Chapter 1519: Young Master Mu
"I should have let you die with more dignity."
Qin Mu stood up, his expression indifferent: "Dying in a decisive battle against me, letting you die like a Heavenly Venerable. However, I don't want to give up this opportunity, and I certainly can't risk the chance to rescue Heavenly Venerable Ling for it. Next time, Great Emperor, next time I will let you die honorably in my hands as the Great Emperor!"
Suddenly, a woman's voice sounded beside him: "Heavenly Venerable Mu, are you always this hypocritical, this insincere?"
Qin Mu turned around, looking at the woman within the Dao Fruit floating in the air, and smiled slightly: "Perhaps it is hypocrisy. But isn't it true that you, seeing my arrival, didn't warn Imperial Consort Qiang, nor did you save her? If we're talking about hypocrisy, you and I are of the same kind."
He took out the God-Slaying Platform, offered up the two God-Slaying Mysterious Blades, and placed them on the platform to nourish them.
These two divine blades, now in his hands, would no longer be eroded by the aura of the great calamity of destruction, but they also couldn't return to their peak state. They would need to be slowly nurtured on the God-Slaying Platform before they could recover fully.
The woman within the Dao Fruit said: "First, luring her here was my own idea, not an invitation from the Master of Miluo Palace. Therefore, her life is not as important as you and she herself imagine. If she were truly important, then not to mention Heavenly Venerable Mu, even if all the powerhouses of your universe joined forces, they couldn't kill her. Second..."
She paused, then said: "My personal strength has been depleted too much. Protecting her all the way here has left me no match for Heavenly Venerable Mu. So, for the sake of my own life, I will not risk being killed by you to save her."
Qin Mu looked up, surveying the majestic palaces ahead. The magnificent Miluo Palace appeared before his eyes.
Miluo Palace generally refers to Yujing City, not only the ancestral Yujing City but also the Yujing Cities of past universes. However, Miluo Palace can also specifically refer to the palace where the Master of Miluo Palace resides before him.
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. His gaze was involuntarily drawn to a great hall.
That was the Lingxiao Treasure Hall, even more majestic and magnificent than the Lingxiao Treasure Hall of the Heavenly Court. From afar, it seemed like the foundation of all paths.
Around it, Dao light swirled like lotus blossoms, supporting the hall as it rose and fell within the chaos, not yet devoured by it.
When Qin Mu saw this Lingxiao Treasure Hall, he understood why the Heavenly Court used Lingxiao Treasure Hall as its center of power, and why gods and demons used this palace as the two realms of Lingxiao and Imperial Throne.
"When the Great Emperor, Taichu, and the others broke into the ancestral Yujing City back then, they must have seen this treasure hall. How did they get here?"
Qin Mu looked around. Sixteen Chaos Long Rivers blocked the path of the Great Emperor and the others. Logically speaking, they couldn't have crossed these Chaos Long Rivers at that time.
There were still many unsolved mysteries in history, shrouding his path ahead like fog, making it unclear.
"That's right. The Master of Miluo Palace needed the Great Emperor to come here, to spread the arrangements of Yujing City outward, to complete the Yujing trap. There must have been a prehistoric Dao Achiever who guided the Great Emperor here, letting him see the Lingxiao Treasure Hall."
Just as he thought of this, the woman within the Dao Fruit said: "Heavenly Venerable Mu, please."
Qin Mu steadied himself and walked forward, looking around casually, and said nonchalantly: "May I ask how this elder sister is called?"
The woman within the Dao Fruit sneered: "Elder sister? Heavenly Venerable Mu is skilled with words, truly worthy of the name."
Qin Mu stopped, looked at the woman, and said with a half-smile: "Have you seen me before?"
The Dao Fruit floated forward without answering his question.
Qin Mu followed her, probing: "You are a Dao Achiever who has crossed the shore, but your cultivation has been destroyed, and you cannot leave Yujing City. I too am here for the first time. This shows that you and I have never met before. Yet your words suggest you recognize me. That's strange. Could it be that in the future, I returned to a past universe and met you?"
The woman within the Dao Fruit showed no kindness toward him, saying coldly: "Heavenly Venerable Mu, don't let your imagination run wild."
Seeing that she was unwilling to answer, Qin Mu didn't press further. He looked around with great interest and laughed: "Taiyi once said that after I achieve the Dao, he would send me back to past universes to stop you all from crossing the shore. Could it be that I will achieve the Dao in the future?"
The woman within the Dao Fruit rolled her eyes twice.
Qin Mu stopped. He saw a golden ship floating by the shore of a Chaos Sea. The ship was extremely massive, docked at the shore, but it was already dilapidated—its masts broken, its sails full of holes.
Even so, this golden ship had not been completely destroyed by the great calamity of destruction.
"What ship is that?" Qin Mu asked curiously.
The woman within the Dao Fruit said impatiently: "That is the World-Crossing Golden Ship. I heard it was originally built by the Master of Miluo Palace to ferry people across the Chaos Long Rivers."
"What happened afterward?" Qin Mu became even more curious.
"I heard that he loaded all the living beings of the entire universe into the golden ship, crossing the great calamity of destruction, trying to reach the future universe."
The Dao Fruit floated forward, and the woman said flatly: "When the golden ship arrived at the future universe, the Master of Miluo Palace discovered that the ship was empty—only he himself remained. All the living beings of that universe had died during the crossing, turning into chaos. He then abandoned the ship."
Her words carried no emotion, but Qin Mu could imagine that apocalyptic scene. It took him a moment to emerge from that sorrow.
He arrived before a great hall and stopped, looking up and praising: "What a treasure hall! What is this hall called?"
