Chapter 1396: The Reappearance of the Jade Pool
"Lang Xuan's talent is extremely high, not inferior to mine, but unfortunately he is not my Dao companion. Between him and me, it will come to swords sooner or later."
Qin Mu stood on the Jade Terrace, gazing into the distance across the Jade Sea, silently thinking: "The talents of the Ten Heavenly Venerables are not bad; their current cultivation realms are not achieved by luck. If only these people's intelligence and wisdom could be used on the righteous path, how wonderful that would be."
In his heart, whether it was Lang Xuan or Heavenly Venerable Hao, both had rendered meritorious service in the past. The Long Han Revolution was also led by them; it was they who ended the rule of the ancient gods.
However, after overthrowing the ancient gods, they chose to become ancient gods themselves.
They stood high above, doing everything in their power to maintain their rule, and all hope of reform was crushed by them.
For the sake of their ruling position, they could do anything—even have children kill their own fathers and mothers, even have kin slaughter each other, even commit every conceivable evil!
The reason they did not destroy Yan Kang was not out of mercy, but for their own ruling position!
This was the irreconcilable contradiction between them and Yan Kang, a contradiction that would surely erupt in the future!
Qin Mu cast aside the distracting thoughts in his heart and surveyed the Jade Terrace and the Jade Pool.
The layout of the Primordial Jade Pool and the Heavenly Court's Jade Pool was largely the same, but there were subtle differences in the details. Because the Heavenly Court's Jade Pool was the residence of Empress Dowager Niangniang, the layout within the Jade Pool had undergone minor adjustments.
Although the Primordial Jade Pool still maintained its original structure, there was no longer any Primordial Chaos Source Liquid in the pool, and the Primordial Chaos Source Liquid was the greatest treasure of the Primordial Jade Pool.
Now, Lang Xuan God Emperor had set up various formation arrays in the Primordial Jade Pool to draw in the spiritual energy and spiritual power of heaven and earth, using this precious land to refine Primordial Chaos Source Liquid.
There was already a considerable amount of Primordial Chaos Source Liquid in the Jade Pool, filling a small pond covering more than ten zhang in circumference.
This was already quite a lot, but compared to the Jade Pool of the Primordial Era, this bit of Primordial Chaos Source Liquid was nothing more than a drop of water in the vast ocean.
The Primordial Jade Pool covered an extremely vast area, with exposed seabed everywhere. The seabed had long since dried up, and in some places, the ridges of the underwater mountains were exposed.
Qin Mu frowned. The spirit-gathering formation arrays set up by Lang Xuan God Emperor were everywhere, making it difficult to discern the original terrain.
"The Jade Pool can serve as a cultivation realm, so it must have its wonders, similar to the Four Heavenly Gates and the Nine Hell Platforms. So where exactly is this place's mystery?"
He soared into the air from the Jade Terrace, flying across the dried-up seabed, surveying the area in all directions.
After a long while, Qin Mu turned back and flew toward the Jade Terrace, a puzzled expression on his face.
He had not discovered the Dao mystery of the Jade Pool.
But the Jade Pool realm in the Heavenly Palace system did exist, indicating that the Jade Pool must contain wondrous heavenly Dao. Mother Earth Primordial Sovereign was able to become the spiritual root of heaven and earth, also relying on the function of the Jade Pool—perhaps not merely because of the watering of Primordial Chaos Source Liquid.
Suddenly, Qin Mu paused slightly, halting in mid-air, his robes fluttering.
His gaze fell upon the Jade Terrace.
The form of the Primordial Jade Terrace was almost identical to that of the Heavenly Court's Jade Terrace, clearly showing that the Heavenly Court's Jade Terrace was also built according to the specifications of the Primordial Jade Terrace. However, the Primordial Jade Terrace was naturally formed. This terrace was made entirely of beautiful jade—jade being yao—and this natural jade platform actually had steps, railings, and a vast open platform from which one could gaze at the Jade Pool and descend into the Jade Sea.
Qin Mu counted: the jade steps of the terrace numbered eight hundred, with a platform every hundred steps. Ascending the steps, one would arrive at these jade platforms.
