Chapter 1500: Seventy-Two Precious Halls of the Jade Capital
The moment he stepped into the city, Qin Mu immediately felt that his lifespan, which had once been as eternal as heaven and earth, now had an end.
Cultivators who had reached the realm of the Life-and-Death Divine Treasury could already sense when their lifespans would run out, but after cultivating to the divine realm, deities would feel their lifespans stretch endlessly, co-existing with heaven and earth.
However, this Jade Capital City should have been affected by the great calamity of annihilation, causing the Great Dao itself to have a limit to its lifespan, and therefore cultivators also had a limit to their lifespans.
Qin Mu pondered for a moment, then activated the Overlord Body Three Elixirs Art. Primordial energy flowed through the World Tree, and the feeling of a finite lifespan immediately disappeared.
The World Tree was like indestructible matter that pierced through one universe after another. Universes might be destroyed and reborn, but the World Tree never changed. Although Qin Mu's World Tree was still a sapling and not powerful, it possessed this trait as well.
Moreover, the aura of the annihilation tribulation within the Jade Capital City was not too strong. He wasn't truly stepping into the annihilation tribulation itself, so the World Tree within his divine treasury could withstand it.
Of course, if it were a true great annihilation tribulation, the sapling of the World Tree would not be able to withstand it. The sapling was still young.
Qin Mu walked toward the city, carefully avoiding some dangerous areas. The Cold Still Wind and the Heat Still Wind here were the most bizarre. The temperature of the Heat Still Wind was enough to melt the dao chains and domains of the Great Dao, while the Cold Still Wind froze everything, severing dao chains and rendering all divine abilities useless. They were extremely dangerous.
"This Cold Still Wind... it resembles the Ultimate Void..."
Qin Mu stood beneath a withered dao tree, observing the Cold Still Wind blowing past it, a look of surprise on his face.
The Cold Still Wind had some similarities to his Great Luo Heaven Convergence into a Circle divine ability, but it was even more formidable.
He chased after the tail of this Cold Still Wind, carefully following it, observing closely and pondering the mysteries contained within. After who knows how long, the Cold Still Wind burrowed into a mass of chaotic energy.
Qin Mu suddenly looked up and glanced around, only then realizing that he had deviated from Wei Suifeng's geographical map and had no idea where in the Jade Capital City he had ended up.
This place was even more dilapidated. Withered dao trees were everywhere, forming a forest. Withered dao fruits hung from the branches, and some had even fallen to the ground beneath the trees.
The ground was covered with withered dao tree leaves and branches. Stepping on them, branches snapped and leaves rustled.
He stepped on something hard, brushed aside the dead leaves, and saw a skeleton buried beneath them.
This should be the remains of a Dao Achiever, who had died here for some unknown reason.
"In the great annihilation tribulation of the universe, even Dao Achievers are but ants."
Qin Mu looked around, then suddenly raised his hand. Dead leaves and withered branches flew into the air, lifting off the ground.
In this withered dao tree forest, the skeletons of Dao Achievers were scattered everywhere—a shocking sight!
Qin Mu furrowed his brows and examined them one by one. After a moment, he let out a turbid breath.
These Dao Achievers had not died natural deaths—they had been killed!
Every skeleton bore wounds caused by various sharp weapons!
"Who killed you all?"
He stopped before a skeleton, knocked on it, and tried to awaken it. The skeleton remained motionless, with no spirit within.
He stood up, frowning as he looked around. This withered tree forest was like a graveyard of bones, burying two to three hundred Dao Achievers!
"Did the Dao Achievers in the Jade Capital City also have grudges? Could they have killed each other here?"
He was about to let the dead leaves and branches fall back down when his eyes suddenly brightened. He walked quickly into the forest, where he saw a deep well in the middle of the withered dao tree forest, originally buried under dead branches and leaves, now exposed.
Qin Mu came to the edge of the well and peered inside. The well was filled with vast, boundless chaos, unfathomably deep.
"What was this well used for?"
As he wondered, he saw the chaotic energy in the well churning, and something was climbing out from within.
He opened his vertical eye on his forehead and looked carefully. He saw a massive creature in the well climbing the walls on all fours. After watching for a while, he realized it was a strange creature, not the colossal beast he had imagined.
The strange creature carried a dao tree on its back and was struggling to climb the well wall, trying to crawl out of the well.
