Chapter 1402: The Great Era of Strife Approaches
"How strange. Even the Creator doesn't know about the location of the Taiji Land. The only thing that can be found is a fake Taiji mine. How did Empress Dowager find this place?"
Qin Mu pondered to himself. The ancient gods of the Taiji Land were extremely peculiar, being twin-born ancient gods. Other divine eggs had all been dug up, but only these two ancient gods had escaped that calamity.
Moreover, these two ancient gods were exceptionally intelligent. Back then, Qin Mu had relied on the Taiji to find this place, displaying extraordinary divine power attainments that rendered the mine unable to deal with him. So these two ancient gods had directly negotiated terms with Qin Mu, giving him a hundred Taiji divine stones and one Taiji primal stone, and telling him the location of the Great Black Tree.
For Empress Dowager to find this place, it would be absolutely impossible without the guidance of the ancient gods. Only egg-born ancient gods could locate the Taiji Land.
So who guided Empress Dowager? Was it the Taiji Divine Woman, or Xiao Tianzun?
"Taiji is helping Hao Tianzun; it's impossible for her to also guide Empress Dowager. Xiao Tianzun and Empress Dowager have a deep blood feud. Even if Xiao Tianzun were willing to guide her, Empress Dowager might not be willing to come here. Taishi is with me, and Taiyi would never show himself to interfere in worldly affairs. So the one who guided Empress Dowager here can only be..."
Qin Mu's expression turned strange. "Only the Taiji ancient gods themselves. Taiji found Hao Tianzun as her assistant to contend for supremacy in the world and reclaim the Taiji mineral vein, helping her achieve enlightenment. The Taiji ancient gods' mineral vein is still intact. The reason they've recruited Empress Dowager is probably also to find a helper among the Ten Heavenly Honored Ones, as an ally in contending for supremacy. These two ancient gods are not as detached and indifferent as they claimed to be."
He quickly made his own judgment: "The one causing trouble is not Madame Yuanmu, but the Taiji ancient gods! These two ancient gods must have seen the Ten Heavenly Honored Ones open the Ancestral Court, realized their mineral vein would be hard to protect, and known it could be discovered at any time. So they made preparations early! They are about to enter the world."
At this moment, Madame Yuanmu's divine artifact, the Imperial Heavenly Honored One, was staring at Jue Wuchen, while Qiang Tianfei was staring at her. Qin Mu was simultaneously watching all three of them.
Jue Wuchen seemed oblivious, continuing to walk toward the Taiji mineral vein. Gradually, Qin Mu sensed something was wrong and quickly looked around.
"The place Jue Wuchen is walking is not heading toward the center of the Taiji mineral vein. Following her path, she'll only deviate from the mining area and won't enter the real mine... I see. The Taiji ancient gods sensed someone following her and created a fake mining area!"
Qin Mu suddenly understood. "These two ancient gods are masters at creating fakes! And Empress Dowager doesn't only have Jue Wuchen's physical body to use; she also has her true body!"
He stopped tracking Qiang Tianfei, Jue Wuchen, and the Imperial Heavenly Honored One artifact, silently retreating and heading straight for the real mining area.
The Taiji mining area was familiar territory for him. The last time he came here, he needed the Taiji divine egg to mobilize the power of the Glazed Azure Sky Canopy to cross the extremely dangerous Taiji star domain. But this time, he was proficient in the four great Dao techniques of Taichu, Taishi, Taiji, and Taiji, and could venture deep into the Taiji star domain without any danger at all.
Qin Mu followed the path toward the mining area for a long time. Suddenly, he turned back and saw that he had long left the continent of the Ancestral Court and arrived in a vast starry sky.
He turned forward again, and ahead was still the desert, still in the Ancestral Court.
This was the extraordinary nature of the Taiji star domain.
"These two ancient gods have vast divine powers. The Grand Emperor and Madame Yuanmu are also local powers in the Ancestral Court, but finding the Taiji mining area would still cost them great effort. And if they are led by Jue Wuchen to another fake mining area created by the Taiji ancient gods, they probably won't be able to tell it's fake."
Qin Mu shook his head. At that moment, he saw Empress Dowager.
As he expected, Empress Dowager was now piloting her true body, walking through the black sand desert. The flying black sand was countless stars, and the wind was fierce, with black sand dancing in the air, dense and thicker than a rainstorm.
