Chapter 1752: The Compensation of the Master of Miluo Palace
This half-year period was sheer torment for Qin Mu, but at the same time, it was also a rare opportunity for self-improvement.
Old Man Wuya knew far too many Dao techniques and divine powers. The Dao techniques of Miluo Palace, and even a portion of Tiandu's techniques, he knew them all like the back of his hand. The only things he didn't understand were the great Dao techniques of those he had slandered as Tiandu's Dao blasphemers, as well as the Dao of Guixu.
He couldn't use his Dao tree trap to spy on the techniques of those who had achieved Dao without cultivating a Dao tree.
Even so, the knowledge he possessed could be called the greatest of all seventeen cosmic epochs!
Facing such an existence in combat, Qin Mu naturally struggled immensely. But fortunately, the Red Rope Knot Seal, the ultimate technique the Master of Miluo Palace had created specifically to counter the Dao of Guixu, was something Qin Mu also understood.
Old Man Wuya used the Red Rope Knot Seal against him, but Qin Mu defused it time and time again, rendering this strongest technique against the Dao of Guixu completely useless!
In the end, to deal with him, Old Man Wuya was forced to resort to the World Tree, adopting a tactic of killing a thousand enemies at the cost of eight hundred of his own, mutually restraining Qin Mu's Dao of Guixu, attempting to grind away Qin Mu's Guixu Lotus.
However, Qin Mu had his back to the Chaos River, and the Guixu Lotus was rooted within the chaos, constantly drawing energy. This became his capital for holding on.
If he hadn't had the Chaos River at his back, with Qin Mu's strength, he would have long been defeated and crushed by Old Man Wuya.
Old Man Wuya did have a way to make the Chaos River disappear, but if he did that, Qin Mu could immediately retreat from the World Tree's coverage, and Old Man Wuya wouldn't be able to throw him back into the past.
The two were locked in a stalemate for half a year.
Under Old Man Wuya's pressure, Qin Mu's comprehension of the Dao of Guixu grew stronger and deeper.
Originally, his understanding of the Dao of Guixu was only slightly inferior to Empress Dowager's. Although he hadn't achieved Dao through Guixu like she had, he had received "sponsorship" from Second Young Master Wuji, planting a lotus seed that grew lotus leaves and flowers. The power he could unleash through the Dao of Guixu actually surpassed Empress Dowager's somewhat.
Now, his lotus had formed a platform, a second-grade Dao realm lotus platform. In terms of comprehending the Dao of Guixu, he had already surpassed Empress Dowager by a great margin. It could be said that across seventeen cosmic epochs, he was second only to Second Young Master.
Through Old Man Wuya's tempering, his understanding deepened further, and he drew closer and closer to the third-grade Dao realm lotus platform.
However, the greatest improvement wasn't the Dao of Guixu, but Qin Mu's World Tree.
The World Tree and the Guixu Lotus mutually restrained each other. When Old Man Wuya activated the World Tree to refine Qin Mu's Guixu Lotus, he inevitably had to display all the mysterious wonders of the World Tree.
And Qin Mu also cultivated the World Tree.
His World Tree was also a true World Tree, not born from visualization, nor analyzed through Dao techniques by Lan Yutian or Xu Shenghua, but rather came from Old Man Wuya's "sponsorship."
Qin Mu's understanding of the World Tree's application had always been superficial. After all, it was directly planted, without much personal comprehension.
Old Man Wuya's attempt to refine him was essentially a personal demonstration, teaching by example, personally guiding him on how to activate the World Tree, how to comprehend the Dao techniques hidden within it. Naturally, this brought Qin Mu a qualitative leap!
This was also one of the reasons Qin Mu could hold out against Old Man Wuya for half a year!
But the clumsiest method was also the most effective one. Old Man Wuya forcibly refined Qin Mu, spending half a year in total, and finally managed to snap Qin Mu's Guixu Lotus!
Success was within reach!
The Guixu Lotus snapped, and Qin Mu suffered severe damage, falling from the lotus. Old Man Wuya flicked his finger, and a leaf from the World Tree flew out, landing beneath Qin Mu's feet.
