Chapter 348: Flaws Everywhere
Long Yu’s eyelids twitched uncontrollably. The mountains and fields were covered with Qin Mu’s swords—how was he supposed to fight this battle?
Just the weight of these swords alone would likely crush him to death!
Long Yu glanced at Qingyou Shanren, who pretended not to notice. The seemingly simple act of making eight thousand flying swords rise and embed themselves in the ground would probably exhaust the divine arts reserves of many cultivators at the Six Harmonies Realm. Only someone with such absurdly overbearing and abundant divine arts as Qin Mu could manage to drive so many flying swords at once!
Moreover, controlling so many flying swords required extremely high proficiency in mathematics and arithmetic calculations. It demanded a brain with quick reflexes, capable of ensuring that each flying sword’s trajectory was different and that they didn’t interfere with each other.
Just calculating the trajectories of eight thousand flying swords alone required a monstrous level of mathematical skill!
Clearly, Qin Mu had already fused the Dao Sect’s Dao Sword with the Village Chief’s sword techniques, which was why he could command so many flying swords.
“Could it be that the Overlord Body really exists in this world?”
Qingyou Shanren was skeptical. If the Overlord Body existed, it would certainly appear in the records of Little Jade Capital. However, ever since he had returned to Little Jade Capital in disillusionment, he had read through all its collected works, and there was no mention of the Overlord Body anywhere!
Little Jade Capital’s library was all-encompassing, tracing back to an era so ancient that no other sect or sacred ground could imagine. Since there were no records of the Overlord Body here, it meant the Overlord Body simply didn’t exist!
That was why Qingyou Shanren was so certain that the Village Chief was lying. But now, seeing Qin Mu’s performance, his confidence began to waver.
“Senior Brother Long Yu, please.” Qin Mu spoke again.
Long Yu steadied himself and said in a deep voice, “Human Sovereign, please!”
Light and fire flickered in his eyes. He thought to himself, “This Human Sovereign is controlling so many flying swords; it must be extremely taxing on his divine arts. If he tries to execute sword techniques with eight thousand swords, his cultivation will probably be drained after just one or two moves. I only need to hold out for one or two moves, and then I can turn defeat into victory!”
No sooner had he thought this than he realized he was overthinking it.
Qin Mu didn’t give him any chance to hold out. With his very first move, he directly employed the fourth form of the Dao Sword: “Silently revolving the cycles of heaven, seeing the myriad phenomena shift and change!”
In an instant, the eight thousand swords activated the rotation of the stars and constellations, bringing forth the myriad phenomena!
This was the fourth chapter of the Dao Sword. When Linxuan Dao Master had tested Qin Mu’s mathematical skills, he had used the Celestial Starry Chessboard Variable Calculation Technique. The mathematical principles within it were exactly this fourth form of the Dao Sword!
Qin Mu activated the Dao Sect’s Dao Sword’s fourth form, with the celestial stars scattered like a chessboard, the celestial patterns manifesting, and the myriad phenomena shifting. He brought the rotation of the starry river to its fullest expression!
The fourteen chapters of the Dao Sword grew stronger with each form. By the fourth chapter, the eight thousand swords transformed into a vast array of stars, rotating and changing, trapping Long Yu within the sword formation.
Long Yu had no time to overthink. Fire burst from his eyes, and as his eyes opened and closed, two dazzling white sword lights shot out!
His sword technique was unique, one of the supreme arts of Little Jade Capital. It focused on cultivating the eyes, but it wasn’t a pupil technique. Instead, it refined sword techniques into the pupils, so that wherever the eyes went, the sword followed. It was called the Heavenly Eye Sword Heart Technique.
The strength of this sword technique lay in not cultivating spirit weapons or sword pellets. Instead, it treated the eyes themselves as sword pellets. Where the eyes saw, the sword pointed, direct and efficient.
Combined with its unique cultivation method, the eyes transformed into a great sun, making the sword light indestructible. Or the eyes turned into starlight, brilliant like a galaxy, with twinkling stars and points of sword light, making it impossible to guard against.
