Chapter 1399: Fragment of the Grand Celestial Heaven
He looked through Qin Mu's vertical brow eye toward the ground, yet what his gaze fell upon was not the earth—it was a terrifying scene of a universe in its death throes.
Great Dao, stars, galaxies, space, myriad heavens, countless living beings all turned to dust. Even the indestructible divine consciousness of powerful beings perished along with the universe's destruction!
Most horrifying of all was the sight of layers upon layers of void collapsing!
The void exists everywhere, but only powerful deities can perceive its presence. Even fewer deities can enter the void, and those who can imprint their divine consciousness and Great Dao onto the void, coexisting with it, are rarer still.
As for imprinting one's own Dao attainment onto the higher layers of the void, that is as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Among the current Heavenly Venerables, only the Grand Emperor and the Kai Emperor have achieved this step. In the ancient era, the powerful leader of the Creators could also accomplish this.
The Grand Emperor transformed his divine consciousness and Great Dao into the Divine Consciousness Grand Celestial Heaven, imprinting it in the thirty-sixth layer of void, the ultimate void.
The Kai Emperor imprinted his sword Dao in the thirty-fifth layer of void. The ancient Creator leader and many ancestral spirits imprinted their divine consciousness in other layers of void.
Back then, to completely eradicate the Creator race, the Heavenly Deity of the ancient gods led the ancient gods and some powerful demigods deep into the void, gradually erasing the imprints left by powerful Creators in the void. Langxuan Divine Emperor, as the progenitor of demigods at that time, followed the Heavenly Deity to obliterate the Creator imprints, leaving him with a deep impression.
He knew well how difficult it was to erase Creator imprints. These Creator divine consciousness imprints burrowed into the void like worms, hard to find and even harder to completely eliminate.
And now, he actually saw the thirty-fifth layer of void completely collapse in a short time, shattering and destroying the imprints of powerful beings lodged in that layer!
Boundless fear arose in his heart. He couldn't help but widen his eyes, cold sweat beading on his forehead, his face pale.
He then saw the destruction of the thirty-sixth void.
The thirty-sixth void, the layer where the Grand Emperor had lodged his Divine Consciousness Grand Celestial Heaven, also called the ultimate void, the Grand Celestial Heaven, the Supreme Heaven. This ultimate void, amid the great disaster of universal destruction, shattered like an eggshell crashing from high heaven onto the ground, or like a water-filled ball pierced by a needle, exploding completely!
Langxuan Divine Emperor trembled, shuddered. The terror of this great destruction invaded him, reaching the deepest part of his Dao heart.
His Dao heart was originally not as strong as Qin Mu's—this was a weakness of the Divine Treasury Heavenly Palace system. Qin Mu could remain calm when witnessing the great destruction, but he could not.
"This destruction that annihilates everything... even a Heavenly Venerable... even a Heavenly Venerable cannot withstand it..." Fear filled his heart.
Yet strangely, everything he saw was a frozen tableau.
Countless star rivers shattered, myriad heavens annihilated, the void disintegrated, the ultimate void exploded—all motionless.
Calling it a tableau wasn't quite right either, because a painting is flat, while the scene he saw through Qin Mu's vertical eye was three-dimensional.
Then, he saw the "big thing" Qin Mu had mentioned.
It was a coffin, a coffin that had flown out from the Grand Celestial Heaven of the ultimate void. The coffin was cast from some unknown divine metal, gleaming with metallic luster, but it had corroded along with the universe's destruction, covered in rust.
The coffin's surface was densely covered with Dao runes that Langxuan didn't recognize. Amid the universal destruction, it flew along with a fragment of the Grand Celestial Heaven, seemingly heading toward them.
The peculiar thing about this coffin was that it lay within the fragment of the Grand Celestial Heaven, and within that fragment stood a huge wooden altar. The coffin sat upright on the altar, standing tall.
Half of the Grand Celestial Heaven fragment had already entered the Ancestral Court, buried beneath its earth.
The reason Langxuan Divine Emperor couldn't see it was that his divine consciousness eye couldn't perceive the Grand Celestial Heaven.
Langxuan Divine Emperor stared at this scene, somewhat bewildered.
Qin Mu's voice came, leisurely: "The being inside this coffin is a powerful figure from the previous cosmic era. At the moment of that universe's destruction, he tried to enter our universe through sacrifice. The time point he occupies is extremely peculiar. The rear end of the coffin remains in his universe, where time and space no longer exist, frozen at the moment of destruction, preserved by the Grand Celestial Heaven fragment. But the front end of the coffin has already entered our universe, and has existed here for a long, long time."
