Chapter 1805: Trample Wuya
The Ancestral Court.
Jiang Baigui and the others looked into the distance, watching as the myriad realms expanded while the Ancestral Court shrank.
Over these 3.5 billion years, the Ancestral Court had become only one percent of its original size. From afar, it increasingly resembled a massive cauldron—though even at one percent, this cauldron was unimaginably vast.
The group hurried forward when suddenly a colossal beast, its body blazing like fire, flew from the surface of the Ancestral Court. It appeared tiny from a distance but grew larger as it approached.
It was a Qilin Dragon. Only when it reached them did it slowly transform into a man with a Qilin head and a human body. He bowed to the group and said, "Forgive my laziness, everyone. I took the liberty of not heading to the Primordial Realm to rendezvous."
"Lord of the Beast Realm, no need for such formalities."
Xu Shenghua asked, "Has the shrinking of the Ancestral Court affected the Beast Realm?"
The Qilin Dragon walked alongside him and replied, "Quite a bit. Over the years, the Ancestral Court has grown increasingly strange. The mountains and rivers have become incredibly hard and stable; the lakes, rivers, and oceans have also turned peculiar; the wind and rain in the sky have changed as well—like some kind of treasure or the texture of a great Dao. For the most part, my beast clans can still survive, but to be safe, I’ve ordered them to migrate from the Ancestral Court to other territories in the Beast Realm. Only I remain here, guarding this place, awaiting the final showdown."
He smiled sheepishly and added, "I’m still a bit impatient, not as composed as you all."
Lan Yutian asked, "Lord of the Beast Realm, you are well-versed in various Dao techniques and divine abilities. Have you noticed any anomalies?"
The Qilin Dragon hesitated, then nodded. "The Ancestral Court is being bound and permeated by a powerful force; it has essentially been completely refined. In recent days, I’ve been observing everything on the periphery of the Ancestral Court and discovered a major clue. The fundamental structure of all matter within the Ancestral Court is changing. Even the smallest things are filled with Hongmeng runes."
As they neared the Ancestral Court, the Qilin Dragon reached out, plucked a cloud drifting over the continent, and pinched a droplet of water from it. "Please, take a look, everyone."
They all gazed at the droplet. Suddenly, the Qilin Dragon spread his hands apart, and the droplet expanded immensely, becoming as vast as a star hanging in the sky!
From this now-enormous droplet, he extracted another droplet, while the first one fell back toward the Ancestral Court, shrinking quickly into a water bead absorbed by the clouds.
The Qilin Dragon split the new droplet again, making it colossal once more, then took another droplet, repeating the process over a hundred times.
Finally, the group saw the Dao chain structure hidden within the droplet, and their hearts were deeply shaken.
The Qilin Dragon continued splitting it dozens more times, revealing Dao pattern structures and rune structures within the droplet.
He kept going, the rune structures becoming ever more intricate, splitting into finer and finer forms.
At last, the droplet was divided to the point where it could no longer be split, revealing before them an incredibly tiny rune.
A Hongmeng rune.
The Qilin Dragon released his grip, and the Hongmeng rune flew off, vanishing into the sky and earth of the Ancestral Court.
After a long silence, Lan Yutian exhaled a turbid breath and gazed at the boundless landscape of the Ancestral Court, murmuring, "If even a droplet in the clouds is like this, then everything else must be the same?"
Xu Shenghua descended to the surface of the Ancestral Court, bent down, and plucked a tender blade of grass, examining it closely. "The flowers, plants, and trees here haven’t been transformed. It seems that anything with life hasn’t been refined."
Qin Mu respected these lives, so he hadn’t altered them.
If Qin Mu had refined the living beings within the Ancestral Court, the life structures of its flora, fauna, birds, insects, and fish would have undergone bizarre changes, potentially giving rise to strange and powerful species.
Xu Shenghua looked up and scanned the surroundings. The effort and divine power required to refine the entire Ancestral Court were so immense as to be almost unimaginable.
What level Qin Mu’s cultivation had reached now, he couldn’t fathom, nor could he even begin to guess.
