Chapter 1525: Long River Zither Music
The Golden Ferry of Salvation arrived above the chaotic long river formed by the Fourth Universe, slowing its pace. Qin Mu stood at the bow, looking down, meticulously searching for traces of Taiyi.
Taiyi had been struck down into the Fourth Universe. Searching for his trace across an entire universe was like searching for a needle in a vast ocean.
However, during the Great Extinction Calamity, the universe collapsed, all living beings perished, the entire cosmos continuously shrank, space turned into nothingness, and matter transformed into energy. The only space left for movement was probably near the World Tree in the ancestral court.
Therefore, Qin Mu only needed to observe the remaining powerhouses of the Fourth Universe to find Taiyi.
However, Taiyi was a master of transformation. He had been struck down into the Extinction Calamity by the Master of the Miluo Palace and the powerhouses of the Fourth Universe, indicating that there were beings in the Fourth Universe capable of matching him.
Moreover, from what Wei Suifeng had revealed, Taiyi was severely injured by the Master of the Miluo Palace. He most likely changed his appearance immediately after falling into the Fourth Universe. Therefore, Qin Mu had to lock onto Taiyi's transformation from the very beginning of the Extinction Calamity to find out what he had turned into.
Qin Mu searched carefully, the Golden Ferry of Salvation moving unhurriedly. After who knows how many days, Qin Mu suddenly saw Taiyi's body rapidly falling from beneath the river surface into the chaotic long river!
His spirits lifted immensely.
This was the very scene of Taiyi being struck down into the Fourth Universe!
He concentrated, his vertical brow eye tightly locking onto Taiyi's falling figure.
The ones who pulled Taiyi into the chaotic long river were two Dao Achievers. The three of them continuously fought during their fall, their figures spinning like a revolving lantern, dazzling to the eye.
The Golden Ship continued forward. As the ship advanced, the battle below seemed to speed up countless times.
It could be seen that the giant Taiyi, due to his severe injuries, could hardly withstand the two Dao Achievers. However, he changed his form, transforming into a youth, and his injuries vanished without a trace.
But the youthful Taiyi's strength was still no match for the two, and he kept getting injured. Whenever his injuries worsened, Taiyi would change his form again, leaving the two Dao Achievers helpless.
Suddenly, Taiyi transformed into a wisp of chaotic energy and fled far away, the two Dao Achievers giving chase and fighting all the way.
On the Golden Ship, Qin Mu tightly locked onto the figures of these three. He saw them fighting all the way to the World Tree amidst the Extinction Calamity. Even while standing on the tree, they constantly moved and attacked each other.
As the Golden Ship moved, getting closer and closer to the opposite shore, the universe below was almost completely annihilated. Nearly all matter had turned into energy, compressed together. Chaotic energy swirled around the World Tree, an incredibly terrifying sight!
Such terrifying energy would mean certain death even for Dao Achievers. Only the World Tree remained as before, slowly stretching its roots and tendrils amidst this intensely concentrated Extinction Calamity, absorbing its energy.
There was no longer any soil on the roots and tendrils of this World Tree. The entire ancestral court had turned to ashes. Many Dao Achievers who couldn't make it to the World Tree in time turned into calamity ash.
However, some Dao Achievers did reach the tree, trying to burrow into its roots, attempting to crawl from this destroyed universe into the next era, the future universe.
On the World Tree, the three who were fighting could hardly withstand the intensely concentrated Extinction Calamity. They successively burrowed into the roots of the World Tree.
The entire Fourth Universe was completely annihilated, leaving only the World Tree floating in the chaotic energy, brewing for another creation of heaven and earth, the evolution of the universe.
It was then that Qin Mu saw Jade Capital City and was momentarily stunned.
He saw an extremely magnificent divine city continuously collapsing amidst the final great calamity of the universe's destruction, yet it was not completely destroyed!
Within this divine city stood a lush Dao Tree, stabilizing the chaotic energy. A figure stood beneath the Dao Tree, not heading for the World Tree.
He stood alone in the completely destroyed universe, his eyes filled only with sorrow and desolation, as if grieving over the destruction of this universe.
"The Master of the Miluo Palace!"
The Golden Ferry of Salvation paused slightly, arriving at the opposite shore. The ruins of a Jade Capital City from the Fourth Universe appeared before him.
Qin Mu pondered for a moment, his brow furrowed.
After observing for so long, he still couldn't discern any unique trait of Taiyi!
A person's traits are hard to change, yet every time Taiyi changed his form, his traits also changed, with no identical traits whatsoever!
Whether it was his words, actions, subtle expressions, or his divine abilities, none of them were repeated!
"Thinking back carefully, when I was at the Great Black Mountain, Taiyi also seemed to have no traits."
Qin Mu exhaled a turbid breath, urging the Golden Ship to fly over the Jade Capital City ruins between the two chaotic rivers, muttering softly, "When I recall everything about him now, although every impression is deep, when I try to remember his face, it's all chaos. Is this the trait of chaos?"
But the key problem lay here. Although he had tightly locked onto Taiyi during the Extinction Calamity of the Fourth Universe, he was completely ignorant of what form Taiyi had taken during the Extinction Calamity of the Fifth Universe.
Unable to find Taiyi's traits, he couldn't trace Taiyi's whereabouts in the Fifth Universe.
The subsequent Sixth Universe, Seventh Universe—there was no way to find him at all!
