Chapter 1101: Spirit Visible Within the Blade

The mute was startled by him and became furious, glaring at him and gesturing wildly.

The blind man closed his eyes, "watching" the clash between Qin Mu and the Butcher. He calmly said, "Mute, you have two eyes, but you see nothing. Let me help you!"

He placed his palm on the mute's face, covering his eyes.

Just as the mute was about to swat his hand away, his body trembled slightly. He had truly "seen" it!

He "saw" Qin Mu and the Butcher standing there, their bodies motionless. Yet, their "spirit" was in constant flux, like streaks of light, as countless blade arts furiously attacked each other.

The blade light was incredibly bright and dazzling. Long blades struck with the force of splitting the sky, while fine blades were as intricate as flowing water. Their "spirit" was so fluid and ever-changing that countless moves unfolded in an instant. The battle was exceptionally fierce, making it impossible to keep up with!

They seemed like two colossal blade gods, using ultimate blade arts to validate each other's knowledge and insights.

The mute was stunned.

Just then, he seemed to hear the sound of war drums in his ears, like rumbling thunder, or the defiant cries of billions of people. It was the spirit emanating from within Qin Mu!

In a trance, he felt as if he was traveling through ancient history, seeing blade light pierce through endless darkness. It was as if he was witnessing the history of struggle by ancient ancestors!

Amidst flashing blades and clashing swords, powerful figures leaped in the darkness, fighting against tyranny, resisting foreign invaders, battling incredibly treacherous floods and beasts, and confronting the injustices of that era!

They carried the burden of the night, toiling through hardships. Batch after batch of people fell, yet from mountains of corpses and seas of blood, more people rose up!

They walked from darkness towards light, from the past towards the present.

The backbone of this nation had never truly been broken!

The mute watched, his blood boiling, and couldn't help but exclaim loudly, "Excellent blade arts!"

The blind man lowered his hand and calmly asked, "Did you see it?"

The mute nodded repeatedly, then realized his cheeks were wet. He had unknowingly shed tears while "watching" Qin Mu's blade arts.

He blinked his old eyes and chuckled, "I was choked by this water pipe smoke; it's quite harsh on the throat."

Long Qilin cautiously approached, whispering, "Esteemed sirs, how is this contest? I can't seem to understand it."

The blind man and the mute glanced at him. The blind man asked in surprise, "This fellow still hasn't taken his seat?"

"Not yet."

Long Qilin continued to give ingratiating smiles, saying, "Esteemed sirs, I don't understand the contest between the Cult Master and Elder Butcher, but I heard you both praise it. Please, could you enlighten me?"

The mute took a finger-sized silver pellet from a box and tossed it to him, saying, "Throw this between them."

Long Qilin threw the silver pellet. It was a divine weapon, and just as it flew between Qin Mu and the Butcher, it suddenly underwent a transformation!

As if stimulated, the silver pellet instantly split outward with metallic sounds, transforming into thousands of divine spears!

This was a weapon-refining technique from Yankang, a spear pellet designed by the Divine Sage Academy of Bazhou in Yankang. Countless spear shafts were packed together to form a perfect sphere!

Currently, Yankang's weapon-refining standards, in terms of both design and manufacturing precision, had reached the pinnacle among all heavens and myriad realms, second only to the Zaofu Heavenly Palace of the Celestial Heavens!

No sooner had the thousands of divine spears decomposed than they appeared to be struck by an invisible divine blade. The tips of spear after spear broke off and fell to the ground!

Immediately afterward, countless more great spears transformed into roaming dragons, dancing in the air and attacking Qin Mu and the Butcher!

These divine spears were sentient, imprinted with design runes from Jiangling Academy, allowing them to counterattack autonomously when ambushed.

Such divine spears could save their masters' lives in large-scale wars, making them very popular with the Celestial Heavens, who were willing to pay a high price for them!

However, before the thousands of divine spears could fully descend, they suddenly shattered into countless fragments, raining down!

