Chapter 1543: Initial Aspiration as a Sword

"Empress Qiang Tianfei is dead? And by your hand?"

Emperor Kai's heart skipped a beat as he looked at Qin Mu in surprise. After a moment, he said, "Your power has grown significantly since you forged the Calamity Sword. While the sword is mighty, the wielder's cultivation must not lag behind. Over-reliance on a powerful weapon can lead to a loss of momentum."

Qin Mu produced the God-Slaying Platform and declared, "My cultivation has never faltered. In fact, I am stronger than ever before! I can now compete with the Celestial Venerables! Emperor Kai, what was your cultivation level at my age? You don't need to worry about me."

Emperor Kai pondered this. At Qin Mu's age, he had still been a minor deity, nowhere near Qin Mu's current achievements. Perhaps he had set his expectations too high for Qin Mu, which led to his concern about the latter's potential decline.

On the God-Slaying Platform, the two divine blades had recovered much of their power, though they were not yet at their peak. The two Blood Fiend Divine Blades intertwined on the platform, their power astonishing, capable of severing spirits, rending flesh, and striking at the very heart of one's Dao!

"These two divine blades seem less powerful than before, not matching their might during the Battle of Xuandu," Emperor Kai observed, examining them with a hint of doubt. "Their current power is too shallow; I doubt they can help me achieve Dao. I am too strong; the God-Slaying Platform doesn't offer enough pressure."

Qin Mu raised an eyebrow. The two divine blades on the God-Slaying Platform were terrifyingly powerful; though not at their full strength, they were still instantly lethal to anyone who touched or was struck by them. Yet, Emperor Kai found their power too shallow.

"A blade is wielded by a person. If the God-Slaying Profound Blades are idle without someone controlling them, their power will naturally seem shallow to you," Qin Mu said, his eyes glinting. "Moreover, what you seek isn't mere pressure, but insight into the Dao heart and Dao realm within the God-Slaying Platform. How about this: I'll control these two divine blades and lend you a hand. What do you say?"

Emperor Kai's sword-like eyebrows lifted slightly, and he smiled. "Very well. Though I worry you might not be skilled enough to fully wield these two divine blades."

Qin Mu twisted his waist, rotated his neck, and stretched his body, chuckling, "During the Battle of Xuandu, I wielded a divine blade and struck down more than one Celestial Venerable. At that time, I didn't even fully control the God-Slaying Profound Blades. Now, with the divine blades in hand, I'm more worried about you. After all, you're old, and I'm still in my prime."

Emperor Kai laughed. "How can divine beings speak of age? Celestial Venerable Mu, you jest."

"Celestial Venerable Qin, you are too kind," Qin Mu replied, gesturing with an inviting hand. "Since that's the case, then Celestial Venerable Qin, please ascend the platform?"

Emperor Kai, gripping the scabbard of the Worry-Free Sword in his left hand, slowly ascended the platform. Qin Mu soared into the air, positioning himself above the God-Slaying Platform, floating between the two God-Slaying Profound Blades. The two blades, like two blood-fiend dragons, swirled and roared around him.

He narrowed his eyes and raised his palm. The blood-fiend dragons glided past his palm, their rough and sharp scales scraping against his skin, causing it to bleed. Yet, these two blood-fiend dragons appeared surprisingly docile. Over recent days, he had refined the God-Slaying Platform, and along with it, the two God-Slaying Profound Blades, mastering their control with ease.

Below, Emperor Kai resisted the baleful aura of the divine blades, ascending the platform step by step. Around him, layers of an invisible sword Dao domain seemed to manifest. As the blade energy from the God-Slaying Platform flickered and encroached upon his domain, sword light and blade energy clashed with ringing sounds.

For Qin Mu, the God-Slaying Platform had only thirty steps, but for Emperor Kai, it possessed thirty-five. This was the peculiar nature of the God-Slaying Platform: the higher one's cultivation in the Dao realm, the more steps the platform would have, and the stronger the divine blades upon it would become!

Finally, Emperor Kai took his thirty-fifth step and ascended the God-Slaying Platform! When Qin Mu, Butcher, and other masters of blade Dao had ascended the God-Slaying Platform together, they had quickly unleashed their respective divine blades and supreme techniques. Yet, Emperor Kai, ascending the thirty-five-tiered God-Slaying Platform, had not drawn his sword.

Whoosh—

The heads of the two God-Slaying Profound Blades paused briefly, then plunged downwards. Qin Mu's gaze fixed on Emperor Kai, searching for weaknesses, allowing the two divine blades to attack autonomously.