"He told me to find him using the map. Could it be related to that geographical map?"
Qin Mu mused. The geographical map left by Taiyi's staff was incredibly complex, a place he had never seen before. Moreover, Qin Mu didn't even know if this geographical map was of the current universe!
If it was a geographical map of a prehistoric universe, finding it would be even more impossible!
"Wait a moment. Taiyi has one obvious trait!"
Suddenly, Qin Mu's eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands, laughing: "Every time he changes, his voice, appearance, words, actions, habits, divine powers, and techniques are all different, but he has used one form more than once! That is the giant Taiyi!"
He became excited. The giant Taiyi should be his first body, the one wielding the Chaos Axe, his companion-born treasure, and also his most powerful form.
Taiyi had used this body when he tried to cut down the World Tree. Later, when the World Tree revived, he transformed back into the giant Taiyi, carrying the Chaos Axe to fell the tree again.
And in the Fourth Chaotic Long River, when Taiyi was struck down into the Fourth Universe, he initially used that body as well!
"That is to say, this is Taiyi's trait! I don't need to care about any of Taiyi's transformations. As long as I see the giant Taiyi in the subsequent universes, that person is definitely him!"
Qin Mu eagerly drove the Golden Ferry of Salvation ashore, flying over the ruins of the Fourth Universe's Jade Capital City, heading towards the chaotic long river of the Fifth Universe.
As he looked down, he couldn't help but think of that majestic figure standing amidst the ruins of the divine city, and the sorrow in his eyes.
"The Master of the Miluo Palace must have started building Jade Capital at that time, hoping to create a divine city that could shelter the weak. In his dream, this divine city was also the source of civilization for the next universe."
He suddenly understood why the Master of the Miluo Palace had become disheartened, why he had returned to the universe of his birth, and why he had chosen to dissolve into the Dao.
From the First Universe to the Sixteenth Universe, the Master of the Miluo Palace had always dreamed of saving everyone, yet he failed every time.
He settled for a lesser dream, creating a sheltering divine city to bring the seeds of past civilizations to the future universe. But these became tools for the young masters of Jade Capital City to vie for power.
Unable to find any hope, his heart died. He returned to the era of his birth, placed the Miluo Palace there, and chose eternal death.
"A person worthy of respect..."
Qin Mu jumped down from the Golden Ship, walking through the ruins of this Jade Capital City, commemorating that towering existence. His heart surged with emotion, eventually turning into reverence.
He paid his respects to these ruins, then leaped back onto the Golden Ferry of Salvation.
The Golden Ship sailed into the chaotic long river of the Fifth Universe, heading straight for the moment of the Fifth Universe's complete destruction. As the entire universe was utterly annihilated, he finally found Taiyi's trail.
When Taiyi fell into danger, he couldn't help but use his strongest physical form!
However, this time, searching for Taiyi's trace was no longer his main purpose. More of his time was spent looking at the Master of the Miluo Palace.
The Master of the Miluo Palace had built another Jade Capital City, but this time he wasn't alone. He had a few followers who helped him maintain the city, attempting to survive the Extinction Calamity without relying on the World Tree's power.
This calamity was no different from the last. Jade Capital City still turned to ruins.
Whether those followers of the Master of the Miluo Palace survived, Qin Mu didn't know. By the time the Fifth Universe was completely annihilated, he had already landed and couldn't see the final outcome.
The Golden Ferry of Salvation sailed over the Extinction Calamities of one universe after another. Many skeletal hands from beneath the chaotic long river reached for the ship, trying to board and cross the calamity.
Qin Mu drew his Calamity Sword, slashing continuously, cutting down those Dao Achievers who tried to board.
He found traces of Taiyi in each universe, witnessed the persistence of the Master of the Miluo Palace, and saw his followers growing in number.
The divine city they built became more complete, more solid. Through repeated failures, it grew increasingly closer to the Jade Capital City of later ages!
"The Jade Capital City of today was forged by the Master of the Miluo Palace through repeated failures, not built in a single day."
Qin Mu couldn't help but admire. From the process of the Master of the Miluo Palace building Jade Capital City, it was clear that there was no Jade Capital Trap!
The real traps were the Lingxiao Trap and the Zixiao Trap!
The Golden Ferry of Salvation arrived at the Extinction Calamity of the Tenth Universe. Here, all was calm, with no Dao Achievers trying to board the great ship.
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow, secretly urging the Golden Ferry of Salvation to speed up, remaining vigilant in his heart.
Last time, it was here that he encountered the Fourth Young Master of the Miluo Palace, that emperor-like Dao Achiever sitting under a tree reading a music score!
That time, under the false name of the Master of the Miluo Palace used by Nanxiang Yuanjun, the Fourth Young Master let them pass.
But the Fourth Young Master had never said he would let Qin Mu return!
More terrifyingly, other Dao Achievers couldn't leave the chaotic long river alive, yet this Fourth Young Master of the Miluo Palace stood safely on the river, his physical body, Dao Fruit, and Dao Tree all intact!
If he appeared again to block the way, even with the Golden Ferry of Salvation, Qin Mu wasn't sure he could escape!
The Golden Ferry of Salvation sped up, gradually reaching its maximum velocity. The ship got closer and closer to the opposite shore, and Qin Mu's tense nerves slowly relaxed.
Just then, a patch of chaotic mist surged ahead. From within the mist came the faint, intermittent sound of a zither.
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