Langxuan Divine Emperor didn't quite understand, looking at him doubtfully, and asked, "How many years has he existed in our universe?"
"Probably since the very beginning of the universe's creation."
Qin Mu wasn't certain either, saying, "He probably started stealing the Primordial Essence Liquid of the Jade Pool at the dawn of the universe's creation. But back then, he must have had some scruples, fearing discovery by the ancient gods and Creators, so he didn't dare steal the Jade Pool's power recklessly. After the Creators, ancient gods, and demigods all left the Ancestral Court and sealed it, he had no more restraints. He directly severed the eight dragon veins of the Jade Pool and brazenly stole its power."
Langxuan Divine Emperor shook his head, his voice hoarse: "How is that possible? How can he be half in the destroyed universe of the previous era and half in our time?"
"If you eliminate the factor of time, you can understand."
Qin Mu earnestly explained to him: "Without time, even the destruction and birth of a universe is merely a transformation between energy and matter. The process of energy turning into matter is the expansion of the universe; the process of matter turning into energy is the collapse of the universe. Changes in matter create the illusion of time's passage. He tried to enter our era from the previous universe, but he didn't want to turn himself into the energy of the universe's destruction. So he stole energy from our era to replace himself. That's why he stole the Jade Pool's power—he needs to maintain the mass-energy balance between the two universes."
Langxuan Divine Emperor still had some doubts, but he knew that someone had achieved great success with this theory.
Ling Tianzun's Immutable Divine Ability was an unfathomable mystery. When Ling Tianzun created this divine ability, the ten Heavenly Venerables were deeply shaken.
Because of the unknown, there was fear.
Almost all ten Heavenly Venerables mobilized, determined to eliminate Ling Tianzun. But Ming Fangyu took the lead, his primordial spirit entering the Heavenly Deity's physical body to kill Ling Tianzun above the Heavenly River, causing Ming Fangyu's primordial spirit and the Heavenly Deity's body to vanish together.
"Divine Emperor, this prehistoric powerful being is an existence dwelling in the Grand Celestial Heaven. His strength surpasses the ten Heavenly Venerables and any Heavenly Venerable. If he enters the Ancestral Court, the rule of the ten Heavenly Venerables will collapse. He will become the supreme existence."
Qin Mu guided him step by step: "To secure his power, he will either eliminate the ten Heavenly Venerables or subdue you. As one of the ten Heavenly Venerables, the ruler of this era, what should you do?"
Langxuan Divine Emperor snapped back to reality, his eyes flickering, and he smiled: "But I won't let him enter the Ancestral Court, nor the Jade Pool, and certainly won't let him steal the Jade Pool's power!"
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief and closed his vertical brow eye, saying, "With the Divine Emperor guarding this place, I can rest easy."
Langxuan Divine Emperor looked at him, smiling: "Heavenly Venerable Mu, he is hiding beneath the Jade Pool. Rather than waiting for him to steal enough power to enter the Ancestral Court, it's better to drive him back to his own era! I need to borrow your divine eye to find his location!"
He smiled proudly, leisurely saying: "I very much want to meet this supreme being from the previous cosmic era!"
Qin Mu hesitated. Langxuan Divine Emperor laughed: "Don't you want to eliminate this hidden danger?"
Qin Mu carefully studied his face. Langxuan Divine Emperor was open and candid, smiling: "I am one of the ten Heavenly Venerables, the ruler of this universe. Naturally, I must consider this era."
Qin Mu relaxed and smiled: "Since the Divine Emperor has this intention, then I will help make it happen. Divine Emperor, neither you nor I are strong enough to enter that Grand Celestial Heaven fragment. I have a divine ability called the Other Shore Divine Ferry Crossing. If I borrow your power, I might be able to enter that fragment."
Langxuan Divine Emperor's heart trembled slightly, and he nodded silently, praising: "Heavenly Venerable Mu knows a great deal."
Qin Mu became alert and smiled: "My cultivation realm is low, so I usually enjoy tinkering with divine abilities in my spare time."
