Chapter 987: Sword Twenty

Kaihuang leaned back in his chair. He stretched out a hand, fingers splayed, and chuckled, "I want to hit you this many times!"

Qin Mu burst out laughing. He casually crossed his legs and draped an arm over the back of the chair behind God King Shu Jun's head, remarking leisurely, "Learning from me again. Why don't you hit ten, Reverend Qin?"

God King Shu Jun felt very uncomfortable. However, since he was only a large head, he couldn't push Qin Mu's hand away.

"Put your leg down!" Qin Hanzhen finally couldn't hold back. Veins popped on his forehead as he hissed, "Your leg hair is showing! How indecent! And you're not wearing anything underneath!"

Qin Mu quickly lowered his leg and sat upright.

God King Lang Wo chuckled softly, helping Qin Mu pull up his red robe to cover his legs.

On both sides, the armies of Carefree Village and the Creation Spirts were bristling with murderous intent, ready for battle at any moment. Yet, on this platform, the tension had dissipated.

Qin Mu smiled, "For my father's sake, I'll spare your dignity today and won't fight you. In a few days, I'll go home to visit again. Tell my brother to build the Youdu of the Other Shore as quickly as possible; I can have the Creation Spirts help you."

Qin Hanzhen frowned, "Don't go home! You're not allowed back!" After saying this, he glanced at Kaihuang's expression.

Yan Yunxi chuckled, "King Zhen, don't be like that. We were just discussing important matters between our two races; now it's fine to talk about family affairs. Reverend Mu has been wandering outside since birth. It would be unreasonable and heartless for him not to be able to visit home now that he's reached Carefree Village."

Qin Mu smiled, "Grand Master Zi Xi speaks sense. My purpose in coming here was to find Carefree Village and visit my parents, my brother, and Kaihuang. How could I arrive at my doorstep and not enter?"

"Going back to get a beating?" Qin Hanzhen said angrily, glancing at Kaihuang again.

Qin Mu dismissed it, saying, "I didn't lose back then, and it's even less likely now. Kaihuang, isn't that right?"

Kaihuang stood up, smiling gently. "It's good to go home and visit. Since we've established a peace treaty between our two races today, I also need a few days to prepare back home, to have Feng Qing establish the Youdu of the Other Shore and set up the cycle of life and death for the Other Shore World. So, Reverend Mu, when will you visit Carefree Village?"

Qin Mu replied courteously, "In about two months. Building the Youdu of the Other Shore will take some time; it's a huge project after all. God King Lang Wo and I will mobilize the forces of all Creation Spirit tribes to help my brother create the Youdu."

Kaihuang also replied courteously, "Then I will await your esteemed presence in two months. Grand Master, Hanzhen, let's return."

Qin Mu and God King Lang Wo saw them off. Kaihuang quickly said, "Don't bother. Carefree Village is very close, just a turn away."

Qin Mu watched them walk off the platform. Qin Hanzhen turned back and whispered, "Don't go back!" After that, he returned to Carefree Village with Kaihuang and Yan Yunxi.

"Sister, will establishing a peace treaty with Carefree Village stir up discontent among the Creation Spirts?" Qin Mu turned his head to ask the woman beside him.

God King Lang Wo shook her head, saying, "You are the Sacred Infant; your decision is the decision of all Creation Spirts, and also of the Primeval Spirits. They will not oppose you. In truth, we Creation Spirts are failures, merely hiding here. We have no great ambitions; we are all just seeking peace and survival."

She paused, then continued, "I will use my divine consciousness to inform them of the prospects of the peace treaty. When they see the future after the Youdu of the Other Shore is established, they will understand your actions. Moreover, those Primeval Spirits who turned into monstrous demons in the Great Void can also find peace, which will make them respect you even more."

Qin Mu thanked her.

God King Lang Wo saw his gaze fixed on the Thirty-three Heavens of Carefree Village, knowing his intense longing for home. She asked, "Are you truly going to wait two months before entering Carefree Village?"

Qin Mu chuckled, "Of course not. I'll definitely sneak in to see what Carefree Village has been up to these past twenty thousand years."

God King Lang Wo blinked her bright eyes, greatly curious about Qin Mu's plan.

"Kaihuang's reforms were top-down. After the upper-level gods and devils were reformed, the results were taught to the populace." Qin Mu's eyes gleamed as he said, "So, what's taught in the academies and schools of Carefree Village are the supreme arts of the Kaihuang Heavenly Court. They do everything possible to instruct mortals, enabling them to become divine arts practitioners and even gods. Therefore, for these two months, I plan to travel through Carefree Village, starting from the Grand Emperor Heaven, to observe whether its divine arts and doctrines have advanced or regressed compared to back then."

