Chapter 1005: The Blind Man's Eyes, the Mute's Hammer
Tần Mục let out a long, relaxed breath, feeling completely at ease.
Ever since returning from Thái Hư, Vân Sơ Tụ had been clinging to him, leaving him no time at all to perform the soul-summoning ritual for Vân Thiên Tôn.
Moreover, performing the soul-summoning ritual within the Thiên Đình was far too dangerous. The Thập Thiên Tôn were all present in the Thiên Đình; there was no way he could summon Vân Thiên Tôn's soul without them noticing.
Now that Vân Sơ Tụ had been sent away, Tần Mục finally felt relieved.
"Đô Thiên, prepare the carriage." Tần Mục returned to the treasure carriage, his voice carrying a note of joy.
The Thiên Long Bảo Liễn immediately activated. Nine heavenly dragons galloped forth, heading eastward along the Dũng Giang.
Inside the carriage, Lãng Oản Thần Vương asked, "Thánh Anh, are you not going to see Khai Hoàng?"
"No need to see him."
Tần Mục opened the vertical eye on his forehead. Vân Thiên Tôn's physical body lay on the cloud carpet. Lãng Oản Thần Vương's divine consciousness bloomed, enveloping the carriage so that outsiders could not see what was happening inside.
Tần Mục's divine consciousness and nguyên khí surged forth, transforming into numerous runes as he said, "He came out this time to see the results of Diên Khang's reforms, to see how the reforms are progressing. There's no point in me going to see him. Only by seeing it with his own eyes can he break the delusions in his heart. Besides, Hiểu Thiên Tôn is probably using the Thần Khí Ngự Thiên Tôn to monitor this place right now. It's better for me to stay quiet."
Thúc Quân sneered, "Thánh Anh, you call this staying quiet?"
Above Nguyên Mộc, the Thần Khí Ngự Thiên Tôn withdrew its gaze and slowly closed its eyes. Meanwhile, the clay figure in the Nguyên Mộc Thiên Cung pondered for a moment, pacing back and forth, muttering to himself, "Tần Thiên Tôn is stronger than before, but he's still far from the Thiên Đình realm. His Khai Hoàng era cannot support the Thiên Đình realm. However, his sword techniques are indeed terrifying. And then there's Mục Thiên Tôn — he really knows how to stir up trouble, causing chaos wherever he goes!"
"But I never expected that Địa Mẫu could still make waves! Impressive, truly impressive. If I want to eliminate Địa Mẫu, I must first eliminate Thiên Công and Thổ Bá, and cripple Mục Thiên Tôn's resurrection technique..."
Inside the Thiên Long Bảo Liễn, Tần Mục immediately began performing the ritual, chanting incantations and activating his divine powers to summon Vân Thiên Tôn's soul. After a moment, he stopped, frowning slightly.
"Thánh Anh, are you unable to sense Vân Thiên Tôn's soul?" Lãng Oản Thần Vương asked.
Tần Mục nodded, pondering, "Even if a soul is shattered, I can summon the black sand of the soul. Even for beings like Đế Hậu and Nguyên Mẫu — who aren't dead but are pretending to be dead — as long as I have their physical bodies, I can trace the whereabouts of their souls. My divine power can search heaven and earth. When I cast it, all the worlds, even the Thiên Đình, Huyền Đô, U Đô, and Thiên Âm Giới, must all respond to my summoning! Yet, I cannot sense Vân Thiên Tôn's soul at all. It's as if his soul never existed..."
"This is Thái Đế's doing."
Thúc Quân Thần Vương mused, "Thái Đế has the ability to make a soul completely vanish, never to be found again. Vân Thiên Tôn died at Thái Đế's hands, didn't he?"
Tần Mục's expression turned grave. He nodded slightly and asked, "Even if a soul is shattered, it turns into black sand and is absorbed by the Thiên Âm Giới. What ability does Thái Đế have that can make Vân Thiên Tôn's soul completely disappear?"
He was quite puzzled.
His Khiên Hồn Dẫn was a technique of U Đô. After his improvements, he was confident that no matter where a soul was hidden, it couldn't escape his tracking. He had faith in this technique.
"In this world, there are only three people with the ability to make you unable to find a soul."
Thúc Quân said in a deep voice, "The first is Thái Đế. The other two are Đế Hậu Nương Nương and Nguyên Mẫu Phu Nhân among the ancient gods. Đế Hậu Nương Nương and Nguyên Mẫu Phu Nhân possess the Quy Khư, which shatters everything and destroys everything. Back then, they activated the Quy Khư and buried countless experts of my race. One of the other two Thần Vương of my race died at the hands of those sisters. Not just the soul — even the divine consciousness was completely annihilated, ceasing to exist. Thái Đế can't do that. Thái Đế's ability lies in his incredibly powerful divine consciousness. His divine consciousness is called Đại La Vô Thượng Thần Thức."