What was strange was that the side of these jade platforms facing the sea was extremely steep, a sheer jade cliff. Beneath the jade cliff were peculiar patterns connected to the mountain ranges on the seabed, and those mountain ranges were also made of jade.
The mountain ranges extended all the way to the center of the seabed, with eight mountain ranges connecting to eight tiers of jade platforms, while the eight jade mountain ranges were connected as one at the seabed.
The Jade Terrace faced the sea, and each tier of the jade platform was very large in area—even the topmost platform was several hundred li in length and breadth.
This should have been the place where the Primordial Creators performed sea sacrifices. In the Primordial Era, the Creators had enormous bodies, and this place could accommodate a tribe of hundreds of thousands of Creators!
Qin Mu looked at the place in the center of the Jade Sea where the eight jade mountain ranges connected, then looked at the Jade Terrace, a hint of confusion on his face.
"The Jade Terrace and the Jade Sea should be one entity. In the Primordial Era, natural Great Dao must have manifested here, turning this place into a natural holy land, which is why the Creators came here to offer sacrifices. What exactly happened that caused the Dao of the Jade Pool and the Jade Sea to dissipate?"
He examined carefully, then suddenly paused slightly.
He saw that the eight jade mountain ranges were all broken!
Qin Mu flew over to take a look, and found that the places where these eight mountain ranges were broken were all at the same position.
The eight mountain ranges were like dragons, with their tails at the center of the Jade Sea and their heads beneath the Jade Terrace. The branches were like limbs, each leg having five dragon claws.
And the place where they were broken was at the waist of the dragon veins, severed cleanly at the waist, with smooth breaks.
Besides the broken places, there were also gods under Lang Xuan God Emperor's command mining the jade mountains, collecting beautiful jade.
Qin Mu widened his eyes, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
The gods under Lang Xuan God Emperor's command, instead of thinking about how to repair the jade mountains, were actually taking advantage of the convenient breaks to mine jade ore!
He flew over, and saw that the cross-sections of the jade mountains were smooth, but strangely, the force that severed the jade mountains did not come from outside, but from beneath the earth—as if some kind of power within the jade mountains had erupted and broken them apart from within!
Those gods mining the jade ore saw him and hastily stopped, looking toward him.
These gods were dressed in rags, wearing shackles on their feet with chains attached—they should be some prisoners who, because of major offenses, had been demoted to mining slaves.
"It's Heavenly Venerable Mu!"
A supervisor recognized Qin Mu and his face turned ashen, inwardly groaning: "Damn it, why has this demon come? Last time he came to Lang Xuan Divine Palace, he conjured up a Primordial Wood and smashed the palace flat, dismantling it completely! He almost beat to death all the God Emperor's disciples in the palace, and even scared off Chang Xiting, a being at the Imperial Throne realm! This time he's come—is he going to dismantle the Primordial Jade Pool?"
"How can the Jade Pool withstand his roughhousing? Speaking of which, why didn't the God Emperor's supreme treasure blast this fellow to death?"
They trembled with fear, their faces ashen, not daring to attack Qin Mu. Someone wanted to go report the news, but suddenly Qin Mu's gaze swept over casually, and that person immediately collapsed to the ground, not daring to move.
Qin Mu beckoned with his hand. Those supervisors looked as mournful as if they had lost their parents, yet they did not dare step forward.
Qin Mu's face darkened, and he beckoned again.
A group of supervisors moved their feet with difficulty, as if they were walking to the Execution Platform to be beheaded, slowly approaching him.
Qin Mu's expression turned gentle, and he tried to make a kind face, saying with a smile: "How much jade ore have you mined? Bring it all out..."
Thump, thump.
Suddenly, a group of supervisors knelt down in a row, and one of them cried out: "Heavenly Venerable Mu, we are not afraid of death! But we have elderly parents above and young children below—please spare our lives! Quick, quick! Bring out all the jade ore for the Heavenly Venerable! Heavenly Venerable, take the divine ore and leave quickly, and we will also immediately pack up our belongings and flee for our lives!"
Qin Mu was stunned, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and said: "You all lay these jade ores down properly and connect these mountain ranges."
A group of supervisors seemed not to have heard clearly. The supervisor who had just spoken was still shouting: "...We will never reveal that it was Heavenly Venerable Mu who robbed us. If we lose the divine ore, the God Emperor will also execute us, so we must flee..."
