Chapter 1531: Pilgrimage
Heavenly Lord Hao and Heavenly Lord Xiao smiled slightly and strode into the Ten Thousand Mountains. Heavenly Lord Hao said leisurely, "Is Heavenly Lord Mu not here? Why hasn't he come to welcome us in person?"
Jiang Yunjian said, "My adoptive father is not here. He said that since Heavenly Consort Qiang is already dead, the opportunity is rare, and he has gone to rescue Heavenly Lord Ling."
The seven Heavenly Lords felt a chill in their hearts. Heavenly Lord Hao stopped and looked at Heavenly Lord Huo and Heavenly Lord Gong. Heavenly Lord Huo and Heavenly Lord Gong understood and turned to leave.
Heavenly Lord Xiao pondered for a moment, turned his head to look at the two Taiji Ancient Gods, and showed a questioning expression.
These two Taiji Ancient Gods had come to him this time, saying they wanted to assist him. Naturally, Heavenly Lord Xiao welcomed them with open arms. After all, he was now alone, with no experts by his side, and he was at a great disadvantage when facing Heavenly Lord Hao.
However, for this meeting with Taiyi, these two Ancient Gods were also among the Five Supreme Primordials. The Taiji Ancient God would certainly stay, and he also wanted to see Taiyi.
But rescuing Heavenly Lord Ling was of utmost importance. First, her death was related to him. Second, the one who killed Heavenly Lord Ling was Heavenly Lord Ming Fangyu, who had transformed from the primordial spirit of the Imperial Emperor. The physical body that Ming Fangyu controlled was none other than the true body of the Celestial Emperor Taichu!
If Qin Mu went to rescue Heavenly Lord Ling, then this would involve his Taichu true body!
His Taichu true body was the capital he relied on to defeat the six Heavenly Lords like Heavenly Lord Hao!
With his true body and mastery of the path to enlightenment, no one would be his match.
The Lunar Lady saw his hesitation and suddenly said, "Brother, stay here. I will go."
The Solar Ancient God said, "Sister, take our companion supreme treasures with you, just in case."
The Lunar Lady took the Taiji Sand Table and left.
Heavenly Lord Xiao breathed a sigh of relief and said to Jiang Yunjian with a smile, "Young master, you are elegant and spirited, and your cultivation is extraordinary at such a young age. May I ask who your teacher is?"
Heavenly Lord Hao's gaze also fell on Jiang Yunjian, and his heart stirred. Jiang Yunjian's cultivation was not particularly high, but his technique was indeed very strange, and his realm was also very peculiar. Even they could not tell what technique Jiang Yunjian was practicing or what realm he had reached.
Jiang Yunjian smiled and said, "My teacher is none other than Taiyi."
Everyone's expressions changed slightly.
Patriarch King, Heavenly Lord Xu, and the others exchanged glances. Patriarch King suddenly laughed and said, "Since Taiyi taught you your skills, they must be extremely formidable. No wonder you have such cultivation and strength at such a young age. I have heard that Taiyi knows everything. Since you are his distinguished disciple, let me test you to see how much of Taiyi's skill you have learned."
Jiang Yunjian was eager to try.
Patriarch King smiled slightly and spread his palm. Jiang Yunjian involuntarily fell into his palm.
"Don't worry. Since you have come from afar as a guest, I will not make things difficult for you."
Patriarch King looked at his palm and said with a smile, "As long as you can break through my Heavenly Dao Firmament, I will admit that you have learned Taiyi's skills."
Jiang Yunjian stood in his palm and looked up. He saw white clouds drifting, the sky blue, and the Heavenly Dao stretching far away, forming a myriad of celestial realms.
The various Heavenly Lords stopped and looked into Patriarch King's palm.
Patriarch King was the foremost authority on the Heavenly Dao in the current world. He personally tested Jiang Yunjian with the Heavenly Dao, setting up layers of Heavenly Dao seals in his palm. If Jiang Yunjian was indeed Taiyi's disciple, breaking these seals would not be difficult.
And from the process of Jiang Yunjian breaking the seals, they could catch a glimpse of Taiyi's techniques and divine abilities, thereby inferring Taiyi's strength.
Jiang Yunjian looked up and laughed, "So it's the Heavenly Dao seals. I thought the skills of the Heavenly Lords were extraordinary and transcendent, but I didn't expect such shallow divine abilities."
He walked out directly and gently tapped with his hand. The central hub of this great divine ability, the Heavenly Firmament Seal, immediately appeared. As the Heavenly Firmament Seal emerged, the other forty-eight Heavenly Dao seals also appeared one after another!
In Patriarch King's palm, the Heavenly Dao intertwined and interwove, the seals changing in countless ways, dazzling to the eye.
Jiang Yunjian ignored the other seals and directly broke the Heavenly Firmament Seal, causing all the changes in the Heavenly Dao to cease.
