Chapter 1678: The Second Young Master Descends
"I have achieved enlightenment!"
Lady Yuanmu was ecstatic, but suddenly her eyes darted around. She waved her sleeve, and a great abyss appeared, from which Crown Prince Mingya and Xie Wuqi tumbled out.
Lady Yuanmu blinked, studying them with great interest.
Crown Prince Mingya's heart tightened. He could tell that the current Empress Dowager was different from the one before.
Lady Yuanmu chuckled softly, "Father and son killing each other, brothers slaughtering one another—how amusing! But I can't let Taichu and Hao'er recognize you..."
She activated the cycle of reincarnation, and the appearances of Crown Prince Mingya and Xie Wuqi instantly changed. Crown Prince Mingya became a handsome young general, while Xie Wuqi transformed into a silent, towering black-clad giant.
Lady Yuanmu was thrilled beyond measure, eager to drag the two before Emperor Hao Tian to see if he could recognize them.
Suddenly, she froze in place, dazed, her mind a blank.
After a moment, Lady Yuanmu came to her senses, but she had no memory of what had just happened.
"Did that little bitch, my sister, jump out?"
She felt a chill of fear, yet she was completely unaware that she was not the true Yuanmu but a consciousness created by Qin Mu using the cycle of reincarnation.
The reason she had lost focus for a moment was that when Qin Mu activated the cycle of reincarnation, the Empress Dowager resisted, causing the reincarnation technique to be imperfect.
"Will Hao'er cultivate the Guixu Mirror?"
Lady Yuanmu dismissed the incident from her mind, trembling with excitement, eager to stir up chaos: "Then, will the Second Young Master emerge? Once she appears, things will get much more interesting..."
On the Divine Consciousness Primordial Heaven, Qin Mu sat opposite Yun Tianzun.
After a moment, Qin Mu said, "Although Emperor Hao Tian is naturally suspicious, he will inevitably try the Guixu Mirror. He knows he is inferior to me, so to maintain his rule, he will attempt it no matter what! Once he does, the Second Young Master will possess him."
Yun Tianzun had already heard the full story and frowned. "How terrifying is the Second Young Master?"
"Just now, when I saw the Empress Dowager, I realized that with my current strength, I can no longer kill her. Her power can distort a realm like Grand Supreme Heaven, and her mere aura of the Dao can tear it apart."
Qin Mu continued, "The power the Second Young Master can bring over is not much stronger than the Empress Dowager's, but her understanding of the Guixu Dao is deeper, making her harder to deal with."
Yun Tianzun's eyes flickered. "I don't know exactly how strong the Empress Dowager is, but I know the strength of Emperor Hao Tian and Taichu very well. Brother Mu, I want to know how strong you are now!"
Qin Mu sat motionless. "You want to gauge my abilities to infer the Empress Dowager's power, and then deduce the strength of the Second Young Master, who has possessed half of Hao Tianzun?"
Yun Tianzun nodded, stood up, and reached out. The Taichu Imperial Sword flew into his hand.
Qin Mu remained seated, looking at the sword in his hand.
This imperial sword was Taichu's companion treasure. Because of the Grand Emperor, it had fallen into Yun Tianzun's control. After Yun Tianzun was resurrected, he had meticulously cultivated the sword techniques and Dao of the Yan Kang and Kai Huang eras to unleash the sword's full power, becoming a master swordsman.
With the sword in hand, he exuded the aura of Kai Huang in his prime.
Yun Tianzun stepped forward, activating the Taichu Imperial Sword.
The complete Taichu Primeval Stone in his brow shone brightly, and with a *ding*, its light struck the sword.
The power of Taichu's Dao within the sword gradually increased. With the Taichu Primeval Stone, one could control the imperial sword. Back then, the Grand Emperor had wielded both the stone and the sword, forcing even Taichu to submit and become his adopted son!
At the same time, Yun Tianzun used the sword to execute his sword Dao. Behind him, the Divine Consciousness Dao Fruit rotated, stacking thirty-six layers of divine consciousness domains!
His cultivation technique was the Purple Dawn Azure Fall Art, which excelled at absorbing nutrients from other techniques, and purple mist billowed behind him!
The variations and power of this sword strike were astonishingly strong!
Yun Tianzun had fought Taichu twice. The first time, he could barely hold his own; the second time, he was evenly matched and even seized Taichu's portion of the Taichu Primeval Stone when he let his guard down!
Yun Tianzun grew stronger each time, and this test of Qin Mu's abilities already displayed the combat power of a true enlightened being!
