Chapter 1747: The Elder Wuyai
In the Sixteenth Epoch's Chaotic Long River, within the Jade Capital City, two streaks of fire suddenly blazed along the zither strings. Fourth Young Master Zixiao's expression shifted slightly as he hurriedly flicked his hand, but the flames had already reached his fingers!
Fourth Young Master blew out a breath, trying to extinguish the fire on his fingertips. However, the flames abruptly became ferocious. As he opened his mouth to blow, they burned his skin and flesh to a crackling mess. In an instant, two of his fingers were stripped of flesh, revealing white bone.
*Crack, crack.*
The white bone was also consumed, turning to ash. The flames spread from those two fingers to ignite the others!
Fourth Young Master raised his hand and severed his right arm. With a flick of his sleeve, the severed hand flew into the Chaotic Long River, where it blazed fiercely, quickly burning to a handful of ash, ceasing to exist.
Fourth Young Master Zixiao's face darkened. He flicked his sleeve and said, "That old thing under the World Tree has actually escaped!"
Within the Great Black Mountain, Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. "It seems this person is an old acquaintance of mine from a past universe. Of course, since I haven't yet returned to that past universe, he is a future acquaintance..."
For him, meeting the being under the World Tree who could contend with Fourth Young Master was something that would happen in the future. But for that person, it was something that had already happened.
"Still, I wasn't entirely useless in that past universe. At least I had friends."
Qin Mu smiled and walked toward the World Tree. Along the way, he saw many Black Mountains that resembled cocoons, already broken open. The prehistoric powerhouses parasitizing within them were emerging from their cocoons.
The forces within the Great Black Mountain were far greater than those of the Five Elders of Fengshu entrenched in the Heavenly Court. The prehistoric powerhouses emerging from the Black Mountains were still very weak, each drawing in the spiritual energy and essence of heaven and earth. With each breath, the stars in the sky trembled precariously, and their light dimmed considerably.
As Qin Mu passed by, he saw two or three stars extinguish due to the plundering of these prehistoric powerhouses, turning into dead stars.
"Perhaps they aren't friends either..."
His expression gradually darkened. Along this journey, he had sensed deep hostility.
The vast majority of the prehistoric powerhouses entrenched in the Great Black Mountain showed him intense enmity!
"If I were truly good friends with that being under the World Tree, how could these stowaways show me such fierce hostility?"
Qin Mu's face was as calm as water, but sweat beaded on the back of his neck. He thought to himself, "This time, I might not be visiting an old friend. I could be walking into a trap, delivering myself to my death..."
The original Great Black Mountain had long since become lush and verdant with the World Tree's revival, turning into an enviable sacred land. But now, these prehistoric powerhouses had stowed through, devouring the spiritual energy and essence of heaven and earth to replenish what they had lost during the Epoch of Annihilation, leaving the place barren once more.
Qin Mu frowned slightly.
Ahead, the World Tree was even more lush and robust, displaying its towering, heroic posture of supporting all heavens and myriad realms.
"Far, far away, the Ancestral Court tree, one year withered, one year green. Chaos burns but cannot end it; after the calamity, it is reborn anew."
Beneath the World Tree, that aged voice sang. Suddenly, the song carried a tone of resentment, and in an instant, a fierce killing intent erupted: "Taiyi felled my tree, Tian Du burned my roots! Luckily, spring came to visit, returning my splendid city!"
Ignoring the hostility of others, Qin Mu walked forward against the sound of the song. Ahead, beneath the tree, a pond appeared. It wasn't large, and a white-haired old man was bathing in it, pulling a white towel back and forth across his back with both hands.
Qin Mu was stunned.
The pond water was brimming with spiritual energy. It was actually the Dao dew dripping from Taiyi's Dao tree, mixed with Hongmeng primordial liquid, which the old man had turned into his bath.
Taiyi's Dao tree should still appear at night, dripping Dao dew used to repair the Black Mountains.
After Xu Shenghua left here, the remaining Dao dew shouldn't have been enough to create such a large bath, but the amount was still considerable. Such treasures were being used by this old man for bathing!
Not only was he soaking in the Dao dew and Hongmeng primordial liquid, but he was also scrubbing himself in it—truly a waste of heavenly treasures!
The white-haired old man was in high spirits in the pond water. Catching sight of him, he laughed and said, "The seventh young master of Miluo Palace, come down and wash with me!"
Qin Mu shook his head and said, "I possess a Hongmeng body, free of all impurities. I no longer need such treasures."
"Is the Hongmeng body so impressive? I don't think so!"
The white-haired old man laughed heartily and stood up from the pond. Qin Mu averted his gaze to look at the World Tree, while the old man walked openly to the pond's edge, picked up his clothes, and dressed neatly. He said, "The fourth young master of Miluo Palace, I drove him away. Even Zixiao had to suffer a loss from my divine ability. Seventh young master of Miluo Palace, you owe me a favor."
Qin Mu withdrew his gaze and fixed it on the old man's face. He smiled faintly and said, "Dao brother cut Fourth Young Master's zither strings only to save the Three Elders of Fengshu. That favor isn't for me; it's for the Three Elders of Fengshu."
The white-haired old man shook his head disdainfully and said, "What are the Five Elders of Fengshu worth? Are they worthy of my favor? Those five old things do nothing else all day but dig holes under the tree, terrified of missing their chance to survive into the next epoch. They're truly annoying. This epoch, they planned to settle here again. I was so irritated by them that I drove them out."
Qin Mu bowed and asked, "May I ask how to address Dao brother? What is your origin?"
