Chapter 345: So What
Qin Mu had never seen the Village Chief so helpless and despairing before. As he held him, the old man clung to him like a drowning man grasping at a lifeline, begging him to take him home—back to the Village of Broken Elders, back to that self-sealed little world.
He simply could not imagine that this terrified, hopeless old man was the same master who had taught and educated him. Nor could he fathom that someone as powerful as the Village Chief could be so easily broken.
The Village Chief often said he was too strong, yet now all the beliefs of the old man who had spoken those words were collapsing, crumbling into dust.
The Village Chief had been broken once before. After that first defeat, he had gone to the Village of Broken Elders and become a crippled old man with a broken heart and broken will. If not for the arrival of Ma Ye, the Medicine Master, the Mute, and the others who came to the village one after another, it was hard to imagine what he might have become.
Qin Mu still remembered the scene when the Medicine Master and the others had all left the village, leaving only the Village Chief behind.
The despondent, dejected Village Chief sat at the village entrance, motionless, letting the wind and rain batter him, letting the darkness encroach, letting his beard grow wild. He simply couldn't be bothered to move.
He was unkempt, refusing to eat or drink, as if he were content to let himself rot away right there.
And when the Village Chief had first been broken, his despondency and dejection must have been even worse than that. Back then, he was a complete and utter failure, utterly hopeless, devoid of any zest for life—nothing but a walking corpse!
But now, what had broken the Village Chief was not his own failure, but the failure of every generation of Human Sovereigns, and even the failure of the founder of the Human Sovereign Hall—the very first Human Sovereign!
He felt the despair of that first Human Sovereign as if it were his own. He was like a frightened, terrified child, wanting to flee back to his own world, curl up, and lick his wounds, or simply let himself rot and die.
Without experiencing such a failure, it was hard to understand what the Village Chief was feeling now.
Qingyou Shanren watched from the side, a look of pity on his face as he sighed. He had not intended to strike such a blow at this old Human Sovereign. His target had been Qin Mu, the new Human Sovereign—to teach this arrogant, ignorant young whelp a heavy, solid lesson, to make him realize that all his pursuits and responsibilities were ultimately nothing but a trivial joke, an empty dream!
But instead of striking Qin Mu, he had shattered his own old friend's spirit into ashes.
He and the Village Chief were old acquaintances. They had crossed paths in their early years.
Back then, when the Village Chief had invited him to leave the mountain, he had agreed and gone. But so what? In the end, he had dragged his battered body back to Little Jade Capital, not only covered in wounds but with a heart scarred and broken as well.
From that day on, his heart had grown cold, and all his fervent passion had faded away.
Over the years, as he studied the various records of Little Jade Capital, the more he learned of history, the deeper his understanding grew, and all his early thoughts dissipated like smoke.
When Qin Mu came to see him, bringing a technique to repair the Divine Bridge and allow him to become a god, for a moment his heart had indeed stirred. The stagnant blood in his veins seemed to heat up again.
But then it cooled.
So what?
Even if he repaired the Divine Bridge, how strong could he become? Could he surpass the Immortal who had opened this place back then?
Even if the old Human Sovereign repaired the Divine Bridge, so what? Could he surpass the Human Sovereign who had founded the Human Sovereign Hall?
Even if Qin Mu became a god, so what? Could Qin Mu surpass their Heavenly Sage Sect's Woodcutter Sage?
"So what?"
Qingyou Shanren was startled. He heard Qin Mu's voice. Qin Mu repeated the phrase, smiling at the utterly hopeless, utterly defeated Village Chief. "So what? Village Chief, they failed—so what?"
"Child."
Qingyou Shanren chuckled and shook his head, a melancholy feeling in his heart. "The current Human Sovereign is still just a child who likes to play in the water. I too had such a fiery, passionate youth back then. But I was just a child..."
Qin Mu smiled gently. "They lost. Every generation of Human Sovereign lost. Village Chief, you lost too. But so what? The first Human Sovereign lost, but wasn't there a second? The second Human Sovereign lost, but wasn't there a third? Village Chief, you lost—but isn't there still me?"
The Village Chief was numb, his white hair trembling as he shook his head repeatedly.
"I don't want you to end up like me..." he said, his voice choked with tears.
Now, he was just an ordinary old man, not the commanding Human Sovereign, not the Sword God who sought the Way through the sword. He was just a crippled old man who didn't want his own child to follow in his footsteps.
"I am the Overlord Body, remember?" Qin Mu said with a smile. "The one and only Overlord Body. You all raised me. Isn't that enough?"
"The Overlord Body?" The Village Chief laughed bitterly. "The Overlord Body! Heh, heh... I brought this upon myself... Mu'er, let's go home, please!"
Qin Mu's primal energy surged, lifting the old man in his arms. His smile was as bright as the early spring sun, as if it could dispel the gloom in others' hearts and bring them warmth and hope.
"The Overlord Body never admits defeat, never says die!"
Qin Mu's voice carried an inexplicable power of persuasion. He straightened his back, exuding an unprecedented confidence and conviction. "I will surpass you all. I will not remain second in the world forever! I will surpass you in swordsmanship, becoming the Sword God, the supreme master of the sword! I will surpass Grandpa Medicine in medicine, surpass Grandpa Cripple in speed, surpass Grandpa Mute in artifact forging, surpass Grandpa Deaf in painting, surpass Ma Ye in fist techniques, surpass Grandpa Butcher in blade techniques, surpass Grandpa Blind in divine sight, and surpass Grandma Si in divine abilities! I will be number one in the world!"