Tần Mục nodded. Thái Đế's Đại La Vô Thượng Thần Thức was extremely exquisite. The Thiên Đình had been waiting for Tả Thiếu Bật Diêm Thiếu Thanh to create a divine consciousness Đế Tọa cultivation method, but Thái Đế had long ago created a divine consciousness cultivation method for the Đế Tọa realm.
"Why is it called Đại La Vô Thượng Thần Thức?"
Thúc Quân said, "Actually, his divine consciousness condensed long ago in the ancient era, forming the Thần Thức Đại La Thiên. That is a void world constructed entirely from supreme divine consciousness. Not just your techniques — no technique in the world can work within the Thần Thức Đại La Thiên. The laws of the Dao there are entirely dictated by Thái Đế. I believe Vân Thiên Tôn's soul was exiled by Thái Đế into the Thần Thức Đại La Thiên."
Lãng Oản Thần Vương didn't know much about this and asked, "Thúc Quân Thần Vương, could you elaborate on the Thần Thức Đại La Thiên?"
"I don't know much about the Thần Thức Đại La Thiên either."
Thúc Quân said, "Back when Thái Đế wasn't that strong yet, I clashed with him, contending for the title of the strongest. I once heard him mention it. His cultivation method, Đại La Vô Thượng Thần Thức, when cultivated to the extreme, begins to touch the ultimate void. His divine consciousness condenses in the ultimate void, transforming in countless ways, eternally indestructible. Perhaps only by cultivating one's divine consciousness to his level can one find the Thần Thức Đại La Thiên in the ultimate void. However, even at the peak of my power in my lifetime, I never reached that step."
He looked at Lãng Oản Thần Vương and said, "Your divine consciousness is stronger than mine was back then. Have you touched the ultimate void?"
Lãng Oản Thần Vương shook her head. "My current divine consciousness can only reach the thirty-fifth void. I'm still one step away from the ultimate void."
Thúc Quân showed an envious expression and sighed, "That's already much stronger than I was at my peak."
Lãng Oản Thần Vương said calmly, "Naturally."
Thúc Quân let out a muffled snort and sneered, "Don't be so smug! I'm starting over now. As long as I cultivate the Thiên Hà Thần Tàng, it will surpass your Thần Kiều Thần Tàng. My future strength will surpass yours by who knows how much! A few days ago, I went to Tề Cửu Nghi to learn how to open the Thần Tàng. It's far superior to the backward methods of Vô Ưu Hương."
Tần Mục said in surprise, "Thần Vương went to find Tề Cửu Nghi to learn how to open the Thần Tàng? Why would you go so far when the answer is right here?"
Thúc Quân didn't understand and said, "You're always clinging to Lãng Oản and Nguyên Mẫu, with no time to teach me. Naturally, I had to go seek instruction from Tề Cửu Nghi."
Tần Mục laughed. "Tề Cửu Nghi may be one of the earlier people to open the Thiên Hà Thần Tàng, but he's not the earliest. Hư Sinh Hoa and I were the first to open the Thiên Hà Thần Tàng, but the second person to open it wasn't Tề Cửu Nghi — it was Long Kỳ Lân. He received my true teachings."
Thúc Quân glanced at Long Kỳ Lân, who was lying there sleeping lazily, and was left dumbfounded.
Long Kỳ Lân lazily raised his head, glanced at him, and showed a look of disdain.
"Long Béo has followed me the longest and is one of the few people who understands the Diên Khang reforms most deeply."
Tần Mục laughed. "Back when I was opening various Thần Tàng and traveling to the various academies, he was always by my side. Whether it's martial arts, divine powers, sword techniques, or combat skills, he knows them all well. Why would you go to Tề Cửu Nghi? Back in Diên Khang, Tề Cửu Nghi was stuck in the Western Lands and didn't know much."
Long Kỳ Lân yawned, stuck out his big tongue, licked his lips, and said, "Tề Cửu Nghi? He's my third brother. I'm his big brother."
Thúc Quân was even more dumbfounded.
In the Thiên Đình, a youthful, bright-faced girl with two ponytails swinging behind her walked briskly toward the Linh Năng Đối Khiên Kiều in the Phụ Phụ Thiên Cung. The two ponytails were quite playful. This was the other Vân Sơ Tụ.
"That little bastard actually had Địa Mẫu capture me! That incarnation of mine is as good as dead — Địa Mẫu is going to play with it until it breaks! I really offended Địa Mẫu badly back then. When she stole Thiên Công's essence, I was the one who told Thiên Công, and he gave her a beating..."
