Chapter 1416: The Blade Nourishes the Spirit
On the Uy Giang River, blade light rose, five figures clashed and scattered. These five directly employed their enlightenment divine abilities, elevating their cultivation to the extreme at the very first collision!
Among the practitioners of Diên Khang, there was a common saying: those who wield blades are all roughnecks.
Although this saying was somewhat biased—for example, the Butcher looked like a roughneck but was actually a great scholar—those who used blades indeed had far fewer probing exchanges than those who practiced divine ability schools or sword techniques.
The blade was a war-art school, and moreover the close-combat branch within war-art schools, going even deeper into close-quarters fighting than martial arts. For instance, blade techniques included back-to-back fighting, relying on muscle and qi sensation to find an opponent's weakness and strike a killing blow.
Divine ability sword techniques had many probing moves, but the blade was a short-weapon engagement—if one probed while the opponent used full force, the one at a disadvantage would be oneself.
The Butcher, Zhe Huali, Tian Shu, and Luo Wushuang attacked Qin Mu almost simultaneously. Zhe Huali had spent these years on Diên Khang's western front, tempered through battle after battle.
The battlefield differed from gang fights in the martial world. These years of training had deepened his blade path day by day—this was skill honed on the killing ground, every move lethal, his blade path growing ever more profound and increasingly bizarre and unpredictable.
At the same time, he possessed the majestic grandeur of the Heavenly Blade. His blade technique occupied both the character of "strangeness" and the character of "righteousness," while also incorporating the numerological arts of the Daoist school and possessing Luo Wushuang's discipline—truly exquisite.
He had already reached the ninth heaven of entering the Dao through the blade. The moment he collided with Qin Mu, he immediately sensed that Qin Mu's cultivation was roughly equal to his own, and he relaxed, thinking: "This kid Qin Mu went to the Heavenly Court to be the Mu Heavenly Venerable—he's clearly been living a life of ease and has grown lax. My cultivation has been elevated to the Nghiêu Trì realm, and he's probably also at Nghiêu Trì, about the same as me. Back then, his cultivation was far deeper than mine!"
Luo Wushuang had already cultivated to the eighteenth heaven of the blade path, and his cultivation realm had reached the Lăng Tiêu realm. Diên Khang's Dao techniques and divine abilities flourished mightily, and coming to Diên Khang had caused his cultivation and strength to surge forward by leaps and bounds.
Yet when his moves met Qin Mu's blade in collision, he felt Qin Mu's mana flowing endlessly, like the surging Heavenly River, ceaseless and unending, matching his own cultivation. His heart tightened: "Formidable! Worthy of the Overlord Body—his cultivation has risen so quickly, he must already be a master of the Ngọc Kinh realm!"
He knew that Qin Mu had virtually no rivals at the same realm, that only Heavenly Venerables could contend with him, so he felt that Qin Mu at the Ngọc Kinh realm was enough to match himself at the Lăng Tiêu realm.
The Butcher's Heavenly Blade collided with Qin Mu's blade, and he too felt that Qin Mu's cultivation and strength were about equal to his own.
"Mu'er has cultivated to the Trảm Thần Đài realm over these years—not slow at all, though his cultivation isn't as astonishingly deep as before. Back then, none of us in the Crippled Elder Village could take his moves at the same realm."
On the other side, Tian Shu Heavenly King revealed overwhelming imperial might. Behind him, a heavenly palace burst forth, his primordial spirit towering, seated upon the imperial throne of the Lăng Tiêu Precious Hall!
The Đế Khuyết Divine Blade in his hands had all its power fully unleashed. The Butcher said he was the Emperor of Blades—and that was truly correct!
Tian Shu Heavenly King had journeyed to the Thái Hư lands to seek his original heart. After experiencing the bloody battles of the Thái Hư lands, the realm barriers that had trapped him vanished completely. He broke through in battle, cultivating to the Đế Tọa realm, becoming another great master of the Đế Tọa realm in the Khai Hoàng Heavenly Court.
The Đế Khuyết Divine Blade was a divine blade forged for him by Heavenly King Đế Thích Thiên. For a long time, this blade's power had surpassed Tian Shu's own strength. One blade had severed the Horn of Thổ Bá and carved out a Phong Đô.
One blade had cut across the Đại Khư mountain range, sealing the strangeness and darkness of the Đại Khư within it.
And now, Tian Shu Heavenly King's power was sufficient to perfectly command the Đế Khuyết!
He was the Emperor among blades—his blade severed souls and seized spirits, a demon blade of the U Đô!
