Chapter 1290: The Dark Side of the Ancestral Court (First Update)
Without the Moon Heavenly Venerable’s lantern, even using teleportation divine abilities, they would still need several days to return to the Great Black Wood and the Ten Thousand Black Mountains. Qin Mu casually found a divine mountain to settle down on.
The Primordial within the egg taught him the Primordial Dao that he had comprehended himself, saying, “Without fully absorbing the power of the Primordial mineral vein, even my own understanding of the Dao is incomplete. I am a god born from the Primordial Dao, but I am not the Primordial Dao itself. Only by fully absorbing the power of the Primordial mineral vein and achieving true transcendence can I be considered the true Primordial. Otherwise, I am no different from other ancient gods.”
Even so, the Primordial Dao that the Primordial within the egg had comprehended was far beyond what Qin Mu had figured out on his own. Qin Mu had not even fully organized the runes of the Primordial Dao.
The Primordial runes he had comprehended using the Immutable Divine Ability runes only accounted for one-third of the true Primordial runes, and they contained many errors.
Only through the teachings of the Primordial within the egg could he correct these mistakes.
The Primordial Dao was extremely profound and difficult to grasp. At its most obscure points, even Qin Mu, using Dream Entry into Dao and transforming into countless versions of himself to comprehend it, made slow progress.
Dream Entry into Dao turned his dreams into countless dream worlds, each filled with countless Qin Mus using their intelligence to solve the problems.
This was Qin Mu’s invincible method, something even the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha envied but could not learn.
However, when it came to comprehending the Primordial Dao, he encountered difficulties.
The most terrifying aspect of comprehending the Primordial Dao was virtualization.
If he inadvertently entered a state of Dao comprehension, his form and spirit would both transform into a primordial state—having form but no substance, empty in shape, without a true body.
Even his primordial spirit, vital energy, and conscious thoughts would all be virtualized, leaving only their form without their essence!
Even his divine consciousness would vanish completely!
The Immutable restrained the Dao of Divine Consciousness, while the Primordial Dao restrained the Immutable. Thus, the Dao of Divine Consciousness had no resistance against the Primordial Dao.
His dream worlds were destroyed one by one in this bizarre state of Dao comprehension, turning into nothingness. Eventually, he could not even wake from these dreams, and his divine consciousness could not be retrieved!
He couldn’t help but feel a lingering fear. If his true body had been comprehending, it would have turned into nothingness, becoming an ethereal, desireless, and indifferent thing.
He could only rely on Dream Entry into Dao to slowly explore and cautiously comprehend. Even within the dream state, he had to arrange some dreams that did not focus on the Primordial Dao, guarding the periphery to wake himself up in time, preventing the situation from spiraling out of control and dragging his entire being into the state of Dao comprehension.
After more than ten days of comprehension, though progress was slow, he had gained much, gradually uncovering some of the mysteries of the Primordial Dao.
One day, while still in his dream, he suddenly sensed a faint green trace growing from the rocks of the barren divine mountain—grasses and saplings.
The green grew denser, and the saplings slowly grew. Qin Mu, sensing something, immediately woke from his dream.
The Primordial Egg was right beside him, also on alert. One person and one egg stood atop the mountain, looking around. They saw trees gradually rising, and the wasteland around the divine mountain becoming overgrown with grass.
The green spread like a plague, visible to the naked eye, extending to both sides of the river and climbing over mountains.
Thick roots burrowed underground like earth dragons twisting their bodies, occasionally breaking through the surface before slowly sinking back, concealing their tracks.
“Earth Mother Yuanjun!”
Qin Mu’s expression turned grave. The corrupted Earth Mother Yuanjun had actually come to the Ancestral Court!
Earth Mother Yuanjun had many enemies, but if there was one she hated the most, Qin Mu undoubtedly held a top spot!
“Though her strength is far from what it once was, after the Xuan Du battle and her corruption, she devoured the essence of countless gods and demons in Xuan Du. Her current strength is likely far above mine!”