On the platform, Emperor Kai moved with the ease of a stroll, drawing his sword and casually deflecting the two God-Slaying Profound Blades again and again. His sword Dao was too powerful. Using the God-Slaying Platform to hone his sword Dao proved difficult because the God-Slaying Profound Blades struggled to wound him. His Dao heart was also too strong; with such a formidable Dao heart, the God-Slaying Platform, designed to refine and sever the Dao heart, had lost its effect on him. Indeed, at his level of power, further advancement was incredibly challenging.

This was precisely why he had wished to ascend the God-Slaying Platform during the Battle of Xuandu. He was too strong; to achieve Dao, he needed immense tempering. Empress Qiang Tianfei, as a Celestial Venerable who controlled the God-Slaying Platform and God-Slaying Profound Blades, could have stimulated his potential and aided his breakthrough! But now, the God-Slaying Profound Blades' power was severely diminished, making them unable to exert sufficient pressure on him.

Suddenly, the overwhelming bloody blade light vanished. The two divine blades soared upwards, causing Emperor Kai to look up. Above him was a clear blue sky, devoid of clouds, so transparent he could almost see the stars beyond the heavens.

Emperor Kai narrowed his eyes. He saw Qin Mu, accompanied by the two divine blades, spiraling upward, moving further and further from the God-Slaying Platform. Soon, Qin Mu was as distant as a tiny ant. Emperor Kai tilted his head back, gazing across the vast distance at Qin Mu, who continued to ascend, only pausing when he reached the space beyond Worry-Free Village. Emperor Kai raised an eyebrow, and with a swift *shush*, sheathed his Worry-Free Sword. He shook his right hand, flexed his fingers, and then grasped the sword hilt, poised and ready.

In the space beyond, Qin Mu gripped the Blood Fiend God-Slaying Blades. With a forceful shake, he merged the two divine blades into a single one. This blade was entirely blood-red, with a dragon's head serving as its point, dragon fins as its edge, and a dragon spine as its back, imbued with the unparalleled malevolent energy accumulated from slaying the Celestial Duke! Qin Mu grasped the blade, crouched, gathered his power, and then suddenly grinned. The next moment, he took a step forward!

At that moment, a meteor seemed to suddenly appear above Worry-Free Village. This meteor tore through the sky, entering Worry-Free Village's atmosphere, initially dim but growing brighter as it descended. The light was a crimson glow, bathing Worry-Free Village in a blood-red hue, eventually resembling an ocean of blood! Simultaneously, the entire God-Slaying Platform erupted with light. All its inherent Dao patterns illuminated, and suddenly, a tide of crimson light surged wildly upwards! The blade light and blood light merged into one seamless torrent. Emperor Kai looked up, unable to distinguish where the blade light ended and the blood light began!

Suddenly, a blade mark appeared on Emperor Kai's face; even before the God-Slaying Profound Blade arrived, a wound had already manifested. From the wound on his face, blood surprisingly flowed upwards, and the vital energy within his body churned, continuously surging towards the injury!

"Truly worthy of being the fiercest weapon under heaven!" Emperor Kai couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. He drew his sword with fierce resolve, and its light merged with his rising blood. His sword Dao infused into every single drop of blood that flew upwards.

Suddenly, a series of crisp *ding-ding-ding* sounds rang out. The moment his blood collided with the God-Slaying Profound Blade, the sword Dao contained within his blood erupted! Emperor Kai's eyes lit up. He finally saw the God-Slaying Profound Blade amidst the ocean of blood! The Worry-Free Sword met the God-Slaying Profound Blade within the crimson torrent, and his sword Dao burst forth in this single strike. Instantly, thirty-five layers of All-Heavens Sword Domain emerged within the blood light!

The sea of blood above the God-Slaying Platform exploded, and frenzied blade light and sword light intertwined. In a blink, Emperor Kai was covered in blood, riddled with wounds! This was not Qin Mu's personal power alone, but the combined might of the God-Slaying Profound Blades and the God-Slaying Platform. This platform was truly miraculous: standing on it, the platform would manifest Dao realms corresponding to the wielder's level of comprehension. Qin Mu's own blade Dao realm was only twenty-six heavens; even working with Butcher and others, he could only raise his blade Dao to thirty heavens, certainly not enough to harm Emperor Kai. But by leveraging the God-Slaying Platform, he could unleash a thirty-five-heavens Dao realm! This was both the God-Slaying Platform's strength and Emperor Kai's unique advantage. Without Emperor Kai, a thirty-five-heavens Dao realm cultivator, standing on the platform, Qin Mu would have been unable to wield the power of a thirty-five-layered Dao realm! Combined with the power of the God-Slaying Profound Blades, he had already managed to wound Emperor Kai!