Yet when the Đế Khuyết Divine Blade collided with the blade qi formed from Qin Mu's primordial qi, Tian Shu Heavenly King's breath wavered, and he secretly marveled: "Formidable—able to withstand my full ten-tenths of power. Worthy of the Heavenly Venerable that Khai Hoàng himself could not forget, having cultivated to the Đế Tọa realm in just over a decade! But I've had my drink—I'm someone who doesn't fear even Thổ Bá and the King of U Đô. Heavenly Venerables get chopped just the same! Ten-tenths of battle power is not my limit!"
He roared with a long howl, his body movement ghostly—sometimes dissolving into demonic qi, sometimes hanging high like a demonic sun, sometimes with a fierce, hideous form—serpent-headed and human-bodied, towering and majestic, commanding the great Dao of U Đô—sometimes goat-headed and human-bodied, tiny beyond measure, impossible to track.
Yet his blade was utterly decisive, its power never leaking outward, bearing the unique style of the Khai Hoàng era.
Four great masters of the blade path struck simultaneously, colliding with Qin Mu's blade, each reaching different conclusions—all feeling that Qin Mu's cultivation realm was about equal to their own.
Five figures rose and fell like rabbits and falcons, each perfectly displaying their own Dao within their blade techniques.
Zhe Huali's sinister wickedness, Luo Wushuang's discipline, Tian Shu's domineering tyranny and demonic path, the Butcher's grandeur—all laid bare!
Qin Mu, in his collisions with them, gathered their wickedness, discipline, tyranny, and grandeur into himself.
He used the Blade Path Heavenly Palace as his primary palace, with the other heavenly palaces as auxiliary. One Blade Path Heavenly Palace, one divine blade formed of primordial qi, sweeping in all directions, simultaneously holding off four great masters of the blade path.
Earlier, he had followed the Butcher in training, honing his blade-path heart. Whether establishing discipline or guarding the rivers and mountains and all living beings, all were tempering his blade-path heart. From this tempering, he comprehended the most fundamental enlightenment divine ability of the blade path.
Unbending, so he knocked upon the Southern Heavenly Gate. Unequal, so he established discipline. Protecting, so he slaughtered.
The blade nourishes the spirit.
Only by mastering these three fundamental spirits of the blade path could one be considered formally initiated.
In the future, no matter how his blade path transformed or evolved, what could not be abandoned, what could not be deviated from, were these three spirits. To abandon them, to deviate from them, was to betray the Dao of the blade.
The Butcher could not teach him more, could not guide him further, so he had to fuse his own learning and enlightenment.
Around the Uy Giang River, fishing boats had stopped their work. On the riverbanks stood fishermen and practitioners alike, pausing to watch. They saw blade light crisscrossing the river like sunlight scattered across the water's surface, shimmering and rippling.
Yet that shimmering light was not clinging to the river's surface—it suddenly leaped up, filling the blue sky. There was also blade light traveling through the river's depths, like great fish, like azure dragons.
Beams of light interwove and crossed, splitting the sky, leaving black lines in their eyes.
The practitioners of Diên Khang suddenly had black blood flowing from their eyes, and blade wounds appearing across their bodies in an instant. Startled, they hurriedly restrained the fishermen on the riverbanks, telling them not to look anymore, lest their eyes be harmed.
The battle in the river had reached such a level that although the power fluctuations of the war-art school were not as vast as divine abilities—whose power affected a wider area—the spirit hidden within the moves of blade-focused war-art schools could easily wound the Dao-hearts and spirits of onlookers.
Especially Qin Mu, the Butcher, and the other five—they were grand masters who had entered the Dao through the blade. Their moves might not appear to reach this far, but every move and stance contained their Dao. One glance, and one's essence, qi, and spirit were touched, as if a sharp blade had struck the body!
The stronger one's cultivation, the stronger this sensation, and the more severe the injury!
The practitioners were restraining the fishermen, while the Dragon Palace in the Uy Giang River was also migrating. Dragons great and small swam along the riverbed, eyes closed, following the Uy Giang Dragon King upstream or downstream.
"Hide within the heavens at the heart of the Uy Giang, seal your gates, close your eyes—do not observe, do not watch, do not listen, do not feel!"
The Uy Giang Dragon King was called Hoạn Long Quân, also a great master within the river, with profound cultivation. He was quite pleased with himself, calling out: "Impressive, right? This is my master returning!"
A sharp sword is honed from grinding, and so too is the blade.
Qin Mu used qi as his blade, his entire essence, qi, and spirit being honed sharper and sharper, keener and keener by the four great masters. The same enlightenment divine ability, different states of mind, different moves—the blade technique came out differently.
But later on, the five used their enlightenment divine abilities over and over, a thousand times, yet still could not overcome Qin Mu, could not force Qin Mu to take another step forward and comprehend a deeper Dao realm.