They entered the interior of the Ancestral Court, where the Chaos Sea covered the entire sky. The Six Paths Heavenly Wheel, forged from Chaos Stone, hung inverted over the Chaos Sea. The Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court floated in the heavens, and the World Tree still stood rooted in its original spot.
In the sky, countless Return to Void Abysses drifted like pitch-black holes.
The space within the Ancestral Court was filled with tears, strangeness, and danger.
This army of Dao Achievers appearing inside the Ancestral Court immediately caught the attention of various factions. Before long, a Ferry Golden Ship flew over, carrying Ling Yuxiu, Tai Shi, Yanfeng Emperor, and others who had remained here, never leaving.
"Please, board the ship, everyone!"
Ling Yuxiu said, "My husband went to the Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court to discuss matters with the Third and Fourth Young Masters. He left a few days ago and should be back soon."
Kaihuang Qin Ye asked, "Your Majesty, what did Mu Tianzun go to the Jade Capital City to discuss?"
Ling Yuxiu replied, "My husband said he plans to eliminate the Second Young Master and Wuya, and has asked the Jade Capital City to stand by and watch. After Wuya and Wuji are dealt with, he will then have a final battle with the Jade Capital City."
At these words, everyone was stunned.
Xu Shenghua shook his head. "Would Young Master Lingxiao and Young Master Zixiao agree? Besides, do we truly have the strength to eliminate Wuya the Elder and Young Master Wuji?"
Ling Yuxiu said, "That, I do not know."
Worry clouded their faces.
In the Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court, the Chaos Hall floated amidst the vast Chaos Qi. Qin Mu sat before the hall, with the Lingxiao Hall and Zixiao Hall ahead of him. In the Lingxiao Hall, Young Master Lingxiao’s upper body emerged from the boundless Hongmeng Purple Qi, his Dao spear in hand.
In the Zixiao Hall, Young Master Zixiao also appeared from the waist up, with his ancient zither and Dao sword dancing around him.
Beyond these three Dao halls, many other halls were scattered about. The twenty-eight hall masters and hundreds of Miluo Palace Dao Achievers stood in silence.
"Seventh Brother, I can feel your power."
Young Master Lingxiao spoke unhurriedly. "3.5 billion years is still too long for you, but for us, it’s not that long. We’ve waited for eons. You’ve finally grown impatient and come to us on your own."
Young Master Zixiao added, "Over these years, you’ve taken on the burden of the Ancestral Court, blocking and suppressing us, to give the Seventeenth Era enough time to develop. Yet, these 3.5 billion years are still too short for you. Can the 3.5 billion years of the Seventeenth Era compare to the accumulation of trillions of years past? I don’t think so."
Qin Mu smiled faintly and said leisurely, "I believe it can. This time, I propose a truce between us. After I eliminate Wuji and Wuya, we will settle the score once and for all. Then, it will be decided whether Miluo Palace or Yankang wins. Moreover..."
He said calmly, "I’ll give you, my senior brothers, a benefit. When Wuya dies and Wuji dies, I won’t take a single bit of their energy. I’ll let you, my senior brothers, use it for a blood sacrifice to descend. With Wuji and Wuya, all the Dao Achievers and hall masters of Miluo Palace can descend, can’t they?"
Young Master Lingxiao and Young Master Zixiao were quite tempted, and the other hall masters and Dao Achievers whispered among themselves.
Young Master Zixiao said, "Seventh Brother, you’ve never kept your word. How can I trust you?"
Qin Mu laughed heartily. "The entire Ancestral Court is a great altar. All who die within it become energy for the blood sacrifice. On my side, Tai Shi can intercept a portion, but not much. Only Wuya the Elder can steal most of it from your hands. If Wuya dies, who can take even a sliver from you, Senior Brother Lingxiao?"
Young Master Zixiao looked at Lingxiao, who nodded slightly.
Young Master Zixiao said, "Seventh Brother, your meaning in coming here is that while you fight Wuya and Wuji, we do nothing—neither help you nor hinder you. We just wait to receive the blood sacrifice’s power, and our true bodies can descend, even the entire Jade Capital City. Am I understanding correctly?"
