"This isn't a demon, but a form of divine transformation, taking on the form of a deity." The State Preceptor of Yankang had long grown accustomed to such things and explained to Hu Ling'er.
He could naturally tell that Qin Mu wasn't revealing his true form, but rather using a peculiar cultivation technique that seemed to be a mixture of several techniques from the Heavenly Demon Cult.
"It seems to be the Creation Technique combined with the Fire Star technique among the Five Stars..."
His knowledge of the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra was limited, so he wasn't entirely certain.
Qin Mu's physical transformation belonged to divine transformation, and some cultivation techniques could achieve this. It wasn't uncommon and was a type of physical body divine ability.
Some sects' cultivation techniques specifically relied on divine transformation or demonic transformation to enhance their physical bodies.
However, Qin Mu's divine transformation left the State Preceptor somewhat puzzled. It seemed to be more than just a physical body divine ability.
Physical body divine abilities were naturally used to enhance the physical body, relying on a powerful physique to improve one's combat capabilities.
But Qin Mu's divine transformation seemed to be just that—a transformation.
In the State Preceptor's eyes, Qin Mu was using his cultivation technique to transform himself into the appearance of the Mars Lord. His physical body changed, his qi transformed simultaneously, and even the aura he emitted changed!
This meant he simultaneously possessed both the physical body and divine abilities under the divine transformation state!
This was very strange.
The changes on Qin Mu's body hadn't stopped. Fire clouds churned beneath his feet, gradually forming two fire dragons. The dragons grew longer and larger, lifting his body from the ground.
Qin Mu stood atop the fire dragons, his feet bursting through his shoes to become two burning bull hooves.
Now he was a Mars Lord standing upon two fire dragons!
Qin Mu raised his hand, and immediately the surroundings became incredibly dry. Fireballs the size of goose eggs danced through the air.
The State Preceptor showed an interested expression as he watched these moderately sized fireballs. Suddenly, from each fireball burst forth beams of sword light, also composed of fine flames. Each beam of sword light executed sword techniques—specifically the Sunset Sword Technique. Within these techniques, there was also the power of fire-based spells. Each strike carried considerable might!
"The Sunset Sword Technique of the Yuyuan Kingdom is very orthodox, and with the wondrous use of the sword pellet, combined with the power of spells, your strength can basically be considered that of a divine ability user."
The State Preceptor praised, "If you were to face a Six Harmonies realm divine ability user head-on, you could survive. If you could unleash the physical body divine abilities of your transformation, you could contend with a Six Harmonies realm divine ability user."
Qin Mu's sword techniques abruptly ceased, returning to the fireballs. The fireballs collided with each other, forming a red sun the size of a washbasin. He then opened his mouth and swallowed the red sun, snorting two streams of fire from his bull nostrils.
He ceased activating his Tyrant Body Threethe Pill Art. The two bull horns on his head slowly retracted, his body gradually returned to normal, and the two fire dragons beneath his feet dissipated.
Qin Mu touched his buttocks, showing a puzzled expression. His backside burned with pain, as if someone had whipped him several times.
"Could it be that I've developed a habit from herding cattle since childhood, always wanting to whip the cattle's backside?" the young cattle herder from the Village of Broken Elders wondered to himself.
Ahead stood a majestic mountain. A waterfall cascaded from the heavens like a galaxy inverted, with the white water cascade and dark cliffs, verdant peaks, and the blazing sun overhead forming a picturesque ink-wash landscape of green mountains.
The sound of water was deafening. From a distance came the rich scent of moisture, and the air was filled with fine mist that settled on everyone. Before long, their clothes felt slightly damp.
The place was refreshing to the spirit.
The State Preceptor of Yankang led them toward the Southern Borderlands, taking no official roads. He simply picked a direction and walked forward, and now he had led them into the mountains.
The waterfall had carved out a deep pool. The pool water was clear. A magnificent stag with antlers full of branching tines stood by the pool, swishing its short tail and eating the lingzhi grass growing at the pool's edge. Its body bore plum-blossom-shaped white spots.
Spotting them approaching, the stag immediately raised its head, tilting it sideways to examine them, and took two steps.
Everyone silently marveled at its magnificence. This stag was comparable in size to the dragon-qilin, very robust indeed.
The stag snorted from its nostrils and approached the pool's edge. By the pool sat an old man wearing a straw raincoat, his fishing rod planted on the bank as he fished.
Beside the old man was a half-grown child, idly picking up stones and throwing them toward where the old man was fishing. The child didn't throw just one or two stones, but kept throwing continuously.
With such a massive waterfall and such turbulent currents, even if there were fish, they wouldn't take the bait. Add to that this half-grown child constantly throwing stones, and there was no chance the old man would catch anything today.
Yue Qinghong shook her head, saying, "This child must be his own. If he weren't, he would have been beaten to death long ago. Who could tolerate this?"
Qin Mu showed a puzzled expression and looked around. This was no place for fishing—yet here was an old man fishing, and a child throwing stones right where he was trying to fish. No matter how you looked at it, this wasn't genuine fishing.
In this remote wilderness, rarely visited by people, if they weren't here to fish, then they must be here to block the way!
And with this magnificent stag comparable to the dragon-qilin, the old man's identity was likely someone from the same era as the Youth Ancestor and the others!
Shen Wanyun and Si Yunxiang also sensed something was off and looked toward the State Preceptor. The monk Yun Que, however, hadn't thought as deeply. He stepped forward to greet them, smiling, "Elder, how could there be fish here? This must be your grandson? Your grandson keeps throwing stones—even if there were fish, they'd be scared away."
