# Chapter 1820: The Undying Veteran
Prince Taiyi watched Qin Mu leave, then entered the obelisk forest. In the forest, Taiyi sat in meditation, his Dao tree and Dao fruit behind him shining brilliantly.
Taiyi bowed in greeting. Taiyi rose and returned the gesture.
"Dao friend, I have already discussed with the Seventh Prince about sending you and the Creation Celestials back to the Sixteenth Epoch."
Taiyi said, "If you and the Creation Celestials remain here, I fear the Seventh Prince will harbor malicious intentions. He will surely kill the Creation Celestials and also force you to reincarnate. Although the Creation Celestials have committed many evils, they are also one possibility for saving the future. However, the harm the Creation Celestials cause is too great, and I worry he will not let you go."
Taiyi asked, "Is the First Prince feeling guilty about the time when the Mirage Palace Master killed Tiantu back then, and therefore wishes to compensate me and the Creation Celestials?"
Prince Taiyi shook his head: "If the teacher had not killed Tiantu back then, the Creation Celestials would still have become the Creation Celestials; it would not have changed anything. The Creation Celestials of Tiantu City possessed the power to create and destroy worlds, using that power without restraint or moderation. In comparison, the Mirage Palace was more orderly and caused less harm."
"Nonsense!" From within the obelisks, the faces of the Creation Celestials emerged, all angrily denouncing Prince Taiyi's words as foul-smelling.
Those Creation Celestials cursed and grumbled, mocking the Mirage Palace for bullying others by relying on its power. They said that if Tiantu City had been given time to grow, ten Mirage Palace Masters would have been killed by the Lord of Tiantu, and ten Mirage Palaces would have been razed to the ground.
The Mirage Palace Master was simply jealous of their power, so he killed the Lord of Tiantu before they could fully develop.
The Creation Celestials sneered that the Mirage Palace Master lacked tolerance. If it were them, they would have long since solved the problem of the universe's destruction and creation, creating a perfect world.
They also mocked the Mirage Palace Master for his incompetence, exhausting himself until his Dao heart died, deserving to kick his legs and die.
Prince Taiyi was unperturbed.
Taiyi frowned, also helpless against these Creation Celestials, and asked, "Dao brother, how will you send us back to the Sixteenth Epoch?"
"I will transform into the Dao and return all my power to the universe."
As soon as Taiyi said this, the Creation Celestials began mocking again, saying in unison, "Prince Taiyi, the weakling is going to die of Dao heart like that old thief the Mirage Palace Master!"
Taiyi continued: "My Dao tree is useless if left behind, so I plan to borrow your axe, cut down my Dao tree, make a boat, and place you on it to send you to the Sixteenth Epoch."
The Creation Celestials, suppressed within the stone tablets, laughed heartily upon hearing this: "Old thief Taiyi, won't your Dao tree benefit us? If you have the ability, leave your Dao fruit behind for us to snack on!"
"With your abilities, can you really trap us? Once we escape from your Dao boat, we'll kill our way to the Seventeenth Epoch and cure your dead brain!"
...
Taiyi said, "I will create a Dao boat to send you to the Sixteenth Epoch. But before that, the Seventh Prince must first return to the past and become the Seventh Prince, otherwise I dare not send you back."
Taiyi asked, "You're afraid he'll go back on his word, take advantage of your reincarnation to launch a counterattack, and kill all the Creation Celestials?"
Taiyi said, "The Seventh Prince has ambushed and killed many people in the past sixteen cosmic epochs. His style makes it hard to feel at ease. I must watch him return to the past before I can feel confident."
Taiyi nodded: "I feel the same."
The two sat down and waited quietly.
Qin Mu strolled along, first going to the original site of the Ancestral Court. It had become a battlefield for Dao Achievers. The Ancestral Court's Hundun Cauldron had been riddled with holes by the princes' extraordinary treasures. The princes' extraordinary treasures had all been destroyed, leaving only the First Prince Taiyi's Heavenly Connection Well.
The Mirage Palace hall masters and Dao Achievers had shifted from offense to defense, holding the Heavenly Connection Well, preventing Lan Yutian, Xu Shenghua, and others from ever breaking through.
Qin Mu looked at the battlefield from afar, then drifted away. He walked through the starry sky, going to the Four Extreme Heavens. The four poles of the universe had become even more vast, with various races living and multiplying here. The Four Extreme Heavens had long become unfamiliar to him.
From the Southern Extreme Heaven, he arrived at the Southern Heaven. He saw that the various heavens here were like small versions of Yankang, everything appearing orderly. Deities governed power, using it to serve mortals, while mortals thrived in commerce, providing various resources to the deities.
Qin Mu walked through one heaven after another. Among the myriad heavens and countless worlds, there were few who still recognized him.
Thirty-five billion years of history had made everything extremely unfamiliar.
