Chapter 1527: Fusion
Both Taiji Ancient Gods were already white-haired, their bodies and appearances no longer what they once were. This trip to Jade Capital City had also left them ravaged by the Calamity of Annihilation, aging them greatly.
"They must have left the Chaotic Long River while helping the Empress and Yumu fuse, and only now have they reached this place."
Qin Mu's gaze flickered, thinking to himself: "The reason they were so eager to leave Jade Capital City is probably because they fear the Guixu Goddess who is about to break out of her cocoon will harm them. After all, they are terrifyingly old now, while the one born from the cocoon could very well be an Ascender!"
Only by leaving Jade Capital City and regaining their youth and strength would the Taiji Ancient Gods have enough certainty to deal with any possible unforeseen changes.
Now they were extremely weak. If it was Yumu who broke out of the cocoon, they would have no chance of escape!
The two ancient gods were truly terrifyingly old, even too old to notice Qin Mu following behind them. After they came ashore, they dragged their Dao Tree with difficulty toward the city gates.
On that Dao Tree, a silkworm cocoon hung from a branch, about ten feet high. Within the cocoon, Dao light swirled, flickering in and out, and one could faintly see the silhouette of a woman swimming like an eel inside, constantly weaving this large cocoon.
The cocoon was made of Dao light, and the woman inside seemed like a silkworm undergoing metamorphosis, spitting out Dao light to weave the cocoon.
As the two ancient gods dragged the Dao Tree, the large cocoon swayed back and forth on the branches.
Behind them, the Golden Ship of Salvation emerged faintly from the Chaotic Long River, slowly sailing onto the shore.
At the bow of the ship, Qin Mu leaped down. With a thought, the golden ship shrank smaller and smaller, eventually flying into his brow and hovering above the canopy of the World Tree.
The World Tree had grown taller and more magnificent. Its branches and crown had expanded his Spiritual Embryo Divine Treasury more than tenfold, making the sky vast and the earth wide.
He had spent over three years in Jade Capital City, and during those three years, the World Tree had absorbed the energy of the Great Calamity of Annihilation from sixteen universes, growing significantly.
The growth of the World Tree also nourished his Spiritual Embryo Divine Treasury, making his Ancestral Court even more expansive, the myriad realms even more astonishing, and the various divinities almost tangible.
More crucially, there were the five major mineral veins in his Ancestral Court. These five veins were now even more astonishing than before, with mountain ranges undulating, a myriad of phenomena, and all kinds of divine light bursting forth from the veins, accompanied by the Dao sounds of various great Daos.
His greatest gain from the trip to Jade Capital City was not the Dao patterns of the Miluo Palace Master, nor the Divine Execution Blade of the Divine Execution Platform, nor the forty-nine Heavenly Dao supreme treasures, but the growth of the World Tree!
He followed unhurriedly behind the two Taiji Ancient Gods, a hint of hesitation in his heart.
"If I strike now, it would be the perfect opportunity to eliminate Lady Yumu and the Empress in one fell swoop! The Taiji Ancient Gods are completely unable to stop me, and I could even get rid of them as well..."
He found it hard to decide. The two ancient gods had done no evil and had even helped him greatly. Attacking them would weigh on his conscience.
But this was the best chance to completely eradicate Yumu and the Empress. They had not yet fully fused, not yet transformed. If they succeeded in fusing and transforming, becoming Ascenders, then eliminating them would be incredibly difficult!
In fact, Qin Mu might not even be able to escape from their grasp.
A cold glint flashed in Qin Mu's eyes. His right hand rested on the hilt of the Calamity Sword, and one by one, his fingers wrapped around it. The Calamity Sword silently slid out of its sheath.
Just then, the two ancient gods suddenly stopped. The white-haired Sun Ancient God laughed, "Is that Mu Tianzun?"
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow and smiled leisurely, "Have you two Dao friends sensed my killing intent?"
The Moon Ancient Goddess laughed, "Mu Tianzun is mistaken. It's not that we sensed your killing intent, but that we saw a Tianzun riding a golden ship."
Qin Mu was even more surprised. "You two saw me while on the river? Why didn't you stop to exchange a few words?"
The two ancient gods laughed, "We didn't dare. We are old and decrepit now, and we feared that if we stopped to greet you, we would be killed by Tianzun. So we had no choice but to pretend we didn't see Tianzun or the ship and just walked past you."
"We were also gambling. Gambling on whether Mu Tianzun's curiosity was really as strong as the rumors say. If Mu Tianzun is truly as curious as the rumors suggest, then he definitely wouldn't strike directly. Instead, he would follow us personally to see for himself how Yumu and the Empress fuse and ascend."
Qin Mu's face darkened. He continued walking toward them, grumbling, "You two Dao friends know me quite well. But now, I'm no longer curious. I only want to eliminate Shi Qiluo and Yan Tianfei."
The two ancient gods turned around together to face Qin Mu. The little old man, the Sun Ancient God, chuckled, "Shi Qiluo and Yan Tianfei, those two Tianzuns, no longer exist. What exists now is only the Guixu Goddess."
Qin Mu's Calamity Sword gradually increased in power. He smiled faintly, "Whether it's the Guixu Goddess, Shi Qiluo, or Yan Tianfei, I will kill them all today. I ask that you two Dao friends not block my way."
The little old woman, the Moon Ancient Goddess, hunched over, a cunning glint in her small eyes. She cackled, "Mu Tianzun, do you know what we siblings are best at?"
