Chapter 779: How Many in the World?
The young scholar stopped his donkey, sized them up with a few glances, his expression somewhat playful and cynical. “I plan to sneak in and see the master of this place. Where are you headed, brother?”
Qin Mu smiled. “We plan to sneak in and see what’s going on. Since our goals are the same, why not travel together?”
The young scholar thought for a moment and said to the donkey, “Lü Zheng, is it good to have two scapegoats around?”
The donkey curled its upper lip. “Hui.”
The scholar laughed. “Radish says it’s good, so let’s travel together.”
“Scapegoats?”
Qin Mu grew alert and asked politely, “Brother, what’s the difference between being a scapegoat, taking the blame, and having a shit pot dumped on your head?”
The young scholar laughed heartily. “No difference.”
Qin Mu burst out laughing and looked toward the ancient battlefield ahead. This battlefield was shrouded in a vast, hazy mist. Visible within were scattered architectural ruins—majestic city walls, towering palaces, lofty archways, and gates.
On the ground were the footprints of demigods. Following these footprints would lead one to find Earth Mother Primordial.
Dragon Qilin and Water Qilin walked forward alongside the donkey. Water Qilin glanced at the donkey and said disdainfully, “This little beast is stupid. It hangs a radish in front of its face and just walks forward, completely unaware that it will never eat that radish.”
The donkey glanced at him and showed a look of contempt.
Water Qilin thought to himself, “I’ve made an agreement with Little Earth Lord not to eat Blue Master, but I can eat a donkey! However, Dragon Qilin’s master is troublesome. He’s getting along well with that scholar. If I eat the donkey, he’ll probably get angry and make me into dinner.”
Qin Mu had been observing the young scholar all along, growing more suspicious the more he looked. But when his gaze fell on the scholar’s chest, he saw no bulging shape, so he wasn’t quite sure.
The scholar noticed his gaze and laughed. “Lü Zheng, this young man has shifty eyes, staring at a man’s chest too.”
Qin Mu’s face reddened. The donkey laughed. “Hee-haw, hee-haw—”
Qin Mu probed, “Sis... brother, what should I call you?”
The scholar smiled. “Why must we know each other’s names to meet? Qin Mu, Qin Fengqing, did I ask your name? I didn’t ask you, so why are you asking me?”
Qin Mu grew even more suspicious. “You know my name, but I don’t know yours—that’s a bit unfair. How do you know I’m Qin Mu?”
“The Heavenly Saint Cult Leader Qin Mu is dashing and talented, widely learned and knowledgeable—who doesn’t know him?”
The scholar said, “A small, unknown figure like me, Cult Leader Qin naturally wouldn’t know.”
Unable to learn his name, Qin Mu turned to the donkey. “Why is this Brother Lü called Lü Zheng?”
The scholar said, “He’s a donkey, speaks harshly, and loves to argue, hence the character ‘Zheng’ (dispute).”
Qin Mu’s eyes flickered. “I also know an ox called Niu Sanduo, and a tiger called Tiger Venerable.”
The donkey curled its upper lip disdainfully. “Hui hui.”
Qin Mu’s face darkened. “I don’t understand donkey talk—never learned it. I have no idea what he’s saying. But this master and servant are suspicious. Could he be the Scholar Heavenly Master?”
They entered the misty ancient battlefield. The mist shimmered with rosy clouds, and the buildings here looked extremely ancient, their patterns very strange. Qin Mu had Dragon Qilin stop while he examined the patterns on the broken walls, then took out paper and brush to sketch and copy these textures.
The scholar watched him draw and laughed. “Cult Leader Qin is indeed talented in many arts, with no small skill in calligraphy and painting.”
Qin Mu’s face flushed slightly, and he said modestly, “I dare not boast about calligraphy and painting—I’m only second in the world. The first is my deaf grandfather. His calligraphy and painting have entered the Dao, with a distinction between inner and outer worlds.”
The scholar was surprised and praised, “His calligraphy and painting have reached the realm of creating something from nothing? And with inner and outer distinctions—his skill is indeed profound. But his being number one in the world is a bit inflated, and your being number two is also a bit inflated.”
Qin Mu smiled. “Then who is number one in the world?”
The scholar said, “I’ve also done considerable research into calligraphy and painting. When calligraphy and painting reach a high level, it becomes creation, and creation is the divine power of transformation. I dare not say much about other things, but in the divine power of transformation, no one surpasses me.”
Qin Mu handed him the brush. “Would you dare to paint, brother?”
