Chapter 1557: Young Master Mu, Unrivaled Ying
Lady Yuanmu was startled, but upon hearing that he had only learned one percent of the skill, she relaxed again.
"If that dead man really has mastered the Red Rope Knot, then I'll have no choice but to make him a dead man ahead of schedule."
Lady Yuanmu smiled as she watched Qin Mu running around joyfully, thinking to herself, "But only one percent, that's nothing to worry about."
Qin Mu calmed down and sat on the red rope to wash up. He had been too disheveled just now, driven completely mad by the Red Rope Knot, losing all semblance of a Heavenly Lord's dignity.
He also needed this opportunity to calmly organize his gains from this period.
—Of course, it was also because the Red Rope Knot was too difficult, a problem he had never encountered before, yet it held an immense attraction for him, which caused his loss of composure.
Lady Yuanmu watched him calm down during his washing, remaining very quiet, his Dao heart as still as a placid sea. She couldn't help but admire the strength of his Dao heart.
Great joy and great sorrow, indulging in emotions.
Unrestrained and wild, reaching the utmost of passion and nature.
Yet able to return to the highest state of the Dao heart in such a short time—only a freak like Qin Mu in this world could do it.
Qin Mu looked at the Red Rope Knot, his gaze falling on the sixth red rope, and felt a surge of emotion.
The master of the Miluo Palace was indeed unfathomably profound, yet also possessed a compassionate heart. The sixth red rope was not the thread that triggered the power and might of this seal, but rather the trigger to undo this sealing technique.
Simply pulling this red rope would release the seal, freeing the Second Young Master of the Miluo Palace. He did not wish to kill his own disciple.
The Second Young Master guessed that the master of the Miluo Palace couldn't kill her—probably overestimating herself, being somewhat arrogant.
The master of the Miluo Palace had also hidden the mysteries of the Red Rope Knot within this red rope. This rope was essentially the key to understanding his divine art.
He feared that once the Second Young Master broke free, she would wreak havoc on the world with no one able to stop her, so he left behind the method to deal with her.
Qin Mu sighed in admiration, thinking to himself, "Whether it's his cultivation and strength or his conduct and actions, the master of the Miluo Palace leaves no room for criticism. His wisdom is also unmatched!"
The master of the Miluo Palace was the first and only person he could admire so completely.
Even Lan Yutian or Imperial Heavenly Lord Yu had shortcomings in wisdom and flaws in their conduct.
The dazzling and peerless Young Master Xu of the Upper Firmament, Xu Shenghua, also had character flaws.
The same went for Kai Huang.
As for Grand Emperor, Heavenly Lord Tai Chu, Hao Heavenly Lord, Yun Heavenly Lord, and others, they all had various deficiencies and were not perfect.
Even the unfathomable Tai Yi had his shortcomings, sometimes being deliberately mysterious, shrouding himself in an aura of enigma.
And Qin Mu himself had various character flaws.
Only the master of the Miluo Palace deserved the praise of being a perfect person.
"Darling, can we go now?" Lady Yuanmu urged excitedly.
Qin Mu took a deep look at the Red Rope Knot, stood up, and reviewed the Dao wonders he had comprehended over these past few days in his mind. After a moment, he smiled and said, "We can go."
Lady Yuanmu cheered, for the first time fully controlling this body, brimming with confidence. She laughed, "Once we go down, you use that strange domain of yours to assist me, and I'll contend with the Second Young Master! I'm still no match for her, but she's suppressed, so I can hold off a few moves. As long as we escape, I won't treat you badly!"
Having resolved her own flaws, her cultivation and strength had greatly increased, and her confidence had risen accordingly.
The two waited for the Guixu tidal surge to pass, then immediately leaped out of the red rope's range, descending with the Guixu's gravity.
Along the way, Qin Mu flicked his fingers repeatedly, activating the power of the five Dao chains. Countless Dao patterns emerged on the chains, vibrating continuously, surging downward along the chains!
Seeing this, Lady Yuanmu felt even more reassured. If Qin Mu could activate the Dao chains to limit the Second Young Master's strength, their chances of escape would be even greater.
"As soon as I shake off the Second Young Master, I'll send my little lover on his way."
She smiled, thinking to herself, "My little lover is too dangerous. If he gets out alive, he's too great a threat to me. And this threat grows by the day—his growth rate is too fast..."
The two plummeted rapidly, and the vibrations of the Dao chains grew more intense, clearly startling the Second Young Master suppressed in the Chaos Sea.
Suddenly, a vast whiteness appeared ahead. Qin Mu opened his vertical eye on his brow and shouted urgently, "It's the Second Young Master's hair! Watch out!"
His Spiritual Embryo Divine Treasury Domain spread out, and Lady Yuanmu stood within his domain, able to see everything front, back, left, and right. Any attack would hit her from the front, making it easier to block and counter!
