Chapter 1731: The Thatched Cottage Meets the Grand Elder Tai Shang
The Ferry of the Ages sailed into the ultimate void, Qin Mu standing at the bow. The golden ship drifted silently, moving in the direction his heart dictated.
"Forty-two years are very close now. You should be appearing soon as well."
Qin Mu stood at the bow, not looking behind him. Behind him, a figure appeared, hazy and indistinct. If anyone’s gaze fell upon that person, they would vanish.
Qin Mu did not look at that person but spoke to himself, saying, "The battle in the Heavenly Court is nearing its end. In this war, Carefree Hamlet was destroyed, and only a little over two thousand soldiers from Carefree Hamlet remain. However, the people of Carefree Hamlet were saved. They now live in Eternal Peace, and they are doing well. They have come into contact with Eternal Peace’s reforms, and they will soon accept them and throw themselves into the transformation."
He laughed softly: "I know that if you were still here, you would say without a smile that these sacrifices were all worth it. But seeing old friends leave one by one, you would still be sad—you just wouldn’t show it."
Beside him, that person gazed into the boundless void, standing in silence.
"I haven’t resurrected them. I haven’t tried to resurrect anyone."
Qin Mu continued, "Now that reincarnation has been established, within it, all beings are equal. Lord Tu Bo will reward or punish them according to the good and evil they did in life. If someone has committed too many sins, karmic fire will burn them to ashes. But after reincarnation, those who are reborn will not remember their past lives."
He smiled faintly and said, "I will promote a new system of the Ancestral Land’s Dao realms. The old system will be completely phased out. In this way, perhaps the problem of the Great Extinction Calamity can be solved. You might be the last cultivator to achieve enlightenment under the old system."
That person’s gaze was deep, but he said nothing.
"After Heavenly Lord Hao’s defeat, he will return to the Ancestral Land."
Qin Mu continued, "On this journey, he has lost troops and generals, suffered severe damage, and been abandoned by his allies. It is unknown whether he will still have a million troops left when he flees to the Ancestral Land. At most, he might only have a few hundred thousand. He can no longer stir up chaos across the world, but he will not be reconciled. The enlightened beings of Miluo Palace will take the opportunity to descend. The Third Young Master and the Fourth Young Master will not give up. Heavenly Lord Hao will completely submit to them, and he may even join forces with the World Tree stowaways."
He smiled again: "After you return, there will still be many things to do. You won’t be idle. We will fight side by side again, resisting the dangers of the Ancestral Land. But I am actually very happy about the Ancestral Land war."
He laughed out loud: "The prehistoric enlightened beings and the stowaways—they steal the spiritual energy and spiritual power of heaven and earth, occupying too much of the universe’s energy. It’s good that they come running over. If we kill them and return their power to this universe, it can extend the universe’s lifespan. When Lord Shang killed Tai Chu, it benefited the Primordial Realm. If these enlightened beings die in the Seventeenth Epoch, it will allow our universe to keep growing. Perhaps, like the First Epoch, it will last for three hundred billion years. Three hundred billion years is a very long time."
His gaze was distant: "This will be the most glorious epoch. You will see all of this."
The Ferry of the Ages drifted leisurely, its speed increasing.
"The reason I am going to see Tai Yi is that the first counterattack from the Third and Fourth Young Masters will surely be extremely violent, and I may not be able to withstand it. Our situation looks favorable, but it is as precarious as a stack of eggs."
Qin Mu explained to him: "With my current strength, I am far from being a match for the Third and Fourth Young Masters. Only Tai Yi can achieve this—blocking the two young masters of Miluo Palace and preventing their descent. I think the Ancestral Land will be an excellent training ground, allowing us to grow."
The person beside him remained silent the entire time.
Finally, the thatched cottage in the ultimate void came into view.
Qin Mu docked the ship and stepped down, walking to the front of the cottage. The figure on the golden ship let out a faint sigh.
Qin Mu turned back, and the figure on the ship vanished.
Qin Mu sat down, pushing all other thoughts out of his mind, and quietly gazed at the cottage’s door. After a moment, he said in a deep voice, "Elder Brother Tai Shang, can you manifest and show yourself?"
The void was silent, without a sound, only the cold wind blowing endlessly.
Qin Mu said calmly, "Over these years, my understanding of Miluo Palace’s Dao techniques and divine abilities has deepened, and my understanding of your Dao techniques and divine abilities has also grown. With my current strength, I am capable of wielding the Tai Yi Divine Axe to break open your thatched cottage. However, you and I are after all disciples of the same master. I would very much like to meet you."
The thatched cottage showed no movement.
Qin Mu smiled faintly and said leisurely, "If you don’t believe me, I can demonstrate it for you. You probably don’t know that Third Brother has taught me many things during this time."
He stood up, channeling the Dao of Tai Yi, which transformed into the Tai Yi Divine Axe in his hands. Qin Mu wielded the axe with the grace of the wind, executing the axe techniques passed down by Tai Yi.
Qin Mu’s expression was solemn. The divine axe slowly swept before him. This single strike seemed ordinary and unremarkable, but it concealed countless Dao mysteries, displaying the Dao techniques and divine abilities of Tai Yi to their fullest.
Not only that, but the six thousand four hundred types of great Dao contained within the thatched cottage were all broken by his axe in one fell swoop, like splitting bamboo!
The thatched cottage had six thousand four hundred stalks of straw, each representing one of Elder Brother Tai Shang’s six thousand four hundred different great Daos. Each type of great Dao was at the level of an enlightened being, and moreover, they were evolved using Hong Meng runes!