The hall was towering, with a Dao aura not inferior to the Lingxiao Treasure Hall. Standing beneath it, Qin Mu felt himself small and insignificant.
"This is the Taishang Yuqing Hall."
The woman within the Dao Fruit grew impatient and urged: "Hurry up! Don't you want to see the Master of Miluo Palace?"
Qin Mu peered into the hall and asked: "Can I go in?"
The woman within the Dao Fruit sneered: "If you're not afraid of death, you can go in. This hall has an owner. The Master of Taishang Hall is not as easy to talk to as the Master of Miluo Palace. Besides, you haven't achieved the Dao. Entering the hall would be seeking death! The celestial dome of this hall is refined from the Great Luo Heaven, and within the hall are the Dao Tree and Dao Fruit of the Master of Taishang Hall."
Qin Mu was startled and abandoned the idea of entering the hall to see the Master of Taishang Hall. He followed the woman and asked: "Then whose hall is the Lingxiao Treasure Hall? Was it also refined from the Great Luo Heaven?"
The woman within the Dao Fruit said: "Naturally. Those who can settle in Miluo Palace are all extraordinary beings. If the Lingxiao Treasure Hall were not refined from the Great Luo Heaven, how could you all cultivate the Lingxiao Realm? This Lingxiao Realm is an imitation of the process of ascending the Great Luo Heaven. From below the Lingxiao Hall, to walking into the hall, to ascending the throne—it's equivalent to arriving at the Great Luo Heaven and rising step by step within it."
Qin Mu's heart stirred. His curiosity about the Lingxiao Treasure Hall grew even stronger. He wished he could rush in and see the arrangements inside.
However, besides the Lingxiao Treasure Hall and the Taishang Hall, there were other halls in Miluo Palace, presumably each with its own purpose.
"If I treated other treasure halls as the Lingxiao Realm, could I also cultivate to an extremely high level?" Qin Mu asked again.
The woman within the Dao Fruit said: "Naturally. But the owner of the Lingxiao Treasure Hall is Third Young Master. His strength is extremely formidable. Cultivating in his hall would bring you greater improvement."
Qin Mu frowned.
The owner of the Lingxiao Treasure Hall—Third Young Master?
Earlier, when he had shared a boat with Imperial Consort Qiang, he had encountered a Fourth Young Master. Were the Dao Achievers here all addressed as Young Masters?
If there was a Third Young Master and a Fourth Young Master, then were there also a Second Young Master and a Fifth Young Master?
Who were they?
Could they be sons of the Master of Miluo Palace?
When he encountered Fourth Young Master, the latter was on the seventh Chaos Long River, seemingly unharmed, waiting for an opportunity to cross the shore, and also wanting to avenge being beaten by Taiyi. However, because Qin Mu and the others were guests of the Master of Miluo Palace, Fourth Young Master let them go.
The woman within the Dao Fruit stopped before an ancient hall, spoke in Dao language, and addressed the hall.
After a long while, the hall emitted creaking sounds. The ancient doors opened, and a stale, decaying aura rushed out. At the same time, Primordial Chaos Yuan Qi erupted from within the hall, refreshing one's spirit, as if the death and withering brought by the great calamity of destruction had vanished.
"Primordial Chaos Purple Qi!"
Qin Mu swallowed hard, his scalp tingling: "Just as I expected—this is a Taiyi, the Taiyi of the First Universe!"
Purple qi swirled, purple light rippling like water, making it impossible for him to see what was inside the hall.
The woman within the Dao Fruit said: "The Master of Miluo Palace permits you to go see him. Go ahead, Young Master Mu."
Qin Mu's heart shook violently. He turned to look at her, and after a moment, he said softly: "Which Young Master am I?"
The woman within the Dao Fruit said expressionlessly: "Seventh Young Master."
Qin Mu steadied himself, steeled his nerves, and walked into the Primordial Chaos Yuan Qi, disappearing into a sea of purple light.
The great hall creaked shut, sealing off the outside world.
It was as if the hall had no floor. He walked through a void. Qin Mu looked around, seeing only purple light—some places bright, some slightly dimmer.
The light was also flowing, and he couldn't see where its source was.
Even when he opened his vertical eye on his forehead, he couldn't see what was inside the hall.
After walking for a long time, Qin Mu vaguely saw a towering figure seated within the purple light ahead. No matter how far he walked forward, the distance between him and that towering figure never shortened in the slightest.
Qin Mu stopped, bowed in greeting, and said: "A humble latecomer, Qin Mu, Heavenly Venerable Mu of the Seventeenth Universe, pays respects to the Master of Miluo Palace."
He used Dao language. To communicate with such an ancient existence, one either used divine consciousness or Dao language. Any other language would easily introduce flaws in meaning.
"Heavenly Venerable Mu..."
The towering figure's voice came, deep and heavy, echoing through the vast expanse: "You have come to see me—are you asking about the Yujing trap?"
Qin Mu bowed slightly: "Indeed."
"Yujing is not a trap."
The Master of Miluo Palace's voice came: "It is a shortcut to help you all achieve the Dao."
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow and laughed: "Then why did you, elder brother, turn the ancestral land into an altar, blood-sacrificing us to exchange for your descent?"
"The one who set up the blood-sacrifice altar was not me."
The Master of Miluo Palace's voice came: "It was someone else. You should not be wary of me. What you should be wary of is Taiyi. The Taiyi you have seen, the Taiyi you think you know, is not the true Taiyi."
Qin Mu frowned.
"Because the true Taiyi died before he was even born."
The Master of Miluo Palace's voice shook: "The first Dao Achiever to cross the shore invaded the Chaos Egg, eliminated him, used his Chaos Axe to chop down the World Tree, preventing other Dao Achievers from descending."