The white-haired old man smiled enigmatically and said, "Seventh young master of Miluo Palace, don't you know my origin? When you came to see me back then, you saw through my origin at a glance, treated me with great respect, said you owed me a huge favor, and even wrote me an IOU."
Qin Mu opened his vertical brow eye to look, but he couldn't see through the old man's foundation. He only saw a divine light enveloping his true form, and his vertical brow eye couldn't penetrate that light.
"Back then, the master of Miluo Palace paid homage to me. Later, Taiyi chopped me down. Fortunately, to prevent those little fellows from stowing through my roots, he had to fetch Dao dew every day to water my roots, keeping me barely alive. When Miluo Palace was unsealed, I revived from death, struggling to sprout. Then you came and borrowed Taiyi's axe to chop me again."
The white-haired old man glanced at Qin Mu and said, "After you saw my sprout, you planted it in your own divine repository. Who would have thought it would actually grow? Truly a strange thing!"
Qin Mu stared at him, wide-eyed, unable to speak for a moment.
"It was only then that I suddenly understood why you said you owed me a huge favor and insisted on giving me an IOU."
The white-haired old man shook his head and sighed, "I originally thought I had taken advantage of that slippery, all-cheating Seventh Young Master, but it turned out not to be an advantage at all—it was a huge trap!"
Qin Mu's mind buzzed. He looked at the old man, then at the World Tree beside him, then back at the old man, repeating this several times.
"Chop me down if you must; I'll just regrow. After all, I accepted your IOU."
The white-haired old man's brow furrowed in worry, but then he perked up and laughed, "Taiyi also wanted to chop me down. Fortunately, you spoke up, so he didn't strike the fatal blow. I finally got a chance to breathe. The earthquakes here every day aren't vibrations from Miluo Palace; they're my roots stealing the energy of the Epoch of Annihilation to grow."
Qin Mu suddenly remembered. When the World Tree sprouted as a seedling, the Great Black Mountain often experienced earthquakes. After each quake, the World Tree seedling would suddenly shoot up a large section, growing at an astonishing speed!
At the time, he had guessed that the rapid growth of the World Tree was Miluo Palace's doing, deliberately making it grow to facilitate the stowaway of those prehistoric powerhouses from within its roots.
He hadn't expected that those earthquakes weren't caused by Miluo Palace but by the World Tree's roots stealing chaotic energy to grow quickly!
"I was always on edge, terrified that Taiyi would go mad and chop me down again. Fortunately, he left."
The white-haired old man smiled amiably and said, "Taiyi left you to repair the Black Mountains, but then you left too, leaving that kid Xu Shenghua, who never even cracked a smile. Truly boring. Later, Xu Shenghua also left, so I came out to move around. Those little fellows hiding in my roots, I shook them all out. Now, do you know my origin?"
Qin Mu finally steadied his mind, bowed again, and asked, "May I ask how to address Dao brother?"
The white-haired old man said leisurely, "Names are given by others. I was originally just a fine tree; how could I have a name? However, the master of Miluo Palace called me Elder Wuyai."
Qin Mu nodded silently. Suddenly, he said, "Life has no end, the Dao has no end. Dao brother truly deserves the title Elder Wuyai. However, I observe that Dao brother doesn't seem like someone who practices non-action. Releasing so many prehistoric powerhouses will only endanger the Seventeenth Epoch, hastening its demise. Since Dao brother has been reborn, why not let the Seventeenth Epoch last longer?"
Elder Wuyai glanced at him and said, "What does the success or failure of the Seventeenth Epoch have to do with me?"
Qin Mu was taken aback and said, "If the Seventeenth Epoch lasts longer, the Epoch of Annihilation will come later. Perhaps the beings of the Seventeenth Epoch can even resolve the Epoch of Annihilation..."
"What does that have to do with me?"
Elder Wuyai chuckled and said, "I draw energy from chaos. Every time the Epoch of Annihilation comes, it's a time for me to grow. Not only do I not want the Seventeenth Epoch to last long, but I even hope it ends sooner. Seventh young master of Miluo Palace, you've come to the wrong person."
Qin Mu's eyelids twitched. Suddenly, he smiled faintly and said, "Those with different paths cannot plan together. It seems I came here by mistake. Farewell."
"Don't rush off."
Elder Wuyai brushed his sleeve, and the World Tree's branches and leaves fluttered. He laughed, "It's rare for us to meet again. How can you leave without catching up?"
Qin Mu laughed heartily and said, "For Dao brother, this is catching up, but for me, it's not. I still have important matters to attend to, so I won't disturb you further. Farewell."
He turned and walked away. Suddenly, Elder Wuyai's voice came from behind, leisurely saying, "Seventh young master of Miluo Palace, who exactly sent you back to the past to let us meet? I asked you this question before, but you didn't answer. Now I think I understand."
Before Qin Mu, the sky suddenly darkened. Beyond the World Tree's canopy was a scene of chaotic apocalypse.
Qin Mu stopped in his tracks.
Behind him, Elder Wuyai's laughter came: "It was me. I sent you back to the past. No wonder you didn't tell me."
Qin Mu wore a smile, looking down at his own palm. Taiyi's Dao flowed within it, faintly forming into a Taiyi divine axe. He laughed, "Dao brother, why did Taiyi chop you down?"
"This matter is neither big nor small."
Elder Wuyai stroked his white beard and laughed, "I had the master of Miluo Palace kill him, so naturally, he wanted revenge. What, do you want to chop me down too?"