Chapter 697: Mirror in the Blade

Qi Jiuyi wore a smile, but his gaze was icy. His aura reached its peak at this moment.

His fighting spirit soared.

For a long time, perhaps two or three years, he had been searching for an opportunity—a chance to perfectly defeat Qin Mu!

He was a favored son of heaven, a descendant of the Southern Heaven Red Emperor, and a young genius who cultivated the techniques of two Imperial Seat experts. He had descended to the lower realm with dreams and ambition, but as soon as he arrived, he was ganged up on and beaten by Qin Mu and Zhe Huali!

Afterwards, he was defeated by Qin Mu again in a one-on-one duel.

Two failures, an absolute humiliation.

And now, by unsettling Qin Mu's Dao heart, he had the perfect opportunity to avenge his past disgrace!

He had waited for this opportunity, and he had created it!

"Learn from me and live; imitate me and die."

Qin Mu told Long Qilin to step back and said seriously, "In a clash between experts, psychological warfare is paramount. I am naturally adept at striking at an opponent's Dao heart. You, Zhe Huali, Xu Shenghua, and even the Grand Cultivator, are all individuals who have endured my attacks and are still alive today. You are all talents; I have watched you gradually grow. However, you made one mistake: instead of directly engaging, you imitated my psychological tactics. The moment you conceived that idea, you were destined to lose, because I am far more skilled at it than you."

Flames surged around Qi Jiuyi, transforming into the manifestation of "Phoenix Perches on the Parasol Tree." He tried his best not to dwell on Qin Mu's words and sneered, "Your cultivation techniques and divine arts are still inferior to my Qi family's Imperial Seat ultimate arts. One of my grand divine arts is worth three of yours!"

His divine arts activated faster and faster, many times quicker than before. Clearly, after his previous defeat by Qin Mu, he had reflected deeply on his failure, diligently dedicated himself to cultivation, and made astonishing progress!

Imperial Seat cultivation techniques are profound and unfathomable. For practitioners of divine arts like those in Eternal Peace, every step of enlightenment requires continuous refinement and contemplation on their part. It is only through serendipitous encounters that they can enter a state of Dao comprehension.

Even a saint who appears once every five hundred years, like the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, required decades, even centuries, of accumulation to comprehend his Dao Sword. He also needed guidance from the previous generation's Sword God, the village chief, to finally enter the Dao realm in one fell swoop, achieving a level of swordsmanship that even Qin Mu could not hope to match.

The individuals in Disabled Elderly Village who comprehended the Dao realm, such as the Butcher, the Blind Man, and the Deaf Man, all possessed astonishing attainments in their respective Dao realms.

However, their entire lives were dedicated to a single pursuit, enduring hardships, torments, and setbacks. Their lives were filled with difficulties, allowing them to ultimately reach the Dao realm.

Even someone like Qin Mu, a "hegemonic body," faced unimaginable setbacks when stepping into the threshold of swordsmanship.

At the Human Emperor's Palace, the Human Emperor First Ancestor whipped his bones and shattered his body, destroying the ultimate arts of past Human Emperors. He brutally beat Qin Mu, relentlessly assaulting Qin Mu's body, spirit, Dao heart, and skills. Even as Qin Mu knelt in the mud and begged, he could only watch helplessly as the remains of the Human Emperor Second Ancestor were destroyed.

That blow almost crippled Qin Mu. Only then did he cross the Grand Emperor Heaven, fight on battlefields, and attain enlightenment in Li City. The blood and tears involved were something not to be spoken of to outsiders.

Qi Jiuyi, who cultivated Imperial Seat techniques, was different. He lived in the celestial heavens, received guidance from the Southern Heaven Red Emperor Qi Xiayu, and became a disciple of the Black Emperor of the Netherworld, Yin Tianzi, cultivating two Imperial Seat techniques.

Imperial Seat techniques are vast and profound, possessing the ability to help one comprehend the Dao and reach the Dao realm. They do not require the rigorous tempering experienced by the Imperial Preceptor, the Butcher, or the Blind Man, nor do they involve the setbacks they encountered.

Qi Jiuyi's cultivation journey had always been smooth sailing. However, precisely because of this, this kind of Dao realm, forcibly elevated by cultivation techniques, had significant shortcomings.

Qi Jiuyi had always believed that even if he couldn't be invincible at his realm, he could at least rank among the top ten. That was until he met Qin Mu, the bumpkin youth who had struggled and grown in the lower realm.

After being defeated by Qin Mu twice in a row, he finally realized his shortcomings. The Dao realm comprehension granted by Imperial Seat techniques was not truly his own; it wasn't ingrained deeply enough.

From then on, he also embarked on a path of self-comprehension, which allowed him to make such significant progress and improvement.

