Chapter 1003 — The Inside Story of the Worry-Free Realm

"Sword Twenty, Sword Twenty.

. .

" Kaihuang raised his sword, his eyes blank and vacant. The Worry-Free Sword in his hand traced left and right, aimlessly, as he tried to find the Sword Twenty Form. Yan Yunxi's eyes flickered.

"Your Majesty, you have been reverse-engineering every sword technique and secret from Heavenly Venerable Mu's swordsmanship.

What do you think Heavenly Venerable Mu is doing right now? " "Sneaking into the Worry-Free Land. " Kaihuang answered without thinking. "He will start from Taihuang Heaven, searching for the secrets of my sword arts and divine abilities, looking for a way to defeat me.

The reason he proposed a two-month deadline was not to wait for Feng Qing to establish Youdu, but to use those two months to gain some understanding of my swordsmanship.

" "Heavenly Venerable Shen, Heavenly Venerable Mu—truly one family. Their thoughts are exactly the same.

" Yan Yunxi laughed, then withdrew. "This subject will not disturb Your Majesty's contemplation of the Sword Twenty Form. May Your Majesty achieve success soon.

" In Taihuang Heaven of the Worry-Free Land, Shujun followed Shen Mu. He saw that Shen Mu did not head straight for the academy or study halls there, but instead wandered through the mountain forests, inspecting the soil and water, studying the ridges.

Shen Mu even turned vital essence into a sword, transforming it into the Drilling Sword Form, boring into the mountain body, deep into the earth.

"Holy Infant, what are you looking for?

" Shujun could not help asking in doubt. "Why do you also call me Holy Infant?

" Shen Mu was caught between laughter and tears. Shujun said, "I am a Creator, so naturally I must call you Holy Infant. It is the etiquette of the Creator race. What exactly are you searching for?

" Shen Mu used vital essence to form a sword and drilled out rock fragments from deep underground.

He grabbed a handful, squeezed it in his palm, and said, "Kaihuang's one sword—one strike that transformed into thirty-three heavens and carved away nearly half of the Other Shore World. There is something strange about this. " Shujun was puzzled. "We have been in the Other Shore World for some time now.

The continents where the Creators live, including the mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas upon them, were all visualized into being by the Creator race. These lands float in the void and are not connected. " Shen Mu again turned vital essence into a sword and thrust it into a mighty mountain in Taihuang Heaven of the Worry-Free Land. The sword energy bored deep into the mountain, and he said, "One sword transforming into thirty-three heavens sounds terrifying. If Kaihuang really thrust out one sword and directly sliced thirty-three continents from the Other Shore World, then integrated them into thirty-three heavens, then even if every member of the Creator race were tied together, and even if Divine King Langwan were added, they would not be a match for him alone. In that case, how could the Creator race have opposed the Worry-Free Land for twenty thousand years? " Shujun was startled. "One sword transforming into thirty-three heavens of course means Kaihuang thrust out his sword, and the thirty-three heavens took form beneath his blade, occupying half of the Other Shore World.

It was not that one sword of Kaihuang split the Other Shore World in half. " Shen Mu took out some stone fragments from inside the mountain and smiled. "Divine King Shujun, you are too honest. You do not know that Kaihuang looks honest but is in fact cunning.

" He squeezed the fragments and saw that among them were some metal powders. Shen Mu blew out a breath.

The stone fragments flew away, but the metal dust remained in his palm.

He said, "If one sword formed thirty-three heavens with mountains, rivers, lakes, and oceans, then Kaihuang would not be the foremost master of the sword, but a Creator! Perhaps the Great Emperor had such strength, but his attainment in divine consciousness was absolutely not that high. This can only mean. . .

" Shen Mu raised one finger and lightly drew it toward the mighty mountains and rivers ahead. A flash of sword light split the mountain in two. He smiled.

"The thirty-three heavens of the Worry-Free Land were refined in advance! " The mighty mountain split in two under his sword light, separating to both sides and revealing the thick metal-and-stone structure within!

Shujun was greatly shaken, staring in shock at the intricate structure inside the mountain.

The interior of this mountain was actually forged from divine metals and divine materials. The divine metal had been forged into individual components, upon which runes were branded, like parts of an unimaginably colossal machine! And at the mountain's root, the divine metals and materials spread deep into the earth!

Clearly, the entire Taihuang Heaven of the Worry-Free Land was a massive man-made object, forged from divine metals and divine materials!

This Taihuang Heaven of the Worry-Free Land was a heaven built by countless skilled craftsmen! "Just as I thought.

" Shen Mu pressed his hands together heavily.

The split mountain ahead rumbled and closed.

He said, "I once heard people say that in the late Kaihuang era, Kaihuang ordered Emperor Shitian Li Youran to lead all the heavenly artisans under heaven to build the Worry-Free Land. The Woodcutter Sage opposed building the Worry-Free Land, but Kaihuang did not heed his warning and still ordered Li Youran to build it. " Shujun's mind was dizzy and muddled. He murmured, "The Worry-Free Land should have been opened up by Kaihuang's one sword. Divine King Langwan could not have been mistaken. How could it have been built by Li Youran.

. . " "Emperor Shitian Li Youran was known in Kaihuang's heavenly court as the Heavenly King of War.

The reason he had the title Heavenly King of War was not that he was so outstanding at leading troops into battle, but that he excelled at manufacturing all kinds of divine artifacts, especially artifacts of war. " Shen Mu explained, "His building of the Worry-Free Land was in fact a gathering of all skilled craftsmen to forge thirty-three unimaginably colossal divine artifacts. These thirty-three artifacts concealed the sword principles contained in Kaihuang's swordsmanship. That is to say, these thirty-three artifacts were the materialization of Kaihuang's thirty-three heavens sword path!

" He looked at the mountains and rivers of Taihuang Heaven in the Worry-Free Land and said, "The courses of the rivers here, the lay of the mountains, even any geographical structure, including the divine cities, villages, and divine statues, are all the flow of his swordsmanship. " Shujun was still somewhat muddled. He murmured, "Impossible, surely? His one sword opened up thirty-three heavens. Countless Creators and even Divine King Langwan saw it with their own eyes.

If he had brought in the thirty-three heavens of the Worry-Free Land, it would have been impossible to hide from Divine King Langwan and those clan chiefs and elders. Playing tricks before them is simply too difficult. Not to mention Divine King Langwan—even the clan chiefs alone were no inferior to me in my prime.

" Shen Mu walked toward the nearest divine city and smiled. "I once obtained the Worry-Free Sword. The Worry-Free Sword is Kaihuang's personal sword. I did not know this at first. I only felt that the sword was very light and exceptionally handy. Later I learned that it was Kaihuang's personal sword, an imperial sword!

Is it not strange for an imperial sword to be so light? " Shujun quickened his steps to follow him. "Refining a treasure to be very light should not be difficult, should it? " "Li Youran was the foremost heavenly artisan under heaven. He indeed could have forged the Worry-Free Sword to be very light.

But I have rarely been able to unleash the power of the Worry-Free Sword.