Chapter 1521: So Many Sins, Committed in Thy Name
In front of the great hall, a tattered Dao Fruit floated. Within the Dao Fruit was a naked woman, watching Qin Mu, who walked out of the hall looking utterly lost and dispirited.
"Celestial Venerable Mu?" she called softly.
Qin Mu ignored her, sat down at the entrance of the hall, and stared blankly into space.
The Dao Fruit flew to his side, and the woman within said, "You have seen the master of the Miluo Palace, haven't you? Does he not give you a feeling of awe, like looking up at a mountain? I felt the same. Only he could create such a magnificent divine city, standing eternally at the end of the universe, indestructible even by the Calamity of Destruction. You killed the reincarnation of the Grand Emperor, so his responsibility now falls upon your shoulders..."
Qin Mu stood up and glanced at her. "What responsibility did the master of the Miluo Palace give the Grand Emperor?"
The woman in the Dao Fruit was about to continue when suddenly, the Chaotic Long River surged violently. A figure, radiating overwhelming power, stepped onto the long river and ascended the Miluo Palace.
Qin Mu looked into the distance and saw Xiao Tianzun, covered in blood, walking step by step toward him. His aura was immense, and behind him, the thirty-six Heavenly Palaces and forty-seven Divine Halls blazed with light, burning like divine fire.
The intensity of this aura was so great that even Qin Mu, far away, felt the pressure!
"Did Xiao Tianzun win?" Qin Mu was startled.
*Thud.*
Xiao Tianzun collapsed, face-first onto the ground, lying motionless. Falling in that posture, his nose would hit the ground and slide a few feet.
If he were an ordinary person, his nose would likely be ruined, but not for a Celestial Venerable.
"The battle between Hao Tianzun and Xiao Tianzun—Hao Tianzun actually won!"
Qin Mu was horrified. How did Hao Tianzun defeat Xiao Tianzun?
Xiao Tianzun was the reincarnation of the Heavenly Emperor Taichu!
Qin Mu had once joined forces with Qiang Tianfei to ambush Xiao Tianzun, only to be forced to flee in defeat. Now, Xiao Tianzun was so severely wounded—did that mean Hao Tianzun's strength surpassed Xiao Tianzun's?
But Hao Tianzun shouldn't have such formidable combat power!
Although Hao Tianzun controlled the world's resources, Xiao Tianzun possessed the Primordial Wood, was once the Heavenly Emperor, and now commanded the Taichu vein. After escaping from the chaotic space, his cultivation and strength were unfathomable!
Even with Taisu's help, Hao Tianzun should have had almost no chance of victory!
"Is Taisu's Dao Weapon truly that powerful? Or is there something else behind the battle between Hao and Xiao? But this is an opportunity—a perfect chance to take down Xiao Tianzun and sink him into the river!"
Qin Mu immediately cast aside all distracting thoughts, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes. "Wait! He already possesses the power of a Dao Achiever. Sinking him into the river might not kill him... Then I'll just chop him to death!"
The woman in the Dao Fruit had been about to explain the Grand Emperor's responsibility when she saw Qin Mu, who had just been listless, suddenly spring to life. He rushed toward Xiao Tianzun while drawing his Calamity Sword!
At the same time, the forty-nine Heavenly Dao Dao Weapons in his Embryonic Divine Treasure flew out, forming the shape of the supreme treasure Heavenly Blade, which his Primordial Spirit grabbed behind him, radiating killing intent.
Another arm sprouted from his armpit, grabbing the Taiyi Staff. With a stomp of his foot, the Execution Platform appeared. The two Blood Fiend Execution Divine Blades, though not yet restored to their peak state, were still immensely powerful.
The woman in the Dao Fruit was stunned, then relaxed. "This is the Young Master Mu I know..."
Qin Mu, his mind clear of distractions, accelerated. Just then, an unexpected change occurred. From one of the halls in the Miluo Palace, a door creaked open. A beam of light shone out, illuminating Xiao Tianzun.