If one could cultivate the sword heart, becoming one with the sword in mind, it would be even faster and more terrifying than the sword eye. Wherever the mind reached, the sword would fly there instantly.
Long Yu hadn’t yet reached that level, but his sword eye was already extraordinary.
However, in the next moment, countless flying swords directly crushed his two sword lights. His sword light was formed from his primordial qi, while Qin Mu used treasures gathered by the Demon Cult to refine his treasures. First, the quality far surpassed Long Yu’s refined sword light, and combined with Qin Mu’s overwhelmingly abundant cultivation, it shattered his sword light!
Countless stars burst from Long Yu’s eyes. The starlight in his eyes flew out like a galaxy, meeting the changes of the Dao Sword’s fourth form. The two sword techniques seemed similar, but they had a fundamental difference.
The Dao Sword structured the celestial stars based on mathematical principles, with a mathematical structure to its changes. The Heavenly Eye Sword Heart Technique, on the other hand, followed the heart’s desire, changing at will. It was less refined than the Dao Sword but surpassed it in versatility.
However, when comparing swords, his sword light was far inferior in quality to Qin Mu’s flying swords.
Long Yu let out a muffled groan. The galaxy bursting from his eyes was destroyed. As the eight thousand swords turned into a rain of blades, shredding the galaxy and raining down, Long Yu heard Qingyou Shanren’s shout: “Spare him!”
Then he saw all the flying swords surround him, forming a massive sword pellet. He was trapped inside the sword pellet, with each gleaming sword tip pointed at every inch of his body, making him fear whether he would even have a complete corpse left if those swords fell.
The sword pellet split apart with a clanging sound, converging into a long river of sword light that flew back into the Taotie pouch on Qin Mu’s back.
Long Yu quickly felt himself all over, found he was still intact, and breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted to thank Qin Mu, but found his limbs weak, his throat dry, and unable to make a sound.
Mu Qingdai quickly stepped forward and offered him clean water. Long Yu took a drink and finally managed to speak. “Thank you, Human Sovereign, for showing mercy. But I didn’t lose in sword technique! You only won because your treasures overpowered mine!”
Qin Mu didn’t deny it and said humbly, “Senior Brother Long Yu is correct. I haven’t diligently cultivated the Dao Sword. In fact, I only studied it for ten days and am not skilled in it.”
Long Yu’s face darkened, and his throat went dry again. He said hoarsely, “Not skilled in the Dao Sword?”
Qin Mu glanced at the Village Chief and said, “I practice sword techniques passed down by Grandpa Village Chief. The sword techniques he taught me are too powerful, and I’m afraid I can’t hold back. My attainments in the Dao Sword are shallow, so you could still block it.”
Long Yu drank a few more gulps of water, but his throat was still dry.
Mu Qingdai’s eyes flickered as she said, “Then, Human Sovereign Qin, could you demonstrate your strongest sword technique?”
Wang Muran’s eyes also lit up with anticipation.
If Qin Mu’s attainments in the Dao Sword were this impressive, how formidable would his strongest sword technique be?
Qin Mu looked troubled. He glanced at the Village Chief again and said sheepishly, “My sword technique has a few flaws… Actually, not just a few flaws, it’s flaws everywhere! Especially recently, the flaws have been increasing.”
Long Yu, Mu Qingdai, and Wang Muran were stunned. Qingyou Shanren was also surprised. “Is he actually being modest for once?”
Qin Mu’s face showed shame. “My strongest sword technique has never beaten Grandpa Village Chief. I’ve never won against him. Then I met my father, and I’ve never won against him either… A while ago, the State Prefect comprehended the Dao. After I peeked at his enlightenment, my flaws became even more numerous.”
The months on Qin Hanzhen’s treasure ship were the most devastating for Qin Mu. The Qin Hanzhen in the painting had sparred with him, knocking him down time and again.
If it hadn’t been for Qin Mu beating up Banguo Cuo, he wouldn’t have been able to restore his confidence.
And at Qingmen Pass, when the Yan’gang State Prefect comprehended the Dao, Qin Mu had peeked, invading the State Prefect’s Dao heart and witnessing the entire process of his enlightenment. The shock it gave him was beyond words.
