Chapter 780: The Number One Sword Technique in a Million Years
“My swordsmanship is merely mediocre.”
Qin Mu looked at the sword technique colliding with the blade light in the mist and smiled. “My sword technique only has two moves, probably not even worth mentioning.”
His attention was drawn to Bai Qiu’er’s sword technique. Her swordsmanship was derived from his own; he had once exchanged sword techniques with the Bai siblings forty thousand years ago at the Imperial City of the Upper Emperor, but only for a brief hour or two.
The Bai siblings hadn’t learned much. Afterward, the calamity erupted, the Imperial City was breached, and they began their escape through the darkness.
At sunrise, they embraced before a steep cliff, then parted ways.
Bai Qiu’er survived with the remaining people. Her sword technique, born from Qin Mu’s, didn’t follow the path of the Eternal Peace Kingdom’s swordsmanship but instead forged its own way.
Bai Qiu’er’s sword technique carried a spirit of carving out a chance to survive through hardship and near-death in an apocalyptic era. This was shaped by the times she lived in—that dark age forced her to become strong, using her meager strength to secure a sliver of hope for the survivors.
Luo Wushuang’s blade technique excelled in calculation, his blade light upright and imposing, overwhelming others with sheer momentum. In contrast, Bai Qiu’er’s sword technique broke through the surface with precision, using terrifying penetration to dismantle Luo Wushuang’s momentum.
Both their blade and sword techniques bore traces of Qin Mu’s swordsmanship. His sword technique contained momentum, exquisite calculation, and the spirit of piercing through darkness.
Bai Qiu’er had received guidance from Qin Mu, while Luo Wushuang’s calculation-focused blade technique was broken by Qin Mu’s calculation-focused sword technique. Clearly, both Bai Qiu’er and Luo Wushuang had been influenced by Qin Mu.
Yet they had each carved their own paths, breaking free from the awe Qin Mu had inspired in them on that dark night forty thousand years ago. Their different circumstances and personalities led to different achievements on their respective journeys.
The scholar sat leisurely on the donkey’s back, ambling forward calmly. “You’re being unusually modest. But there are far too many people in the world who practice sword techniques, far more than those who practice blade techniques. Many have achieved great success in swordsmanship, and not a few have attained enlightenment through the sword. To name recent examples, the Eternal Peace National Teacher and the Sword God Su Mozhe—just in Eternal Peace alone, there are two giants of the sword. In the Kai Emperor era, those with great achievements in the sword were countless. Your sword technique is indeed hard to rank.”
Qin Mu sat on the Dragon Qilin’s head and said leisurely, “Brother, I said my swordsmanship is unworthy of mention, not my sword technique. When it comes to sword technique in the world, if I claim second, no one dares to claim first.”
He smiled slightly. “Looking back over the past million years, countless have surpassed me in swordsmanship, but in sword technique, I stand at the pinnacle. There may be those who surpass me in the future, but in the past million years, not a single one has.”
The scholar was surprised, and the donkey beneath him laughed, “Hee-haw!”
The scholar put down his fishing rod and let the donkey take a bite of a radish. He chuckled, “Not even the Kai Emperor?”
That donkey bit into the radish, which suddenly let out a scream, then grew another section, its body still intact.
The radish kept screaming, its voice shrill.
“That radish has become a spirit!”
The Water Qilin was startled and leaned in to observe. Suddenly, the radish grew arms and punched the Water Qilin right on the nose, making its nose bleed profusely.
“The radish is alive!” the Water Qilin shouted.
“What are you looking at?”
The radish fumed, “If you were bitten, you’d scream in pain too! I’m not a radish, I’m a ginseng!”
It struggled on the fishing rod, trying to get down, shouting, “Let me go! I’m going to beat this idiot who insulted me and show him a thing or two!”
Qin Mu looked at the radish, quite surprised, and laughed, “Not even the Kai Emperor.”