In terms of subtlety and cultivation, Qin Mu had never seen anyone reach the height of Elder Brother Tai Shang!
However, no matter how many great Daos there were, their foundation was always the Hong Meng runes. Now, after the battle with the Third Young Master and six years of suffering from Dao injuries, he had also spent these six years entering the Dao through dreams, studying the Miluo Palace Dao techniques hidden in the Dao injuries until he had grasped seven or eight out of ten!
The axe techniques that Tai Yi had taught him using his crutch were originally designed to counter the Dao techniques and divine abilities of Miluo Palace. Coupled with Qin Mu’s increasingly deep understanding of Miluo Palace’s Dao techniques, his breakthrough this time was much smoother!
Qin Mu withdrew his axe, and the Tai Yi Divine Axe transformed back into the Dao of Tai Yi, merging into his divine treasury. His breath was somewhat unstable, and he gasped for air. He had just recovered from serious injuries, and his cultivation had not yet returned to its peak.
"Elder Brother Tai Shang, what do you think?"
Qin Mu steadied his breath, stepped forward, and said in a deep voice, "If you are unwilling to talk, then I will forcibly break your seal and release Tai Yi! If you are willing to show yourself, you and I, as fellow disciples, might not have to tear each other apart!"
He arrived before the thatched cottage and gathered his spirit once more. Just as he was about to use the Dao of Tai Yi to evolve the Tai Yi Divine Axe, he suddenly heard a soft creak. The door of the thatched cottage opened.
Qin Mu was startled. He saw an old man push the door open from inside, glance up at him, then turn around and carefully lock the door.
Qin Mu studied the old man, who was much shorter than himself. He saw that the old man’s Hong Meng purple energy was completely internalized, showing no signs of divine or sacred peculiarity. He seemed like someone who would be impossible to find again if lost in a crowd.
Elder Brother Tai Shang was just such an ordinary old man.
Tai Yi was a mass of chaotic energy, ever-changing and traceless, able to be male or female, to transform into all things in heaven and earth, and even to jump into the Chaotic River and emerge as other enlightened beings—utterly elusive.
But Elder Brother Tai Shang was plain and ordinary, the kind of person who left no deep impression.
On him, one could see no fluctuations of any great Dao, as if he had been extinguished. However, having also cultivated the Dao techniques and divine abilities of Miluo Palace, Qin Mu could tell what terrifying power was contained within this old man’s body!
He was even stronger than Tai Yi!
Qin Mu sat down, and the old man also sat down, like a withered tree, showing no signs of life.
Qin Mu’s eyes flickered. Suddenly, he smiled and said, "Elder Brother Tai Shang, I once saw our teacher enter the Dao and pass into extinction. Your imitation of him is not very accurate. When our teacher entered the Dao and passed away, it was because his heart was utterly dead, his Dao heart had died, and so he fell into death. But you are merely imitating a dead Dao heart; you have not truly entered the Dao and passed away."
The old man opposite him opened his mouth. As soon as he spoke, Qin Mu’s heart shook violently.
The old man spoke in the Hong Meng Dao language. Every syllable contained extremely profound principles. The Dao language was already unfathomably deep, and the Hong Meng Dao language held even more mysteries of the great Dao. A single word could transform into the most terrifying divine ability in the world!
The Dao language that came from Elder Brother Tai Shang’s mouth was obscure and difficult to understand, profound and unfathomable. As soon as he spoke, Qin Mu’s eyes were filled with endless visions, as if he had fallen into a vast world of thousands of realms, with countless principles turning into reality, flashing before his eyes!
With the first syllable of Elder Brother Tai Shang’s Dao language, Qin Mu’s mind was flooded with the history of Miluo Palace in the Second Cosmic Epoch, presenting a magnificent and grand scene.
In the Dao language, the master of Miluo Palace descended into the world at the beginning of the Second Cosmic Epoch, teaching Dao techniques and divine abilities, actively seeking a way to prevent the universe from being destroyed.
A single brief Dao language encompassed the entire turbulent history of the Second Cosmic Epoch in one word—truly astonishing. It even included the process of the Second Young Master Tai Shang becoming a disciple of the master of Miluo Palace, studying and striving!
When the signs of the Great Extinction appeared in the Second Cosmic Epoch, the master of Miluo Palace began actively planning to establish Miluo Palace, intending to enter the calamity and try to save everyone to move to the next universe.
When the sound of the first Dao language fell, the history of the Second Cosmic Epoch was completely presented in Qin Mu’s mind, including the master of Miluo Palace’s failure.
When Elder Brother Tai Shang uttered the second Dao language, the past of the Third Cosmic Epoch was fully revealed—the master of Miluo Palace’s ideals, ambitions, rules of conduct, and everything he did for the Great Extinction Calamity, including his failure.
When the third Dao language was spoken, everything of the Fourth Cosmic Epoch was presented!
...
Soon, the fifteenth syllable of the Dao language was uttered. This syllable was very long. Elder Brother Tai Shang tried to use the history experienced by the master of Miluo Palace to explain why the master of Miluo Palace’s Dao heart had died, why he had given up the idea of entering the Seventeenth Epoch, and why he had become utterly despondent.
In this single Dao language, Elder Brother Tai Shang showed Qin Mu the master of Miluo Palace’s deduction of the future of the Seventeenth Epoch.
It was a cold, silent void—a complete emptiness!
An extremely thin membrane of void, with no thickness at all, spread out flat, infinitely vast. Within that void membrane, there was nothing, no life at all!
Elder Brother Tai Shang closed his mouth and shut his eyes, no longer speaking, leaving Qin Mu with an unparalleled shock!