This leaf rapidly grew larger. The leaf's veins and patterns were like the mountains, rivers, and waterways of a continent, crisscrossing. As Qin Mu fell toward the World Tree leaf, the veins and patterns also grew larger and larger.
Before he even landed in the leaf, it had already transformed into a towering continent, carrying him, about to charge into the Chaos River!
Old Man Wuya's expression was grave, as if facing a great enemy. The World Tree behind him suddenly blazed with Dao light. He had already sensed it when the giant Taiyi had stepped into the Chaos River.
The reason another river had appeared in front of the giant Taiyi after he split open the first Chaos River was also due to his obstruction.
There weren't many beings in this world who could make him feel danger. Second Young Master Wuji was one, and Taiyi was another!
As for the other young masters of Miluo Palace and the other Dao blasphemers of Tiandu, he didn't even consider them worth mentioning!
The giant Taiyi's actions could be described as extremely ostentatious, extremely flamboyant. The moment he stepped into the Chaos River, the Dao light erupting from his Daluotian had already shone down from above, sweeping onto Old Man Wuya's body with a swish.
This was also the reason that forced Old Man Wuya to forcibly break the Guixu Lotus and deal with Qin Mu first.
Suddenly, the Chaos River violently churned. Old Man Wuya stood beneath the tree and looked up, seeing the Chaos River suddenly split apart. A flash of axe light cleaved through the surging chaos, and on either side of the axe light was the Chaos Destruction Calamity, split in two.
That axe light was incredibly sharp, incredibly terrifying. This divine power actually pierced through the Destruction Calamity, howling as it arrived beneath the World Tree, slashing down toward Old Man Wuya's head!
Within the Destruction Calamity, chaotic energy surged violently. Vaguely, one could see behind the vast chaotic energy, an incomparably majestic giant figure, striding through the river, walking toward this place!
The chaotic energy in the river crashed against his rock-like body without causing him any trouble. The Destruction Calamity seemed unable to harm him in the slightest.
At the same time, Taiyi's Daluotian also appeared above Old Man Wuya's head. A Dao fruit materialized on the Dao tree, and the great Dao contained within the fruit erupted!
At this moment, Taiyi was recreating the majestic bearing of that day when he had crossed the sixteen-epoch Destruction Calamity, heading straight for the Miluo Palace of the First Epoch, and engaged in a great battle with the Master of Miluo Palace!
The Master of Miluo Palace had been able to defeat Taiyi and cast him down into the Fourth Epoch's Destruction Calamity, but Old Man Wuya was not the Master of Miluo Palace.
Although he knew more than the Master of Miluo Palace, although he was uniquely favored by heaven, having achieved Dao through the World Tree, his entire body of Dao techniques was not cultivated by himself.
Knowing the what but not the why—that was Old Man Wuya's state.
Facing Taiyi's axe strike, Old Man Wuya's white hair flew wildly as he too unleashed all his strength!
Boom!
Within the Sixteenth Epoch's Destruction Calamity, countless dark, thick roots, like black dragons churning the seas within the Destruction Calamity, surged toward Taiyi's true body.
The scene was like ten thousand dragons surging through the chaos!
The World Tree was naturally indestructible matter. Its roots could appear in any era, any Destruction Calamity. It was even more solid than Miluo Palace, even more indestructible.
His roots rapidly climbed up Taiyi's legs, winding upward along them, attempting to drag Taiyi into the Sixteenth Epoch's Destruction Calamity.
At the same time, behind him, the World Tree's main body blazed with Dao light. The Dao light on the World Tree converged, condensing into the forms of Dao fruits. Thirty-six thousand Dao fruits, each emitting a different radiance!
Those weren't true Dao fruits, but projections of the Dao fruits of all those who had achieved Dao by cultivating Dao trees over the sixteen cosmic epochs.
Even so, this power could be called unparalleled!
Under the illumination of those Dao fruits, within the branches and leaves of the World Tree, the great Dao seemed to prostrate and flow, winding through the branches and leaves, making the entire World Tree seem like an aggregate of all the great Dao from the First Epoch to the Sixteenth Epoch!
