Chapter 678: The Great Degeneration of the Divine Race
The Angler smiled and said, "A philanderer, that one."
With that, he flicked the strand of pure yin energy. The pure yin energy, like a small dragon without a body, drilled into Yan Jingjing's brow.
Yan Jingjing savored the sensation, finding nothing unusual except a coolness at her brow. She asked, "Fisher Celestial Master, is this pure yin energy useful? I don't feel any benefit."
The Angler was caught between laughter and tears. "This isn't the miraculous dual cultivation method your clan leader speaks of, so of course it has no immediate effect. Pure yin energy is meant to transform your condition of solitary yang without growth. It doesn't take effect right away; it relies more on gradual, subtle influence."
The Great Red Kun let out a melodious cry as it flew across the sky above the Great Ruins, drawing closer and closer to the Imperial Heaven.
The Angler continued, "You are a pure yang constitution, with only pure yang energy in your body. Add to that the sun forged by the Ziqing Deity, which is an intensely powerful pure yang energy, extremely violent. When you became the Sun Guardian, you had no pure yin energy in your body. As you controlled the sun ship, that violent pure yang energy merged into you, accumulating more and more. And because you lacked even a trace of pure yin energy, it caused your qi and blood to become 'withered yet vigorous.' What does 'withered yet vigorous' mean?"
Qin Mu interjected, "My grandfather, the Medicine Master, once used an analogy for withered yet vigorous qi and blood. He said it's like arranging cut flowers. You take fresh blossoms, cut them, and put them in a vase. The flowers bloom brilliantly, but after a few days, they wither and die. The Medicine Master said that withered yet vigorous qi and blood can cause a person to die suddenly at their most beautiful moment."
The Angler looked surprised. "That Medicine Master of yours has some insight. Indeed, that's the principle. Solitary yang without growth creates withered yet vigorous qi and blood. The qi and blood are clearly on the verge of withering, yet they burn fiercely—a clear sign that death is not far off. That strand of pure yin energy I just gave you is a supplement, countless times better than dual cultivation! Of course, dual cultivation can solve part of the problem, but it can't address the root cause."
The little female fish in the creel poked her head out and chuckled softly, "Master is destined to be alone forever."
The Great Red Kun flew to the boundary between the Imperial Heaven and the Great Ruins. Suddenly, the geomagnetic force became chaotic, as if they had entered a domain completely devoid of any magnetism. People here floated neither up nor down, needing no flight techniques to hover in the air.
This was because the geomagnetism of the Great Ruins and the Imperial Heaven interacted here. When the magnetic forces from both sides were equal, it caused people to float in midair.
This was nothing to cultivators, as there was still flowing air here, and they could use flight techniques to move away.
"That strand of pure yin energy that Qin Mu gave you is no ordinary pure yin energy. It's the protective divine essence refined within the spiritual embryo divine storage by a deity at the Jade Pool realm."
The Angler glanced at Qin Mu and said, "Even if you completely absorb the sun forged by the Ziqing Deity, this single strand of protective divine essence will be enough to help you neutralize it."
Yan Jingjing was startled and exclaimed, "So precious?"
"Extremely precious."
The Angler narrowed his large eyes, looking wise and composed. "He must have obtained this treasure with great difficulty, perhaps even through life-and-death trials. Only then would the deity of the Upper Emperor have favored him with the yin and yang energies. Yet he gave you the pure yin energy without a second thought."
Yan Jingjing's heart blossomed with joy. She glanced at Qin Mu, then lowered her head shyly, looking utterly charming.
Qin Mu scratched his head and said, "It wasn't that difficult. I encountered a general from the Upper Emperor era in a desert in another dimension. I awakened him and built tombs for his soldiers to bury them. He was grateful and gave me these yin and yang energies."
The Angler trembled with anger.
The little female fish in the creel poked her head out again and giggled, "Master, this young master Qin is very much like you—destined to be alone forever."
The Angler said flatly, "Fish soup tonight."
The little female fish quickly retracted her head and dared not speak.
"Strange. When I extracted the pure yin energy from your spiritual embryo divine storage just now, I sensed something else in your brow, but it's not hidden in the spiritual embryo divine storage."
