Chapter 1819: Future Reunion
The Dao spear bent, then suddenly snapped straight, and the Heavenly Capital City shot up into the air with a roar!
This relic was dense with Chaotic Qi, vast and heavy, but even a sacred ground like this could not withstand the astonishing power of Young Master Ling Xiao.
Qin Mu stomped heavily with his foot, and the Heavenly Capital City relic, which was flying toward the Obelisk Forest, immediately dipped at one end and tilted up at the other, drifting through the Refuse Ground like a leaf tossed by the wind.
Young Master Ling Xiao, murderous intent boiling, descended into the Heavenly Capital City.
Although he had just restored his physical body, Qin Mu was also in a difficult state. The Dao wounds left by Fourth Young Master Zi Xiao were not something that could be healed in a short time.
As soon as the Dao spear in his hand was unleashed, it became his most ferocious killing move. The Dao spears were like a forest, like a great prison!
Young Master Ling Xiao hated evil as much as he hated his enemies. The extraordinary treasure he had left in the Jade Capital City was this great prison, used to suppress and refine those enemies who opposed the Mi Luo Palace.
He was not as merciful as First Young Master Tai Shang. Tai Shang would not kill his opponents. Even when facing a "great evil" like Tai Yi, Tai Shang only suppressed him in the Burial Dao Divine Coffin, sealing him away.
Young Master Ling Xiao's great prison was filled with a dense forest of stern Dao spears. The forest of Dao spears pierced through the bodies of those prisoners, pierced through their primordial spirits, torturing them relentlessly until they could no longer bear it and died.
From his great prison, one could also see the domineering and brutal nature of his techniques and divine abilities.
The divine abilities hidden within his Dao spear were the most domineering. Once the spear was unleashed, countless divine beings in the sky all gathered around his Dao spear, boosting his combat power exponentially!
Qin Mu retreated as countless spear shadows whizzed past him from all directions. Young Master Ling Xiao's momentum grew stronger and stronger as he rapidly closed in. His spear moved like a dragon, changing in a thousand ways, and the voices of divine demons from the heavens and earth echoed around him, empowering him and making the power of his Dao spear even more terrifying!
The ruins of the Heavenly Capital City exploded with loud bangs, shattering under the might of the Dao spear and turning into Chaotic Qi.
The Chaotic Qi within these ruins grew thicker and thicker, and rolling waves of Chaotic Qi surged from the depths of spacetime. Within the Chaotic mist, tall and strange figures seemed to stand, shadowy and indistinct.
Young Master Ling Xiao ignored them, keeping the tip of his spear close to Qin Mu as he charged deep into the ruins.
Suddenly, Qin Mu's figure halted. His feet were planted firmly, not in a standard stance, but precisely landing in the center of the altar of the Land of Heaven Creation, within those two footprints.
Young Master Ling Xiao's heart skipped a beat: "The Land of Heaven Creation of the Heavenly Capital!"
Knowing something was wrong, he immediately mustered all his power to deliver one final strike, simultaneously releasing his Dao spear and retreating backward!
At that moment, Qin Mu reached out and drew his sword. A flash of sword light blazed.
Heavenly Capital Heaven Creation Chapter!
Boom!
Chaos was cleaved apart, and a new universe was born within the sword light. Wherever the sword light passed, those tall, strange figures within the Chaotic mist dissipated like smoke and clouds!
"Third Senior Brother, this is the Creation Tribulation you once escaped. Now, I return it to you!"
Qin Mu's Dao voice exploded like thunder. The sword light met the Dao spear thrust by Young Master Ling Xiao. The countless divine demons and devils that had been revolving and chanting around the Dao spear all shattered!
Crack! The Dao spear was severed, broken, turning into pure energy that expanded outward, then underwent the transformations of the Five Tais of Primordiality within the light of creation!
Young Master Ling Xiao retreated with incredible speed, but the speed of the universe's creation was even faster. It quickly caught up to him, engulfing and drowning him!
