Chapter 1746: Startlingly Powerful Expert
Moon Venerable glanced at the box, her heart stirring: "What exactly is Mu's purpose in coming here?"
She had initially thought Qin Mu's goal was to persuade the Five Elders of Peak Hill, but he showed no intention of convincing them, instead insisting they return to where they came from.
Later, she thought he wanted to eliminate the Five Elders of Peak Hill in one fell swoop, yet he seemed less interested in them and didn't strike them down ruthlessly, instead stubbornly clashing with Fourth Young Master's zither strings.
Now, Qin Mu caught sight of the box and declared his goal achieved. So what exactly was that goal?
She didn't know that Qin Mu's purpose in this trip wasn't singular; one of his goals was to muddy the waters.
If not for Qin Mu and her arrival, Heaven Emperor Hao might have subdued the Five Elders of Peak Hill, putting Eternal Peace in danger. Qin Mu brought her here to ensure the two sides could never join forces.
Although Qin Mu didn't sow discord or use underhanded tactics, his presence would give the Five Elders of Peak Hill the illusion of a three-way stalemate, leading them to make wrong judgments.
A triangular structure is the most stable, so maintaining a three-way standoff—where the Five Elders of Peak Hill didn't ally with either side but established their own faction—was the best move to preserve this stable structure. Thus, Feng Hualian made his bold declaration to stop Mirage Palace from descending while refusing to ally with Qin Mu.
But his judgment was wrong. Mirage Palace's power was too great; a three-way stalemate was impossible, so Feng Hualian died.
This was chaos.
If Qin Mu hadn't come, this seemingly stable chaotic state couldn't have formed.
As Seventh Young Master Chaos, wherever Qin Mu passed, chaos and disorder naturally followed.
Moon Venerable plucked her zither strings, playing the Purple Firmament Enlightenment Melody, and Fourth Young Master's divine abilities from the zither sound ceased.
With Fourth Young Master's divine abilities halted, Yanxiu Pavilion immediately attacked Heaven Emperor Hao. Joy Hall Master broke free from Li Shu's Yellow Field, quickly swept up Heaven Emperor Hao, and fled.
Huang Tang wasn't dead yet. Fourth Young Master's strike had severed his Dao tree and cut off his head, but because Fourth Young Master had to block them from killing Heaven Emperor Hao, he managed to escape.
His unique technique happened to counter Joy Hall Master's spatial Dao, knocking both of them down into another fierce battle.
Li Shu and Cang Yan Cui charged at Qin Mu and Moon Venerable. Moon Venerable sat calmly, playing her zither, while Qin Mu stood beside her, pacing around her front and back, blocking Li Shu and Cang Yan Cui's attacks.
The Four Elders of Peak Hill, bloodshot and frenzied, attacked them indiscriminately without asking right or wrong.
Qin Mu frowned, glanced at the box disappearing into the distance, and said solemnly, "Moon, that's enough."
Moon Venerable put away her ancient zither, and a peach blossom bloomed at her fingertips. The petals scattered, growing more numerous, until by the time Li Shu and Cang Yan Cui dispersed the blossoms, Qin Mu and Moon Venerable had vanished without a trace.
"The Four Elders of Peak Hill are truly fierce and brave."
Moon Venerable brought Qin Mu outside the Heavenly Court and looked back. The Four Elders of Peak Hill were locked in a brutal battle around Joy Hall Master and Heaven Emperor Hao, so fierce it nearly reduced the Heavenly Court to ruins!
"These four elders are exceptionally skilled, but they're no match for Fourth Young Master's zither string."
Qin Mu gazed into the distance, his face worried. "What I'm concerned about is that Fourth Young Master's massacre will hasten Mirage Palace's descent."
When Fourth Young Master first plucked his zither string, it was truly stunning—one strike reduced even the Dao Achiever to ashes. Of course, that was a charged strike, not a normal move.
But even so, the Four Elders of Peak Hill were no match for Fourth Young Master, especially with Joy Hall Master nearby.
Just then, a clattering sound came. The box ran out of the Heavenly Court, approached Qin Mu, and nuzzled affectionately against his calf.
Qin Mu smiled slightly, took out Chu Ge Hall Master's lower body, and chuckled, "Want it?"
The box hopped around frantically, trying to absorb this treasure into itself, but always fell just short.
Qin Mu laughed heartily, glanced at the strange man approaching. The man had a full beard, was very burly, and didn't look human—his face covered in lizard scales, with several vertical lizard bone plates on his head.
"Xing Huan," Qin Mu said with a smile.
The man examined Chu Ge Hall Master's lower body, his gaze strange, pupils vertical, and said, "A Dao Achiever's body?"
"Chu Ge Hall Master, one of the seventy-two hall masters of Mirage Palace, likely the most powerful among them."
Qin Mu said, "I went to great lengths to deal with him."
Xing Huan nodded. "I want it. What do you want me to do?"
Qin Mu set down the Taiyi Coffin. "Open this divine coffin and safely release the person inside."
Xing Huan stepped forward, inspected it, and said, "This coffin is far more perfect than the one I forged for you. In the past, I couldn't have opened it."
Qin Mu frowned. Xing Huan continued, "But this coffin was shaved down by Fourth Young Master's zither string, creating a flaw. Give me half a year, and I'll unlock it."
Qin Mu frowned. "Half a year is too long. How about three months?"
Xing Huan said indifferently, "In three months, I can only guarantee you a crippled one."
Qin Mu's head ached. He gritted his teeth. "Then half a year! No matter what, you must rescue him intact!"