On the Parasol Tree behind him, nine phoenixes cried out, and a nine-headed phoenix flapped its wings and circled the tree. Meanwhile, another phoenix egg in the nest cracked open, and another tiny nine-headed phoenix flapped its tender wings, feeding on wind and dew, absorbing phoenix fire, quickly growing and taking flight once more.

Qin Mu raised an eyebrow. In just a few moments, sixteen nine-headed phoenixes flew out of the nest. Each colorful phoenix trailed long, brilliant tail feathers, soaring around him. The nine phoenixes cried out, and clear Daoist sounds emanated from their mouths.

He stood there, and for more than ten miles around, gigantic nine-headed phoenixes crisscrossed in flight, forming a wondrous formation.

Within this formation, Qi Jiuyi stood opposite him. Behind him, the Parasol Tree bloomed with fiery flowers. The fiery flowers were like small trumpets, forming a vibrant display, and the fiery clouds floating among the branches and leaves also pulsed with a wondrous rhythm.

The young man beneath the tree exuded an unhurried composure.

Qin Mu felt a touch of regret in his heart. He shouldn't have given Qi Jiuyi the time and opportunity to unleash his grand divine art. Qi Jiuyi was already far, far stronger than during their last encounter; giving him this chance had put Qin Mu on the defensive.

Clearly, Qi Jiuyi's "Phoenix Perches on the Parasol Tree" grand divine art had entered another wondrous realm. He had compensated for his previous shortcomings.

Suddenly, the Daoist sounds emanating from the nine phoenixes in the sky became incredibly shrill, and they swooped towards Qin Mu!

At the same time, Qi Jiuyi beneath the tree moved slowly, his gaze fixed on Qin Mu, who was fending off the phoenixes' assault.

Qin Mu stood his ground, not moving his feet. Instead, his body swayed, revealing three heads and six arms, to block the nine phoenixes surging from all directions. He was using the Human Emperor First Ancestor's Heaven and Earth Seal Art, and astonishingly, he blocked all sixteen phoenixes. No matter how fiercely the nine phoenixes attacked, they couldn't harm him in the slightest.

Standing alone between heaven and earth, as if bracing against its collapse, the Human Emperor First Ancestor's Seal Art uses oneself as the core of heaven and earth. It was most effective in dealing with the current situation.

Qi Jiuyi moved his feet. Behind him, ethereal clouds billowed, and nine phoenix heads emerged from within, staring at Qin Mu, searching for his weaknesses.

His hand seals changed constantly, and the divine art forming the Parasol Tree also underwent subtle alterations. He was calculating the flaws in Qin Mu's moves and divine arts.

Suddenly, Qi Jiuyi's eyes lit up. His right hand drew a circle, and his left-hand seal passed through the circle, striking towards Qin Mu.

Just then, all sixteen nine-headed phoenixes attacked simultaneously, engulfing Qin Mu!

How violent was the assault of sixteen nine-headed phoenixes?

In an instant, the phoenixes' feathers were like swords, their wings like blades, their claws like hooks, their beaks like spears. It was as if thousands of spirit weapons were attacking Qin Mu simultaneously. Coupled with the incredibly scorching phoenix fire that incinerated everything, the place where Qin Mu stood seemed to have fallen into a sea of fire, or like the epicenter of an earth-shattering explosion!

Terrifying shockwaves swept out in all directions. Wherever the shockwaves passed, rocks floated into the air, shattered, melted, and evaporated. The flames formed a circular snare, emitting an incredibly bright light, surging outwards, engulfing everything, only losing power after expanding fifty miles!

Amidst the explosion, incredibly bright sword lights suddenly appeared. The sword lights pierced through phoenix heads, slashed through phoenix necks, severed wings, cut off feathers, and sliced off phoenix claws!

"Brother Qin, your grand divine art has been unleashed, but you're no match for me now!"

Qi Jiuyi burst into laughter. His palm force pierced through the center of the explosion, heading straight for Qin Mu's back.

Qin Mu turned his head and struck with a palm. Their palms had not yet met, still thirty zhang apart, when their respective palm forces suddenly erupted!

Qi Jiuyi's palm force manifested as "Phoenix Feather Bridge." Countless phoenix feathers, like swords, formed a bridge. The sword-feathers thrust forward with such speed that they created the illusion of a flying bridge.

As Qin Mu's palm struck, it formed a crystalline path, meeting Qi Jiuyi's palm force. Power erupted, and countless crystals materialized and expanded in all directions. The structures of these crystals varied greatly. Suddenly, flames erupted from within the crystals!

That was Sky Fire, a divine art of the Heavenly Fire Dao. The flames were even more terrifying than phoenix fire, directly melting the terrifying power hidden within Qi Jiuyi's countless sword-feathers, and surged directly towards Qi Jiuyi.