However, the fluctuations of the annihilation tribulation surrounded him, beating him back down again and again. His physical body had been worn away until only his skeleton remained, yet he still stubbornly continued climbing outward.
Qin Mu watched for a long time, but that Dao Achiever still could not climb out of the well.
Qin Mu drew his sword and stabbed more than a hundred times around the mouth of the well, then drifted away.
A few days later, the crown of a broken and battered dao tree emerged from the chaotic well. The Dao Achiever in the well had been worn down by the annihilation tribulation until he had almost no magical power left, and the Great Dao he had cultivated had been ground away to almost nothing.
Yet the mouth of the well was right before his eyes!
This chaotic well was a passage that countless experts from his universe had painstakingly opened by gathering chaotic energy—a passage leading to the Mirage Palace!
As long as he climbed out, as long as he crawled into the Jade Capital City, he could use the power of the Mirage Palace Master to avoid the annihilation tribulation, and in the future, he could secure a place in the new universe!
Even if all his cultivation was ground away, even if his physical body was destroyed, as long as he preserved his dao fruit and dao tree, he could make a comeback!
He clung to the well wall, straining to raise his dao tree, letting the tree go first, rising from the well.
At that moment, sword light flashed at the mouth of the well. The Dao Achiever looked up and saw beams of sword light carrying terrifying power, stabbing into his dao tree and dao fruit with a swish-swish-swish!
The Dao Achiever had already been worn down to nothing but bones. In the past, he could have easily blocked these sword lights, but now he could only watch helplessly as they struck his dao fruit!
"Who is ambushing me, Fortune Heavenly Lord?"
He only had time to roar once before he saw his dao fruit being cut down by those sword lights, falling from the dao tree and plunging into the chaotic energy of the well, where it was immediately swallowed by the annihilation tribulation.
With his dao fruit destroyed, all strength left the Dao Achiever. He fell from the well wall, plunging into the annihilation tribulation along with his dao tree.
"That chaotic well is somewhat strange. The bottom should be connected to the previous universe. Strange—shouldn't that Dao Achiever have directly entered the Jade Capital City to avoid the annihilation tribulation? Why did he have to dig a well to sneak into the Jade Capital City?"
Qin Mu arrived before a great hall and pondered: "The dao tree forest outside the well was also full of dead Dao Achievers. Could they all have snuck over from that well? Then who killed them? Could it be that the Dao Achievers in the Jade Capital City made a move?"
He looked at this great hall and stopped his wild speculations.
This great hall gave him a feeling no less than the Incense Hall. It should be an extremely important divine hall in the Jade Capital City. Before the hall stood a dao tree that had been chopped down, and there were traces of battle here.
Judging from the traces, a fierce battle had taken place here about half a year ago, resulting in the dao tree being cut down.
He examined carefully and saw traces of Heavenly Lord Hao's divine abilities among them. In addition, there were also traces of the divine abilities of Heavenly Lords such as Fire Heavenly Lord and Ancestral God King.
"They came here, encountered something strange, fought fiercely with the opponent, and chopped down their dao tree."
Qin Mu circled around the dao tree and walked into the hall. The interior of this great hall was imprinted with different runes and dao patterns, extremely complex. He examined them one by one, and suddenly noticed that there were several meditation cushions here, along with residual auras of Heavenly Lord Hao, Fire Heavenly Lord, and others.
"After they came here, they stopped and meditated on the Great Dao contained in this great hall."
Qin Mu's heart tightened. Heavenly Lords Hao, Fire, Ancestral, and Palace were all people of extraordinary intelligence. The reason they had delayed so long in the Jade Capital City was not that they were trapped here, but that they had discovered the secrets of the Jade Capital City!
They were using their wisdom to comprehend the Great Dao of the Jade Capital City, using it to perfect their own Jade Capital!
Previously, Qin Mu had also believed that the Jade Capital, like the Four Heavenly Gates, the Jade Pool and Jade Terrace, the Divine Execution Platform, and other realms, was a natural dao ground formed by the ancestral court, containing knowledge of the Great Dao. One could comprehend more dao mysteries from the Jade Capital City and make rapid progress in cultivation and strength.
But now that he knew about the Jade Capital trap, he no longer thought that way.
This Jade Capital City was an artificial holy land created by the Mirage Palace Master and other prehistoric Dao Achievers working together!
