Chapter 1018: Looking Back on a Springtime Dream

"Do practitioners of the Sword Path feel an insurmountable peak?"

The Blind and the Mute exchanged glances, deciding to keep silent about having cursed Emperor Kai in his presence. The Blind chuckled, "Fortunately, there's no such peak in the Way of Formations; I've never seen anything like it."

The Mute shook his head. "I haven't seen such a peak in the Way of Forging either. It's quite disheartening for those who practice the Sword Path. Strange, why haven't I heard Mu'er mention this before?"

Upon hearing Qin Mu's name, the Village Chief snorted, "Mu'er is utterly fearless. He wouldn't even sense such a peak. With his rough nature, even if he did, he'd probably climb over it and relieve himself on it! Emperor Kai's Sword Path is simply too powerful. I reckon if his Sword Path advances further, it will leave its mark on the universe, becoming the first to use a Post-celestial Great Dao to reverse-attain a Primordial state."

The Mute and the Blind were greatly shocked. "Leaving a mark on the cosmic void, reverse-attaining the Primordial — what kind of realm is that?"

"The Sword Path, the Blade Path, Formations, Forging — these are all Great Daos created by Post-celestial beings; they don't belong to the Primordial. Yet Emperor Kai's Sword Path, cultivated to its extreme, is truly formidable."

The Village Chief said, "Anyone who practices the Sword Path can clearly sense him and cannot ignore his achievements in the Sword Path. I feel he's not far from the pinnacle of the Sword Path. Perhaps he will be the first to brand a Post-celestial Great Dao onto the cosmic void. Reaching that stage, calling him the Sword Dao Supremacy would not be an overstatement."

The Blind and the Mute were deeply shaken. The level the Village Chief described was simply too high. Even with their respective strengths and achievements, they couldn't imagine the terrifying comprehension and creativity required to brand one's Great Dao onto the cosmic void.

The Village Chief sighed, "I wonder how Mu'er is doing in the Celestial Heavens. Just thinking of him entering the Celestial Heavens and enduring all sorts of humiliation and difficulties from the gods there, I just..."

His eyes reddened. He quickly changed the subject, no longer mentioning Qin Mu. "Why are you two here?"

"Mu'er is back!"

The Blind chuckled, "The Pig Butcher sent word! Two days ago, Mu'er went to Yongjiang Academy and was chased away by the Pig Butcher! He should be arriving here soon!"

The Village Chief was inexplicably excited, his eyes reddening again. "Mu'er is back? It's good he's back, it's good... Wait a minute, you mean Mu'er went to see the Pig Butcher as soon as he returned and didn't come to see us? He truly favors the Pig Butcher more. And to think we raised him from infancy, with all the effort that entailed...'"

The Mute chuckled, "When he comes back to see us, we'll certainly give him a proper talking-to!"

The Village Chief and the Blind both nodded in agreement.

The Heavenly Dragon Chariot approached the Celestial Saint Academy. Inside, Qin Mu, Divine King Lang Wo, and Shujun finally refined the Grand Emperor's divine consciousness from the bottle. Each of the three obtained a portion. Lang Wo assimilated the Grand Emperor's divine consciousness into her own cultivation, significantly boosting her power.

Shujun, in particular, had died once, and his resurrection had left him unable to restore his physical body or his divine consciousness. This time, after refining the Grand Emperor's divine consciousness, he immediately re-forged his physical body.

As one of the Three Primordial Kings, Shujun was naturally very astute. He knew that refined divine consciousness was never as good as self-cultivated divine consciousness, so he used almost all of it to enhance his newly forged physical body.

He shed his previous weak image, becoming tall and imposing. His physical strength alone now rivaled that of a Grandmaster in the Numinous Sky Realm!

Qin Mu was filled with envy.

The Grand Dao Supreme Divine Consciousness contained within the Grand Emperor's divine consciousness was also sorted out by them. Qin Mu finally filled in the missing parts of the Grand Dao Supreme Divine Consciousness he had previously obtained. However, the Grand Emperor's divine consciousness still lacked cultivation methods related to the Celestial Heavens.

