Chapter 1512: Primordial Vital Energy
In the third Chaotic Long River, Qin Mu felt his World Tree growing once more. The peculiarity of this World Tree was that it could absorb chaotic energy from the Destruction Calamity to strengthen itself.
Even without reaching the Jade Capital realm, Qin Mu sensed his own divine power growing. Though not rapid, the increase in his cultivation was tangible—a rather strange phenomenon.
"Is the Jade Capital realm truly a necessary realm?"
He sank into contemplation.
After reaching the Nine Prisons Platform realm, the next step forward required entering the Jade Capital realm. Only by stepping into Jade Capital could one cultivate the Empyrean and Throne realms, and then advance to the Heavenly Court realm.
Unlike the traditional Heavenly Palace cultivation system, his path included the other three Heavenly Gate realms beyond the Four Heavenly Gates, as well as the Heavenly River realm and the Nine Prisons Platform realm.
From the perspective of the traditional Heavenly Palace system, he was currently somewhere between the Empyrean and Throne realms.
However, because he was unwilling to cultivate the Jade Capital realm, further improving his cultivation was extremely difficult. Yet now, thanks to the World Tree, his cultivation continued to rise. This suggested that beyond Jade Capital, Empyrean, and Throne, there might be other realms.
"Could it be the Five Primordial Tai realms?"
He focused his mind, delving into the reason for his cultivation's growth. "If I can establish the Five Tai realms through this, it might be an immeasurably meritorious achievement!"
His divine consciousness followed the World Tree to investigate, observing where the increase in his divine power came from.
Regarding the Five Primordial Tai, although he had long wished to treat them as realms, the five primordial great daos he had cultivated were merely insights into the five daos, comprehending their mysteries, and deriving divine abilities.
Simply comprehending divine abilities and understanding the dao could not be called realms—it was merely a method of cultivation.
To be considered realms, they needed to be opened up like the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasury or the Heavenly Palace, serving as a path of cultivation.
This required establishing standards!
During the early Dragon Han Era, the Seven Heavenly Lords who opened the seven divine treasury realms each established standards for their respective realms, earning them the title of Heavenly Lord. Imperial Heavenly Lord established the standard for the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasury, Hao Heavenly Lord established the standard for the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury, and so on.
Similarly, the various realms of the Heavenly Palace each had their standards established, making them easier to pass down.
By opening five major ore veins within his divine treasury, Qin Mu hoped to achieve this step.
"The World Tree devours the chaotic energy from the Chaotic Long River, and it is indeed being converted through the five major ore veins!"
Qin Mu observed carefully. The chaotic energy absorbed by the World Tree first flowed through the Chaotic Ore Vein representing the Taiyi Dao, transforming into a wondrous vital energy—Primordial Vital Energy.
Next, the Primordial Vital Energy flowed from the Chaotic Ore Vein into the Taichu Ore Vein, shifting from a chaotic state to a Taichu state, becoming Taichu Vital Energy.
Then it passed through the Taishi Ore Vein, transforming from the Taichu state to the Taishi state, becoming Taishi Vital Energy.
—The Taishi Egg took advantage of this, gaining many benefits. Qin Mu sensed that the Taishi within the egg had grown stronger than before.
From the Taishi Ore Vein, the Taishi Vital Energy flowed into the Taisu Ore Vein, becoming Taisu Vital Energy, and then into the Taiji Ore Vein, becoming Taiji Vital Energy.
Qin Mu focused on his observations, then suddenly recalled something. He took out the two Qiankun Mirrors that Wei Suifeng had given him. These mirrors contained a dao pattern from the master of Miluo Palace, which Wei Suifeng had copied using the Deaf Man's Qiankun Mirror.
During his journey to Jade Capital City, Qin Mu had studied them carefully, but gained little.
Now, as he pondered the Five Tai realms, he suddenly felt that the five peculiar vital energies were somewhat similar to the strange vital energy contained in the dao patterns of these two mirrors.
He carefully compared them with the Miluo Palace master's dao patterns. The principles within the dao patterns were far too profound, but now, using the Primordial Vital Energy of the Five Tai as a reference, Qin Mu gradually began to comprehend some truths.
He tried to use his own vital energy to form the lowest-level dao runes of the dao patterns, but he could never succeed.
"This vital energy within the dao patterns resembles Primordial Vital Energy..."
Qin Mu was stunned. Primordial Vital Energy corresponded to the Taiyi Ore Vein!
The Miluo Palace master's vital energy was Primordial Vital Energy, meaning he might be Taiyi—the Taiyi of the first cosmic era!
"I'm overthinking again."
He shook his head. Primordial Vital Energy was also a form of vital energy, corresponding to the Taiyi Ore Vein, but others could likely cultivate it as well. It might have little to do with Taiyi.
"If the Five Primordial Tai can be entered as realms, then this cultivation method would be one of cultivating five forms of vital energy!"
As soon as the thought came, he acted, immediately attempting to convert his own vital energy into Taiji Vital Energy.
"The Five Tai realms are five vital energy realms. Since the Jade Capital realm isn't safe, I'll convert my vital energy into Taiji Vital Energy, then from Taiji to Taisu, step by step, until I finally reach Primordial Vital Energy! If I can cultivate these five realms, achieving the Dao should be simple!"
