Chapter 1507: Sword Path Pierces the Sky, Heart of the Way Bright as Frost and Snow

"Calamity?"

Emperor Kai looked at Qin Mu, who was holding the divine sword up, examining it in the light shining down from Xuandu. A wave of emotion surged within Kai.

Amidst the vastness of calamities, who would rise or fall?

During the Kaihuang Era, the Shanghuang Era, and the Crimson Light Era, the Ten Celestials repeatedly brought down calamities to destroy the world, causing glorious flourishing ages to vanish into dust. In those calamities, brilliant emperors and civilizations that bridged the past and future eventually declined and perished. Even the Kaihuang Era ultimately became a fleeting dream.

With calamity at hand, who could grasp the oar to brave the waves, carrying all beings through the trials?

Emperor Kai had not.

Now, Qin Mu's divine sword was named "Calamity." Did this mean he foresaw the Ten Celestials bringing calamity upon Yankang? Or did it mean he intended to bring calamity upon the Celestial Heavens? Perhaps, it was both.

The power of the Calamity Sword was completely contained. From its appearance, this sword seemed unremarkable, devoid of intricate Dao patterns or superfluous decorations. In Qin Mu's hand, it was like holding a beam of light, simply with an edge and a tip. Yet, everyone who participated in forging this sword knew how terrifying it was. When this sword was successfully forged, it required the four ancient emperors and Emperor Kai to temper and suppress its power together. Upon its completion, its might reached beyond the heavens!

The Calamity Sword shook the heavenly gates, and with a flick of a finger, stars fell. Even the treasures of the Celestial Venerables did not cause such a commotion.

Qin Mu held the sword, thought for a moment, and casually made a wooden scabbard, inserting the Calamity Sword into it. No scabbard could truly do justice to this divine sword. If its power were fully unleashed, even the finest scabbard in the world would not withstand it. Therefore, it was simpler to use the plainest, most ordinary scabbard to conceal the divine sword's sharpness.

"Back then, you used your sword to persuade me, to make me leave Wuyou Township. Afterwards, you abandoned the sword and switched to divine arts." Emperor Kai walked up to Qin Mu and said, "Now you have picked up the sword again. Do not fail it."

Qin Mu nodded and replied, "My sword isn't merely about swordsmanship. I use the sword to kill."

"Are divine arts not used for killing? If you follow the path, uphold righteousness in your heart, do not deviate from your true self, and do not betray your original aspirations, then what harm is there in the sword in your hand becoming a weapon of slaughter?" Emperor Kai walked away, saying calmly, "Celestial Venerable Mu, you are a genius in swordsmanship, but you haven't realized it yourself. You believe that the path of divine arts and the path of swordsmanship are incompatible, yet you haven't considered that sword divine arts are divine arts, and divine arts are divine arts—they can be interconnected and compatible."

Qin Mu's mind reeled, and he froze on the spot. Emperor Kai's words suddenly seemed to open a new door for him, filling him with excitement! The compatibility of divine arts and swordsmanship was the most obvious truth, yet it was a truth he had never considered!

Previously, he had delved into divine arts, reaching the twenty-third heaven of Dao through them. He had put immense effort into comprehending various Grand Dao in divine arts, but had neglected swordsmanship. He had cultivated a killing intent due to Cripple's death, which led him to specialize in swordsmanship. However, he also knew that his swordsmanship had only reached the third heaven, and further progress would be incredibly difficult. Yet, Emperor Kai's single insightful remark revealed an immensely vast possibility: to integrate the Dao realms of divine arts with those of swordsmanship!

Suddenly, he couldn't help but leap up, stepping into the void, drawing the Calamity Sword. Sword light showered forth as swordsmanship and the path of divine arts remarkably intertwined! In his hand, sword light cascaded, unleashing the Four Deities of Heaven and Earth Seal, which transformed into the circular sky and square earth, giving rise to joy, anger, sorrow, and delight. Emotions were imbued within the Calamity Sword, and the integration of divine arts into Dao with swordsmanship was perfect, making its power astonishingly immense!

His sword technique shifted, transforming into the Profound Gate of Heaven and Earth. Sword light swept crisscrossing, and a heavenly gate connected heaven, earth, and the mortal realm! Sword light streamed from his hand; one thrust of his sword created a Heavenly River. The four cardinal points of heaven and earth emerged, depicted and drawn with swordsmanship, as the four ancient emperors—Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—stood at the Heavenly River's four extremities. He performed one move after another, expressing his feelings freely, unable to conceal his excitement and exhilaration.

Emperor Kai walked out of the Heavenly Yin Realm. Yan Yunxi and Li Youran followed behind him. Emperor Kai looked back and saw swordsmanship spanning the long sky, crossing the void, truly dazzling. There, Qin Mu transformed his accumulated knowledge into swordsmanship, making rapid progress. His cultivation in swordsmanship advanced by leaps and bounds, leaving Emperor Kai filled with admiration.

"For someone from the Qin family, swordsmanship is etched into their very bones." He smiled and turned to continue walking. Just then, an old man, timid and cowering, blocked his path, not daring to look him in the eye.

"Human Emperor Su Muzhe."

Emperor Kai stopped and examined the old man, observing that Village Chief Su Muzhe's gaze was shifty, unwilling to meet his eyes. Emperor Kai said, "You block my path, wishing to break through the 'god in your heart,' yet you dare not draw your sword. Do you not even have the grip of a swordsman?"

Yan Yunxi and Li Youran stopped and looked towards the Village Chief. The Village Chief's hand slowly reached for the sword at his waist, but it trembled, not at all like the hand of a swordsman. The hand gripping a sword should be as steady as Emperor Kai's. This is because the hand of a master swordsman reflects the cultivation of their Dao heart. A hand gripping a sword must be as steady and unperturbed as the Dao heart itself. To stabilize a nation with one sword, or bring peace to the world with one sword, all require profound mastery of the Dao heart.

