Chapter 1430: Butterfly Loves the Flower, The Flower is Heartless

The blood-red fiendish qi from the God-Slaying Stage was refined and stored within the bodies of Qin Mu, the Butcher, and the other five individuals. Their cultivation and strength grew increasingly potent, and their understanding of the God-Slaying Stage realm deepened.

Their mastery of the Blade Dao also advanced significantly.

The Dao embodied by the God-Slaying Stage was not the Blade Dao itself, but rather the Dao of Fiendish Qi from the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, simultaneously encompassing the tempering of one's Dao heart.

Refining the fiendish qi and forcefully seizing the power of the Blood-Fiend God Blades could only enhance their cultivation and deepen their comprehension of the Dao of Fiendish Qi; it did not improve their mastery of the Blade Dao. Their significant improvement in the Blade Dao was actually due to the advancement of their Dao hearts and their comprehension of their own blade techniques and Blade Dao during their struggle against the fiendish God Blades, which led to their overall progress.

Among the five, everyone except Qin Mu had deficiencies in the tempering of their Dao hearts. Under normal circumstances, they would have been unable to enter the God-Slaying Stage; they would not have been able to withstand its lethal attacks during the Dao heart trial alone. However, Qin Mu's Dao heart was exceptionally robust. During their enlightenment by the Surging River, when the five individuals' essence, qi, and spirit merged into one, imprinting the Blade Dao into the twenty-fifth void, it was primarily Qin Mu's Dao heart that led this process, forcefully elevating the Dao heart attainments of Butcher, Zhe Huali, and the others.

Butcher and the others were able to stand on the God-Slaying Stage also because of their enlightenment by the Surging River and the Blade Dao imprinting the twenty-fifth heaven. If Qin Mu had been alone, he too would have been unable to stand on the God-Slaying Stage. The power of the two Blood-Fiend God-Slaying Blades was simply too immense. Although his Dao heart could withstand them, his physical body and primordial spirit would not be preserved, and his Great Dao would be severed. Standing alone on the stage, he would only be slain repeatedly, unable to comprehend anything.

Although his Dao heart was strong, his mastery of the Blade Dao was still somewhat weak. During their enlightenment by the Surging River, his ability to imprint the Blade Dao into the twenty-fifth heaven relied on the combined efforts of the other four Blade Dao ancestors, not solely on his own. Only by combining the efforts of all five could they reach such a height and possess the means to contend with the God-Slaying Stage.

Now, their Blade Dao was imprinted into the twenty-seventh void. This was also achieved through their combined efforts, utilizing the power of the God-Slaying Stage and pooling their five individual wisdoms to elevate the Blade Dao to the twenty-seventh heaven! They required all five of them working together to unleash the power of the twenty-seventh heaven of the Blade Dao.

Five ordinary individuals still could not compare to a single Emperor Kai. Emperor Kai, by himself, had evolved the Sword Dao to the thirty-fifth heaven, imprinting it into the thirty-fifth void, which was far superior to their achievement. Nevertheless, their Blade Dao was still progressing, nearing a breakthrough to the twenty-eighth heaven, to imprint the Blade Dao into the twenty-eighth void!

However, the further they progressed, the more difficult it became; reaching the twenty-eighth heaven was not easy. The power of the two Blood-Fiend God-Slaying Blades on the God-Slaying Stage remained extremely formidable, posing a significant threat to them. Butcher and the others still had to exert their utmost to contend with the two divine blades, but even then, they sustained continuous injuries. Fortunately, Qin Mu's Divine Treasure realm contained the 'Unchanging' divine ability, which always allowed them to recover to peak condition before the God-Slaying Stage could drain their vital essence.

Meanwhile, in the distant divine city, the Apothecary diligently treated Fang Ziyan, removing the fiendish qi from her body. He also took her to several precious locations within the ancestral court to gather medicinal herbs, preparing to concoct miraculous elixirs to heal her eye condition. With the handsome Apothecary by her side, Fang Ziyan felt time fly by. When they returned with the collected herbs, they saw thousands of deities—Rain Masters, Water Gods, River Gods, and Dragon Kings from various heavens—gathered by the Great Divine Power Transfer Bridge. They were controlling vast amounts of water to cool down the bridge.

During this period, the Heavenly Court's Dao Sect had readjusted the positions of the numerous towering ships and massive vessels dragging the Heavenly Court. The Heavenly Court had once again resumed its migration, with significantly increased speed. It was likely that soon, the Heavenly Court would completely migrate into the ancestral court. At that time, the Heavenly River would also change its course once more, recreating the grandeur of the ancestral court in the primordial era!