Full of enthusiasm, he used his own vital energy to nourish the Taiji Ore Vein, attempting to integrate the Taiji Ore Vein into the energy circulation system of his Overlord Body Three Dan Technique.
Qiang Tianfei stood at the stern of the small boat, nervously watching the nine Heavenly Lords relentlessly pursuing them from behind. Compared to Qin Mu, she was far busier, having to guard against the nine Heavenly Lords' attacks while dealing with the strange creatures emerging from the river.
Fortunately, the power of the Beheading Divine Saber was extraordinary, allowing her to fend off the river's anomalies.
However, her cultivation was being drained enormously. If this continued, she feared she wouldn't be able to hold out until reaching the opposite shore of the Chaotic River.
"Pastoral Heavenly Lord stole my Beheading Platform. Without it, the Beheading Divine Saber's power can't reach its peak."
Qiang Tianfei's eyes flickered as she glanced at Qin Mu, who sat at the bow with his eyes closed, seemingly meditating or doing something else. He was holding two mirrors, one pressed against his left cheek and the other against his right cheek.
"This guy hasn't turned into a woman, but he's far more vain than I am."
Qiang Tianfei thought to herself, "I still need him to activate Taiyi's staff to cross the river, so I can't kill him yet. I'll play along with him for now and let him ferry me across. When we reach Miluo Palace, I'll tear him apart, take the staff, and reclaim the Beheading Platform!"
Just as she thought this, a thunderous boom erupted. Qin Mu exploded before her eyes, his entire body bursting into a terrifying torrent of energy that expanded outward!
Caught off guard, Qiang Tianfei was splattered with blood. She was stunned for a moment before remembering to wipe the blood from her face.
At that moment, time seemed to reverse. The surging energy rapidly contracted, converging back toward the boat's bow. Even the scattered blood flowed back. Qin Mu sat there perfectly fine again, as if the horrific explosion had been nothing but an illusion.
The two mirrors still hung on either side of his face, and Qin Mu remained with his eyes closed in concentration.
Qiang Tianfei shook her head and was about to speak when suddenly Qin Mu's body twisted violently. Under her gaze, heads sprouted wildly from his neck in an instant, quickly forming a massive, head-covered monster. Then it swelled and exploded, dying horribly!
Qiang Tianfei's eyes widened, but she saw the Epoch Reversal divine ability activate again, restoring Qin Mu to his previous state.
Boom!
Qin Mu transformed into a fleshy Taiji Diagram, with yin and yang energies swirling, tearing his flesh to pieces.
Boom!
Qin Mu became a majestic evil dragon, coiling at the boat's bow, baring its fangs at Qiang Tianfei.
Boom!
He turned into a mountain of stone, standing there.
Qiang Tianfei steadied herself and finally decided to ignore him, letting him change as he pleased.
After more than a month, Qiang Tianfei spotted the opposite shore in the distance and finally breathed a sigh of relief. During this time, Qin Mu had died countless times. In the last few days, he had finally stopped dying and his form had stabilized, which Qiang Tianfei found somewhat unsettling.
"Ahead should be the dwelling of the Miluo Palace master, right?" Qiang Tianfei gasped softly.
"The Miluo Palace master rules the opposite shore of the sixteenth Chaotic Long River, not here."
The woman within the Dao Fruit said, "Great Emperor, if you wish to see him, you need to cross thirteen more rivers."
Qiang Tianfei slumped in despair. She had little divine power left and needed to rest and recover some strength, or she wouldn't be able to cross the next Chaotic Long River!
But the nine Heavenly Lords had been steadily following them, giving her no chance to stop and recover.
"That brat Pastoral Heavenly Lord has been slacking off, sitting at the bow every day and finding new ways to die!"
Qiang Tianfei's malice surged. "If he doesn't start pulling his weight, I'll use my divine consciousness to possess him and turn back into a man!"
Suddenly, she sensed an unusual change within Qin Mu's body and froze.
This change was strange and wondrous. When she looked at him, he seemed as vast as the starry sky, with yin and yang evolving, myriad daos birthing, and all things flourishing within him.
This transformation seemed fundamental. She traced its source to Qin Mu's vital energy!
"What is this kid up to now?" Qiang Tianfei was deeply puzzled.
Different vital energies had different attributes. In the view of cultivators, this was determined by one's spiritual physique—different spiritual physiques possessed different vital energy attributes.
Even after reaching the divine realm and attempting to cultivate other dao techniques and divine abilities, the dominant vital energy remained aligned with one's spiritual physique.
But now, the feeling Qin Mu gave Qiang Tianfei was as if he had changed his spiritual physique entirely, becoming a type of spiritual physique she had never seen before.
"This aura feels like a Taiji spiritual physique... Could that brat be the illegitimate child of the two Taiji Ancient Gods?"
Qiang Tianfei blinked, thinking, "But they were just born, weren't they? And they're siblings..."
Qin Mu opened his eyes and exhaled a turbid breath, filled with joy. Over the past month, he had finally managed to touch the edge of the Five Tai realms!
He had initially figured out how to convert his own vital energy into Taiji Vital Energy!
"Whether or not I cultivate the Jade Capital realm, I won't be weaker than anyone—I might even be stronger!"
Just then, his gaze fell on Xiao Heavenly Lord, and his confidence immediately waned. "Well, I'm still no match for someone like Xiao Heavenly Lord for now..."