He handed over Chu Ge Hall Master's body and said, "Take the coffin. In half a year, I want to see the person inside! If I don't, you know my methods!"
Xing Huan was utterly unconcerned by his threat. His gaze strange, he said, "This coffin is of top quality. Even if you searched the Ancestral Court for thousands of years, you couldn't find the materials needed to forge it. Are you really willing to give this coffin to me? Aren't you afraid I'll keep it for myself?"
Qin Mu laughed. "Friend, could you possibly keep this coffin and lie in it yourself?"
Xing Huan thought for a moment, nodded, and stared at the coffin. "I'd very much like to try. The quality of this coffin is excellent."
Moon Venerable's expression was odd as she studied Xing Huan, thinking, "This body of Xing Huan's probably isn't his real body, is it? What does he actually look like?"
Her curiosity grew. "Mu Venerable, Xu Shenghua, Jiang Baigui, Xing Huan, Hua Xuanxiu, Si Youyou, Qin Fengqing—this era has produced quite a few venerables, no less than the early Dragon Han era."
These figures each had unique achievements in their respective fields. In terms of contributions to the cultivation system, Xu Shenghua even ranked ahead of Qin Mu.
Xing Huan's contribution lay in his astonishing work at the Academy of Enlightenment.
Xing Huan put away the Burial Dao Divine Coffin and Chu Ge Hall Master's lower body and left with the box. Qin Mu and Moon Venerable watched him disappear into the vast mountains of the Ancestral Court. Moon Venerable praised, "Truly a remarkable man. Just now, Xing Huan's gaze at you was off. When he looked at you, he always stared at your neck, sometimes at your skull. He never met your eyes."
"He wants my head."
Qin Mu was unconcerned and smiled. "He just doesn't have the ability."
He stepped forward, heading toward the World Tree, and said, "Moon, since we're here, let's take a look under the World Tree. The Five Elders of Peak Hill leaving the World Tree gives me an uneasy feeling. According to Joy Hall Master, these five elders had been holed up under the World Tree all along. Leaving it to seize the Heavenly Court doesn't seem like a voluntary move—more like they were forced out..."
Moon Venerable frowned and followed him. Though their steps weren't fast, their speed was astonishing.
Just then, a zither sound came from deep in spacetime. Qin Mu shuddered and quickly pulled Moon Venerable downward.
The Heavenly Court split in two again, cleaved apart by the zither sound.
Then the zither sound grew chaotic, urgent, like pearls falling onto a jade plate. The Heavenly Court shattered into pieces!
Qin Mu looked back and saw the vast Heavenly Court being torn apart by invisible blades. Amid the zither sound, the Four Elders of Peak Hill flew in all directions, trying to dodge the invisible blades, but one of them failed to evade and was decapitated by the sound—he didn't know which of the four it was!
"Fourth Young Master is enraged."
Just as Qin Mu thought this, a beam of light shot out from under the World Tree, like a swallow's tail scissors, flying to the ruined Heavenly Court. With a *crack*, the zither sound suddenly broke off.
Qin Mu looked through his vertical eye and saw two severed zither strings dancing in spacetime, suddenly coiling toward the World Tree!
Those two strings were invisible to the naked eye, moving silently as they approached the World Tree, passing through six or seven divine cities built by prehistoric powerhouses.
As they passed, those divine cities showed no abnormality, but after the strings flew far away, one city after another silently split apart!
The prehistoric gods inside, all Venerable-level existences with formidable strength, had no idea what happened before they perished!
Under the World Tree, two leaves flew out. The World Tree's leaves grew larger and larger, meeting the two zither strings. They rustled and wrapped around the strings.
Suddenly, the leaves caught fire, and the strings burned as well. Two trails of flame followed the strings, disappearing into the depths of spacetime, likely soon reaching the Sixteenth Epoch's Calamity of Destruction!
Qin Mu's heart shook violently. He stopped and said solemnly, "Moon, go back. I'll go to the World Tree alone."
Moon Venerable hesitated. She hadn't seen the clash between the zither strings and the World Tree leaves, only the sudden splitting of the divine cities, then two leaves flying over, curling up, and burning. She hadn't witnessed that effortless struggle.
"How strong is the person under the World Tree?" she asked.
Qin Mu's face was grave. "No less than Mirage Palace's Young Master!"
"Take care!" Moon Venerable shouldered her ancient zither and left, her figure vanishing.
Qin Mu steadied himself and walked toward the World Tree. Behind him, the Heavenly Court collapsed. The surviving Three Elders of Peak Hill, drenched in blood, furiously attacked Joy Hall Master and Heaven Emperor Hao. Joy Hall Master fled with Heaven Emperor Hao, heading straight for the Empress's Heavenly Court army.
Qin Mu arrived at the Great Black Mountain. The World Tree loomed even taller and more majestic, holding up the Ancestral Court's sky, making it higher than before. Standing here, it seemed as if all the myriad realms were much closer.
But Qin Mu knew this was an illusion. In reality, the myriad realms were constantly moving away from the Ancestral Court. As the World Tree grew, the ultimate void also expanded, pushing the myriad realms apart.
According to Mirage Palace Master's calculations, in eight hundred billion years, the entire universe would become completely void, turning into a void membrane.
Behind Qin Mu, a vast chaos spread. Chaos Hall sat atop the chaotic qi as he strode into the Great Black Mountain and called out, "Which friend is residing in my territory?"
"Your territory? Seventh Young Master Chaos, when did you become the master of this place?"
An aged voice came from under the World Tree. "I've lived here for over a dozen chaotic years. When you came to visit me under the World Tree back then, you didn't say that."