Chapter 226: One Sword Opens the Imperial Era, Blood Like an Ocean
In the main room of the house, Fox Ling'er lay sprawled motionless on Dragon Qilin's back, secretly cracking open an eye, watching as one head after another rolled to the ground.
The scene was utterly bizarre. There were clearly no enemies visible, yet every Heaven-Man realm expert who stepped into this courtyard died on the spot!
The others were on high alert. One Heaven-Man realm cultivator shouted, his sword aura like frost, silver light coiling around his body as he slowly stepped into the courtyard, his gaze wary, sweeping in all directions.
His swordsmanship was fierce and sharp. Countless sword lights swam around his body like tiny, minuscule fish, joyfully circling him as they darted to and fro.
He adopted a purely defensive stance. Thousands of tiny sword-fish swirled around him, carrying his immensely profound cultivation. If any hostility were detected, they would immediately counterattack, delivering a fatal blow to the enemy!
He had no choice. The enemy came without shadow or trace. He couldn't even see where the enemy was, or how they struck, yet so many Heaven-Man realm experts had already lost their lives. It was utterly bizarre to the extreme.
He encountered no danger himself, but he still didn't dare relax his guard. He slowly moved his steps toward the main room where Qin Mu and the others were sleeping. Then, he saw the painting hanging in front of the hall.
Qin Mu had lit a candle in front of this painting, illuminating it.
The painting depicted the back view of a middle-aged man carrying a sword on his back. The man's face was turned slightly to the side, as if using the corner of his eye to look at the painter.
The corner of his eye revealed a shocking, heaven-defying killing intent.
That fleeting glance had been captured by the painter and turned into this painting.
Although the painting only contained this middle-aged man, it gave one the feeling that there was still infinite information hidden within the painting that hadn't been depicted, concealed in the blank spaces of the artwork.
It was a scene just after a terrifying battle had ended. Countless corpses of powerful experts lay fallen at the feet of this middle-aged man. In a vast sea of blood, bodies floated, white bones stained red with blood, shimmering with an eerie color. Countless wronged souls beneath his sword were being seized by underworld emissaries, dragged into the darkness.
And in that dark world, a demon god with two curved, nine-bend horns was hosting a celebratory feast, rejoicing that the souls of these experts had become his guests and his food.
This was the information hidden in the blank spaces of the painting!
In the courtyard, the Heaven-Man realm expert saw the painting and the man within it. Suddenly, he froze for a moment, then saw his own head sliding off his neck. He felt everything become so slow, as if he were slowly sinking into a darkness devoid of any light, sinking deeper and deeper, endlessly, forever falling without ever reaching the bottom.
Thud.
His head hit the ground, rolled twice, his eyes still wide open.
Suddenly, a large hand reached out and snatched his head away.
Outside the courtyard, nine others stood in terror. Only the white-browed old man, Green Mountain Daoist, remained relatively calm. It was he who had grabbed the head of the Heaven-Man realm expert.
He was also the only Great Expert of the Life-Death realm among them.
Green Mountain Daoist looked into the eyes of the dead Heaven-Man realm expert and let out a turbid breath. "Fine sword."
The other eight quickly leaned in, trembling voices asking, "Senior Green Mountain, what did you discover?"
"Look at his eyes."
The eight leaned in close and saw that in the left and right pupils of the dead expert, there was a sword light each. The sword seemed to have struck head-on, and in the next instant, the expert's life had been ended!
Green Mountain Daoist held up the head, turning it toward the main room where Qin Mu and the others slept, and said, "The sword came from there. What exactly is in there?"
He slowly shifted his body, carefully searching for an angle, then saw the flickering candlelight, and then a corner of the painting. "It's a painting. I can see the hem of the robes of the man in the painting..."
"Senior Green Mountain, why bother with all this trouble? Why not just destroy the house and everyone in it?"
A Heaven-Man realm expert suddenly made his move. His sword pellet shot into the air, and from it, a pillar of sword light roared toward the building where Qin Mu and the others were!
