Chapter 1567: Reincarnation and Return to Nothingness
In the Return to Nothingness Abyss, after Palace Heavenly Venerable departed, Qin Mu was left alone facing the Empress Dowager. With a smile on his face, he slowly retreated backward. The Empress Dowager frowned slightly and said, "Pastoral Heavenly Venerable, no need to retreat. You cannot escape. This is the Return to Nothingness."
Qin Mu suddenly transformed into a streak of flowing light, whistling outward as he fled, laughing loudly, "How would I know without trying?"
The Empress Dowager did not move, sneering coldly. Just as Qin Mu was about to fly out of the twin lotus, the lotus petals suddenly rotated, and in an instant, the two lotuses contracted into flower buds, sealing him inside the flower chamber!
Qin Mu flew rapidly around the flower bud but found no exit.
He immediately attempted a teleportation divine ability, but teleportation was based on space. The space within the flower chamber was completely isolated from the outside world, making it impossible for his teleportation to break through!
Qin Mu landed, frowning deeply.
If there was any place in this world that he feared, the Return to Nothingness Abyss was definitely one of them.
The Return to Nothingness divine abilities were among the few that could completely annihilate the soul. There were not many such abilities: the divine abilities of the Five Primordial Phases, and the Grand Primordial Divine Awareness Heaven of the Grand Emperor could all achieve this.
Aside from these, there were the Return to Nothingness divine abilities.
Moreover, this place, the Return to Nothingness, was a location that even the Opening Emperor could not see through when he attained the Dao. It stood alongside the Ancestral Court Jade Capital City and the Chaotic Space, demonstrating its extraordinary nature!
The Empress Dowager and Lady Yuanmu, as beings born from the Dao of this place, ranked among the ancient gods, but they were not the most powerful. Yet the power of the Return to Nothingness itself far surpassed these two ancient gods, highlighting its eerie nature!
The Empress Dowager raised her hand, and the twin lotus bloomed again. Outside the lotus, the tide receded, and the lotus itself slowly sank into the abyss.
"This is my birthplace," the Empress Dowager said coldly. "After I devour that little wretch, I will be able to control everything here. I can manipulate the twin lotus, making it bloom or close. I can also control the tides, and even the abyss itself, allowing it to devour all heavens and realms, countless stars!"
The Empress Dowager's expression remained indifferent as she continued, "Pastoral Heavenly Venerable, no matter how vast your divine abilities, they are useless before me."
Qin Mu sighed helplessly, "You are right, Empress Dowager. You have now surpassed my understanding. When I look at the Opening Emperor, the Grand Emperor, Dawn Heavenly Venerable, or Hao Heavenly Venerable, I can clearly gauge their power. But when facing you, I cannot see your depth. What kind of monster did the Taiji Ancient God turn you into..."
"Little enemy."
The Empress Dowager's neck twisted, her head turning half a circle, revealing Lady Yuanmu's face on the back of her head, speaking seductively, "Calling me a monster. I want to eat you, bite every inch of your skin, little by little..."
The Empress Dowager's neck twisted back, and she said harshly, "Little wretch, don't test my limits!"
"Do you have limits?"
Lady Yuanmu turned her head forward again, giggling, "I only talk, but I've never done anything too outrageous. What about you? How many things have you done that even you find disgusting? Sister, can you even count them?"
The two began arguing again, and Qin Mu quietly retreated, thinking, "If I'm fast enough, I should be able to get out of here..."
Suddenly, the arguing stopped. Qin Mu knew something was wrong. Sure enough, the faces of Lady Yuanmu and the Empress Dowager merged into one, their eyes fixed directly on him.
Qin Mu coughed dryly, looked around, and praised, "The scenery here is really quite nice."
The Empress Dowager sneered, "Pastoral Heavenly Venerable, teach me the complete path of reincarnation, and I will let you live."
"Teach me, and I'll make you feel good!" Lady Yuanmu said excitedly.
Qin Mu's face darkened like iron. He simply sat down and said, "No matter which of you I offend, I will die. How about this: I will recite the path of reincarnation, and you both listen. Whichever of you comprehends it first and kills the other, that has nothing to do with me. What do you two think?"
Without waiting for their reply, he began reciting the scripture. The Empress Dowager immediately listened intently, not daring to miss a single word. Before long, she fell silent, focusing all her mind on comprehending the path of reincarnation.
Qin Mu's eyes flickered. As he recited, he looked up and his face turned ashen.
The twin lotus had completely sunk into the dark abyss, descending deeper and deeper. Looking up, he could only see a sliver of sky.
Moreover, the twin lotus continued to sink, heading to an unknown destination.
Qin Mu looked at the dead stars sinking past the lotus and the Styx River falling into the abyss, feeling deeply troubled.
The Empress Dowager and her sister were comprehending the path of reincarnation and would eventually wake up. They had grown smarter, keeping the lotus open but sinking it deep into the Return to Nothingness, preventing Qin Mu from escaping.
If Qin Mu left the lotus, he would be caught by the terrifying gravitational pull of the Return to Nothingness Abyss and dragged into the unpredictable darkness.
"Those two madwomen don't realize they aren't two people but two minds of one person."
Qin Mu shook his head, thinking, "I'm really done for this time. Falling into the hands of the only one who can counter me, the Return to Nothingness Divine Maiden controls this lotus. Even the Opening Emperor, who has attained the Dao, might not be her match... Hmm, what exactly is beneath the Return to Nothingness?"