The scholar shook his head. “I don’t usually paint; I only paint when I need to.”
Qin Mu looked up at the towering gate that reached into the clouds. “Another Southern Heaven Gate... but it’s broken! I’ll paint a Southern Heaven Gate!”
He flicked his brush tip, and a large sheet of paper stood upright in the air. Qin Mu flipped his palm, holding four brushes in his left hand while his right hand moved in a circle, ink forming on its own and spinning continuously in the air.
Qin Mu raised his brush to paint, his strokes flowing like dragons and snakes. Countless details flowed from his brush tip, forming the patterns on the Southern Heaven Gate.
Qin Mu moved his brush like the wind, the tip even penetrating deep into the paper, as if there was another world inside, a vast space. Though this Southern Heaven Gate was painted on paper, the paper seemed to contain a world, a vast expanse.
His brush became a divine tool for creating all things, constructing the infinite details of the Southern Heaven Gate, growing ever more meticulous.
Eventually, the four brushes flew into the paper, painting inside it, wondrous beyond description.
After a long time, the Southern Heaven Gate was completed.
Qin Mu put away his brush and ink, took the painting down from the air, and shook it vigorously. Suddenly, a Southern Heaven Gate flew out of the painting and crashed to the ground!
This Southern Heaven Gate was ten thousand zhang tall, majestic and extraordinary, fully displaying the grandeur of the ancient god court’s heavenly palace, standing tall in this ancient battlefield, symbolizing the Heavenly Emperor’s authority.
Qin Mu looked at the scholar and smiled. “How is my creation technique?”
The scholar praised repeatedly. “You haven’t yet entered the Dao, yet you have such skill—barely enough to be third in the world. If you can surpass your deaf grandfather, you’d barely be second. If you can abandon brush and paper, no longer bound by them, then you’d firmly hold second place. Right now, you’re still at the level of painting something to look like it—still a distance from first.”
Qin Mu sought guidance. “Then what level is first?”
“The art of painting has three levels. Painting something to look like it is the first level. Painting something to be what it is is the second level.”
The scholar said, “Not painting but following the Dao, with no ink yet heaven and earth arise on their own—that is the third level.”
As he spoke, the Southern Heaven Gate Qin Mu had painted suddenly collapsed, flowing down from the air as ink.
“This is the first level—painting something to look like it, hard to make it last.”
The scholar said, “If you can achieve painting something to be what it is, making the Southern Heaven Gate stand forever, creating something from nothing to make it real, that is the second level.”
Qin Mu felt a surge of admiration. “Deaf Grandfather never said these things—probably because he hadn’t figured out the third level of the painting Dao. Thank you for your guidance, brother! I’ve learned a lot!”
Water Qilin watched and said suspiciously to Dragon Qilin, “This scholar doesn’t seem like a scholar; he’s more like a smooth-talking charlatan. Your master is being fooled left and right. If I’d known he was this easy to trick, why would I have used force? I could have swindled your master out of his underwear, and he’d still be grateful to me!”
Dragon Qilin curled his upper lip disdainfully. “Hui hui.”
“Don’t you believe me? I’m the top wise one among our Qilin divine race!”
Qin Mu and the others continued forward. Suddenly, ahead, a blade light tore through the mist. The blade light streaked across the sky, then with a *clang* split into countless blade lights, neatly arrayed, descending in a strange blade formation.
A roar came, followed by the fall of a massive figure in the mist.
The countless blade lights suddenly withdrew, landing behind a one-armed man in the mist and sheathing themselves.
Qin Mu saw the perfectly orderly blade light and his heart jumped. “That blade technique... looks familiar...”
The one-armed figure’s clothes fluttered in the wind as he strode deeper into the mist, followed by many figures who also entered the fog, quickly disappearing.
“The One-Armed Divine Blade, the number one divine blade of the Outer Heaven Court!”
The scholar’s eyes lit up, and he laughed. “Luo Shendao of the Lingxiu Army of the Outer Heaven Court. It’s said that in his youth, he once encountered the Dominator of the Upper Emperor Era, who severed one of his arms with an incredibly divine sword technique. Luo Shendao learned from his pain, entered the Dao with his one-armed blade technique, and trained hard for tens of thousands of years. He once entered the Heavenly Court’s Execution Platform and fought against the Execution Divine Blade without being defeated—truly the number one divine blade of the Heavenly Court! I didn’t expect him to come too! Those youths beside him should be the Lingxiu Army.”
