Chapter 1748: Sword Opens the Path of Life and Death
Precious light flowed in Qin Mu's hand as the Grand Beginning Divine Axe slowly took shape. This time, he sensed danger—unprecedented danger!
Even greater than the danger he faced when confronting the Third and Fourth Young Masters of Miluo Palace!
Old Man Wuyai's strength was unfathomably deep!
He was also entangled in the conflict between Miluo Palace and Heavenly Capital City, playing a crucial role in it!
In the foul grounds of the Ultimate Void, Qin Mu had once encountered the place where Heavenly Capital opened the heavens. There, he witnessed the Sixth Epoch's great cataclysm of destruction, where the Lord of Heavenly Capital led many cultivators who had attained the Dao from Heavenly Capital City to cleave open chaos and primordial chaos, evolving the universe and the primordial wilderness. At that time, Miluo Palace did not intervene but silently watched all of this.
However, later on, the Master of Miluo Palace ambushed and killed the Lord of Heavenly Capital, saying, "What you are doing is wrong."
From Old Man Wuyai's words, it seemed that the Master of Miluo Palace's assassination of the Lord of Heavenly Capital was not so simple.
Since then, the conflict between Heavenly Capital City and Miluo Palace had been unending, continuing to this day without cease.
Qin Mu lowered his head, gazing at the precious light in his hand, and said with a faint, ambiguous smile, "The Master of Miluo Palace is the teacher of all cultivators. From the First Epoch to the Seventeenth Epoch, the origin of all Dao techniques and divine powers can be said to be greatly connected to him. How could he listen to you and go to assassinate the Lord of Heavenly Capital?"
Old Man Wuyai walked toward him, and Qin Mu's hairs stood on end.
He had his back to Old Man Wuyai, and as the old man approached, he felt as if the great tree that propped up the sky of the Ancestral Land was pressing down on him. The entire cosmic universe seemed to become the crushing pressure of the World Tree, forcing him to desperately want to escape this oppressive feeling.
To escape the oppression, he had to move forward, but ahead lay the great cataclysm of destruction outside the World Tree!
Stepping into it would send him into prehistoric times!
He had once mistakenly entered it, causing Grand Simplicity to be born prematurely and forging a grudge with the Grand Simplicity Goddess.
Now, entering the prehistoric cataclysm of destruction posed no danger to Qin Mu; the cataclysm could no longer kill him. But once inside, returning would be extremely difficult!
The last time he mistakenly entered prehistoric times, he had to join forces with Grand Simplicity and sneak back using the roots of the World Tree. This time, Old Man Wuyai would not give him that chance.
He closed his eyes, and the precious light in his hand slowly dimmed, transforming into the starting stance of the Heavenly Capital Heaven-Opening Chapter, ready to draw his sword at any moment!
The Heavenly Capital Heaven-Opening Chapter was a sword that cleaved open chaos and primordial chaos, and it was also the deepest Dao realm Qin Mu had comprehended.
The Grand Beginning Finger, the Red String Knot, and the Grand Ease Tree-Felling were all Dao techniques and divine powers he had learned, not classifiable as Dao realms.
But the Heavenly Capital Heaven-Opening Chapter was a Dao realm divine power he had comprehended from witnessing the many strong cultivators of Heavenly Capital open the heavens!
His understanding of the Heavenly Capital Heaven-Opening Chapter was deeper than that of other divine powers.
His sword was poised to strike, but its target was not Old Man Wuyai—it was the cataclysm of destruction outside the World Tree.
There was only one way to avoid falling into the calamity: in the instant before he was forced to leave the World Tree's coverage and step into the cataclysm of destruction, he would directly cleave the cataclysm down the middle!
He didn't need to split the entire cataclysm; he only needed to carve out a path and charge through!
As long as he didn't fall into the calamity, he wouldn't be sent back to the past!
This was the best strategy he could devise to deal with the current situation!
But this move would leave his back completely exposed to Old Man Wuyai. No matter how perfect his technique or how flawless his form, with Old Man Wuyai's strength, severely wounding him would be no difficulty.
Yet, Qin Mu had no choice but to do it.
"Why did your teacher listen to me and have to assassinate the Lord of Heavenly Capital?"
Old Man Wuyai's steps were very slow, and he said leisurely, "He cared for the countless living beings of the world. He was an unimaginably warm-hearted person, and also unimaginably pure. Only with such a warm heart and such a pure Dao heart could he achieve such great heights. I did not deceive him, nor did I cater to his preferences. I merely helped him confirm one of his judgments."
Qin Mu's pressure grew heavier, and his voice became somewhat hoarse as he said, "What judgment did Teacher have?"
The Master of Miluo Palace in Old Man Wuyai's words reminded him of Lan Yutian—also pure in Dao heart, warm-hearted, and kind.
Perhaps the Master of Miluo Palace and Lan Yutian were the same kind of person, which was why so many geniuses were loyal to him.
"When Heavenly Capital opened the heavens and evolved a new universe, the innate Dao of the Seventh Epoch universe was actually determined by the cultivators who had attained the Dao in Heavenly Capital City. Those cultivators' great Dao became the innate Dao of the Seventh Epoch universe."
Old Man Wuyai continued walking, recalling the past, and said, "This restricted the development of Dao techniques and divine powers, and also brought other problems. The cultivators of Heavenly Capital who attained the Dao became ancient gods. On the innate Dao of the Seventh Epoch, it was difficult for anyone stronger or with deeper understanding to appear. This was an invisible shackle. Besides that, Heavenly Capital grasped the greatest power in the Seventh Epoch universe and began to drastically change its rules. Heavenly Capital City treated the Seventh Epoch as an experimental ground to test their ideals."
