Chapter 291: The Intoxicating Sea Night
The pharmacist examined the village chief and complained, "An old man shouldn't overexert himself, especially since you barely have any strength left. Why did you have to show off? Feel good now?"
The village chief gasped for breath, "He's hurt worse than me. I've fought most of the strong ones from the Celestial Realm."
"Look at you, so proud."
The pharmacist first used needles to stabilize his injuries, shaking his head, "And yet, didn't someone cut off your hands and feet with a sword?"
"I knew the day would come when I passed the Human Sovereign position to Mu'er. People from the Celestial Realm would come looking for him."
The village chief's gaze was deep and distant, "The Celestial Realm won't tolerate a Human Sovereign existing. I'm old, crippled, and useless, so they don't care about me. But a new Human Sovereign, they will definitely eliminate. Star Lord Qiao is one of the best in the Celestial Realm. This time, I blocked Star Lord Qiao and made him back off. That way, the one who goes after Mu'er won't be someone as strong as him. He has to follow the rules. If he doesn't, we'll force them to follow the rules."
The pharmacist prepared his medicine, "And after you die? Will they still follow the rules?"
The village chief was silent for a moment, then suddenly broke into a smile, "Live as a Human Sovereign, die as a ghostly hero. This life may end, but my fighting spirit will remain eternal. Perhaps you should go out and take a walk too."
The pharmacist shuddered, shaking his head, "I'm not going out. Whoever wants to go, go ahead."
Western Earth, Divine Mountain.
Star Lord Qiao's chariot arrived at the mountain peak. This star lord exerted his cultivation with all his might, preparing to return to the Celestial Realm, when suddenly he spat blood and collapsed in the chariot. His wounds burst open. Struggling to raise his hand, he said to the four women, "Light the incense..."
The four women were startled. The green-clad girl quickly took three sticks of incense and lit them on the altar. The smoke rose in wisps. After a moment, a face appeared in the sky, looking down.
"I encountered the old Human Sovereign."
Star Lord Qiao gasped for breath, "Although he's old and crippled, he's not dead yet. His strength has increased a lot. He injured me. His meaning is that if the older generation goes after the new Human Sovereign, he will definitely intervene, but he won't bother with the younger generation."
"He's still alive?"
The face showed surprise, and a distant voice came from beyond the heavens, "Star Lord, who do you plan to send from the Celestial Realm to eliminate the new Human Sovereign?"
Star Lord Qiao said, "Young Master Xu, Xu Sheng Hua."
The face in the sky grew serious, "Is it necessary to send Young Master Xu?"
Star Lord Qiao nodded, "The old man is old and about to die. The new Human Sovereign is still young and not yet fully grown. Eliminating the new Human Sovereign will end the trouble forever."
A beam of light descended from the sky, shining on Star Lord Qiao, forming a path made of light. The face in the sky said, "Young Master Xu may not be willing to leave the mountain. You'll have to persuade him yourself."
Star Lord Qiao said to the four women, "Yu, Qing, Yao, Jing, stay here. Take my four treasures and assist Young Master Xu in killing the new Human Sovereign. I will return to the Celestial Realm. Young Master Xu will come down soon."
The four women acknowledged and stepped down from the chariot. The two lion-like beasts pulled the battered treasure chariot up along the light path, returning to the Celestial Realm.
When the light disappeared, the four women exchanged glances. Yu Liu said, "The master instructed us to follow Young Master Xu to kill the new Human Sovereign, but we still don't know who the new Human Sovereign is."
Jing Yan said, "This time, the news came from the Loulan Golden Palace. We still need to go to the Loulan Golden Palace. Qing Ying, Yao Hua, you two go to the Golden Palace. Yu Liu and I will wait here for Young Master Xu to come down."
The other two girls nodded and went down the mountain. They didn't go through the Great Wasteland but instead crossed the Western Earth, the Flame Desert, and the Snowy Plateau, heading straight for the Loulan Golden Palace.
Without Star Lord Qiao, they dared not step directly into the Great Wasteland.
Eastern Sea.
Qin Mu, Si Yun Xiang, and Ling Yu Xiu drifted on the sea. At night, the sea surface suddenly shimmered with light. Countless glowing fish surfaced, making the sea look like a gem.
Qin Mu rode the waves forward. The glowing fish leaped out of his waves one after another. The waves surged forward, and the fish followed along, which was quite amusing.
Some fish had two whiskers on their foreheads, with a transparent fleshy ball the size of a fist at the tip, like a lantern. At night, it emitted a faint glow, so they were called lantern fish.
Lantern fish also had fin-like wings. When they burst out of the waves, they would flap their four fins and fly dozens of feet through the air before falling back into the water.
Sometimes, these strange fish would swim alongside them, fluttering their fins and floating beside them, lighting up the path on the sea.
Occasionally, large fish appeared, one or two zhang long, flapping their fins and looking at them curiously.
Si Yun Xiang, still playful at heart, noticed that the large lantern fish had some intelligence. She tried to tease them by teaching them to speak word by word. To her surprise, some big fish actually uttered human words, learning a sentence or two.
They also passed through the territory of the sea tribes. Many sea tribe girls surfaced from the water, their tails swishing as they followed their waves, swimming around and singing beautiful love songs. They sang about two girls falling in love with a young man, expressing various feelings and thoughts. Nearby, several giant clams and other shell spirits that had become spirits clapped their shells rhythmically as accompaniment.
Ling Yu Xiu and Si Yun Xiang on the waves felt shy listening to the sea tribe girls' songs. They secretly glanced at the young man beside them and felt a bit annoyed.
