Chapter 932 – Minor Accomplishment in the Divine Emperor Sword Mantra
An evening banquet was held in the Ye mansion.
It was just a family banquet with no outsiders invited.
After the banquet, Ye Qingyu went to the White Deer Academy to have a talk with Dean Hon Kong.
During the conversation, Ye Qingyu suddenly remembered the skinny elder who beat him up when he was facing a wall and meditating, and casually asked about him.
However, Hon Kong shook his head and indicated that he did not know about this person.
Actually, Ye Qingyu had already raised this matter several years ago, but the White Deer Academy did not manage to find anyone like this. In truth, Hon Kong was also very curious. However, this person seemed to have vanished into thin air, and not a trace of him could be found. Ye Qingyu even tried emitting his divine spirit to perform a thorough search but did not find any such person.
“This is weird.” Ye Qingyu felt doubtful.
He then began to talk about Lan Tian, that secretive blue-haired youth.
“Sigh… he’s still a menace in the academy. He has been retained for ten thousand years and often causes a mess.” Hon Kong wore a distressed expression on his face. “He’s a regular in the Repentance Hall, but it’s no use. Sometimes, I really wish I could strangle him to death.”
Hearing this, Ye Qingyu asked a little curiously, “What’s his background?”
He remembered that, when he was in White Deer Academy, he had some interaction with Lan Tian. During his first wilderness training, it was the latter who pretended to be an instructor and led the team out. Later during that training, Ye Qingyu had a fortuitous encounter and received three bright pearls and the bronze book [Fiendgod Titled Chart] from the mouth of a golden clam. From then on, his growth skyrocketed, and as he gradually became immersed in the tide of worldly affairs, he no longer concerned himself with Lan Tian, who was just a student in the academy after all. At this time, however, Hon Kong’s words piqued his curiosity again.
“I do know that he was brought in by a former dean, but I don’t know about his exact identity. A secret decree from the imperial capital ordered that he shall remain forever in White Deer Academy…” Hon Kong shrugged his shoulders. “Therefore, I cannot neglect him yet cannot control him completely either. And I was told not to ask about his identity.”
“A secret decree from the imperial capital?” Ye Qingyu was a little surprised.
“Yes, it was from the old emperor.” Hon Kong stated frankly, for there was no need to hide anything from Ye Qingyu, whose surprise only grew as he nodded.
Before the accession of the Empress, the old emperor had already begun paying no attention to major state affairs. And after the accession, he basically went into seclusion and cared about nothing. To think he would care about a White Deer student so far away and even issue such a strange secret decree. Could Lan Tian be somehow related to the imperial family?
Although he had these ideas, Ye Qingyu did not ask further.
He was merely being curious, and knew that everyone had their secrets which he did not necessarily have to uncover completely.
After staying for another day in Deer City, he returned to the imperial capital.
Another month passed in a twinkling.
News from the Heaven Wasteland Building in Heaven Connect City stated that Ren Puyang had yet to return. This worried Ye Qingyu somewhat.
He wondered what matter it was that required Ren Puyang to spend such a long time handling. It should be known that, for many years prior, the latter had remained in Heaven Connect City and rarely went into action in person even when the Human Race was facing great trouble. Moreover, he was only away for a few days on the rare occasions when he headed out. Although he certainly knew how lofty and terrifying Ren Puyang was whether in terms of status or personal cultivation, he nevertheless felt a bad premonition now that the latter had been away for such a long time.
However, the only thing he could do was wait for news.
The construction progress of the Heaven Wasteland Arsenal was a lot slower than he had imagined. He only now realized that there were a lot more unanticipated troubles, big and small, which he had to personally resolve. Given how shallow the foundation of the Heaven Wasteland Domain was, there was not even a single qualified formation master, while the only people who could help him were Ouyang Buping and Dugu Quan.
After a few days of worry, he eventually managed to get back his patience and made slow progress.
In the end, he incorporated his cultivation into the process of building the arsenal.
Swish swish swish!
Visible sword qi burst forth and cut across the Void.
In his hand, the [Blood Drinker Sword Pellet] turned into streaks of sword light that shot forth. Like formation-engraving pens, they engraved formation marks on the walls of the arsenal, causing stone chips to fly in all directions. The speed of engraving defensive formations for the arsenal was a lot faster. During this process, Ye Qingyu’s mastery of the [Blood Drinker Sword Pellet] grew rapidly. At the same time, his comprehension of the [Divine Emperor Sword Mantra] increased little by little.
Of the three major sword mantras in the [War God Sword Mantras], the [Human King Sword Mantra] was the basic one. It was a collection of all basic sword techniques, and after attaining a major accomplishment in it, one could summon at will a sword which gave off an invisible and all-conquering radiance. By now, Ye Qingyu had already completely comprehended it. In seemingly-direct contrast, the profound meaning of the [Divine Emperor Sword Mantra] lied in making the invisible sword light visible, and using visible sword qi and sword will to derive the myriad sword techniques of this world, with laws and Dao essence contained within. This was not just a derivation of myriad sword techniques, but more so a derivation of the laws of the five elements.