Jiang Yunjian calmly broke the other Heavenly Dao seals, walked out of Patriarch King's palm, jumped down, and landed on the ground. He thought to himself, "How embarrassing. If it weren't for my teacher taking me to the Heavenly Sea to comprehend the Heavenly Heart and leading me to understand the Heavenly Dao there, explaining it thoroughly, I wouldn't have been able to break Patriarch King's divine ability."
His teacher was, of course, not Taiyi.
Taiyi had never accepted disciples, never taught anyone techniques or divine abilities, and never transmitted the Dao.
Jiang Yunjian's teacher was Lan Yutian, and it was Qin Mu himself who asked Lan Yutian to take him as a disciple, making him a formal disciple.
Although Lan Yutian had many disciples, Jiang Yunjian was his only formal disciple.
Jiang Yunjian was also the first, and currently the only one, to practice the Five Supreme system created by Lan Yutian.
Among the younger generation of Yankang, his strength was the highest, even surpassing many of the older generation.
This was also the reason Qin Mu chose him to receive the guests.
Emperor Langxuan coughed and said, "Young master's skills are not bad. You have indeed gained some of Taiyi's abilities. I also want to test you a little. Don't take offense."
He was very polite, but as soon as he made his move, he used a Taichu divine ability.
Heavenly Lord Xiao's eyelids twitched. Although the Taichu divine ability that Emperor Langxuan displayed relied on the Dao fruit behind his head, it was extremely exquisite. Even he couldn't help but secretly praise his rebellious son's skill.
The Taichu divine ability that Emperor Langxuan used was a kind of Taichu seal, an enlightenment-level divine ability. Besides testing Jiang Yunjian, it also had the meaning of showing off to Heavenly Lord Xiao.
Heavenly Lord Xiao naturally understood this.
He also wanted to see if Jiang Yunjian, as Taiyi's successor, could break the Taichu divine ability.
Jiang Yunjian walked around within the divine ability and said with a smile, "This is a Taichu divine ability. Breaking it is a bit difficult. However, based on the Taichu Dao that my teacher taught me, this divine ability of yours is not entirely your own understanding. Even you yourself only half understand it."
Emperor Langxuan couldn't help but laugh, "Arrogant talk."
Soon, his expression changed.
He saw Jiang Yunjian actually find the weakness in his Taichu seal and calmly break the divine ability!
Emperor Langxuan's face darkened, and he suddenly said coldly, "You are Heavenly Lord Mu, aren't you? Do you think that by transforming into this young man's appearance, you can fool me?"
Jiang Yunjian was puzzled and said with a smile, "What nonsense is this Heavenly Lord talking about? Heavenly Lord Mu is my adoptive father. How could he impersonate me?"
Emperor Langxuan snorted coldly, still suspecting that Jiang Yunjian was Qin Mu in disguise.
"How interesting!"
Heavenly Lord Xu said with great interest, "Does Taiyi understand my Netherworld Dao?"
Jiang Yunjian looked at her. He saw that one of the horns on her head was missing, as if it had been cut off. He said with a smile, "Are you Heavenly Lord Xu? Where did the horn on your head go?"
Heavenly Lord Xu snorted, having no liking for this brat at all. She directly executed a demonic great divine ability and said lightly, "It was cut off by your adoptive father. Can't you recognize the sword wound on my horn?"
"I haven't learned sword techniques from my adoptive father." Jiang Yunjian said cautiously.
He observed Heavenly Lord Xu's divine ability, and after a moment, he also broke it.
Heavenly Lord Xu praised, "The one who taught you is truly formidable!"
Suddenly, the Solar Ancient God said, "I also want to test you a little."
Everyone used their divine abilities to test Jiang Yunjian, but without exception, they were all broken by him. Even when Heavenly Lord Hao and Heavenly Lord Xiao tested him personally, they couldn't stump him. Only then did the Heavenly Lords and Ancient Gods become sincerely convinced.
"A disciple of Taiyi should indeed have such skills." They no longer had any doubts in their hearts.
Jiang Yunjian glanced at the sky and suddenly said, "You have tested me for so long. Now, let me test you to see the true quality of you Heavenly Lords!"
Everyone laughed.
Patriarch King said with a smile, "It's only because you are Taiyi's disciple. If anyone else spoke to me like that, I would have beaten them to death long ago!"
Jiang Yunjian sneered, "So-called Heavenly Lords, are you afraid to accept a test? The test I will use for you is a Dao pattern array drawn by my master. I was stumped by it. If you can solve it, I will naturally kowtow and apologize to you! If you have the guts, follow me!"
The Heavenly Lords' hearts stirred: "A Dao pattern array drawn by Taiyi? This is not to be missed!"