Qin Mu was startled, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.
"We siblings are best at faking things!"
The little old man and the little old woman spoke in unison, laughing together. "Before we were even born, we faked a Taiji mineral vein, fooling all the Creators, even the Great Emperor and the Three Ancient Kings! And now, we've fooled Mu Tianzun!"
Qin Mu's expression changed. He thrust his sword, but before his sword light could reach the two ancient gods, they, along with the Dao Tree and the large cocoon on it, suddenly burst with a bang, dissipating into Yin and Yang Qi!
"Brother Taishi, look at this. This is what it means to be a true veteran!" Qin Mu couldn't help but admire, speaking to the Taishi Ancient God, who was diligently absorbing the Taishi mineral vein in his Spiritual Embryo Divine Treasury.
His divine sense exploded outward, sweeping in all directions as he tried to locate the two ancient gods. But Jade Capital City was full of dangers everywhere, with hot and cold dead winds blowing. His divine sense quickly shattered!
Qin Mu soared into the air. The Golden Ship of Salvation flew out from his brow, expanding with a whoosh. Qin Mu landed precisely on the bow, and the Golden Ship of Salvation charged recklessly through Jade Capital City as Qin Mu stood at the bow, scanning around.
This golden ship ignored the hot and cold dead winds, ignored all the weirdness of Jade Capital City, and simply crushed everything in its path. On the ship, Qin Mu remained completely unharmed, as no anomaly could invade the vessel.
In the distance, the two Taiji Ancient Gods were dragging the Dao Tree, hurrying toward the city gates. Suddenly, they looked back and saw a massive golden ship rising from within Jade Capital City. The enormous hull passed over the top of a towering hall, scraping off the roof and collapsing a large chunk of it.
"So powerful!"
The two ancient gods were horrified. They mustered all their strength, dragging the Dao Tree as they fled.
Behind them came a violent crash. The Moon Ancient Goddess looked back and saw the Golden Ship of Salvation charging into a dense forest of Dao Trees. In that forest, the Dao Trees swayed their branches like tree demons, thousands of branches growing like countless tentacles, reaching toward the golden ship in the air.
The massive golden ship was actually pulled downward, seemingly about to crash into the forest.
The two ancient gods just breathed a sigh of relief when suddenly the Golden Ship of Salvation plunged into the forest, crushing everything in its path. It flattened the Dao Trees, snapping their trunks, and plowed straight through the forest!
Some of those Dao Trees still bore withered Dao Fruits, which were also ground into the earth. It was ferocious!
The two ancient gods gasped. They saw the golden ship rise into the air again, heading toward them, not dodging or avoiding anything in Jade Capital City, just crushing everything!
"That bastard Mu Tianzun fished this ship out of some river, and it's incredibly powerful!"
They dragged the Dao Tree with all their might, wishing they could immediately rush out of Jade Capital City and escape. But Jade Capital City was full of dangers, and one wrong move could mean death. Besides, they were truly too old to run fast.
Suddenly, a cracking sound came from the Dao Tree behind them. The two ancient gods' hearts stirred. They turned and saw that the large cocoon on the Dao Tree had somehow split open.
A beautiful woman was sitting in the cocoon, gnawing on it. The cocoon was made of Dao light, and she had already eaten a small portion!
The woman looked exactly like the Empress!
The two Taiji Ancient Gods stopped and looked at the Empress's brow. The Empress and Lady Yumu looked identical, with only one difference: their brows.
The Empress had a red mole on her brow, while Lady Yumu had a black mole.
Seeing that the woman in the cocoon had a red mole on her brow, the two ancient gods finally relaxed. They spoke in unison, "Congratulations, Dao friend!"
The Empress quickly finished eating the Dao cocoon, revealing a smile. She said leisurely, "You two Dao brothers, I must thank you. Without your help, how could I have absorbed that little wretch and recombined my body with hers?"
Behind her, thirty-six heavenly palaces burst forth, forming a heavenly court!
"By absorbing that little wretch, I gained everything she had, including the techniques and divine abilities of Hao Tianzun, Xiao Tianzun, and Hong Tianzun. So delicious... My little sister was truly delicious..."
She sat on the Dao Tree, then suddenly felt something. She floated up gracefully, turned around, and saw a magnificent golden ship charging toward her aggressively.
The two Taiji Ancient Gods each breathed a sigh of relief. But just as the Empress turned, her hair flying, the Sun and Moon Ancient Gods were stunned.
They saw that when the Empress's hair lifted, she had no back of the head!
Where the back of the head should have been, there was now a face!
A face identical to the Empress's!
The only difference was that this face had a black mole on its brow!
That face smiled charmingly at them and playfully stuck out its tongue.
The two Taiji Ancient Gods felt a chill run down their spines. "Lady Yumu!"
The Empress had not absorbed Lady Yumu. Instead, she had grown together with her into a single body with two faces!
The two ancient gods exchanged a glance, shuddered, and immediately fled toward the city gates as fast as they could.
"They've fused, not merged! The Empress and Yumu's bizarre personalities combined—won't that throw the world into chaos?"
Boom!
A violent crash came from behind them. The two ancient gods looked back and saw the Empress pinned under the Golden Ship of Salvation, only her pale calves sticking out.
At the bow of the ship, Qin Mu drew his sword, his killing intent pointing at the two ancient gods. He said coldly, "You two Dao friends, where have you hidden the Empress? Hand her over, and we can still be friends!"
"Are you blind?" the Empress groaned from under the ship.
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