Chapter 993: Third Thirty-Third Heaven Sword Domain

As Qin Mu's pupils began to constrict, the sword in his hand had already thrust out. With this thrust, the sword technique transformed into the Grand Emperor's Heaven-Pacifying Sword!

It was a sword art born from witnessing injustice in the world, gods and devils wreaking havoc, and feeling empathy for the suffering masses who could not control their own destinies.

"Heaven-Pacifying" meant pacifying all injustice and unfairness in the world, slaying evildoers and demons, and upholding righteousness.

Emperor Kai did not expect Qin Mu's first move to be the very first sword technique he created when he entered the path of the sword.

When Emperor Kai embarked on his sword journey, the aftermath of the High Emperor Era calamity had not yet settled, and the Kaihuang Era had not yet begun. At that time, he was a young man, full of heroic spirit, wandering the world with his sword amidst rampant monsters and devils.

He witnessed the Primordial Realm being twisted and sealed by immense power, with countless heavens vanishing into silence, leaving only a small portion of the Primordial Realm remaining.

Although that part of the Primordial Realm was many times larger than the later Eternal Peace and the Great Ruins, it was still minuscule compared to the true Primordial Realm.

What magnificent and overwhelming power it was to fold and seal the Primordial Realm?

He saw the ruins of the High Emperor, the towering and majestic remnants of the High Emperor's Heavenly Court, collapsed palaces, shattered palace walls, and the bones of gods and devils buried beneath them.

He often contemplated the submerged history within those ruins.

He also saw people, including couples, women, children, and elders, wailing amidst war and suffering.

He witnessed gods and devils running rampant, monsters and demons causing chaos in the turmoil, and divine beings herding surviving High Emperor citizens to build grand altars, then forcing them onto the altars as sacrifices to the gods of the Heavenly Court.

He vividly remembered the gruesome faces of those gods and devils, fawning and smirking as they sacrificed the people to the High Gods.

The Grand Emperor's Heaven-Pacifying Sword was born from these experiences.

With heroism in his heart, he wielded his sword to bring peace to the world.

This technique was one of his earliest moves. When he created this sword art, he had not yet met Qin Mu, nor had he traveled to the early Dragon Han Era.

The move was not as perfected as his later sword techniques; it could even be described as somewhat crude. Yet, this move was the most ambition-filled and heroic of all thirty-three heavens of his sword art, without equal!

As Qin Mu executed the Grand Emperor's Heaven-Pacifying Sword, embodying the spirit of a chivalrous swordsman who fought violence with violence, the youthful hero's sword art erupted from his blade. In that instant, Emperor Kai's memories of those years were awakened, and unknowingly, the Carefree Sword in his hand seemed to carry him back to the past.

He too wielded the Grand Emperor's Heaven-Pacifying Sword, the same sword technique as Qin Mu. As he executed the move, he again felt the wind howling, his body swaying in the breeze.

It was the feeling of his youth, brimming with passion, believing that the power to transform the world lay hidden within his small body. Even through storms and countless hardships, nothing could bring him down!

All difficulties, setbacks, and tribulations were merely motivations to push him forward and make him stronger!

He wanted to protect the people of this afflicted land, to make them fearless of gods and demons, to allow them to live with their backs straight, no longer beholden to the whims of divine beings.

Beneath their swords, the mountains and rivers of Grand Emperor Heaven intertwined, sword light transforming into roaring, surging rivers.

Inside Jade Capital City, within the Kaihuang Heavenly Court, gods and devils, both old and new, watched the scene with unwavering attention.

Although Qin Mu appeared as a youth, Emperor Kai had long become a middle-aged man, filled with imperial majesty. Yet, what they saw now seemed like two spirited young swordsmen, full of vigor.

Swords flashed like rainbows, the Dao unfolded like a painting. With a sweep of their blades, thousands of miles of majestic mountains and rivers surged forth.

Within these mountains and rivers, sword qi rose like mountains, sword light shimmered like ripples on a lake, sword qi drifted like clouds, and sword beams tore through the air like crashing waves!

The sword lights of the two intertwined and erupted violently, causing many of the younger generation of gods and devils to flee from the inner city of Jade Capital in a panic.

