Chapter 736: The Ancient Geniuses
The Daoist held a compass in his hand, muttering incantations under his breath, while the compass rotated automatically with a clicking sound, shifting through various symbols.
The monk held a string of prayer beads in one hand, the beads turning continuously, each collision producing a soft *da* sound. In his other hand, he carried a dark iron alms bowl containing a few spirit pills, likely obtained from begging.
Both of them were dressed in tattered clothes. The Daoist's robe was washed white with a few patches, though still clean. The monk's garment seemed unrepaired, full of holes letting the wind through.
It seemed neither of them was living well.
Qin Mu couldn't help but feel puzzled: "Did Daoists and monks already exist in this era?"
Kai Huang also noticed the monk and Daoist, momentarily stunned.
Qin Mu approached, and Kai Huang quickly followed. They overheard the monk and Daoist talking. The monk said, "The Jade Pool Gathering is truly wonderful. I managed to get a few spirit pills, enough to get by for now."
Qin Mu's expression turned strange.
The Daoist replied, "Don't speak yet. I just thought of a mathematical problem; let me calculate it."
The monk chuckled, "What use are those calculations? Better to follow me. I enter the Dao through dreams—everything exists in dreams, the myriad worlds shifting endlessly. From them, I can find the true essence of the Dao."
The Daoist didn't look up, still driving the compass, and said, "Grand spring and autumn dreams are ultimately illusions. Only mathematics is the true Great Dao. I believe the universe and all things are built upon the foundation of numbers. If I master mathematics, I can understand all the mysteries of the cosmos. Mathematics will surely shine brilliantly in the future!"
The monk was about to respond when he saw Qin Mu and Kai Huang approaching. He quickly thrust his dark iron alms bowl toward them, shaking it so the few spirit pills inside clinked together.
"Whether fated or not, please give alms. My fellow disciple and I haven't eaten for days," the monk said.
Kai Huang's expression turned odd. He rummaged through his pack, took out a few spirit pills, and placed them in the bowl.
"Good deeds bring good rewards," the monk said with a smile, then looked at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu also took out some spirit pills, filling the bowl to the brim.
The monk shook his head. "I don't need this much. Begging for alms is part of my cultivation—I only need enough for one day's meal. Giving more would hinder my cultivation for the following days." He removed the excess pills and returned them to Qin Mu.
Qin Mu didn't take them back, smiling, "Great monk, this is what you deserve. We share a deep fate. When you meet someone named Mu in the future, you'll understand."
The monk looked at him, puzzled. "Benefactor, why not speak plainly?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "A thousand autumns in a dream—how do you know you aren't in a dream right now? Why must I speak plainly? In dreams, there are myriad worlds; in dreams, all living beings are conjured. You will understand in time, great monk."
The monk was confused but smiled, "A thousand autumns in a dream? That captures the essence of my Dao quite well."
Qin Mu turned to the Daoist, who was deeply engrossed in his studies. The Daoist's compass was extremely complex, its mathematical changes touching on the core issues of the Supreme Mystery Calculation Classic. But to create a complete mathematical text from scratch was incredibly difficult.
Starting from nothing was the hardest, especially in an era where no one had yet deduced a complete mathematical canon.
Qin Mu reached out and nudged the compass.
The Daoist was about to slap his hand away, but when his eyes fell on the compass, he froze, then burst into ecstasy: "Ah—! The mathematical problem that's been troubling me for days is solved just like that! Wonderful, wonderful! This fellow disciple, how did you come up with this solution?"
His eyes burned with enthusiasm as he eagerly awaited Qin Mu's explanation.
Qin Mu said solemnly, "It was inspired by your guidance, Daoist, that I thought of this solution. Thank you!"
He bowed in thanks.
The Daoist hurriedly said, "You solved my problem—why thank me?"
Qin Mu smiled, "You'll know in the future. Daoist, when you meet someone named Mu in the future, he will mention this matter to you."
The Daoist was stunned.
Qin Mu smiled faintly, left them, and walked toward the palace complex ahead.
Kai Huang hesitated, then followed Qin Mu, lowering his voice: "Your mind is devious, too calculating. That monk and Daoist—they are the future beings, aren't they? Giving them a few spirit pills and nudging the compass now is just to borrow their power later. If you put this effort into..."
Qin Mu cut him off: "If you put this effort not into guessing my thoughts, but into your own future, you might not..."
Kai Huang paused, "Not what?"
Qin Mu's expression darkened. He shook his head, "Nothing. I speculate they are the future Brahma Heaven and the Dao Lord of the Dao Sect. You should befriend them—they will repay this kindness in the future."
Kai Huang was thoughtful, testing, "Do you know me? Do you know what will happen to me in the future? Are you from an era after mine?"