Qin Mu's flesh muscles twitched. Pressured by him, he involuntarily moved his feet forward, getting closer and closer to the cataclysm of destruction outside the World Tree. His voice hoarse, he said, "Changing the rules might be good, but there would certainly be failures. Right?"
Just one more step forward, and he would have no choice but to unleash the Heavenly Capital Heaven-Opening Chapter, entering the cataclysm of destruction and attempting to cleave a path!
Whether this move would succeed was still unknown!
Suddenly, Old Man Wuyai stopped, making him extremely uncomfortable.
"You are very right. The cultivators of Heavenly Capital City made many pioneering moves, but most ended in failure. They treated the Seventh Epoch as an experimental ground, causing many great upheavals and widespread suffering, which conflicted with Miluo Palace's ideals."
Old Man Wuyai maintained this immense pressure but did not increase it to the point of forcing Qin Mu to make a desperate, life-risking strike. He said unhurriedly, "Conflicts of ideals are more terrifying than right and wrong, good and evil. Right and wrong, good and evil—there is correct and incorrect. If wrong, one can correct it. But conflicts of ideals are different. When ideals clash, it is a matter of life and death. I merely told the Master of Miluo Palace that Heavenly Capital was a group of Dao-desecrators, and their ideals were wrong and could not be corrected."
Qin Mu's eyelids twitched. He wanted to open his eyes but never did, instead continuing to gather strength.
The moment he opened his three divine eyes would be the moment he unleashed his long-accumulated power. However, Old Man Wuyai would not give him that chance.
"I still had selfish motives."
Old Man Wuyai laughed and said, "That group from Heavenly Capital was too reckless. Each one was a lawless individual with too many ideas. They stirred up the Seventh Epoch into chaos, even studying my secrets and beginning to walk the path of not cultivating the Dao Tree."
He sighed and said, "They even wanted to control the World Tree, to control me. That made me very unhappy. The path of attaining the Dao through Dao realms in Miluo Palace, cultivating the Dao Tree, imitating me, also fulfilled me. And I sheltered the cultivators who attained the Dao, allowing them to survive the cataclysm of destruction. Wasn't that good? Why change?"
He shook his head: "Heavenly Capital had to die."
Qin Mu laughed, the muscles in his right arm bulging, becoming several times thicker than usual. "Dao Brother, your selfishness is heavier than anyone's. The Third Young Master of Miluo Palace left the Jade Capital Trap and the Soaring Cloud Trap for the cultivators of the Seventeenth Epoch, while you left them the Dao Tree Trap. Such skill impresses me."
Old Man Wuyai sighed and said, "For you, a year is a year. For me, one cosmic epoch is a year. At that time, I was only seven years old. Having some thoughts of my own is normal. Miluo Palace's Seventh, are you waiting for sunrise?"
He laughed and said, "Waiting for sunrise, when the cataclysm of destruction outside the World Tree dissipates, so you can escape?"
Qin Mu was silent.
"You won't get it."
Old Man Wuyai said leisurely, "The World Tree runs through one universe after another, the one eternal and unchanging substance in this world. There was a Dao-desecrator in Heavenly Capital whose divine power was 'unchanging,' very marvelous. And I am naturally unchanging. I can make the World Tree forever remain in darkness, with the cataclysm of destruction forever outside."
Qin Mu's eyelids twitched.
"I can send you into the cataclysm of destruction of any cosmic epoch."
Old Man Wuyai said, "Seventh Young Master Chaos, you have lived up to your Dao title—most unfortunate. The World Tree grows by devouring chaos. Each cataclysm of destruction is an opportunity for growth. You comprehended your own path from chaos and cultivated your own principles. No matter how much you grow, you will be restrained by me. Perfectly restrained."
Qin Mu struggled to maintain a smile, the tendons in his right arm jumping as he sought an opportunity to strike, and said, "I thought we were friends."
Old Man Wuyai laughed and said, "We will be friends. Didn't I let you cut down my sapling and plant it in your divine repository to grow? When you went back to the past to see me, we were polite to each other, calling each other friends. You even gave me an IOU."
Qin Mu's body tensed, every muscle in his entire body twitching wildly.
Old Man Wuyai lifted his foot. The moment his foot rose, the pressure on him suddenly increased!
Dong!
Old Man Wuyai stepped forward, and the unparalleled pressure forced Qin Mu to unleash all his power to resist!
"You are no match for me. I don't want to hurt you, and you cannot escape my control."
The pressure Old Man Wuyai exerted on him reached its peak, causing the Black Mountain beneath Qin Mu's feet to begin to float and soften. Huge black rocks floated in the air, disintegrating in the violent tremor of primordial energy.
"You cannot cleave a path! If you cleave through the first layer of chaos, you will see a second layer, a third layer! Ahead, fifteen layers of chaos will await you, exhausting your strength!"
The power stored in every muscle of Qin Mu's body finally reached its limit, and he had no choice but to take a step forward!
As he took that step, he twisted his waist, turned around, and struck!
Boom!
His Heavenly Capital Heaven-Opening Chapter did not slash at the cataclysm of destruction behind him but instead at Old Man Wuyai!
This strike was one he had long accumulated, containing almost all his power!
At the same time, in the short distance between his back and the cataclysm of destruction, space suddenly split open, revealing a Guixu Lotus. The lotus rooted itself in the chaotic energy of the cataclysm, drawing on its power to amplify the might of his strike!
In this world, the Grand Ease Tree-Felling move was not the only technique that could cut down the World Tree—his divine powers could too!
This strike, he was determined to succeed!