Within the light of creation, Young Master Ling Xiao recalled the scene of his escape from the Creation Tribulation of the Seventeenth Epoch. Countless versions of himself had exerted their strongest strikes, breaking through one bizarre space after another, charging toward the Void Refuse Ground.
At that time, countless versions of himself had perished in the Creation Tribulation. Only he had broken through the tribulation's light. His physical body had shattered within the light, his Dao spear tumbling, and his head had charged into the Refuse Ground.
He didn't know which version of himself had broken through the Creation Tribulation, or which version had been destroyed.
At that time, he had looked back and seen the light of the Creation Tribulation left behind.
Now, within the light of Qin Mu's Heavenly Capital Heaven Creation Chapter, he looked back and saw the light of the Creation Tribulation still chasing him, chasing him for ninety-five billion years.
Now, the tribulation light was right at his doorstep!
He had never truly escaped the light of the Creation Tribulation. He had only run far enough that the Creation Tribulation hadn't caught up to him yet.
And now, the Creation Tribulation had caught up.
The difference was that the Creation Tribulation was using Qin Mu's hand to engulf him, to drown him, to erase him!
It seemed that no one in this Void Refuse Ground had truly escaped the Creation Tribulation. They just hadn't been caught by it yet. When the powerful beings hiding here were finally caught by their respective Creation Tribulations, they would still be doomed.
"This battle was not lost because of me, but because of Heaven's will!"
Facing the tribulation light, Young Master Ling Xiao had no way to resist. His physical body was destroyed within the light, but he mustered his last ounce of strength to crash into the Heavenly Capital City relic, using his final power to push this relic toward the Obelisk Forest!
He had to buy time for the Dao Achievers and Hall Masters of the Mi Luo Palace!
To buy hope for the Jade Capital City's continued existence!
He could die, but the ideals of the Mi Luo Palace had to be preserved and passed on!
Even if the achievement was not his, even if his body perished and his Dao vanished!
Whoosh—
The Heavenly Capital City relic shot toward the Obelisk Forest at an even greater speed, getting closer and closer. Within the tribulation light, Young Master Ling Xiao saw that the Heavenly Capital City relic and the Obelisk Forest were now within arm's reach!
His physical body and his Great Dao were almost completely dissipated. His thoughts and consciousness were also fading in the tribulation light. Only his head remained, and the flesh on his head was rapidly dissolving.
Soon, his skull was also disintegrating in the tribulation light, but he felt a trace of comfort.
"The Heaven Creation beings will be released, and the Dao Achievers of the Mi Luo Palace will have a chance to live. This is the last thing I can do. Someone will pick up the ideals of the Mi Luo Palace, take up my thoughts, and carry on for me..."
His consciousness was annihilated. But just before the moment of annihilation, he saw Qin Mu standing sideways between the Heavenly Capital City relic and the Obelisk Forest!
He saw Qin Mu's hair standing on end, countless arms flailing as he blocked both the Heavenly Capital City relic and the Obelisk Forest, using his own physical body to withstand the collision of the two sacred grounds!
He saw Qin Mu's arms exploding under the crushing force of the boundless power, flesh and blood splattering. He saw Qin Mu being squeezed until he vomited blood. But he also saw Qin Mu constantly growing new arms, desperately trying to hold back the two sacred grounds!
Finally, the Heavenly Capital City relic trembled slightly and came to a halt, while the Obelisk Forest was pushed by Qin Mu's power, moving further and further away from the Heavenly Capital City relic.
"You damnable Seventh Brother..."
Young Master Ling Xiao's consciousness stirred for a moment, then was completely annihilated.
Qin Mu lay prone before the gateway of the Obelisk Forest, coughing up mouthfuls of blood. His three eyes saw only darkness, unable to perceive anything for a long time.
The Great Dao he had cultivated was almost completely crushed and shattered. His physical body was even more miserable, covered in wounds, with broken bone spurs piercing through the skin.
After a long while, he felt something flowing into his mouth, down his throat, and spreading to all parts of his physical body and primordial spirit, nourishing his form.
