Chapter 1756: Seventh Young Master's "Past Events"
The obelisk forest still held no trace of life. When Qin Mu had come here before, he could still see the sun in the sky—that was the eye of Eldest Young Master Tai Shang, peering down at everything within the forest.
But now, when he arrived, only the light of the obelisks remained; the sun was nowhere to be seen.
The place was oppressive. The obelisks stood like towering pagodas, suppressing everything.
The stone tablets were forged from Chaos Stone, a material found only in the Tai Yi ore veins and the destruction tribulation. Such treasures could not be found anywhere else.
However, for Eldest Young Master Tai Shang, Chaos Stone was merely material for refining treasures.
Qin Mu hoisted an obelisk and tossed it onto the Ferry World Gold Ship, pushing the ship out through the portal. "Treasure ship, oh treasure ship, go to the Ancestral Court!"
With a heavy shove, Qin Mu sent the Ferry World Gold Ship carrying the stone tablet on its way.
Qin Mu’s gaze flickered uncertainly. He watched until the gold ship vanished into the depths of the Vile Void, then turned around, hefted the Burial Path Divine Coffin onto his shoulder, and strode into the obelisk forest.
He had already deciphered the mystery of the obelisks. By transforming the Hongmoon runes within his body into the runic state of the stone tablets, he could enter the forest without being suppressed.
If he did not do this, and the number of stone tablets remained complete, then he would not be able to disguise himself as a tablet and enter the forest.
"Eldest Young Master Tai Shang may not allow me to take the paralytic away, nor will he allow me to merge Tai Yi with the paralytic. So, I placed one of the stone tablets on the ship, letting the gold ship take it away. With this tablet missing, the forest’s formation is incomplete. As long as he cannot find this tablet and cannot complete the suppression array, I will be safe."
A smile spread across Qin Mu’s face as he shouldered the coffin and strode boldly inside.
At that moment, in the innermost part of the forest, light rippled across the surfaces of the stone tablets. On one of them, the figure of Zhu Santong emerged.
The pig-headed, human-bodied cultivator’s face suddenly protruded from the stone tablet, his copper-bell-sized eyes rolling as he whispered, "Old monster, old monster! Do you feel it? The forest’s formation is missing a piece again!"
From another stone tablet, the reflection of a little girl appeared, like someone looking into a mirror in front of the tablet, but no mirror person was found.
The girl stretched a leg out from the mirror’s surface, exclaiming in surprise, "The formation is indeed incomplete!"
She jumped out from the mirror, giggling, "Tai Shang’s seal is too old, so it’s broken!"
"It’s not that the seal is broken."
An old woman emerged from another stone tablet, sensing carefully. "These obelisks are forged from Chaos Stone. Even the destruction tribulation cannot damage them in the slightest. Tai Shang could imprison us for several more cosmic epochs, and this seal would have no flaws!"
She stepped out from the tablet, puzzled. "But the seal really is missing a piece. Strange…"
Just then, a woman walked out of a stone tablet, sneering, "What trick is Tai Shang playing?"
An old man had already arrived at the village, checking on the paralytic. Finding him still there, he relaxed and said calmly, "We are no longer a match for Tai Shang. No matter what trick he plays…"
He grunted. "We can only be toyed with by him."
The group was somewhat helpless. Suddenly, Zhu Santong’s ears twitched. "Someone’s coming!"
He quickly rolled on the ground, turning into a fat pig. The little girl hung up a rope, and the plump Zhu Santong stretched his hind legs straight, tied up by the rope, and the girl hung him upside down from a tree.
The woman hurried to her Dao tree, drew water from the well, and took out a washing stick, pretending to do laundry. The old man went to the village entrance, sat on a stone, and lit his water pipe. The old woman went to the eaves and sat down, watching the woman wash clothes.
No sooner had they finished setting up than they saw Qin Mu striding like a meteor, carrying a coffin on his shoulder.
"What a fine coffin!"
Everyone relaxed upon seeing the Burial Path Divine Coffin, and they all praised it. The old woman quickly stood up, grinning, "Where did Seventh Young Master get such an excellent coffin? It’s so good, I’d like to lie in it myself!"
Qin Mu set down the Burial Path Divine Coffin, delighted. "You can see it’s a fine coffin too? I’ve coveted it for a long time, but unfortunately, this coffin already has an owner. I’ve given it to someone else."
He sounded quite regretful.
Zhu Santong slipped out of the rope, landed, and transformed into a burly man. He came over to examine it, praising repeatedly, "Truly a fine coffin! I wonder who has the fortune to lie in it."
He was about to lift the coffin lid when Qin Mu pressed his hand down, shaking his head. "There’s someone inside."
Zhu Santong was startled, wanting to look but not daring to.
The old man stepped forward, trembling, "Was it you, young master, who broke Tai Shang’s seal just now?"
Qin Mu smiled faintly. "It was a simple task. Daoist brother, can you guess who is in this coffin?"
The old man’s heart shook violently, and he blurted out, "Could it be that one?"
Qin Mu laughed heartily. The people suppressed in the obelisk forest were stirred with excitement. Among those present, only the old man had ever seen Tian Du; the others had only heard of him, never met him.
