Long Yu's eyelids twitched as Qin Mu's swords blanketed the entire mountain. How could he possibly fight this battle? The sheer weight of these swords alone could crush him to death!
Long Yu glanced at Hermit Qingyou, who pretended not to notice. Simply making eight thousand swords fly and embed themselves in the ground—a task that seemed simple—would probably drain the spiritual energy of most Six Harmony Realm cultivators. Only a monstrous powerhouse like Qin Mu, with his absurdly vast spiritual energy, could mobilize so many flying swords at once.
Moreover, controlling so many flying swords demanded exceptional mathematical skill and calculation, requiring a quick-thinking brain to ensure each sword's trajectory remained unique, avoiding mutual interference.
Calculating the flight paths of eight thousand flying swords alone required a freakish level of mathematical prowess!
Clearly, Qin Mu had merged the Taoist Sect's Dao Sword with the Village Chief's sword techniques, allowing him to command so many swords.
"Could it be that the Tyrant Body truly exists?" Hermit Qingyou wondered skeptically. If the Tyrant Body existed, it would surely be recorded in the archives of Xiaoyu Capital. Yet, since returning to Xiaoyu Capital in disappointment, he had read through every book in its vast collection, and there was absolutely no mention of the Tyrant Body!
The library of Xiaoyu Capital encompassed all knowledge, its records stretching back to an era beyond the imagination of any other sect or holy land. The absence of any record of the Tyrant Body meant it simply did not exist!
Thus, Hermit Qingyou had been so certain the Village Chief was lying. But now, witnessing Qin Mu's performance, his confidence wavered.
"Senior Brother Long Yu, please," Qin Mu said again.
Long Yu steadied himself and replied in a deep voice, "Human Emperor, please!"
His eyes blazed with light as he thought, "This Human Emperor is controlling so many swords; it must be draining his spiritual energy immensely. To wield eight thousand swords in swordplay, his cultivation will probably be depleted after just one or two moves. I only need to endure for a moment, and I can turn the tide!"
But the moment he thought this, he realized he had miscalculated.
Qin Mu gave him no chance to endure. In his first move, he directly employed the Fourth Form of the Dao Sword—Silently guiding the celestial cycles, observing the myriad phenomena in flux!
In an instant, the eight thousand swords orchestrated the Celestial Star Array and the Myriad Phenomena!
This was the fourth chapter of the Dao Sword. When Daoist Lord Lin Xuan tested Qin Mu's mathematical skill, he used the Celestial Star Chess Variation algorithm, whose underlying mathematics formed the Fourth Form of the Dao Sword!
Qin Mu activated the fourth form of the Taoist Sect's Dao Sword. The Celestial Star Array, stars arranged like a chessboard, the myriad phenomena shifting, fully unleashing the motion of the starry river across the sky!
The Dao Sword comprised fourteen chapters, each stronger than the last. By the fourth chapter, the eight thousand swords transformed into a sky filled with starlight, their ever-changing trajectories trapping Long Yu within the sword formation.
Long Yu had no time to think further. The fire in his eyes erupted as he opened them wide, releasing two streaks of brilliant white sword glow!
His sword technique was unique—a supreme art from Xiaoyu Capital that focused on the eyes. Unlike pupil arts, it refined swordplay into the pupils themselves: where the eye looked, the sword struck. Hence its name, the Celestial Eye Sword Heart Art.
The strength of this technique lay in not needing external weapons like spirit blades or sword pills; instead, it turned the eyes into sword pills themselves. What the eye saw, the sword pointed at—direct and decisive.
Coupled with its exclusive cultivation method, the eyes could transform into a blazing sun, its sword glow indestructible, or into starlight, brilliant as a galaxy, with flashes of light and glints of swordplay that left opponents defenseless.
If one cultivated to the level of the sword heart, where mind and sword became one, it would be even swifter and more terrifying than the sword eyes. Wherever the thought reached, the sword arrived.
Long Yu had not yet reached this level, but his sword eyes were already formidable.
However, in the next instant, countless flying swords shattered his two streams of sword glow. His glow was formed from vital energy, while Qin Mu used treasures refined from items collected by the Heavenly Demon Sect. The quality alone far surpassed his condensed sword glow, and combined with Qin Mu's overwhelming cultivation, his sword glow was crushed!
From Long Yu's eyes burst countless starlights, like a galaxy flying out to meet the transformations of the Dao Sword's fourth form. Their sword techniques seemed similar, but were fundamentally different.
The Dao Sword used mathematics to structure the Celestial Star Array, its variations governed by mathematical principles. The Celestial Eye Sword Heart Art, on the other hand, followed the heart's desire, changing at will. While less refined than the Dao Sword, it surpassed it in unpredictability.
Yet, comparing sword against sword, his sword glow was far inferior in quality to Qin Mu's flying swords.
Long Yu grunted as the galaxy bursting from his eyes was destroyed. The eight thousand swords turned into a rain of blades, shredding the galaxy. As they descended, he heard Hermit Qingyou's shout: "Stop! Spare him!"
Then he saw all the flying swords surround him, merging into a giant sword pill. He stood within it, every sharp point aimed at every corner of his body, making him fear that if the swords fell, there would be no whole corpse left.
The sword pill clanged and split apart, converging into a river of sword light that flowed back into Qin Mu's Taotie Bag behind him.
Long Yu quickly patted himself down, finding he was still intact. He sighed in relief and wanted to thank Qin Mu, but found his limbs weak and his throat dry, unable to speak.