Imperial Heavenly Lord grew excited. “The Dominator of the Upper Emperor Era? So powerful! Brother Mu, you’re also a Dominator, so you’re very powerful too!”
The scholar glanced at Qin Mu and shook his head. “The Dominator of the Upper Emperor Era severed Luo Shendao’s arm with a single sword move—how astonishing and peerless! Qin the Dominator is still far behind.”
Qin Mu’s eye twitched. “The Dominator of the Upper Emperor Era who severed his arm is right beside you, but I won’t say. Luo Wushuang’s divine blade is indeed formidable, countless times stronger than in the past. If I ignore cultivation level, breaking his divine blade would still be very difficult.”
“But Luo Shendao has a bad habit: his disciples must all sever one arm, or they can’t learn his blade technique.”
The scholar smiled. “So the youths of the Lingxiu Army in the Heavenly Court often sever their own arms.”
Qin Mu thought of Zhe Huali and thought to himself, “Zhe Huali almost severed his own arm too, but under my pressure, he still broke free from Luo Wushuang’s shadow and created his own blade Dao! Luo Wushuang has appeared. I heard he has ties with Fu Rilu. I wonder if he’s gone to see Fu Rilu? If he has, then Fu Rilu has likely already rebelled... If Zhe Huali is by Luo Wushuang’s side, then Fu Rilu must have rebelled!”
They arrived at the place where Luo Wushuang had used his blade technique. The demigod he had slain was massive, with a dragon-like divine head and a human body with eight arms. His essence had not yet dissipated, radiating a terrifying divine might!
“A demigod at the Execution Platform realm!”
The scholar examined the blade marks and praised, “Excellent blade technique! Luo Shendao used his Jade Capital realm cultivation to slay this demigod dragon king.”
Qin Mu carefully examined the blade marks, speculating on how far Luo Wushuang’s blade technique had progressed, studying them very closely.
The scholar asked curiously, “Cult Leader Qin also studies blade techniques?”
Qin Mu said modestly, “I wouldn’t dare claim that. In the world... hmm, third or fourth.”
The scholar smiled, waving his feather fan. “Third or fourth? Cult Leader Qin is exaggerating a bit, isn’t he? I’ve heard that in the Kaihuang Heavenly Court, there was a divine man named Tian Shu, skilled in blade techniques. His single Imperial Tower Divine Blade could sever the Earth Lord’s horn. How do you compare to him?”
Qin Mu’s face darkened, and he shook his head. “Not as good as him.”
The scholar said, “I’ve heard of a Heavenly Blade in Yinkang who raised his blade to the sky, entered the Dao with the blade, and created the Nine Techniques of the Heavenly Blade. At the Divine Bridge realm, he could slay gods and demons. How do you compare to him?”
“Not as good either.” Qin Mu’s face grew even darker.
The scholar laughed. “Luo Wushuang has a disciple named Zhe Huali, who entered the Dao with the blade and created a single blade technique. How does your blade technique compare to his?”
“Not as good!” Qin Mu said angrily.
“Then you’re not as good as me either.”
The scholar smiled. “I too entered the Dao with the blade. Though I lack the Heavenly Blade’s talent to create nine techniques, I have created seven moves.”
Qin Mu’s hand trembled as he grabbed his chin’s small beard and yanked out four or five hairs.
The scholar smiled without speaking.
They continued forward, and saw that demon gods from the demon race had also arrived here. Each demon god exuded a terrifying aura, leading giant beasts as tall as mountains behind them, looming in and out of the mist, quite frightening.
Suddenly, the sound of a sword came from ahead. Blade light filled the sky, and within the blade light, a sword light rose, clashing with it.
Qin Mu was stunned when he saw the sword technique.
It was too familiar—it was his sword technique!
“White Dragon Sword Dance! The Upper Emperor Sword God!”
The scholar’s eyes lit up, and he laughed. “The Upper Emperor Sword God is a woman, Luo Wushuang’s mortal enemy. I didn’t expect her to come too! I’ve heard that when the Upper Emperor Era fell, the Upper Emperor Sword God was just a little girl, with very low cultivation and strength, but she and the Upper Emperor Dominator cut a bloody path through the darkness! The Upper Emperor Dominator disappeared, but she inherited his sword technique and used it to forge her own path. In the dark years after the Upper Emperor Era ended, her sword technique shone for several hundred years—truly a heroine among women! Cult Leader Qin.”
He smiled. “How many in the world is your sword technique?”
—Happy birthday to Alliance Leader iampetty!