The scholar’s eyes flickered. “I also practice sword techniques. Throughout history, only two or three have surpassed me. I attained enlightenment through the sword and pushed my swordsmanship to the Thirteen Chapters of the Sword. In sword technique, I consider myself no weakling. I’d very much like to see the number one sword technique in a million years.”
He set down his feather fan and fishing rod. The radish stood on the donkey’s head, fishing line tangled around its head, hopping and shaking its fists at the Water Qilin, shouting, “Come on, let’s spar!”
The scholar’s eyes gleamed. “You and I will use our vital energy as swords and exchange a few moves. Don’t worry, I won’t bully you with cultivation, nor will I suppress you with swordsmanship.”
Qin Mu shook his head. “You’re sitting on the donkey, unable to move freely. I don’t want to bully you.”
“A scholar carries a sword across the world, wielding it while singing. Killing someone from a donkey’s back is common. Besides, you’re also sitting on the Dragon Qilin’s head, equally restricted.”
The scholar smiled. “When I unleash my first sword move, you’ll jump off the Dragon Qilin’s head. My second move will drive you ten miles away. My third, a hundred miles. My fourth, you’ll flee a thousand miles.”
Qin Mu gave a half-smile. “Please!”
The scholar’s vital energy surged, instantly forming a sword array with countless fine swords flying like a vast drizzle, mountains faintly appearing within the sword light.
His sword technique was exquisite, with a unique charm compared to the Village Chief’s sword diagram.
Qin Mu raised his hand and pointed a finger, sending a sword light streaking through the air, piercing into her drizzle and mountains.
That sword light was his second move of the Calamity Sword, the Calamity Lift. The sword light flickered unpredictably, instantly breaking through the drizzle and mountains, causing all the scholar’s countless sword lights to miss entirely, unable to block this single beam.
The scholar was startled. Seeing the sword light approaching his chest, he quickly leaped off the donkey’s back!
The sword light followed like a shadow, pursuing him!
He immediately executed his second sword move. Sword light surged like a tide, a clear sea under a clear sky, washed for ten thousand miles, yet still unable to block that sword light!
The scholar retreated rapidly, his body fluttering like a green butterfly, or like a rabbit darting across the wilderness, his movements elusive.
But that sword light still followed, leaving him no escape.
The scholar unleashed his third sword move, still failing to block the sword light. Looking up, he found himself already a hundred miles away.
He kept retreating, executing his fourth sword move, then the fifth, sixth, seventh—each move extremely exquisite, full of changes, dazzling to the eye, yet none could block that sword light!
In the blink of an eye, he was a thousand miles away, and his sword moves had been exhausted, unable to continue!
Qin Mu’s sword light struck his chest like lightning, producing a *ding* sound. A halo of light burst from his chest, blocking the strike.
The scholar, still shaken, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and hurried back. He saw Qin Mu still sitting on the Dragon Qilin’s forehead, explaining the mysteries of this move to Imperial Heaven Lord.
“This move is called Calamity Lift, also known as Sword Nineteen, the nineteenth move of the basic sword technique.”
Qin Mu said unhurriedly, “Sword Nineteen is too complex. If a cultivator can learn it, they will directly attain enlightenment through the sword. I once had contact with the Western Sword Master Luo Yinyu. We deduced that there is a nineteenth move to the sword technique, so we wanted to compete to see who would comprehend it first. It seems I won.”
The scholar sat on the donkey’s back and said sincerely, “You won. You are the number one in sword technique. I’ve seen the Kai Emperor’s sword technique, and it’s not as brilliant as yours. So, what is Calamity Lift?”
Qin Mu explained, “Heaven, earth, and all beings are everywhere in calamity. People are within calamity, and facing it requires taking and giving. Calamity Lift is to give first, then take. My sword light advances by giving at every step. You couldn’t touch my sword light just now because I gave first and then gained. If you don’t give, the Calamity Lift will kill you.”
