Chapter 1499: Journeying Alone to Jade Capital
Qin Mu sheathed his sword, descended, and expressed his thanks one by one to the four emperors who had come to assist him. When he came to the East Emperor Azure Dragon, the East Emperor laughed and said, "Heavenly Venerate Mu, you owe me a favor. Without the aid of my blood energy, you could not have forged this sword. Your divine sword's power even surpasses that of a Heavenly Venerate's treasure. This favor is a great one. In the future, you must repay me this favor."
Qin Mu agreed and asked, "Do you want an IOU?"
Just as the East Emperor was about to agree, the Heavenly Yin Empress quietly tugged at him and whispered, "Don't! The last person who asked him for an IOU was Heavenly Venerate Hong. I saw with my own eyes that when Heavenly Venerate Hong couldn't produce the IOU, he denied it and killed him, scattering his soul to the winds!"
The East Emperor Azure Dragon shuddered and forced a smile, saying, "It's enough that the Heavenly Venerate keeps it in his heart. As for IOUs and such, let's forget it."
Qin Mu sighed, "What a pity."
The East Emperor, not knowing what he meant by that, took his leave and departed.
Qin Mu watched him go, feeling regretful in his heart. "If I had written him an IOU, then when he couldn't produce it later, I could deny it. We would be acting according to the rules. But without an IOU, if he makes a fuss, it won't be easy for me to avoid repaying him the favor. I've always been one to keep my promises..."
He thanked the Black and Martial Emperors. The Black Emperor laughed and said, "We already had an agreement with the Great Dharma King. It was only right for us to come and help. Why thank us? We, as a couple, haven't even thanked the Heavenly Venerate for looking after our son."
Qin Mu said solemnly, "Over the years, the Glazed Azure Canopy has been in my possession. I took it without asking, and I feel deeply sorry for you both."
The Martial Emperor smiled, "An innocent man doesn't deserve punishment for possessing a treasure. The Heavenly Venerate taking the Glazed Azure Canopy was actually shielding our son from disaster."
The couple then left together.
Qin Mu came before the West Emperor White Tiger and said with a smile, "Sister, blowing the war horn just now to stimulate the East Emperor's blood energy was truly a stroke of genius."
The West Emperor giggled, "That East Emperor haggles over every penny. He's such a stingy person. I don't know how the South Emperor was so blind as to get together with him. I also saw that he was just going through the motions, so I gave you a hand. You don't need to thank me. You saved me once before!"
She transformed into a beam of golden light and vanished.
Qin Mu bowed to all the Artisans, Array Masters, and Sword Masters who had come to help, numbering in the tens of thousands. They returned the bow, and the leader, Yu Yuan Chu Yu, said with a smile, "National Teacher, by forging this sword for you, we have also gained immensely. If our sword paths can advance further in the future, it will surely be due to the merit of this forging!"
They all departed one after another.
Qin Mu saw Jiang Baigui and Emperor Yan Feng also preparing to leave and said, "Your Majesty, Junior Brother, after you go to the Jade Terrace, go first to the Heavenly Sea and comprehend the Heavenly Heart there. As for the Execution Platform, it fell into the hands of Qiang Tianfei. She took it away, and even the Kai Emperor didn't get a chance to step onto it. Be patient for now. I'll find a way."
Jiang Baigui said, "Senior Brother, aren't you going to cultivate the Innate and Acquired techniques that Teacher Woodcutter taught? This method is the most likely to allow one to cultivate the Grand Heavenly Court realm."
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. He was very curious about Woodcutter Saint's method of cultivating seventy-two divine halls and thirty-six heavenly palaces, and he also wanted to practice it.
However, cultivating this method clearly required a great deal of time and energy. Otherwise, Jiang Baigui wouldn't still be at the Jade Pool realm.
As for Woodcutter Saint, he cultivated three hundred and sixty heavenly palaces and three hundred and sixty acquired great daos, which took even more time.
Even with his lifelong wisdom, he might not be able to cultivate the Heavenly Heart, let alone the Execution Platform.
Seeing that Qin Mu wasn't very interested in learning, Jiang Baigui didn't insist and left with Emperor Yan Feng.
