Chapter 34: Grandma's Temple

The cripple's heart trembled slightly. Could the Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace and the Eternal Peace Empire truly be so audacious as to want to venture into, and even annex, a strange and terrifying place like the Great Ruins?

However, Grandpa Ma was right about one thing: the Eternal Peace Empire was indeed a sect disguised as a nation!

The Eternal Peace Empire was founded on martial arts and governed by them. Its officials were divided into nine ranks and eighteen grades, ranging from the first-rank Imperial Preceptor and Grand Tutor to the ninth-rank Imperial Gentleman, Master of Ceremonies, and Erudite (not the modern academic degree, but referring to learned individuals, such as the ninth-rank Doctor of Calligraphy, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Mathematics, and Doctor of Divination). All of them had a martial arts background; some were even sect leaders, masters, or patriarchs of other sects.

As for the soldiers of this nation, each one was a martial artist, adept at warfare, capable of conquering territories externally and suppressing rebellions internally. It was undeniably a formidable power.

When a sect masquerades as a nation, governing its territory like a state, unifying resources, subduing other sects, centrally managing all martial artists and divine arts practitioners within its borders, and utilizing every sect within its dominion, how incredibly powerful and terrifying would that nation become?

In recent years, the Eternal Peace Empire had been constantly expanding, its territory growing ever wider and larger. It had annexed sects like the Lijiang Sect and absorbed numerous small countries.

Now, the territory of the Eternal Peace Empire had reached the edge of the Great Ruins, its path blocked by the Great Ruins.

What obstructed this nation were the darkness and strangeness of the Great Ruins. In the Great Ruins, bizarre dark incursions occurred every night, and anyone who entered the darkness was certain to die. This deterred the Eternal Peace Empire from entering.

The dangers in the Great Ruins were not limited to this. There were many strange beasts, frequent bizarre occurrences, and ill omens everywhere. For the Imperial Preceptor and the Eternal Peace Empire to advance into the Great Ruins was far from simple.

However, the dangers of the Great Ruins could not deter the Imperial Preceptor. The cripple knew this man and understood his character; after all, his own leg had been severed by him.

No terror could frighten him, no danger could stop this man!

He would certainly enter the Great Ruins!

Perhaps, that man was already gazing into the vast, boundless, and unpredictable Great Ruins at this very moment!

The village quickly returned to its tranquility. The water from the collapsed miniature Lijiang River was quickly absorbed by the soil. By the next day, the land had been baked dry and hard by the scorching sun.

This time, Qin Mu acquired a sword satchel, the one belonging to Qianqiu, a disciple of the Lijiang Sect. The satchel was six feet long but not bulky, crafted from young crocodile hide. It had a waist strap and two shoulder straps, allowing it to be worn on the back.

When vital qi entered the sword satchel, the crocodile's mouth would open, expelling a sword sheath and a sword hilt.

A martial artist could cultivate vital qi into threads; by coiling these vital qi threads around the hilt, they could draw the sword and control it with their qi.

After the first sword was drawn, another hilt would emerge from the sheath. Drawing the second sword would reveal a third. This was why it was called a "sword satchel."

The Lijiang Sect was a sword sect from Southern Xinjiang, and their swords possessed unique qualities. Hidden within this satchel was a "mother sword," which could not be used as it was integrated into the young crocodile hide.

The swords drawn from the satchel were all "child swords." Qin Mu tested it and found he could draw twenty-eight child swords. Including the seven he had broken with his pig-slaughtering knife, there were a total of thirty-five swords.

As for how the Lijiang Sword Sect managed to conceal thirty-five swords in such a small satchel, he did not know the secret behind it.

The twenty-eight swords were not heavy for Qin Mu. He carried many iron ingots on his person, wore iron shoes, and had iron ingots hidden in his chest and waist. The combined weight was over a hundred catties, which was comparable to the weight of the sword satchel.

Qin Mu treated carrying the sword satchel as a form of cultivation, as it allowed him to forgo heavy items like iron shoes and move more freely. However, controlling swords with qi was beyond him; the Lijiang sword art was intricate and ruthless, and his sword control technique simply wasn't at that level.

“If only I could learn the Lijiang sword art,” he thought.

Qin Mu sighed inwardly. The Lijiang sword art was highly exquisite, especially its continuous sword technique, which was truly brilliant. In the village, Grandpa Ma, the Butcher, the Cripple, the Apothecary, and the Blind man were not proficient in sword arts. The Mute had a box of what looked like sword pellets, and Granny Si had similar silver pellets. If those silver pellets were indeed sword pellets, then they too should be skilled in sword arts.

