Chapter 1633: Two Similar People
"I shouldn't be called Qin Mu, I should be called Qin Ken, Qin Fen!"
Qin Mu clenched his fist. The Chaos Hall was right before him. As long as he stepped into this hall, entered it, and ascended the Emperor Throne within, he would become an existence at the Emperor Throne realm!
These past days, from the battle of seventy-two Dao Achievers in Yujing City to the stone steps answering questions, had consumed too much of his energy and time. Fortunately, in the end, it was the wisdom of the people of the world that helped him reach this point.
As long as he ascended the Emperor Throne of the Chaos Hall, all his Primordial Spirit avatars in the heavenly palaces of his Great Heavenly Court would also enter the Emperor Throne realm!
By then, he would only be one step away from the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Court realm!
He had absorbed the Emperor Throne techniques of Lady Yuanmu, Heavenly Lord Hao, and others. Currently, his heavenly palaces numbered as many as thirty-three, only three short of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Palaces—three different types of Emperor Throne techniques.
As long as he completed these three Emperor Throne techniques, he could do what Heavenly Emperor Hao did—achieve Dao through sheer force!
Even if he didn't complete them, once he reached the Emperor Throne realm, he would be incomparably stronger than Heavenly Emperor Hao, and pinning Heavenly Emperor Hao to the ground in a fight would not be difficult!
Even now, Qin Mu felt he was no less than any Dao Achiever. Even if he couldn't pin Heavenly Emperor Hao to the ground, he wouldn't lose either.
Of course, he hadn't yet sparred with Heavenly Emperor Hao, so he didn't know who was stronger and who was weaker.
This time, he had "devoured" the wisdom of the people of the world, gaining tremendous improvement. He absolutely had the capital to contend with Heavenly Emperor Hao!
However, when his gaze fell upon the Chaos Hall, he couldn't help but fall into a daze.
He saw that the great hall ahead was shrouded in chaos on all sides—above, below, left, and right—with no doorway!
Qin Mu walked forward and circled the hall several times, but still couldn't find the hall's entrance.
This Chaos Hall was truly worthy of its name—a hall of chaos. It had no door and no windows, only the shape of a great hall, as if composed of pure chaos. One could not enter it, nor could one see what was inside.
Even when he opened the vertical eye on his brow, he couldn't see what was within the hall.
Qin Mu's Primordial Spirit extended its hands, plunging them into the chaos of the hall, trying to part the chaos to explore what lay inside. However, the chaotic energy was incredibly heavy. Even with all his strength, he couldn't part the chaos of the hall!
He tried again and again, but still found it difficult to enter.
"Is anyone there?"
He tried knocking on the door, smiling: "The person inside, I heard your Dao questions. You asked me so many questions, why not open the door and talk face to face?"
No one answered from within the Chaos Hall.
After a long while, Qin Mu sat on the stone steps, quietly lost in thought, his brows furrowed. Every now and then he would glance back at the Chaos Hall, and his brows would furrow even deeper.
The Chaos Hall stood at the highest point of his Heavenly Court. Even sitting before this hall, he could take in the magnificent and majestic sacred scenery of the Heavenly Court at a glance.
Thirty-three heavenly palaces, countless palace structures, mountains and waters—vast and magnificent. Dao light formed rosy clouds, Dao energy formed clouds, drifting among the heavenly palaces.
Even the Lingxiao Halls of those heavenly palaces appeared much smaller compared to this Chaos Hall.
Above his head was Xuandu. The Heavenly Duke of Xuandu revealed his face, obscuring billions of stars, also examining this Chaos Hall with furrowed brows.
This Heavenly Duke also bore Qin Mu's face—it was one of his divine incarnations.
After a long moment, the face of Heavenly Duke Qin Mu faded away.
On the stone steps, Qin Mu propped his cheek with his left hand, pondering deeply, wondering where he had gone wrong. Why did the Chaos Hall have a hall but no door, preventing him from entering?
Suddenly, a voice came from behind him, chanting in a long, drawn-out tone: "Chaos shrouds all like an egg, dim and silent filling the void. Vast and boundless, embracing Primordial Chaos! One breath circulates, condensing heavily."
Qin Mu was startled and turned to look. He saw that within the Chaos Hall, a mass of Primordial Chaos purple light wrapped around a silhouette moving through the chaos, walking outward.
That voice was a Dao tone, spoken in Dao language. When it spoke of chaos shrouding all, there truly was the Dao of Chaos and Taiyi flowing within the Dao tone. When it spoke of dim and silent, it was as if the universe had not yet been divided, the chaotic scene before heaven and earth were separated!
When the voice in the light spoke of Taisu, the Dao of Taisu flowed forth. When it spoke of one breath, there truly was the Dao of Taichu contained within!
Qin Mu stood up, staring blankly at the figure walking out from the Chaos Hall. Its steps were heavy, its form seeming to walk from an incomparably ancient era to the present. The light and shadows around it seemed to be passing through one great destruction calamity after another—the cold light of the Cold Still Wind and the firelight of the Heat Still Wind interweaving around it endlessly.
In the blink of an eye, Qin Mu saw that figure pass through seven great destruction calamities, drawing closer and closer!
And the person's voice also seemed to come from a prehistoric universe—not the Sixteenth Cosmic Era, but an even more ancient universe!
"Within hides true water and true fire, dense and coiled like ice. At the center, Primordial Creation works its mysterious art! Three breaths divide in Great Stability."
That figure passed through sixteen great destruction calamities and finally reached the edge of Qin Mu's Chaos Hall, about to step out of it. The person's Dao tone became increasingly clear, praising: "What a fine Chaos Hall! Standing at the end of time and space, guiding me here! This is the universe of the future Seventeenth Era, is it not?"
