Chapter 1424: Knife Nourishes the Spirit

On the Surging River, blades flashed as five figures collided and intertwined. These five immediately activated their Dao-reaching divine arts, elevating their cultivation to its peak during their first clash.

Among the divine practitioners of Yankang, there was a common saying: "Blade wielders are all crude roughnecks."

Although this saying was somewhat biased—for instance, Butcher appeared to be a crude man but was actually a great scholar—it was true that blade users genuinely didn't engage in as many probing attacks as those from divine art schools or sword schools.

The blade is a combat technique, specifically a close-quarters combat style. Its level of close-range, short-strike fighting is even more profound than traditional martial arts. For example, blade techniques include pressing against an opponent, back-to-back, relying on muscle and qi-flow perception to find their weaknesses for a single, fatal strike.

While divine sword arts had many probing moves, the blade involved direct, short-range engagement. If one were to probe, and the opponent used full force, one would be at a disadvantage.

Butcher, Zhe Huali, Tian Shu, and Luo Wushuang attacked Qin Mu almost simultaneously. Zhe Huali, having spent years on Yankang's western front, had endured countless battles, sharpening his skills.

Battlefields differed from martial arts skirmishes. Years of training had made his blade Dao increasingly profound; this was a skill honed in killing fields. Every move was lethal, his blade Dao profound and increasingly unpredictable.

At the same time, he possessed the grand and majestic aura of the Celestial Blade. His blade technique was both unique and orthodox, integrating Daoist numerology and Luo Wushuang's strict discipline, making it truly marvelous.

He had already reached the ninth heaven of entering the Dao through the blade. The moment he clashed with Qin Mu, he immediately sensed that Qin Mu's magical power cultivation was similar to his own. He immediately felt relieved, thinking, "Qin Mu, that kid, went to the Celestial Heavens to become Heavenly Venerable Mu. He must have become complacent or slacked off. My cultivation has risen to the Jade Terrace Realm, and he's likely also at Jade Terrace, similar to me. Back then, his cultivation was far more profound than mine!"

Luo Wushuang had already cultivated to the eighteenth heaven of the blade Dao, and his cultivation realm had even reached the Numinous Sky Realm. Yankang's Daoist arts and divine powers were flourishing, and coming to Yankang had allowed his cultivation and strength to soar dramatically.

However, as his moves met Qin Mu's blade, he felt Qin Mu's magical power was endless, like a surging celestial river, flowing ceaselessly and comparable to his own cultivation. His heart immediately tensed: "How formidable! As expected of an Overlord Body, his cultivation has increased so rapidly that he must already be a master of the Jade Capital Realm!"

He knew that Qin Mu had almost no rivals at the same cultivation realm, and only Heavenly Venerables could contend with him. Thus, he believed that Qin Mu's Jade Capital Realm was enough to contend with his Numinous Sky Realm.

Butcher's Celestial Blade clashed with Qin Mu's blade, and he also felt that Qin Mu's cultivation strength was similar to his own.

"Mu'er has cultivated to the God Slaying Platform Realm these past years, which isn't slow," he thought. "It's just that the profundity of his cultivation isn't as astonishing as it used to be. Back then, no one in our Disabled Elderly Village could withstand his moves at the same realm."

On the other side, Heavenly King Tian Shu unleashed a surging imperial might. A section of the Celestial Palace surged forth behind him, his magnificent primordial spirit sitting majestically on the imperial throne in the Numinous Sky Palace!

With the Imperial Tower Divine Blade in his hand, all its power was unleashed. Butcher had called him the "Imperial Blade," and indeed, it was true!

Heavenly King Tian Shu went to the Void Land to rediscover his original aspiration. After experiencing the bloody battles there, the realm barrier that had constrained him vanished. He broke through during combat, achieved the Imperial Throne Realm, becoming another grand master of that realm in the Kaihuang Celestial Heavens.

The Imperial Tower Divine Blade was a divine blade forged for him by Heavenly King Di Shitian. For a long time, the power of this blade had surpassed Tian Shu's own strength. With one strike, it severed Earth Count's horn and cleaved open a Fengdu.

With another strike, it cut across the Great Ruins mountain range, sealing its oddities and darkness within.

And now, Heavenly King Tian Shu's power was enough to perfectly wield the Imperial Tower!

He was the Emperor of Blades; his blade, which severed souls and seized spirits, was the demonic blade of Youdu!

