Chapter 1488: The Sacrifice
The tall, gaunt figure was straining to squeeze his way over, his power so immense that forcing his way in was no easy task.
There is a certain regularity to the conversion of mass and energy. For an existence like him, who had already attained the Dao, he was almost pure embodiment of the great Dao's rules. Squeezing from the previous universe into this one required displacing an unimaginably terrifying amount of mass and energy.
This was similar to the Spirit Energy Exchange Bridge, yet also different—far more complex.
The Spirit Energy Exchange Bridge pierces the barriers between two worlds, forming a bridge for spirit energy exchange. When a living being crosses over, their own energy causes a mutual flow of spirit energy, maintaining balance between the two worlds.
But crossing from a universe of the past into the universe of the present also requires adhering to the balance of mass and energy. What makes it even more troublesome is that the old and new universes cannot establish a bridge like the Spirit Energy Exchange Bridge that actively transfers mass and energy. That is why they needed to arrange a massive sacrificial formation in the Ancestral Court, using it as an altar.
The total mass and energy of the universe remains constant. With the total unchanged, for people from the past to enter the present universe, a portion of the present universe's mass and energy must be cast into the past universe to maintain the overall balance.
Over the years, countless living beings had already been sacrificed, but every Dao-achiever from the past universe was trying to transfer into the present universe before their own universe collapsed. This led to a situation where everyone wanted to squeeze in, yet no one could!
This tall, gaunt figure was the same. He had already gotten half his body through, and now he needed to sacrifice a portion of the Ancestral Court's matter and energy to the past universe, accelerating his escape from that collapsing universe of his origin.
The Black Mountain shook violently, rocks crumbling and peeling away, floating in the air.
These rocks surged like a torrent, drifting behind the tall, gaunt figure, vanishing one after another into that enormous eye.
Around Qin Mu, the ground was also splitting apart, chunks of earth breaking down and floating toward that strange eye.
That eye grew ever more enormous, standing vertically behind the figure like a fire of apocalypse, its flames illuminating the ten thousand mountains, casting their shadows flickering unsteadily.
It was like a giant furnace, and also like a massive mouth, greedily devouring everything in the Ancestral Court, grinding and melting heaven and earth, converting it into pure energy sent to the collapsing universe behind it, in exchange for the tall, gaunt figure's survival!
Qin Mu halted his advance, raised Taiyi's walking stick, and charged at the tall, gaunt figure.
The vertical eye on the figure's forehead was bristling with arrows—Qin Mu's earlier strike had driven arrow after arrow deep into that eye. Yet even with the explosive power of the divine bow and divine arrows, he had failed to inflict serious damage.
The figure was thin and towering, of some unknown bizarre race. He raised a hand to grab at the arrows in his vertical eye, trying to pull them out, while his other palm reached for Qin Mu.
He had only that single eye at the center of his brow, occupying his entire forehead. With so many arrows stuck in it, his vision was impaired.
He had to pull the arrows out first before he could properly deal with Qin Mu.
Qin Mu swung his walking stick, its power fluctuation far weaker than before—which was why the figure had reached for him. But it was precisely this seemingly powerless strike that had cost him dearly!
His palm was long and slender, each finger many times longer than Qin Mu's entire body. As he grabbed, divine powers converged in his palm, and in an instant, razor-sharp threads filled his hand, flying wildly in every direction, crisscrossing and interweaving.
The moment Qin Mu charged into his palm, his physical body was pierced by countless threads. Yet he still swung the walking stick to meet the figure's fingers.
Crack!
One of the tall, gaunt figure's fingers was struck by the walking stick and snapped backward on the spot, bending at a shocking angle.
Crack, crack—one finger after another was broken off by Qin Mu, all five bending backward. Qin Mu reversed his grip on the walking stick, using it as a sword, and drove it fiercely toward the center of the palm!
Just then, the countless threads embedded in Qin Mu's body suddenly pulled in all directions. With a tearing sound, Qin Mu was instantly shredded into countless pieces!
The shattered flesh and blood were drawn by the strange eye behind the figure, falling toward it.
