Chapter 1661: I Rebel!
Shang Jun followed closely behind Qin Mu, wherever Qin Mu went, he went. He didn't need to think about whether the path Qin Mu took was correct, nor did he need to think about how Qin Mu used Hongmeng runes and Hongmeng primal energy to deceive the obelisk forest; he only needed to follow Qin Mu.
Traveling this path, stopping and starting, if Qin Mu were walking out of the obelisk forest alone, it would be much simpler. But with Shang Jun in tow, it became infinitely more complex.
The obelisk forest was created by the Eldest Young Master to suppress the paralyzed man's physical body and other cultivators who had attained the Dao. Shang Jun was among them. To deceive the obelisk forest, Qin Mu needed to use Hongmeng runic structures to conceal Shang Jun's own Dao aura, only then could he lead him out of this place.
The Hongmeng structure was also a great challenge for Qin Mu. He advanced while calculating. He was like a moving obelisk, with Shang Jun walking in his shadow, as if suppressed within Qin Mu's obelisk, thus not triggering any changes in the forest.
If Qin Mu's Hongmeng structure failed and Shang Jun's aura leaked, he would immediately be suppressed by the obelisk forest and directly driven into a real obelisk!
After an unknown amount of time, Qin Mu finally led Shang Jun out of the obelisk forest. His body steamed with sweat. During this time, he had pushed his mental faculties to the limit, searching for the only path of survival among countless changes, and finally walked out of the forest.
Now that he relaxed, his mind suddenly became dazed and his limbs weak. Qin Mu closed his eyes, took a few heavy breaths, and stood there to steady his mind.
Shang Jun looked back and saw the dense forest of obelisks standing there, so numerous that he could no longer find the path they had taken. He felt as if a lifetime had passed, recalling the Sixteenth Epoch, remembering his own persistence back then, and thinking about the experiences of his life—it all seemed like events from a past life.
And in this life, he would be reborn!
Soon, Qin Mu opened his eyes and walked towards the outside of this gate. Shang Jun still followed him. Qin Mu didn't speak, and Shang Jun didn't speak either. He seemed to have completely merged into Qin Mu's shadow.
He was an existence who had attained the Dao through killing, and had also been an assassin. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to kill a cultivator who had attained the Dao before he himself had done so. He lurked in Qin Mu's shadow, invisible to ordinary people, and even his aura was completely undetectable.
Just as the two were about to step out of the gate, Qin Mu suddenly stopped, and Shang Jun stopped with him.
Qin Mu cautiously looked outside. After a moment, he laughed heartily and said, "As fellow disciples of the Miluo Palace, Senior Brother, are you planning to help Third and Fourth Senior Brother while suppressing me? I've heard that Senior Brother is the teacher's most favored disciple. If it were the teacher, what would he do?"
Outside the gate, there was complete silence.
Shang Jun's heart pounded. He looked outside the gate. What was out there? Why did Qin Mu suddenly say this? Could it be that the Eldest Young Master of Miluo Palace was right outside the gate at this moment?
"The teacher can remain impartial, not favoring me, nor favoring the other senior brothers."
Qin Mu said calmly, "If you truly inherit the teacher's mantle, you won't stop me, nor will you stop Shang Jun. Because back then, when Shang Jun attained the Dao, the teacher didn't stop him either."
Outside the gate, there was still silence, no sound at all.
Shang Jun frowned slightly, thinking to himself, "Could the Young Master be mistaken? There's no one outside."
Just then, an obelisk appeared in their field of vision, drifting towards them. Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief, stepped out of the gate, and Shang Jun followed him from the shadows. No one stopped them. Only the obelisk silently drifted past them and into the gate.
Qin Mu looked back and saw the obelisk return to its original position and settle down.
Shang Jun hesitated from the shadows and said, "Young Master, the old man and the others..."
Qin Mu frowned slightly and raised his hand to stop him from continuing.
With the obelisk settling down, the old man, the old woman, Zhu Santong, and the others from that small village would likely be suppressed again, sealed within the obelisks, unable to escape!
Moreover, the obelisk array was now fully restored without any flaws. If Qin Mu were to return here in the future, he would have to rely on pure strength to forcefully break the formation!
And that would require combat power on par with Taiyi's!
"Combat power on par with Taiyi's..."
Qin Mu's eyes twitched, and he silently thought to himself, "I don't have it now, but I will in the future!"