"Excellent domain!"
She couldn't help but praise, and the next moment she saw the Second Young Master's hair—countless white strands woven into a cloth, spread flat across this Guixu Abyss!
Qin Mu and Yuanmu both let out a battle cry as they charged downward!
Qin Mu stood beneath the World Tree, arms sprouting from his armpits, three heads and six arms. Behind him, fifty-eight divine palaces formed the Jade Capital, guarding the Heavenly Court. His primordial spirit emerged from the Jade Capital city, majestic and vast, its billowing robes spinning to cover the entire city!
His physical body and primordial spirit acted simultaneously, grabbing the Dao chains and pouring all his magical power into them, enhancing their might!
Chi chi chi—
The web of white hair below was torn apart by the Dao chains' power, and the Spiritual Embryo Divine Treasury Domain carried the two through the gap in an instant!
Just as they passed through the web, countless white strands unfurled from the cloth-like formation, surging downward like countless hands and blades, attacking them wildly!
Lady Yuanmu fluttered up and down within the domain like a colorful butterfly, unleashing her most powerful divine arts to block all the hair attacks.
Her robes tore with chi chi sounds, cut into fluttering pieces by the white hair, revealing her fair skin.
The Spiritual Embryo Divine Treasury Domain continued to roar downward. In the Chaos Sea below, lotus leaves swayed, and on one leaf, white hair cascaded like a waterfall, shooting upward!
Although the Second Young Master of the Miluo Palace was a woman, she possessed unmatched strength. She pulled on the twin lotus flowers, uprooting the entire plant. Beneath the lotus was a section of lotus root, from which billowing Chaos Qi erupted!
Below the lotus root were tendrils, each dancing like a Chaos dragon, fiercely battling the Dao patterns erupting from the five Dao chains!
Whoosh—
The Second Young Master activated the lotus root, and above the Chaos Sea, countless Guixu Abysses appeared everywhere, flickering in and out of existence, unpredictable, devouring and eroding the Dao chains.
Lotus seeds shot out from the twin lotus flowers, each strike annihilating a patch of void!
Clearly, the twin lotus flowers of the Sixteenth Cosmic Era had matured, with seeds in the flowers and lotus roots below, unlike the Seventeenth Era's twin lotuses, which only had tendrils, no seeds or roots.
Knowing that Qin Mu and the Guixu Goddess had likely gained some fortune and greatly increased their strength, she pulled out all her trump cards.
However, the Dao chains' power was too great, suppressing her cultivation and strength, and the Chaos Sea's erosion further limited her combat effectiveness.
Even so, it was formidable—if she struck Qin Mu or Yuanmu with full force, they would be reduced to ashes, leaving nothing behind!
Fortunately, she had to contend with the Dao chains; otherwise, Qin Mu and Yuanmu would have no chance of escape!
As they descended, Yuanmu locked onto all the Second Young Master's fluctuating Guixu divine arts, dodging with Qin Mu. Suddenly, a lotus seed shot toward them, like a stone hitting a calm lake, crashing into Qin Mu's domain.
The seed's power erupted, transforming into an abyss that swept up the domain, pulling the vast starry sky and countless worlds into the seed!
Lady Yuanmu leaped up to meet the seed, activating her Guixu divine art. Her physical body and primordial spirit shook, turning into an abyss to clash head-on with the seed!
Qin Mu immediately stabilized the domain, halting their fall into the abyss.
With a series of cracking sounds, Lady Yuanmu's body exploded. In just one collision, she was reduced to a bloody mess, her entire body and primordial spirit without a single patch of intact skin.
Her essence, like a rainbow, was sucked into the abyss formed by the seed.
Qin Mu roared, activating the domain, and Lady Yuanmu's body and primordial spirit instantly restored themselves. The two gritted their teeth, resisting the seed.
Suddenly, strands of white hair pierced through the domain, and the next moment, both were impaled by a hundred strands.
The white hair tore in all directions, and the two shattered into countless pieces.
The seed whooshed, swallowing the countless fragments.
"With the Divine Tree undying, I am undying!"
Just as the seed flew toward the woman on the lotus leaf, it swelled larger and larger, then split apart. A lush World Tree rose from the ground.
Countless vital energies swirled around the tree, forming suns, moons, stars, heavenly palaces, and divine halls. All worlds emerged one by one, with Qin Mu and Lady Yuanmu standing beneath the tree.
Qin Mu shouted, activating the Ultimate Void Domain, making it paper-thin with no thickness. With a swoosh, it skimmed across the Chaos Sea's surface, speeding away from the Second Young Master!
The Second Young Master, resisting the Dao chains, shook the twin lotus flowers. A lotus leaf flew out, catching up to Qin Mu and the others, lightly sticking to the thicknessless domain.
The leaf retracted, flying back to the Second Young Master, bringing the domain with it.