Langxuan Divine Emperor laughed heartily: "Your cultivation is already extremely high. Who can reach your level in just over fifty years? Not to mention, cultivating to the Jade Pool realm and becoming a heavenly deity in fifty years—among the geniuses of all the myriad heavens and worlds, those with such talent are as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Moreover, your strength goes far beyond that."
Qin Mu also laughed: "Well said, well said."
Langxuan Divine Emperor's vast, ocean-like divine power surged over. Qin Mu immediately borrowed this power to execute the Other Shore Divine Ferry Crossing.
The Other Shore Divine Ferry Crossing was the eighth heaven of his divine abilities. This technique had no offensive power; it was a divine ability for entering the void. Qin Mu had created it upon entering the Dao, aiming to enter the ultimate void to rescue Yun Tianzun's soul, who was suppressed by the Grand Emperor.
But his cultivation was still too weak, far from being able to enter the ultimate void. He could at most reach the twenty-ninth or thirtieth layer of void.
However, with Langxuan Divine Emperor's assistance, Qin Mu's divine power surged, and his divine consciousness became immensely powerful. With a long cry, the Other Shore Divine Ferry Crossing erupted!
A ferry boat to the other shore rapidly formed beneath him and Langxuan Divine Emperor. The boat flew out, its bow pointing downward, at an unimaginable speed, crashing toward the depths of the Jade Pool!
At the bow, Langxuan Divine Emperor saw the riverbed and rubble rushing toward him and quickly raised his hand to shield his face. But amid the violent shaking of the boat, it didn't crash into the ground. Instead, at the moment of contact, it sailed into the layers of void beneath the earth.
The boat sped through, in an instant passing through layer after layer of void, reaching the thirty-fifth void, heading straight for that Grand Celestial Heaven fragment!
Langxuan Divine Emperor's heart pounded violently. He could finally see that Grand Celestial Heaven fragment with his own eyes, along with the altar inside it and the mysterious giant coffin on the altar!
In the blink of an eye, he looked up and saw the Jade Terrace and Jade Sea hovering above the Other Shore Ferry Boat and the Grand Celestial Heaven fragment!
The land of the Ancestral Court seemed to have become nonexistent. He could even see the mining slaves and overseers standing beside ethereal mountains, on ethereal ground.
This sight amazed him.
Boom—
The Other Shore Ferry Boat crashed into that Grand Celestial Heaven fragment, causing the entire boat to explode. The two people at the bow tumbled and rolled through the air. When they finally steadied themselves, they found they had already charged into the fragment, floating in front of that coffin.
That coffin was enormous. The ancient rust showed its age and antiquity, and the lower part of the coffin was even more corroded!
Even the runes and Dao imprints on its surface had been greatly weakened by erosion.
Yet standing before this coffin, they felt a series of palpitations. The power emanating from within was too terrifying, too dreadful!
Even someone as strong as Langxuan felt his heart race!
It was pure Dao might, Dao power—higher, more profound, and more mysterious than his own strength, utterly inconceivable!
Langxuan Divine Emperor clasped his hands behind his back, his divine consciousness rippling, and laughed: "Even a being as powerful as one from the previous universe couldn't survive the great destruction. How pitiful."
Just then, the giant coffin emitted a creaking sound, and the coffin lid slowly opened.
Langxuan Divine Emperor was on high alert. A heavenly palace appeared behind his head, his primordial spirit vast and towering, standing within the heavenly court. He was already prepared with his Divine Origin Finger, ready to strike and kill the being inside the coffin at any moment!
The coffin opened, revealing a withered Dao tree inside the giant coffin. There was no corpse, nor any human primordial spirit.
On that Dao tree hung only a single shriveled Dao fruit.
From that Dao fruit, a vast divine consciousness spread out, speaking leisurely: "An insignificant ant-like existence mocks an eagle that soars between universes, taking cosmic eras as its years, calling it shallow in experience. Heh heh, young friend, pitiable are you."
They communicated through divine consciousness, so even without understanding each other's language, they could grasp each other's thoughts.
Langxuan Divine Emperor sneered and was about to speak when another surge of divine consciousness came from the Dao fruit, unhurried: "Young friend, when your cosmic era is destroyed, how will you escape? With your mouth? Kneel, worship me, offer me sufficient sacrifices, and I will teach you the method of transcendence, help you attain the Dao, and you can live on into the next cosmic era!"
Qin Mu's expression changed slightly, and he quickly looked at Langxuan Divine Emperor.
Langxuan Divine Emperor's face flickered with uncertainty.