Chapter 1160: Thirty Billion Years (Second Update)
"Thirty billion years..."
Qin Mu shook his head. Long Qilin's method of measuring the growth rings of the Great Black Peak would inevitably have some margin of error, but the error wouldn't be significant. Even so, the figure of thirty billion years startled Qin Mu.
One had to understand that this number—thirty billion years—only referred to the age of the Great Black Peak itself. Aside from the Great Black Peak, this black tree also had fifteen other ring-shaped mountain ranges!
If those ring-shaped mountain ranges also had similar growth rings, wouldn't that mean the age of this black tree was an astronomical figure beyond imagination?
The entire black tree was incomparably vast, many times thicker than the Primeval Tree, and even more ancient. The Earth Mother Primordial Sovereign's age was merely a fraction of it!
"The Earth Mother Primordial Sovereign's growth rings only span a few billion years, yet this black tree has experienced sixteen different major growth rings, each containing tens of billions of minor rings. What kind of years has this tree witnessed? No tree should be able to live this long, yet this tree truly has."
Qin Mu's expression turned strange. The black tree was now dead, leaving only its stump—a pity.
"Those two ancient gods in the Taiji mineral vein recommended this place to me—what exactly is its origin? Still, this can indeed be called a treasure land second only to the five great mineral veins."
He was satisfied. The two ancient gods in the Taiji mineral vein recommending this place to him could be considered a great kindness, highly beneficial for him establishing a foothold in the Ancestral Court.
As long as he unfolded the Twenty-Eight Heavens of the Glazed Blue Sky Banner, this place would be easy to defend and hard to attack!
Moreover, these black wood mountain ranges lacked the eerie qualities of the primordial mineral veins. Mining here would certainly be much easier.
Qin Mu flew through the air, patrolling between the great mountains. The mineral veins here were not concentrated within the black wood mountain ranges but rather located at the foot of the outermost ring of black mountains.
There were many exposed ores there, looking extremely ancient. He collected a few pieces but couldn't identify what kind of ore they were, so he had to put them away for now, planning to take them outside to ask the Mute.
Qin Mu made a full circuit. This place had also been devoured clean by void beasts—no vegetation remained, except for some greenery around the central Great Black Peak.
Even a quick patrol of the entire black wood would take over ten days; a detailed inspection would take even longer.
Qin Mu stopped. The main problem now was that this place was quite conspicuous, and void beasts could attack at any moment. He needed to prepare countermeasures early.
"The one controlling those void beasts is Qiang Tianfei—that is, the Grand Emperor. Logically speaking, she should have grown restless by now, trying to mobilize the Void Mother Beast to probe the strengths and weaknesses of the other Heavenly Venerables' territories."
Qin Mu blinked, thinking to himself: "But why hasn't she made any move so far? Could it be..."
Suddenly, his hair stood on end, and the smile on his face froze: "Has Palace Heavenly Venerable made a move against Qiang Tianfei? If Palace Heavenly Venerable can kill her, then so be it—killing her solves everything! But if she can't kill her, then Qiang Tianfei will definitely guess that I was the one who reported her!"
Qin Mu's stiff smile gradually twisted. He immediately flew back toward the Great Black Peak, his heart pounding wildly: "After being beaten by Palace Heavenly Venerable, she will definitely take her anger out on me!"
After arriving at the Great Black Peak, he immediately activated the Glazed Blue Sky Banner and sent the void beast he had tamed and domesticated out of the Great Black Wood, positioning it beyond the Twenty-Eight Heavens.
Qin Mu looked up at the sky, waiting quietly. But there was no movement in either the sky or the void.
He waited half a day, still nothing. He felt somewhat relieved, took out the Egg of Primordial Beginning, and focused his attention on studying the Primordial Beginning runes.
He had already deciphered the first Primordial Beginning rune—one could say he had entered the door. Once through the door, studying the subsequent runes became much easier.
Over ten days passed peacefully, and the void beasts never surrounded this place. Qin Mu finally relaxed, thinking: "The longer we drag this out, the better. As long as the other Heavenly Venerables want to leave this place, they'll have to come find me. By then, even if Qiang Tianfei wants to kill me, she won't be able to. I'll be safe."
He couldn't help but mutter: "Earning that ten percent of divine stones from Palace Heavenly Venerable is really hard..."
Meanwhile, Qiang Tianfei, disheveled and covered in bruises, fled in disgrace from the Nüxin clan's mineral vein. Her face was black and blue—clearly beaten badly—with Palace Heavenly Venerable still pursuing her from behind.
Qiang Tianfei was furious and said angrily: "The only ones who know my identity are Taichu and that brat Mu Heavenly Venerable. That bastard Taichu and I are in a state of mutual balance—if he exposes me, I can expose him too. So the one who sold me out can't be him. Then it can only be that bastard Qin Mu!"
"You're really asking for death! Time and again you poke my tiger's whiskers!"
Her divine consciousness exploded. The Void Mother Beast dwelling in the Nineteenth Void seemed to receive its orders—it rose to its feet with a thunderous motion, shook its incomparably massive body, and let out a furious roar.
At that moment, all the Heavenly Venerables in the Ancestral Court felt the tremor from the depths of the void. They walked out of their respective palaces one after another and looked up.
Suddenly, a gigantic eyelid appeared in the sky, hundreds of miles long. The eyelid slid open, revealing a massive eyeball that rolled around.
Then, popping sounds came from the sky. One giant eye after another emerged from the sky itself—eerily sinister, like mushrooms sprouting after rain. Soon they filled the heavens!
Not only that—on the ground, in rivers, lakes, and seas, countless eyeballs also surfaced!
The various Heavenly Venerables sneered coldly, unconcerned.
Although void beasts were formidable, compared to Heavenly Venerables like themselves, they were far too inferior. Even the Void Mother Beast didn't frighten them in the slightest.
They also had the resolve to eliminate the Void Mother Beast, but the beast was hidden in the Nineteenth Void. Their divine consciousness wasn't powerful enough—unlike the Creator Gods, who specialized in cultivating divine consciousness.
They couldn't travel through the void with their physical bodies. If their primordial spirits entered the Nineteenth Void, it would be far too dangerous.
However, as long as the Void Mother Beast showed its head, they could easily eliminate it.
In the sky, on the ground, in rivers, lakes, and seas—countless void beasts emerged. Those in the sky vibrated the fleshy wings between their six limbs and flew through the air, while those on the ground sprinted with six legs!
Additionally, giant void beasts in the void itself shuttled through space. Nearly all void beasts mobilized at this moment, charging in the same direction!
And that direction was the north of the Ancestral Court!
Even the void beasts that had been clinging to the tear in the sky, trying to tear it wider, released their claws and fell from the rift.
Mid-fall, their bodies twisted, their six limbs spread fleshy membranes, and they glided across the sky.
"To the north should be..."
In the Great Marsh, Hong Heavenly Venerable raised his head, a look of surprise on his face, and said: "The Great Black Mountain! That place is extremely desolate—the most dangerous, eerie, and sinister location in the Ancestral Court. Even the Creator Gods of the primordial era avoided it and kept their distance! These void beasts are charging there. Could it be that someone has gone there?"
"None of the Ten Heavenly Venerables are fools. They can all see how terrifying the Great Black Mountain is, so none of them would choose it..."
His expression changed, and he stamped his foot: "Damn! I know who went to the Great Black Mountain! Only that brat would be so bold as to defy heaven!"