The old man lifted his straw hat, revealing a face covered in wrinkles, and smiled, "Why wouldn't there be fish? Isn't the fish coming right here now?"
Yun Que looked toward where he was fishing but saw no fish—only the brat throwing stones.
The State Preceptor walked forward and said in an even tone, "Although this pool isn't large, the fish in it are quite big. Catching them would be somewhat difficult. I wonder if the Elder has the ability to do so?"
The old man's wrinkles bunched together as he smiled, "This world is a pool of clear water, but a big fish has come to muddy the waters. This big fish should have leaped the Dragon Gate to become a true dragon, but instead it muddied the waters and then started eating the smaller fish, eating them all. Preceptor, tell me—shouldn't I catch this big fish that's muddying the waters?"
The State Preceptor's eyes flickered. He crossed his hands in his sleeves and said unhurriedly, "Elder, comparing sects to small fish is somewhat inappropriate, isn't it? Sects should be leeches, latched onto fish sucking their blood. The water may look clear, but the fish in it are all bitten by leeches. If that's the case, then rather than fishing, you should use strong medicine to eliminate the leeches!"
The old man fell silent.
The State Preceptor also fell silent.
When words don't match, even half a sentence is too much. They had already exchanged several sentences and both felt they couldn't convince the other. Continuing the debate would only waste their breath.
Since their ideologies differed and neither could persuade the other, it was better to simply kill the other and eliminate their ideology entirely.
The old man stood up, coiled his fishing line, and propped the rod against a large tree. He removed his straw hat, took off his raincoat, and waved his hand, signaling the brat beside him to retreat, saying, "Go to the other side of the mountain."
The State Preceptor said to Qin Mu and the others, "Cross the mountain and wait for me. Elder, your abilities have all been passed down, haven't they?"
The old man nodded, "They've all been passed down. And the Preceptor?"
The State Preceptor said calmly, "I don't need to. In my youth, I had too much fire in me and killed too many people, causing many sects to be annihilated and their unique techniques to be lost. After establishing the Heaven Records Tower, I often regretted this. So ever since then, whenever I kill someone, I make it a habit to ask."
Although Qin Mu wanted to stay and witness this rare battle, fighting at the level of the State Preceptor would likely cause disturbances even more violent than the Dutian Demon King. Observing from such a close distance meant certain death.
"Let's cross the mountain!" Qin Mu said solemnly.
He led everyone over the high mountain. Looking down, the two figures beneath the waterfall were obscured by the mist and no longer visible.
The brat who had been throwing stones rode his large stag not far from them. He blinked and asked, "Are you from the Imperial Academy?"
Shen Wanyun nodded, "How should we address you, brother?"
"Wang Muran!"
His age was similar to Qin Mu's, but unlike Qin Mu's composed demeanor, Wang Muran was extremely restless. He couldn't sit still, and the moment things got even slightly quiet, he felt bored. Even riding the stag, he was unsettled, patting the stag's backside to ride over.
Qin Mu asked, "Which sect does Brother Wang come from?"
"Small Jade Capital."
"Small Jade Capital?"
Shen Wanyun, Yun Que, and the others looked blankly at each other, having never heard of this sect. The State of Yankang had three great holy lands, and while there were some large sects comparable to them, Small Jade Capital wasn't among them.
Qin Mu was startled inwardly. The name "Jade Capital" wasn't something just anyone could use. Jade Capital meant the capital where the Celestial Emperor resided—and this Celestial Emperor wasn't a god, but an immortal. The Celestial Emperor of immortals.
Which sect would be so audacious as to use the name Small Jade Capital?
"We live in the Small Jade Holy Land. There aren't many people there, mostly old men and women. There are few around my age."
Wang Muran continued, "This time someone came to visit and found my master, asking him to meet the Preceptor. They said the Preceptor was practicing demonic ways and wanted to destroy all the sects in the world. My master wasn't very willing at first, but courtesy demands reciprocity, so he brought me out to travel around and see for himself. The sects of the world have been mostly destroyed by the Preceptor. His actions are indeed no different from the demonic path."
Hu Ling'er asked in confusion, "Aren't we the righteous side? I think the Preceptor is acting very justly!"
Wang Muran shook his head, "You're all the government's hounds, the Preceptor's claws. Your reputations are terrible."
Qin Mu didn't understand. He thought the Preceptor's actions were fine, they were the righteous path. Moreover, the Preceptor had an air of righteous dignity. Everything he did seemed normal to Qin Mu—all part of the righteous path.
How did it become the demonic path in others' eyes?
And how had they, the Imperial Academy scholars, become the government's hounds and the Preceptor's claws, with such terrible reputations?
"Right and wrong might just be a matter of perspective," Qin Mu thought.
Hu Ling'er asked, "Muran, what will you do if your master dies?"
Wang Muran said confidently, shaking his head, "No one can kill my master. His abilities are..."
Just then, the State Preceptor walked over and said to Wang Muran, "Go collect his corpse. Before he died, he said he had passed all his abilities down to you. Very good, practice well."
Wang Muran froze, then suddenly jumped down from the stag's back and ran quickly toward the base of the waterfall. After a moment, his loud crying could be heard.
"Small Jade Capital is quite impressive. I've heard of this sect—it has some connections with the heavens."
The State Preceptor looked at Qin Mu, "Licheng is ahead. I'm injured, so you'll need to gather herbs and refine pills to heal me."
Qin Mu nodded, "The Preceptor's injuries will be difficult to treat. The medicine I prescribe will be quite complex."