Qi Jiuyi's expression changed drastically. The Parasol Tree behind him drifted forward. He wrapped his hands around the Parasol Tree, let out a roar, and used it as a weapon, sweeping it down forcefully against the Heavenly Fire Dao!

The two men's palm forces collided with the ancient tree. Although its might wasn't as terrifying as the previous strike, the power erupted within a smaller area, making its destructive potential even greater!

The rocks beneath their feet completely melted. The power of their divine arts simultaneously acted upon each other, making their bodies feel incredibly heavy.

Long Qilin stood at a distance, observing the battle. He carried a huge sword pellet on his back. He thought to himself, "The Cult Master doesn't have a spirit weapon in hand, I'm afraid he's at a disadvantage... This sword pellet is too heavy, should I put it down first?"

No sooner had he thought this than a cataclysmic roar echoed, and the ground trembled continuously. Then, Qin Mu and Qi Jiuyi's figures vanished.

Once the aftermath of their battle dissipated, Long Qilin immediately saw a deep pit appear where they had fought. The enormous opening was about a hundred zhang in diameter and seemed bottomless.

Long Qilin quickly ran over, peering into the opening.

He saw that the large hole didn't look like it was blasted open by their divine arts, but rather that the ground beneath was hollow, and they had caused it to collapse.

"It seems to be the underground space of the Divine Broken Mountain Range," he murmured, "There are also chains there, sealing a long blade..."

Long Qilin pondered for a moment, somewhat reluctant to enter the underground. During the battle to repel the celestial beings, Qin Mu and the others had discovered various incredible phenomena beneath the Divine Broken Mountain Range.

The underground space of the Divine Broken Mountain Range was extremely bizarre. Not only was there a long blade spanning north to south, but there was also a divine hall, with chains suppressing the blade.

What was even more bizarre was that one of the Eternal Peace stone statues had burrowed here and ended up with its head stuck beneath the long blade. Furthermore, this place had been shattered by the Imperial Preceptor using the Quake Cauldron, leading to an anomaly connecting it to another demon realm.

Most peculiar of all, this long blade also happened to be the boundary between Eternal Peace and the Great Ruins.

"It concerns my rations; I can't not go," he declared, "lest the Cult Master encounter danger."

Long Qilin jumped down. Kirin fire emerged from beneath his feet, supporting his body, and he flew into the underground space.

The underground was hollow. Incredibly thick chains bound the astonishingly long blade. The blade's edge faced downwards, and the head of a mighty stone statue was stuck on its edge.

Not far away, a floating grand hall hovered beneath the blade.

Long Qilin looked around, finally spotting Qin Mu and Qi Jiuyi. At this moment, the two of them were surprisingly perpendicular to the underground space, standing on the blade's surface, fighting as they ran.

The blade's surface was as bright as a mirror, without a single flaw. It clearly reflected the figures of the two men, as if two Qin Mus and two Qi Jiuyis were battling.

The blade's surface was so smooth that their reflections were like the moon in water. Although they were fighting with earth-shattering intensity, there were no ripples on the blade's surface.

Qi Jiuyi transformed into his nine-phoenix body, with nine heads, a human torso, and nine phoenix heads. Qin Mu, on the other hand, had three heads and six arms. Each had their unique strengths. Now, in close-quarters combat, unlike the clash of divine arts earlier, their fists struck flesh, leaving both of them bruised and bloody.

Suddenly, Long Qilin noticed something strange. The blade no longer reflected the figures of the two men, but rather a nine-headed phoenix and Qin Mu's primordial spirit!

Qin Mu's primordial spirit and Qi Jiuyi's primordial spirit had apparently been sucked into the divine blade at some unknown point, and were now fighting within its internal space!

"I already said this place was extremely bizarre..."

Long Qilin rushed forward, intending to rescue Qin Mu. He suddenly looked down and saw the mirror-like blade surface, pausing in slight surprise. In the mirror, there was another Long Qilin, looking majestic and robust.

Long Qilin's hair stood on end. Because at that moment, through his primordial spirit, he saw his own physical body!

"My primordial spirit has also been pulled into the mirror!"

Long Qilin flailed his four legs, feeling as if he had stepped onto the mirror's surface, yet also as if he hadn't stepped on anything at all. His heart was filled with terror.

"There's a ghost!"

Before he finished speaking, two blood-covered Qi Jiuyis, tumbling and rolling, crashed towards him. After rolling more than a dozen times, they landed at Long Qilin's feet: one landed at his true body's feet, and the other at his primordial spirit's feet.

Long Qilin looked up and saw two mutually reflecting Qin Mus approaching. They stopped in front of the fallen Qi Jiuyis.