However, when Qin Mu asked Granny Si, she was unwilling to teach him. The Mute also repeatedly waved his hands, seemingly apprehensive. The Mute secretly told him in sign language that if he didn't learn now, better sword arts would await him, and if he learned these, others wouldn't teach him their own.

Qin Mu didn't know who "others" referred to, so he had to give up for now.

He had not yet fully mastered the intricacies of vital qi circulation. For instance, with Grandpa Ma's fist techniques, he couldn't yet fully circulate vital qi throughout his entire body during an attack.

Circulating vital qi throughout the body could maximize the improvement of all physical attributes, allowing strength, agility, speed, and reactions to reach their peak!

When the Eight Styles of Thunderclap were cultivated to a profound level, one could emit thunderous sounds from their palms and strike with lightning-like fists. He could only achieve palm thunder with the Demon God's Great Strength Seal, but he couldn't yet do so with the Eight Styles of Thunderclap.

If he could reach this stage, should he encounter a martial artist like Qianqiu again, he would be able to catch swords barehanded, without getting his palms cut!

“You lack actual combat experience.”

Grandpa Ma approached Qin Mu and said calmly: “Your cultivation level surpasses that disciple from the Lijiang Sect. The fist techniques, leg techniques, knife techniques, and staff techniques you've learned are all stronger than his Lijiang sword art. However, when you faced him, you were constrained and couldn't fully exert yourself.”

Qin Mu nodded repeatedly. He had also felt it; Qianqiu's sword art was exquisite, and his continuous sword technique was unexpected. But his own reactions were somewhat unsatisfactory, to the point of directly grabbing the sword.

Thinking back, Qianqiu's strength wasn't actually that great. Qin Mu had cut seven of his swords with one strike and pulled his soul into his palm with a single move of the Heavenly Devil Freedom Seal. This indicated that Qin Mu's vital qi cultivation was far superior to his.

Grandpa Ma continued: “Without the tempering of actual combat, it's hard for you to fully unleash your strength. This is why the Five Elders of Lijiang took their disciples into the Great Ruins for training. Solitary, intense cultivation won't make you a true master. So...”

Qin Mu looked expectant. He had been waiting for Grandpa Ma and Granny Si to allow him to go hunting. Now, he had finally gotten the chance!

“So, after discussing it with Granny and the Blind man, we made a decision.”

Grandpa Ma said with utmost solemnity: “You can come with us to the temple fair now.”

“Go to the temple fair?”

Qin Mu looked disappointed. He mumbled, “Can't I go hunting?”

Grandpa Ma smiled, patted his small shoulder, and said: “Attending the fair is also a test. Only after you pass this test can you leave the village to hunt alone. Do your best!”

Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The temple fair was a grand event for nearby villages, which Granny Si had mentioned to him. The fairs usually took place on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month. Villages within a hundred or two hundred li radius would all go to the fair, bringing their goods for trade and exchange.

Whenever it was time for the fair, Grandpa Ma, the Butcher, the Blind man, the Mute, Granny Si, the Deaf man, and the Apothecary would all go to Granny Temple, located twenty li away. However, Qin Mu was never allowed to go to Granny Temple for the fair; instead, he was always made to stay behind with the Village Chief and the Cripple.

The Cripple, however, was even more unfortunate than him. Granny Si said the Cripple had “itchy hands” and was strictly forbidden from attending the temple fair, fearing he wouldn't resist stealing everything clean.

Compared to attending the temple fair, Qin Mu actually preferred to go hunting.

There were still two days until the temple fair on the first of the lunar month. Qin Mu continued to cultivate, occasionally running to Zhenyang Palace Valley to spar with the ape demon. In his free time, he would help out at the Apothecary's shop, learning to refine Vitality Restoration Pills. The Apothecary kept several birds, whose bodies glowed with fire, and they would fly in through the window to assist during alchemy.

After spoiling over a dozen batches of elixirs, the Apothecary's face had turned a bit green. Fortunately, Qin Mu finally succeeded in refining a batch of high-quality elixir, which somewhat eased the Apothecary's expression.

Qin Mu immediately, full of excitement, took this batch of Vitality Restoration Pills, which enhanced Azure Dragon vital qi, and headed to Zhenyang Palace Valley. The Apothecary originally wanted to remind him to first test if the pills were lethal, but after a moment's thought, he stopped himself.

“Last time I refined Vitality Restoration Pills for Mu'er, I also forgot to check if their potency could kill someone...”

The Apothecary thought to himself: “The ape demon is huge; he won't die from it anyway... or rather, he shouldn't die. Let him be. But each of the Vitality Restoration Pills Mu'er refined this time is as big as a fist. Will the ape demon *really* not die?”