Chapter 278: Warming Wine

The very air around Qin Mu shimmered with myriad Buddhist scripture runes, swirling about him like a colossal golden bell, a divine shield forged of incantations. Within this luminous shroud, the vague forms of the five great deities of the Tathagata Mahayana Sutra began to coalesce, their presence heralded by the sonorous chanting of profound Buddhist hymns.

Simultaneously, he unleashed the full might of the Nine Dragons Emperor King Skill. From the nine great dragon veins that snaked beneath the imperial capital, torrents of dragon qi surged forth, converging upon him, elevating his power to an unprecedented level. The Nine Dragons Emperor King Skill, the supreme art of the imperial Ling family, personally imparted to him by Emperor Yanfeng himself, was now under Qin Mu’s command. The nine dragon veins responded with such ferocity that the very dragon qi became tangible, even invading the nearby river’s embrace. Dragons of pure water leapt from the currents, their forms shimmering as they surged towards Qin Mu.

He had seized the initiative. Whether Ban Gongcuo had revealed a flaw or not was irrelevant; Qin Mu needed only to strike first to gain the upper hand. He would relentlessly assault Ban Gongcuo, overwhelming his opponent with an avalanche of raw, imposing vital energy, crushing every intricate move, shattering every defense with sheer, unstoppable power. The most effective way to deal with Ban Gongcuo was through the absolute annihilation of his magical power, not through clever counter-techniques!

Boom—

The river’s surface exploded outwards, a colossal wave towering skyward, transforming into the image of a magnificent Buddha. Water dragons coiled around the divine form, the Buddha’s body reaching over ten *zhang* high, a veritable mountain of water upon the river. Its five fingers, like five towering peaks, embodied the five elements. With a thunderous roar, a giant palm descended towards Ban Gongcuo!

Nine dragons unleashed furious roars. The Nine Dragons Emperor King Skill, fused with the Nine Dragons Control Wind Thunder of the Thunder Sound Eight Styles, erupted forth. This strike was a perfect fusion of the vast divine powers of the Buddhist gate and the invincible aura of the imperial family!

Nine dragons pounced, unleashing a torrent of impact. *Bang bang bang*, the water flowed faster than sound, erupting in a series of thunderous booms, utterly indestructible!

What was divine power? This was divine power!

Magical power – that was Qin Mu's greatest strength. His magical power surpassed his peers many times over; even venerable elders like the Village Chief, in the same realm, paled in comparison. Now, Qin Mu’s magical power was such that even Ban Gongcuo couldn't hope to catch up. He sought to crush Ban Gongcuo with absolute power, rendering all of Ban Gongcuo's previous nineteen lives of cultivation and eleven thousand years of experience utterly useless!

Just as Qin Mu's attack erupted, Ban Gongcuo's counter-attack simultaneously burst forth. He wielded a sword, specifically a sword pill, no bigger than a finger. But the very next moment, blinding sword light erupted from the pill, so brilliant it seemed to illuminate the entire world!

The second chapter of the Dao Sword Fourteen Chapters: Five Qi Three Yuan Knot Show, Rise Place, Cloud Chariot Intersect!

He directly employed the absolute learning of the Dao gate, the Innate Taixuan Skill, using the purest form of this art to unleash the second sword of the Dao Sword. The sword light contained the five qi: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. These were the five qi. Heaven Yuan, Earth Yuan, and Water Yuan were the three yuan. Heaven Yuan was the sun, thus called *yang*. Water Yuan was the moon, thus called *yin*. Earth Yuan embodied harmony. As this sword technique unfolded, the sword light constructed the ideal world of the Dao gate: a sword-sun, a sword-moon, a sword-earth, with the five qi flowing towards the yuan!

The Dao gate's sword methods possessed an extremely high attainment in the art of numbers. This holy land of the Dao gate was founded upon the principles of art numbers, believing that all great Dao of heaven and earth could be solved through them. As the saying went, "Dao gives birth to one, one gives birth to two, two gives birth to three, three gives birth to ten thousand things." Numbers constituted everything in heaven and earth; anything, even life itself, could be constructed using numbers. At its root, everything was composed of wondrous numbers.

