams of water slowly rose into the air, reaching above his head, like rain flowing backward. The river water that rose into the air turned into clouds, forming a cloud cover spanning over a dozen zhang.
Within the clouds, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, crackling and striking. The lightning light appeared and disappeared, faintly revealing scales and claws.
"Banguo Gong, you have disappointed me."
Qin Mu's calm voice spread across the river surface. He said lightly, "Is your cultivation from your previous nineteen lives merely this? Why don't you dare to come out? I am still waiting to kill you and go back to continue my meal, after all, the food is getting cold."
There was no movement on the river surface.
Qin Mu frowned, turned around, and walked towards the riverbank.
He returned the way he came. Around him were faces full of surprise. People turned their heads, their gazes following his movement.
Qin Mu ignored them. He picked up the brush, ink, and paper he had thrown down. He came to the iron hammer, reached out, and grasped the handle. Suddenly, he swung the hammer, smashing it forcefully into the ground. With a thunderous boom, the air in front of him was smashed into a wall, and then the air wall itself was shattered.
Qin Mu's strike hit the ground. The earth sank and cracked. A tremor came from beneath the ground, and a figure was rapidly fleeing into the distance!
Qin Mu leaped like a flying bird. In the next instant, he arrived before the bamboo staff. He slapped his palm downward. Do! The bamboo staff plunged into the ground. A spurt of blood shot out from the small hole left by the staff.
Qin Mu leaped again, rising and falling several times, arriving before the two pig-slaying knives. He inverted himself, head down and feet up, gripping the knife handles. He spun, lifting the knives, and shua shua shua, countless knife lights cut into the earth.
His body moved forward as he spun, the knife lights like rain, like a waterfall, slashing into the ground.
Suddenly, Qin Mu spread his legs apart, slapped the ground with the back of the knives, and his body soared into the air. Then he landed steadily, inserted the two knives into the knife pouch on his back, turned around, and entered the capital.
After a while, he arrived at the Jade Fragrance Pavilion, entered the Green Bamboo Garden, took two turns, passed the South Sea Guanyin statue, and came to the elegant private room.
The two great shamans in the room were still there. Seeing him, they showed expressions of shock.
Qin Mu said, "Is the food still hot?"
One of the great shamans stared at him blankly. The other great shaman quickly nodded.
"And the wine?" Qin Mu asked again.
"The wine has gotten a bit cold."
Qin Mu waved his hand and said, "You go warm it up and bring it over. You, stay and pour the wine for me."