Its purpose was to use the later generations of deities who cultivated and comprehended their Jade Capital to help them escape from the annihilation tribulation sooner!
The stronger those who cultivated the Jade Capital became, the more stable their ancestral court Jade Capital City would be, and the more likely it would completely escape the annihilation tribulation, allowing this brilliant divine city to fully descend into the ancestral court from the great annihilation of the universe!
The current Jade Capital City had not yet fully descended into the ancestral court. The Dao Achievers in the city were either dead or injured. Qin Mu had not seen a single living Dao Achiever along his journey—at most, he had seen dao trees and withered dao fruits.
But if any of the Ten Heavenly Lords comprehended the Jade Capital, cultivated the Jade Capital, or even reached the dao realm, then the situation would be different.
The Jade Capital in a deity's heavenly palace was borrowing power from the true ancestral court Jade Capital City!
The heavenly palace cultivation system emphasized power, not the dao realm. The fundamental reason for this might lie in this ancestral court Jade Capital City.
Previously, realms like the Revered God, the Southern Heavenly Gate, the Jade Pool, and the Divine Execution Platform all borrowed power from the heavenly court, and the drawbacks were not yet significant. But the Jade Capital realm was borrowing power from the ancestral court Jade Capital City!
Since it was borrowing power, it would have to be repaid in the future!
When a Dao Achiever's Jade Capital was returned to the ancestral court Jade Capital City, the decline of that person's power was a minor matter. The Jade Capital City could become even more stable, gaining greater power to resist the annihilation tribulation!
In fact, it was even possible that a prehistoric Dao Achiever would escape the annihilation tribulation and enter the current universe from the prehistoric universe!
The actions of the Ten Heavenly Lords were like seeking skin from a tiger, aiding the tiger in its evil, and making wedding clothes for others!
Qin Mu pressed his hand on his sword hilt, tempted to draw his sword and shatter the dao patterns on this great hall into pieces, but he forcibly restrained himself.
Heavenly Lord Hao and the others had already been here and comprehended the mysteries of the Great Dao contained in this hall. Even if Qin Mu could now cut away these dao patterns, it would be of little use.
Moreover, the dao patterns in this divine hall were indeed exquisite and profound, containing extremely deep principles. It was not simply a matter of borrowing power.
Qin Mu steadied himself, sat down, and quietly meditated on the dao patterns on the hall, comprehending their mysteries.
He had to understand the mysteries within. As for whether to cultivate them, he would have to decide after exploring the Jade Capital City.
After a moment, Qin Mu peacefully entered a dream. Layer upon layer of dreams unfolded, and countless tiny Qin Mus flew out, scurrying around the four walls of the hall, shouting "Maha maha" as they calculated the mysteries of these runes.
More than ten days later, Qin Mu withdrew his dreams, stood up, and walked out of this precious hall.
He continued along the path that Heavenly Lord Hao and the others had taken. Before long, he encountered another precious hall.
"There aren't seventy-two of these precious halls, are there?"
Qin Mu's heart tightened: "If there are seventy-two precious halls, wouldn't that correspond to the seventy-two halls of the heavenly court? Then what Heavenly Lord Hao and the others want to complete is not the Jade Capital realm... but the Thirty-Six Heavenly Palaces and Seventy-Two Precious Halls. What they want to complete is the Great Heavenly Court! This method was created by the Woodcutter Sage. So who guided Heavenly Lord Hao to cultivate this way?"
His expression turned grave. If Heavenly Lord Hao had thought of it himself, then Heavenly Lord Hao's intelligence and comprehension would need to be reassessed!
If it was not Heavenly Lord Hao's own comprehension, then who guided him?
"The Woodcutter and Junior Brother Jiang Baigui could not have guided him. Tai Su does not have such wisdom. The person behind Heavenly Lord Hao is definitely not Tai Su, but someone else!"
"This person's wisdom is no less than Teacher Woodcutter's. But looking at the world today, besides Teacher Woodcutter, there is no such wise person. Unless... unless they come from the previous universe! A Dao Achiever who crossed over!"
His expression was heavy as the figure of Heavenly Lord Hao appeared in his mind, with a massive shadow looming behind it.
"Tai Su is a little lamb that has fallen into the wolf's mouth. He's dead for sure!"