Chapter 1402: The Great Era of Strife Approaches
"Strange, even the Creator doesn't know about the location of the Taiji Land, and all they could find was a fake Taiji mining area. How did Empress Dowager find this place?"
Qin Mu was puzzled. The ancient gods of the Taiji Land were extremely peculiar—they were twin-born ancient gods. All other divine eggs had been dug up, but only these two ancient gods had escaped that fate.
Moreover, these two ancient gods were extremely intelligent. Back then, Qin Mu had relied on Taisu to find this place, displaying extraordinary divine technique mastery that left the mining area unable to do anything to him. So these two ancient gods had directly negotiated with Qin Mu, giving him a hundred Taiji divine stones and one Taiji primordial stone, and telling him the location of the Great Dark Wood.
For Empress Dowager to find this place, it would be impossible without the guidance of the ancient gods. Only oviparous ancient gods could locate the Taiji Land.
So who guided Empress Dowager here—was it the Taisu Goddess, or Heavenly Venerate Xiao?
"Taisu is helping Heavenly Venerate Hao, so there's no way she'd guide Empress Dowager. Heavenly Venerate Xiao and Empress Dowager share a deep blood feud—even if Heavenly Venerate Xiao were willing to guide her, Empress Dowager might not be willing to come here. Taishi is with me, and Taiyi would never show himself to interfere in worldly affairs. So the only one who could have guided Empress Dowager here..."
Qin Mu's expression turned strange: "Only the Taiji ancient gods themselves. Taisu found Heavenly Venerate Hao as her assistant in contending for supremacy and reclaiming the Taisu mineral veins, helping her achieve enlightenment. The Taiji ancient gods' mineral veins are still intact. The reason they've pulled in Empress Dowager is probably also to find a helper among the Ten Heavenly Venerates as an ally in contending for supremacy. These two ancient gods are not as detached and indifferent as they claimed to be."
He quickly made his judgment: "The one stirring up trouble isn't Madam Yuanmu, but the Taiji ancient gods! These two ancient gods must have seen the Ten Heavenly Venerates open up the Ancestral Court, known that their mineral veins would be hard to protect, and that they might be discovered at any time. So they prepared in advance! They're about to enter the mortal world."
At this moment, Madam Yuanmu's divine artifact Yutianzun was watching Jue Wuchen, while Qiang Tianfei was watching her, and Qin Mu was simultaneously watching all three of them.
Jue Wuchen seemed oblivious, continuing to walk toward the Taiji mineral vein. Gradually, Qin Mu sensed something was wrong and quickly looked around.
"The place Jue Wuchen is walking isn't toward the center of the Taiji mineral vein. With the way she's walking, she'll only deviate from the mining area, not enter the real one... I see—the Taiji ancient gods sensed someone following her and created a fake mining area!"
Qin Mu suddenly understood: "These two ancient gods are masters of deception! And Empress Dowager doesn't just have Jue Wuchen's body to use—she also has her true body!"
He stopped tracking Qiang Tianfei, Jue Wuchen, and the divine artifact Yutianzun, silently retreating and heading straight for the real mining area.
The Taiji mining area was familiar territory for him. Last time he came here, he needed the Taisu divine egg to mobilize the power of the Liuli Qingtian Banner to cross the extremely dangerous Taiji star region. But this time, he was proficient in the four great Dao techniques of Taichu, Taishi, Taisu, and Taiji, and could venture deep into the Taiji star region without the slightest danger.
Qin Mu followed the mining area all the way, and after a long while, he suddenly turned back—he had already left the continent of the Ancestral Court and arrived in a vast starry sky.
He turned his head back around, and ahead of him was still the great desert, still the Ancestral Court.
This was the extraordinary nature of the Taiji star region.
"These two ancient gods have vast divine powers. Great Emperor and Madam Yuanmu are also local powers in the Ancestral Court, but even they would have great trouble finding the Taiji mining area. And since they've been led by Jue Wuchen to another fake mining area created by the Taiji ancient gods, they probably won't be able to tell it's fake."
Qin Mu shook his head. At this moment, he saw Empress Dowager.
As he had expected, Empress Dowager was now piloting her true body, walking through the black sand desert. The flying black sand was countless stars, and the fierce wind whipped the black sand through the air, so dense it was even denser than a torrential rainstorm.
These sands were stars. When the gale winds swept up the black sand and blew it against a person, it was equivalent to countless stars crashing down. Relying on one's own strength to resist, it would be very difficult to cross this desert.