This strike, he had to block.
Not only block it, but he also had to severely wound Taiyi, even kill Taiyi!
Taiyi was even more dangerous than Qin Mu. In the past universe, Qin Mu was just a Seventh Young Master who liked to stir up trouble everywhere, but Taiyi was a solid Dao blasphemer!
Blaspheming the great Dao!
The divine axe and the World Tree were about to collide. At the same time, Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master of Miluo Palace, along with a host of Miluo Palace hall masters and Dao achievers, each pushed their own Dao techniques and divine powers to the extreme!
This was a heaven-sent opportunity, a chance to eliminate both of Miluo Palace's great rivals in one fell swoop.
If they didn't seize it, heaven's justice would not permit it!
Above the First Epoch's Destruction Calamity at Zuting Yujing City, Miluo Palace carried seven palaces as it floated.
In the Taishang Hall, First Young Master Taishang also opened his eyes at this moment, his gaze deep and profound, looking toward the battle of the Seventeenth Epoch.
At this time, the Taishang Hall was no longer the resplendent palace of old, but a thatched cottage. The cottage's door was open, and Taishang inside it gazed from afar at this scene, couldn't help but shake his head, and murmured softly: "Lingxiao, Zixiao, you still underestimate these two."
His gaze fell upon Miluo Palace's tightly shut doors. Within those doors was his teacher, the Master of Miluo Palace, whose Dao heart was dead and whose physical body was already ruined.
"Teacher cast Tiandu down to the Fourth Epoch, which holds great meaning. Tiandu rose in the Fourth Epoch. Teacher destroyed him in the Seventh Epoch and sent him to the Fourth Epoch, probably to make amends for his own mistakes."
First Young Master Taishang murmured softly: "Now, I understand teacher's good intentions. But you all are still stubbornly deluded..."
He did not leave the Taishang Hall to stop Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master. He had always been indifferent to fame and fortune. If the Master of Miluo Palace's Dao heart had died and Second Young Master Wuji was suppressed, if he were to preside over Miluo Palace, Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master couldn't possibly contend with him.
But he had no interest in that.
At this moment, his gaze fell upon the nearby Hundun Hall. Hundun Hall was the Dao achievement of Seventh Young Master Qin Mu. At this moment, the doors of Hundun Hall had actually opened as well, revealing the vast chaos within.
Seventh Young Master Qin Mu pushed open the hall doors and was stretching lazily, looking utterly at ease.
Their eyes met, and Seventh Young Master Qin Mu gave him a slight smile and a nod of acknowledgment.
Bang.
First Young Master Taishang closed the hall doors, ignoring him.
"Scorning me..."
Seventh Young Master Qin Mu looked with great interest toward the battle of the Seventeenth Epoch. Suddenly, his gaze shifted, and he saw a mass of indestructible matter in the Chaos River. His heart stirred slightly.
"Ling..."
He turned around, returned to Hundun Hall, and closed the doors.
The moment Hundun Hall's doors closed, within the Fifth Epoch's Destruction Calamity, a Dao fruit rose from the indestructible matter, its radiance dazzling, breaking through layers of chaos from the river's surface, howling toward the Seventeenth Epoch.
At the same time, in the Sixth Epoch's Calamity, another Dao fruit surfaced, flying from the river's surface together with the previous one. This Dao fruit was also hidden within a mass of indestructible matter.
From the Eighth Epoch, Ninth Epoch, Tenth Epoch, all the way to the Sixteenth Epoch, a Dao fruit rose from the indestructible matter within each calamity. Only the Seventh Epoch showed no such phenomenon!
By the Sixteenth Epoch's Destruction Calamity, a total of eleven Dao fruits howled through the air, arriving behind Taiyi.
And in Taiyi's Daluotian above the World Tree of the Seventeenth Epoch, Taiyi's Dao fruit blazed with light, shining in mutual resonance with those eleven Dao fruits!
This was where the Master of Miluo Palace's compensation for his own mistakes lay!
He had given Taiyi, or rather, Tiandu, a chance to start over!