The scholar and Imperial Heaven Lord pondered this. Imperial Heaven Lord had also learned the basic sword technique, taught by the Village Chief himself, but he hadn’t yet settled it, his foundation unstable, and his magical power insufficient, so he couldn’t yet learn Sword Eighteen or Sword Nineteen.
The scholar’s eyes lit up. “What if I give? If I’m willing to be injured, can I break your Sword Nineteen?”
“How much are you willing to give?”
Qin Mu’s vital energy formed swords again, thousands of sword lights flickering unpredictably as they thrust toward him!
The scholar’s hair stood on end, sweat pouring down his forehead. Just now, Qin Mu had used one sword to drive him back a thousand miles. Now, with over a thousand swords executing Calamity Lift, being injured was no longer enough to break it—it would mean death!
Qin Mu dispersed the sword light. “Sword Nineteen is a sword technique that leads to enlightenment. What I just used was the Chain Calamity within the Calamity Lift move. Besides Chain Calamity, there are dozens of other variations. Cultivating Sword Nineteen is extremely difficult, but once mastered, it opens the door to swordsmanship.”
The scholar picked up his fishing rod, lifted the radish that was beating up the Water Qilin, and hung it in front of the donkey again. He nodded. “Sword Nineteen is indeed terrifying, but claiming to be the best in the world for a million years is a bit too boastful.”
“To avenge someone I deeply admire and respect, I once used this move to break a primordial god’s suppression and severely wound my enemy.”
Qin Mu glanced at Imperial Heaven Lord and said, “Although that primordial god was only a projection, its power was extraordinary, comparable to a Lingxiao-level expert, yet even it couldn’t suppress the Calamity Lift sword.”
Imperial Heaven Lord was ignorant and didn’t realize that the person Qin Mu admired and respected was himself.
The scholar was unimpressed and chuckled. “A primordial god’s projection—how much power could it have? Claiming it’s comparable to a Lingxiao-level expert is an exaggeration. Your claim of being the number one sword technique in a million years still has some water in it.”
Qin Mu smiled faintly and didn’t argue.
Because saying it out loud would be too shocking and hard for outsiders to believe, but Niu Sanduo and the Kai Emperor knew he was absolutely not lying.
They arrived at the place where Bai Qiu’er and Luo Wushuang, the Sword God and Blade God, had clashed. It was a vast sea called the Yao Sea, where streaks of sword light hung like silk ribbons and blade light stood like jade walls on the sea’s surface.
A gentle breeze blew, and suddenly sword and blade shadows erupted—the sword and blade techniques of these two powerhouses were still locked in battle!
But Bai Qiu’er and Luo Wushuang were not there.
On the Yao Sea, many demon gods and half-god deities were leading younger generations trying to pass through, carefully avoiding the sword and blade light left by the two.
On the sea, swords and blades stood like barriers, sometimes quiet, sometimes erupting with terrifying power.
“Luo Divine Blade and the Upper Emperor Sword God are mortal enemies. They’ve fought countless times.”
The scholar rode his donkey into the Yao Sea and said to Qin Mu, “For a time, Luo Wushuang relentlessly pursued the remnants of the Upper Emperor, and it was the Upper Emperor Sword God who held him off. Into the Kai Emperor era, they were still fighting, though unknown to outsiders.”
Imperial Heaven Lord asked curiously, “What about the Upper Emperor Overlord Body? Why didn’t the Upper Emperor Overlord Body reappear?”
The scholar looked confused and shook his head. “The Upper Emperor Overlord Body was just a flash in the pan, then disappeared, likely dying in the calamity. Few know of the Upper Emperor Overlord Body. I’ve only heard rumors. It’s said that the First Human Sovereign and Sword God Su also searched ancient ruins, trying to find traces of the Upper Emperor Overlord Body, but found nothing—only an old stone tablet. This is the Yao Pool. Ahead should be the Execution Platform. Be careful…”
Qin Mu’s heart stirred. “Brother, you know a lot. So, do you know which of the two heavenly courts from the Upper Emperor era this celestial palace belongs to?”