The Angler looked Qin Mu up and down, then fixed his gaze on his brow. He was very curious about the willow leaf there, which slowly changed color, and asked, "What's under that willow leaf? I can't see through it. Can you take it off?"
Qin Mu replied, "Under the willow leaf is my third eye. My elder brother lives inside it. It's best not to remove the willow leaf. Living in my eye along with my elder brother are the conscious thoughts of the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha, the Heavenly Duke, and the Red Emperor of the Red Ming era."
The Angler was startled and stared at him wide-eyed. "Are you bragging? This makes me even more curious about your eye. Take it off, and I'll send my fishing hook in. Maybe I can fish your brother out."
Qin Mu quickly said, "The Great Brahma Heaven, the Heavenly Duke, and the Red Emperor are inside to seal him! There's also the seal of the Earth Lord in my eye! How can we let him out?"
The Angler was astonished and became even more curious about his eye.
Qin Mu felt a pang of wariness: "Are all Celestial Masters this curious?"
The Great Red Kun flapped its wings and flew over the Imperial Heaven, making a sharp turn. But "sharp" was relative to Qin Mu and the others; for this great Kun, its turn was leisurely and graceful.
Once over the Imperial Heaven, Qin Mu saw that the Great Ruins had stood upright, perpendicular to the Imperial Heaven. At this moment, heaven and earth had shifted by a right angle.
This seemed incredible, but it was actually due to the geomagnetic force, or magnetic force.
"Regarding magnetic force techniques, the Great Nurturing Demon Sutra also covers them. Grandmother Si is very familiar with them, but such techniques seem rare."
Qin Mu was lost in thought. Magnetic force techniques seemed to have great potential. Perhaps they could be a direction for development, allowing the scholars of the Heavenly Sage Academy to specialize in researching and developing them.
They might even create a magnificent system of techniques!
The Angler glanced at him, puzzled: "This young master Qin seems to often drift off, even when there's a beautiful girl beside him. He keeps getting distracted and thinking about other things."
Qin Mu took out his small notebook, wrote down his idea, and then carefully blew on the ink to dry it. He thought to himself, "When I get back, I'll ask Grandmother Si to lead the scholars in making magnetic force techniques their main focus!"
Yan Jingjing watched him with serious concentration, finding him very impressive.
"This girl is hopeless too."
The female fish in the creel shook her head. "Completely dazzled by that silly boy."
Qin Mu looked down and saw that the original lava waves of the Imperial Heaven had frozen, forming wave-like mountain ranges, extremely magnificent.
Because it had cooled down, some demonic beasts had already run here in recent days, and some birds had brought many kinds of plant seeds. Qin Mu could even see a hint of green.
He also saw that the strange beasts of the Great Ruins were migrating to the Imperial Heaven. Probably because the Imperial Heaven was so high that the sun could shine there even at night, so they didn't have to worry about being swallowed by darkness. Even the beasts of the Great Ruins liked this place.
"Twenty thousand years have passed. The descendants of the former heavenly court's gods and demons have all become ignorant beasts. Alas, alas." The Angler shook his head.
Qin Mu's heart trembled, and he murmured, "Uncle Master, do you mean these beasts are..."
The Angler said, "The remnants of the gods of the Kai Huang Heavenly Court, but they have severely degenerated."
Qin Mu's voice trembled. "Then the chicken-dragons are also remnants of the heavenly court..."
He thought of how he ate chicken-dragons every festival and felt a pang of guilt.
"Chicken-dragons?"
The Angler shook his head. "Those creatures didn't die when the heavenly court fell? Chicken-dragons aren't remnants of the gods. They were born from some divine dragon in the Kai Huang era having an affair with a chicken. Those divine dragons had messy private lives... Later, people discovered that chicken-dragons tasted pretty good, and since they weren't as fancy as dragon liver or phoenix brain, they started farming chicken-dragons as poultry."
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief.
They circled around the Luofu Heaven and, after a day or two, arrived at the western part of the Great Ruins.
Qin Mu let out a surprised sound. The place where the Imperial Heaven had fallen was not far from the source of the Surging River. The great canyon that crossed the area had become deeper and steeper, with more cracks in the cliffs. Many cracks emitted light, which shone onto the back of the Imperial Heaven.
