Chapter 1749: Bloody Battle Against Wuyai
Behind Qin Mu, the Guixu Lotus swelled to an immense size in an instant, a thousand times larger than his own body. The lotus used the Annihilation Calamity as its Chaotic Sea, drawing upon the power of the great destruction!
The chaotic qi within the Annihilation Calamity condensed into a sea, standing upright behind Qin Mu, with lotus leaves floating on its surface.
*Crack!*
A violent tremor erupted, with Qin Mu at its center. Space twisted, forming a Guixu Abyss. From the outside, the abyss was filled with boundless darkness. But from Qin Mu’s perspective, space shattered, and the heat-death wind made everything blindingly bright.
Standing within the abyss, he swung his sword in fury!
The power surging from the Chaotic Sea rushed into his body in a torrent, flowing through him and manifesting as the might and majesty of the Heavenly Capital Creation Chapter!
Beneath his feet, his primordial qi took shape, replicating the altar from the moment of Heavenly Capital’s creation. The altar rose, its intricate patterns blazing with brilliance, amplifying the power of his strike.
Behind him, the Chaotic Palace appeared within the Annihilation Calamity. The chaotic qi within the calamity surged wildly, causing his cultivation to climb step by step!
He had never unleashed such terrifying power before!
The abyss trembled. The might of the Heavenly Capital Creation Chapter erupted to its peak, transforming into a blinding beam of light that slashed out from the Guixu!
Old Man Wuyai had not anticipated this turn of events. Qin Mu’s reaction defied his expectations. According to his calculations, Qin Mu’s best choice would have been to willingly throw himself into the Annihilation Calamity under his pressure, using the Heavenly Capital Creation Chapter to cleave a path and break through the Sixteenth Epoch’s destruction.
At that point, Qin Mu would have entered the Fifteenth Epoch’s calamity.
If he still had strength left, breaking through the Fifteenth Epoch’s calamity would lead him into the Fourteenth Epoch’s calamity.
The stronger his power, the more ancient the era he would be exiled to. If Qin Mu’s strength reached the level of a Young Master, he would likely exhaust himself in the First Epoch’s calamity and fall into that era.
Then, Qin Mu would be unable to return to the present.
To come back, he would need to rely on Third Young Master’s blood sacrifice—a sacrifice of the Seventeenth Epoch, a mass-energy exchange.
Given Qin Mu’s personality, he would never do such a thing.
Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master would also never help him with the exchange, so Qin Mu would be trapped in the past forever.
Yet, instead of willingly entering the calamity, Qin Mu attacked him!
The power of this sword strike was immense. The moment the sword light emerged from the twisted, shattered spacetime of the Guixu Abyss, it pierced the vast space beneath the World Tree, aiming to cut down both Wuyai and the tree itself!
Old Man Wuyai’s white hair fluttered in the sword light. Before even touching it, strands of his hair snapped in midair.
*Pop, pop, pop!*
His severed white hair transformed into tiny, newly created universes in the air. In an instant, they underwent the Five Tai transformations, with stars rapidly forming and drifting apart, creating dazzling heavens hanging in the sky beneath the World Tree’s canopy!
Behind him, the surface of the World Tree also burst open with popping sounds, leaving sword marks on its trunk!
If Qin Mu’s sword strike actually cut through, the World Tree might truly be severed!
“Chaos, you still refuse to see reason!”
Old Man Wuyai positioned himself in the path of the sword strike aimed at the World Tree. He had to block it. The World Tree was his true body. If Qin Mu cut it down, his power would vanish again, sealed within its roots, and he might never know when he could awaken again!
He would never allow such a thing to happen!
He stepped forward, and an ineffable Dao resonance erupted from within him. Bizarre and incredible divine techniques and Dao methods flowed from his hands, each one so profound and miraculous, each containing the supreme mysteries of the Great Dao!
Throughout the ages, across countless cosmic epochs, geniuses were as numerous as the stars in the sky. Yet those who could cultivate a single Dao to its peak, reaching the Thirty-Six Heavens, imprinting it into the void as a Dao Tree, and bearing a Dao Fruit, were few and far between.