God King Lang Wo smiled, "Are you still going to fight Qin Ye?"

Qin Mu didn't deny it, showing a faint smile as he said, "He is Reverend Qin, and I am Reverend Mu. A million years ago, we already disliked each other, but we never settled who was superior. Now that we've met again, despite our familial ties, we still find each other disagreeable. Since that's the case, it's better to have a fight. As they say, 'know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated'."

A cunning glint appeared in his eyes: "These days, his energy is focused on establishing the Youdu of the Other Shore. He also needs to appease the people and gods of Carefree Village, helping them let go of their hatred. He won't have time to pay attention to me, nor to study my Dao arts and divine powers. But I, on the other hand, can explore the mysteries of his Thirty-three Heavens Sword Dao from various clues."

God King Lang Wo hesitated, "I need to appease the Creation Spirts, and also arrange for them to help the big-headed monster... help your brother create the Youdu of the Other Shore. I'm afraid I won't have time to accompany you."

Qin Mu felt a pang of regret.

He really liked the feeling of God King Lang Wo being by his side. This woman was incredibly intelligent. If she were an enemy, she possessed astonishing means to deal with them; if she were a friend, she would do everything in her power to help. God King Lang Wo was also a stunningly beautiful woman, yet she didn't put pressure on him like Yun Chuxiu did. With this goddess-king by his side, Qin Mu felt his mind was much more agile than usual.

However, God King Lang Wo had to leave to attend to important matters, and he couldn't force her to stay.

The three returned to the Creation Spirts' encampment. Qin Mu watched her depart. Shu Jun, who was nearby, said, "This God King is an extraordinary woman, and her cultivation is formidable, much more so than mine back in my day."

Qin Mu said with some regret, "It's a pity she's a visualized being; there's no one so perfect in the world..."

"Visualized?" Shu Jun burst out laughing, "What are you thinking?"

Qin Mu was taken aback.

Shu Jun shook his head, saying, "A visualized deity cannot use divine consciousness abilities, nor can they open divine treasures and heavenly palaces like you. Her divine consciousness abilities are stronger than mine, and she has both divine treasures and a heavenly palace. How could she be a visualized deity?"

Qin Mu's mind reeled. He blurted out, "Are you saying there really is such a beautiful and perfect woman in the world?"

He found it hard to believe. However, Shu Jun's words indeed enlightened him. God King Lang Wo was so beautiful and perfect that he had jumped to the conclusion that she was a visualized deity of the Creation Spirit race, overlooking many details.

Visualized deities are very similar to ancient gods. Limited by the divine consciousness and thoughts of the Creation Spirts who created them, fire is fire, water is water; they cannot change their own attributes and can only cultivate and improve themselves along their inherent properties. From the perspective of ancient gods, they could not open divine treasures or heavenly palaces, and no ancient god used divine consciousness as a means of combat, let alone visualized other life forms.

However, God King Lang Wo was an exception! She could visualize, had opened divine treasures, and established a heavenly palace. She had comprehended divine consciousness abilities from Carefree Village's Dao arts and divine powers, reforming the Creation Spirts' divine arts and doctrines. From this perspective, she was indeed not a visualized deity of the Creation Spirts, but a living, breathing being!

Qin Mu smiled, rubbed his hands together, and chuckled, "I thought she was a visualized being..."

Shu Jun had no time to guess his thoughts. He urged, "How do we enter Carefree Village?"

Qin Mu was surprised, "You want to go too?"

Shu Jun sneered, "Of course! After my revival, I need to cultivate divine treasures and heavenly palaces. The best way is naturally to follow you, make a trip to Carefree Village, and see how they cultivate!"

Qin Mu looked troubled, "Your current appearance..."

"Wait a moment!" Shu Jun took out a Primeval God Stone. After visualizing for a moment, his large head shrank, and a frail body grew beneath it. Soon, he became a scrawny youth with a large head. He said, "This should be acceptable, right? This body of mine is useless; it's just for walking, to look like a person. Later, when my divine consciousness recovers a bit, I'll recast my physical body."

Qin Mu looked at his stubble-covered face and reluctantly nodded, saying, "It just makes you look a bit old. You're trying to act young, so it looks a bit strange."

Shu Jun's face darkened, making him look even uglier.