They followed Jiang Yunjian to a cliff in the Ten Thousand Black Mountains. On the cliff wall, some Dao patterns were carved, forming an array. It was truly mysterious and profound!
Heavenly Lord Hao and Heavenly Lord Xiao's eyes fell on the array, and their expressions changed slightly. They thought to themselves, "Taiyi's divine abilities are indeed unfathomably deep. This Dao pattern array—I can't understand it at a glance!"
The Heavenly Lords and Ancient Gods pondered deeply. As soon as their eyes fell on the Dao patterns, they were involuntarily attracted by their mystery, sinking deeper and deeper. They felt that there was infinite mystery and endless change within, making them intoxicated.
Taishu saw the Taishu Dao within it. The Solar Ancient God saw the Taiji Dao within it. The others also saw their own Dao and techniques. The more they looked, the more they became engrossed.
Jiang Yunjian breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself, "My adoptive father told me to bring them here and use the Dao pattern array on the cliff to delay them until evening. It seems I can succeed. Strange, what exactly is this Dao pattern array? Why can even Heavenly Lords be stumped by it?"
The Dao pattern array on the cliff was personally carved by Qin Mu. Qin Mu instructed him not to look at it and to wake the Heavenly Lords when the sun was about to set, then lead them to the World Tree.
So he didn't really understand what the Dao pattern array on the cliff was.
However, his teacher Lan Yutian had been here and looked at the Dao pattern array on the cliff. He said it was a variant of the Primordial Qi runes and also told him not to look at it, or he would become engrossed.
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Yunjian saw the setting sun in the west and quickly coughed. He raised his voice and said, "Honorable Heavenly Lords, have you solved the mystery of this Dao pattern array?"
Heavenly Lord Hao, Heavenly Lord Xiao, and the others woke up. They saw the sun sinking in the west. They had been standing here, and unknowingly, most of the day had passed!
Heavenly Lord Xiao praised, "Brother Taiyi is truly extraordinary. This Dao pattern array—I haven't understood it. I can't help but feel awe and reverence for Brother Taiyi."
Jiang Yunjian sneered, "You tested me for no reason. Now you know my skill, don't you? Hurry up and go. You came to see my master, but you dawdled and wasted so much time. Making my master wait for you—how improper!"
Patriarch King was furious and thought to himself, "This little brat has a sharp tongue. Could it really not be Heavenly Lord Mu in disguise?"
The group followed Jiang Yunjian toward the World Tree. As they approached, the majestic tree appeared even more incomparably grand.
"This tree looks like the one in Heavenly Lord Mu's divine storage!"
The Heavenly Lords and Ancient Gods looked at the tree, praising it repeatedly. They thought to themselves, "But it is much larger than Heavenly Lord Mu's tree. This tree is the grandfather; Heavenly Lord Mu's tree is the grandson!"
They arrived under the tree. The sun in the western sky gradually sank below the mountains. The sun that revolved around the World Tree also gradually lost its light and dimmed.
At that moment, suddenly, a sound like the splitting of heaven and the cracking of earth came, shaking the Heavenly Lords so much that they couldn't stand steady!
Everyone's expression changed drastically. They saw that the vibration came from outside the Ten Thousand Black Mountains. They looked outward and saw that outside the Ten Thousand Black Mountains, it was as if the universe was annihilating!
All the myriad realms collapsed and disintegrated, leaving nothing behind!
Everyone's faces turned deathly pale in an instant. This scene was too shocking and at the same time confusing. For a moment, they thought the entire universe had truly been destroyed.
When they came to their senses, suddenly, Dao sounds swirled down from the sky.
Everyone looked up and saw the Ultimate Void appearing in the sky. A Dao tree with thousands of branches and ten thousand leaves appeared above them, faintly visible.
That Dao tree was lush and full of vitality, even more robust than the Dao tree they had seen in Jade Capital City. On the Dao tree, there was a Primordial Dao fruit, which made them feel awe!
Just as their eyes fell on that Dao fruit, suddenly, golden light swirled below. A golden, resplendent hall appeared abruptly before them!
The doors of the golden hall burst open with a bang. Chaotic Qi surged and drifted inside, and a figure could be faintly seen sitting in the hall.
Heavenly Lord Hao focused his eyes, trying to see the figure clearly. He could only barely make out that it was an old man. He whispered, "Aunt, is that Taiyi?"
The Taishu Goddess said, "When I saw him last time, he was a woman."
The Solar Ancient God said, "Yi means transformation and change. Taiyi can be male or female, can transform into all living beings, and can turn into all things. This is the unfathomable depth of an enlightened one!"
With that, he bowed deeply to the hall: "Taiji pays respects to Brother Dao!"
"No need for formalities."
Qin Mu's voice inside the hall sounded old and aged: "You have come to see me. What is the matter?"