Chapter 291: Ocean Night of Intoxication

The pharmacist examined the village chief and grumbled, "Old age means you shouldn't rely on your muscles and bones anymore, especially since you barely have any left. Yet you still push yourself, and now look at you?"

The village chief panted heavily and said, "He's hurt worse than I am. I've fought just about every strong one from Shang Cang."

"Look at you, acting all high and mighty."

The pharmacist first used needles to stabilize his injuries and shook his head. "Weren't you the one who got your limbs chopped off by a sword?"

"When I passed the position of Human Emperor to Mu Er, I knew this day would come—someone from Shang Cang would go after him."

The village chief gazed into the distance and continued, "Shang Cang won't tolerate the existence of a Human Emperor. I'm already old, useless, and crippled, so they don't care about me. But the new one, they'll definitely try to eliminate. Qiao Xing Jun is one of the top figures in Shang Cang. This time, I blocked him and made him back off, so now the ones going after Mu Er won't be someone as powerful as him. He'll have to follow the rules. If he doesn't, then I'll force them to."

As the pharmacist prepared medicine for him, he asked, "And after you're dead? Will they still follow the rules?"

The village chief fell silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "Born as a Human Emperor, die as a heroic ghost. This life may end, but the will to fight endures forever. Perhaps you should go out and see the world too."

The pharmacist shivered and shook his head. "I'm not going. Whoever wants to can go themselves."

Xi Tu Shen Shan.

Qiao Xing Jun's carriage arrived at the mountaintop. This star lord was straining his cultivation to the limit, about to return to Shang Cang, when suddenly he spat out blood and collapsed in the carriage. His wounds burst open, and he struggled to raise his hand toward the four women. "Light the incense..."

The four women were startled. The girl in green quickly took three sticks of incense and lit them on the altar. Smoke rose gently, and after a moment, a face appeared in the sky, looking down.

"I encountered the old Human Emperor."

Qiao Xing Jun gasped for breath. "He's old and crippled, but he's still alive, and his strength has improved a lot. I was injured by him. His message is clear: he'll interfere if the older generation goes after the new Human Emperor, but he won't bother with the younger ones."

"He's still alive?"

The face showed surprise, and a ethereal voice came from the heavens. "Star Lord, who do you plan to send from Shang Cang to eliminate the new Human Emperor?"

Qiao Xing Jun replied, "Xu Sheng Hua, the Xu Gong Zi."

The face in the sky grew serious. "Is it necessary to involve Xu Gong Zi?"

Qiao Xing Jun nodded. "The old guy is aged and near death, but the new Human Emperor is young and not yet fully grown. Eliminating him will put an end to the threat once and for all."

A beam of light descended from the sky, shining on Qiao Xing Jun and forming a path of radiance. The face in the heavens said, "Xu Gong Zi may not be willing to come out. You'll need to go and speak to him personally."

Qiao Xing Jun turned to the four women. "Yu, Qing, Yao, Jing, you stay here. Take these four treasures of mine and assist Xu Gong Zi in killing the new Human Emperor. I'll return to Shang Cang, and he won't be long in following."

The four women acknowledged and stepped down from the carriage. The two Suanni pulled the damaged treasure carriage along the light path, rising back to Shang Cang.

Once the light faded, the four women exchanged glances. Yu Liu said, "The master instructed us to follow Xu Gong Zi to kill the new Human Emperor, but we still don't know who he is."

Jing Yan said, "The news came from Lou Lan Huang Jin Gong, so we'll need to go there. Qing Ying and Yao Hua, you two head to Huang Jin Gong. I'll wait here with Yu Liu for Xu Gong Zi to come down."

The other two girls nodded and descended the mountain. They avoided Da Xu, instead crossing Xi Tu, the Flame Desert, and the Snowy Plateau, heading straight for Lou Lan Huang Jin Gong.

Without Qiao Xing Jun, they dared not enter Da Xu directly.

Dong Hai.

Qin Mu, Si Yun Xiang, and Ling Yu Xiu drifted across the open sea. As night fell, the surface glimmered with waves of light from countless glowing fish, turning the ocean into a expanse like scattered jewels.

Qin Mu rode the waves forward, and the glowing fish leaped from his waves one after another, following the surge with playful energy.

Some fish had two whiskers on their foreheads, each ending in a transparent, fist-sized flesh ball like a lantern that emitted a soft glow at night, earning them the name Lantern Fish.

These fish also had wing-like fins, and when they burst from the waves, they flapped their fins to glide through the air for dozens of feet before plunging back into the water.

Occasionally, these strange fish swam alongside them, fluttering their fins as they floated nearby, lighting the path over the sea.

Now and then, larger fish appeared, some over ten feet long, flapping their fins curiously as they watched the group.

Si Yun Xiang, ever playful, noticed these big Lantern Fish had gained some spiritual awareness and tried teaching them to speak word by word. To her surprise, one really spoke in human tongue, learning a sentence or two.

They passed through the sea clan's territory, where many sea girls surfaced, their tails swirling as they swam around the waves, singing beautiful love songs. The lyrics told of two girls falling for a young man, weaving through their emotions, while nearby, some spirit-formed giant clams and other shells beat their shells like drums for accompaniment.