He passed through the remnants of ancient battlefields, standing among the ruins to remember and mourn the heroic spirits who had died in the wars of the past. He also searched for the tombs of enemies, but unfortunately could not find them.
Time was too distant. The world had forgotten him, forgotten those who had fought for the future.
They perhaps did not understand why the people of the past fought, why they died, nor did they comprehend those who had sacrificed themselves fearlessly during the Five Calamities Era.
Even more, they had no interest in understanding the history of the Five Calamities Era.
Longhan, Chiming, Shanghuang, Kaihuang, Yankang—generation after generation of struggle had thus been covered in dust, with few people bothering to brush away the dust and read the dusty pages.
Qin Mu, filled with melancholy, finally arrived at the Primordial Realm.
The Primordial Realm was even larger and heavier than when he had left. The Ancestral Court no longer existed, having become a heavy treasure. The Primordial Realm had replaced the Ancestral Court, becoming the center of the myriad heavens and countless worlds.
Yankang's Heavenly Court was established here. Gongsun Yan's original body, the Primordial Tree, had become lush and verdant. That little girl who had once treated him as a tree needing watering had become the symbol of the Primordial Realm.
Qin Mu, like an ordinary mortal, walked through the cities of the Primordial Realm, observing people's livelihoods, experiencing their way of life.
The Primordial Realm had become completely unfamiliar. The economy that governed the state and benefited the people had become vastly different from when he had left. The culture and customs had become so strange to him that he felt out of place. Even the architectural styles of the divine cities made him feel as if he had arrived in a foreign world.
People's clothing, diet, language, and even their runes had changed from before.
He was like an old antique dug up from an ancient tomb, having nothing in common with this world anymore.
Qin Mu felt some panic, some confusion. He wanted to see if the principles he had implemented still existed. He saw that deities served humans, and he saw that the sage's way lay in the daily needs of the common people. The principles still existed, but what confused him was that both deities and humans took this for granted.
They did not understand the meaning of this normal state, nor did they know how much bloody fighting was hidden within it, how many people had paid with their lives for it.
After all, a million years of history, compared to thirty-five billion years of peace, was truly too brief.
A million years of history within thirty-five billion years might be just one page in a thick history book. On this page, there was no room for the Seven Heavenly Lords of Longhan, no room for the Crimson Emperor and Bright Emperor, no room for the Moon Heavenly Lord and Ling Heavenly Lord who had supported the Shanghuang Era, nor for those dozen or so Shanghuang who had stood tall and declared that human life was greater than heaven.
The book could not contain Carefree Village, could not contain Kaihuang and his Four Heavenly Masters and Four Heavenly Kings, could not contain the Great Ruins, could not contain the First Ancestor Human Sovereign.
In this history book, Qin Mu might be just a brief line of text, let alone those battles and wars he could never forget, those faces he could never forget.
The history books of the world could not remember these things.
Heroes buried by history were like drops of water in the sea, grains of sand in the desert, remembered by no one.
Even when heroes from history returned, no one recognized them.
He walked for a long time, passing through one divine city after another. Some traces of battlefields had been destroyed by time, becoming divine cities, becoming tall buildings. Some had become completely desolate, with no one to commemorate them, only him passing by to pay his respects.
"Pastoral Heavenly Lord, is that you?"
When Qin Mu was reminiscing in Lanfeng Valley, he heard a weathered voice. He followed the sound and saw a large black tiger. He was startled, then revealed a smile as he welcomed the large black tiger rushing toward him.
It was the Black Tiger Deity, his senior brother.
The Black Tiger Deity pounced, transforming into an elderly man with a full white beard, embracing him, crying and laughing at the same time. Suddenly he shouted loudly, "Master, your second disciple has returned!"
In the forests of Lanfeng Valley, there were a few thatched huts. The Woodcutter Sage pushed open the door of his hut and walked out, still dressed in his old style, never changing with the changes of the world.
He too was like an old antique, stubborn and unchanging, so ancient that he had been abandoned by the times.
Although his appearance was the same as before, like a mature dandelion, his hair was getting sparser.
Qin Mu strode forward and embraced the somewhat reserved Woodcutter Sage.
The Woodcutter struggled but couldn't break free, so he turned to activate the rusty axe in the corner, intending to chop and threaten him to let go, but the Black Tiger Deity quietly extended his paw to hold it down.
Qin Mu finally released him.
The two sat down at a stone table. The Woodcutter Sage's face was dark. The Black Tiger Deity bustled about, preparing tea, stir-frying vegetables, and cooking rice, very diligent.
After a long while, the Woodcutter Sage said coldly, "You're back?"
"Mm. I'm back." Qin Mu smiled.
"When are you leaving?" The Woodcutter Sage picked up his teacup, speaking indifferently.
"Right away." Qin Mu said.
