Chapter 988: The Truth of Wuyou Village

"Sword Twenty, Sword Twenty..." Kai Emperor raised his sword, his eyes unfocused. The Carefree Sword in his hand swept aimlessly left and right, attempting to find the Twentieth Form of the Sword.

Yan Yunxi's eyes flickered. "Your Majesty, since you're reverse-engineering Heavenly Venerate Mu's sword techniques to deduce his various sword secrets, what do you think Heavenly Venerate Mu is doing now?"

"He's infiltrating Carefree Village," Kai Emperor replied without hesitation. "He's starting his search from Grand Emperor Heaven, looking for the secrets of my sword divine arts and ways to defeat me. The reason he proposed a two-month deadline wasn't to wait for Feng Qing to establish Youdu, but to gain an understanding of my sword techniques within that time."

"Heavenly Venerate Qin and Heavenly Venerate Mu are indeed like family; their ideas are identical," Yan Yunxi chuckled. She then withdrew, saying, "I won't disturb Your Majesty's contemplation of the Twentieth Form of the Sword. May Your Majesty succeed soon."

***

In Grand Emperor Heaven, Carefree Village, Uncle Shu followed Qin Mu, but instead of going directly to the academies and schools, Qin Mu wandered through the mountains and forests, examining the soil, water, and terrain.

Qin Mu even transformed his vital qi into a sword, using a drilling sword form to bore into mountains and deep into the earth.

"Holy Infant, what are you looking for?" Uncle Shu couldn't help but wonder.

"Why are you calling me 'Holy Infant' too?" Qin Mu said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"I am a Creation God," Uncle Shu replied. "It's natural for me to call you Holy Infant; it's the custom of the Creation God tribe. What exactly are you searching for?"

Qin Mu used his vital qi to form a sword, drilling out deep rock fragments from underground. He picked up a handful, crushed them in his palm, and said, "Kai Emperor's single sword strike, which transformed into the Thirty-Three Heavens and divided nearly half of the other shore world, reveals something strange."

Uncle Shu was puzzled.

"We've been in the other shore world for some time now," Qin Mu continued. "The continents where the Creation Gods reside, including their mountains, rivers, lakes, and oceans, were all manifested through the Creation Gods' contemplation. These lands float in the void and are not connected."

Qin Mu again used his vital qi to form a sword, thrusting it into a majestic mountain in Grand Emperor Heaven, Carefree Village. The sword qi drilled deep into the mountain. "The idea of a single sword strike transforming into the Thirty-Three Heavens sounds truly terrifying. If Kai Emperor's sword strike had directly cut off thirty-three continents of the other shore world and integrated them into thirty-three heavens, then all the Creation Gods, even with the Goddess of Heavenly Works, wouldn't have been able to stand against him alone. How, then, could the Creation God race have fought Carefree Village for twenty thousand years?"

Uncle Shu paused, then said, "Of course, a single sword strike transforming into the Thirty-Three Heavens means Kai Emperor's sword strike caused the Thirty-Three Heavens to form beneath his sword, occupying half of the other shore world. It doesn't mean Kai Emperor cut half of the other shore world with one sword."

Qin Mu extracted some rock fragments from inside the mountain and chuckled. "Divine King Shu, you are too naive. You don't realize that Kai Emperor, despite his honest appearance, is actually cunning."

He squeezed the rock fragments and noticed some metallic powder within them.

Qin Mu blew on them; the rock fragments flew away, but the metallic dust remained in his palm. "If one sword strike could form the Thirty-Three Heavens, complete with mountains, rivers, lakes, and oceans, then Kai Emperor wouldn't be the foremost sword master; he'd be a Creation God! Perhaps Grand Emperor possessed such power, but his mastery of divine consciousness was certainly not that high. This can only mean..."

Qin Mu raised a finger, drew it lightly across the majestic mountains and rivers before them, and a sword light sliced the mountain in half. He smiled. "The Thirty-Three Heavens of Carefree Village were forged in advance!"

The mighty mountain split in two under his sword light, separating to reveal massive metallic and stone structures within!

Uncle Shu was greatly shaken, staring in horror at the intricate structure inside the mountain.

The mountain's interior was actually constructed from divine metals and materials, forged into countless components bearing rune imprints, appearing to be part of an enormous machine!

And at the mountain's base, divine metals and materials extended deep into the earth!

Evidently, the entirety of Grand Emperor Heaven in Carefree Village was an immense, unparalleled artificial construct, forged from divine metals and materials!

