Chapter 24: Breaking the Heart Spirit

Things in this world are not as simple as ordinary eyes perceive them to be. What ordinary people see and what awakened martial artists see are two entirely different worlds.

The stone statues in the village appear ordinary, but awakened martial artists can see gods within them. Relics left by gods and devils are everywhere; awakened martial artists can behold terrifying gods and devils. As for the Buddhist statues in temples, ordinary people see statues of Buddha, but awakened martial artists can see peerless Great Buddhas, Great Buddhas that crush the spirit!

If a martial artist lacks a strong spirit, they will eventually be scared to death by the sights they witness.

That's why the blind man taught Qin Mu how to train his eyes, first teaching him to temper his mind. By breaking the "god" within his heart, he wouldn't be intimidated and could achieve great things in the future.

Buddhism says that if one has a Buddha in their heart, it's difficult to become a Buddha. The Imperial Preceptor of Yankang said it's easy to destroy a god in a temple, but difficult to destroy the god within one's heart. These two statements, along with the blind man urinating on the stone statue, all convey the same principle.

The first two methods require tempering the mind, gradually breaking down the gods and Buddhas within one's heart. However, the blind man's approach was simple, crude, and even somewhat extreme and mad, yet effective.

The first time the village chief saw the blind man, the aura he carried was incredibly powerful, still like an enraged dragon sweeping in all directions. But at that time, his eyes had been gouged out, and he had fallen apart.

Now, that Spear God was back.

This couldn't be denied as Qin Mu's doing. Ever since this complete little boy appeared in the village, the villagers' resentment had gradually dispersed. To teach Qin Mu the Nine Heavens Eye Opening Method, the blind man first needed to awaken his "divine eye," but his divine eyes had been gouged out, leaving only his heart-eye.

As the blind man imparted his teachings to Qin Mu, the village chief felt the awakening of his "divine eye." It was a heart-divine eye!

He had no eyes, so his heart had taken their place!

The village chief slowly closed his eyes, leisurely basking in the sun. He thought to himself, "The heart-divine eye will surpass the divine eye. The Spear God will also surpass his former self. Blind man, when you leave the Great Ruins, your enemies will tremble…"

After Qin Mu urinated, he shivered slightly, feeling his body and mind completely at ease.

The stone statue could no longer suppress his spirit. When he looked at the statue again, he could see many things he hadn't seen before. It was as if his eyes had previously been veiled, seeing only blurred images. But now that the veil was removed, the true colors of the world revealed themselves.

He gazed greedily at the colors around him. This beauty he had never discovered before made him so excited he wanted to cry.

He went to the other stone statues in the village, and his spirit was once again shaken. The other three stone statues in the village, like the Dragon-Headed Elder statue, also emitted intense divine light, exuded an extraordinary charm, and possessed a sacred and remarkable aura!

However, he could view them with a normal mind; these stone statues could no longer influence his spirit.

He had only cultivated the first heaven of the Nine Heavens Eye Opening Method and was already ecstatic. To what level would the subsequent heavens elevate his eyes, and what magnificent sights would he behold?

Qin Mu took out a bronze mirror and looked into it. He saw that his eyes in the mirror were different from usual; a ring appeared deep within his pupils, containing peculiar patterns like interwoven electric currents.

This ring slowly dimmed and gradually disappeared.

Qin Mu closed his eyes, carefully channeling his vital qi to construct the Divine Firmament Heavenly Gang array patterns within his pupils. When he opened his eyes again, he saw another ring appear in his eyes in the mirror.

This ring was a projection of the Divine Firmament Heaven.

"If I master the Nine Heavens Eye Opening Method," Qin Mu thought to himself, "there should be nine concentric rings in my eyes, like ten pupils stacked together."

The blind man continued to instruct him on how to cultivate the complete Divine Firmament Heavenly Gang array patterns. After a long time, Qin Mu finally mastered them.

"Mu'er, have you rested enough?"

The Butcher "jumped down" from the grindstone, grabbed two pig-slaughtering knives, and shouted, "If you've rested enough, it's time to practice your blade!"

Qin Mu responded, fetched his pig-slaughtering knife, and charged at the Butcher.

Not long after, Old Man Ma and the Cripple returned from hunting. They immediately took over from the Butcher and continued to train Qin Mu, only letting him go when he was too exhausted to move.