Long Qilin was startled. Yankang's weapon-refining capabilities had reached such a level that it was an eye-opener for him. He had traveled back to ancient times with Qin Mu, where the divine weapons he saw were quite crude. Upon suddenly returning to Yankang, he felt as though he had previously been in a barbaric, ignorant era.

Indeed, Yankang's development over the past five years had been remarkable, far surpassing its state five years prior, so it was no wonder Long Qilin was surprised.

But what astonished him even more was that Qin Mu and the Butcher fought with invisible blade arts despite their eyes being closed, and these arts were incredibly sharp!

They stood there, seemingly without danger, yet anyone who stepped between them would likely be shattered into countless pieces in an instant!

"The Cult Master has also become more formidable."

Long Qilin blinked: "After we stole the Glazed Azure Sky Banner, we returned to the ghost ship and left him in the Dragon Han Era. What has he experienced during this time in Dragon Han?"

He could tell that Qin Mu's Dao heart had undergone a monumental leap in improvement precisely during this period.

This elevation of his Dao heart had refined his spirit, leading to a profound increase in his demeanor, vision, and underlying strength!

This was also why Qin Mu did not fall behind when his and the Butcher's blade Dao spirits clashed!

Amateurs watch the spectacle, while experts discern the intricacies. Qin Mu and the Butcher stood there, offering no spectacle to watch. Only the blind man could discern the true essence of their contest.

Under the gaze of his spiritual eye, Qin Mu's spirit grew increasingly intense, managing to overpower the Butcher in just a short moment!

This was a result of his experiences.

Without the experience of traveling through the Dragon Han Era and being moved by the great historical changes, it would have been difficult for Qin Mu to cultivate this undefeated and immortal spirit that transcended ancient and modern times!

"The Butcher can't hold back; he must make his move!"

No sooner had he thought this than the divine blade stuck before the Butcher suddenly leaped up like a soaring dragon. The Butcher seized it and fiercely unleashed his blade!

Qin Mu's spirit was too strong. If this continued, the Butcher would be unable to break Qin Mu's Dao heart and would instead be suppressed by him into a defeat without fighting!

This was something an expert who had entered the Dao through the blade could absolutely not tolerate.

Furthermore, the Butcher sensed that Qin Mu was using him to nurture his blade.

Nurturing the blade was nurturing the Dao. First, cultivate qi; with sufficient qi, the blade would be fast. Then, cultivate blade techniques; with good blade techniques, combat power would be strong.

Next, cultivate blade arts to grasp their essence and illuminate the spirit.

Cultivating the spirit would lead to understanding the Blade Dao!

For a long time, what Qin Mu lacked was not insufficient comprehension or flawed blade techniques, but rather an understanding of the spirit embedded within the Blade Dao.

Now his spirit had arrived, but merely touching the Blade Dao with his spirit was not enough.

To enter the Dao through the blade, mere comprehension was insufficient; one had to wield the blade.

His spirit was like a seed that had yet to sprout, growing only within its shell. He needed pressure, even greater pressure.

And the Butcher drawing his blade was precisely to give him this pressure!

The Butcher had always been the most stringent teacher in Disabled Elderly Village. Every time he taught Qin Mu, he was ruthless. If not for Elder Ma often watching over them, Qin Mu would have been cleaved to death by him hundreds of times over.

This time was no exception!

With his long blade in hand, the Butcher unleashed the first stance of Heavenly Blade, "Night Battle Across Cities Amidst Wind and Rain"!

This was a battlefield blade art. In the Butcher's era, the best weapon for the battlefield was the blade—fast as lightning, swift to strike. In the midst of battle, only those with fast blades could survive!

As someone who had comprehended the nine heavens of the Blade Dao before even becoming a god, his mastery of blade arts had also advanced by leaps and bounds during Yankang's reform period!

He would serve as the whetstone, absolutely capable of grinding Qin Mu's blade to a gleaming, incomparably sharp edge!