Chapter 297: The Carefree Sword
"Carefree?"
A flicker of thought stirred in Qin Mu's mind. When he looked at the patterns on the sword again, he could no longer see the two characters "Carefree," as if the flowing patterns from before had been merely an illusion. Yet this was no illusion; the characters "Carefree" had indeed appeared!
"Could this sword, named Carefree, be connected to the Carefree Village?"
He sank into contemplation. Could the Carefree Sword have been passed down from the Carefree Village?
But why had it become a broken sword?
And why, when the broken sword met this nameless metal, did it restore itself to its former state?
All of this seemed like a predestined fate—one that decreed the broken Carefree Sword would fall into the hands of the Loulan Golden Palace, that the Heavenly Saint Church would obtain that piece of metal, that Qin Mu would steal the broken sword from the Loulan Golden Palace, that Qin Mu would bring the celestial metal into collision with the broken Carefree Sword, and that the Carefree Sword would be restored to its former glory!
Too many coincidences; they could no longer be mere coincidences. Instead, some force had orchestrated these coincidences.
"Fragrance Sister, did that piece of metal come from beyond the heavens? When did it arrive?" Qin Mu asked.
Si Yunxiang was also stunned by this turn of events, her mouth agape and unable to recover. After a moment, she came to her senses and rolled her eyes at him. "It came from beyond the heavens, but as for exactly when it arrived, I'm not sure. I'll need to ask my great-grandmother to look into it. And don't call me 'Fragrance Sister.' You're being so sweet with your words, I half think you're plotting to kill me."
Qin Mu stammered, "Then please, Sacred Maiden, take charge and investigate the origins of this metal."
Si Yunxiang took out that mirror, turned it twice, and a mirror within the mirror appeared. The great-grandmother of the Si family appeared on the other side of the mirror. Si Yunxiang inquired, and the great-grandmother said in surprise, "Such a thing? Wait a moment, let me check. Such divine metal would generally be recorded in the archives."
After a while, the great-grandmother returned, carrying a ledger. She said, "This is a celestial divine metal that appeared sixteen years ago. The records state that in the winter of sixteen years ago, a divine light tore across the sky and fell into the Nether Valley. Church disciples went to investigate, suffering dozens of casualties, and retrieved this piece of divine metal, which was presented to the treasury."
"Sixteen years ago?"
Qin Mu was taken aback. It had been fifteen years since he was found by Granny Si. This divine metal that repaired the broken sword had appeared in the winter of sixteen years ago, very close to the time he was found.
"At that time, were there any members of the Loulan Golden Palace nearby?" Qin Mu quickly asked.
The great-grandmother was surprised and glanced at him. "How does the Sacred Lord know? The Nether Valley is located behind the Duck Tongue region in front of Qingmen Pass. At that time, our Sacred Church disciples were guarding Qingmen Pass. When the celestial divine light flew in, our disciples saw it and immediately entered the Duck Tongue region. On the opposite side, the border of the Man Di Kingdom was also guarded by great shamans and shaman kings of the Loulan Golden Palace, who also went to investigate. Our Sacred Church lost a hall master and dozens of cultivators, and the Loulan Golden Palace also suffered heavy casualties. I heard the situation was quite brutal. After obtaining this divine metal, they suffered severe losses and had to withdraw from the Nether Valley. The great shamans and shaman king of the Loulan Golden Palace seemed to have obtained a broken sword..."
Qin Mu's heart surged with emotion. So that was it!
Both the broken sword and the divine metal had originated sixteen years ago. The Heavenly Demon Church had obtained the divine metal, while the Golden Palace had obtained the broken sword. They were actually one and the same; only when these two treasures were brought together would they return to their complete state!
The Nether Valley in the Great Ruins!
"I must go there and see for myself!" he thought to himself.
The great-grandmother said, "The Nether Valley in the Duck Tongue region is quite perilous. Later, the Sacred Church sent several search parties, but the dangers within were too great, so they withdrew without venturing deep."
Qin Mu thanked the old lady. Although Si Yunxiang was the Sacred Maiden and the mistress of the Si family, this old lady was the true power behind the Si family. She also held a very high position in the Heavenly Demon Church, having once been the Sacred Maiden herself before ceding the position to Granny Si.
Si Yunxiang put away the bronze mirror and glanced at the sword in his hand. "Great Lord, this sword of yours..."
Qin Mu quickly tightened his grip on the Carefree Sword and said warily, "This is the mother sword of the sword pellet. I can't give it to you."
Si Yunxiang chuckled. "I didn't say I wanted it. I was just wondering, after all this time and effort, whether your sword pellet has been successfully forged."
"Sword pellet—the word 'pellet' implies a round shape. To combine thousands of swords into a single round form requires extremely strong mathematical skills. The curvature at the base of the sword handles involves dividing a sphere into eight thousand equal parts, each identical, requiring precision down to the most minute decimal places!"
Qin Mu was quite proud. "My mathematical skills have always been excellent."
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang both pouted.
Qin Mu laughed heartily, gripped the Carefree Sword, and channeled his primal energy into it. Instantly, the mother sword resonated with the other seven thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine subsidiary swords. The swords whistled through the air, and in an instant, the entire supervision factory was filled with flashing sword light, dancing wildly in the sky.
Qin Mu shook the sword, and countless beams of sword light flew toward him, clanging and colliding with one another as they vanished one after another.
Qin Mu's face grew redder and redder. He let out a muffled groan, his thighs trembling, and his arms shaking as well.
Suddenly, the stone slab beneath his feet shattered into pieces, and both of his shoes were crushed to dust.
Countless more beams of sword light flew in. With a thunderous crash, Qin Mu vanished, crushed downward into the ground, smashing a huge hole through the factory floor!
