Chapter 1315: Dao Fruit and the Great Black Tree (Third Update)
Gui Xu Yi Qi Sheng was Qin Mu's twelfth celestial layer upon entering the Dao through divine abilities. Its greatest strength lay in the Gui Xu devouring the enemy's power. As the twin lotus flowers beneath his feet swayed within the great abyss, they could absorb the force of an opponent's divine abilities into the abyss, transforming it into primordial Yi Qi that descended from the lotus above his head, nourishing him in return.
The primordial Yi Qi grew stronger, amplifying the power of his divine abilities and inflicting greater damage on his enemies.
This was a divine ability he had created based on Heavenly Lord Hao's techniques in the Void Demon Realm, essentially absorbing Heavenly Lord Hao's wisdom.
However, Qin Mu was not Heavenly Lord Hao after all. He lacked the bloodline of Celestial Emperor Tai Chu and Empress Yuan Mu, yet his research into primordial Yi Qi and the Dao of Gui Xu was in no way inferior to Heavenly Lord Hao's—in fact, it surpassed it!
He had obtained the Dao runes from the Dao Ancestor's Archive Pavilion, where the runes were used to analyze the great Dao of the ancient gods through mathematical principles, including the Dao runes hidden within Celestial Emperor Tai Chu's physical form.
Qin Mu had also acquired the physical bodies of Empress and Lady Yuan Mu, thoroughly understanding the physical Dao of these two ancient gods. He then used microscopic mathematics to supplement the Dao Ancestor's shortcomings.
On this basis alone, Heavenly Lord Hao's understanding of primordial Yi Qi and the Dao of Gui Xu might not measure up. Moreover, with the Celestial Emperor's eggshell embedded in his brow, Qin Mu had even begun to touch upon the Dao of Tai Chu!
If they were to clash at the same cultivation level, both using primordial Yi Qi and the Dao of Gui Xu, Heavenly Lord Hao would hold the advantage of bloodline, making his divine abilities exceptionally powerful. Qin Mu, however, would rely on his deeper understanding of the Dao of Tai Chu and Gui Xu, and he would not necessarily be weaker than Heavenly Lord Hao.
The moment they collided, Grand Emperor immediately sensed his own power draining away, swallowed by the Gui Xu great abyss beneath Qin Mu's feet!
As one side waned and the other waxed, he would inevitably grow weaker and weaker!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Their fists struck like lightning, moving at blinding speed, their bodies shifting even faster. In the blink of an eye, they had crossed from one end of the void to the other!
With his three heads and six arms, Qin Mu's attack speed was dizzying. In an instant, countless fists rained down. Every time Grand Emperor blocked a blow or took a hit, he felt his internal power ebbing away, devoured by his opponent.
His power flowed through Qin Mu's fists and arms, into his body, down through his legs, and into the Gui Xu great abyss.
Once it entered the Gui Xu great abyss, he immediately lost all connection to his own power, presumably absorbed and refined by the abyss into primordial Yi Qi.
Since his resurrection, Grand Emperor had reestablished contact with his other body, Qiang Tianfei. Using his immensely deep cultivation, he had opened his divine hidden divine palaces and celestial palaces, leaping to the level of thirty-four celestial palaces, compensating for his lack of Yuan Qi.
Yet after his battle with the Fourth Celestial Venerable, his celestial palaces had been nearly completely destroyed. Now, the essence from these shattered palaces was frantically draining away, surging into Qin Mu's body!
At this point, he had no means left to control the loss of essence.
Boom!
He took another blow from Qin Mu. His towering frame crashed through layer after layer of void, tumbling from the twenty-seventh void layer down to the tenth, blood spraying from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
He looked up. The void holes he had smashed through had not yet closed. Through the seventeen layers of void openings, Qin Mu charged down madly, his body spinning, countless fists flying to form a colossal mass of strikes—like the most precise machine, filling Grand Emperor's vision entirely!
At this moment, Qin Mu employed martial Dao divine abilities. The martial Dao spirit of Old Farmer Zhuo Cha, one of the Four Celestial Masters of the Kaihuang Era, was brought to its fullest expression under his fists!
Grand Emperor wiped the blood from his mouth and immediately changed tactics. Suddenly, dozens of battered celestial palaces soared out from behind him. All his celestial palaces had been shattered by the Fourth Celestial Venerable, their essence draining away.
Yet he seemed oblivious to the severity of his injuries. With a fierce roar, all his celestial palaces collapsed at once!