In the afternoon, Qin Mu went to the mute blacksmith to forge iron. The mute man gestured and mumbled for a moment, and Qin Mu nodded, deep in thought.

The mute man spoke of cultivation techniques. He said cultivation was like forging iron, requiring attention to both slow and fierce fires. Besides these, there was also quenching, which required tempering with water.

This was a balance of civil and martial, hard and soft, dragon and tiger.

Qin Mu pondered carefully. The more he thought about it, the more profound it seemed. He couldn't help but admire the mute man greatly, as his words helped him avoid many detours.

While forging, the mute man also taught him to observe the fire, gesturing while looking at the fire in the furnace.

Qin Mu's eyes lit up. Following the mute man's instruction, while observing the fire, he circulated his vital qi, activating the "Overlord Body Three Elixir Art." His vital qi circulated like a small furnace hidden within his chest, then transported to all parts of his body.

At the same time, within his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, the spirit embryo absorbed energy from the sea of light and breathed in and out vital qi. His spirit embryo was actually slowly changing; the vital qi it exhaled ignited, and flames enveloped the spirit embryo, making it seem as if it was bathing in a furnace.

Qin Mu was surprised. His spirit embryo was actually being tempered; by observing the furnace fire, it had undergone such a marvelous and unexpected transformation!

The mute man was also surprised, curiously observing Qin Mu. After a while, Qin Mu felt that the heat his spirit embryo could withstand had reached its limit, so he quickly stopped observing the furnace fire.

"Ah-ah!"

The mute man gestured twice, then placed a red-hot iron bar into the water. There was a sizzling sound and a puff of white smoke, then he gestured twice more.

Qin Mu's eyes lit up as he watched the water tub, deep in thought.

A sound of flowing water gradually emerged from his chest, a gurgling sound. Then the gurgling vital qi flowed into his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, surprisingly transforming into a trickling stream that made contact with the spirit embryo. A marvelous thing happened: his vital qi was actually tempering his spirit embryo!

His spirit embryo, tempered by water and fire, was greatly enjoying it!

Early the next morning, Qin Mu woke up feeling refreshed and full of vigorous energy throughout his body. Cultivating with the method taught by the mute man was indeed twice as effective with half the effort!

"Time to go fight that demon ape again!"

Enthusiastically, he took a Solid Essence Pill. The powerful medicinal effects forced him to rush out of the village to vent, while beneath the cliff, the demon ape had long been waiting.

"Little runt, lie down!"

The demon ape had cultivated the Eight Thunder Sound Forms taught by Qin Mu and felt its strength had greatly advanced. Seeing Qin Mu charge over, it excitedly dropped the branch it was gnawing on and struck a pose, chuckling, "Get down, and be squashed!"

Qin Mu charged forward. The demon ape, like a moving hill, charged head-on towards Qin Mu, crashing wildly. It suddenly unleashed a move, "Single Body, East Sea, Wielding Spring Thunder," which came with howling winds that grew louder and louder, causing the surrounding trees to sway wildly!

Qin Mu's eyes lit up, and he let out a long whistle. He also unleashed "Single Body, East Sea, Wielding Spring Thunder," colliding with the demon ape with a thunderous impact!

*Thud!*

A dull, mighty thud echoed. The man and ape were flung back by their respective forces. The demon ape landed and immediately charged forward again, its massive fists ripping through the air, causing it to tremble. As it moved and punched, the air vibrated with a humming sound.

Qin Mu was surprised; this demon ape had actually mastered the "Thousand-Hand Buddha" move!

Although the demon ape's execution of "Thousand-Hand Buddha" was still somewhat unpolished, and it hadn't yet grasped the subtlety of the move, it had already grasped the essence of "Thousand-Hand Buddha." Coupled with the monstrous strength of this exotic beast, the sheer power of "Thousand-Hand Buddha" in its hands surpassed Qin Mu's!

The demon ape's body was incredibly powerful, outrageously strong. After cultivating the Eight Thunder Sound Forms, its body became even stronger, and the force of every punch was terrifying!

Qin Mu's cultivation had greatly increased yesterday, and his strength had also greatly improved under the nourishment of vital qi. Today, he had also taken a Solid Essence Pill. He had originally thought he would beat the demon ape half to death, but to his surprise, he couldn't gain even a slight advantage and was even tending to be suppressed!

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