Chapter 1806: Wuya's IOU
Beneath the World Tree, the Elder Wuya sat motionless, his gaze profound, as if able to penetrate all history past and present.
Sixteen Chaotic Long Rivers surrounded this ancient tree, and the World Tree's roots pierced through all sixteen Chaotic Long Rivers. Countless powerhouses from each cosmic epoch used this ancient tree's roots to preserve their lives.
Whether they lived or died, whether they could escape the tribulation, all depended on a single thought from the Elder Wuya.
Born only seventeen years old, one cosmos is a year.
Such was the Elder Wuya.
Now it was his seventeenth year. The vicissitudes of history were merely scenes to him, and the joys and sorrows of countless lives were nothing but the clamor of dust-like tiny beings.
The only one he cared about was himself.
Ever since he was injured in the Guixu Battle thirty-five billion years ago, he had been listless and dispirited. That injury had harmed him more severely than Taiyi's felling of the tree. Qin Mu had not chosen to destroy him but had given him a chance to escape, yet Wuya felt no gratitude toward Qin Mu.
The reason Qin Mu dared not kill him was mainly that doing so would cause the Third and Fourth Young Masters to descend.
In the thirty-five billion years since, with attacks from all sides, Qin Mu still occasionally helped him resist the Miluo Palace, and even lent a hand to Young Master Wuji.
However, Qin Mu had already confined them completely.
Ever since Qin Mu destroyed the Guixu Abyss and resealed the void of the Ancestral Court, Young Master Wuji had lost his source of power. To recover to his peak state, he could only rely on step-by-step cultivation.
The Elder Wuya had also lost his source of power. Among the prehistoric powerhouses under his command, there were no new Dao-achievers.
There was only one path to achieving Dao: the Ancestral Court Dao Realm system.
Yet he could not let his prehistoric powerhouses cultivate the Yan Kang Ancestral Court Dao Realm system, because if prehistoric powerhouses achieved Dao through that system, it would bring him no benefit at all.
Wuji could never recover to his peak state, and after thirty-five billion years of growth, Wuya's own progress was also slow.
He understood Qin Mu's purpose perfectly—it was nothing more than buying time, giving the so-called Yan Kang Reform more opportunities to let Yan Kang grow.
He even calculated how many people left Qin Mu's side each time, how many entered from the outside, estimating Yan Kang's strength.
At first, the number of newly achieved Dao-achievers in Yan Kang was quite alarming, but later, this trend gradually slowed. Especially in recent years, fewer and fewer new Dao-achievers appeared, and in the last twenty thousand years, none had emerged at all.
Yan Kang had only three thousand Dao-achievers in total. That number seemed large, but compared to the accumulation of sixteen cosmic epochs, it was still too few.
From that point on, the Elder Wuya realized that the Yan Kang Reform had encountered a major problem.
That problem should be: no external threat.
With no external threat, Yan Kang had lost its sense of crisis. The people were too content with the status quo, leading to a lack of ambition and the will to strive and grow stronger.
As for the reform, it could no longer be sustained.
After realizing this, the Elder Wuya deduced another possibility: Qin Mu was about to make his move.
For thirty-five billion years, Qin Mu's goal in delaying had been to strengthen the Yan Kang Reform and give it more time. Now that the reform could no longer continue, there was no reason for him to keep stalling.
Qin Mu would definitely act!
"If Chaos makes his move, he will surely come to ally with me and Young Master Wuji, to strike at Jade Capital City. Because Jade Capital City poses the greatest threat!"
The Elder Wuya's eyes flickered. "Alliance with the weak to overcome the strong—that is the way of military strategy. After eliminating Jade Capital City, he will have the strength to deal with me and Young Master Wuji. At that time, he will also need my power to pressure Yan Kang, forcing the reform to continue. And when he comes to beg me to join forces, I can drive a hard bargain! My recovery to my peak state will be within reach!"