He could be said to have the highest cultivation talent of the Dragon Han era. When Qin Mu and Hao Tianzun taught the method of becoming a god on behalf of Imperial Heaven, they only established the realms of the Heavenly Palace and Heavenly Court. How to cultivate those realms was a mystery to everyone.
Everyone started from the same starting line, and Yun Tianzun was the first to explore and understand the Imperial Throne realm, as well as the first to cultivate to that level!
This sword strike was indescribably profound and marvelous!
However, as the sword approached Qin Mu, it met his finger.
This was the Hongmeng Finger, using Hongmeng primordial energy to construct Hongmeng runes, forming countless complex runic variations that evolved the Five Primordials and the myriad Daos of the universe!
When this finger struck, it was like the birth of the cosmos, experiencing the changes of the Five Primordials in an instant before giving rise to the myriad Daos of heaven and earth.
Previously, Qin Mu's finger had no variations, merely a simple imitation of the Meru Palace Dao patterns on the walls. After Ling Tianzun imparted her forty-thousand years of insight to Qin Mu, he had finally mastered it!
The sound of his finger was no longer a piercing air-split but a resonant bell toll—*bong*—that shook Yun Tianzun, forcing him to retreat step by step, dispersing the force of the strike.
Qin Mu raised his hand and looked at his fingertip. A speck of red appeared.
The Taichu Imperial Sword was still formidable. Yun Tianzun's strike had actually broken through his Hongmeng Finger and pierced his fingertip!
When the Yan Kang negotiations with the Heavenly Court broke down, Qin Mu had returned from the Ancestral Land and was blocked by Taichu. They fought in Taichu's One Qi Primordial Heaven, but Qin Mu was ambushed by the Third Young Master of Meru Palace. Targeting his weaknesses, the Third Young Master had created the great technique of Hongmeng Dissolution, executed through the hands of the twenty-four hall masters, turning Qin Mu into a Hongmeng state.
To counter Hongmeng Dissolution, Qin Mu, guided by Lan Yutian, cultivated the Hongmeng Body and forged a Hongmeng Primordial Spirit. Although he had not yet regained his peak power, his physical strength was terrifying!
His body could be said to be the strongest in history, far surpassing even the ancient god Heavenly Emperor Taichu. Yet Yun Tianzun's sword had broken through his defenses—truly impressive!
Yun Tianzun's steps shifted, and the Taichu Imperial Sword wove around Qin Mu, unleashing various exquisite sword techniques.
Qin Mu remained seated, his hands appearing before and behind him, unleashing a barrage of divine techniques and Dao powers. Sometimes he transformed into the Five Great Ore Veins, sometimes he used the Tribulation-Breaking Sword with his fingers, sometimes he manifested the Heavenly Capital Creation Chapter, and sometimes he executed Hongmeng techniques, blocking all of Yun Tianzun's attacks.
Yun Tianzun was forced farther and farther away, and the power of the Taichu Imperial Sword could no longer penetrate Qin Mu's techniques to threaten his body.
Suddenly, he let out a long cry, sheathed his sword, and a surge of innate one qi shot up from his head. The Taichu Primeval Stone on his brow shone even brighter. He activated the stone, channeling his Dao Tree and Dao Fruit, attempting to fuse innate one qi with the Divine Consciousness Dao to create a Taichu great technique!
His talent was indeed exceptional. After his resurrection, he had begun to comprehend Taichu's Dao and had already achieved some success!
His path differed from Qin Mu's, Taichu's, and Hao Tianzun's. He walked two paths simultaneously: cultivating the Divine Consciousness Dao to refine the Grand Emperor's Dao Fruit while also cultivating innate one qi, aiming to merge two types of Primordial Heavens into one and reach Taichu's level of enlightenment!
His Taichu techniques were indeed exquisite, showing signs of rivaling the ancient god Taichu himself!
Just as his Taichu technique reached Qin Mu, Qin Mu raised his right hand and spread his five fingers. Instantly, hundreds of Guixu Abysses of various sizes appeared around him, devouring all of Yun Tianzun's techniques. Not a trace of power could get close.
Yun Tianzun withdrew his stance, a look of disbelief on his face.
The Guixu Abysses around Qin Mu dissipated without endangering his Divine Consciousness Primordial Heaven.
Yun Tianzun hung the Taichu Imperial Sword on his Dao Tree and walked over, frowning. "If the Second Young Master has such means, she would be immune to all techniques, and no divine power could harm her. To injure her, one would have to fight in close quarters!"
