Chapter 1054: I Cannot Die
In the Nineteenth Void, the void beasts that had been pursuing them all halted. They did not charge in but instead lingered at the edge of the Eighteenth Void, their roars faintly audible.
Luo Xiao breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems those void beasts cannot come here. We've managed to escape. How are you all? Are you alright?"
Qin Mu activated his divine consciousness to resist the assimilation of the Nineteenth Void, while simultaneously using it to protect Yan'er, Dragon Qilin, and the others. Without his protection, Dragon Qilin and the rest would have been utterly unable to withstand the void's power of assimilation.
Even so, their physical bodies had already become invisible, and their primordial spirits were gradually growing indistinct.
As for Da Hong and Gu Xiao, the two of them were naturally unharmed.
"Brother Luo, the void beast you control can enter this place. Why can't the other void beasts enter the Nineteenth Void?" Qin Mu asked.
Luo Xiao was taken aback. "Could it be that the void beast I control is too powerful, the strongest among all these void beasts?"
"I'm afraid that's not the case."
Qin Mu looked toward the Nineteenth Void, and his expression changed drastically. He saw that this Nineteenth Void was filled with white light everywhere. The light appeared in the form of round, egg-like shapes, each over ten zhang tall, neatly arranged throughout the void.
The Nineteenth Void of the Ancestral Court was actually home to millions, or even more, of these white eggs!
These eggs emitted a white glow, and within each one, a large eye could faintly be seen, with a frail body curled up inside.
Dragon Qilin quickly said, "Sect Leader, these eggs..."
Qin Mu lowered his voice. "They should be the eggs of void beasts. It seems the void beasts have made this place their nesting ground for raising offspring. We've stumbled into the nest of the void beasts' young, which is why the adult void beasts outside dared not continue their pursuit. They're probably afraid we'll destroy their young."
"Sect Leader, what I mean is, these eggs are arranged so neatly—who laid them?" Dragon Qilin asked.
A chill ran down Qin Mu's spine. Dragon Qilin had hit upon the crux of the issue. If no other void beast dared to set foot in the Nineteenth Void, then who had come here to lay so many void eggs?
Just as he thought this, the rear of the Nineteenth Void seemed to split open like a great canyon slowly opening and closing. An unimaginably huge eye blotted out the entire Nineteenth Void!
When this eye opened, everyone felt as though the void had been turned upside down. The owner of the eye was so immense that merely opening it flipped the Nineteenth Void of the Ancestral Court over!
"The Mother Void Beast..." Da Hong looked up at this colossal eye, murmuring to himself.
"Run!" Luo Xiao erupted with all his divine consciousness, pouring it into the mind of the void beast he had tamed, and roared.
That void beast was stunned by the Mother Void Beast and prostrated itself, not daring to move.
Luo Xiao was furious and was about to activate his divine consciousness again when suddenly the void beast stood up, leaped from the Nineteenth Void into the Eighteenth Void, and bounded away, racing outward from the void!
In the Nineteenth Void, the gigantic Mother Void Beast finally awoke. An extremely piercing sound stabbed out from the depths of the void. Luo Xiao's divine consciousness immediately became chaotic, and the void beast staggered as if drunk.
Even Qin Mu's divine consciousness collapsed, making it impossible to protect Yan'er and the others.
Fortunately, the Mother Void Beast's cry also stunned the void beasts that had been attacking them, allowing them to survive.
The Mother Void Beast's cry subsided, and Luo Xiao immediately urged the void beast to flee outward again. Entering the void was difficult, but escaping was relatively easy. The void beast raced along, fleeing outward.
Suddenly, Qin Mu turned his head and saw a massive claw, half the size of the sky, sweeping toward them!
"I cannot die!"
Qin Mu suddenly shouted loudly, "If I die, no one can leave this place!"
Luo Xiao didn't understand his meaning. Just as Qin Mu's voice fell, the Mother Void Beast's enormous claw seemed to hit some invisible obstacle, was deflected from its intended path, and swung through the air above them!
Layer after layer of the void was violently torn apart, a terrifying sight. If one looked up from the Ancestral Court, they would surely be able to see through all nineteen layers of the void and clearly make out that giant beast!