However, as the Imperial Tower Divine Blade clashed with the blade qi formed from Qin Mu's primordial qi, Heavenly King Tian Shu's aura fluctuated, and he was secretly startled. "How formidable!" he thought. "To be able to withstand my full magical power—as expected of the Heavenly Venerable that even Kaihuang couldn't forget. He cultivated to the Imperial Throne Realm in just over a decade! But when I've had a drink, I'm someone who doesn't even fear Earth Count or the Son of Heaven of Yin; I'll still hack down a Heavenly Venerable! Full battle strength is not my limit!"

He let out a furious roar, his movements phantom-like. At times, his body dissolved into demonic qi; at times, he hung high like a demonic sun; at times, his muscular body was fierce, with a snake's head and human form, his physique immense as he controlled the Great Dao of Youdu; at times, he had a sheep's head and human body, incredibly tiny, making him difficult to locate.

Yet his blade struck with absolute power, its force contained, possessing a unique style from the Kaihuang era.

The four grandmasters of the blade Dao struck simultaneously, clashing with Qin Mu's blade. Each came to a different conclusion, yet all felt that Qin Mu's cultivation realm was similar to their own.

The five figures moved rapidly and unpredictably, each perfectly displaying their own Dao within their blade techniques.

Zhe Huali's malevolence, Luo Wushuang's discipline, Tian Shu's dominance and demonic ways, and Butcher's grandeur were all fully revealed!

Qin Mu, in his clashes with them, absorbed their malevolence, discipline, dominance, and grandeur into himself.

He used the Blade Dao Celestial Palace as his main Celestial Palace, with other celestial palaces as auxiliary. One Blade Dao Celestial Palace and a divine blade formed from primordial qi moved freely, simultaneously resisting the four grandmasters of the blade Dao.

Previously, he had followed Butcher to train and temper his blade Dao heart. Whether establishing rules or guarding the populace and the land, all were ways of tempering the blade Dao heart. From these trials, he comprehended the most fundamental Dao-reaching divine arts of the blade Dao.

Unyielding, he knocked on the Southern Heavenly Gate. Displeased with injustice, he sought to establish rules. To protect, he had to kill.

The blade fosters spiritual fortitude.

Only by grasping these three fundamental spirits of the blade Dao could one truly begin.

In the future, no matter how his blade Dao changed or evolved, these three spirits could not be abandoned or deviated from. To abandon or deviate from them would be to betray the Dao of the blade.

Butcher could not teach or guide him further, so he had to integrate what he had learned and comprehended.

Around the Surging River, fishing boats had stopped fishing. On the riverbanks, fishermen and divine practitioners alike stopped to watch, seeing blade gleams crisscrossing the river, like sunlight sparkling on the water, shimmering.

However, those shimmering lights were not merely on the river's surface; instead, they suddenly leaped up, filling the blue sky. Other blade gleams moved through the river water, like great fish, like azure dragons.

Streaks of light crisscrossed, tearing open the sky and leaving black lines in their eyes.

The divine practitioners of Yankang immediately bled black blood from their eyes, and blade wounds instantly appeared on their bodies. Startled, they quickly restrained the fishermen on the riverbank, telling them not to look anymore, lest their eyes be harmed.

The battle in the river had reached such a stage that although the power fluctuations of combat technique styles were not as strong as divine arts and divine arts had a wider range of influence, the spirits contained within the moves of blade-centric combat technique styles could easily harm the Dao heart and spirit of onlookers.

Especially Qin Mu, Butcher, and the other five, who were grandmasters of entering the Dao through the blade. Their moves seemed not to affect this area, but every move contained their Dao; a single glance could stir one's essence, qi, and spirit, as if a sharp blade had touched one's body!

The stronger one's cultivation, the stronger this sensation, and the heavier the injury!

While the divine practitioners were restraining the fishermen, the Dragon Palace in the Surging River was also relocating. Dragons of all sizes swam along the riverbed, eyes closed, following the Surging River Dragon King upstream or downstream.

"Hide within the heavens at the heart of the Surging River!" ordered the Dragon King. "Seal your doors, close your eyes! Do not observe, do not look, do not listen, do not feel, do not perceive!"

The Surging River Dragon King, Huanlong Jun, was also a grand master in the river with profound cultivation. He was quite pleased and exclaimed, "Isn't that amazing? My master has returned!"

A sharp sword is forged through tempering, and so too is a blade.

Qin Mu used qi as his blade. His essence, qi, and spirit were increasingly strengthened and sharpened by the four grandmasters. The same Dao-reaching divine art, when wielded with different mindsets and different moves, resulted in distinct blade techniques.

However, as time went on, the five's Dao-reaching divine arts were used hundreds and thousands of times, yet they could not overpower Qin Mu and surprisingly failed to force him to make further progress or comprehend a deeper Dao realm.