His injuries improved slightly. Cool liquid dripped into his eyes. After another moment, his vision slowly recovered, and the scenery before him gradually became clear from the blur.
Qin Mu saw a few figures. After another moment, those figures merged into one: an unremarkable old man sitting by the doorframe of the Obelisk Forest.
Qin Mu struggled to his feet and bowed to the old man. "Senior Brother Tai Shang."
First Young Master Tai Shang waved his hand. "Ling Xiao is dead. Zi Xiao's Dao heart is broken. The Mi Luo Palace has lost its backbone. Seventh Brother, you have achieved your goal. Your next step is to go to the Jade Capital City and destroy all the Dao Achievers and Hall Masters, isn't it?"
Qin Mu plopped down beside him, resting his elbows on his knees, panting heavily, his hands still trembling.
"Big Senior Brother, life is stronger than we imagine, but also more fragile."
Qin Mu revealed a smile and chuckled. "Thirty-five billion years. Just thirty-five billion years, and the Yan Kang Reformation has already reached its end. We Yan Kang Dao Achievers fight and kill in the Ancestral Court. Yan Kang has no worries, no motivation to progress. Yan Kang has no enemies left. I once hated the Carefree Village established by Kai Huang Qin Ye, but Yan Kang is being turned into another Carefree Village by us Dao Achievers—an even bigger Carefree Village!"
He moved his waist with difficulty, his spine cracking. "And this universe is still growing, becoming larger and larger, more and more vast. The heavens are moving away from each other, the stars are getting farther apart. This is a calamity even more terrifying than the Destruction Tribulation and the Creation Tribulation. Yan Kang will be slowly killed in this comfort zone. By the time they realize the danger, they will be unable to stop this universe from turning into void. I think they need some enemies to warn them, to make them continue the reformation, to make them stronger and more powerful."
Tai Shang glanced at him. "So you will leave the Dao Achievers and Hall Masters of the Mi Luo Palace alive, to inspire and spur them to keep moving forward."
Qin Mu's expression was calm. "I need to leave another possibility for the future. Perhaps Teacher's ideals are correct?"
His gaze was deep. "I also didn't kill Wu Ya old man, nor Second Sister Wu Ji. If the entire universe keeps expanding indefinitely, perhaps they have a way to stop the trend of voidification."
Tai Shang looked at him and suddenly said, "Are you ready to go back?"
Qin Mu nodded, revealing a smile. "I'm ready to go back. To see Teacher. To become the Seventh Young Master of the Mi Luo Palace. To find my daughter. I will also do many, many things in the past, even more than I did in the Seventeenth Epoch. I will go and find a way to avoid the Great Silence of the future."
First Young Master Tai Shang's expression was strange. "When you go back to the past, you will indeed do many, many things. The things you do will be hard to understand. At the very least, I have never understood them. Your reputation will not be very good."
"I'm used to it!"
Qin Mu staggered to his feet, stretched, and laughed. "If Seventh Young Master Chaos could be seen through at a glance, would he still be worthy of the title 'Chaos'?"
First Young Master Tai Shang also stood up. "I said I tried to imitate Teacher, but I could never get it right. Even trying to imitate Teacher's entering nirvana and transforming into the Dao to die, I did it terribly. I think it's probably because I never despaired of the future like Teacher did. I didn't know where this hope came from. Now I know. This sliver of hope should come from you."
His gaze was deep. "After you return to the past, I will come to the Seventeenth Epoch to transform into the Dao, returning the spiritual energy and spiritual power I took from the universe back to it. But I will not die. I will reincarnate and wait for you in the Seventeenth Epoch."
Qin Mu nodded.
First Young Master Tai Shang looked back at the Obelisk Forest. "Tai Yi and the Heaven Creation beings, I will send them back before I transform into the Dao. When you return to the Sixteenth Epoch, you will meet them."
Qin Mu was stunned for a moment, then broke into a smile. "Then, Senior Brother, see you in the future!"
First Young Master Tai Shang smiled slightly. "See you in the past."