His curiosity stirred again. As he recited the scripture of the path of reincarnation, he leaned out to look down.
The moment his head emerged from the lotus, he felt an immense weight. The unimaginable gravitational force stretched his head long, while boundless heat surged toward him!
Qin Mu quickly activated his magical power to pull his head back, shaken.
"Whether it's the Empress Dowager or Lady Yuanmu, I've studied their physical bodies for decades. The Return to Nothingness Dao has two aspects: destruction and creation. Although I haven't fused these two Daos, I shouldn't be killed by the Return to Nothingness Abyss, right?"
He thought for a moment. The Taiji Ancient God used the Taiji Dao to fuse the Empress Dowager and Lady Yuanmu into one person. Because their thoughts and consciousness were different, the resulting Return to Nothingness Divine Maiden was insane.
What if he used the Taiji Dao to fuse the Return to Nothingness Dao he had cultivated?
"I only have one consciousness, so naturally, I won't end up as insane as the Return to Nothingness Divine Maiden."
Qin Mu blinked, thinking, "If I can achieve this, then the Return to Nothingness won't trap me, and the Return to Nothingness Divine Maiden's abilities won't be unknown to me. That way, I'll have a chance to survive."
The twin lotus continued to sink. Last time Qin Mu was here, the lotus only sank to a certain depth before stopping. But this time, the Empress Dowager controlled it, making it fall continuously, filling Qin Mu with unease.
This woman's state was unstable. If they entered the place the Opening Emperor had mentioned, it would be extremely dangerous!
He made a decisive decision and immediately began attempting to use the Taiji Dao to fuse the Return to Nothingness Dao.
The Taiji Ancient God had made a mistake when fusing the Empress Dowager and Lady Yuanmu. Although the resulting Return to Nothingness Divine Maiden was incredibly powerful, she was insane, showing that this method was not mature. But Qin Mu had no choice.
However, when he actually began, he found it extremely difficult. His understanding of the Taiji Dao was inferior to that of the Taiji Ancient God.
"More importantly, the Empress Dowager and Lady Yuanmu represent creation and destruction, which don't perfectly align with the yin and yang of the Taiji Dao. They are different Daos. The Taiji Ancient God's brute-force approach naturally caused problems."
He fell into deep thought, letting his primordial spirit recite the path of reincarnation while he pondered how to perfectly fuse creation and destruction.
He paced back and forth, trying to use the Taisu Dao, Taishi Dao, and Taichu Dao to fuse the two Daos, but he was never satisfied.
Just then, Qin Mu heard his primordial spirit's recitation, and his mind exploded. He laughed at himself, "I've been thinking and searching everywhere, but I didn't realize the answer was already given to me! What a miscalculation!"
"The path of reincarnation: one life, one death. Life and death are both within reincarnation. On a small scale, it's the reincarnation of life. On a larger scale, it's the reincarnation of matter. On an even larger scale, it's the reincarnation of the universe's birth and death. All living beings, the vast universe, all desires and causes, reincarnate through the six paths, struggling endlessly, cycling back and forth."
"I was too focused on seeking answers from others, like the Five Primordial Phases, without looking within myself. So that's it! So that's it!"
He calmed his mind. The path of reincarnation was something he had learned from the Nether Emperor. The Nether Emperor's path of reincarnation was already profound, but after Qin Mu improved it, it became even more mysterious and unfathomable. Otherwise, it wouldn't have captivated the Empress Dowager and Lady Yuanmu so deeply, making them believe it could solve their predicament.
However, whether it was the Nether Emperor's or Qin Mu's improved version, both focused on the reincarnation of life's birth and death, without touching on larger aspects. They had inherent limitations.
The current path of reincarnation alone could not solve the Return to Nothingness Divine Maiden's predicament.
Because the Return to Nothingness Dao was more like the reincarnation of matter, involving the birth and death of the universe.
"To expand the path of reincarnation further, I can use the divine abilities of creation, Ling Heavenly Venerable's Immutable Divine Ability, and the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha's Infinite Kalpa Sutra. Pushing further, I can even use the Five Primordial Phases, including the Taiyi Dao! Only then can I explain the reincarnation of the universe's birth and death."
"However, unifying this path of reincarnation is a challenge. Even the reincarnation of life's birth and death involves the confusion of the womb. I can use the Infinite Kalpa Sutra's dream entry into the Dao to avoid that confusion. But the reincarnation of matter and energy, and even the universe's birth and death, can easily lead to losing oneself. I need to find an eternal, unchanging principle that is unaffected by birth and death, to ensure I don't fall into chaos during reincarnation..."
Suddenly, Qin Mu's eyes lit up. He stopped walking, opened his divine treasury domain, and the World Tree appeared behind him, standing tall.
"The World Tree can survive the great kalpas of the universe's birth and death without perishing. Using the World Tree as a foundation, I can achieve this grand unification!"
He sat down beneath the tree, entering a state of ultimate stillness, comprehending the path of reincarnation, trying to elevate this Dao to a higher level.
Above his head, his primordial spirit, vast and immense, sat in his celestial court, continuously expounding the path of reincarnation.
At this moment, Qin Mu fell into a state of stillness, as if he had become a Return to Nothingness, collapsing into himself.