The sword pillar was massive, and everything in its path was shredded by the spinning sword light!
The Winding Sword Style, created by the Imperial Preceptor of Yankang!
The Imperial Preceptor of Yankang was not a man who kept secrets. Many of the sword styles he created had already spread to the world, and many sword sects in the martial world practiced the Imperial Preceptor's sword techniques. The one who struck now was one of the best among them!
His mastery of the Winding Sword Style surpassed that of many others.
This sword strike was grand and majestic. If it struck the main room, it would surely grind everything inside to dust, erasing it from existence. Whether it was Qin Mu inside the room, or the Capital Heaven Demon King, or Dragon Qilin, all would be shredded to pieces!
"Do not direct killing intent at that painting!"
Green Mountain Daoist's face changed drastically. He wanted to stop it, but it was already too late.
They saw the sword pillar suddenly encounter an invisible barrier, freezing in mid-air. Then the pillar crumbled inch by inch, and with a crack, the sword pellet exploded.
The expert who had just struck now had a red mark on his forehead. A single drop of blood flowed from the mark, and then he swayed and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
"Be on guard!" Green Mountain Daoist shouted sternly.
His aura exploded. Six booming sounds came from within his body, as the six great Divine Treasures—Spirit Embryo, Five Radiances, Six Harmonies, Seven Stars, Heaven-Man, and Life-Death—all opened at once!
Around him, the Heaven-Man realm experts couldn't hold their ground, forced back step by step by his overwhelming aura.
Whoosh—
Behind Green Mountain Daoist, a phantom of a divine demon materialized—a dragon-headed, human-bodied figure, like a god descending. Half its body was in the void, half stepped into reality.
Green Mountain Daoist gripped a bright mirror in his hand, staring nervously at the main room where Qin Mu and the others slept, his voice hoarse: "Why aren't you all on guard? Are you courting death?"
At that moment, Qin Mu, who was pretending to sleep in the main room, squinted his eyes and saw a figure drift down from the wall behind him. He could only see the back of a middle-aged man, his shadow stretched long by the candlelight.
This middle-aged man who had stepped out of the painting was tall and lean, carrying a treasured sword on his back. He was very still, like a spirit without a physical body, drifting toward the courtyard.
The figure looked up at the sky, drew the sword from his back, and danced with the blade while singing softly. The sword light moved, fish and dragons danced.
"One sword opens the Imperial Era, blood like an ocean. Mountains and rivers remain, but the heart is vast and desolate. Gazing left and right, the old kingdom is gone, people still wear old garments..."
Qin Mu didn't dare move a muscle. He felt that suddenly, the entire world was filled with sharp sword qi and sword light, shuttling past him, traveling through time and space.
He closed his eyes, but before him still flashed sword lights streaking through the darkness, tearing it apart.
He heard the sound of sword qi piercing the air—urgent, short, and sharp.
He opened his eyes. Sword lights crisscrossed everywhere. From outside the courtyard came another series of angry shouts, and terrifying shockwaves slammed through the air. In the dim night, the other houses of this small village flew into the sky, disintegrating and shattering in mid-air.
Qin Mu's heart pounded wildly. "Deaf Grandpa has imbued the painting with a soul—he's given the Village Chief in the painting a soul..."
Suddenly, all sound and light vanished. The low singing also disappeared.
Qin Mu's eyes were half-open, half-closed. He vaguely saw a figure walking toward him, seeming to return to the painting behind him. Suddenly, the figure collapsed, turning into a puddle of ink that splattered onto the ground.
Qin Mu was stunned for a moment. He quickly opened his eyes and cautiously looked back. He saw that the painting hanging on the wall had turned into a blank sheet of white paper.
The candlelight flickered. All around was silent.
Qin Mu let out a turbid breath. Fox Ling'er opened her eyes and whispered, "Young Master..."
"It's safe now. Go to sleep."