Qin Mu had to repeat himself again before they finally heard clearly. That supervisor said joyfully: "The Heavenly Venerable is not here to rob? Heaven has eyes! The Heavenly Venerable has changed his ways, not robbing..."
Qin Mu's face darkened, and he shouted: "I was invited here by your Lang Xuan God Emperor! Stop the nonsense and get to work!"
The group of supervisors hastily ran off, ordering the mining slaves to work together, laying the mined divine jade between the eight mineral veins. Qin Mu said in a deep voice: "Don't just stand around—go help too."
Those supervisors said with flattering smiles: "The Heavenly Venerable does not know—these mining slaves are extremely cunning. They can only work when whipped. Without someone whipping them, they will slack off and be lazy!"
Qin Mu snatched the whip and cracked it several times in succession, lashing several supervisors. The other mining slaves saw this and cheered and applauded.
The group of supervisors was whipped until they were bloody, and they hastily got to work.
Qin Mu waited quietly. One by one, the jade mountain ranges gradually came together. After a long while, the last mountain range was finally connected.
Hum!
As the last piece of jade fell into place, suddenly the Great Dao of heaven and earth roared, and the Dao radiance in the sky descended with a hum, like the aurora at the poles, flowing like dragons along the path of the mountain ranges!
Not only that, Dao radiance also surged up from beneath the earth along these eight mountain ranges, connecting and merging with the Dao radiance in the sky.
The Dao tones vibrated and rumbled, like great bells, like zither melodies, like flutes, like xiao and drums—the mixed sounds of the Great Dao resounding long and clear.
Those supervisors and the many mining slaves saw this scene and were utterly stunned.
One supervisor murmured: "The sun has risen from the west! Heavenly Venerable Mu is not here to dismantle the Jade Pool, but to rebuild it... Is the world really about to change?"
Lang Xuan God Emperor and the gods on the main ship were also startled, flying up from the tower ships one after another, gazing from afar.
Suddenly, an even more astonishing scene occurred. At the places where the eight mountain ranges approached the Jade Terrace, the dragon heads sprayed out streams of purple qi, surging toward the Jade Terrace!
The entire Jade Terrace was suddenly filled with a mysterious aura of the Great Dao. Various natural runes on the Jade Terrace lit up, enveloping the whole terrace in a strange Dao rhythm. The Dao melodies were long and melodious, rising from the Jade Terrace!
Even more peculiar, Primordial Chaos Source Liquid began to drip from the jade platforms on the terrace, one drop at a time, falling into the Jade Sea!
Lang Xuan God Emperor stared at this scene in shock. He was the master of this land, yet he did not know that the Jade Pool had such transformations!
Qin Mu had only just arrived, and he had already produced such an astonishing scene!
"The Jade Pool—this is the true Jade Pool, my Jade Pool..."
He murmured, unable to help but walk toward the Jade Terrace: "These are Primordial Chaos Source Liquid, produced faster than the liquid from the formation arrays I set up. This place will be my precious land for cultivating to become the Supreme..."
His gaze suddenly fell upon Qin Mu, and a trace of killing intent flashed in his eyes. He had developed killing intent toward Qin Mu.
He had occupied this place for so long and had never discovered the secret of the Jade Pool, yet Qin Mu had just arrived and had already restored the Primordial Jade Pool to its former glory. This could not help but stir his killing intent!
"Heavenly Venerable Mu is a great threat!"
He involuntarily came to Qin Mu's side, only to see that Qin Mu was not going to the Jade Terrace to collect the Primordial Chaos Source Liquid, nor was he comprehending the Great Dao, but was instead looking at the ground beneath with great interest.
Lang Xuan God Emperor stood beside him, looking down, and asked curiously: "What is Heavenly Venerable Mu looking at?"
Qin Mu's vertical eye on his forehead was already open, looking at the ground beneath, and he said with a smile: "I am looking at what exactly destroyed these eight mountain ranges and cut off the vitality of the Jade Pool."
Lang Xuan God Emperor could not help but ask: "Then have you seen it?"
"I have seen it." Qin Mu nodded.