She sprinted toward the Linh Năng Đối Khiên Kiều, her two ponytails slapping against her rear, muttering softly, "But that little bastard won't find it so easy to shake me off! He doesn't want me going to Nguyên Giới, so I'll go to Diên Khang Kinh Thành first and wait for him there! I just didn't expect he'd actually cultivated to the Tôn Thần realm. Last time my body suffered a loss — he grabbed me and I couldn't move at all. This time, I'll get myself a Thiên Thần body, and when I see that little bastard, I'll beat him up first to vent my anger!"
She was just about to step into the Linh Năng Đối Khiên Kiều when she saw Liên Hoa Hồn also walking this way. The two girls met, each stopping in their tracks, warily sizing up the other.
"Didn't Sơ Tụ muội muội leave the Thiên Đình with Mục Thiên Tôn and head to Nguyên Giới?"
Liên Hoa Hồn's gaze held both loathing and curiosity. "Why are you still in the Thiên Đình?"
Vân Sơ Tụ raised her hands, smoothing her ponytails to her chest, and laughed. "I came back. Is that not allowed? Liên tỷ tỷ, where are you off to?"
Liên Hoa Hồn stared at her, speaking softly, "And where are you off to?"
"You're not going to be my sister anymore — are you going to be my mother instead?"
Vân Sơ Tụ sneered. "You're so nosy. Can you even control me? You couldn't even keep your husband from crawling into my bed!"
Liên Hoa Hồn chuckled softly. "After all, you are my sister. How could I not care about you? Wherever you go, I'll naturally go too."
Vân Sơ Tụ rolled her eyes, then smiled sweetly. "Since you want to come, then come!"
She stepped into the Linh Năng Đối Khiên Kiều. Liên Hoa Hồn smiled faintly and followed her in. A moment later, a white cat bounded along swiftly and also slipped into the Linh Năng Đối Khiên Kiều of the Phụ Phụ Thiên Cung.
The next moment, they appeared beside the Linh Năng Đối Khiên Kiều outside Diên Khang Kinh Thành. Vân Sơ Tụ hopped and skipped toward Diên Khang Kinh Thành, exclaiming in surprise, "This Nguyên Mộc is even bigger!"
Liên Hoa Hồn frowned, looking up at the small Nguyên Mộc rooted in Diên Khang Kinh Thành, and snorted coldly. "Utterly treasonous."
Meanwhile, a middle-aged man arrived at the Đồ Giang Đốc Tạo Xưởng outside Diên Khang Kinh Thành.
Today, along the Đồ Giang, there were countless large and small Đốc Tạo Xưởng. Each one was built on a massive scale, standing along the riverbank. From a distance, they looked like a city of gods.
Within the Đốc Tạo Xưởng, divine light shot into the sky. Huge divine furnaces operated day and night without pause. Various complex mechanical giants, under the control of divine power users, were forging divine artifact components. Countless divine power users worked around the clock, drawing and imprinting various runes, forging divine weapons and treasures.
There were also many lâu thuyền flying into the air, carrying forged divine artifacts toward the Linh Năng Đối Khiên Kiều, ready to be sent to the Thiên Đình.
The place was bustling with activity. Khai Hoàng Tần Nghiệp passed by one Đốc Tạo Xưởng after another, observing their layouts. He noticed that some factories also produced strange contraptions like ice chests and windmills, imprinting various divine powers into these tools for the convenience of the people.
"Blind man, divine gold is a single-crystal sequence of microscopic mathematics, right?"
Khai Hoàng Tần Nghiệp suddenly heard a booming voice. He saw an old man carrying a box speaking with another old man who leaned on a bamboo staff and had a black dragon bone wrapped around his waist. The old man with the box said, "Huyền kim is a polycrystalline sequence, divine gold is a single-crystal sequence. If we could adjust the polycrystalline sequence of huyền kim to single-crystal, could huyền kim be transformed into divine gold?"
"Theoretically, yes."
The old man called Blind Man had incredibly bright eyes. He took out a piece of divine gold and a piece of huyền kim, and suddenly opened his eyes wide. Divine light shot out in all directions as the microscopic structures of the huyền kim and divine gold became clearly visible to him. He said, "The real problem is how to change the microscopic crystal sequence. Mute, your forging methods can't precisely reach the smallest crystals in the microscopic structure."
The old man called Mute had a voice that shook the ears, and he sneered, "My newly created Thiên Nguyên Hồng Lô casting method was designed precisely for microscopic forging, imprinting runes on the smallest crystals. The main issue is that my eyesight isn't as good as yours..."
Suddenly, these two old men noticed Khai Hoàng and turned to look at him in unison.
The mute grinned widely. "Ah ba, ah ba ah ba?"
The blind man leaned on his staff and laughed. "This brother here, the mute is asking where you come from?"
Khai Hoàng walked forward and laughed. "Two brothers, I come from Vô Ưu Hương. I overheard your discussion and couldn't help but eavesdrop for a moment. You were just saying that by changing the microscopic crystal structure of huyền kim, you could transform it into divine gold. Could you elaborate?"