They noticed that Qin Mu wasn't fully focused on traveling. He was in a daze, his mind not on the journey or the beautiful songs of the sea tribe girls, but lost in his own enlightenment.
He seemed to be contemplating something. Though he had a smile on his face, his thoughts weren't on the beautiful scenery before him or the girls beside him.
Throughout this journey, Qin Mu had been trying to comprehend a unified technique for the Six Harmonies realm. In the past few days, he had reached a critical stage.
"This bastard deserves to be single for life!" Both girls thought with resentment.
Dao Lord Xu had allowed Qin Mu to contemplate the Dao Sword for fourteen days, which had greatly benefited him. Although the Dao Sword was a sword technique, the mathematical and logical principles within it seemed applicable to many techniques, making it worth learning from.
Half an hour later, Qin Mu's primal energy gradually waned, and the waves slowed down and shrank. Ling Yu Xiu immediately took over, casting a spell. A water dragon carried the three of them forward.
Qin Mu relaxed, standing on the water dragon as Ling Yu Xiu led him.
The Six Harmonies Divine Treasury greatly enhanced a cultivator's abilities. Whether it was spells, sword techniques, or combat skills, they all rose to the level of divine abilities, doubling in power.
At this realm, the technique must connect the three major divine treasuries—Spirit Embryo, Five Luminaries, and Six Harmonies—fully mobilizing their energy. Qin Mu's Tyrant Body Three-Dan Technique had technique but no method, the Woodcutter's Sutra had method but no path, and the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra encompassed everything but lacked unity. However, the three could form a complete whole.
But Qin Mu thought further. He wanted to incorporate the change of the Nine Dragons Imperial Art, the stability of the Tathagata Great Vehicle Sutra, and the mathematics of the Dao Sword into his own technique.
The Nine Dragons Imperial Art excelled in change. Emperor Yan Feng had taught him this technique and guided his practice. Although Qin Mu had trained for a short time, he had grasped the true essence of its change.
The change in the Nine Dragons Imperial Art could be described as the application of techniques residing in the mind. The divine dragons were versatile. Through the nine dragons' transformations, they could execute sword moves, spells, and combat skills from other schools, becoming supremely strong and fierce or supremely soft and gentle.
The Tathagata Great Vehicle Sutra excelled in stability. The Old Tathagata hadn't personally taught Qin Mu this technique but allowed him to enter the Heavenly Courts to contemplate. After viewing the twenty courts of the Heavenly Courts, Qin Mu had mastered the Tathagata Great Vehicle Sutra.
The twenty heavens of the Tathagata Great Vehicle Sutra, with the blessings of twenty heavenly and demonic beings, were incredibly stable, unmoving like Mount Sumeru.
The Dao Sword excelled in mathematics, using numerical principles to explain heaven, earth, and nature, and to elucidate the Dao. By the fourteenth sword, it was already a Dao sword, nearly approaching the Dao.
If he could integrate these three techniques, merge them into one furnace, and combine their strengths with a unified technique, he would surely make significant progress!
However, in recent days, despite his efforts, he had gained little. The techniques he wanted to merge were the most supreme, each encompassing everything, the ultimate teachings of their respective sacred lands.
If he could truly merge them, wouldn't it become the number one technique in the world?
"I'm being too greedy."
Qin Mu suddenly felt he was overthinking. These techniques were already perfect. To truly merge them was beyond his current insight and experience.
Since that was the case, why bother with such trouble?
"What I want are the principles hidden within these techniques. So why merge the techniques? Merging the principles would be much easier!"
In the beautiful night at sea, he suddenly had an epiphany. He felt his mind lighten, and the sea before him and the girls beside him seemed more charming.
Merging techniques was something he couldn't do and was a case of missing the point. But merging principles instead of techniques was much simpler.
Having realized this, he no longer forced it. Instead, he let nature take its course, cultivating in whatever way felt comfortable.
After passing the sea tribe's territory, the sea became much quieter. A large sea turtle surfaced, volunteering to carry them on their journey.
This sea turtle had achieved cultivation. Floating on the sea like a small island, it swam westward while asking them about some cultivation problems.
Qin Mu and the two girls answered everything they knew, resolving many of the turtle's doubts. The old sea turtle was very happy and invited them to visit. Qin Mu asked curiously, "Sir, where is your hometown? Where would we visit?"
"I roam the four seas. Though that's the case, I still have some offspring living on my back."
As the old sea turtle spoke, many more sea turtles splashed through the waves and jumped onto its back.
"Lights on!" the old sea turtle laughed. Then, under its shell, many large pearls lit up, illuminating the turtle-backed island brightly.
The sea turtles on its back stood on their hind legs, dancing and singing around Qin Mu, Ling Yu Xiu, and Si Yun Xiang, slapping their bellies and shells, singing and dancing.
Si Yun Xiang pulled Qin Mu into the dance on the turtle-backed island. After a moment of fun, Qin Mu also pulled Ling Yu Xiu up. The princess was a bit reserved at first but soon joined them.
The night passed quickly. When dawn broke, the old sea turtle said, "Land is ahead. Farewell, three of you!"
Qin Mu looked ahead and saw land not far away. The city and docks were shrouded in the mist of a spring morning.
They jumped off the turtle's back and landed on the dock.
"Goodbye!" The sea turtles on the back waved at them.
"Goodbye!" Qin Mu waved back. After the old sea turtle disappeared, they walked into Hezhou City.
"Enchanting sea." Ling Yu Xiu said softly.
Si Yun Xiang's gaze was dreamy, "Intoxicating sea night. But once ashore, we step back into the mortal world..."
——The second chapter will be a bit later. Please forgive me.