Qin Mu stopped and looked at the light. He vaguely saw a figure walking along the light toward Xiao Tianzun!
The light retracted, returning to the hall, and Xiao Tianzun had vanished.
Qin Mu stared at that hall, shocked and uncertain. It was the Lingxiao Divine Hall!
"Which Young Master's hall is the Lingxiao Divine Hall?" he asked the approaching Dao Fruit.
The woman in the Dao Fruit said, "The Third Young Master's."
Qin Mu frowned, looking at the Lingxiao Divine Hall, and said solemnly, "Is the Third Young Master currently in the Lingxiao Divine Hall?"
The woman in the Dao Fruit shook her head. "The Third Young Master is elusive, rarely appearing. He should be in the Calamity of Destruction of the Sixth Universe right now."
Qin Mu's eyes flickered. Back then, when the Grand Emperor and Taichu led their forces into the Jade Capital City, they might not have seen the master of the Miluo Palace, but they must have seen the Lingxiao Divine Hall!
Now, Xiao Tianzun was severely wounded, light shot out from the Lingxiao Divine Hall, and Qin Mu had vaguely seen a figure in that light.
Was there a connection between this and the Grand Emperor and Taichu's exploration of the Jade Capital City?
Why did it happen so coincidentally that the Grand Emperor and Taichu chose to visualize the Lingxiao Divine Hall? Why, after Taichu became the Heavenly Emperor and established the Heavenly Court, was his supreme hall modeled after the Lingxiao Divine Hall of the Jade Capital City?
Why were the Lingxiao Realm and the Imperial Throne Realm later established as the supreme realms in the Heavenly Palace cultivation system?
And why was someone in the Lingxiao Divine Hall rescuing Xiao Tianzun?
"The waters of the Miluo Palace are deeper and murkier than I imagined!"
Qin Mu steadied himself. If the master of the Miluo Palace hadn't lied, then after his transformation into the Dao, the Miluo Palace had split into different factions, each trying to secretly control the future universe.
The path taken by the master of the Lingxiao Divine Hall, the "Third Young Master," must be the path of the "Jade Capital Trap"!
"The master of the Miluo Palace said there is no Jade Capital Trap. He meant that cultivating according to the layout of the Jade Capital City allows one to obtain the various Daos of the Dao Achievers from past universes and thus achieve Dao. Reaching the Miluo Palace means becoming a Dao Achiever, at least achieving Dao through sheer force! That path is correct."
"But someone tampered with this path from the very beginning. They changed the ultimate realm, the Miluo Palace, into the Lingxiao Divine Hall, turning it into the two realms of Lingxiao and Imperial Throne!"
"And that person is naturally..."
Qin Mu put away his Calamity Sword, Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasure, and Taiyi Staff, his gaze fixed on the Lingxiao Divine Hall. "The Third Young Master! When the Grand Emperor and Taichu came back then, it was the Third Young Master's scheme."
"Then, the Altar of the Ancestral Court, the Grand Emperor's massacre of the Creator race, and the creation of the Void Beasts and Mother Beasts—whose schemes were those? The Second Young Master's? The Fourth Young Master's? Or the Fifth or Sixth Young Master's?"
"These two schemes were likely set simultaneously after the Grand Emperor and Taichu first entered the Ancestral Court and the Jade Capital City! The Grand Emperor and Taichu were both their pawns—pawns in their open and secret struggles!"
"Taiyi's expulsion of the Creators and Ancient Gods, forcing them to leave the Ancestral Court, was an attempt to break one scheme—the scheme of the Ancestral Court Altar. But he didn't break the Third Young Master's Jade Capital Trap scheme."
Qin Mu took a deep breath, trying to view Taiyi's actions with a detached mindset, not letting the master of the Miluo Palace's words affect his thoughts. He murmured, "Taiyi guarded the Great Black Mountain, repairing it day and night. The Great Black Mountain was likely another scheme—the scheme of the Stowaways, trapping Taiyi there, forcing him to be unable to leave the Great Black Mountain or the Ancestral Court. And Taiyi broke that scheme by using me."
