Chapter 1533: Helping You Attain the Dao
The array of Dao patterns on the cliff wall—Qin Mu, in order to appear as inscrutable and profound as possible, had used Hongmeng primordial runes as the core, supplemented by the transformations of the Five Tais, and then blended in the Dao patterns of various great Daos.
His foundation was insufficient, so he had copied many fragments from the Dao patterns of the Master of Miluo Palace, altering them to confuse the eyes and ears of these nine individuals.
But even so, in the span of one night, Heavenly Venerable Hao and Heavenly Venerable Xiao and the others had already delved into extremely profound territory.
Qin Mu carefully organized the comprehensions of the seven Heavenly Venerables and two ancient gods from that night, discovering that each of these nine had their own strengths.
Void Heavenly Venerable had already groped his way to the threshold of the transformation from the demonic Dao to the Dao of Taiji, while Ancestral God King had groped his way to the edge of the transformation from the Heavenly Dao to the Dao of Taiji—both of which were greatly enlightening to Qin Mu.
Langxuan Divine Emperor, meanwhile, had seen the Dao of Taichu within the array of Dao patterns and left behind many of his own insights, some of which even Qin Mu had not yet comprehended, displaying extraordinary talent and understanding.
What the Sun Ancient God comprehended was the Dao of Taiji's evolution and transformation, even touching upon the reverse deduction of the Dao of Taisu from Taiji's evolution, while Taisu comprehended from it the principle of using the Dao of Taisu to inversely prove Taishi and evolve Taiji.
The direction Heavenly Venerable Xiao pondered was the combination of primordial qi and divine consciousness to evolve Taichu, as well as scattered exchanges between Taishi and Taichu.
Heavenly Venerable Hao had also roughly pondered his way to this step.
"These nine have extraordinary intelligence, comprehending so much in a single night. They probably held back as well—what they taught Jiang Yunjian was only the unimportant parts, hiding what they considered the most crucial insights."
Qin Mu couldn't help but admire them: "I truly want to imprison them here, letting them ponder day and night, deducing all the secrets of the Miluo Palace Dao patterns for me."
Even though the seven Heavenly Venerables and two ancient gods had all held back, not teaching Jiang Yunjian everything they had comprehended, it still gave Qin Mu great enlightenment, allowing him to comprehend even more.
Qin Mu was about to calm his mind and carefully organize everything when suddenly Jiang Yunjian rushed over with a panicked expression, speaking urgently: "Godfather, Heavenly Venerable Xiao has returned!"
Qin Mu's expression shifted slightly. Jiang Yunjian took out a piece of paper and said: "Heavenly Venerable Xiao asked me to give this painting to Taiyi!"
Qin Mu took it and looked—on the paper was drawn a golden ship.
"The cat's out of the bag after all."
Qin Mu took a long breath. In order to display Taiyi's majesty and prevent these people from daring to suspect, he had moved a golden hall from the World-Crossing Golden Ship down to serve as Taiyi's palace.
The golden hall contained chaotic qi, which could blind the divine eyes of Heavenly Venerable Xiao, Heavenly Venerable Hao, and the others, preventing them from seeing Qin Mu's appearance clearly, and thus preventing them from discovering that this Taiyi was Qin Mu in disguise.
However, the only flaw was that the Sun Ancient God had once boarded the golden ship!
That was likely where the slip had occurred.
"Who else is with Heavenly Venerable Xiao?" he asked.
Jiang Yunjian said: "No one else. Only Heavenly Venerable Xiao alone."
Qin Mu's eyes flashed with sharp light, and he said in a deep voice: "Yunjian, invite him here!"
Jiang Yunjian's heart jolted, and he whispered: "Godfather..."
"Go! I have my own plans."
Jiang Yunjian had no choice but to hurry away.
Before long, Heavenly Venerable Xiao walked over leisurely, approaching Qin Mu's side, looking up at the stone carvings on the cliff wall. After a moment, he laughed: "Heavenly Venerable Mu was quite frightening last night—a string of words mixing coaxing and deception, nearly fooling me. Your trickery is even more sophisticated than that of the Taiji Ancient God. This being the case, Taiyi is not actually here."
Qin Mu said leisurely: "Taiyi is like a divine dragon that shows its head but not its tail—even I don't know where he is, so I had no choice but to resort to this inferior strategy. I didn't frighten you, did I, Dao brother?"
"Fine, fine."
Heavenly Venerable Xiao smiled slightly and said leisurely: "Actually, Taiyi has encountered danger, hasn't he? It's even possible he's already dead!"
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow.