Qin Mu shook his head. "She has immersed herself in the Guixu Dao, and her achievements surpass mine. Moreover, the Guixu Dao only takes in and never gives out. If you cannot kill her, the longer the battle drags on, the stronger she becomes! Even more terrifying is that if the Second Young Master possesses Hao Tianzun, she will try to break the seal of the Meru Palace master and release her true body! Once her true body emerges, even the First Young Master of Meru Palace might not be her match!"
Yun Tianzun's frown deepened. After a moment, he said, "Killing such an existence is too difficult."
Qin Mu's eyes flickered. "Back when you had nothing, you managed to scheme and kill the two supremes, the Grand Emperor and Taichu. Now that you have so many heavenly venerables, can you devise a plan to kill the Second Young Master?"
Yun Tianzun raised an eyebrow, meeting his gaze, and said solemnly, "To eliminate the Grand Emperor, I sacrificed a million creators to kill him. Langhuan still hates me for my ruthlessness. To eliminate the ancient god Heavenly Emperor Taichu, I didn't hesitate to hand over half of the Heavenly Alliance to Hao Tianzun, which later led to the Alliance's split, affecting history for hundreds of thousands of years. I will stop at nothing to achieve my goals. Are you sure you want me to scheme to kill the Second Young Master? How many people are you willing to sacrifice?"
Qin Mu's brow twitched.
Yun Tianzun's divine platform looked desolate as he said, "Mu Tianzun, after all, you are not me, nor are you a generation's Heavenly Emperor. The Yun Heavenly Emperor of the Xiao Han Heavenly Court can sacrifice everything—everyone around him, even himself—to achieve his goals! But you are not that kind of person."
He smiled and said, "That's why you are Mu Tianzun, not Mu Heavenly Emperor. Leave the matter of eliminating the Second Young Master to me. You don't need to worry."
Qin Mu stood up and said, "Once you come up with a plan, you must tell me! Don't act on your own!"
Yun Tianzun smiled faintly. "You can rest assured."
Qin Mu gave him a deep look, then turned and walked down from the Primordial Heaven.
In the Heavenly Court camp, at the Emperor's detached palace.
Emperor Hao Tian finally could not resist and began to cultivate the Guixu Mirror technique.
"Please, Brother, guard me."
Emperor Hao Tian, ever cautious, invited the Lingguan Hall Master. The Lingguan Hall Master said solemnly, "Your Majesty, rest assured. Are you worried about the Seventh Young Master attacking? With me here, he cannot break in."
Emperor Hao Tian shook his head. "I am not worried about Mu Tianzun. I am worried about the Emperor Emeritus and the Empress Dowager."
The Lingguan Hall Master paused slightly and said indifferently, "You beings of the Seventeenth Era are too filthy, even needing to guard against your own people. Rest assured, they dare not act recklessly."
He sat down, and Emperor Hao Tian, reassured, immediately began to cultivate the Guixu Mirror, dissolving the cultivation of his Guixu body.
The Guixu Mirror technique taught by "Yuanmu" was surprisingly smooth to cultivate. Emperor Hao Tian's Guixu body cultivation was extremely profound, making him one of the top heavenly venerables. As he dissolved all his cultivation, his spiritual embryo divine storage also annihilated, leaving only a chaotic pool in the Guixu Abyss!
The chaotic pool was like a bright mirror. Emperor Hao Tian used his Dao heart to gaze into it.
As he looked, another face was reflected on the chaotic pool in the abyss.
Emperor Hao Tian's mind exploded: "I've been tricked! The one who taught me the Guixu Mirror was not my mother, but the Empress Dowager!"
The moment he thought this, his mind became chaotic!
Emperor Hao Tian acted decisively, activating his innate one qi Dao, erecting a myriad Dao heavenly wheel behind him to guard his Dao heart. But another consciousness surged in like a tidal wave, obliterating the consciousness of his Guixu body and replacing it!
Emperor Hao Tian's Dao Tree flew over, standing behind him, and Dao flowers bloomed, shooting beams of light into his brain.
The Lingguan Hall Master sensed something was wrong and quickly stood up to look at Emperor Hao Tian. To his shock, Emperor Hao Tian's appearance suddenly changed. His chest swelled, and in the blink of an eye, he transformed into a beautiful woman!
The Lingguan Hall Master was about to strike, but when he saw this woman, he was terrified out of his wits. He immediately knelt on one knee: "Lingguan pays respects to the Second Young Master!"