Qingyou Shanren burst into laughter. "Admirable ambition, Human Sovereign! But can you surpass these stone statues? Can you surpass the stone statues in the Great Ruins? Even if you could, can you surpass the Kai Emperor?"
His voice grew stern, as if scolding a child. "You are just a child with ambition but no experience of setbacks and hardships. Go play in the water! Wouldn't it be better to live an ordinary, peaceful life? You simply don't understand the world of adults!"
Qin Mu looked up at these stone statues, his expression calm. "If I don't work hard, if I don't strive, then naturally I cannot surpass the first Human Sovereign. But if I work hard and fight, there is still a chance, still hope. If I don't work hard, don't fight, and only think about failure, then I won't have a damn thing!"
He glanced at Qingyou Shanren. "Qingyou Immortal, since you are an immortal, will you die?"
Qingyou Shanren shook his head. "There is no immortal who does not die."
"What can you leave behind?" Qin Mu asked.
Qingyou Shanren replied, "We bring nothing into this life, and we take nothing away."
Qin Mu smiled. "But the immortal who opened Little Jade Capital left behind stone statues. The first Human Sovereign left behind stone statues. The Woodcutter Sage left behind stone statues. Are these stone statues truly dead? In the nights of the Great Ruins, I have seen the Heavenly King's stone statue riding a Qilin Dragon to slay a divine dragon. I have seen stone statues awaken, come back to life, and continue to fight. I have also seen the stone statues in the Great Ruins emit divine light at night, guarding their territory and giving shelter to the abandoned people of the Great Ruins. After you die, what can you leave behind?"
Before Qingyou Shanren could speak, he answered for him: "Not a damn thing!"
Qingyou Shanren felt a surge of anger, but he shook his head with a smile. "You are still just a child, talking big with a glib tongue. You have no idea of the stakes. You will end up with a head full of bumps, battered and bruised, covered in wounds, just like me and the Human Sovereign. In the end, your home will be broken, your people lost, and you will be left alone, without even a child to see you to your grave. Only then will you realize that my advice, as your elder, was truly golden words of wisdom."
Qin Mu looked up at the rows of stone statues again, his expression calm. "They will come back to life. When hope appears in this world, they will come back to life and continue to fight for that hope. But at that time, Qingyou Immortal, will you be able to come back to life and fight? You won't. You will already be dead."
Qingyou Shanren was furious. He stepped forward, his robes billowing without wind, his hair flying, and roared, "You may be the Human Sovereign, but what ability do you have?"
Qin Mu glanced at him. "I am the Overlord Body."
"There is no such thing as an Overlord Body in this world!"
Qingyou Shanren bellowed, his voice deafening. "What nonsense Overlord Body? That kind of physique doesn't exist! Who are you trying to fool?"
"There is an Overlord Body in this world."
The Village Chief suddenly spoke. Qingyou Shanren was startled and looked at him. The Village Chief broke free from Qin Mu's primal energy, floating up, his expression solemn. "There is an Overlord Body in this world. The Overlord Body from Carefree Village!"
Qingyou Shanren's heart shook violently. He quickly looked at Qin Mu and blurted out, "Do you mean..."
"His surname is Qin. The Qin of the Kai Emperor."
The Village Chief seemed to have shed his earlier dejection, though his voice still carried weariness. But he spoke solemnly. "The Qin of Carefree Village, the Qin who swept across the eight wastelands and unified the six directions. He is the Overlord Body. The unparalleled Overlord Body!"
"Carefree Village?"
Qingyou Shanren's mind was a little flustered. He steadied himself and said, "The Qin of Carefree Village? The Qin of the Kai Emperor? That golden book scroll came from Carefree Village? Are there still members of the Qin clan in Carefree Village?"
The Village Chief nodded. "We couldn't do it, but the Qin clan can."
Qingyou Shanren showed a flicker of excitement, but then calmed down again. He chuckled and said, "Old brother, your understanding of the Kai Emperor's era is not deep enough. So what if it's the Qin clan? Aren't they all just a bunch of losers? Carefree Village is nothing but a group of people sneaking around, barely surviving. What difference is there between them and my Little Jade Capital? In truth, you don't even believe it yourself."
The Village Chief was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke. "But there is hope, even if it's just a thread."
Qingyou Shanren's face turned cold. "Don't try to intimidate me with Carefree Village. There is no Overlord Body in Carefree Village either. This kind of physique simply doesn't exist in this world."
"Mu'er can prove it to you."
The Village Chief said in a deep voice. "He can prove that he is the one and only Overlord Body!"
Qingyou Shanren laughed heartily, shaking his head as he laughed. "Old brother, is lying the only skill you have left? The Overlord Body, heh heh, the Overlord Body..."
Suddenly, his voice became thunderously loud, echoing throughout Little Jade Capital: "Disciples of Little Jade Capital, come here!"
Qin Mu was taken aback.
Qingyou Shanren's face turned stern, and he glared fiercely at Qin Mu, his sleeves trembling. "Prove it to me! My Little Jade Capital has only trained three disciples. Defeat them, and I will descend the mountain with you!"
Qin Mu stretched his limbs, a smile spreading across his face as he raised an eyebrow. "Qingyou Immortal, you should have said so earlier. Three is too few. How about all you immortals of Little Jade Capital seal your cultivation and come at me together? The Dao Lord and Tathagata can join in too."
His aura suddenly exploded, and he let out a fierce roar: "I'll beat you all to death!"