It paused before the last layer of chaotic energy, unable to take another step forward and exit Qin Mu's Chaos Hall.
Qin Mu stared blankly at this figure, shock overwhelming his heart.
In a destroyed cosmic era, there was an incomparably powerful existence who, taking advantage of Qin Mu's cultivation reaching the Chaos realm, actually followed the chaotic energy within the Chaos Hall to arrive here!
Of course, this person had traversed the calamities of cosmic destruction one after another, using the chaotic energy formed by the universe's destruction as a medium to walk here.
Qin Mu's situation was extremely special. His Divine Treasures had undergone countless cycles of birth and death, and the World Tree within his Divine Treasures had also once entered the Ancestral Court's Yujing City, absorbing the chaotic energy caused by cosmic destructions to strengthen itself, causing his Divine Treasures to connect with the destruction calamities of these cosmic eras.
And his Chaos Hall had formed a passage connecting the great destruction calamities of these cosmic eras.
Qin Mu had not returned to past universes and had not experienced those great destruction calamities, but he could imagine such a scene.
In the great destruction calamities of cosmic eras, countless living beings struggled for survival in the catastrophe. Dao Achievers had their Dao Trees swaying behind them, doing everything possible to preserve themselves, struggling through the catastrophe as well.
When they looked up, they could see the Ancestral Court's Yujing City floating above the destruction calamity—a magnificent sight that even the destruction calamity could not destroy!
But after Qin Mu comprehended the Guixu Lotus Seed, completing the birth and death cycles of his Divine Treasure universe and forging his own path, what they saw was no longer just the Ancestral Court's Yujing City!
They would also see a Chaos Hall floating above the cosmic destruction calamity!
Presumably, this unparalleled strong one had seen Qin Mu's Chaos Hall and therefore walked through one destruction calamity after another to come and investigate!
Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. Looking at the silhouette within the mass of Primordial Chaos purple light, he already had a guess about who this person was, but he didn't dare confirm whether it was who he thought.
The figure in the purple light asked: "Friend of the future age, being able to cultivate to this step is truly not easy. Your universe hasn't experienced a destruction calamity yet, has it?"
Qin Mu bowed, saying: "A latecomer and junior, Mu Heavenly Lord Qin of the Seventeenth Universe, greets senior brother. Our universe is still in the formation stage of the cycle of formation, existence, destruction, and emptiness—it has not yet experienced a destruction calamity."
The figure in the purple light said with surprise: "Without having experienced a destruction calamity, you were able to comprehend to this level—truly extraordinary. Friend, how did you manage to reach this step?"
Qin Mu recounted how he had obtained the World Tree and planted the Guixu Lotus Seed in his Divine Treasures, saying: "I also once went to the Ancestral Court's Yujing City, where I learned many things. Having accumulated enough, I naturally reached this step."
The figure in the purple light was silent for a long while, then praised: "The path you walk is truly strange and wonderful, but your ideas are even more strange and wonderful. There may be others who share the same encounters as you, but they may not have your brilliant ideas, nor your achievements."
Qin Mu asked: "Senior brother, I have already reached the Chaos Hall, yet I still cannot enter it. What is the reason for this?"
"Your ideas are there, your techniques are there, but your Dao cultivation is insufficient."
The figure in the purple light said: "Although you have comprehended the Dao of cosmic birth and death and thus cultivated the Chaos Hall, you have never truly experienced the great destruction of a universe, nor truly experienced the creation of a universe. What you have experienced is your own simulation, not reality. Therefore, your Chaos Hall has only its form but not its substance. With only form and no substance, naturally you cannot enter it."
His voice was deep and powerful, unhurried: "If you experienced a few cycles of cosmic birth and death, you should be able to perfect your Dao cultivation."
His voice was filled with expectation, and he laughed: "I have never met someone as strange as you, nor do I know what will become of you after achieving Dao. I see in your Dao techniques and divine powers the shadow of my Primordial Chaos runes. You must have visited Miluo Palace. We can be considered fated. If you don't mind, I can lend you a hand, allowing you to return to past universes and experience the great destruction calamities one by one, helping you achieve Dao."
Qin Mu asked respectfully: "May I ask who you are?"
"The Primordial Chaos runes you learned—I was the one who created them."
The figure in the purple light laughed: "They call me the Master of Miluo Palace, some call me Teacher. Others simply call me Miluo, the Undying Thief. I have many followers, and six who have received my true inheritance. They each have their own achievements, similar to yours. Mu Heavenly Lord, are you willing to return to the past?"
Qin Mu was greatly tempted.
The figure in the purple light extended its hand. The chaotic energy surged, forming a palm. The voice of the Master of Miluo Palace came through: "Take my hand, and I will bring you into the past. I can teach you everything I know, and you will surely achieve Dao in the past universe!"
Qin Mu reached out his hand. This was a rare opportunity—the perfect chance to become the Seventh Young Master of Miluo Palace!
With the Master of Miluo Palace guiding him, he would surely make up for his shortcomings, witness and experience those magnificent destruction calamities, achieve Dao, and become an eternal existence!
But...
Qin Mu withdrew his hand again, saying: "Senior brother, there is a Yenkang Calamity about to erupt. I cannot abandon my people, abandon Yenkang. I appreciate your kindness, but after the Yenkang Calamity, I will return to the past to find you and seek your guidance."
The figure in the purple light withdrew its hand, saying: "Our personalities are truly alike. Very well, after the Yenkang Calamity, come to the Ancestral Court's Yujing City to find me."
His form dispersed and disappeared from sight.