Chapter 1160: Thirty Billion Years (Second Update)
"Thirty billion years..."
Qin Mu shook his head. Long Qilin's method of measuring the Great Black Peak's rings would certainly have some margin of error, but not by much. Yet the number thirty billion years still startled Qin Mu.
To think that this figure referred only to the age of the Great Black Peak. Aside from this peak, the blackwood tree had fifteen other ring-shaped mountain ranges!
If those ranges also possessed similar rings, wouldn't that mean the blackwood tree's age was an unimaginable astronomical number?
The entire blackwood tree was immensely vast, many times thicker than the Yuan Wood, and far more ancient. Earth Mother's age was merely a fraction of it!
"Earth Mother's rings are only a few billion years, yet this blackwood has experienced sixteen major rings, each containing hundreds of billions of smaller rings. What kind of eras has this tree witnessed? No tree should be able to live this long, yet this one truly has."
Qin Mu's expression turned strange. Now the blackwood was dead, only a stump remaining—a pity.
"What is the origin of this place recommended to me by those two ancient gods in the Taiji Mine Vein? Still, it can indeed be called a treasure land second only to the five mine veins."
He felt satisfied. The two ancient gods in the Taiji Mine Vein had done him a great favor by recommending this place, which was very beneficial for him to establish a foothold in the Ancestral Court.
As long as the Glazed Azure Canopy unfolded its twenty-eight heavens, this place would be easy to defend and hard to attack!
Moreover, the Blackwood Mountain Range lacked the eerie qualities of the ancient mine veins, making mining here much easier.
Qin Mu flew through the air, patrolling between the great mountains. The mine veins here were not concentrated within the Blackwood Mountain Range but were located at the foot of the outermost ring of black mountains.
There, many exposed ores appeared extremely ancient. He collected a few pieces but couldn't identify what they were, so he stored them away, planning to take them outside and ask Mute.
After making a full circuit, Qin Mu found that the void beasts had eaten everything here too. There was no vegetation, except for some plants near the central Great Black Peak.
It would take over ten days just to quickly inspect the entire blackwood, and a detailed examination would require even more time.
Qin Mu stopped. The main problem now was that this place was very conspicuous. Void beasts could attack at any time, so he needed to prepare countermeasures quickly.
"Those void beasts are controlled by Qiang Tianfei, who is actually the Grand Emperor. Logically, she should have grown restless by now, trying to mobilize the void mother beast to probe the strengths and weaknesses of other Celestial Venerables' territories."
Qin Mu blinked, thinking to himself: "But why hasn't she made a move yet? Could it be..."
Suddenly, a chill ran down his spine, and the smile on his face froze. "Has Palace Celestial Venerable made a move against Qiang Tianfei? If Palace Celestial Venerable can kill her, then all is well! But if she can't, Qiang Tianfei will definitely guess that I was the one who informed!"
Qin Mu's stiff smile twisted into a grimace. He immediately flew back to the Great Black Peak, his heart pounding. "After being beaten by Palace Celestial Venerable, she'll surely take her anger out on me!"
Upon reaching the Great Black Peak, he quickly activated the Glazed Azure Canopy, sending the void beast he had tamed out of the Great Blackwood to stand guard beyond the twenty-eight heavens.
Qin Mu looked up at the sky, waiting quietly. But there was no movement from either the sky or the void.
He waited half a day, still nothing. Slightly relieved, he took out the Taishi Egg and focused on studying the Taishi runes.
He had already deciphered the first Taishi rune, essentially getting his foot in the door. Once he had a foundation, studying the subsequent runes became much easier.
Thus, over ten days passed peacefully. The void beasts never besieged this place, and Qin Mu relaxed, thinking: "The longer I can delay, the better. As long as the other Celestial Venerables want to leave here, they'll have to come find me. By then, even if Qiang Tianfei wants to kill me, she won't be able to. I'll be safe."
He couldn't help muttering to himself: "Earning that ten percent divine stone from Palace Celestial Venerable is really tough..."
Meanwhile, Qiang Tianfei, disheveled and covered in bruises, fled in disarray from the Nu Xin clan's mine vein. Her face was black and blue, clearly beaten badly, with Palace Celestial Venerable still in hot pursuit.
Qiang Tianfei was furious, shouting angrily: "Only Taichu and that brat Mu Celestial Venerable know my identity! Taichu and I are in a state of balance—if he exposes me, I can expose him too. So it couldn't have been him. That leaves only that bastard Qin Mu!"
"You're really asking for death! Provoking me again and again!"
Her divine sense exploded, and the void mother beast dwelling in the nineteenth void seemed to receive a command. It stood up with a thunderous roar, shaking its colossal body.
At that moment, all the Celestial Venerables in the Ancestral Court felt the tremor from deep within the void. They stepped out of their palaces and looked up.
Suddenly, a giant eyelid appeared in the sky, stretching hundreds of miles. The eyelid slid open, revealing a massive eyeball that rolled around.
Then, popping sounds echoed through the sky as one giant eye after another emerged, sinister and eerie, like mushrooms sprouting after rain. Soon, the entire sky was filled with them!
On the ground, in rivers and lakes, countless eyes also appeared!
The various Celestial Venerables sneered, unconcerned.
Though void beasts were formidable, they were far inferior to Celestial Venerables. Even the void mother beast didn't frighten them.
They had the resolve to eliminate the void mother beast, but it hid in the nineteenth void. Their divine sense wasn't strong enough—unlike the Creators, who specialized in cultivating divine sense.
They couldn't bring their physical bodies through the void. If their primordial spirits entered the nineteenth void, it would be far too dangerous.
However, if the void mother beast showed itself, they could easily kill it.
In the sky, on the ground, in rivers and lakes, countless void beasts emerged. Those in the sky flapped the membranous wings between their six limbs, while those on the ground ran on six legs.
In the void, giant void beasts also shuttled through. Nearly all the void beasts mobilized at once, charging in the same direction!
That direction was the north of the Ancestral Court!
Even the void beasts clinging to the Heavenly Rift, trying to tear it wider, released their claws and fell from the rift.
Mid-fall, they twisted their bodies, spreading their membranous wings, and glided across the sky.
"North should be..."
In the Great Swamp, Hong Celestial Venerable looked up with a surprised expression. "The Great Black Mountain! That place is desolate, the most dangerous, eerie, and sinister location in the Ancestral Court. Even the Creators of the ancient era avoided it! Those void beasts are heading there. Could someone have gone there?"
"None of the ten Celestial Venerables are fools. They can all see the terror of the Great Black Mountain, so none would choose it..."
His expression changed, and he stamped his foot. "Damn! I know who went to the Great Black Mountain! Only that reckless brat would dare!"