Chapter 569: The Master of the Imperial Disc
"The Star Sand that Senior Brother refined is far too heavy—I simply can't activate it with my strength!"
Qin Mu abandoned the great cauldron and turned to dash straight toward the main hall. Jiang Miao, seeing him rush back in such a flustered manner, leaped onto the divine dragon's body, unsure of what he intended to do.
Qin Mu activated the Dragon Taming Sutra, but unfortunately, the divine dragon was already dead, its primordial spirit devoured by the "vicious ghosts" of the Netherworld, making it impossible to borrow the dragon's cultivation. If he could have borrowed the power of this divine dragon, he might have been able to fight Xing Han.
Qin Mu glanced at Jiang Miao and shook his head. "His cultivation is far too weak, even worse than mine. Using the Dragon Taming Sutra, I can't borrow much power from him either... Teleportation technique!"
Runes swirled around him as he prepared to escape with Jiang Miao, but with his current cultivation, he could only take Jiang Miao a few dozen miles at most—a distance that Xing Han could cover in an instant.
Before he could even execute the teleportation runes, suddenly, all the runes stopped functioning, floating motionless in the air.
Not only the teleportation runes, but Qin Mu and Jiang Miao were also frozen in place, unable to move.
Xing Han walked in from outside the hall with a grim face, extending a hand with fingers spread, blood still dripping from them. After completing the Divine Bridge to cross the Heavenly Palace and becoming a deity, his cultivation had surged once more, his power overwhelming. He had effortlessly restrained Qin Mu.
Though he was severely wounded in the Ten Mile Star Sand Calamity Formation, he was still a god with unfathomable abilities. Even his residual divine power was enough to trap Qin Mu.
Cold sweat beaded on Qin Mu's forehead as he forced a faint smile. "Senior Brother Xing Han, I'll return the box to you, alright..."
"It's not the box I want—it's you."
Xing Han spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm. His body was covered in gruesome wounds, large and small, with flesh turned outward, revealing crimson muscle and, in some places, white bone.
To be fair, he had been plagued by terrible luck. First, he was trapped in the Ark of the Other Shore for over half a year, a place fraught with danger—seals, forbidden formations, and killing arrays everywhere, not to mention the constant harassment from the mute. No sooner had he escaped than he ran into Qin Mu, who lured him into the Ten Mile Star Sand Calamity Formation. Qin Mu had walked away unscathed, while Xing Han was trapped, his situation growing more perilous by the moment.
He had used every trick in the book to hold on until now. If the Star Sand Calamity Formation hadn't suddenly stopped, he would have surely been unable to endure and would have been refined into ash!
"Great Healer, why is it so hard to catch you?"
Xing Han swallowed the blood rising in his throat and said calmly, "But fortunately, you still haven't slipped through my fingers!"
Beneath his feet, an intensely dark abyss suddenly emerged—his Life and Death Divine Treasury. He walked forward as if treading on dark water.
At that moment, a single eye slowly appeared in the darkness beneath him, followed by another, and then a beautiful woman's face emerged from the darkness, her graceful, curvaceous figure gradually taking shape.
Xing Han seemed to be walking on the dark water, while the woman appeared to be his reflection—except one was male and the other a stunning beauty, mirroring each other.
The scene was utterly eerie.
The two moved in sync toward Qin Mu, their steps falling and rising together.
Just as the darkness was about to touch Qin Mu, Xing Han suddenly stopped, refusing to advance. When he stopped, the beautiful woman also halted, as if she could only move when he did.
The beautiful woman's mouth opened, and a man's voice emerged—rough and deep: "Xing Han, why have you stopped? Draw him into your Life and Death Divine Treasury, hand him over to me, and you'll have fulfilled our agreement!"
Xing Han said indifferently, "Lu Li, I've found the person for you. I've done what I promised. Whether you can capture him is your concern. I don't like being threatened."
The beautiful woman beneath him froze for a moment, then sneered, "Do you think that by reaching the Heavenly Palace and becoming a false god, you can bargain with me? Xing Han, you have quite the nerve!"
"Bargain?"
Xing Han shook his head. "This isn't a bargain. You sent me out of the Netherworld, so I agreed to find him for you—that was a transaction. I've fulfilled my part. Capturing him is your affair."
He reached out and grabbed hold of the massive divine dragon, its colossal body slowly rising. Qin Mu and Jiang Miao suddenly fell to the ground, their bodies regaining freedom, able to circulate their energy and use techniques once more.
Qin Mu was startled and uncertain. Looking up, he saw the divine dragon's body shrinking, the chains falling away as it flew toward Xing Han.
Xing Han caught the dragon, straightened it out, and wrapped it around his waist like a belt. Then he said coldly, "Lu Li, get out of my Life and Death Divine Treasury!"
Beneath him, the beautiful woman who mirrored him was enraged. "How dare you speak to me like that! Do you think a mere minor god like you can escape my control?"
"My divine treasury is no place for your nonsense. Get out!"
Xing Han roared, and his primordial spirit suddenly appeared within his Life and Death Divine Treasury. Instantly, the treasury blazed with a great sun and bright moon, five luminaries aligned, and seven stars shining high. The light forced the beautiful woman to retreat, dodging the beams from the seven stars.
"Xing Han, you dare defy a higher god? I will make sure you—"
"Out!"
Xing Han's divine might surged to the heavens, his robes fluttering and black hair dancing. The divine treasuries within his body blazed with light, illuminating the Life and Death Divine Treasury, finally driving her out and forcing her back to the Netherworld!
Xing Han's aura calmed, his flowing black hair slowly settling over his shoulders, his robes no longer trembling. He turned his gaze to Qin Mu. "Where is my box?"