Ling Yu Xiu and Si Yun Xiang on the waves felt bashful listening to the sea girls' songs, stealing glances at the young man beside them and growing a bit annoyed.

They realized Qin Mu wasn't fully focused on the journey. His mind wasn't on the road ahead or the sea girls' lovely melodies—it was deep in his own enlightenment.

Though he wore a smile, his thoughts were elsewhere, not on the scenic beauty or the girls around him.

All along, Qin Mu had been trying to comprehend a unified technique for the Liu He realm, and these past few days had reached a critical point.

"This jerk, he deserves to be single forever!" both women thought in unison.

The Dao Master had let Qin Mu study the Fourteenth Dao Sword, yielding him great insights. Though it was a sword art, its principles of numbers and sword reasoning could be integrated into many techniques, offering valuable lessons.

After another half an hour, Qin Mu's vital energy began to wane, slowing the waves and shrinking the crests. Ling Yu Xiu quickly took over, casting a spell to form a water dragon that carried the three of them onward.

Qin Mu relaxed, standing on the water dragon and letting Ling Yu Xiu lead the way.

The Liu He divine treasury was a massive boost for cultivators, elevating spells, sword arts, and combat skills to the level of divine abilities, doubling their power.

In this realm, techniques had to connect the Ling Tai, Wu Yao, and Liu He divine treasuries, fully mobilizing their energies. Qin Mu's Overlord Body Three Elixirs had the power but lacked the method, the Woodcutter's Scripture had the path but no access, and the Great Yu Heaven Devil Scripture was all-encompassing yet lacked unity. Together, though, they could form a complete whole.

But Qin Mu thought even further. He wanted to incorporate the transformations from the Nine Dragons Emperor Art, the stability from the Tathagata Mahayana Scripture, and the numerical principles from the Dao Sword into his own technique.

The Nine Dragons Emperor Art excelled in change, and Emperor Yanfeng had passed it to him with guidance. Though Qin Mu had practiced it briefly, he had grasped its essence of variability.

The changes in the Nine Dragons Emperor Art meant that moves could be adapted at will. Like a divine dragon's versatility, through the nine dragons' transformations, one could execute other schools' sword techniques, spells, or combat skills—sometimes explosively forceful, other times softly yielding.

The Tathagata Mahayana Scripture excelled in stability. The old Tathagata hadn't taught it directly to Qin Mu, but allowed him to study in the Hall of All Heavens. After reviewing the twenty halls, Qin Mu had mastered it.

Its twenty heavens, with gods and demons providing support, offered unmatched stability, firm as Mount Sumeru.

The Dao Sword excelled in mathematical principles, using numbers to explain the natural world and the great Dao, reaching near-Dao status by the fourteenth sword.

If he could fully merge these three arts and blend their strengths into a unified technique, he would surely advance greatly!

Yet, despite his efforts these days, his gains were minimal. These were the pinnacle arts—each all-encompassing, foundational to their sects, and the supreme secrets of holy lands.

If he truly merged them, wouldn't it become the world's foremost technique?

"I've been too greedy," Qin Mu realized suddenly. He felt he was getting stuck in a rut. These arts were already perfect, and with his current vision, he couldn't fuse them.

So why complicate things?

"What I want are the principles hidden within these arts. If that's the case, why fuse the techniques themselves? Fusing the principles would be so much easier."

In the beautiful night over the sea, he suddenly felt enlightened, his mind lightening as he found the ocean and the girls around him even more captivating.

Forcing a fusion of techniques was beyond him and missed the point, but blending principles instead was far simpler.

With that insight, he stopped pushing and just went with the flow, cultivating as felt natural.

Beyond the sea clan's territory, the waters grew quieter. A large sea turtle surfaced, offering to carry them onward.

This turtle had cultivated to a high level, floating like a small island on the sea. As it swam west, it asked them about various cultivation puzzles.

Qin Mu and the two women answered freely, resolving many of its doubts. The old sea turtle was delighted and invited them to visit.

Qin Mu asked curiously, "Where is your home, sir? Where should we visit?"

"I call the four seas my home, but I do have some offspring living on my back."

As the old sea turtle spoke, more turtles leaped from the water onto its back.

"Lights up!" the old sea turtle laughed, and huge pearls under its shell lit up, illuminating the turtle-back island.

The turtles on its back stood on their hind legs, circling Qin Mu, Ling Yu Xiu, and Si Yun Xiang as they sang and danced, slapping their bellies and shells for rhythm.

Si Yun Xiang pulled Qin Mu into the island's festivities, and after a joyful moment, he drew Ling Yu Xiu in too. The princess was a bit reserved at first, but soon joined in.

The fun ended quickly, and as dawn broke, the old sea turtle said, "Land is near, my friends. Farewell!"

Qin Mu looked ahead and saw the mainland not far off, with cities and docks shrouded in the morning mist.

They jumped from the turtle's back onto the dock.

"Farewell!" the turtles on the back waved to them.

"Farewell!" Qin Mu waved back. Once the old sea turtle vanished, they entered He Zhou City.

"The enchanting sea," Ling Yu Xiu whispered.

Si Yun Xiang gazed dreamily. "The intoxicating sea nights, but once on land, we're back in the mundane world..."