Suddenly, the two broken door panels from within the gate flew up, merged together to form a complete door, and clicked into place on the gate. The two doors closed, and Hongmeng runes flowed over them, locking the gate.
"Big Senior Brother, you can't do what the teacher did!"
Qin Mu turned and left, his voice echoing through this abandoned land: "If you continue walking the teacher's path, even if you do exactly as he did, you won't escape his fate. The teacher has already failed! Why not try a different path?"
No one answered in the abandoned land.
Qin Mu led Shang Jun away into the distance.
When they finally left the abandoned land, Shang Jun voiced the doubt in his heart, asking, "Was the Eldest Young Master there just now?"
"He didn't truly descend."
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "He might be the most similar to the Master of Miluo Palace among the seven young masters, but he's only similar. His every move, even his philosophy, is the same as the Master of Miluo Palace's. I've never met him, but from his study of Hongmeng runes, I can discern his character. He suppresses his own nature to make himself more like the Master of Miluo Palace. Since that's the case, he will certainly follow the Master of Miluo Palace's instructions and return to his own cosmic epoch. Therefore, it's absolutely impossible for him to descend here."
Shang Jun was somewhat puzzled. He found it hard to understand someone like the Eldest Young Master of Miluo Palace.
"It was only a projection of his descent."
Qin Mu said, "When the old man and the others attacked his Dao tree, it still disturbed him, so he projected over to take a look. I had to reason with him emotionally and logically; otherwise, he would have sealed me in the gate as well. It's precisely because he imitates the Master of Miluo Palace that his temperament has flaws. As long as we grasp this, we can escape."
He let out a long breath and said, "If it weren't you following me, but the old man and the others, then we wouldn't have been able to escape... Let's go to the Ancestral Court and establish the ultimate void corresponding to the World Tree!"
He oriented himself and headed towards the Great Black Mountain in the Ancestral Court.
Netherworld.
Yu Ji, Shi Xiu, Ling Shu, and Ling Yuan were sacrificed one after another, their energy channeled into the past universe. As a result, the Dao tree of the Lingguan Hall Master became increasingly clear, and the Dao fruit on the tree grew stronger and stronger.
Now, ten years had passed. Once the sacrifice of the Ling Yuan heavens was complete, he could recover to his peak state from the Sixteenth Epoch. At that time, there would be no opponent for him in this universe.
The Lingguan Hall Master waited quietly. Today was the day the sacrifice of the Ling Yuan heavens would be completed, and also the day his Dao tree would fully descend.
Although he was a cultivator who had attained the Dao and lived through four cosmic epochs, with an incredibly resilient Dao heart, he couldn't help but feel a slight stir at this moment.
Once his Dao tree descended, he would be the first, ahead of everyone from Miluo Palace, to imprint his Dao in the ultimate void of this universe!
This was the first-mover advantage!
By imprinting his Dao first, before the collapse of this universe, he might even be able to cultivate his fourth Dao fruit!
"With the descent of Miluo Palace, the collapse of this universe is inevitable, probably even faster than the collapse of the Sixteenth Epoch. Not everyone has hope of cultivating another Dao fruit in this universe, but I can definitely do it."
The Lingguan Hall Master was in a great mood. This was precisely the reason he had risked offending the Seventh Young Master Qin Mu to descend here!
Finally, the Ling Yuan heavens completely turned into energy and disappeared. The Lingguan Hall Master felt an immensely powerful force of Dao surging from his Dao tree, Dao flower, and Dao fruit. He felt refreshed and called for the Void Revered One, saying, "Thank you for your care over these past ten years. I have repaid you by greatly enhancing your cultivation of the Netherworld Dao. Today, I have achieved my goal. I will go to your universe's void and attempt to imprint my Dao, establishing my ultimate Great Luo Heaven."
The Void Revered One bowed in thanks.
Over these ten years, the Lingguan Hall Master had guided her in cultivation, allowing her to benefit greatly. Her cultivation base and strength had advanced by leaps and bounds, far surpassing before.
"If you cultivate according to what I've taught you, attaining the Dao won't be difficult."
The Lingguan Hall Master stood with his Dao tree behind him and instructed, "If the Heavenly Emperor comes to ask, tell him directly that I have gone to imprint the ultimate void. Once I attain the Dao in this world, I can possess two Dao flowers and three Dao fruits. I only need to split my physical body, and I can transform into five cultivators who have attained the Dao to assist him."