It was here, years ago, that he had fled from Xing Han's pursuit, riding a box with Dragon Qilin and Ban Gongcuo, and traveled back to the Upper Emperor era, forty thousand years ago!
However, these cracks were not paths through time, but entrances to various strange worlds.
He and Ban Gongcuo had entered a desert world, and when darkness enveloped the desert, they had inexplicably traveled back in time forty thousand years.
And the strangeness of the Surging River didn't end there. He had also seen the Kai Huang Emperor on the Surging River!
"Uncle Master, is there anything special about the source of the Surging River?" Qin Mu suddenly asked.
"Of course, and a lot."
The Angler seemed accustomed to the source of the Surging River. He guided the Great Red Kun to avoid the lights and said, "There are many entrances to various heavens hidden here. Some are ruins from the Upper Emperor era, others from the Red Ming and Long Han eras. The Kai Huang Emperor once sent many gods and demons to explore them, but it came to nothing. Don't touch those lights, or you might get sucked in!"
The Great Red Kun avoided the lights from the cliffs, taking them far away from this place, heading toward the Moon Well.
Qin Mu turned back to look at the increasingly distant source of the Surging River and asked, "Then, can anyone go back to eras tens of thousands of years ago from here?"
The Angler laughed. "How could that be? I've never heard of such a thing. As far as I know, these entrances to various heavens should be remnants left by multiple heavenly courts throughout history. These heavenly courts might have overlapped, and the heavens connected to them were smashed together, hence all these bizarre things."
Qin Mu thought it over, but he still couldn't understand why he, Ban Gongcuo, and Dragon Qilin had been able to return to ancient times.
His encounter with Bai Qiong'er in ancient times was not a fleeting dream.
"When will all the secrets of the Surging River be revealed?"
He withdrew his gaze, turned around, and thought to himself, "I will definitely unravel these mysteries!"
Finally, they arrived at the Moon Well. Qin Mu jumped down from the back of the Great Red Kun. The Red Kun grew smaller and smaller, turning back into a small red fish that jumped into the creel, where the two red fish cuddled together, billing and cooing.
Yan Jingjing looked around. The Moon Well was also protected by an invisible barrier formed by the moonlight within the well, guarding this place and making it a world of its own. If an outsider came here without knowing the path, they would never be able to enter the Moon Well, because from the outside, it was invisible, only a stretch of forest.
The Angler had obviously been here before and knew the way well.
The space covered by the Moon Well was a mess, full of rubble and broken buildings, with countless skeletons on the ground. Qin Mu knew what had happened here. It was when enemies had invaded, breaking into the Moon Well. But the Moon Guardian had abandoned his people, fleeing alone on the moon ship, escaping to the City of the Dead.
His people had all died around the Moon Well. And because the Moon Guardian had betrayed his people, even the King of Hell refused to take him. He could only dock the moon ship at the outskirts of the City of the Dead.
What was even more infuriating was that a demon god had followed him into the City of the Dead and also settled outside it. This female demon god had tempted Qin Mu, almost catching him, but the Village Chief had wounded her.
Later, because Qin Mu replaced him as the new Moon Guardian, the old Moon Guardian was devoured by the moon ship, which was a fitting end.
Qin Mu carefully avoided the bones of the moon worshippers and said to Dragon Qilin, "These moon worshippers were the guardians of the Great Ruins. They deserve respect. Don't step on them."
Dragon Qilin was most afraid of bones and such. He immediately tucked his dragon tail between his legs, wishing he could jump into Qin Mu's arms, and said tremblingly, "Step on them? Sect Leader, are they still alive?"
"I'll awaken them in a moment and have them dig their own graves to bury themselves."
Qin Mu said calmly, "Brave warriors who guarded the Great Ruins should not die without a place to rest."
The Angler put down his small stool, sat by the well, and laughed. "You have the demeanor of a benevolent person. Celestial Master Zhuo Cha will surely like you when he meets you."
Qin Mu asked, "Celestial Master Zhuo Cha is?"
"One of the four Celestial Masters of the Kai Huang Heavenly Court. He's a farmer, leading an ox."
The Angler lowered his fishing line. The little female fish jumped out of the creel and swam into the Moon Well. The Angler said, "He is the martial Celestial Master among us four, the strongest."
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