Suddenly, a peculiar ripple of divine power spread out, like time flowing in reverse. Qin Mu's body rapidly reassembled, still standing in the figure's palm, walking stick in hand, delivering that world-shaking strike as a sword!
Third form of the Tribulation Sword—Facing Tribulation!
The wooden staff had no edge, yet it pierced through the tall, gaunt figure's palm, driving Qin Mu's entire body deep into his arm!
The Facing Tribulation sword was a sword to sever the Heavenly Palace and pacify the Divine Treasury—a sword Qin Mu used to cut himself, and also to cut others. It had been a long time since he last used his sword arts and sword Dao.
Because ever since he comprehended more profound divine powers, the might of his sword arts and sword Dao could no longer keep pace with his divine power. Moreover, the enemies he faced were far stronger than before. His sword arts and sword Dao had gradually fallen behind his cultivation progress, making it hard to wound his opponents.
But now, with Taiyi's walking stick in hand, it was like an unstoppable sharp weapon, elevating the power of this Facing Tribulation strike to a level unimaginable in ordinary times!
The tall, gaunt figure's face showed surprise, and he uttered a question in an unintelligible language, as if commenting on Qin Mu's divine power.
By now he had pulled the arrows from his vertical brow eye. His other hand rose, fingers dancing with incredible agility, tapping rapidly along his own other arm.
Beneath the skin of that arm, a beam of sword light rolled like a mighty torrent, destroying everything in its path—severing the bones of his hand and arm, snapping the great sinews!
Under his skin, sinews pierced through the flesh and hung exposed, broken bones tore through muscle and blood—a gruesome sight.
What was even more terrifying was that the sword intent arrived first. Before the wooden staff even reached his upper arm, the sword intent was already there, making his entire arm feel the razor-sharp edge of the sword light, draining all strength from the limb!
But his other hand's five fingers tapped along the arm one after another, each strike landing with pinpoint accuracy on Qin Mu as he traveled through the arm. Each strike was so powerful it crushed Qin Mu to dust!
Yet Qin Mu seemed to possess an undying, indestructible body—every time he was killed, he was reborn within the arm, restored to full form.
The tall, gaunt figure spoke another unintelligible sentence, then suddenly raised his hand and chopped off his own arm. Qin Mu flew out from the severed limb, sword light aimed straight at the figure's brow!
The tall, gaunt figure smiled, repeated that unintelligible phrase, and a beam of light shot from his vertical brow eye.
Boom!
That single strike shattered Qin Mu completely—his physical body, his primordial spirit, and even his Divine Treasury Domain all reduced to powder!
The power of this strike was extremely peculiar. It directly froze all matter composing Qin Mu's physical body, primordial spirit, and Divine Treasury Domain, rendering his Matter Immutability divine power completely ineffective!
He had clearly recognized Qin Mu's technique. The Matter Immutability divine power was created by Ling Tianzun. Its greatest strength lay in reversing the flow of matter, creating the illusion of time flowing backward.
But for an existence like the tall, gaunt figure who had already attained the Dao, while this divine power was profound and unfathomable, he still had means to break it.
All he needed was to freeze all the matter composing Qin Mu, preventing it from flowing backward, and the technique would be broken.
For anyone else, such vast divine power might not be available, but for him, it was not so difficult.
The tall, gaunt figure looked at his severed arm, a look of admiration on his face, and spoke another sentence—likely praising how such an insignificant cultivator as Qin Mu could wound him so severely with such meager strength.
He continued channeling his divine power. The ground around the cracking Black Mountain began to revive, and the Black Mountain itself kept fracturing, roaring as it flowed into the strange eye behind him.
Suddenly, a killing formation hidden beneath the earth activated with a thunderous boom!
The tall, gaunt figure showed surprise. The power of this killing formation was negligible in his eyes, yet it had been hidden right under his nose without him noticing at all—that was quite impressive.
But what surprised him even more was that there was more than one formation.
When the first killing formation was triggered, it was like lighting a string of firecrackers. All around the Black Mountain, for a thousand li in every direction, formation after formation was set off!