Emperor Kai had never encountered such a ferocious assault. The overwhelming blade light made him feel utterly helpless. Not only that, the terrifying blade light was all-pervasive, slashing at his physical body and his spirit, blow after blow! Even his Dao heart was assailed by the blade light, becoming riddled with holes! The God-Slaying Profound Blades, coupled with the God-Slaying Platform, and Qin Mu, a formidable master of the blade Dao, had put Emperor Kai on the defensive! He saw Qin Mu in the bloody light: the Profound Blades split into two, then merged into one, changing in length, appearing near and far, like a fierce wind, like thunder, like a torrential downpour—impossibly fast, unbelievably swift! Qin Mu attacked him from every angle; even Emperor Kai's Dao realm couldn't withstand it, and his sword domain was cleaved open again and again by the two divine blades!

Though the injuries to his physical body and spirit were severe, far graver were the blade marks carved upon his Dao heart. The relentless attacks of the God-Slaying Profound Blades were like repeated interrogations of his Dao, rebuking his Dao heart and his past actions, causing him to question himself and doubt his very being! This form of attack was something he had never encountered, leaving him unsure how to defend against it. For the first time, he felt hesitation, indecision. His previously unshakeable Dao heart now weakened. In the bloody light, he seemed to witness his life's actions, his failures, and the consequences of his decisions when the Kai Huang calamity erupted.

He saw himself during the Kai Huang calamity, leading the strongest forces of the Kai Huang Celestial Heavens to seek refuge in Worry-Free Village. He saw that after their departure, the citizens under Kai Huang Celestial Heavens' protection became displaced, families torn apart, and countless vibrant lives perished horribly at the hands of the Celestial Heavens' gods and devils! He saw the suffering and helplessness faced by those whose lives he had promised to protect amidst natural disasters and man-made catastrophes. He saw them crying out to the heavens, yet waiting in vain for him to fulfill his promises. He saw his old subordinates succumb to despair, one by one transforming into stone statues.

He saw the Kai Huang era transform into the Great Ruins, witnessed the tragic demise of the Celestial Craftsman Divine Race, the disappointment of the Woodcutter Sage, and First Ancestor Human Emperor leading the remnants of the Kai Huang era through arduous journeys, struggling to survive everywhere. He saw First Ancestor Human Emperor eventually turn into a stone statue on Little Jade Capital due to guilt, refusing to awaken. This was Emperor Kai's sin, yet it was First Ancestor Human Emperor who bore its weight. Emperor Kai's Dao heart wavered.

Qin Mu's blade light made him falter. He could not claim to be without regret in this life, and Qin Mu, utilizing the profound Dao of the God-Slaying Platform, struck at the guilt within his Dao heart! A blood-stained blade light descended. Emperor Kai held his sword horizontally to block, but he was forced to his knees. The God-Slaying Profound Blade pressed down on the Worry-Free Sword, driving the Worry-Free Sword into his shoulder.

Kneeling on the ground, he felt as if he had returned to the past, to the moment he first grasped a sword. In a haze, he saw his master, an obscure swordsman. When he knelt, begging for sword lessons, the old swordsman's voice echoed in his Dao heart: "Qin Ye, why do you learn the sword?"

From the mud, a young child looked up, his eyes filled with determination: "I learn the sword to protect those who suffer hardship and injustice like me!"

"I learn the sword to gain power, to eliminate the world's inequalities, and to protect the common people!"

"I learn the sword to use it as a plow, to carve out rivers so floods no longer rage, and to prevent the gods from bringing disaster. I learn the sword to use it as a weapon, to clear away fierce beasts, eliminate demons, establish order for the gods, and restore peace and prosperity to the world!"

"Can you do it?"

"I can!"

The old swordsman pressed the sword he held onto Qin Ye's shoulder and smiled. "Qin Ye, do not forget this. This is your original intention. Everything you do in the future must not betray your original intention."

In the bloody light, Emperor Kai, covered in blood, looked up at the two blood-fiend dragons striking down at him. The dragons' eyes seemed to mock his actions throughout the years, mocking him for having long forgotten his original intention! Emperor Kai's face was streaked with tears—tears of blood.

The Worry-Free Sword in his hand suddenly exploded, turning into dust. This Worry-Free Sword, which had accompanied him through countless battles, was shattered, utterly destroyed. Yet, in his hand, another sword remained, radiating brilliant light! His sword Dao was no longer about worry-free; only his original intention remained. His original intention *was* the sword.