Chapter 1326: Fire Heavenly Venerable's Ambition (Second Update)
A trace of worry flickered in the Medicine Master's eyes, then he quickly concealed it.
Qin Mu was able to see through the Dao wounds left by Ancestral God King and Hao Heavenly Venerable because he understood their respective Daos. Whether it was the Heavenly Dao, the Primordial Unity Qi, or the Guixu Great Dao, he had studied them all deeply.
However, he did not understand Fire Heavenly Venerable's Dao. What he understood was the Heavenly Fire Dao of Xuan Du and the Vermilion Bird Sacred Fire Dao of the Southern Heaven. But both of these were types of innate fire, whereas Fire Heavenly Venerable's fire was acquired fire, representing the supreme achievement of the acquired path.
To see through the Dao wound left by Fire Heavenly Venerable in such a short time was likely an impossible task!
The Medicine Master looked at Qin Mu, who was intently and meticulously deducing the Dao patterns within the Dao wound left by Hao Heavenly Venerable.
Qin Mu had been this serious and meticulous since childhood, following the teachings of the Nine Elders of the Crippled Village, often getting his palms slapped by Deaf. Now, Qin Mu was an adult. Sometimes he appeared cynical and carefree, and other times he was as earnest as a schoolboy.
He was cynical and carefree when he was about to risk his life, and he was earnest like a schoolboy when he was trying to save someone he cared about.
The Medicine Master knew Qin Mu very well.
After a long time, Qin Mu transformed the Dao wound left by Hao Heavenly Venerable into Dao patterns and deduced them, explaining each one. The Medicine Master listened quietly. The Dao wound left by Hao Heavenly Venerable presented him with an immense challenge!
The complexity of the Dao wound Hao Heavenly Venerable had inflicted on Moon Heavenly Venerable far surpassed Ancestral God King's single strike of the Heavenly Dao. The Primordial Unity Qi and the Guixu Great Dao were even harder to crack than the Heavenly Dao!
His Medical Dao Heavenly Palace had reached great completion, but the Medical Dao belonged to the acquired path, while the Heavenly Dao, Primordial Unity Qi, and Guixu Great Dao all belonged to the innate path.
Whether he could cure Moon Heavenly Venerable seemed to be just a matter of compounding medicine, but in reality, it was a confrontation between the Medical Dao and the innate Daos.
Although the spiritual medicines produced in the Ancestral Court were wondrous, many containing innate principles, the Medical Dao was about combining these disjointed principles to suppress or even dismantle the innate Daos, thereby achieving the goal of healing and saving lives.
For the Heavenly Dao, Primordial Unity Qi, and Guixu Great Dao, the Medicine Master's Medical Dao was poison, but for Moon Heavenly Venerable, it was medicine.
Qin Mu once again parted the hair on Moon Heavenly Venerable's forehead and carefully observed Fire Heavenly Venerable's Sacred Fire.
This time, he took even longer.
Just as the Medicine Master had worried, Qin Mu was unfamiliar with Fire Heavenly Venerable, so he spent even more time on Fire Heavenly Venerable's Dao wound.
Fire Heavenly Venerable's Dao techniques and divine abilities were extremely profound and mysterious, and there were no corresponding records in the Scripture Depository. The techniques and abilities in the Scripture Depository were all aimed at the Ancient Gods, and Fire Heavenly Venerable's Dao runes had little overlap with those of the Ancient Gods.
Qin Mu kept staring at Moon Heavenly Venerable. Moon Heavenly Venerable had grown accustomed to it, holding her breath and not speaking.
After an unknown amount of time, Qin Mu slowly closed his eyes. Layers of dreams emerged from between his brows, expanding outward, quickly enveloping the entire hall.
In the dreams, countless tiny Qin Mus yawned and stretched, waking up one after another.
Moon Heavenly Venerable watched this scene with curiosity. It was not unfamiliar to her, but the last time she had seen Qin Mu use this technique was over forty thousand years ago.
Back then, Qin Mu had induced her into a dream, searching for a way to survive within the dream.
This time, Qin Mu was entering a dream again, searching for a way to cure her.
The tiny Qin Mus in the dreams wore serious expressions, chattering in an incomprehensible language, with small flames spouting from their mouths. Moon Heavenly Venerable observed for a long time and noticed that one of the tiny Qin Mus had visualized a wheel of fire behind his head.