The power of one formation was not enough to harm him, but when a thousand formations erupted together, the combined force was truly terrifying!
Not only that—Qin Mu and Blind had worked together to lay down countless layers of killing formations here. Some were hidden in the most minute places: in the ground shattered by the tall, gaunt figure, buried in the soil, within the rocks of the Black Mountain itself.
Those chunks of earth and stone were being pulled into the strange eye behind him, and now they were exploding inside that eye!
Beyond the ten thousand Black Mountains, Blind, Granny Si, and the others were migrating, fleeing far from the Black Mountain sacred ground. At this moment, Blind turned back and saw, in the direction of the great Black Mountain in the darkness, boundless murderous aura surging into the sky. Countless killing formations operated within that aura, dazzling to behold.
The great Dao of heaven and earth was drawn by those formations, transformed into killing Dao tribulation formations of earth-shaking power!
"This is the best I can do."
Blind said softly: "The way of formations—heaven sends killing intent, earth sends killing intent, man sends killing intent. The Three Absolutes of Heaven, Earth, and Man Tribulation Formation. My lifelong cultivation, combined with Mu'er's divine power, is all I can offer..."
His eyes were bright, filled with hope. He murmured: "Mu'er, with your divine power to mobilize the great Dao of heaven and earth, can you slay that prehistoric existence?"
Just as he finished speaking, formation after formation collapsed and disintegrated. The Three Absolutes of Heaven, Earth, and Man Tribulation Formation crumbled, swept away by an overwhelming force!
Blind's eyes dimmed. Granny Si's voice came: "Blind, stop staring. Let's go!"
Blind turned around and silently followed her.
Granny Si said nothing. After a moment of silence, Blind spoke: "This battle is not without hope of victory. Mu'er and I laid another trump card—an altar..."
Granny Si suddenly said: "Where's the Cripple? Where has that damned Cripple gone?"
She looked around. In the darkness, figures moved in the shadows, but there was no sign of the Cripple.
She was about to go looking for him when Blind suddenly took her arm and shook his head: "No need to look for him. You know the Cripple loves Mu'er more than anyone. Even though Mu'er sent him away, he slipped back long ago. He would never watch Mu'er go to his death..."
Granny Si flew into a rage, her voice sharp: "So you'd just let him go die? Why didn't you stop him?"
Blind said calmly: "If I could save Mu'er, I too would gladly die."
Granny Si's chest heaved violently, and she said no more.
In the great Black Mountain, between the split peaks, that strange eye was now battered and broken, severely wounded by the Three Absolutes of Heaven, Earth, and Man killing formation. Within the eye, the tall, gaunt figure was furious beyond measure, hair flying wild, wounds covering his body.
In the instant he was trapped by the killing formation, Qin Mu, who had been shattered into countless particles, finally broke free of his imprisonment. The Matter Immutability divine power erupted, restoring him to full form, still gripping the wooden staff tightly.
At that moment, a massive altar materialized beneath Qin Mu's feet. The tall, gaunt figure stared at this enormous altar with cold, sinister eyes.
The altar had already activated—tearing open a passage to another space!
The sky shattered, and an immensely powerful presence came through. Enormous heads poked out from the rift, and a thunderous voice boomed: "What humble existence dares summon the mightiest and most majestic sovereign of the Beast Realm?"
A colossal dragon head descended from the sky, coiling down to hover above the altar, eyes like twin suns, speaking lazily: "The most ancient dragon god of the primordial age, Long Xiao, the Divine King, descends. Tiny little life, present your offering... Mu Tianzun!"
Long Xiao's massive body was still in the Beast Realm, but one enormous head after another came to hover above the altar. One head stared in shock at Qin Mu, while the other heads turned to look at the strange eye and the tall, gaunt figure within it!
"Damn you, Mu Tianzun!"
Long Xiao's nine heads strained to retract, pulling back toward the Beast Realm, all nine roaring in fury: "Every time you seek me out, there's never any good—"
Qin Mu said coldly: "Long Xiao, you promised me three things. This is the first! Sovereign of the Beast Realm, are you going to break your word and grow fat on broken promises?"