The five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth reinforced and counteracted one another, and needed to be derived fully for Yin and Yang to grow and for the laws and Dao essence of the world to be truly fused. In simple terms, the ultimate meaning of the [Divine Emperor Sword Mantra] lied in a full derivation of laws and the growth of Yin and Yang.
One could only be called a Divine Emperor when one had mastered the power of laws and converted it into a sword which could kill deities and demons alike.
Having already become a Saint, Ye Qingyu had insight and clear vision of the laws, and naturally was not like Heaven Ascension and Immortal Step realm warriors who could only cultivate single elements and laws. The problem, however, was that, despite having insight and vision, to truly incorporate the laws and Dao essence into one’s sword techniques and will was extremely difficult. That was why Ye Qingyu’s comprehension of the [Divine Emperor Sword Mantra] had only just begun. Then again, the construction of the arsenal’s engraved formations coincidentally required elemental formation laws in Ye Qingyu’s design. Using the [Blood Drinker Sword Pellet] to shoot forth sword will engravings happened to be in line, or even mutually complementary, with the cultivation technique of the [Divine Emperor Sword Mantra]. Moreover, the elemental formation patterns engraved by Ye Qingyu were no ordinary formations, but instead were the profound meanings he had obtained from the seemingly-abandoned library in the [Formation Emperor] Luoso’s palace. These immensely-complicated engravings contained inheritances from an ancient martial emperor, and their benefits to Ye Qingyu’s cultivation of the [Divine Emperor Sword Mantra] were immeasurable.
Just like that, another month went by in a flash.
The engraving of formations for the Heaven Wasteland Arsenal were barely half-completed.
However, Ye Qingyu’s comprehension of the [Divine Emperor Sword Mantra] nearly reached [First Glimpse of the Gateway] level.
He was already adept at the various ingenious usages of the [Blood Drinker Sword Pellet], and later on, he did not even need to use it. Instead, he could directly use his body as a sword to cultivate the [Divine Emperor Sword Mantra]. Any of his fists, arms, and legs could summon swords, and whenever he exerted a punch or kick, a wisp of sword light would form. This was the so-called invincible battle technique which he derived from his physical power. It was only an imagination at first, and its subsequent power way surpassed what he had anticipated.
As another month passed, Ye Qingyu unknowingly became immersed in the wonderful feeling of cultivation.
Subsequently, he was no longer satisfied with only cultivating his sword will while building the arsenal. He went to an uninhabited stretch of wilderness where he fully displayed his sword will. He exerted punches to kill the waves on an ocean and exerted kicks to split mountains apart. Although these punches and kicks looked completely normal when exerted, they contained supreme sword will and qi. Over more than a month of cultivation, he developed the rudiments of using his body as a sword.
On this day, he was standing among the clouds in the highest heavens.
Boom!
He smashed a fist forth.
With a peerlessly sharp radiance, it cut across the Void and created a kilometer-long rift in the vault of heaven. Wherever the radiance passed, the air, clouds, mist… everything would be sliced apart. The giant rift did not dissipate at all even after half an hour went by. In fact, in the fifteen minutes after he exerted the punch, those birds and giant beasts which inadvertently crossed the rift were not able to respond in time and, upon a flash of the sword radiance in the Void, were chopped into minced meat and scraps that swirled all over the sky.
“Sword will branded in the void? This… could I have unintentionally created a martial path of my own?”
Ye Qingyu felt a mix of astonishment and excitement.
This was truly a pleasant surprise.
As he sat cross-legged in the Void, he recalled the feeling during the moment when he exerted the punch. When he reattempted it several times in succession subsequently, he was able to brand the [Divine Emperor Sword Mantra] in the Void each time, albeit with varying strengths and lasting durations.
He sat quietly in the Void as he looked at the sky which had been fragmented by the divine emperor sword will before he closed his eyes to seek comprehension.
……
Three days later.
He returned to the imperial capital.
Another three days went by.
The engraving of the formations for the Heaven Wasteland Arsenal was completed.
While it originally required at least two more months to be completed, it became easy after Ye Qingyu had completely comprehended the profound meaning of the divine emperor sword will branding the Void. Within just three days, he finished the job entirely. He then spent half a day or so embedding divine-level origin crystals in each and every formation eye, before using another five kilograms of divine-level origin crystals to activate the core formation of the arsenal.
As a roar was heard throughout the world, thunder and lightning formed.
At the moment when the formation was completely activated, the world seemed to respond, producing something like a heavenly calamity in the Void. Giant funnel-shaped calamity clouds which were wreathed in purple lightning appeared as if they wanted to pulverize the entire imperial capital. For a time, all beings in the imperial capital trembled in fear, and even the aces among the consortiums from foreign domain chambers of commerce were shocked. The power of these clouds were simply beyond imagination, and gave the impression that some supreme expert might be in control of them.
The next moment, however, a beam of sword radiance shot up into the sky.
As if a supreme swordsman had just unsheathed a matchless divine sword.
Boom!
The lightning calamity clouds were shattered by this beam of sword radiance, turning into nothingness.