The other tiny Qin Mus imitated him, each creating a wheel of fire, still wearing serious expressions and chattering about something unknown.
"They are imitating Fire Heavenly Venerable!"
Moon Heavenly Venerable found it both amusing and frustrating. In Qin Mu's dreams, these little fellows were actually mimicking Fire Heavenly Venerable's appearance, and they were getting better and better at it, becoming more and more lifelike.
Those tiny Qin Mus were painstakingly studying the Dao runes in the Dao wound left by Fire Heavenly Venerable, testing the function of each rune, trying to form divine abilities, and some were even attempting to deduce Fire Heavenly Venerable's cultivation technique.
"Maha—"
Suddenly, one tiny Qin Mu let out a miserable scream, turning into a blazing little figure, running wildly through the dream.
Moon Heavenly Venerable was startled and was about to rescue the little figure when she saw the other tiny Qin Mus also catching fire. The ground was soon covered with blazing little figures, quickly igniting that layer of the dream, burning it to ashes.
The other layers of dreams remained intact, unaffected. Many tiny Qin Mus disguised as Fire Heavenly Venerable walked around with serious expressions, discussing the mysteries of Fire Heavenly Venerable's Dao techniques and divine abilities.
Suddenly, another tiny Qin Mu had flames shooting from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. The fire ignited from within his body and burned him to ashes in an instant!
The other tiny Qin Mus pointed at him and laughed gloatingly, but then they too suddenly ignited with true fire from within, burning themselves to nothing.
Layer after layer of dreams were burned to ashes, each layer having a different way of dying. Moon Heavenly Venerable had been lonely in the Peach Grove for too long, and watching these tiny Qin Mus in the dreams struggle and fail did not bore her.
As the dreams were incinerated, new dreams were generated, cycling repeatedly, continuously deducing the meaning of those flame Dao patterns.
After a few days, more and more flame runes were organized, but the frequency of the tiny Qin Mus dying in the dreams increased. The innate Dao had traces to follow. The innate Daos of the Ten Heavenly Venerables all developed from the Dao runes of the Ancient Gods, but Fire Heavenly Venerable's Dao was only half innate fire.
Deducing the essence of his fire-based Dao was extremely difficult. His insights into the Dao of fire even surpassed those of the Southern Emperor, Vermilion Bird!
A few more days passed, and Qin Mu finally completely analyzed the flame runes contained within the Dao wound. His expression was somewhat dazed.
The Medicine Master intended to prepare some medicine to regulate his divine consciousness, but Qin Mu shook his head and refused, though his expression was still somewhat weary. He said, "My divine consciousness can still hold out. However, after studying Fire Heavenly Venerable's Dao runes, I have seen many principles, but there are some things I cannot figure out."
The Medicine Master smiled and said, "There is a Grand Heavenly Venerable right beside you. Why bother thinking so hard? Just ask her directly."
Qin Mu pondered for a moment, then told Moon Heavenly Venerable about the confusion he had encountered while comprehending Fire Heavenly Venerable's Dao runes. He said, "Fire Heavenly Venerable's Dao runes are extremely exquisite. He uses the heart fire to refine his primordial energy. His cultivation base is undoubtedly extremely profound. However, I once noticed a flaw in him from his disciples: he could not refine his soul. But from the basic runes of his fire Dao, it seems he should be able to refine his soul."
Moon Heavenly Venerable's heart stirred, and she asked, "What do you mean?"
Qin Mu waved his hand lightly in front of him, and rows of flame runes appeared, burning in the air. He said, "His Sacred Fire first originates from the heart fire. The heart fire refines the primordial energy. When cultivated to a certain level, it can evolve into soul fire. Logically speaking, his soul should be incredibly powerful!"
Moon Heavenly Venerable frowned, carefully observing the flame runes he had arranged. Then she gently flicked one of the runes, causing it to annihilate. She asked, "After removing this rune, can Fire Heavenly Venerable still refine his soul?"
Qin Mu examined it carefully and shook his head. "He cannot."
"Then, does my Dao wound contain the flame rune I just destroyed?" Moon Heavenly Venerable asked.
"Yes!"
Qin Mu said in a deep voice, "That is the strangest part! In the Dao techniques and divine abilities that Fire Heavenly Venerable taught his disciples, this flame rune is absent."