Qin Mu also saw off King Yan and bid farewell to the South Emperor, saying, "Sister, I need to borrow the Dao Fire Ancestral Land for a while."
The South Emperor said, "Take it. That ancestral land is no longer mine."
Qin Mu was slightly startled. The South Emperor laughed, "I died once and broke my connection with the Dao Fire Ancestral Land. It was taken by Fire Heavenly Venerate, then snatched away by Moon Heavenly Venerate, and now it's in your hands, refined by the Artisans. It has long since had nothing to do with me. I finally managed to shed my identity as an ancient god. Why would I cling to an old residence?"
She had always been generous and straightforward, and after being resurrected, she was even more open-minded than before.
Qin Mu laughed heartily, "Sister is truly carefree. Since you can discard the Dao Fire Ancestral Land like an old shoe, why must you insist on taking back your soul?"
The South Emperor Zhuque's face darkened, and she said flatly, "Bai Yuqiong says she is not me, but she is still me. Younger Brother Mu, although you are the Indestructible Great Dharma King who can revive souls, your understanding of the connection between my Earth Soul, Heaven Soul, and Divine Soul is still shallow. After I was resurrected, I could clearly sense the other me, sensing Bai Yuqiong. And she can sense me too. I have a premonition that in the future, we will still merge back into one."
She smiled radiantly and said, "Younger Brother Mu, as the South Emperor Zhuque, I only lived one life, and this is my second. As Bai Yuqiong, she still needs two more lives to reach two hundred. When we merge back into one, I will be both the South Emperor and Bai Yuqiong. Only then, when we recall the tribulations of these two hundred lives, our Dao hearts will be complete, and we will probably smile knowingly."
Qin Mu thought for a moment and didn't insist. He said to Yan'er, "Take good care of your mother. And, feed her less. She's already gotten fat."
The South Emperor feigned anger and made as if to hit him. Qin Mu laughed and dodged.
He bid farewell to the South Emperor and the Heavenly Yin Empress, took the Dao Fire Ancestral Land, and left the Heavenly Yin Realm with Blind, Granny Si, and the Nether Abyss Prince, returning to the Ancestral Court.
As for Mute, he was still in the Dao Fire Ancestral Land, standing there, immersed in enlightenment.
When the Artisan opens the way, the Great Dao is born. Perhaps this forging of the sword for Qin Mu would allow Mute to enter a completely new Dao realm in the path of forging, pushing this acquired great dao of forging to an unprecedented height.
"Mu'er, aren't you going back to the Sacred Mountain?"
When they reached the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Sacred Mountains in the Ancestral Court, Qin Mu handed the Dao Fire Ancestral Land to Granny Si. Granny Si frowned, guessing his intention, and asked, "Are you planning to go to Jade Capital City?"
Qin Mu nodded and said, "Taiyi is trapped in Jade Capital City. He told me to follow the map to save him, but I still don't understand what he meant by 'follow the map.' I need to go to the Ancestral Court myself to investigate. Also, I want to see Jade Capital City with my own eyes and understand its relationship with the Jade Capital realm. Without seeing it for myself, I will never be at ease."
He paused and explained to them, "I have already cultivated to the Nine Prisons Platform realm. To advance further, I must step into the Jade Capital trap! Otherwise, I will never be able to catch up to the Ten Heavenly Venerates in terms of magical power. Even if I cultivate to the thirty-sixth level of the Dao realm, I still won't be stronger than them in magical power. I must go to Jade Capital City."
Granny Si was secretly worried and asked, "If you leave the Dao Fire Ancestral Land at the Sacred Mountain, what if Fire Heavenly Venerate comes out of Jade Capital City and takes it back?"
Qin Mu smiled softly and said quietly, "Grandmother, rest assured. If I meet him in Jade Capital City, I will make him realize that the Dao Fire Ancestral Land no longer belongs to him, and that the Great Black Mountain of the Ancestral Court is a forbidden land he cannot set foot on."
His words exuded an immense sense of confidence, as if he had returned to his former self.
"Then, you should at least take Taiyi's walking stick, right?"