Three days later, there were no more figures sweeping across the Uy Giang River. Only five figures remained, standing in measured positions on the river's surface, unmoving, their essence, qi, and spirit clashing.
This scene was even more terrifying!
Blade qi and spirit filled the river's surface, causing space to warp. Ten thousand strands of blade qi clashed fiercely in the air like schools of fish.
The blade nourishes the spirit.
They were clashing with their spirits!
Nearby, scholars from the former Uy Giang Academy—now the Uy Giang Sect—rushed upon hearing the news. The moment they arrived at the riverbank, their spiritual weapons flew up uncontrollably, clanging and clattering in the air, colliding with the blade qi.
Crack.
One spiritual weapon after another shattered in midair, startling the scholars.
And the closer one got to the Uy Giang, the faster the spiritual weapons shattered.
Strangely, this blade qi was harmless to human bodies, harmless to flowers, grass, trees, insects, and fish—it seemed to target only weapons.
"Headmaster Tô!"
Several academy scholars quickly passed through the dense forest along the riverbank and arrived at the riverside, where they saw several deities standing at the water's edge, gazing toward the river's heart. At their head was none other than Tô Vân Chi of the Uy Giang Academy.
What shocked these young scholars was that Tô Vân Chi and the assembled deities of the Uy Giang—their divine weapons were also floating up involuntarily, erupting with waves of overwhelming divine might, as if struggling against the blade-path spirit emanating from the river's heart.
And these deities' divine weapons were already covered in blade marks.
The blade-path spirit seemed to have formed a tremendous spiritual imprint here. This imprint grew stronger and stronger, spreading across the sky, causing the spiritual weapons and divine weapons of all who came here to lose control.
Moreover, this imprint grew ever deeper.
Standing at the riverbank, they could see within the river's heart layers upon layers of blade-path heavens, imprinted into layer after layer of void, the deepest reaching eighteen layers of void!
The Dao realm was like a dome, covering the four wilds, bringing an incomparably awe-inspiring sensation.
"Contemplate with your hearts, and you can touch their spirits."
Tô Vân Chi said to the scholars: "This is a rare opportunity. If you wish to gain a deeper understanding of the blade path, seize this great moment."
Another half year passed. The imprints in the void grew ever deeper, ever clearer. This place had almost become a holy land. Young people and deities from every region of Diên Khang—anyone who studied the blade or the sword—came here on pilgrimage.
Around the Uy Giang River, divine weapons floated, clashing ceaselessly in the air, unleashing all manner of divine might.
This was a trick someone had devised—using the blade-path might here to temper their own cultivation and hone the power of their divine weapons.
But here, there were more young practitioners and deities from all over Diên Khang, sitting motionless, nurturing their spirits, honing their blade will, honing their own primordial qi.
One year later, on both banks of the Uy Giang, blades and swords stood in dense forests like groves of steel!
This place had become a holy land. Not many in Diên Khang cultivated the blade—most refined the sword, nurturing their sword-hearts. But once the blade-path holy land was established, it sparked a craze for learning the blade.
And the Dao-realm dome of the blade path in the void seemed to have become substantial, imprinting the figures of those five in the river onto the eighteenth void, clearly visible.
"Long ago, there was the former National Preceptor Giang Bạch Khuê, who used the sword to make friends, defeating all war-art schools and divine ability schools, elevating the status of sword techniques to the level of Diên Khang's number one method! From then on, the sword path flourished!"
"Today, these Five Saints of the Blade, comprehending the Dao by the river, establishing the Blade Path Holy Land—this is even more awe-inspiring than back then! The Dao of the blade will also flourish greatly!"
Another year passed. Suddenly, a layer of blade-path heavens trembled and appeared in the nineteenth void.
The Dao might of the blade spread, and within ten thousand li, it could be clearly felt.
At that time, two years and one month, the blade-path heavens spread to cover the twentieth void.
The next month, it covered the twenty-first void.
Two years and three months, it covered the twenty-second void.
By two years and six months, it covered the twenty-fifth void.
The Dao might of the blade now covered half of Diên Khang's territory.
The five blade-path grand masters in the river's heart were honored as the Five Ancestors of the Blade.
On this day, suddenly the Uy Giang River trembled, and gradually the river rose into the air, floating in the sky, rising higher and higher, like a pure white translucent ribbon, floating up beside one magnificent divine mountain after another.
Qin Mu suddenly opened his eyes. The time had come.
The eleven great spiritual energy transfer bridges of the Ancestral Court had been completed. The Heavenly Court had begun its migration—the entire Heavenly Court and countless divine beings would pass through the spiritual energy transfer bridge matrix, migrating to the Ancestral Court!
The time to eliminate the Heavenly Duke was also drawing near!