This Grand Emperor Heaven in Carefree Village was a heaven forged by countless skilled artisans!

"Just as I expected," Qin Mu said, bringing his hands together with force. The split mountain before them closed with a resounding boom. "I once heard that towards the end of Kai Emperor's era, he ordered Heavenly Emperor释 Li Youran to lead all the artisans in the world to construct Carefree Village. The Woodcutter Saint opposed its creation, but Kai Emperor disregarded his advice and still ordered Li Youran to build Carefree Village."

Uncle Shu's head felt dizzy. He murmured, "Carefree Village should have been opened up by Kai Emperor's sword. The Goddess of Heavenly Works couldn't have been mistaken. How could it have been built by Li Youran...?"

"Heavenly Emperor释 Li Youran was known as the 'Warfare Heavenly King' in Kai Emperor's Celestial Heavens," Qin Mu explained. "He earned that title not because of his prowess in leading armies, but because he was skilled at crafting all kinds of divine artifacts, especially war artifacts."

Qin Mu explained, "When he built Carefree Village, he actually gathered all the skilled artisans to forge thirty-three incomparably massive divine artifacts. These thirty-three artifacts secretly contained the sword principles inherent in Kai Emperor's sword path. In other words, these thirty-three divine artifacts were the materialized form of Kai Emperor's Thirty-Three Heavens sword path!"

He looked at the geographical features of Grand Emperor Heaven in Carefree Village. "The courses of the rivers here, the trends of the mountains, and even any geographical structure, including divine cities, villages, and statues, are all movements of his sword techniques."

Uncle Shu was still somewhat dazed. He mumbled, "That can't be right? His single sword strike opening up the Thirty-Three Heavens was witnessed by countless Creation Gods, even the Goddess of Heavenly Works. If he had merely moved the Thirty-Three Heavens of Carefree Village here, it would have been impossible to hide it from the Goddess of Heavenly Works and the clan elders and patriarchs. It would have been too difficult to deceive them; setting aside the Goddess of Heavenly Works, the clan patriarchs alone were no less capable than I was back then."

Qin Mu walked towards the nearest divine city, smiling. "I once possessed the Carefree Sword, Kai Emperor's personal sword. I didn't know this originally; I just found the sword incredibly light and unusually easy to handle. Later, I learned it was Kai Emperor's sword, an Emperor's Sword! Isn't it strange for an Emperor's Sword to be so light?"

Uncle Shu quickly followed him. "Refining a treasure to be very light shouldn't be difficult, should it?"

"Li Youran was the foremost artisan in the world; he certainly could have made the Carefree Sword very light," Qin Mu said. "However, I was rarely able to unleash the full power of the Carefree Sword, which is strange."

Qin Mu continued, "Logically, I should have been able to activate the rune imprints within the Carefree Sword, yet I rarely managed to display its power. This Imperial sword felt empty."

Uncle Shu finally understood, exclaiming, "Are you suggesting that Kai Emperor hid the Thirty-Three Heavens of Carefree Village inside the Carefree Sword back then? When he arrived in the other shore world, he thrust his sword, and Carefree Village flew out of the sword, forming the Thirty-Three Heavens?"

Qin Mu nodded. "Kai Emperor had many talented individuals under him. My master, Wen Tiange, was his Woodcutter Heavenly Master, revered as a saint; Zi Xi Heavenly Master was a master of formations; and Heavenly Emperor释 Li Youran was the foremost artisan. With their wisdom and abilities, folding Carefree Village and concealing it within the Carefree Sword should have been feasible. After all, they had already conducted one experiment."

He recalled Underworld Heavenly King Tian Shu's Imperial Palace Divine Blade, which contained various folded spaces within it.

"That scoundrel!" Uncle Shu fumed.

Qin Mu was furious. He smacked Uncle Shu hard on his large head and snapped, "That's my ancestor! Only I can scold him; you may not!"

Uncle Shu clutched his head, indignant. "So I'm not allowed to say anything?"

***

As the two walked into the city, Qin Mu inquired about the schools from the residents of Carefree Village. Uncle Shu couldn't help but wonder, "Since you've realized that the Thirty-Three Heavens of Carefree Village are Kai Emperor's sword techniques, his Thirty-Three Heavens Sword Path, why bother seeking knowledge in a school?"

Qin Mu entered the school in Grand Emperor Heaven. His third eye in his brow opened, causing all the gods and divine arts practitioners in the school to become oblivious to their presence, allowing them to enter unimpeded.