Luo Xiao seized this opportunity and, before the void could close, urged the void beast to charge outward with all its might. Suddenly, the void beast's roar rang out, and the countless void beasts chasing behind them fell like rain from the depths of the void!
The Mother Void Beast's cry reached the ears of Qin Mu and the others. On the altar, everyone's hearts, livers, spleens, lungs, and kidneys were shattered, blood flowing from their seven orifices. Their divine consciousness was shaken into a mess, making it impossible to gather their thoughts!
The void beast beneath the altar also began to collapse under the impact, its massive body disintegrating. It wouldn't be long before it died from the Mother Beast's cry!
"I cannot die!"
Qin Mu, dazed and confused, forced himself to hold on and shouted, "If I die..."
Before he could finish, the Mother Void Beast's cry suddenly ceased, as if something had blocked its mouth.
The void beast fell unconscious, and together with the altar and everyone on it, it plummeted from the sky. The people clung tightly to the altar, but were then flung off. They scrambled to grab onto the bone mountains behind the void beast's head.
Qin Mu's primal energy swept up Dragon Qilin, while Yan'er protected the six heavenly dragons, spreading her wings to shield the lantern so it wouldn't go out.
Luo Xiao, not far from Qin Mu, shouted, "Brother Mu, what kind of incantation is that?"
Qin Mu had no time to answer before the void beast crashed into the ground, tumbling and rolling, knocking down several towering mountains.
The peaks of those mountains were snapped off, and the dazzling divine light unique to divine gold within the mountain bodies shot into the sky, illuminating the heavens with brilliant morning clouds, a magnificent sight.
Qin Mu caught a glimpse of this in his haste and was greatly shaken. The bodies of those mountains were all made of divine gold!
The void beast slid along, plowing deep furrows into the earth. The dazzling light of divine iron burst from the cracks, extremely blinding.
Qin Mu squinted his eyes, but they were still stung by the light of the divine iron, causing him to tear up involuntarily.
The soil churned up by the void beast flew into the sky, and as it flew, it suddenly expanded, turning into floating continents of land.
"Xirang..."
Qin Mu forced his tear-filled eyes open, staring blankly at the scene. The extravagance of the Ancestral Court was beyond his imagination!
Suddenly, the void beast crashed into several mountains, tumbling and rolling into a huge pit. Its six legs lay flat on the bottom of the pit, motionless for a moment.
Everyone got up. Qin Mu activated the Overlord Body Three Dan Technique, and soon his physical body and primordial spirit were fully restored to their peak state, radiant and energetic.
He looked at Dragon Qilin, who was also activating the Leakless Creation Mystic Art to repair his physical injuries and was helping Yan'er treat her wounds.
Qin Mu helped Luo Xiao up. Luo Xiao raised his only remaining arm, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and said urgently, "Brothers Da Hong and Gu Xiao, are they alright?"
Gu Xiao's voice came from the altar. "We're fine. We're guarding the altar. This altar must not be lost."
Luo Xiao relaxed, looked around, and saw that this place was like a huge basin, thousands of li across, surrounded by towering mountains.
He suddenly showed a joyful expression. "This is the Yuanmu Basin! That means the Jade Pool is not far away!"
"Yuanmu Basin?"
Qin Mu blinked and asked, "What connection does the Yuanmu Basin have with Earth Mother Yuanjun?"
Luo Xiao activated his divine consciousness to wake the void beast and said, "I've heard that Earth Mother Yuanjun was originally a yuanmu tree in the Ancestral Court. Creators often came to water it, using water from the Jade Pool. The water of the Jade Pool is remarkable; it can heal any injury, and even my severed arm can grow back. Since the Yuanmu Basin is here, the oldest divine stone vein can't be far away."
Qin Mu's mind was shaken, and his head felt a little dizzy. "Earth Mother Yuanjun was a yuanmu tree here... Could the water in the Jade Pool be Hongmeng Primordial Liquid..."
The void beast woke up, and Luo Xiao immediately urged it to race outward, galloping out of the Yuanmu Basin.
Before long, they indeed saw a dried-up ocean ahead.
