Chapter 1534 — A Single Sword Pierces the Firmament, the Heart of Dao Mirrors the Cold Frost
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
Because of the Lame Elder's death he had roused a heart of slaughter, and so had turned to cultivating the sword dao; but he also knew that his sword dao had been cultivated only to the third heaven, and that to advance one step further would be incomparably difficult.
Yet a single word of guidance from Kai Huang showed him a possibility of boundless breadth: to join the dao-realm of divine powers with the dao-realm of the sword dao!
Suddenly he could not help leaping up, treading the void, drawing the Tribulation Sword; sword-light scattered, and the sword dao and the way of divine powers mingled just like that!
In his hand, sword-light scattered as he executed the Four Venerable Seals of Heaven and Earth, transforming into the round heaven and the square earth, forming joy, anger, sorrow, and delight, emotion stored within the Tribulation Sword; divine powers entering the Dao and the sword dao fused perfectly, and the might was so immense!
His sword technique shifted, becoming the Heaven and Earth Mystic Gate; sword-light swept in every direction, a heavenly gate bearing up the heavens, joining the earth, linking the mortal world!
Sword-light scattered from his hand; one thrust of the sword drew out a celestial river, and the four poles of heaven and earth emerged. With the sword dao he wrote and painted: the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, the Vermilion Bird, the Black Tortoise — the four ancient god emperors stood at the four poles of the celestial river.
He executed one form after another, giving direct vent to his heart, unable to conceal his elation and excitement.
Kai Huang walked toward the outside of the Heaven Yin Realm. Yan Yunxi and Li Youran stepped forward and followed behind him. Kai Huang turned his head and saw the sword dao stretching across the long sky, spanning the void, dazzling to the eye.
There, Shen Mu had turned the whole store of his knowledge into the sword dao, advancing by leaps and bounds, his sword-dao cultivation soaring a thousand li at a bound, so that even Kai Huang could not help but marvel.
"The Shen family — the sword dao is branded into their very bones."
He smiled, turned, and walked on. Just then an old man blocked his way; the old man was timid, cringing, not daring to look him in the eye.
"Human Emperor Su Muzhe."
Kai Huang halted and sized up the old man. He saw that the village head Su Muzhe's gaze toward him kept dodging, not daring to meet his eyes. Kai Huang said, "You blocked my way, wanting to break the god in your heart, yet you do not dare to draw your sword. Can it be that you cannot even grip a sword?"
Yan Yunxi and Li Youran stopped and looked toward the village head.
The village head's hand slowly reached for the sword at his waist, yet it trembled — not at all like a hand that grips a sword.
A hand that grips a sword should be like Kai Huang's: utterly steady.
For the hand of a sword-dao powerhouse reflects the cultivation of his heart of dao; the hand that grips the sword must be as steady as the heart of dao, unruffled by any wave. To settle a kingdom with one sword, to pacify the world with one sword — all of it demands attainment in the heart of dao.
The village head Su Muzhe was the second man to comprehend the sword domain. His attainments in the sword dao were exceedingly high; that Jingping could produce so many sword-dao masters was, one might say, largely his doing. It was through his painstaking teaching and nurturing that Jingping's sword dao could advance so swiftly.
Yet after he comprehended the sword domain, he could advance no further — he could not advance a single step even in his cultivation realm!
Because his sword-dao cultivation was simply too high — so high that whenever he used the sword dao, he would see standing before him a giant of incomparable strength, like a peak that could not be climbed, could not be surpassed!
That man was Kai Huang Shen Ye!