Just as he thought this, suddenly a Dao-achiever reported: "The Seventh Young Master Chaos's Ferry World Gold Ship has arrived, entering the first Chaotic Long River!"
The Elder Wuya rose, laughing heartily: "Young Master Chaos is just as I expected! All his plans are within my grasp; he can only hop around in my palm! Someone, prepare to welcome Young Master Chaos and give him a show of force!"
At that moment, suddenly a bell rang out, its sound shaking the heavens. The sixteen Chaotic Long Rivers nearly boiled over. A great bell spanned all sixteen rivers, settling upon them, shaking countless prehistoric powerhouses within the rivers until they lost their footing and fell into the great tribulation of destruction!
The Ferry World Gold Ship charged straight ahead, rushing from within the bell toward the World Tree on the opposite shore!
The Elder Wuya's heart shook violently. He was somewhat at a loss. According to his calculations, Qin Mu should have come to sue for peace, not to start a war.
But Qin Mu, with one move, had broken through the sixteen Chaotic Long Rivers and charged straight in!
"Chaos!"
The Elder Wuya was both shocked and furious, shouting: "You come to sue for peace, yet you give me a show of force first?"
Boom!
The Ferry World Gold Ship charged all the way to the foot of the World Tree, smashing mountains and earth to pieces. The bell's sound echoed back and forth, overturning the ground beneath the World Tree. Countless prehistoric powerhouses, in the midst of the bell's toll, were like duckweed and fallen leaves, unable to steady themselves.
The Elder Wuya hurriedly activated the World Tree, rescuing one prehistoric powerhouse after another. At the same time, more of the World Tree's roots plunged deep into the Chaotic Long Rivers. Countless prehistoric powerhouses, like countless ants and fleas, climbed up along the roots, struggling to reach the other shore!
Qin Mu stood at the bow of the ship. The Ferry World Gold Ship continued to charge toward the Elder Wuya. On the gold ship, Yan Kang's Dao-achievers flew out one after another, charging to kill those stowaways.
Lan Yutian, Xu Shenghua—the two Ancestors; Kaihuang Qin Ye; Kaihuang Di Yiyue; the two Ancestors of the Dao Sect; the Buddhist Sect's Zhan Kong; the four Ancestors of the Heavenly Blade; the two Divine Kings of Creation; Yan Feng Emperor and the various Yan Kang Emperors—all joined the battle.
By the time the Ferry World Gold Ship reached the foot of the World Tree, before the Elder Wuya, only Qin Mu remained on the ship.
The Ferry World Gold Ship stopped. Qin Mu stepped down from the gold ship and bowed, saying: "Brother Wuya, when we first met back then, the favor IOU I gave you—do you still keep it?"
The Elder Wuya's heart skipped a beat. He looked behind Qin Mu and saw hundreds of battlefields forming beneath the World Tree. Yan Kang's Dao-achievers were slaughtering the powerhouses under his command on a massive scale.
Over the years, the Dao fruits hanging on his World Tree had likely been thoroughly studied by Qin Mu and the others. All divine techniques and Dao methods had been broken by the enemy, which was why this had turned into a massacre!
The Elder Wuya's voice was hoarse: "You didn't come to sue for peace?"
Qin Mu shook his head, saying: "Brother, is the IOU still here?"
The Elder Wuya's eyelids twitched. Suddenly, an extremely thick root of the World Tree emerged from underground. The root split open, and a golden paper flew out, drifting lightly before Qin Mu.
This golden paper could not survive the destruction tribulation or the creation tribulation, so the Elder Wuya had hidden it within his own "body," protecting the IOU from destruction.
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. He hadn't expected that there really was an IOU, and that the Elder Wuya had managed to preserve it until now!
"Brother, since you have the IOU, I owe you a favor."
Qin Mu raised his hand and put away the IOU, nodding, and said coldly: "Then I will leave you a thread of life and will not completely annihilate you."