"Taiyi gained my trust, gave me his Dao Tree willow branch, iron bucket, and Dao Dew, making me repair the Great Black Mountain in his place, while he took the opportunity to leave and handle things he couldn't do before."
"After leaving the Great Black Mountain, he came to the Jade Capital City. Fighting the master of the Miluo Palace was one of his goals—to test whether the master was alive or dead, and possibly to probe his thoughts. Another goal was to set his own scheme."
"Thus, his being cast into the Fourth Universe wasn't entirely the master of the Miluo Palace's doing; it might have been his own intention to return to the past."
"Only by returning to the past could he conveniently set his scheme."
"Logically, I should have stayed at the Great Black Mountain, endlessly repairing it, unable to leave. But he didn't expect that I would pawn off that tedious task to Xu Shenghua and run out myself. I've always hated repeating the same thing day after day. So then..."
Qin Mu fell into thought, pacing back and forth, occasionally glancing at the Lingxiao Divine Hall, then at other halls of the Miluo Palace, like the Tai Shang Yu Qing Hall and the Zi Xiao Hall.
"Then, was the chaotic space where Yue Tianzun exiled Xiao Tianzun another scheme? Was it set by Taiyi or by a Young Master of the Miluo Palace? That place was also a refuge that the Crimson Emperor found for the Crimson Emperor God Clan, where the Suspended Realm lies..."
The Crimson Emperor found that place but couldn't leave alive, so his body merged with a small universe, forming the Suspended Realm.
Yue Tianzun also drifted there and discovered many incredible ruins. After Xiao Tianzun was exiled there by Yue Tianzun, he emerged with greatly increased strength.
Thus, Qin Mu suspected that place might also be a scheme set by the "Young Masters" of the Miluo Palace.
He exhaled a turbid breath. Taiyi's fall into the Fourth Universe seemed accidental, but now, having suddenly understood many things, he felt it was an event Taiyi deliberately made appear accidental but was actually inevitable!
"Did Hao Tianzun defeat Xiao Tianzun through his own strength, or was it a contest between two schemers?"
Qin Mu's thoughts deepened. Was there a schemer behind Hao Tianzun as well?
In this duel, the apparent victor was Hao Tianzun, but in reality, it was the schemer behind Hao Tianzun who won!
"There are still many secrets in this universe, but few can stump me now. These schemes set by the Young Masters are among the few that can."
He looked at the tattered Dao Fruit beside him and the woman within, then suddenly laughed. "Was the task the master of the Miluo Palace gave the Grand Emperor to stir up chaos, kill more powerful beings in the Ancestral Court, and initiate a blood sacrifice?"
The woman in the Dao Fruit smiled. "The Grand Emperor was useless. Only Celestial Venerable Mu, Young Master Mu, can accomplish this task."
Qin Mu laughed heartily, shook his head, and walked toward the Miluo Palace. "Master of the Miluo Palace, so many sins are committed in thy name. This scheme can fool the Grand Emperor, but not me. I won't fall for it. I'll stay here for a few days to comprehend the Dao patterns of the Miluo Palace. You may withdraw."
The woman in the Dao Fruit was stunned and shouted, "What do you mean by 'so many sins committed in thy name'? This task was personally given by the master of the Miluo Palace to the Grand Emperor, Juyushi!"
Qin Mu sneered, turned back, and laughed. "Have you seen the master of the Miluo Palace?"
The woman in the Dao Fruit was taken aback.
Qin Mu shook his head, arrived before the palace, and began to carefully study the runes on the palace walls, muttering, "Even after achieving Dao, still a foolish woman..."
"Who are you calling foolish?" the woman in the Dao Fruit roared angrily.
—Recommend two books: the first is an urban novel, *Rebirth: The Stirring Years*, the new work of Royal Hired Cat. The second is a new fantasy book, *I Possessed the Demon Emperor*, the new work of August Flying Eagle.