Therefore, the Dao gate created the circular Wuji diagram, the two-instrument Taiji diagram, the four symbols diagram, the eight trigrams diagram, and the sixty-four hexagrams diagram, using them to calculate the great Dao of heaven and earth and all ten thousand things. And when these principles were transformed into sword methods, using the sword to compose intricate patterns that continuously operated and ran, evolving into the myriad things of heaven and earth, they possessed the grand power of the Dao!

Each chapter of the Dao Sword Fourteen Chapters was an ideal world in itself, where dry and tasteless art numbers evolved into beautiful patterns, interpreting the wondrous principles of heaven and earth. This was the greatest difference between the Dao gate and the Buddhist gate: the Dao gate was a study of technique, while the Buddhist gate was a study of the heart. There was even a joking phrase among Dao gate disciples: "Your art numbers are no good? Then what Dao are you cultivating? Go home and hug your children early."

The divine powers of the two collided. One was a sword method divine power, the other a divine power of flesh and blood and magical technique. When magical power transformed into divine power and clashed, the result was terrifying. The horrifying power shook the river surface, suspending the massive volume of water, and shook the ground, causing the earth to tremble.

The aftermath of the explosion was immense. Thin streams of water *chug chug* pierced the willow trees on the riverbank. Sword qi stabbed the stones on the riverbank, instantly rendering the shore reefs and stones a thousand holes and a hundred holes!

Qin Mu's world-shattering strike rushed into the Dao gate ideal world conjured by Ban Gongcuo's sword light. His crushing power, however, was instantly subjected to the decomposition of the numbers contained within the sword light! In Ban Gongcuo's sword method, art numbers, that seemingly dry and tasteless thing, surprisingly appeared so charming, so brilliant.

Within the captivating sword light, the nine water dragons and the water Buddha rapidly collapsed. Facing the second move of the Dao Sword, they were truly no match! Countless flowing sword lights struck the great bell formed by the Buddhist light and scriptures covering Qin Mu’s entire body. Ripples appeared on the bell wall, and the very next moment, the great bell shattered!

Qin Mu’s expression remained unchanged. The sword pill flew up and fell into his hand. In an instant, sword light erupted from the sword pill. Qin Mu didn't use Sword Walk Mountains and Rivers, but instead directly unleashed the second move of the Sword Diagram!

Splash—

The banks of the Surging River turned crimson. The blood-red sword light surged like a vast ocean. Within the blood light, a divine emperor seemed to slowly rise from a sea of blood, his sword pointed at his enemy, looking down upon all!

One sword to open the blood ocean of the emperor!

The Dao Sword and the Sword Diagram collided. Ban Gongcuo let out a muffled groan, his five qi and three yuan instantly shattered. An unmatched sword light, an absolute world of killing intent, surged towards him. His body soared, agile as a dragon, displaying incomparably wondrous body techniques. His movements constantly shifted, like a startled swan, a wandering fish, a flying sparrow, a nine-tailed phoenix. Yet, he still could not avoid all the sword lights.

*Chii chii chii*, a series of blood lights erupted from his body. His form leapt, falling onto the river surface, causing the river water to explode in all directions!

Hoo—

Qin Mu leapt up, the sword light in his hand vanishing. The sword pill, carried by the wind, transformed into a massive blade. *Chii*, with a sound, it split the river surface!

Ban Gongcuo waved his sword pill to meet this strike. A series of *bang bang bang* sounds echoed as he skipped across the river like a stone thrown by a child, drifting across the water sixty or seventy times before finally stopping.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Qin Mu galloped across the river surface, each step causing the water to explode with a boom, sending waves shooting in all directions. He hadn't even landed from his leap before he had already galloped several hundred *zhang*. The massive blade, transformed from the sword pill in his hand, suddenly retracted, like flowing water surrounding his fist. Qin Mu unleashed a punch. Boom, the river surface shook, and forty-five water dragons, emitting green light, roared proudly as they surged out, engulfing Ban Gongcuo several dozen *zhang* away.

The river surface instantly became extremely lively. Forty-five great dragons flew out from his fist, merging with the river water, stabbing down at Ban Gongcuo in a flash. The *bang bang bang* sounds were endless.

Qin Mu flew and leapt, his ten fingers spread open, palms facing the sky. He suddenly pulled down, and streaks of thunderous light illuminated the river surface. Concentrated beams of thunder *crack crack* chopped into the center of the forty-five great dragons!

By the time Qin Mu’s body descended, the sword pill in his hand had already transformed into countless sword lights, Sword Walk Mountains and Rivers!