Mu Qingdai hurried forward with clean water. After drinking, Long Yu could finally speak. "Thank you, Human Emperor, for your mercy. But I haven't lost in swordplay! You only overpowered me with your treasures!"
Qin Mu did not deny it and replied modestly, "Senior Brother Long Yu is correct. I haven't diligently trained in the Dao Sword. In truth, I only studied it for ten days and am not proficient."
Long Yu's face darkened instantly. His throat felt dry again, and his voice rasped, "Not proficient in the Dao Sword?"
Qin Mu glanced at the Village Chief and said, "I trained in sword techniques under Grandpa Village Chief. The sword art he passed on to me is too powerful; I feared I couldn't hold back. My skill in the Dao Sword isn't high, which is why you could withstand it."
Long Yu gulped down several mouthfuls of water, but his throat still felt dry.
Mu Qingdai's eyes flickered. "Then, Emperor Qin, could you display your strongest sword technique?"
Wang Muran's eyes also gleamed with anticipation.
If Qin Mu's skill in the Dao Sword was this high, how powerful must 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... I shouldn't say a few—it's full of flaws! Especially lately, the flaws have multiplied."
Long Yu, Mu Qingdai, and Wang Muran were stunned. Even Hermit Qingyou was surprised. "Is he actually being humble for once?"
Qin Mu wore a guilty expression. "My strongest sword technique was defeated by Grandpa Village Chief, and I've never won. I also faced my father, and never won... Some time ago, after the National Teacher achieved enlightenment, I secretly observed his process, and since then, the flaws have only increased."
The months aboard Qin Hanzhen's treasure ship had been the mostblowting for Qin Mu. Qin Hanzhen from the painting fed him moves, knocking him down again and again.
If Qin Mu hadn't beaten Bancang Cuo to regain his confidence, he might never have recovered.
At Qingmen Pass, when the National Teacher of Yankang achieved enlightenment, Qin Mu secretly observed, intruding into the National Teacher's enlightened mind and witnessing the entire process. The shock was indescribable.
But this led to another consequence: his perspective and knowledge surged to a height previously unattainable. When Qin Mu reexamined his improved Sword Diagram swordplay, he found more and more flaws!
The Village Chief also looked surprised. "Mu'er, show me your sword technique full of flaws. I want to see it."
Qin Mu hesitated, then said, "Then please bear with my clumsiness."
He steadied his breath, and the Carefree Sword rang as it unsheathed.
With the sword in hand, its glow shifted, and countless flying swords shot out from the Taotie Bag behind him, one after another merging into the Carefree Sword.
Three thousand swords merged with the Carefree Sword.
The Carefree Sword was the mother sword; the others were child swords that could fuse into it. As a master of crafting treasures, Qin Mu knew sword pills had two forms—child swords merging into the mother sword was one. However, due to limitations in spiritual energy and strength, he could only merge three thousand swords with the Carefree Sword. Any more would hinder his control and restrict his power.
Qin Mu's gaze fixed on the sword's tip, as if nothing else existed. Then he activated his swordplay, and the Carefree Sword began moving clumsily in his hand.
*Whoosh—*
A torrential wind sound erupted. The Carefree Sword moved slowly, yet it produced an unimaginable sound of something massive displacing air!
As his swordplay unfolded, child swords flew out from within the Carefree Sword, like its afterimages. The sword glow split continuously, each child sword executing a different technique. The seventeen basic sword forms appeared in the trajectories of these flying swords, overlapping in disarray, making the swordplay appear chaotic.
He performed the technique "Sword Treading Mountains and Rivers," but its underlying principles had completely diverged from those taught by the Village Chief.
His swordplay was clumsy, lacking fluidity. Only as the Carefree Sword gradually increased in speed did it gain a sense of fluidity. More and more child swords filled the air, the swordplay quickening, dancing in sync with the Carefree Sword in his hand!
Hermit Qingyou's expression grew increasingly grave, while Long Yu, Mu Qingdai, and Wang Muran realized they could no longer comprehend what they were seeing.
The sword principles behind Qin Mu's technique grew ever more complex and profound. Above the immortal mountain, three thousand flying swords gathered and dispersed like dark clouds, then transformed into towering peaks that scattered the mist, then became a vast river flowing downward with the sound of rushing water. Then they became a forest of thousands of trees, lush and verdant, with every vein on every leaf and blade of grass visible!
After a moment, all the sword light vanished.
Qin Mu shook the Carefree Sword, and the flying swords shot out, falling back into the Taotie Bag behind him.
"No need to compete!" Mu Qingdai snapped out of her daze and quickly said, "My cultivation is slightly below Senior Brother Long Yu's. There's no need to compare!"
Wang Muran shook his head. "I couldn't withstand that move either. No need to compete—I concede."
Long Yu's face was pale. He opened his mouth, found his throat dry again, and quickly gulped down water. "Your swordplay... I can no longer understand it."
Hermit Qingyou stared blankly, looking at Qin Mu, then at the Village Chief. He suddenly sighed, "Old friend, you've taken on a fine disciple. Your swordplay has already entered the Dao."
The Village Chief shook his head. "I didn't teach him to forge his sword this way. He figured it out himself. Mu'er, your swordplay still has many flaws—like a sieve, leaking on all sides. You must continue striving. If you encounter someone with greater insight, you won't even know how you died!"
Qin Mu shivered and stammered, "I've noticed too many flaws myself, but I can't yet improve them."
"Is this any way to teach a disciple?" Hermit Qingyou said, caught between laughter and tears. "This swordplay could already dominate the world, couldn't it? Those who surpass him have entered the realm of the sword Dao!"