"If Taiyi were safe and sound, you wouldn't have needed to go through all this trouble, even risking being exposed by us. You could have simply told us Taiyi wasn't here—what could we have done to you? Out of deference to Taiyi, a Dao-achiever, we wouldn't dare touch you."
Heavenly Venerable Xiao smiled: "It is precisely because Taiyi has encountered unimaginable danger, perhaps even death, that you were willing to take such a great risk to disguise yourself as Taiyi! Your purpose isn't to have a bit of fun—it's to protect this sacred land, to protect Yankang. I can keep your secret."
Qin Mu smiled: "But it will come at a price."
Heavenly Venerable Xiao laughed: "Everything good in this world comes at a price. Back then, when I helped you protect Yankang, you also paid a price. It's the same now. Heavenly Venerable Mu, you can never escape the palm of my hand."
Qin Mu snorted coldly but said nothing.
"You can rescue Heavenly Venerable Ling, but we need to join forces."
Heavenly Venerable Xiao said calmly: "The moment you rescue Heavenly Venerable Ling is the moment the Tai Emperor dies, and also the moment I reclaim my physical body. Do you understand this point?"
Qin Mu slowly nodded: "I understand."
Heavenly Venerable Xiao laughed: "I have the tolerance of an emperor. Whether it's you, or Emperor Kaihuang, or Heavenly Venerable Yue, Heavenly Venerable Ling—I can tolerate all of you, even grant you power and status, as long as you no longer push for reforms, no longer attempt to resist. Heavenly Venerable Huo has done very well. Can you understand?"
Qin Mu said: "Your subject understands, and Emperor Kaihuang will understand as well."
Heavenly Venerable Xiao laughed: "When the day of success comes, I will not treat you unfairly."
"Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."
Heavenly Venerable Xiao laughed heartily, turned and left, saying leisurely: "During the Yankang Calamity, you couldn't defeat me, and it's the same now. When you prepare to rescue Heavenly Venerable Ling, notify me in advance. Don't act on your own again. I won't give you a second chance."
"Respectfully seeing off Your Majesty."
Qin Mu watched him go into the distance, a smile spreading across his face, and he murmured: "With Heavenly Venerable Xiao's assistance, rescuing Heavenly Venerable Ling is secured. Rescuing Heavenly Venerable Yun is also secured."
He let out a long breath, never having felt so relaxed before.
"Heavenly Venerable Xiao, it's not that you've grown old—it's that I've grown up."
The smile on his face grew thicker and thicker, and he murmured: "In the past, I was weak, at your mercy. But now I've grown to the point where I can stand toe-to-toe with you. You want to manipulate me, but unfortunately, you can't manipulate me anymore. Be careful you don't end up with a bloody head."
The Sun Ancient God was waiting outside the Hundred Thousand Sacred Mountains. After a while, Heavenly Venerable Xiao walked out of the sacred mountains, and the Sun Ancient God hurried forward, asking in a low voice: "Dao brother, how did your talk with Heavenly Venerable Mu go?"
"Very smoothly."
Heavenly Venerable Xiao smiled slightly and said: "Heavenly Venerable Mu is quite sensible. He has no choice but to be sensible. Because his greatest backing has already fallen, in this world he can only rely on me. He's still ambitious—when rescuing Heavenly Venerable Ling, he will surely make some move. But I will make him understand that any move he makes is futile."
He exuded powerful confidence, as if the Heavenly Emperor Taichu who once unified the world and governed the universe had returned: "When I reclaim my physical body, devour the Tai Emperor's primordial spirit, and slaughter my way to the Ultimate Void to devour the Tai Emperor's Dao tree, I will be the most powerful existence in this world—an invincible existence! Even if all the Heavenly Venerables join forces, including Heavenly Venerable Qin, Heavenly Venerable Mu, Heavenly Venerable Yue, and Heavenly Venerable Ling, none of them will be my match!"
The Sun Ancient God let out a breath and laughed: "I'll congratulate Dao brother in advance here."
Heavenly Venerable Xiao laughed heartily: "When I destroy the Other Shore Void and destroy all the Creators, achieving the Dao will be the simplest thing for me! And at that time, you siblings can also achieve the Dao!"
The Sun Ancient God revealed a look of longing.
In the sacred mountains, Qin Mu was still comprehending the Dao patterns of the Master of Miluo Palace, his mind sunk deep within them. The deeper he studied these Dao patterns, the more a sense of awe welled up within him—the Master of Miluo Palace's learning was truly too profound.
With just this one Dao pattern, he was worthy of being the number one figure across seventeen universes!