Even the hall masters of Miluo Palace could only cultivate one Dao to its ultimate limit per cosmic epoch, producing a single Dao Fruit—and sometimes not even that.
But this limitation seemed not to apply to Old Man Wuyai.
In that brief moment, he unleashed hundreds of Daos, each one reaching the pinnacle of the Dao Realm!
The divine techniques derived from these Daos were also ultimate Dao Realm techniques!
In his hands, he could even execute the Dao techniques of Miluo Palace and Heavenly Capital!
He even displayed Hongmeng divine techniques with seamless fluency, as if he too had achieved Hongmeng entering the Dao at the Thirty-Six Heavens!
Remember, even the Seven Young Masters of Miluo Palace had not fully mastered the skills of the Miluo Palace Master. None had achieved Hongmeng enlightenment.
Even the First Young Master, Tai Shang, had only attained the Tai Shang Hall, not the Miluo Palace itself.
Yet Old Man Wuyai could manifest the ultimate essence of the Hongmeng Dao!
This was what Qin Mu called the Dao Tree Trap!
As long as one followed the path of Dao realm enlightenment and imprinting the ultimate void, they were walking into the Dao Tree trap.
The Dao Tree trap might not be as domineering as the Jade Capital trap or the Lingxiao trap, but anyone cultivating a Dao Tree and Dao realm was essentially helping Old Man Wuyai in his own cultivation and comprehension.
The Daos mastered by enlightened beings, Wuyai could also master. This included the Miluo Palace Master’s Hongmeng enlightenment!
Within the abyss, Qin Mu’s arm trembled violently. Thick tendons snapped, tearing through his skin and exposing themselves. The tendons writhed like red dragons, but their bodies were already broken.
His flesh burst open, muscles and blood tearing apart. Soon, his arm was reduced to bare bone!
Old Man Wuyai’s divine abilities were vast, and the Dao methods he commanded were simply too numerous, each one incredibly powerful. Even Shang Jun’s Killing Dao was executed by him.
The Heavenly Capital Creation Chapter was the most powerful and most miraculous technique Qin Mu had ever created. It could be said to integrate all his knowledge and insights into a single, world-creating strike.
Yet, in terms of foundation, he was still far inferior to Old Man Wuyai.
In terms of cultivation, even though he relied on the Annihilation Calamity, drawing power from the Guixu Lotus and the Chaotic Palace, his cultivation was still no match for the World Tree, which could also root itself in chaos.
*Smack!*
Qin Mu’s right arm exploded. Then, with a crack, the altar beneath his feet split apart.
Old Man Wuyai’s divine techniques breached the abyss. Qin Mu activated the Tai Yi Dao with his left hand, raising it to execute the Tai Yi Fells the Tree, chopping at Old Man Wuyai like an axe.
The Tai Yi divine axe, along with Qin Mu’s left arm, exploded together, sending blood mist flying.
Blood trickled from the corner of Qin Mu’s mouth. Flesh writhed under his armpit, and another arm sprouted, forming the Red String Knot Seal and pressing forward.
His fingers cracked and burst apart, one by one, the explosion spreading to his wrist, elbow, and shoulder!
Qin Mu twisted his waist, and flesh writhed on his neck as multiple heads grew out. The vertical eye on each forehead opened, shooting beams of Hongmeng Dao light that pierced the entrance of the Guixu Abyss.
At the abyss’s entrance, Old Man Wuyai’s white hair flew as he strolled in leisurely. He casually wielded all kinds of profound Dao techniques, effortlessly breaking Qin Mu’s divine abilities. Chuckling, he said, “Chaos, you still refuse to give up. It seems you’ll have to suffer some hardship before you return to the past.”
*Crack.* Qin Mu’s head snapped off, his vertical eye exploding, leaving a bloody hole in his brow.
His neck twisted, and a new head grew out.
At the same time, arms sprouted from under his armpits, and various divine techniques and Dao methods surged forward madly. Yet each one was calmly dismantled by Old Man Wuyai.