Village Chief Su Muzhe was the second person to comprehend the sword domain. His accomplishments in swordsmanship were exceptionally high. It can be said that the emergence of so many sword masters in Yankang was largely due to him. It was his meticulous teaching and cultivation that allowed Yankang's swordsmanship to advance so rapidly. However, after comprehending the sword domain, he found it impossible to make further progress, even in his cultivation realm! This was because his cultivation in swordsmanship was extraordinarily high, so high that whenever he employed his swordsmanship, he would see an immensely powerful giant standing before him, like an unscalable, insurmountable peak!

That person was Emperor Kai, Qin Ye!

Emperor Kai, Qin Ye, was the foremost in swordsmanship, his Dao imprinted across thirty-five voids. Anyone who embarked on the path of swordsmanship and comprehended the sword domain would see his silhouette, feel the profound and extensive power and cultivation of his swordsmanship, and be filled with a sense of awe, as if gazing up at a towering mountain! Emperor Kai was almost the "god in the heart" of all master swordsmen, an unbreakable inner deity. For Village Chief Su Muzhe in particular, this "god" weighed so heavily on him that he could barely breathe.

"You want to strike, to break through the 'god in your heart,' yet you dare not, because you feel that any sword move you make would be wrong the moment you draw your sword." Emperor Kai looked at the Village Chief's hand, which was still trembling and unable to grasp his sword. He said gravely, "But you haven't considered that Celestial Venerable Mu was not taught by me. His swordsmanship was nurtured by you; you are his teacher. In his heart, there is no 'god' at all; my presence as a 'god' does not obstruct his swordsmanship."

Village Chief Su Muzhe's voice was hoarse, aged, and raspy: "His swordsmanship hasn't reached a profound level, so he can't see your mighty presence blocking his way..."

"Wrong!" Emperor Kai's gaze fell on his face, looking directly into his eyes, and he declared, "His swordsmanship has already reached the twenty-ninth heaven."

The Village Chief was startled. He looked up at the sky and saw Qin Mu's vast swordsmanship transforming into the Primal Chaos One Qi, demonstrating the grand divine art, "Journeying with the Primal Chaos One Qi Dao"! That was not only Qin Mu's understanding of the Grand Dao and divine arts but also his understanding of swordsmanship! The twenty-ninth heaven of swordsmanship was thus unleashed by Qin Mu, elucidating the Dao of Grand Primordium through swordsmanship with such perfect harmony!

"Such a swordsmanship genius was taught by you, nurtured by you. I could not have taught him." Emperor Kai's palm pressed against the hilt of the Wuyou Sword. He said gravely, "You can teach such an unparalleled disciple, yet you dare not draw your sword before me? It was you who told him he was an Overlord Body; it was you who fostered his invincible confidence; it was you who taught him how to conduct himself. The fact that he has no 'god in his heart' is a result of your nurturing. Can you, his teacher, not achieve the same? Draw your sword!"

The Village Chief's eyes grew brighter, and his hand became steadier. Suddenly, with a clang, his divine sword was drawn, and sword light filled the sky! Emperor Kai's Wuyou Sword was unsheathed, sword lights collided, and the two figures charged at each other, crossing paths.

Emperor Kai stopped. Behind him, Village Chief Su Muzhe, with his white hair, sheathed his sword, standing steadily. Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—hundreds of sword wounds ripped open on the Village Chief's body. His surging vital energy caused these wounds to gape, making them impossible to suppress. He smiled, his body swayed, and then he suddenly collapsed to the ground.

Emperor Kai reinserted the Wuyou Sword into its scabbard. A strand of hair slowly drifted down from his temple. He looked back and said, "Su Muzhe, you have emerged from my shadow. You can now be my fellow Daoist in swordsmanship."

The Village Chief's lungs were injured by the sword, and he gasped like a broken bellows, yet he smiled very happily, like a child, rolling in the blood-soaked mud, clutching his divine sword.

Emperor Kai shook his head and walked out of the Heavenly Yin Realm. Yan Yunxi and Di Shitian quickly followed him. Yan Yunxi whispered, "Did Your Majesty let him win? Given his strength, he shouldn't have been able to cut off a strand of your hair."

Emperor Kai shook his head and said calmly, "I yielded to him in cultivation, but not in swordsmanship. Swordsmanship is the path of offense; he had the qualification and strength to cut off a strand of my hair." His expression was calm. He said, "I do not wish to become one of the Ten Celestial Venerables in swordsmanship. Not now, nor in the future."

"The Ten Celestial Venerables in swordsmanship?" Yan Yunxi paused, then understood his meaning: to shackle those who come after, to firmly hold power, control resources, and dominate everything, leaving no hope for successors to surpass him—was that not precisely what the Ten Celestial Venerables did?

Yan Yunxi could not tell if Emperor Kai had yielded a move to Village Chief Su Muzhe, as both Emperor Kai and the Village Chief far surpassed her in swordsmanship. But she could feel Emperor Kai's state of mind—the mind of one who had attained Dao. Such a realm was beyond the reach of the Ten Celestial Venerables.

Di Shitian Li Youran looked back at the Heavenly Yin Realm. In the Dao Fire Ancestral Land of the Heavenly Yin Realm, a majestic and imposing figure stood amidst layers of Dao fire, his Dao realm growing ever deeper. He could feel the path of forging continuously advancing and perfecting itself. He was no longer the First Heavenly Craftsman. Someone had surpassed him, yet his heart was filled with boundless joy.

----Happy birthday to the three alliance masters: Through-the-Air Stone, Heaven and Earth, and Story in Maple Forest!