Chapter 543: Spirit Energy Reciprocal Bridge (Third Update!)
On those altars, the stone statues were slowly reviving. Qin Mu’s eyes swirled with layers of formation patterns as he gazed intently, a hint of confusion rising in his heart.
These divine statues each had distinct characteristics: a tortoise-backed divine being, a leopard-tailed divine being, a bird-headed divine being, a dragon-headed divine being, and many other forms. Twenty-four altars, twenty-four forms of divine beings.
But some of these stone statues seemed familiar to Qin Mu, as if he had seen them somewhere before.
“The stone statues from the Great Ruins!”
He finally remembered. The statues that looked familiar to him came from the ruins of the Great Ruins!
In other words, these stone statues were highly likely all from the Great Ruins!
These reviving stone statues were about to become deities, meaning that all the stone statues in the Great Ruins might one day revive and become living gods, confirming his earlier speculation!
A full twenty-four stone statues had entered the Imperial Heaven Realm, meaning that twenty-four deities would join the fray in the Imperial Heaven Realm. These deities should be friends of the Woodcutter Sage, and their strength was likely extraordinary.
Yet the Woodcutter Sage still said they couldn’t hold off the demon race, only delay them for a while.
What exactly was the origin of the demon race?
How could they possess such terrifying power?
He voiced his doubts. The Woodcutter Sage looked at the reviving stone statues, was silent for a moment, then said, “The origin of the demon race is very mysterious. I’m not entirely clear either, but there are rumors that they originated from the Netherworld, beings of the Netherworld. Later, they separated from the Netherworld. Whether that’s true, I don’t know. The demon race controls many worlds and was already extremely powerful. It’s only natural that the Imperial Heaven Realm couldn’t stop them.”
Qin Mu’s heart stirred. “Then what’s the relationship between the demon race and the so-called true heavenly court that destroyed the Kaihuang Era? Zhe Huali came from that place, and his master, Luo Wushuang, was the leader of the heavenly court’s Lingxiu Army. Luo Wushuang sent his disciple down to train among the demon race. That heavenly court must have some connection to the demon race!”
“There is a connection, but it’s not a subordinate relationship.”
The Woodcutter Sage knew a lot about this but was vague. “It’s more like a relationship of mutual exploitation. That so-called heavenly court often uses the demon race to do things that are inconvenient for them, and the demon race, in order to survive, is happy to be used. Over the years, I’ve been wandering through the void with my primordial spirit, searching for the origins of this heavenly court, but I haven’t found much useful information.”
He took a step, treading on the air, and walked toward the altars. “Since you’ve come to the Imperial Heaven Realm, stay here and train for a while. I have other things to do.”
Qin Mu was about to chase after him, but he saw the Woodcutter Sage walking farther and farther away, space shrinking under his feet so that a thousand miles was like a step. He couldn’t catch up at all, and quickly called out, “Teacher, I still have something to ask!”
But the Woodcutter Sage’s figure was already far away, and Qin Mu’s cultivation wasn’t enough to make his voice carry that far.
“Little Tiger, stay by his side.”
The Woodcutter Sage’s voice came, saying, “Don’t let him cause too much trouble.”
The Black Tiger God quickly acknowledged and came behind Qin Mu, his massive shadow covering him.
Qin Mu smiled. “Teacher misjudges me. I’m a Saint Lord, after all, not a child. How could I go around causing trouble?”
The Black Tiger God’s face darkened as he looked down at him. “Whether you cause trouble or not, you know in your own heart, don’t you?”
Qin Mu looked up. The Black Tiger God was too tall; talking to him was a bit strenuous, so he said, “Senior Brother Tiger, can you make yourself smaller?”
“Senior Brother?”
The Black Tiger God’s expression immediately softened, becoming amiable. His two ears perked up in front of his head, catching the wind, and he laughed. “Since you called me senior brother, I won’t look down on you. As you can see, I’m not actually a mount but a disciple of the master. In terms of seniority, you really should call me senior brother.”
His body gradually shrank. After a moment, he was about the same height as Qin Mu, looking like a tiger-headed, tiger-brained young man, though his two furry ears were still very lively, occasionally twitching.
Qin Mu said seriously, “Senior Brother Tiger, the teacher said not to cause trouble, but that’s different from not causing incidents. There’s a big difference between causing trouble and causing incidents; they can’t be lumped together.”
The Black Tiger God wasn’t fooled and shook his head. “The master said to watch you. I won’t let you out of my sight.”
Qin Mu found it troublesome but had to let him follow. He thought to himself, “I originally planned to ask the teacher for help designing a world bridge to connect the Eternal Peace and the Imperial Heaven Realm. Since the teacher has things to do, it seems I’ll have to do it alone.”
The city of Li was bustling with activity. He didn’t know anyone here, so he temporarily settled in the city gate tower. He took out a stack of paper and various calculation tools and continued to work on designing the world bridge.
The Black Tiger God stood behind him, watching for a long time, then suddenly asked, “What are you calculating?”
Qin Mu didn’t look up. “I’m calculating the spirit energy conversion equation and the spirit energy reciprocal equation between two worlds. These two equations can determine the conversion ratio of spirit and energy for cultivators in different worlds, as well as the reciprocal ratio between them.”
He spoke somewhat profoundly, but the Black Tiger God understood and laughed. “The spirit energy conversion equation is the key to blood sacrifices, and the spirit energy reciprocal equation is the key to teleportation techniques, right?”
Qin Mu looked up, staring at him in disbelief.