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang were horrified and rushed forward, shouting, "Someone, come quickly and save him!"
Other disciples from the Heavenly Artisan Hall hurried over, only to hear a rumbling vibration from underground. The sword pellet was so heavy that it was pressing Qin Mu deeper and deeper into the earth. Judging by the tremors, he had already sunk three to five zhang deep.
Just as they were about to start digging to rescue him, Qin Mu's muffled voice came from underground. "I'm fine. The sword is just too heavy. Move aside!"
The crowd quickly scattered. From the large hole, countless flying swords shot out like a fountain, eight thousand swords swirling in the air before embedding themselves into the ground with a series of thuds, their hilts quivering.
Qin Mu leaped out of the hole and landed on his feet, though his legs were still shaking and his expression was less than pleasant.
He shook the sword again, and with a whoosh, countless flying swords flew toward him. This time, however, Qin Mu was smarter. He stood on a pile of dark iron ingots stacked in the factory, pointing the sword tip downward. The eight thousand swords merged together, forming a sword sphere.
Just as he had said, the bases of all these sword handles fit together perfectly to form a large, perfect sphere, with errors only in the most minute decimal places.
However, this sword pellet was unexpectedly large, measuring about one zhang and eight or nine chi in diameter.
"Such a large sword pellet is quite rare..." Ling Yuxiu walked around the sword sphere, looking up at it, and couldn't help but laugh.
"Shrink!"
Qin Mu activated his magical power, and the enormous sword pellet began to slowly shrink. When it reached its smallest size, it was still three chi in diameter.
Qin Mu had pushed his primal energy to its limit, his face flushed red, but he still couldn't make it any smaller.
In truth, each of his eight thousand flying swords could be refined down to the size of a cun, but because there were so many swords, the resulting sword pellet was still quite large.
"I haven't been refining them long enough. I need to continuously nurture and temper them. If I could refine them to the fineness of a silk thread, I could form a sword pellet the size of a pigeon's egg. But for now, that's not possible. Fortunately, my sword has another form."
Qin Mu exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, gripped the hilt of the Carefree Sword with both hands, and suddenly twisted it. The seven thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine swords in the pellet instantly expanded outward with a clang, each floating in the air with their tips pointing toward the center.
He activated the Carefree Sword again, and one by one, the flying swords shot toward it, colliding with the Carefree Sword with a hum before vanishing into the mother sword.
The collisions grew faster and faster, and more and more flying swords disappeared from the air.
Everyone let out a sound of surprise. Qin Mu was now using a different method of forging a sword pellet.
There were two methods for making a sword pellet. The first was to combine the swords into a sphere, with the tips pointing toward the center. This method required very high mathematical skill and was commonly used by sword schools affiliated with the Daoist sect.
The second method involved the mother sword swallowing the subsidiary swords, absorbing all of them into itself. This was more common among the southern sword schools.
The second method required the mother sword to be refined to be extremely soft. After absorbing all the subsidiary swords, one could rub the sword body with both hands and roll it into a sword pellet, which required less mathematical skill.
Both methods had their advantages. The first method made it easier to execute sword techniques with the sword pellet, allowing for faster strikes and the ability to deploy sword formations at any time.
The second method, the sword-swallowing technique, could channel the power of all the subsidiary swords into the mother sword, unleashing exceptionally powerful force.
These two forging techniques were incompatible; one could only use one of them.
Yet now, Qin Mu was simultaneously using both forging techniques—and he had actually succeeded! This was truly astonishing!
"The second-best refiner in the world lives up to his reputation."
Si Yunxiang sighed. "I'd really like to see the best refiner in the world and witness just how skilled they are..."
Qin Mu had only managed to absorb a little over two thousand swords before he felt he couldn't bear it any longer. His arms couldn't lift, and repeatedly activating so many flying swords had drained his primal energy completely.
He quickly stopped absorbing swords and shook his Taotie pouch. Countless flying swords streamed into it one after another.
Although the sword pellet had been successfully forged, it was too large and too heavy. For now, his only option was to use the Taotie pouch as a sword bag to store the flying swords. Otherwise, carrying a three-chi-diameter sword pellet would be astonishing and impossible to lift.
"I used to envy the Cowherd's sword pellet, but now I don't have a shred of envy left."
Ling Yuxiu suppressed a smile and whispered, "His spirit weapon is good, but he can't use it."
Si Yunxiang nodded. "Even if he could lift it, he'd run out of primal energy after a few uses."
Qin Mu tied the Taotie pouch to his waist. Although the pouch could negate geomagnetic force, it wasn't made from genuine Taotie leather, so some geomagnetic force still acted on the flying swords inside. The pouch weighed about a hundred jin, causing his pants to keep slipping down.
The Great Lord Qin Mu scowled, untied the Taotie pouch, took out some golden silk thread to make two straps for the pouch, and slung it over his back like a small backpack.
"Smack!"
A crisp sound rang out. Si Yunxiang blushed and rubbed her bottom. Qin Mu had just taken the opportunity to slap her on the rear when no one was looking. The Great Lord must have known that she had tampered with the materials used to forge the swords, making them so heavy.
Ling Yuxiu looked over in surprise but didn't ask further. She said, "My brother has been gone for several months now. He's probably patrolling the southern border. Should we head over now?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "I won't go see the Crown Prince. Qingmen Pass is just north of the Great Thunderclap Monastery, not far from here. I want to go to the Nether Valley."
—Second update arrives. It's already twenty past midnight here in Osaka, so it should be around eleven twenty in China. So Zhai Zhu still updated. As expected, I got lost while going out for dinner tonight—lost on the first floor of the hotel... Frustrating. Zhai Zhu is terrible with directions. At home, when I go out with my wife, she always stays by my side to keep me from getting lost. Here in Japan, I go out trembling with fear...