Qin Mu smiled and lowered his head. "Yes."
Young Master Zixiao stared at him for a long time, then said, "Your smile sends chills down my spine. Are you so confident that you and your reformers can oppose the accumulated power of Miluo Palace’s sixteen universes?"
Qin Mu looked up, still smiling. "Teacher established Miluo Palace, creating a behemoth, but in the end, that behemoth no longer heeded his commands. I also once created a behemoth called the Heavenly Alliance, and later I destroyed it myself. Teacher took the wrong path; he couldn’t bear to destroy Miluo Palace. As his last disciple, it falls to me to destroy it. The Yankang Reformation is meant to overthrow all that is rotten. Two senior brothers, and all you fellow Daoists—you have all become rotten."
Young Master Zixiao stared at him intently.
The other hall masters and Miluo Palace Dao Achievers also fixed their gazes on him.
Qin Mu’s smile remained unchanged as he said softly, "In this era, after dealing with you, I will go back to the past to see Teacher and become his disciple. I will meet you all again, drink and chat with you, and be friends. If I lose this battle, I will kill you in the past. If I can’t kill you, I will leave behind many contingencies."
He chuckled. "If I win this battle, you will all still be alive now, because I have no interest in dealing with you. If you’re afraid, we can keep dragging this out, until the Great Cold Silence and Great Void that Teacher spoke of appear, and all Dao techniques and divine abilities dissolve into nothingness."
Young Master Zixiao’s pupils contracted.
The other hall masters and Dao Achievers felt their hearts race.
They had encountered Qin Mu in past history. As the Seventh Young Master of Chaos, Qin Mu had a strange temperament but had never fallen out with anyone in Miluo Palace or attacked them.
Didn’t that mean that in this future battle, they had been defeated and died here?
"You all are truly afraid." Qin Mu looked around.
Silence reigned.
"Seventh Brother, this battle is an internal conflict within Miluo Palace."
Suddenly, Young Master Lingxiao spoke. "It’s a conflict between Teacher’s disciples, arising from different paths. But we each hold fast to Teacher’s ideals, don’t we?"
Qin Mu’s gaze fell on him, and he nodded slightly.
Young Master Lingxiao closed his eyes. "Alright. I agree. You can go and eliminate Wuya and Second Sister. We carry the momentum of the past sixteen eras, while you look to the future. This stalemate cannot last. Since it’s an internal conflict, no matter who wins, the ultimate victor is Teacher. You may go."
Qin Mu stood up and said solemnly, "Two senior brothers, and all you fellow Daoists, I will first go kill Wuya. After Wuya dies, you won’t have to worry about anyone stealing the blood sacrifice’s energy. You can descend freely!"
Young Master Zixiao frowned and looked at Lingxiao.
Lingxiao waved his sleeve, closing the hall doors. "Let him go!"
Qin Mu left the Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court and returned to the Ferry Golden Ship. On the ship were familiar faces. He smiled at these old friends—some were his predecessors, some his peers, and some younger ones who had later achieved Dao in the Ancestral Court.
Their expressions were excited, as if they had a thousand words to say to him.
"Everyone."
Qin Mu laughed. "I’ll take you to trample Wuya and uproot the World Tree."
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Thank you to Night Cold Deep Love Wind Blue for the tip!
Thank you to the Golden Alliance leader Night Cold Deep Love Wind Blue for the nine million point tip—nine consecutive million-point tips, ninety thousand yuan. It’s truly too much; I feel unworthy!
The Tale of the Shepherd is nearing its end, so I can’t have a burst of updates. I’ll have to save that for the next book.
Thank you again for the support, big boss. I have no way to repay it, and I feel ashamed.
PS: The Tale of the Shepherd’s completion book review event is still ongoing. Welcome, book friends, to participate. The rules are pinned in the book review section. The prizes are generous! I estimate that any random post can win, because there are too many prize slots set (Night Cat, don’t hit me).
Zhai Zhu’s public WeChat account is also organizing rankings of ancient gods. After the rankings, there should be rankings of beauties, etc. Oh, and after the book ends, there should be extra chapters.
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