It was an illusion created by his divine consciousness, enveloping the entire school.

Now, Qin Mu's divine consciousness was stronger than ever. Not to mention True Gods of the Jade Platform realm, even gods and devils of the God-Slaying Platform and Jade Capital realms would find it difficult to see through his divine consciousness illusion.

Of course, this only worked when he harbored no hostility; if he showed any malice, he would still be detected.

"Investigating Kai Emperor's sword divine arts is only one of my goals," Qin Mu said calmly. "My other goal is to see how much the Dao arts and divine arts in Carefree Village have progressed over the years."

"Twenty thousand years ago, during Kai Emperor's era, there was an explosion of Dao arts and divine arts, with new techniques constantly emerging," Qin Mu said. "I want to see if this reform and innovation stalled after they retreated into Carefree Village."

He arrived at the school's library, walking in directly in front of the deity guarding the scripture pavilion. "The Woodcutter Saint said his greatest regret was not dissuading Kai Emperor from entering Carefree Village. I want to see if his judgment was correct."

The library was bustling with people and numerous divine arts practitioners. Qin Mu stood before a row of bookshelves, immediately falling into a dream-like slumber. Countless tiny Qin Mus instantly flew out of his dream, scurrying across the floor, flipping through various texts, chirping and chattering, creating a lively scene.

Yet, everyone in the library seemed oblivious to this sight, continuing with their own affairs.

Uncle Shu was also perusing the books, but his method differed from Qin Mu's. He directly scanned them with his divine consciousness, which was extremely fast.

However, Qin Mu's dream-induced enlightenment not only allowed him to quickly browse the texts in the library but also enabled the tiny Qin Mus in his dream to practice and test the divine arts described in the texts. This was something Uncle Shu could not match.

In just half a day, Qin Mu had reviewed all the texts here.

Uncle Shu had not finished reading yet when Qin Mu left the library and wandered around, observing the students in the school practicing divine arts and Dao arts.

He saw many students meditating, integrating divine consciousness with vital qi. Many of the Dao arts and divine arts he had just observed also followed this path of integrating divine consciousness and vital qi.

Evidently, after people from Kai Emperor's era arrived here, they also adopted the divine consciousness cultivation system, much like the Creation Gods accepted the Divine Treasures and Heavenly Palaces system.

This was a reform.

However, Qin Mu did not see the kind of reform he had hoped for, similar to Yankang's.

From the perspective of basic runes, Yankang's reform introduced dozens, even hundreds, more rune systems than Kai Emperor's era, such as Heavenly Yin runes and Primordial Magnetic runes, which were early runes of Yankang's reform.

In addition, there was the ancient god great Dao rune system that Qin Mu had brought from the Celestial Heavens.

Yankang re-calculated using the Taiwei Calculation Scripture, and the number of ancient god great Dao rune systems calculated was countless, numbering in the hundreds!

None of these were present in Carefree Village.

In the research of basic runes, Kai Emperor's Celestial Heavens seemed to have come to an abrupt halt after relocating to Carefree Village.

"This phenomenon is quite noteworthy..."

Qin Mu blinked, observing the students of Carefree Village studying in the school; these students were all divine arts practitioners. He observed their essence, qi, and spirit, followed them to see what they did daily, and even invaded their thoughts with his divine consciousness to see what they were thinking.

He was very puzzled as to why the process of reform and innovation, which had been in full swing during Kai Emperor's era, suddenly ceased after the relocation to Carefree Village.

While he was observing these divine arts practitioners, Qin Mu suddenly noticed a middle-aged Daoist in the Grand Emperor Heaven school curiously observing him, staring intently.

Qin Mu was slightly startled. The entire school was covered by his divine consciousness, making everyone oblivious to him, yet this middle-aged Daoist kept looking at him, as if he could see him!

Qin Mu smiled at the Daoist, and the Daoist returned the smile.

"How may I address you, fellow Daoist?" Qin Mu stepped forward, saluted the Daoist, and asked.

The Daoist hastily returned the salute. "I am Su Maiqing, a discarded disciple of the Dao Sect. Greetings, Heavenly Venerate Mu."

"A discarded disciple of the Dao Sect?" Qin Mu probed. "Su Maiqing, what is your connection to the Dao Sect of the Primordial Realm?"

The Daoist waved his whisk and grinned, "Indeed, it's what I founded."