The Woodcutter Sage's hand trembled, and the water in his cup nearly spilled. He said with feigned indifference, "Just came back and already leaving?"
Qin Mu didn't respond. He looked around and saw that everything here still maintained the architectural style from thirty-five billion years ago. He shook his head and said, "Teacher, why do you live here? Teacher has made great contributions to Yankang. Wouldn't it be better to go to the Heavenly Court? Moreover, old friends are there, making it very lively. Why live in such poverty?"
The Woodcutter Sage drank his tea, saying calmly, "The ultimate sage has no name. My realm, you wouldn't understand."
Qin Mu laughed heartily. He could see that the Woodcutter Sage's cultivation realm was still stuck at the threshold of the Execution Platform, never having ascended it.
Logically speaking, Yankang's reform had created countless acquired Daos, and many brilliant individuals had verified these acquired Daos to the point of achieving Dao.
If the Woodcutter Sage wanted to learn, he could completely supplement his three hundred and sixty acquired Daos, cultivating each great Dao to the highest level.
But he hadn't learned.
"I don't want to go to those places. Too lively, too noisy."
The Woodcutter Sage glared at him and said, "My abilities aren't high. What use would it be to go there and be enshrined like a temple idol? I'm a living person, not a wooden carving or clay statue of a deity! Being there would be less enjoyable than living in seclusion here."
Qin Mu reached out wanting to touch his head, which had become like a dandelion after the wind, but was glared at by the Woodcutter Sage again, so he quickly withdrew his hand.
"Of my three disciples, except for the eldest, all have done better than me."
The Black Tiger Deity brought a hat. This was a style from the new era. The Woodcutter Sage originally didn't want to wear a hat, but fearing Qin Mu would touch his head, he had to put it on. He said, "People nowadays have more ideas than we did back then. But they have no sense of crisis. I'm uncomfortable with them. They always think I'm long-winded, saying I worry unnecessarily, that I'm always worried about nonexistent dangers. I can't get along with those young people."
Qin Mu listened with a smile as he rambled on about the faults of the young people in the new era, feeling some sadness inside: "Teacher's mentality is probably truly old..."
The Woodcutter Sage said many things. The food on the stone table gradually diminished. They put down their bowls and chopsticks. Suddenly the Woodcutter Sage asked, "How long will you be gone this time?"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "I don't know. Perhaps I'll leave and return immediately, or perhaps I won't return until this universe turns into void. It's also possible that once I go, I'll never come back."
The Woodcutter Sage was silent.
Qin Mu perked up and said with a smile, "Teacher's sense of crisis will have its use. Carefree Village is just a stagnant pool; it will slowly die. New dangers will appear. At that time, Teacher should emerge from seclusion and realize your ambitions. Veterans don't die; they just put away their battle axes and weapons in the corner to rust during peacetime. People just choose to temporarily forget them. But when war comes again, people will remember them again, and they will sharpen their battle axes and weapons and step onto the battlefield once more."
He stood up: "Teacher, you will have your use."
The Woodcutter Sage stood up, looking at him, and asked, "When will you return?"
Qin Mu was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Teacher, do you still remember the Chaotic Space?"
The Woodcutter Sage thought for a moment and said, "That Chaotic Space from back then in the Suspended Realm?"
Qin Mu said, "One day in the future, the Chaotic Space will bloom like fireworks. That will be the sign of my return."
The Woodcutter Sage did not detain him. He watched him go until his figure disappeared among the mountains of Lanfeng Valley, then withdrew his gaze and called out, "Little Black, come out and sharpen the axe!"
The Black Tiger Deity quickly ran over and asked, "Master, is war really going to happen? It's been peaceful for tens of billions of years now!"
The Woodcutter Sage swung the large axe, the wind whistling, and said in a deep voice, "Better safe than sorry! Sharpen the axe, and let's go find old friends together!"
His voice was resonant, and within him, dormant fighting spirit was burning again, blood was boiling again.
"Zhuocha has reincarnated. Yan Yunxi is always clinging to him; we need to drag him out for a walk! And Emperor Shijia, what was his reincarnation name? Right, Tian Shu went to the Ancestral Court, right? Find him!"
"Do you know where Hantang went? And Qinghuang! Oh, and Hantang's two fish..."
"Master, you've forgotten. Heavenly Master Hantang has already passed away." The Black Tiger Deity said cautiously.
The Woodcutter Sage was dazed: "Didn't he reincarnate?"
The Black Tiger Deity said, "Master, he was beaten into chaos during the Heavenly Court battle. You searched for him for many years. And Emperor Qing, he also passed away. You forgot that you built cenotaphs for them here. When you visited their graves last year, you asked whose graves those were..."
The Woodcutter Sage was silent for a moment, then said in a muffled voice, "Then we won't look for them..."
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—End of the month, The Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality will be completed. Once again asking for monthly votes~~~