The Apothecary finished concocting the elixir and applied the medicine to Fang Ziyan. He whispered, "Madam, you only need to rest for a day or two to fully recover. I have been away from Yankang for some time, and I must return." Fang Ziyan was reluctant to part, holding his hand. She said, "Although I have been granted the title of Madam by the court, my former husband passed away long ago. If you wouldn't mind..." The Apothecary subtly withdrew his hand and said, "Madam, I accrued too many romantic debts in my youth. Now, I only wish to travel and practice medicine, making amends for those past debts. You are kind, but I cannot accept your affection." Fang Ziyan was crestfallen and watched him depart.

After another two days, the Dao injuries in Fang Ziyan's eyes had completely vanished. She opened her eyes, listlessly surveying her surroundings, feeling as though the magnificent landscapes of the ancestral court had lost their vibrancy. At that moment, she suddenly noticed the God-Slaying Stage, and her beautiful face changed color. The fiendish qi from that God-Slaying Stage was far less potent than before, its scale having shrunk by nearly half!

"Oh no, I am willing, but he is unfeeling! I was so engrossed in romance with that Apothecary that I forgot about the important matter!" Cold sweat appeared on her forehead. From a distance, she saw the Blade Dao on the God-Slaying Stage, vast as the firmament, imprinted into the thirtieth void, layer upon layer clamping down. It had actually ensnared the two Blood-Fiend God Blades, attempting to capture and refine them! Although the two divine blades could break through the thirtieth heaven of the Blade Dao, they no longer possessed their former terrifying power and could no longer threaten the five individuals on the stage. The thirtieth heaven of the Blade Dao possessed unparalleled power. The five individuals stood on the stage, and whenever they combined their strength to unleash their unified combat techniques, their might surged to the heavens, preventing the two divine blades from wreaking havoc.

"If they are allowed to continue," she thought, "I fear they will devour and refine those two divine blades, transforming them into blade qi within their bodies!" Fang Ziyan immediately soared into the air and rushed towards the Great Divine Power Transfer Bridge.

Meanwhile, on the God-Slaying Stage, Qin Mu had thoroughly grasped the Great Dao contained within the God-Slaying Stage and was modifying his own God-Slaying Stage. He possessed as many as nineteen Heavenly Palaces. He needed not only to reconstruct the God-Slaying Stages within these nineteen Heavenly Palaces but also to reconstruct the God-Slaying Stage within the ancestral court of his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure. As these twenty God-Slaying Stages were erected, he felt his cultivation advance once more, and his Dao heart became even more perfectly refined.

However, the changes brought about by the establishment of the ancestral court's God-Slaying Stage somewhat exceeded his expectations. Upon its formation, this God-Slaying Stage immediately began to absorb his own fiendish qi! The more karmic slaughter one committed, the heavier the fiendish qi that clung to them. For instance, in the past, Earth Mother Yuanjun went on a rampage in Xuandu, slaughtering millions of gods and devils, which led to fiendish qi clinging to her and affecting her Dao heart. Earth Mother Yuanjun's Dao and virtue were thoroughly corrupted, ultimately leading to her death at Qin Mu's hands, a direct consequence of the fiendish qi.

Since Qin Mu left the Great Ruins and entered Yankang, he had not caused much karmic slaughter, nor had his hands been stained with much blood. It could be said that he had not initiated many killing calamities in these past few decades. Although his cultivation was powerful, among all beings of comparable strength, his hands were the cleanest, without peer. However, countless beings had died at the hands of his brother, Qin Fengqing. Even when Qin Fengqing was merely an infant, he had already devoured an unknown number of departed souls, and at that time, Qin Mu's consciousness had not even been born! When the two were still one entity, Qin Mu was plagued by fiendish qi, and all those lives were attributed to him. Qin Mu was proficient in the Great Dao of Youdu, so fiendish qi could not interfere with his consciousness, but being entangled by so much fiendish qi was still not a good thing.

Now, as soon as the God-Slaying Stage formed within his Divine Treasure ancestral court, all the fiendish qi immediately converged upon it, transforming into two streams of blood-fiend blade light, endlessly intertwining! Furthermore, the fiendish qi from Empress Qiang Tianfei's ancestral court God-Slaying Stage was also absorbed and refined by his own ancestral court's God-Slaying Stage, strengthening it!