These grains of sand were stars. The gale swept up the black sand and blew it, and being hit by them was equivalent to having countless stars crashing down. Relying on one's own strength to resist, it was very difficult to cross this desert.
Qin Mu's form became ethereal, transforming into the formless, substance-less Taishi state, letting the black sand hit him, passing through his body without harming him in the slightest.
Strangely, although the black sand desert was so dangerous, the path Empress Dowager walked was completely calm. On both sides, black winds howled and black sand danced wildly, but before her was a smooth road.
"It is indeed the Taiji ancient gods guiding her," Qin Mu thought to himself.
He carefully observed his surroundings. The Taiji ancient gods probably hadn't discovered him. The density of black sand passing through his body was the same as elsewhere; it wasn't targeting him.
If they had discovered him, these two ancient gods could have targeted him to create more changes in the Taiji star domain. While they couldn't kill him, they could make it impossible for him to pinpoint the mining area's location.
Finally, Empress Dowager arrived at the center of the Taiji star domain. A mountain range like a dragon vein ran through the entire star domain, dividing it in half.
—For Qin Mu, this was a star domain; for her, it was just a desert.
What she saw with her eyes was a desert.
Empress Dowager ascended the mountain range. Ahead, mountain peaks moved on their own. Some peaks suddenly transformed from lifeless stone into living, flesh-and-blood giant beasts, standing up automatically to make way for her. Some valleys rose up on their own, turning into smooth roads.
"These two ancient gods are still biased. Last time I came here, they obstructed and blocked me in every way. But when Empress Dowager comes, they act like shameless sycophants."
Qin Mu shook his head and followed Empress Dowager into the mining area.
Empress Dowager advanced all the way, entering the mining area and looking around. The material changes in the area were unpredictable, and even she couldn't help but marvel.
Although she was also an ancient god, she didn't have the abilities of the Taiji ancient gods. As one of the goddesses of the Guixu, the Empress Dowager who was the mother of the world, she was still very envious of the Taiji ancient gods' abilities.
Finally, she arrived at the center of the Taiji mining area. A natural Eight Trigrams altar stood tall, with seven Taiji primal stones surrounding an ancient god egg, emitting a tranquil Dao light that harmonized with the mining area, extremely peaceful.
Empress Dowager bowed to the ancient god egg on the altar, then gracefully sat down, saying, "Dao brother's place here is quite peaceful, undisturbed by anyone. May I ask why you summoned me here?"
The Dao sound within the egg vibrated, transforming into a voice, sometimes male, sometimes female, laughing, "I invited you here, sister, to discuss a great matter."
Empress Dowager smiled faintly, not immediately taking up his thread. She looked around and said, "Dao brother's place is peaceful, but it seems someone has been here before. Even one of your primal stones is missing."
A male voice came from the egg, laughing, "To my shame, a few years ago, an uninvited guest stumbled upon my place and extorted one primal stone and a hundred divine stones from me."
Empress Dowager was visibly moved and asked curiously, "Who would dare to extort you, Dao brother?"
"That person is Qin Mu, Mu Tianzun, who is following behind you."
A female voice came from the egg, laughing sweetly, "Mu Tianzun, no need to hide. I discovered you long ago. Because I saw your techniques and divine powers, I knew I couldn't stop you, so I've been holding back. Please show yourself."
Empress Dowager was startled and quickly stood up, turning to look. She saw Qin Mu had somehow arrived not far behind her and was walking toward them.
"His strength isn't much, but his methods are extraordinary. Even I was fooled."
Empress Dowager became alert but wore a smile as she greeted Qin Mu.
Qin Mu returned the greeting, then also greeted the ancient god egg on the Eight Trigrams altar, and sat down together with Empress Dowager.
He habitually reached for his sword, wanting to thrust it into the altar like last time, but grasped empty air. Only then did he remember that his remnant sword had been shattered by the Kaihuang's Carefree Sword. He felt a slight regret.
"At the Heavenly Alliance meeting, the Kaihuang was too ruthless, breaking my sword to show that his sword Dao was number one. Otherwise, if I had thrust this sword into the altar, it would have reminded the Taiji ancient gods of the fear of being coerced and dominated by me, saving me from any tricks they might pull behind my back."