Qin Mu quickly said, "The Creation Spirts will move away the dead star zone surrounding Carefree Village, and the gods and devils of Carefree Village will also help. It will be chaotic then, so we can sneak into Carefree Village while they are moving the stars. I'll change my clothes first; this big red robe and red bellyband are too conspicuous."

As he expected, not long after God King Lang Wo and Kaihuang announced the peace treaty between the two races, the Creation Spirit race began to move away the dead star zone surrounding Carefree Village. The gods and devils within Carefree Village also flew out, some activating their vast flying ships, while others directly used immense power to propel the stars, moving them away from Carefree Village.

Qin Mu and Shu Jun took the opportunity to blend into the lowest layer of Carefree Village's Thirty-three Heavens, the Grand Emperor Heaven.

At this time, Kaihuang's command was conveyed. The various departments of the Heavenly Court, each performing its duty, began to prepare in an orderly fashion to assist Qin Fengqing in establishing the Youdu of the Other Shore and setting up the cycle of life and death.

The greatest advantage Carefree Village held over the Creation Spirits of the Other Shore lay in the preservation of all state departments from the Kaihuang era. Kaihuang only needed to set the general direction and issue his commands, and the various state machinery would be activated to achieve his established goals. This was the national system formulated for Kaihuang by the Sage Woodcutter, one of the Four Grand Masters. Under this system, everyone's talents were fully utilized, each performed their respective duties, and every god and devil could participate in the construction of the nation, yet no one needed to be overly busy, retaining ample time for cultivation and self-improvement.

The Woodcutter, Wen Tiange, as the chief of the Four Grand Masters, had indelible achievements in the Kaihuang era.

"Zi Xi, you've crossed swords with Reverend Mu. How is his sword technique?" Kaihuang summoned Yan Yunxi and asked.

Yan Yunxi's eyes gleamed as she chuckled, "Does Your Majesty truly wish to compete with your descendant? It might be rather unbecoming of an Emperor."

Kaihuang shook his head, saying, "It's not a competition with a descendant, but a contest between Reverend Qin and Reverend Mu. Although we are family, our philosophies differ, and a clash of ideas can sometimes be more terrifying than hatred, allowing resentment to accumulate deeper and deeper."

He gently stroked the Carefree Sword, somewhat lost in thought, before saying after a moment, "Rather than waiting for our conflicting philosophies to collide and lead to irreconcilable contradictions, it's better to first determine who is stronger. For someone with our temperaments, reason is no longer spoken, but fought out."

He drew the Carefree Sword, examining the divine blade that had accompanied his growth. He said, "It was this very sword, shining brilliantly in his hands back then, that showed me the profundity of sword arts and determined that I would establish my Dao through the sword."

He wielded the Carefree Sword, which emanated a serene sword light that filled the sky. He said leisurely, "It was also this sword that passed from my hand to his, allowing him to comprehend unparalleled sword techniques. This sword connects him and me, spanning a million years, spanning forty thousand years. I want to know how much he has improved since then. You are the one in Carefree Village who has seen his sword technique in recent years, so you know his capabilities. That is why I ask you."

"Reverend Mu's sword technique is unparalleled in the world for a million years!" Yan Yunxi drew her sword and said solemnly, "Your Majesty's Dao of the Sword is also at its peak for a million years! Your Majesty, I once encountered him in the Primordial Realm and asked him for guidance on a move called 'Calamity-Lifting Sword Art'. Please observe, Your Majesty!"

She activated her divine sword, its light dancing, mimicking Qin Mu's Calamity-Lifting Sword, performing this Nineteenth Sword Form.

Kaihuang's eyes flickered. Back then, Qin Mu had also performed the Calamity-Lifting Sword at the Jade Pool, destroying Madam Yuan Mu's projection with a single strike, shocking the world. But at that time, he hadn't had the chance to observe it closely.

Yan Yunxi demonstrated this move before him. Even though she was a master at the Great Completion of the Numinous Sky realm, she found it somewhat strenuous and couldn't fully display the essence of the move. She said, "When this move is performed in his hands, its subtlety and numerous variations make it impossible for even me to block."

"This is a basic sword technique." Kaihuang wielded the Carefree Sword, performing each move one by one. He said, "Before this move, there are four other basic sword techniques."

His sword light flickered as he performed the Eighteenth Sword Form. After performing the Eighteenth Sword Form, it transformed into the Seventeenth Sword Form, and he continued to deduce, bringing forth the four fundamental sword forms created by the Eternal Peace Reform.

Kaihuang closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them, his gaze sharp and bright. "After the Nineteenth Sword Form, there is also the Twentieth Sword Form!"