Despair filled his heart. All his Dao techniques and divine abilities were completely ineffective. Even the Heavenly Capital Creation Chapter was broken by Wuyai. Even the most exquisite Red String Knot Seal he had learned could not seal Wuyai!
“That’s it—the Guixu Dao!”
A flash of inspiration struck Qin Mu. Suddenly, he channeled all his primordial qi, activating the Guixu Lotus and mobilizing the Guixu Dao.
The Sixteenth Epoch’s Annihilation Calamity trembled violently. The Guixu Lotus swayed, growing larger with each tremor. The surging Chaotic Sea expanded ever wider, and the towering lotus leaves seemed to cover the sky.
In a short time, the vertically standing Chaotic Sea had swelled several times in size, stretching outside the World Tree, an astonishing sight.
At the same time, the lotus rotated and bloomed, growing another layer of petals, becoming a two-tiered lotus. A lotus-seed-pod pattern emerged within the flower, making it resemble a lotus throne.
Qin Mu’s heart stirred. He took a step back and landed on the lotus throne.
Old Man Wuyai hesitated for a moment, standing at the abyss’s entrance without directly entering.
Qin Mu finally had a chance to catch his breath. In the brief exchange just now, almost all his divine techniques had been broken, none effective. Wuyai’s counterattacks had repeatedly inflicted severe wounds on him. It was no small feat that he had held on until now!
“You’ve even learned Wu Ji’s Dao methods to perfection,” Old Man Wuyai said, gazing into the abyss where Qin Mu stood on the two-tiered lotus throne. The Guixu Dao twisted everything, turning it into nourishment for the Guixu.
“Wu Ji’s Dao techniques have nearly walked the path of a Dao Desecrator. That’s why she was sealed by your teacher.”
Old Man Wuyai sighed repeatedly, a look of regret on his face. “Chaos, you are also about to go astray.”
Qin Mu burst into laughter, but suddenly a mouthful of blood surged into his throat, blocking his windpipe and making him cough violently.
“Dao Desecrator?”
He spat out the clotted blood, catching his breath, and said mockingly, “Who is a Dao Desecrator? Isn’t that decided by you, Brother Dao? You call whoever you want one. Brother Dao, the World Tree and the Guixu Lotus are born in opposition. As long as I stand on this lotus throne, you cannot harm me. This battle benefits neither of us. Let me go, and I’ll still honor that IOU.”
Old Man Wuyai gave a faint, ambiguous smile. “Seventh Young Master of Miluo Palace, you are still so naive. Second Young Master Wu Ji of Miluo Palace possessed a Sixteen-Tiered Lotus Throne, yet she was still subdued by your teacher. You have only cultivated to the Second Tier, and your skill is far from sufficient. The divine technique you just used to suppress Wu Ji is not difficult for me either. Moreover…”
He said calmly, “Since the World Tree and the Guixu Lotus mutually restrain each other, it seems not impossible for me to restrain and refine your Guixu Lotus.”
Qin Mu’s heart sank deeper and deeper.
“Half a year. I must hold out for half a year!”
He took a long, deep breath, silently thinking to himself, “Xing Han, the outcome of this battle depends on whether you can rescue Tai Yi within half a year! Tai Yi, come save me…”
In the Ancestral Court, Xing Han wandered around with his box. After more than a month, he finally found a scenic, secluded place to settle down.
*Clack.*
The box opened and closed, as if questioning him.
“Of course, I need to find a scenic, secluded place,” Xing Han explained. “When the mood is good and the mind is at ease, work goes faster. Finding such a place doubles the results with half the effort.”
He was not in a hurry to study how to open the Burial Dao Divine Coffin. Instead, he took out the lower half of Chu Ge Hall Master’s body and studied it carefully.
The box was quite puzzled, pacing around him with a *da da da* sound.
“Sharpening the axe won’t delay the woodcutting,” Xing Han explained. “First, improve myself. Then, opening the Burial Dao Divine Coffin will be faster. Besides, I asked Qin Cult Leader for half a year. Time is ample, more than enough.”
The box stopped asking.