Lady Yuanmu manifested thirty-six heavenly palaces behind her head, shouting, "Mu Heavenly Lord, lend me your divine palaces!"
Her Heavenly Court had only twenty-nine divine palaces. Hearing this, Qin Mu's fifty-eight palaces flew out, settling into her Heavenly Court.
Qin Mu activated the Tai Su Heavenly Palace, connecting the fifty-eight palaces with her twenty-nine. Some overlapped, but the total reached sixty-seven.
Lady Yuanmu's cultivation and magical power surged. She struck the lotus leaf with countless palm prints, forcing it away!
Qin Mu once again activated the Ultimate Void Domain, speeding away.
They drew closer to the Seventeenth Era's twin lotus flowers. On the lotus leaf beneath the flower, Bo Yang Divine King's skeleton was clearly visible.
Just then, strands of white hair flew over, wrapping around the twin lotus flowers, pulling them and the leaf backward!
Bo Yang Divine King's skeleton shook, fell into the Chaos Sea, and quickly dissolved into nothing.
"That's my lotus!"
Lady Yuanmu leaped into the air, grabbing the lotus stem. Her body grew larger, and with a shout, she uprooted the twin lotuses.
She nearly fell into the Chaos Sea, but Qin Mu's domain spread beneath her feet. Lady Yuanmu landed on the ancestral court, swung the twin lotuses to shake off the white hair, then spun and thrust them behind Qin Mu!
Behind Qin Mu, the Second Young Master's hand pierced through the Chaos mist. The five Dao chains wrapped around her fingers, exposing white bone, but the power of this strike was still immeasurable!
Lady Yuanmu screamed, pouring all her strength into the twin lotuses. Meanwhile, beneath the World Tree, Qin Mu's body swelled, uprooting the tree and meeting the Second Young Master's palm!
Boom!
With this collision, both bodies exploded repeatedly. Each time they exploded, they restored themselves, then exploded again. Even their primordial spirits were utterly destroyed!
Fortunately, Qin Mu's Bu Yi divine art erupted, allowing them to barely survive and block the Second Young Master's strike.
The Second Young Master reached out again, but the five Dao chains tightened around her, pulling her back into the Chaos Sea.
She let out an unwilling roar and sank into the Chaos Sea.
"Seventh, if I break free, I'll come for you!"
Qin Mu erected the World Tree, planting it firmly. The tree's roots danced, burrowing into his Spiritual Embryo Ancestral Court.
Lady Yuanmu also planted the twin lotuses into the Chaos Sea. Both were covered in wounds, but they exchanged a smile, then leaped up, flying toward the top of the Guixu.
The Guixu tidal surge erupted, accelerating their ascent. Their hearts were light as the entrance to the Guixu Abyss drew nearer.
They reached the flower chamber of the twin lotus flowers. Inside, it was peaceful, with stamens dancing in the tide.
Qin Mu stood at the edge of the chamber, looking down. The tidal currents were fierce, and the Chaos Sea below made his heart pound with lingering fear.
"We've finally escaped. My little lover, without you, I wouldn't know what to do."
Lady Yuanmu bit her lower lip, giggling, "How should I repay you, Qin?"
Qin Mu turned, his gaze tender, "How would you like to repay me, madam?"
"Naturally..."
Lady Yuanmu blushed shyly, twisting a corner of her robe. Suddenly, she raised her hand, and an abyss descended, laughing, "Naturally, by sending you to the afterlife! As long as you live, I can't rest easy!"
They were extremely close, and her strike was too fast for Qin Mu to react!
But just as she moved, Qin Mu, as if expecting her attack, opened his vertical eye. A wheel of light spun out, shooting into Yuanmu's brow!
"Empress, wake up!"
Inside Lady Yuanmu's body, the Empress's consciousness, trapped in countless cycles of reincarnation with no way out, immediately broke free and fought for control of the body!
Lady Yuanmu's strike hovered over Qin Mu's head but couldn't land. Her face showed terror, "You really left a trap..."
The twin lotus flowers rose in the tide, reaching the top of the abyss. Light streamed in, and the Styx River surged mightily.
Qin Mu looked at Lady Yuanmu's face and sighed.
He spread his right hand, pressing it against Lady Yuanmu's face, then turned away.
"Yuanmu, Empress, the divine art I've comprehended can't kill either of you, so I can only suppress you. If fate allows... farewell."
He moved his right hand away from her face and stepped out of the twin lotus flower chamber.
Qin Mu looked up at the Styx River.
"Red Rope Knot," he whispered.
Swoosh—
The five Dao chains passed through Lady Yuanmu's five senses. Five red ropes rose from the flower chamber, intertwining and crossing to form a Red Rope Knot.
The twin lotus flowers slowly sank, disappearing into the Guixu Abyss.
—A hefty chapter of over four thousand words