These two equations required an enormous amount of computation and involved many disciplines, including the conversion of soul, body, mass, and energy, as well as calculations for spatial teleportation and jumps. Any cultivator from the Imperial Heaven Realm would be completely lost, but the Black Tiger God had hit the nail on the head with one sentence!
“Right, he’s the teacher’s mount. The teacher’s Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra contains profound mathematical techniques. He’s been exposed to it and must have learned a lot.”
Qin Mu tested him. “Senior Brother Tiger, how skilled are you in mathematics?”
The Black Tiger God picked up a piece of paper from the ground. “I noticed a mistake in your calculation earlier. This part is wrong.”
Qin Mu looked at the paper and quickly recalculated with his tools. Indeed, there was an error.
Qin Mu was full of admiration. “Senior Brother Tiger, your mathematical skills are profound, faster and more accurate than mine. I’m in awe. These two equations are difficult to solve, with too many variables. Would you be willing to help?”
The Black Tiger God smiled. “As long as you don’t cause trouble, I don’t mind helping. What’s your calculation approach? What are you using the spirit energy reciprocal equation and the spirit energy conversion equation to build?”
Qin Mu explained his idea of building a world bridge and then took out the altar and teleportation flags he had designed. “I used this method to replace a demon general and teleport to the Imperial Heaven Realm. But this time, I want to build a world bridge connecting the Eternal Peace and the Imperial Heaven Realm. This bridge needs to be very stable, unlike the altar, allowing people to travel between the two worlds.”
The Black Tiger God pondered for a moment. “That would be a spatial spirit energy reciprocal bridge. The form of this spatial spirit energy reciprocal bridge can be designed as a funnel shape. Once the space is opened, the spirit energy of the two worlds will flow. If someone from the Imperial Heaven Realm goes to the Eternal Peace through the spatial bridge, the Eternal Peace will need to lose some energy, flowing into the Imperial Heaven Realm. The reverse is also true… You have a good idea, Junior Brother!”
He slapped Qin Mu hard on the shoulder. Qin Mu’s face changed, and he silently reattached his dislocated arm, completely in awe of the Black Tiger God.
A flash of inspiration struck the Black Tiger God, and he clapped his hands with a laugh. “I have an idea. You don’t need to design the altar. The master has a ready-made large altar that can be used directly. There’s also a similar large altar in the Great Ruins, which the master left as a backup. If the Imperial Heaven Realm is breached, he can return to the Great Ruins through that altar. These two altars are used for sacrifices to summon true gods and can connect to the world bridge without worrying about energy congestion causing collapse. The only challenge now is to calculate the two equations!”
Qin Mu grew excited. The Black Tiger God was not only fast but also had profound mathematical skills, even deeper than Qin Mu’s. With his help, the spatial energy reciprocal bridge spanning two worlds could be built faster, connecting the Imperial Heaven Realm and the Eternal Peace!
Suddenly, he thought of the Dragon Qilin and felt an inexplicable pang of sadness. “Same as mounts, comparing Fatty Dragon to Brother Tiger… Brother Tiger runs faster, has a higher cultivation level, isn’t picky about food, and is even better at math than I am…”
He quickly pushed aside the bitterness in his heart and threw himself into the calculations with the Black Tiger God.
The Black Tiger God’s mathematical skills were indeed astonishing. Qin Mu needed to use mathematical tools like the Taiji Plate and Bagua Plate to form a massive heterogeneous calculation device just to keep up with his speed.
Qin Mu simply handed his calculation tools to the Black Tiger God, letting him handle the computations while he provided the problem-solving approach.
“You’ve prepared too few calculation tools. I’ll refine a few more!”
With that, the Black Tiger God quickly forged a large number of mathematical tools, multitasking and simultaneously operating six massive heterogeneous calculation devices.
“Fatty Dragon doesn’t know how to forge tools…” Qin Mu felt another pang of sadness.
As he provided the problem-solving approach, the Black Tiger God could immediately give the answers, moving at lightning speed.
The man and the tiger worked without rest in the east gate tower of Li City, continuously calculating. Eight days later, the tower was piled high with thick manuscripts.
Suddenly, Sang Hua’s voice came from outside. “Brother who threshes grain, what are you doing in there?”
Qin Mu lifted his head from the pile of paper, his eyes bloodshot. He saw Sang Hua, Yu He, Shu You, and a few young cultivators standing outside the tower, curiously peeking in.
Everyone was startled. The manuscripts were stacked over a person’s height, arranged neatly in rows without a single disorder. In the middle of the paper, Qin Mu and another tiger-headed young man both had dark circles under their eyes, bloodshot eyes, stubbly beards, and disheveled appearances.
“Oh, it’s you.”
Qin Mu looked back down and continued writing on the paper. “Wait a moment. Brother Tiger and I have already calculated the two equations. We’re using them to derive the spatial spirit energy conversion runes and designing the spatial structure of the world bridge.”
Yu He, Shu You, and the other cultivators stared blankly. After a moment, Shu You asked hesitantly, “Junior Sister Sang Hua, did you understand any of that?”
Sang Hua shook her head in confusion.
Qin Mu and the Black Tiger God each used their primordial energy to form incredibly precise scales, drawing on the paper for a long time, marking each measurement. Finally, they stood up.
The Black Tiger God said excitedly, “Let’s go build this world bridge right now and see if it can connect the two worlds!”
Qin Mu hesitated. “The teacher said not to cause trouble. This world bridge hasn’t been verified yet. If we build it and test it now, it might…”
The Black Tiger God was even more excited than he was. He slapped his chest forcefully, full of boldness. “This isn’t causing trouble; at most, it’s causing an incident. Don’t worry. If anything goes wrong, I’ll take the blame!”
—Well, there will be another update after midnight tonight!