The last time Qin Mu came here, they learned that the paralytic was the master of Tian Du, a figure as renowned as the master of the Miluo Palace.
Qin Mu revealed the relationship between Tian Du’s master and Tai Yi, letting them know that they had been freed from the obelisks because Tai Yi had come here.
The old man and Zhu Santong quickly carried the paralytic over, looking at Qin Mu expectantly.
Qin Mu hesitated, then spoke honestly to the group. "Tai Yi is severely injured, and the paralytic was killed by a great divine ability from the master of the Miluo Palace. Although they are one being, both are gravely wounded. If I open the coffin, they will merge into one. The best-case scenario is that after merging, their injuries disappear."
The little girl blinked, looking up at him, and tested, "And the worst case?"
"The worst case is that their injuries combine, concentrated in one body, making the wounds even more severe."
Qin Mu paused for a moment, then confessed, "It might even lead to immediate death—the kind that can’t be saved."
Seeing the group’s faces change drastically, he quickly added, "But not long ago, I suffered the same injury as the paralytic. The difference is that the paralytic died, while I healed. Don’t worry—I’m quite experienced in treating this kind of wound. However…"
The woman brandished her washing stick, annoyed. "Seventh Young Master, can you finish what you have to say in one go?"
Qin Mu said, "However, my injury was caused by a divine ability from Third Young Master Ling Xiao, while the wound on the paralytic was inflicted by the master of the Miluo Palace. Although they used the same technique, the users are different. I’m not entirely sure if I can fully heal the paralytic’s wound."
"Then treat a dead pig like a live pig!"
Zhu Santong spoke bluntly. "Even if we can’t cure him, it won’t make his wounds worse!"
Qin Mu nodded in agreement and carefully examined the wound on the paralytic. After a while, he fell into a dream. The group’s faces changed, and they quickly stepped back.
Qin Mu didn’t notice this in his dream.
The old man’s voice was hoarse. "Seventh Young Master’s dream turns into a vast world. Be careful not to fall into it, or you’ll face endless calamity."
The others were extremely cautious. In past universes, they had all heard more or less about the rumors of Seventh Young Master’s dream. It was said to be the most bizarre and incredible thing in each past universe, and there were many terrifying tales about the dream of Seventh Young Master. They couldn’t afford to be careless.
Countless tiny Qin Mus poked their heads out of the dream, then swarmed out, chattering as they treated the paralytic’s Dao wound.
The group watched closely, growing suspicious.
The old man breathed a sigh of relief. "He hasn’t cultivated to that terrifying level yet. No need to worry too much."
Everyone relaxed. Zhu Santong lowered his voice, "Old monster, are the rumors about Seventh Young Master’s dream true? I heard that in the Twelfth Epoch, a cultivator organized a demon-extermination assembly, planning to kill him, and gathered a bunch of experts…"
The little girl spoke quickly, "I’ve heard that rumor too! It’s said that when Seventh Young Master arrived, many cultivators were about to make their move when they saw him fall asleep. I heard that the cultivators who attended the demon-extermination assembly didn’t even leave a corpse—they were directly erased!"
The old man shook his head. "I was suppressed by Tai Shang early on, so I never heard that rumor. I only know that in my era, someone once fell into Seventh Young Master’s dream. Later…"
He fell silent for a moment, then said, "That person came out alive, but he was no longer himself."
His expression turned strange, and his voice carried a hint of fear. "Whether it was his appearance, his physical body, his primordial spirit, or even his memories—everything had changed. That person originally wanted to kill Seventh Young Master, but after coming out of his dream, he didn’t recognize Seventh Young Master at all. Later, they even became friends…"
The group felt a chill run down their spines.
The woman whispered, "In the Ninth Epoch, I heard that the place where Seventh Young Master entered his dream was the largest forbidden zone in the universe, the most mysterious and terrifying. No one could set foot there, or they would never return!"
"I heard that rumor in the Thirteenth Epoch too!" the little girl said quickly.
Zhu Santong was silent for a moment, then said, "I’ve heard it too."
The old woman nodded. "I’ve heard it as well."
The old man sighed. "I’ve also heard it."
Everyone fell silent. The fact that rumors about this forbidden zone existed from the Seventh to the Fifteenth Epochs made them feel a deep terror. Clearly, this forbidden zone had always existed, even surviving the destruction and creation tribulations of countless universes!
"We should be glad we’re not his enemies," Zhu Santong suddenly chuckled.
"That’s hard to say."
The little girl laughed. "When Seventh Young Master first came here, you were cut into pieces, and you still attacked him and cursed him."
Zhu Santong instantly deflated.
Suddenly, the old man’s face changed. "Someone’s coming!"
The old woman, the woman, Zhu Santong, and the little girl immediately tensed up. The sky suddenly brightened, and a sun appeared, hanging in the sky.
The old man snorted, looking up. "Tai Shang!"
The sky changed again, and another sun appeared. Then, the face of Eldest Young Master Tai Shang gradually became clear. The two suns receded, becoming the two eyes on his face.