The Void Revered One's heart trembled: "Five cultivators who have attained the Dao?"
The Lingguan Hall Master soared into the air, one step per layer of heaven. After thirty-six steps, he stepped into the ultimate void.
"This young universe has very few cultivators who have attained the Dao. Pitiful, with sixty billion years of history, yet so useless."
The Lingguan Hall Master sensed the fluctuations of the Great Luo Heavens coming from the ultimate void and discerned several of them. He couldn't help but shake his head.
He sat down and began to entrust his Dao. Even the cold, desolate wind of the ultimate void could not harm him in the slightest. He had attained the Dao in a past universe, not in this one, so he still needed to imprint his Dao in the ultimate void to fully unleash his cultivation and strength.
Under normal circumstances, he might choose to enter the world and cultivate, developing a path different from the previous cosmic epoch. This was the orthodox cultivation method of Miluo Palace.
"But this universe has the Seventh Young Master. I can't afford to cultivate in the orthodox way! After all, that is the Seventh Young Master..."
The Heavenly Court's vast army was getting closer and closer to the Yuan Realm, but along the way, the consumption of supplies was enormous. Even the Heavenly Court's astonishing financial resources found it difficult to sustain.
More critically, Yan Kang had severed all the spiritual energy transfer bridges connecting to the Heavenly Court, causing the Heavenly Court to lose control over the myriad heavens. Without the resources of the myriad heavens as a backing, the Heavenly Court's campaign against Yan Kang was already struggling just from the consumption along the way.
Meng Yungui was ordered to go to the Southern Heaven to plunder the wealth of its various heavens. Huo Tianzun's disciple, Yanya Zi, hurriedly welcomed him and personally entertained him. After receiving the Heavenly Emperor's decree, he immediately ordered the various heavens of the Southern Heaven to send their wealth.
Meng Yungui waited in the Southern Heaven for over ten days. Yanya Zi had already prepared everything. Hundreds of cargo ships were lined up in a row on the tributaries of the Heavenly River.
Yanya Zi respectfully saw off Meng Yungui and whispered, "Your subordinate has heard that the Heavenly Master is of the human race and loves rare treasures. Heavenly Master, that last small boat is a gift from your subordinate."
Meng Yungui boarded the ship, feeling quite contemptuous of Yanya Zi. He arrived at a multi-story ship and ordered, "Open the holds and inspect the supplies. Don't let there be any shortages."
The divine officials on the ship opened the holds. Meng Yungui looked into the hold and was stunned. The hold was packed full of humans—old people, young adults.
Meng Yungui's mind went blank. Yanya Zi quickly apologized with a smile, saying, "Heavenly Master, rest assured, I won't short you! All the humans in the Southern Heaven who are over forty years old have been sent! This is just two hundred ships. There will be a steady stream of slave ships coming later..."
Meng Yungui grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up, his voice hoarse: "I asked for supplies!"
"Heavenly Master, these are the supplies."
Yanya Zi struggled but couldn't break free. He quickly said, "During the Fire Thief's time, humans were sacrificed at seventy, but that's old news. Now, the Ancestral God King has redefined it—sacrifice at forty! Heavenly Master, rest assured, they are all willing!"
He turned his head and asked the hold, "Are you willing?"
The humans in the hold replied in unison, "Master, we are willing!"
Meng Yungui's hands went limp, and he set Yanya Zi down. He patted him on the shoulder and murmured, "Yanya Zi, you've done very well, very well..."
The supply fleet set off. Meng Yungui stood at the bow, clenching his fists again and again, only to release them again and again. He kept looking back at the long fleet, but each time he turned his head away.
"I am going to personally send these clansmen to the Heavenly Court's army, personally send them there, to be used as rations for the Heavenly Court's gods and demons..."
He was in a daze when suddenly a voice echoed in his mind like a nightmare.
"I have a dream... Heh, how cruel it is..."
He spat out a mouthful of blood, but his complexion improved significantly.
Yanya Zi watched the supply fleet disappear into the distance and was about to go back to prepare more slaves when suddenly Meng Yungui's voice came: "Yanya Zi!"
Yanya Zi quickly turned around, put on a flattering smile, and said, "Heavenly Master Meng..."
A flash of light pierced through his brow!
The world before Yanya Zi's eyes collapsed and gradually fell into darkness. He heard Meng Yungui's voice, filled with joy.
"I... rebel!"