Granny Si stuffed the Taiyi walking stick into his hand and said, "Although you have the Tribulation Sword, Taiyi's walking stick is, after all, the Dao weapon of an accomplished Daoist. Carrying it can't hurt."
Qin Mu thought for a moment and accepted the walking stick. He waved his hand, watching Granny Si and the others walk into the Sacred Mountain and towards the World Tree. He said silently in his heart, "Grandmother, I won't let what happened to Grandpa Cripple happen to you all again. I've grown up. You used to protect me; now it's my turn to protect you."
He spread his cloak and turned to leave.
"Junior Brother!"
Wei Suifeng flew over quickly, holding a large tripod, and shouted, "Junior Brother, wait for me!"
Qin Mu stopped and frowned, "Senior Brother, I can't take you with me. Jade Capital City is too dangerous. I won't be able to focus on protecting you..."
"Pah, pah!"
Wei Suifeng was furious and said angrily, "I, the Yun Luo Emperor, have roamed and dominated for a million years. Do I need your protection? I'm saying that I've been to Jade Capital City before. I followed Taiyi across sixteen Chaos Rivers and left a geographical map. If you go there, using my map will save you a lot of trouble."
Qin Mu thanked him.
Wei Suifeng put down the large tripod. Star sand flew up from the tripod and combined in the air to form a geographical map of Jade Capital City.
However, this geographical map only marked the places where Wei Suifeng and Shu Jun had been. The places they hadn't been to were still blank.
Qin Mu studied it carefully and committed it to memory.
Just then, the star sand suddenly changed, revealing another geographical map. This map was completely different from the previous one, with thousands of paths and lines, extremely complex.
Qin Mu was surprised and studied this map closely. The geography in this map was something he had never seen before!
He looked at Wei Suifeng, who was also completely bewildered. He murmured, "This wasn't drawn by my divine ability... Ah! Taiyi once said that it was because he saw the geographical map I left outside the city that he knew where Shu Jun and I were, and thus was able to find us! Could it be that Taiyi, knowing he might not return, tampered with my tripod and used it to record his own footsteps?"
"That's possible."
Qin Mu memorized it carefully and said, "Brother Taiyi said to follow the map to save him. Then this map must be related to him. Is this a geographical map of Jade Capital City?"
He compared it with Wei Suifeng's map, but found no similarity between the two. Clearly, the map left by Taiyi was not of Jade Capital City.
Wei Suifeng then took out two mirrors and said, "Shu Jun and I went to the deepest part of Jade Capital City, the Miluo Palace. We copied a Dao mark imprint of the Miluo Palace's master from the palace wall. Take a look at it on the way. It might give you some understanding of him."
Qin Mu put away the two mirrors and glanced at them. His expression changed drastically.
Wei Suifeng hesitated for a moment, then finally made up his mind and turned to leave. He shook his head and said, "Although I really want to go with you into Jade Capital City again, after thinking about it, I really might hold you back. That damn place is just too dangerous..."
"Senior Brother, work hard on your cultivation!" Qin Mu called out.
"I know!" Wei Suifeng waved his hand impatiently.
Qin Mu laughed heartily, activated the Overlord Three Elixirs Technique, using the Carrying Extreme Heavenly Palace as the main focus, and crossed thousands of mountains and rivers in a single step, rushing towards the Jade Capital City in the Ancestral Court.
A day later, he finally arrived at the Jade Capital City in the Ancestral Court. He stopped outside the city and looked inside.
He saw that the entire ancient divine city was now fully revealed, majestic, magnificent, ancient, and dilapidated. This divine city gave one a feeling of being both real and unreal, as if it stood in the depths of ancient time and space, not within this universe.
It also seemed to have descended into this universe, exuding a feeling of suppressing all the great daos of heaven and earth.
And the thick, heavy death aura surrounding it and within the city gave Qin Mu an extremely uncomfortable feeling, as if the city was still shrouded in the great tribulation of the universe's destruction, unable to escape.
It seemed that as soon as one entered the city, they would be entangled by the great tribulation of destruction, facing extreme danger.
Qin Mu steadied his mind, holding the scabbard of the Tribulation Sword in his left hand, and stepped into the city.