The sword light transformed into vast rivers and mountains descending from the sky, smashing into the river. The overwhelming power decomposed countless volumes of river water. In an instant, the river water within a ten *zhang* radius was cut into countless water droplets by the sword light, forming rivers and mountains within the water!

Blood flowers bloomed in the water, rapidly and diagonally fleeing towards the river bottom. Qin Mu raised his hand, and the Shao Bao Sword at his waist *zheng ming* flew out. Qin Mu rotated his index finger in a circle, and the Shao Bao Sword rotated wildly. Countless sword qi surrounded the Shao Bao Sword, turning it into a drilling sword that broke through the massive volume of water and shot directly into the river bottom, chasing after that bloody color.

His clothes fluttered, and he lightly floated down from the air, stepping onto the undulating waves of the river surface. Behind him, *splash splash* sounds echoed – the water waves that had exploded upwards from his footsteps as he ran were only now finally falling, like flying jewels spilling forth.

On the river surface, Qin Mu took a step, and the river surface around him suddenly changed. The river water swirled around him, and beneath the water, transparent flood dragons seemed to intertwine and cross, forming a large circle around him.

Whoosh—

The Shao Bao Sword broke through the river surface and flew out, circling in the air, still rotating madly, but its rotation speed grew slower and slower. By the time the sword flew to Qin Mu’s front, it had already stopped rotating. The sword sheath at Qin Mu's waist transformed into a fish dragon and flew out, opening its large mouth to swallow the sword. It then transformed back into a sword sheath and returned to his waist.

Qin Mu's face remained calm, as always. He stood there quietly, the sword pill flying from his hand and suspending in front of him, like a slightly larger water drop. Around him, water lines slowly rose, reaching the top of his head, like rainwater flowing in reverse. The river water that had risen into the air turned into cloud qi, forming clouds that covered an area of over ten *zhang*.

Within the clouds, lightning flashed and thunder roared, *crack crack* chopping down. The thunderous light flickered in and out of view, vaguely revealing only scales and claws.

"Ban Gongcuo, you disappoint me." Qin Mu’s calm voice spread across the river surface. He said faintly, "Your cultivation from your nineteen previous lives, is that all? Why do you not dare to come out? I am still waiting to kill you so I can go back and continue eating. After all, the dishes will be getting cold soon."

There was no movement on the river surface. Qin Mu frowned, turning his body towards the riverbank. He returned the way he came, surrounded by faces filled with surprise, twisting their heads to look at him. The onlookers' gazes followed his every move.

Qin Mu saw but did not see. He picked up the brush, ink, paper, and inkstone he had thrown down and returned to the iron hammer. He reached out and grasped the hammer handle, suddenly swinging it up, and with force, smashed it towards the ground. *Boom*, a loud sound echoed. The air in front of him was smashed into a wall, and then the air wall was also smashed and exploded.

Qin Mu's strike hit the ground, which sank and cracked open. A tremor spread from deep within the earth, and a figure rapidly retreated! Qin Mu leapt like he was flying, and in the next instant, he was in front of the bamboo staff. He slapped his palm downwards, and the bamboo staff *chug* submerged into the ground. A spurt of blood light sprayed from the small hole left by the bamboo staff.

Qin Mu's body continuously leapt, rising and falling several times, arriving in front of the two butcher knives. Head down, feet up, he grasped the knife handles with both hands, lifted the knives, and rotated. *Swish swish swish*, countless knife lights cut into the earth. His body rotated as he moved forward, the knife lights like rain, like a waterfall, chopping into the earth.

Suddenly, Qin Mu spread his legs wide, patted the ground with the back of his knives, and soared upwards, then landed steadily. He inserted both knives back into their sheaths and turned to enter the capital.

Not long after, he arrived at the Jade Fragrance Building, walked into the Green Bamboo Garden, rounded two bends past the statue of the South Sea Guanyin, and arrived at the elegant pavilion. The two great witches in the elegant pavilion were still there. Seeing him, their faces showed shock.

Qin Mu said, "Are the dishes still warm?" One of the great witches looked at him blankly. The other great witch hastily nodded. "Wine?" Qin Mu asked again. "The wine is a bit cool." Qin Mu waved his hand, "Go heat it up and bring it over. You, stay and filter the wine for me."