Their sword light shattered the Gate of Heavenly Inheritance and swept through, from the Vermilion Bird Gate to the Black Tortoise Gate, from the Gate of Peace and Fortune to the Gate of Extended Blessings, from the Gate of Containing Light to the Gate of Peaceful Rites, from the Gate of Righteous Accord to the Gate of Scenic Wind, and from the Gate of Utmost Virtue to the Gate of Peace Above.

Sword light surged from these gates, demolishing them. Palaces and buildings were torn to shreds in the sword light, replaced by the magnificent and grand landscape of Grand Emperor Heaven!

The Palace of Supreme Ultimate, the Palace of the Side Chambers, and the Eastern Palace were instantly replaced by towering mountains. The Hall of Cultivating Virtue, the Hall of Assisting Prosperity, the Hall of Eternal Joy, and the Hall of Great Tranquility were superseded by a seamless blend of lake and sky.

Suddenly, their sword lights converged, swirling around them and transforming into streams of teleportation light.

It was an exceptionally brilliant sight. Their bodies remained still, yet their flying swords spun around them, their bright blades reflecting various teleportation runes.

The teleportation runes reflected from the flying swords onto their bodies, activating teleportation divine abilities. The sword light enveloped their forms, rapidly traversing like two streaks of rainbow lightning, clashing with a metallic clang above Jade Capital City.

With each clash, the sword light shone as brilliantly as the sun, and countless sword qis shot out in all directions like perfectly straight beams of light.

The outer city of Jade Capital below suffered immediately. The roofs of divine halls such as the Hall of Peace and Health, the Hall of Proclaiming Yang, the Hall of Flourishing Dao, the Hall of Enlightenment, and the Hall of Glorious Prosperity were riddled with holes as sword qis pierced through them.

Using sword techniques to execute teleportation divine abilities left even a master of arithmetic like Su Maiqing dazzled and applauding.

More young gods and devils fled the outer city. Before they could even steady themselves, they saw Qin Mu and Emperor Kai's figures halt in the sky.

A deafening roar echoed, and the second sword of the Thirty-Three Heavens Sword Art erupted!

The Grand Clarity Heaven-Equalizing Sword!

This sword was created by Emperor Kai during his campaign to pacify the gods and devils' rebellion, when his heroic spirit transformed into boundless ambition, vowing to be equal to heaven and change this unjust world!

The world's injustice was not caused by the gods and devils' rebellion; the rebellion in the later stages of the High Emperor Era calamity was merely a symptom. The true injustice was Heaven itself!

He vowed to be equal to Heaven and change this unfair world!

This sword clarified their hearts and wills, causing the two figures in the sky to rise higher and higher like two towering mountains, soaring straight into the sky, through the clouds, and beyond the heavens!

In the second heaven of Carefree Village, Sun Guardian Yan Rihuan suddenly could no longer hold back. Hot tears streamed from his eyes, transforming into two fiery dragons that flew out of his eye sockets.

He had no ordinary tears; as the Sun Guardian, he had refined his body into pure Yang sacred fire. Even when overwhelmed with emotion to the point of tears, what flowed from him was scorching fire.

This sword awakened not Emperor Kai, but him.

It awakened them, who had fought alongside Emperor Kai, vowing to change this unjust world!

Back then, they were in the prime of their youth, brimming with boundless energy, burning with passion, and filled with loyalty and courage. What worries could they possibly have?

How unlike today, where they spent their days grumbling, cursing heaven and earth, filled with complaints?

Amidst the scalding fiery tears, a sword hum resonated from the sword scabbard on his back. The Great Sun Divine Swords within gleamed and sang, their hilts vibrating, washing away specks of rust and regaining their sharpness.

At the zenith of the sky, the sword light exploded, transforming into the third heaven of sword art: the Clarity Tribulation Heart Sword. This was a sword of self-reflection, illuminating one's true heart and reminding one not to forget their original aspiration.

By then, Emperor Kai had already gained some renown in the broken Primordial Realm. He had become complacent due to his success, suffered a great defeat, and many of his comrades had died or been wounded. Loyal bones lay buried in the green mountains, and the souls of righteous warriors were shattered like broken swords.