Qin Mu took a deep breath and was about to hide in the void when suddenly the ground at the foot of the mountain trembled slightly. Countless trees grew wildly, vines thickened like flood dragons, intertwining with the trees!
In no time, the hundred-mile forest at the foot of the mountain turned into a massive tree altar!
Qin Mu stared intently. Every leaf on this green altar had veins and patterns forming strange Yuan Du Dao runes.
And there were so many leaves forming this altar!
Such a complex and intricate altar was something he had never seen before!
Even stranger, what flowed through these trees and vines was not water, but divine blood!
Divine blood coursed through the branches, trunks, and vines, emitting divine light that made the trees almost transparent, giving the entire altar an eerie atmosphere!
As the divine blood flowed, countless runic patterns emerged on the surfaces of the branches, trunks, and vines, growing clearer and brighter.
Qin Mu’s heart stirred. He immediately put away the Primordial Egg and leaped backward, vanishing from the divine mountain, taking the egg into the void.
His mastery of the Primordial Dao was still far greater than his mastery of the Primordial Dao, so hiding in the void was not difficult.
Just as he entered the void, the green altar split open, and a woman rose from within.
The altar closed, lifting the woman to its center. That woman was none other than Earth Mother Yuanjun!
But now, Earth Mother Yuanjun had none of her former dignified bearing as the Mother Earth bearing all things. Instead, she was surrounded by a murderous aura, exuding killing intent.
The blood aura around her was extremely dense, a result of too many vengeful souls dying by her hand.
These vengeful souls were the gods stationed in Xuan Du by the Heavenly Court. Earth Mother knew nothing of the You Du Dao, so she could not dispel this aura.
And this aura would affect her judgment, ultimately threatening her life.
Standing on the altar, Earth Mother Yuanjun immediately began her ritual.
Qin Mu, hidden in the void, observed. Earth Mother Yuanjun’s strength had not yet recovered. Her combat power was roughly equivalent to a Dipper Throne realm expert with six or seven heavenly palaces. Of course, as an ancient god, she still retained part of her Primordial Wood body.
But her strength could not be fully measured by the standards of divine hideouts and heavenly palaces.
Qin Mu observed closely. Earth Mother Yuanjun’s summoning altar was similar to the Creator’s summoning altar, though hers was far more complex.
“Earth Mother Yuanjun has delved deeply into the Yuan Du Dao. The Creators likely created the summoning altar, but Earth Mother, being an ancient god, couldn’t learn it directly. Instead, she used the Yuan Du Dao to re-derive it.”
Just as he thought this, light flickered from beyond the sky. One by one, powerful ancient colossal beasts were summoned from the reverse side of the world, descending into the Ancestral Court!
Previously, Earth Mother Yuanjun had summoned only juvenile beasts, but this time, the beasts were larger and more formidable!
“What exactly does Earth Mother want to do?” Qin Mu wondered.
At that moment, the sky suddenly turned pitch black. Qin Mu looked up and saw the sky filled with enormous scales. A dragon-like head was summoned by Earth Mother Yuanjun from the reverse side of the world!
“The mount of the three great ancient god-kings, Bo Yang Divine King—Dragon Xiao, the overlord of the dark side of the Ancestral Court! Descend from that world!”
Earth Mother’s voice rang out, and the sky grew even more turbulent. The dragon-headed beast slowly opened its eyes, making the sky blindingly bright, as if two suns had suddenly appeared!
Then the turbulence intensified. Another massive head emerged, then a third, a fourth…
Nine heads filled the sky. Dragon Xiao’s nine heads opened their eyes, and the sky seemed to have eighteen suns, scorching the mountains and rivers!
Qin Mu’s scalp tingled, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. “No wonder among the three ancient god-kings, Bo Yang is the elder brother, and Shu Jun is the younger brother. It turns out Shu Jun is just the youngest of the three…”