His aura plummeted sharply!
Qin Mu saw an opportunity and was about to activate Gui Xu Yi Qi Sheng to seize his cultivation and power, when suddenly, from the ruins of the celestial palaces, a new palace rose slowly!
Qin Mu's heart skipped a beat. He immediately sensed danger, halting his dive and retreating, soaring back up through the still-unclosed void holes!
Grand Emperor's new celestial palace reshaped itself at terrifying speed. Its aura felt familiar to Qin Mu—it was the Divine Awareness Great Luo Celestial Palace!
Knowing that his remaining cultivation was meager, Grand Emperor realized that if he spread his power across multiple celestial palaces, he would be unable to resist Qin Mu's devouring divine ability. So he chose to destroy the other palaces, gathering all their energy to reshape the Divine Awareness Great Luo Celestial Palace!
Only by concentrating his strength could he kill Qin Mu in the shortest time possible!
The moment his Divine Awareness Great Luo Celestial Palace formed, the phantom of a primordial spirit flickered into existence, seated on the imperial throne in the Lingxiao Hall of the Great Luo Celestial Palace, legs spread wide in a commanding pose!
Grand Emperor's primordial spirit projection!
An imperial might surged skyward, piercing through layer after layer of void. The Great Emperor sat on the throne of Lingxiao Hall, commanding the world and rallying heroes, exuding a natural authority.
Having ruled as the supreme sovereign of the ancient times for hundreds of millions of years, Grand Emperor's imperial might even surpassed that of Celestial Emperor Tai Chu!
Qin Mu's brow twitched. This imperial might gave him an overwhelming sense of invincibility, affecting even his Dao heart.
Though Grand Emperor had not reached the complete Imperial Throne realm and lacked a full primordial spirit, the pressure he exerted was terrifying!
As Qin Mu retreated at full speed, he immediately activated his divine ability, Other Shore Divine Boat Crossing, to traverse the void layers even faster. With two booming sounds, he burst into the twenty-ninth void layer.
At the same time, another of his divine abilities activated, plunging him into a state of self-forgetfulness. His body flickered between solid and ethereal, making him impossible to target and preventing Grand Emperor's aura from locking onto him.
"Mu Celestial Venerable."
Grand Emperor looked up, gazing through the void at Qin Mu, now in the twenty-ninth layer. His eyes pierced through the closing void gaps. There, Qin Mu stood on the prow of the divine boat, his cloak spread like wings on either side, shrouding the vessel.
His robes and cloak were no ordinary items—they were the garments of Cloud Luo Emperor Wei Suifeng, an imperial robe. Spread wide, it was magnificent. From below, it looked like a swirling galaxy, with stars clustered like clouds.
Qin Mu's Chi Ming Divine Body Ultimate Divine Ability had made his physical form immensely powerful, towering tens of thousands of feet tall. The Other Shore Divine Boat beneath him seemed quite small, barely accommodating his frame.
But Grand Emperor was far away, so looking up, he only saw Qin Mu standing on the boat, his robes and cloak like a nebula, not much larger than usual.
The two stood still, separated by eleven layers of void, as if frozen in time.
"If we were to classify by the divine hidden celestial palace system, your current realm should be at the peak of Lingxiao. Impressive, very impressive."
Before Grand Emperor's words had faded, his form had already arrived at the twenty-ninth void layer. The two were far apart, one above the other. In each other's eyes, their figures had grown enormous.
"You didn't follow the divine hidden celestial palace system but relied on your own intelligence to reach this level—that is what is most admirable. Therefore..."
Grand Emperor moved again, appearing before Qin Mu in the next instant: "You can take pride in dying under my Divine Awareness Great Luo Divine Ability!"
Qin Mu's hair stood on end. He shifted, driving the divine boat upward toward higher void layers. At the same time, his various divine abilities erupted.
Great Dao Originates from the Ancestral Court!
Creation Opens from Chaos!
Divine Awareness Leads the Dao!
He unleashed these great divine abilities recklessly, meeting the ever-closer Divine Awareness Great Luo. Within the Great Luo, Grand Emperor's Divine Awareness Dao flower had already bloomed, its Dao fruit still green.
In that moment, Qin Mu saw the tree within the Great Luo.
The World Tree.
It was the same as the great black tree in his own territory in the Ancestral Court—the complete version, before it had been cut down and burned by Tai Yi!