Three days later, there were no more crisscrossing, roaring figures on the Surging River. Only five figures remained, spaced evenly on the river surface, standing motionless as their essence, qi, and spirit clashed.

This sight was even more terrifying!

Blade qi and spirit permeated the river surface, causing space to warp. Thousands of streaks of blade qi clashed fiercely in the air, like schools of fish.

The blade cultivates the spirit.

They were clashing with their spirits!

Nearby, many scholars from the former Surging River Academy, now the Surging River Sect, rushed over upon hearing the news. As soon as they reached the riverbank, their spiritual weapons flew up uncontrollably, clanging and reverberating in the air as they clashed with the blade qi.

*Shatter.*

Spiritual weapons shattered one after another in the air, startling the scholars.

The closer one got to the Surging River, the faster the spiritual weapons shattered.

Strangely, this blade qi was harmless to human bodies and caused no damage to plants, trees, insects, or fish. It seemed to target only weapons.

"Sect Master Su!"

Several academy scholars quickly passed through the dense forest along the riverbank and reached the riverside. They saw several deities standing by the river, gazing towards its center; at the forefront was Su Yunzhi from the Surging River Academy.

To the young scholars' astonishment, Su Yunzhi and the other deities of the Surging River had their divine weapons floating uncontrollably, erupting with waves of immense divine power, seemingly contending with the blade Dao spirit emanating from the river's center.

And these deities' divine weapons were already covered in blade marks.

The blade Dao spirit seemed to have formed a profound spiritual imprint here. This imprint grew stronger and spread across the sky, causing the spiritual and divine weapons of those who came here to lose control.

Moreover, this imprint deepened progressively.

Standing by the river, they could see blade Dao heavens of varying sizes at the river's center, imprinted layer upon layer in the void. The deepest had already reached the eighteenth layer of the void!

The Dao realm was like a vast firmament, covering all directions and giving people an incredibly shocking sensation.

"If you focus your mind and comprehend," Su Yunzhi told the scholars, "you can touch their spirits. This is a rare opportunity. If you wish to gain deeper comprehension in the Dao of the blade, seize this great chance."

Another half year passed, and the imprint in the void became deeper and clearer. This place had almost become a sacred ground; young people and deities from various regions of Yankang, anyone who studied the blade or the sword, rushed here to pay homage.

Around the Surging River, divine weapons floated, continually clanging in the air and erupting with various divine powers.

This was a trick someone had devised: using the power of the blade Dao here to temper their own cultivation and the might of their divine weapons.

However, more common here were young divine practitioners and deities from all over Yankang, sitting motionless, nourishing their spirits, tempering their blade will, and refining their own primordial qi.

A year later, on both banks of the Surging River, blades and swords stood densely, like a forest!

This place had already become a sacred ground. Not many in Yankang practiced the blade; most refined swords and cultivated their sword hearts. However, with the establishment of this blade Dao sacred ground, it sparked a trend of learning the blade.

The Dao realm firmament of the blade Dao in the void seemed to have materialized, imprinting the figures of the five individuals in the river onto the eighteenth void, clearly visible.

"In ancient times, former National Master Jiang Baigui befriended others with his sword, defeating all combat technique and divine art styles, elevating the status of swordsmanship to the level of Yankang's foremost art!" someone exclaimed. "From then on, the Dao of the sword flourished!"

"Today, these five blade Dao saints, enlightened by the river and establishing the blade Dao sacred ground, are even more awe-inspiring than back then!" another person declared. "The Dao of the blade will also flourish!"

Another year passed, and streaks of blade Dao firmament suddenly trembled and appeared in the nineteenth void.

The Dao might of the blade permeated an area of ten thousand miles, clearly perceptible.

At the two-year, one-month mark, the blade Dao firmament enveloped the twentieth void.

The following month, it enveloped the twenty-first void.

At two years and three months, it enveloped the twenty-second void.

By two years and six months, it enveloped the twenty-fifth void.

The Dao might of the blade already covered half of Yankang.

The five grandmasters of the blade Dao in the river's center were honored as the Five Blade Dao Patriarchs.

On this day, the Surging River suddenly trembled, gradually lifting into the air, floating higher and higher in the sky like a translucent white ribbon, drifting up past magnificent divine mountains.

Qin Mu suddenly opened his eyes; the time had come.

The eleven great spirit-energy transfer bridges of the Ancestral Court had been completed. The Celestial Heavens began to relocate; the entire Celestial Heavens and countless gods and divine beings would be transferred to the Ancestral Court via the spirit-energy transfer bridge matrix!

The time to eliminate Heavenly Duke was also approaching!