Qin Mu's form became ethereal, transforming into the formless, substance-less Taishi state, letting the black sand strike his body and pass through him without harming him in the slightest.
Strangely enough, the black sand desert was so dangerous, yet the path Empress Dowager walked was completely calm. On both sides, black winds howled and black sand danced wildly, but before her was a smooth road.
"It's indeed the Taiji ancient gods guiding her." Qin Mu thought to himself.
He carefully observed his surroundings. The Taiji ancient gods probably hadn't discovered him—the density of black sand passing through his body was the same as everywhere else, not targeted at him.
If they had discovered him, these two ancient gods should have been able to create more changes in the Taiji star region specifically against him. While they couldn't kill him, they could at least make it impossible for him to find the mining area.
Finally, Empress Dowager arrived at the center of the Taiji star region. A mountain range like a dragon's pattern ran through the entire star region, dividing it in half.
—For Qin Mu, this was a star region; for her, it was just a stretch of desert.
What she saw with her eyes was desert.
Empress Dowager climbed the mountain range, and ahead of her, mountain peaks automatically moved aside. Some peaks suddenly transformed from lifeless stone into giant beasts with life and flesh, automatically standing up to make way for her. Some valleys automatically rose up, turning into smooth roads.
"These two ancient gods are still biased. Last time I came here, they obstructed and blocked me in every way possible, but when Empress Dowager comes here, they're shamelessly fawning over her."
Qin Mu couldn't help shaking his head as he followed Empress Dowager into the mining area.
Empress Dowager walked all the way in, entering the mining area and looking around. The matter transformations in the mining area were unpredictable, and even she couldn't help but marvel.
Although she was also an ancient god, she didn't have the abilities of the Taiji ancient gods. As one of the goddesses of Guixu, the Empress Dowager who was the mother of the world, she was extremely envious of the Taiji ancient gods' abilities.
Finally, she arrived at the center of the Taiji mining area. A natural Eight Trigrams altar stood there, with seven Taiji primordial stones surrounding a single ancient god egg, emitting a tranquil Dao light that harmonized with the mining area, extremely peaceful.
Empress Dowager bowed to the ancient god egg on the altar, then gracefully sat down, saying: "Dao brother's place here is quite peaceful, undisturbed by anyone. May I ask why you summoned me here?"
From within the egg, Dao sounds vibrated, transforming into a voice that was sometimes male, sometimes female, laughing: "I invited you here, sister, to discuss a great matter together."
Empress Dowager smiled slightly, not immediately taking up his thread. She looked around and said: "Dao brother's place is peaceful, but it seems someone has been here before. Even one of your primordial stones is missing."
A male voice came from the egg, laughing: "Embarrassing to say, a few years ago an uninvited guest stumbled his way here and extorted one primordial stone and a hundred divine stones from me."
Empress Dowager was visibly moved, asking curiously: "Who would dare extort you, dao brother?"
"That person is the one following behind you, sister—Qin Mu, Heavenly Venerate Mu."
A female voice came from the egg, laughing charmingly: "Heavenly Venerate Mu, no need to hide any longer. I discovered you long ago. Because I saw your techniques and divine powers and knew I couldn't stop you, I've been enduring silently. Please show yourself."
Empress Dowager's heart jumped with alarm. She quickly stood up and turned to look, only to see Qin Mu had somehow arrived not far behind her and was walking toward them.
"His strength isn't much, but his methods are quite extraordinary. Even I was fooled."
Empress Dowager remained vigilant inwardly, but wore a smile on her face as she greeted Qin Mu.
Qin Mu returned the greeting, then also greeted the ancient god egg on the Eight Trigrams altar, and sat down together with Empress Dowager.
Out of habit, he reached for his sword, wanting to stick his divine sword into the altar like last time, but his hand grasped empty air. Only then did he remember that his broken sword had been shattered by Kaihuang's Wuyou Sword, and he felt a pang of regret.
"At the Heavenly Alliance meeting, Kaihuang was too inconsiderate, shattering my sword to show that his sword Dao was number one. Otherwise, if I could stick this sword into the altar, I could remind the Taiji ancient gods of the fear of being coerced and dominated by me, saving me from them pulling tricks behind my back."