Nevertheless, with Imperial Seat-level Grand Dao Supreme Divine Consciousness, Qin Mu was quite content.

Among his fifteen Heavenly Palaces, the Grand Dao Divine Consciousness Heavenly Palace was even more ancient and weighty, surpassing the other thirteen Heavenly Palaces, showing a tendency to rival Qin Mu's main Heavenly Palace!

"The guest overshadowing the host, I fear future troubles."

Qin Mu frowned slightly, examining his Heavenly Palaces and feeling a faint unease. Eight of his Heavenly Palaces were incomplete, and the Grand Dao Divine Consciousness Heavenly Palace was so powerful that if it usurped the main one, it would mean the Grand Emperor's path was superior to his own.

The guest overshadowing the host is a minor matter; damaging one's Dao heart is a major one!

If the Grand Dao Divine Consciousness Heavenly Palace truly surpassed his main Heavenly Palace, Qin Mu's invincible Dao heart would be shattered. Even if he were to build the Celestial Heavens primarily with the Grand Dao Divine Consciousness Heavenly Palace, in the future he would just be another Grand Emperor, no more brilliant than the original.

However, with his Dao heart broken, it was more likely that he would be completely demoralized and unable to recover.

"Blind Grandpa, Granny Si, you really need to work harder and perfect your Imperial Seat cultivation techniques as soon as possible..."

Qin Mu sighed, thinking, "If only I could steal all the Imperial Seat cultivation techniques the Celestial Heavens have collected over the years and give them to Eternal Peace, Granny Si and the others could then absorb the essence of these techniques, infer from them, and perhaps even create their own Imperial Seat cultivation methods. What a pity..."

Finally, the Heavenly Dragon Chariot arrived at the Celestial Saint Academy. Qin Mu stepped down from the chariot. Before he could even enter, he heard calls of "Maha, Maha!" A hundred or so sweet-sounding flood dragons swarmed, engulfing him and the Dragon Qilin.

Qin Mu was covered in dragon drool from being licked by the flood dragons; it took great effort for him to break free. He then saw that the Dragon Qilin was buried beneath the flood dragons. Yan'er hastily took out some spirit pills, which finally lured the flood dragons away.

Qin Mu straightened his clothes, took out a mirror to check, and ensured no dragon drool remained on his face before entering the academy.

The Celestial Saint Academy was now called the Celestial Saint Cult, but its teaching methods remained unchanged.

Granny Si, the Deaf, and the Apothecary remained there, managing the academy, which was still well-organized.

"Mu'er, this girl is lovely."

Granny Si scrutinized Divine King Lang Wo, growing happier the more she looked, and discreetly gave Qin Mu a thumbs-up. Qin Mu's face reddened slightly, and he quickly went to find the Apothecary. The Deaf's eyes lit up. He fetched his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, sat down, and prepared to paint Granny Si and Divine King Lang Wo. But after a long while, he still didn't know how to begin.

Divine King Lang Wo observed Granny Si and couldn't help but praise, "Sister, you are truly beautiful."

Granny Si chuckled, "Why call me sister? Call me Granny."

Divine King Lang Wo was startled and hesitated before saying, "Lang Wo is already one million and fifty thousand years old this year. May I ask how old Granny is?"

Granny Si was startled. She told the Deaf, "You entertain this young sister Lang Wo. I'm going to find Mu'er to talk!"

The Deaf paid no attention, still holding his brush and tracing Divine King Lang Wo's image in the air, yet still unable to begin drawing.

The woman was too beautiful; if painted on paper, no matter how he drew, she would lose her essence. After a long while, the Deaf sighed, rolled up his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and left.

Divine King Lang Wo blinked, thinking, "The Holy Infant's family members are all quite peculiar."

The Deaf found Granny Si, who was currently scolding Qin Mu while pulling his ear.