The Elder Wuya laughed heartily. Behind him, the countless branches of the World Tree suddenly transformed into countless arms, and the phantom images of various Dao fruits hung upon the World Tree: "Chaos, your best choice should be to join forces with me to confront the Miluo Palace! Later, you can borrow my power to pressure Yan Kang, forcing them to strive and grow stronger, rather than coming to eliminate me! Yan Kang has become a place without ambition, hasn't it?"
"So, Brother, this is your thread of life."
Qin Mu thought for a moment, then smiled slightly: "I understand. The reason I, after becoming the Seventh Young Master, left you an IOU was probably to remind myself not to completely eliminate you. I must spare your life. Only you can make Yan Kang step out of the Land of No Worries."
Having figured this out, he burst into laughter.
The Elder Wuya also laughed heartily, saying leisurely: "Seventh Young Master of the Miluo Palace, are you so confident that you can defeat me? Your best choice..."
Qin Mu took a step forward. Behind him, the Chaos Hall burst open. Sixteen Chaotic Long Rivers stretched across the sky. The Guixu Lotus Platform and the World Tree emerged, taking root in the rivers!
The lotus platform had thirteen levels of Dao quality. On the World Tree hung eight Dao fruits and seven Dao flowers. The light of Dao from the Chaos Hall shone upon the sixteen Chaotic Long Rivers.
At this moment, within the destruction tribulations of the past sixteen cosmic epochs, various versions of the Elder Wuya looked up and saw the Chaos Hall above the destruction tribulation.
That light was blinding, making it impossible for him to see the future!
At this moment, he seemed to become countless independent individuals, no longer able to contact his future self.
Beneath the World Tree, the Elder Wuya roared and met Qin Mu's charge. The countless branches of the World Tree, transformed into arms, unleashed countless divine techniques in an instant—great techniques that would astonish anyone, each reaching the ultimate mystery of Dao methods, a breathtaking sight.
Boom!
That countless techniques engulfed Qin Mu. But within the endless techniques, sixteen long rivers crisscrossed and intersected. Those techniques, upon entering the rivers, vanished without a trace.
Qin Mu stood before the Elder Wuya, his palm pushing forward. A massive hand grew larger and larger, and the power of the Red String Knot Seal erupted.
The Elder Wuya's countless arms met it. With a thunderous roar, the sixteen Chaotic Long Rivers shook. Chains like red ropes crisscrossed and intertwined, locking onto the countless roots of the World Tree within the rivers.
The Elder Wuya was forced backward involuntarily. His body suddenly vanished into the World Tree.
The World Tree trembled, about to pull out its roots and rise, when suddenly the red rope chains bound its roots tightly, rendering it immobile.
Behind Qin Mu, within the Chaos Hall, a sword forged from Chaos Stone flew out.
Qin Mu grasped the sword and swung it down.
At the same time, the power of the Red String Knot Seal swept through, shattering countless roots of the World Tree into powder, turning them into pure energy.
A flash of sword light passed, and the World Tree fell with a crash!
Qin Mu raised his hand. The Wind of Heat Death howled in, surrounding the World Tree and burning it. The Elder Wuya screamed, trying to break free and escape the sea of fire. Suddenly, the Guixu Lotus Platform descended, suppressing the World Tree. From the holes in the lotus platform, the Wind of Annihilation blew, intensifying the flames.
"So fast!"
In the Jade Capital City of the Ancestral Court, Young Master Lingxiao and Young Master Zixiao looked into the distance toward the World Tree, their expressions grave: "The Seventh has improved considerably!"
Suddenly, Qin Mu flicked his finger. A section of the World Tree's root flew out from the Chaotic Long River, shooting toward the heavens and disappearing.
"Brother Taishi, no need to convert the blood sacrifice energy."
Taishi was about to cast a spell when suddenly Qin Mu's voice came, indifferent: "Let the Third Young Master take the blood sacrifice energy."