This was the ancient Jade Pool of the Ancestral Court.
The Hongmeng Primordial Liquid in the ancient Jade Pool of the Ancestral Court had dried up. The void beast flew over the ancient Jade Pool, and Luo Xiao scanned below, trying to find any remaining Hongmeng Primordial Liquid. He explained to Qin Mu, "There used to be a lot of water in the Jade Pool, but later, some took a bit, others took a bit, using it to water the sacred objects of various races. Coupled with years of war, the water grew scarcer. When we creators fled this place, we took the remaining water. I don't know if any new sources have appeared over the years... There's still a little there!"
His eyes lit up, and his divine consciousness surged, sweeping up the Hongmeng Primordial Liquid in a depression and drinking it down.
Qin Mu silently lamented the waste. The Hongmeng Primordial Liquid Luo Xiao had just drunk was even more than what Earth Mother Yuanjun had treasured!
This big fellow was truly squandering a divine treasure!
Luo Xiao drank the Hongmeng Primordial Liquid, and his severed arm immediately began to grow back, quickly forming a thick limb.
"Brother Gu Xiao, Brother Da Hong, weren't you two looking for that mineral vein?"
Luo Xiao raised his hand and pointed forward, laughing. "The vein is right there!"
Gu Xiao and Da Hong both smiled. "Thank you for the guidance, Brother Luo."
Luo Xiao laughed. "We're sworn brothers, no need for such formality!"
Ahead, colorful clouds rose and light filled the air. It was the divine mountain vein stretching for thousands of li that Qin Mu had seen when controlling the void beast.
Qin Mu felt a vague unease. If Gu Xiao and Da Hong were actually the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor and the Grand Emperor, then their eagerness to come here was highly suspicious.
"They might both suspect the other is the person they have in mind, so they had to come here to verify it!"
Qin Mu's gaze flickered, and his unease grew stronger. Inside the vein, eight ancient gods had died carrying a golden coffin. Who was buried in that coffin?
"And that Mother Void Beast earlier, it kept chasing us. Why did it stop pursuing us once we escaped the void?"
Sweat dripped down the back of Qin Mu's neck. "Moreover, there were so many void beasts in the Ancestral Court, a sea of beasts. Why are they all gone now? Could it be..."
Luo Xiao led them to the mineral vein. The void beast stopped, not daring to approach.
Gu Xiao and Da Hong carried the altar down. The two exchanged glances but said nothing.
Luo Xiao was extremely excited. "This is the territory of the Juyu Clan. It was here that they discovered the first Taichu Divine Stone, giving rise to the creator race! And the Taichu Primordial Stone was also found here. It was by relying on the Taichu Primordial Stone that the Grand Emperor defeated the Three Kings and became the Grand Emperor."
Qin Mu glanced at Gu Xiao and Da Hong, but they were still staring at each other, smiles on their faces, as if they hadn't heard Luo Xiao's words.
Luo Xiao looked at the Taichu Divine Stone vein and was stunned. "How did eight ancient gods end up here? And why are they carrying a coffin?"
As he said this, he suddenly laughed. "Why am I asking you all this? You wouldn't know either..."
"Maybe we do know."
Da Hong chuckled. "Don't you think so, Brother Gu Xiao?"
Gu Xiao was noncommittal. "Eight ancient gods carrying a coffin clearly means they intend to bury someone very important."
Da Hong sneered. "Or maybe they want to bury a history no one wants to know, a dirty and despicable history."
Gu Xiao said, "Oh."
Da Hong suggested, "Since we're here, why not take a look and see who's in that coffin?"
Luo Xiao quickly said, "This vein is extremely ancient. Even for creators to enter it is extremely dangerous. Those who could go in to mine were all creators, and often nine out of ten would die! Look, those eight ancient gods are already dead..."
Qin Mu tugged at his sleeve. "Brother Luo, whether we go in or not is no longer up to us."
Luo Xiao was momentarily stunned, not understanding. Qin Mu followed Gu Xiao and Da Hong as they walked forward, lowering his voice. "Haven't you figured it out yet?"
"Figured what out?" Luo Xiao asked, puzzled.
"You—" Dragon Qilin walked up to him and shook his head.