This sword was a blade of self-admonition. Its light shone down from the sky, as clear as a cloudless day, reflecting the upturned faces of everyone in the Kaihuang Heavenly Court.

Many people saw themselves reflected in that mirror-like sword light. Some saw their despondency, some their resentment, some their unfulfilled ambitions, and some their own degeneration.

At that moment, they looked directly into their hearts and saw their battered and scarred Dao hearts.

The sword light seemed not to be Qin Mu and Emperor Kai clashing, but rather their Dao hearts colliding, recognizing themselves.

Grand Protector Fang Youji wiped away old tears, but no matter how much he wiped, he couldn't clear the tears streaming from his eyes.

Qin Mu and Emperor Kai unleashed the fourth heaven of sword art, the Profound Embryo Heaven-Suppressing Sword. This was a sword of rebirth after calamity, representing their reorganization of forces, rekindling of morale, and re-establishment of their Dao hearts after suffering heavy casualties!

After that, the martyrs and pioneers of the Kaihuang Era rekindled their fighting spirit, contending with Heaven and battling gods and devils, refusing to concede defeat. They underwent a profound spiritual rebirth and fought once more.

Many elders of the Kaihuang Heavenly Court, seeing the sword light, the sword art, and that spirit in the sky, felt as if they were transported back to that era, and the surging heroic spirit that had been buried deep within them once again welled up in their chests.

They had not felt this way for a very long time.

Their twenty thousand years of persistence, twenty thousand years of faith, and twenty thousand years of effort had all turned into an ephemeral dream when they retreated to Carefree Village, and then, during the twenty thousand years in Carefree Village, they had faded into yellowed, increasingly blurry memories.

But now, everything was awakened!

The fifth heaven of sword art erupted: the Primordial Brightness Literary Endeavor Sword, bursting forth from the hands of Qin Mu and Emperor Kai. This was a sword technique Emperor Kai created after returning from the early Dragon Han Era, when he resolved to innovate and reform, intending to establish an era of thriving philosophies and blossoming talents for future generations and the young.

At that time, they embarked on a path of reform.

"Literary Endeavor" did not merely mean cultivating literature, but rather cultivating the mind through literary pursuits.

It meant elevating the heavens through culture, upholding destiny through culture, carrying the Dao through culture, establishing the heart for the world, setting destiny for the people, preserving lost arts, and creating new ones!

In the sky, the battle between Qin Mu and Emperor Kai continued, move by move. Each sword art embodied the spirit of the Kaihuang Era, a spirit experienced by the old officials of the Kaihuang Heavenly Court, their former spirit, representing that fervent era.

Now, seeing Qin Mu and Emperor Kai display such sword techniques, it was as if they were reliving that period. Dormant memories were awakened, faded heroism was recalled, and their cooled blood boiled once more.

The Kaihuang Era was never just Emperor Kai's era; it was the era of all those who pursued reform.

The spirit of that era was never just Emperor Kai's spirit; it was the spirit of all reformers of that time.

Since when did they attribute this era solely to one person?

Since when did they attribute the spirit of this era solely to one person?

Since when did they blame the migration of the Kaihuang Heavenly Court to Carefree Village solely on one person?

Since when did Emperor Kai remain the same, yet they themselves were no longer who they once were?

In the sky, the battle between Qin Mu and Emperor Kai grew increasingly fierce and intense. They had reached the thirty-third heaven of sword art: the Grand Purity Dao Sword.

With this sword, Emperor Kai had already formed a sword Dao domain, achieving invincibility in the world of the sword.

However, it was precisely when he created the Grand Purity Dao Sword that the Kaihuang Calamity erupted, and the subsequent series of events all occurred after the creation of this Dao Sword.

In the sky, the collision of the two sword domains was terrifying, yet Qin Mu and Emperor Kai remained evenly matched, neither gaining an advantage.

As the power of the Grand Purity Dao Sword was exhausted, both their sword lights paused briefly. At that moment, Emperor Kai's Carefree Sword surged forth again, giving Qin Mu a chilling premonition.

After the Grand Purity Dao Sword, there was still the thirty-fourth heaven!