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then took out the box from his glutton pouch. The box landed and scurried toward Xing Han, but halfway there, it turned back to "look" at Qin Mu before continuing to Xing Han's side.
Xing Han turned and walked toward the hall's exit, saying flatly, "Great Healer Qin, don't let me run into you again."
Qin Mu suddenly asked, "Why didn't you kill me?"
"Why would I kill you?"
Xing Han paused and glanced back. "I have my own principles. The Magpie Bridge Technique, the Mystic Guidance Technique, and the Divine Crossing Technique that you spread allowed me to become a deity and escape the threat of death. Our grievances are settled because of that. I sought you out to resolve my agreement with Lu Li. Now that I've found you, that agreement is also settled. You're a Grandmaster—do you think I can't even practice what I preach? You underestimate me."
Qin Mu was stunned, then broke into a smile. "I did underestimate you before."
Xing Han caught sight of that smile, his eye twitching. He snorted coldly and turned to leave the hall. "Don't smile at me. I'll come for you again. You've created many things—the Eighteen Forms of the Sword, the Primordial Spirit Guidance—they make me appreciate your talent. But when your physical body reaches a level worth considering, I'll come back. I want to possess an Overlord Body."
Qin Mu was dumbfounded, watching him walk away.
Xing Han approached the great cauldron, his eyes flickering. He was about to take it as well when, suddenly, the Star Sand inside stirred, rising and forming into a sand sculpture of a young man.
Xing Han was startled and quickly retreated, speeding through the ten-mile canyon.
He was still afraid, terrified that the Ten Mile Star Sand Calamity Formation might activate again.
Qin Mu led Jiang Miao out of the hall and saw a sand figure standing in the great cauldron, with Star Sand flowing continuously across its surface.
"Senior Brother?"
Qin Mu ventured, "The founding patriarch of the Celestial Sage Sect—I'm the current sect leader. I met the Woodcutter Sage not long ago. Senior Brother, are you still alive?"
The sand figure opened its mouth but couldn't speak. Suddenly, it collapsed, and the Star Sand flowed across the ground, forming a pattern.
Qin Mu quickly looked down. The pattern on the ground was a geographical map, showing mountains, rivers, and terrain in vivid detail.
The geography in the map kept changing. Qin Mu focused intently on memorizing it. The Star Sand shifted more than ten times before flowing back into the cauldron. Qin Mu frowned. Aside from the first map, he had no recollection of the other geographical maps. None of the mountains and rivers in the Great Wasteland matched the maps.
The first map depicted a location in the Great Wasteland, but the other thirteen maps didn't correspond to any geography in Yan Kang or the Western Lands, nor did they match the terrain of the Supreme Heavenly Realm.
"What is Senior Brother trying to say?"
Qin Mu narrowed his eyes. The founding patriarch of the Celestial Sage Sect must have sensed that the divine dragon was dead and that his own achievements had borne fruit. He had used the Star Sand to manifest and observe the situation here. However, he probably wasn't in the Great Wasteland or Yan Kang but in another world, unable to transmit his voice.
By arranging the geographical maps through the Star Sand, he must have been guiding Qin Mu to find him.
"These fourteen geographical maps are incredibly complex. Where am I supposed to find him?"
Qin Mu suddenly realized something and thought to himself, "My knowledge is limited, but the Woodcutter Sage is well-traveled. He must recognize these maps! As for the first map, maybe I can find some clues there. I'll go take a look first."
With that thought, a weight lifted from his heart. He smiled and said, "Jiang Miao, let's go!"
Jiang Miao acknowledged with a "yes."
Qin Mu suddenly turned back, grabbed the great cauldron, and struggled to lift it. Jiang Miao scratched his head. Qin Mu shouted, "Aren't you going to help?"
Jiang Miao quickly stepped forward. Both of them turned red in the face, exerting all their strength, but they couldn't budge the cauldron even an inch. Jiang Miao gasped for breath and ventured, "Sect Leader, I think we should give up. Your senior brother's skills are too great—even Xing Han didn't dare take this cauldron. There's no way we can carry it away..."
Qin Mu had no choice but to give up. Suddenly, he noticed the chains that had bound the dragon. His eyes lit up, and he rushed over. "Taking a few chains would be good! These chains could hold a divine dragon—the materials must be top-notch! Even if we melt them down to forge treasures, they'd be the finest of the finest!"
Jiang Miao had no choice but to follow. The two of them struggled to drag a thick chain out of the hall.
Qin Mu opened his glutton pouch and tried to stuff one end of the chain inside, but it was too thick and large to fit. Moreover, the other end was deeply embedded in the cliff wall and couldn't be pulled out.
The two stared at each other, at a loss. Qin Mu fumed and turned away. "Some senior brother you are—such a miser!"
Jiang Miao quickly caught up with him. Qin Mu, with a dark expression, flew into the air, surveyed the area, identified the terrain, and led Jiang Miao toward the location marked on the first geographical map.
Two days later, they arrived at a small village, the exact spot marked on the map.
Qin Mu and Jiang Miao entered the village and looked around. It seemed like the most ordinary village in the Great Wasteland, but everywhere were statues of divine beings with dragon heads and human bodies.
"Why did Senior Brother send us here?"
Qin Mu was puzzled. He spotted a white-haired old man sitting in front of a thatched hut, weaving a fishing net. He quickly approached and bowed. "Elder, what place is this?"
The white-haired old man looked up with cloudy, aged eyes, showing surprise. He smiled and said, "I entrusted the Imperial Disc to the Ling family. Why is it on you?"
Qin Mu's eyes widened, and he was speechless.
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