He perked up and laughed, "You two Dao brothers in the egg are truly carefree, inviting Empress Dowager here for tea but not inviting me. Where's our friendship? You pointed me to the Ancestral Court's first sacred land, the Great Black Tree, with its one hundred thousand Great Black Mountains—a godforsaken place! I took it! I haven't even thanked you two yet!"
A man's hearty laughter came from the egg, and a clear voice said, "Mu Tianzun, don't be smug and act innocent. You gained countless benefits at the Great Black Tree. Do you need me to spell it out?"
The female ancient god's voice came, crisp and clear, saying, "To others, that was the Ancestral Court's first deadly land, but to you, it was the first sacred land. We didn't say that wrong, did we?"
Qin Mu snorted and again wanted to draw his sword and thrust it into the altar, thinking, "These two ancient gods are not simple-hearted. Only with a sword pressed against the egg will they tell the truth. What a pity... I need to find the best divine metal and forge the best divine sword! Speaking of which, I think I was fooled by Grandpa Mute. He tricked me into believing that the remnant sword I forged was the best divine weapon..."
He stared blankly into space, unconsciously tugging at the beard on his chin again.
Empress Dowager glanced at him, amazed that he could still be distracted and think about other things in such a situation. She thought to herself, "Mu Tianzun always seems carefree and unconcerned... Strange, the Dao brother in the Taiji mineral vein has the same origin as that faithless scoundrel. How vast are his divine powers? Why does he seem somewhat afraid of him in his speech?"
She didn't know that when Qin Mu came last time, he had gone through countless hardships and dangers. If he hadn't learned the technique of material immutability, he would have been killed by the Taiji ancient gods and the mining area, with his corpse arranged in a thousand different poses.
It was precisely because the Taiji ancient gods couldn't deal with him and he had thrust his sword into the altar, threatening them, that they were somewhat afraid of him.
Of course, the ancient god in the egg wouldn't tell Empress Doward about this.
"Dao brother, why did you summon me here?" Empress Dowager asked.
A male voice sounded from the egg, laughing, "A few years ago, Taiji came to me, wanting me to come out of seclusion and conspire on a great matter. I refused. But she was relentless. She was born earlier, and we couldn't deal with her. Helpless, I had to tell her to go find Hao Tianzun."
Empress Dowager's heart trembled slightly. "The other ancient god in the egg went to find Hao Tianzun? With the support of such an ancient god, Hao Tianzun will be even harder to deal with!"
A female voice came from the egg again, saying, "Now that the Ancestral Court is fully open, this peaceful place of ours will likely find it hard to remain peaceful. So we also need a Dao companion. Because we suffered a loss at the hands of a certain post-natal being, who threatened us and forced us to hand over a Taiji primal stone, we don't trust post-natal beings."
Qin Mu rubbed his nose and again wanted to draw his sword and thrust it into the altar, thinking, "I must forge another divine sword!"
"So we want to find a trustworthy Dao companion from among the ancient gods."
The male voice on the altar came, saying, "Taiji, the way of Yin and Yang, endless birth and change, infinite. Among the ancient gods of the world, the one whose Dao aligns with ours and complements us perfectly is you, Empress Dowager."
"Empress Dowager is a Dao-born ancient god. Guixu is the place where all things end and also the place where all things are born."
The female voice from the egg came, saying, "Twin lotuses, one represents the Dao of destruction, the goddess of destruction who delights in chaos, and the other represents the Dao of life, the ancient god who nurtures all beings. The Taichu ancient god chose you as Empress Dowager for this reason."
"Yuanmu's Guixu is the abyss that devours everything; your Guixu is the Xuanpin that nurtures everything. One destroys, one creates."
"With your help, our Yin-Yang creation can reach great completion. With our help, you can also harmonize life and death, merge with Yuanmu, and become a unique existence."
"Sister, the reappearance of the Ancestral Court in the world means this is the great era of strife. The battles to come will be a hundred times more brutal and magnificent than even the great war of destruction in the ancient times!"
"Facing a war a hundred times greater than the one that destroyed the Creators, anyone risks falling! Including ancient gods, including Heavenly Honored Ones, including us, and even including those who have already achieved enlightenment—all may fall!"
"Join hands with us, prepare early. What do you think?"
Empress Dowager's body shook violently. A hundred times more brutal and magnificent than the Blood Rust Campaign? How could that be possible?