His spirits lifted, and he laughed: "You two dao brothers in the egg are quite carefree, inviting Empress Dowager here for tea but not inviting me. Where's our friendship? The number one holy land of the Ancestral Court you pointed me to—the Great Dark Wood of the Ancestral Court, with its hundred thousand Great Dark Mountains, a place where even birds don't shit! I've taken it! I haven't even thanked you two yet!"
A man's loud laughter came from the egg, ringing out: "Heavenly Venerate Mu, don't be smug and act innocent. You gained countless benefits at the Great Dark Wood—do I need to spell it out?"
The female ancient god's voice came, crisp and clear: "For others, that's the number one dangerous place of the Ancestral Court, but for you, it's the number one holy land. We're not wrong, are we?"
Qin Mu snorted, wanting to reach for his sword again to stick it in the altar, thinking: "These two ancient gods don't have pure hearts. Only with a sword pressed against the egg will they tell the truth. Unfortunately... I need to find the best divine metal and forge the best divine sword! Come to think of it, I think I was fooled by Grandpa Mute—he tricked me into thinking the broken sword I forged was the best divine weapon..."
He stared off into space, unconsciously tugging at the beard on his chin again.
Empress Dowager glanced at him, amazed that he could be distracted thinking about other things at such a moment, thinking: "Heavenly Venerate Mu seems to be carefree and unconcerned no matter what... Strange, the dao brother in the Taiji mineral vein has the same origins as that heartless scoundrel, with such vast divine powers—why does he seem somewhat afraid of him in his speech?"
What she didn't know was that last time Qin Mu came here, he had endured countless hardships and dangers. If he hadn't learned the technique of material immutability, he would have been killed by the Taiji ancient gods and the mining area long ago, his corpse arranged in a thousand different poses.
It was precisely because the Taiji ancient gods couldn't do anything to him, and he had stuck his sword into the altar and threatened them, that they were somewhat afraid of him.
Of course, the ancient gods in the egg wouldn't tell Empress Doward about such things.
"Dao brothers, why have you summoned me here?" Empress Dowager asked.
A male voice sounded from the egg, laughing: "A few years ago, Taisu came to find me, wanting me to come out of seclusion and join in a great undertaking. I refused. But she wouldn't let it go. She was born earlier than us, and we couldn't do anything to her. Helpless, we had to tell her to go find Heavenly Venerate Hao."
Empress Dowager's heart trembled slightly: "Another ancient god from the egg has gone to find Heavenly Venerate Hao? With the support of such an ancient god, Heavenly Venerate Hao will be even harder to deal with!"
A female voice sounded from the egg again, saying: "Now that the Ancestral Court is fully open, our peaceful place here will probably not remain peaceful for long. So we also need a dao companion. Because we've suffered a loss at the hands of a certain post-heavenly creature, being threatened by that person and forced to hand over our Taiji primordial stone, we can't trust post-heavenly creatures."
Qin Mu rubbed his nose, wanting to draw his sword and stick it in the altar again, thinking: "I definitely need to forge another divine sword!"
"So we want to find a trustworthy dao companion from among the ancient gods."
A male voice came from the altar: "Taiji—the Dao of Yin and Yang, endless transformation and change, infinite. Among all the ancient gods under heaven, the one whose Dao aligns with ours, complementing each other perfectly, is you, Empress."
"You are a Dao-born ancient god. Guixu is the place where all things end, and also the place where all things are born."
A female voice came from the egg, saying: "Twin lotuses on one stem—one represents the Dao of destruction, a goddess of destruction who fears nothing more than the world being at peace; the other represents the Dao of life, an ancient god who nurtures all living beings. The Taichu ancient god chose you as his empress for this very reason."
"Yuanmu's Guixu is the abyss that devours everything; your Guixu is the mysterious womb that nurtures everything. One destroys, one creates."
"With your help, our Yin-Yang creation can reach great completion. With our help, you can also harmonize life and death, merge with Yuanmu, and become a unique existence."
"Sister, the reappearance of the Ancestral Court in the mortal world means this is the great era of strife. The battles to come will be so brutal, so magnificent, that they will surpass even the ancient war of destruction a hundredfold!"
"Facing a war a hundred times greater than the one that destroyed the Creators, anyone risks falling! Including ancient gods, including Heavenly Venerates, including us, and even including those who have already achieved enlightenment—all face the possibility of falling!"
"Join hands with us, prepare early. What do you think?"
Empress Dowager's body shook violently. A war a hundred times more brutal and magnificent than the Blood Rust Campaign? How could that be possible?