Qin Mu nodded submissively, not daring to talk back. The Apothecary, wearing a bronze mask, was collecting herbs nearby and watched them cheerfully without intervening.

"I cannot paint her."

The Deaf said abruptly, "I can paint beauties like Granny Si, and I can paint all things in the world, but I alone cannot paint Divine King Lang Wo."

Qin Mu covered his ear and asked curiously, "Deaf Grandpa, Granny's beauty is not inferior to Divine King Lang Wo's. If you can paint Granny, why can't you paint Divine King Lang Wo?"

The Deaf took his hand and said, "Come with me."

The two came before Divine King Lang Wo, each setting up a desk, spreading out their brush, ink, paper, and inkstone, and dipping their brushes to soak up ink.

Granny Si and the Apothecary also followed, watching how the two painting saints would begin their work.

Divine King Lang Wo grew more curious, sitting quietly and observing them.

Qin Mu and the Deaf carefully observed the beautiful woman before them, each pondering. Just as Qin Mu was about to put brush to paper, he felt that doing so would defile the beauty. His brushstrokes simply couldn't land.

The Deaf experienced the same.

The two painting saints held their brushes, yet were unable to apply ink, much to the wonder of Granny Si and the Apothecary.

"Why can I paint Granny Si, but not Divine King Lang Wo? Do you have your answer now?"

The Deaf sighed deeply, dropping his brush to the ground. "Granny Si is human. Even if she has cultivated to the divine realm, even if her beauty is unparalleled and defies description by language or poetry, one can still grasp her essence. But this woman you've brought, she is not human. She has no trace of human quality. She possesses only pure divine essence, pure divinity, and no emotions. Therefore, I cannot capture her essence, and cannot put my brush to paper. Apothecary, remove your mask."

The Apothecary was slightly taken aback by the request, but still removed the bronze mask covering his face.

The Deaf looked at Divine King Lang Wo, and Divine King Lang Wo looked at the Apothecary. The Deaf shook his head and said, "Even the most handsome man in the world cannot evoke a shred of human emotion from this Divine King. I still cannot put my brush to paper."

Qin Mu put down his brush, looking at Divine King Lang Wo's incredibly clear eyes, feeling a sense of wistful loss.

Divine King Lang Wo gave him a serene smile, and Qin Mu returned it, suddenly feeling a sense of relief.

A woman even a painting saint found impossible to capture was, after all, not the same kind of person as him. Ever since he met Divine King Lang Wo, he had been captivated by her beauty, yet he hadn't considered that such a goddess harbored no worldly emotions.

He had thought Yun Chuxiu was a creation, a beauty crafted in the image of Divine King Lang Wo. However, prompted by the Deaf, he suddenly realized that Divine King Lang Wo fundamentally lacked mortal emotions, having no seven passions or six desires.

In comparison, Yun Chuxiu, formed by Madam Yuanmu, was more like a clever and eccentric human, possessing human personality despite being a creation. Divine King Lang Wo, however, was a goddess aloof and untouched by mortal concerns.

She possessed only divinity, not humanity.

He realized he should simply quietly appreciate her beauty.

He released the desires in his heart, and looking at Divine King Lang Wo again, he could finally treat her with an ordinary mind.

"My hands caress red apricots, drunk on their rich fragrance; looking back, it was but a dream before spring."

Qin Mu put his brush to paper, his mind clear, meticulously drawing the beautiful woman opposite him.

The Deaf watched intently by his side, surprised. The beauty Qin Mu drew on paper didn't match Divine King Lang Wo's true appearance. However, the girl in the painting was like a real person, with playful eyes, a shy smile, and eyes like autumn water, full of emotion.

The Deaf looked up at the woman opposite them, thinking, "Mu'er is painting the lover in his heart, not her."

He felt inspired, emptied his mind, picked up his own brush, and began to paint.

He used divinity to paint Divine King Lang Wo's divinity.