Qin Mu said, "Tomorrow we still have to cross the mountains. There's a long road ahead."
Fox Ling'er buried her head. Qin Mu lay down as well, looking at the blank paper behind the candlelight, his heart at peace.
The next day, Qin Mu woke up and went to the courtyard. He saw that the small village from last night had turned into a stretch of bare ground. The other houses had vanished without a trace, leaving only their half of the courtyard. Most of the walls had collapsed, the eastern room had half fallen, and the western room had lost its roof.
Qin Mu washed up, set up a pot, and made breakfast. Fox Ling'er finished adjusting the Capital Heaven Demon King's mechanisms and ran outside with him, shrieking in surprise.
Dragon Qilin woke up groggily, went outside to take a look, yawned, licked his paw, and sloppily washed his face with his damp paw. He asked curiously, "Where are we now? Where did that village from yesterday go... Sect Master, are we starting breakfast? Can you sprinkle some cumin on my Crimson Fire Spirit Pills today? I want to try a different flavor..."
Qin Mu grabbed some cumin and took out half a bushel of Crimson Fire Spirit Pills, sprinkling them on top.
Dragon Qilin looked down at his meal, then raised his head in confusion. "Only half a bushel?"
Qin Mu said angrily, "You're so fat now you can barely run! Half a bushel is more than enough!"
Dragon Qilin said, "I'm at the age where I'm still growing. If you skimp on my food, I'll never grow big..."
"You're still growing?"
Qin Mu was furious. He tried to pinch the fat on Dragon Qilin's belly, only to find he couldn't even pinch it. "You're not growing—you're just getting fatter! Pinch yourself and see if you can make a fold!"
Dragon Qilin stretched out his claw and pinched himself, finding that he indeed couldn't pinch anything. He said, "I'm the type who gains weight even from drinking cold water..."
Fox Ling'er ran over, angry. "Fat Dragon, then from now on, you can just drink cold water!"
Dragon Qilin quickly shielded his Crimson Fire Spirit Pills with his paw, smiling placatingly. "I'm just afraid of going hungry. I always want to eat a bit more. Half a bushel it is, can't go any lower, or I'll really be reduced to skin and bones."
The Capital Heaven Demon King walked over. Seeing that Qin Mu had already eaten and drunk his fill and was now taking down the painting that had become blank paper from in front of the hall, he said, "Was this painting done by an elder of your family?"
Qin Mu nodded.
The Capital Heaven Demon King was silent for a moment, then said, "And the man in the painting—also an elder of your family?"
Qin Mu placed the scroll into his Gluttony Pouch and nodded again.
The Capital Heaven Demon King said, "I am not afraid of them. However, keeping me locked inside this demon god statue is no solution. Why not release the seal? My consciousness will leave your world and return to the Capital Heaven, and I will never set foot here again. How about it?"
Qin Mu neither agreed nor disagreed. He said, "Ling'er, eat faster. We need to get moving."
The Capital Heaven Demon King was at a loss.
After Fox Ling'er finished eating, Qin Mu stepped forward to help wash the dishes, then stored the clean dishes in the Gluttony Pouch. He checked the remaining provisions inside and said, "Enough to last until the Great Ruins. Demon King, let's go."
The Capital Heaven Demon King followed, saying, "I'm not afraid of them. When my true body descends, I fear no one..."
The Divine Severing Mountain Range stretched for who knows how many tens of thousands of miles. Qin Mu and the others arrived at the foot of the mountain, seeing that the range was extremely steep—even agile apes would find it hard to climb, and birds would struggle to cross.
Qin Mu took out the Yankang Geography Chart and carefully searched it, smiling. "The Withered Silence Ridge Canyon isn't far from here. Let's go!"
Just as he said this, suddenly a crack split open in the dark clouds above. A giant red serpent poked its head out from the clouds, spewing great flames that burned the clouds apart in all directions. Then a golden swarm of insects flew out from the split clouds, scattering in every direction. A few of the insects flew toward them.