But in the short term, Qin Mu still found it difficult to comprehend the transformations of the Dao patterns, only managing to make his Hongmeng One Finger slightly more powerful.
He rose and came to the World-Crossing Golden Ship, where he saw Blind, Granny Si, and others still coming and going, searching every golden hall.
"Mu'er, this ship holds many secrets."
Granny Si saw him coming and hurriedly said: "On this ship, you can occasionally see the owner of the ship! When we were exploring the golden halls, we would occasionally encounter him!"
Qin Mu said: "This ship was forged by the Master of Miluo Palace to cross the world. He poured too much of his heart and soul into it, so his figure is imprinted within the ship, occasionally appearing as a historical afterimage."
Granny Si shook her head: "Sometimes it doesn't seem like a historical afterimage. Occasionally we even see the real Master of Miluo Palace—we've even spoken with him!"
Qin Mu was surprised and shook his head: "The Master of Miluo Palace is already dead. What you encountered must be a historical afterimage. As for speaking with him, that's most likely the ship playing tricks. This ship has a spirit."
Blind's expression was grave, and he said: "Mu'er, this ship is indeed strange. What we saw was definitely not a historical afterimage—it was definitely the real Master of Miluo Palace! Let me take you to see!"
Qin Mu shook his head with a smile and followed his steps. Blind pushed open the door of a great hall and said: "It was here that we encountered the Master of Miluo Palace, and he even guided our cultivation... Huh!"
He revealed a confused expression, for the interior of this great hall was completely empty—there was no one.
Blind was puzzled and said: "There was someone here before! Many people saw it!"
Granny Si, Wei Suifeng, Prince Youming, and others all nodded, speaking in unison: "We all saw it!"
Qin Mu laughed: "Your cultivation is shallow. It's likely that the Master of Miluo Palace is too powerful, his imprint too realistic, affecting you and making you mistake historical afterimages for reality. No need to make a fuss—once you cultivate to my level, you'll be able to see through all of this."
Everyone was furious but helpless.
Now Qin Mu indeed had the qualification to say their cultivation was shallow.
Qin Mu sent them off the ship, but the golden ship stubbornly refused to let them disembark. Qin Mu earnestly reasoned with the golden ship, whispering to it, persuading it for a long time, appealing to emotion and reason, until finally he got the ship to agree to let them down.
Everyone watched him muttering and talking to the ship endlessly, and they exchanged bewildered glances.
"Mu'er is under too much pressure. He's probably gone mad."
Granny Si felt heartbroken: "He should find himself a companion..."
Qin Mu sent everyone off the golden ship, then rode the golden ship away from the Hundred Thousand Sacred Mountains, thinking: "Is the Master of Miluo Palace's imprint really so strong that it can make existences at the Emperor's Throne level like Wei Suifeng and Prince Youming misjudge? Hmm, their eyesight is far inferior to mine—they probably can't distinguish between an imprint and reality..."
The World-Crossing Golden Ship sailed out of the sacred mountains. Suddenly, Qin Mu inadvertently caught a glimpse of a figure flashing past in one of the golden halls, and his heart jumped.
"Is it an imprint?"
His heart was full of doubt. He went to search but couldn't find anything.
"Never mind it. First, go to the Land of No Worries to see Emperor Kaihuang and Heavenly Venerable Yue!"
Two months later, the golden ship arrived at the Land of No Worries. Along the way, Qin Mu did indeed discover that he might not be the only one on this ship—he occasionally saw other figures flashing past.
But whenever he went to look, he could never find them.
These figures were like the ghostly Yulin Army specters on the ghost ship—when you looked at them, they would dissolve into nothingness. Even when he activated the Material Immutability divine ability, he couldn't fix them in place.
Emperor Kaihuang came forward to greet him. Qin Mu cast aside his distracting thoughts and stepped forward, laughing: "Emperor Kaihuang, I've come to help you achieve the Dao!"
Emperor Kaihuang landed on the ship, examining this golden vessel, and said: "I'm still a bit short of achieving the Dao. Without the Divine Execution Platform, my Dao realm can never advance further. And the Divine Execution Platform in the ancestral court is controlled by Qiang Tianfei. I went to her place—she took the Divine Execution Platform away, cutting off my path to achieving the Dao... There's someone else on this ship!"
Qin Mu's heart jumped, and he quickly looked around but didn't see anyone. He laughed: "Qiang Tianfei—I've already killed her. I didn't just bring the Divine Execution Platform; I also brought the Divine Execution Mystic Blade, enough to perfect your Dao realm!"