But this also led to another consequence: his insight and knowledge skyrocketed, reaching a height he could never have imagined before. When Qin Mu looked at his improved Sword Diagram Sword Technique again, he found more and more flaws!
The Village Chief also showed a surprised expression. “Mu’er, show me your sword technique that’s full of flaws. I want to see it.”
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then said, “Then I’ll make a fool of myself.”
He held his breath and focused his mind. The Wuyou Sword hummed as it left its sheath.
Qin Mu held the sword in hand. As the Wuyou Sword’s light moved, countless flying swords flew out from the Taotie pouch behind him, one after another merging into the Wuyou Sword.
Three thousand swords merged with the Wuyou Sword.
The Wuyou Sword was the mother sword, and the others were child swords that could merge into the mother sword. As a master of treasure refining, his sword pellet had two forms. Merging the child swords into the mother sword was one of them. However, due to limitations in his divine arts and strength, Qin Mu could only merge three thousand swords with the Wuyou Sword. If he added more, it wouldn’t be as easy to control and would instead limit his combat effectiveness.
Qin Mu fixed his gaze on the sword tip, as if nothing else existed. Then he activated the sword technique. The Wuyou Sword began to move clumsily in his hand.
Whoosh—
A rushing wind sound arose. The Wuyou Sword moved slowly, but it produced a sound like an unimaginably heavy object moving and crushing the air!
As his sword technique unfolded, child swords flew out from the Wuyou Sword as it moved, like phantoms of the Wuyou Sword. The sword light continuously split apart. Each child sword that flew out from the Wuyou Sword executed a different sword move. The seventeen basic sword techniques were displayed in the trajectories of these flying swords. The sword moves were chaotic and overlapping, and the sword technique appeared disorderly.
He was executing the move “Sword Traversing Mountains and Rivers,” but it was completely different in principle from the “Sword Traversing Mountains and Rivers” the Village Chief had taught him.
His sword technique was clumsy, lacking agility. Only when the Wuyou Sword’s speed gradually increased did it begin to feel nimble. More and more child swords flew through the air, and the sword technique grew faster, dancing along with the Wuyou Sword in his hand!
Qingyou Shanren’s expression grew increasingly grave, while Long Yu, Mu Qingdai, and Wang Muran found themselves unable to keep up.
The sword principles involved in Qin Mu’s technique became more and more complex and profound. Above this immortal mountain, the three thousand flying swords sometimes gathered like clouds, dispersing like mist, sometimes transformed into towering mountains that scattered the clouds, sometimes turned into a long river in the sky, rushing down as if one could hear the sound of water. At other times, they became thousands of trees, lush and green, with every vein on the leaves and grass blades visible!
After a moment, all the sword light vanished.
Qin Mu vibrated the Wuyou Sword. One by one, the flying swords flew out from it and fell back into the Taotie pouch behind him.
“There’s no need to compare!”
Mu Qingdai snapped back to reality and quickly said, “My cultivation and strength are slightly inferior to Senior Brother Long Yu’s. There’s no need to compete!”
Wang Muran shook his head. “I can’t withstand this move either. No need to compare. I concede.”
Long Yu’s face was pale. He opened his mouth, found his throat dry again, and quickly gulped down two mouthfuls of water. “Your sword technique… I can’t understand it anymore.”
Qingyou Shanren was stunned. He looked at Qin Mu, then at the Village Chief, and suddenly sighed. “Old Daoist brother, you’ve taken on a fine disciple. Your sword technique has already entered the Dao.”
The Village Chief shook his head. “I didn’t teach him to refine swords like this. He figured it out himself. Mu’er, your sword technique still has many flaws, like a leaky sieve letting wind through everywhere. You need to keep working hard. If you encounter someone with greater insight than you, you won’t even know how you died!”
Qin Mu shuddered and stammered, “I also see too many flaws, but I just can’t fix them yet.”
“Is this how you teach a disciple?”
Qingyou Shanren was caught between laughter and tears. “This sword technique is already enough to dominate the world, isn’t it? The only ones who can surpass him are those who have truly entered the Dao of the sword!”