He was exceptionally clever. Though Qin Mu had only said a few seemingly irrelevant words, he could deduce much more useful information from them.
Qin Mu shook his head, "I don't know which one is the real you. I've never met you. Go back and find them."
Kai Huang hesitated, then shook his head: "I'm not like you. I won't act deliberately. If I go out of my way to befriend them, it might change the future. The future could shift so much that I might never be born, ceasing to exist. I told you, I'm just a passerby. I've come to witness history. I really want to meet the founders of later civilizations."
Old Ox followed behind them, listening to their conversation, frowning deeply. Just moments ago, these two looked like they wanted to kill each other, and now they were sharing heartfelt words.
"A man's heart is like the weather in June—it changes in an instant."
Old Ox hesitated, glanced at the monk and Daoist, and thought to himself, "Should I go befriend them? Maybe I can get some benefits in the future..."
Qin Mu and Kai Huang had already walked far away. He couldn't spare time to befriend the monk and Daoist, so he hurried after Qin Mu, thinking, "I have a few months anyway. Once their moods settle, I'll befriend these ancient sages and reap great rewards! Hehe, by then, the master will see me in a new light..."
The monk and Daoist watched them leave, shaking their heads. The Daoist said, "Strange people. But that man's mathematical skill might surpass mine. Yet he seems uninterested in it. Senior Brother, with his guidance, I feel I'm close to finding my Dao!"
The monk nodded, smiling, "I, too, am close to finding my Dao."
They exchanged glances and laughed heartily.
Qin Mu, Kai Huang, and Old Ox entered the palace complex of the Jade Pool Secret Realm. The place was bustling with people coming and going, but they couldn't find the Nether Lord anywhere. He had likely gone to find the Imperial Heaven Sovereign.
The Imperial Heaven Sovereign had invited him to the gathering; their relationship must have been close.
Many people had come to the gathering, and most were discussing the major announcement the Imperial Heaven Sovereign was about to make. Some said he was going to create the eighth divine storage, others said he had found a way to make the primordial spirit immortal, and still others claimed he was planning to get married—all sorts of rumors.
Qin Mu looked around. He saw many cultivators gathered in small groups, passionately sharing their recent insights and understandings, demonstrating their newly comprehended divine abilities and Dao techniques in front of others.
He and Kai Huang listened for a while. The current Dao techniques and divine abilities were still crude and simple, far less refined than those of later generations. They held little significance for them.
But for this era, they were extraordinary.
"If I were to reveal the techniques and divine abilities of our later generations, it would cause a massive upheaval."
Qin Mu shook his head. The Dao techniques and divine abilities of later generations were too exquisite. If he told the people of this era, shocking the world would be the least of it—the change to the future would be terrifying.
He couldn't take that risk.
He glanced at Kai Huang. After Kai Huang guessed that Qin Mu was also from the future, he had warned him not to try to change the past. Now, thinking about it, Kai Huang's words had their merit.
The gathered crowd listened with rapt attention. People kept expounding on their own Dao techniques and divine abilities, creating a scene of a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred schools of thought contending.
Some brilliant ideas made Qin Mu and Kai Huang pause, and they couldn't help but listen closely. These were forms of Dao techniques and divine abilities they had never imagined.
People of later generations, being within the established divine storage cultivation system, didn't need to innovate—they just followed the teachings of their predecessors step by step to achieve high accomplishments. This, in turn, stifled creativity.
But the people of this era had no such constraints. They easily broke free from the divine storage cultivation system, creating Dao techniques and divine abilities that seemed incredible to Qin Mu and Kai Huang.
However, the reason these techniques weren't seen in later generations wasn't that they were inferior, but that they had lost out in competition with the divine storage cultivation system and thus been lost to history.
The divine storage cultivation system was the easiest to learn and most widely accepted. It had stood the test of time. When most people practiced divine storage, those who followed other paths became a minority, making it harder to pass down their traditions until they were eventually lost.
Qin Mu and Kai Huang pushed through the crowd, hoping to glean more useful ideas from these ancient people. Then they heard a voice: "Ling Heavenly Venerable! Ling Heavenly Venerable! You said time doesn't exist—what's the reasoning behind that?"
Qin Mu and Kai Huang both looked toward the source. They saw many cultivators surrounding a woman. Her clothing was simple and rustic—a peach wood hairpin casually stuck in her hair, straw sandals on her feet, and a leopard-skin skirt and short jacket.
Though unkempt, she had a wild, exotic beauty.
"The Ling Heavenly Venerable who opened the Six Directions Divine Storage is a woman?" Qin Mu and Kai Huang were momentarily stunned.
The woman was explaining her theory, speaking unhurriedly: "Everything, including space, is matter. Divine abilities are also arrangements of matter, formed by different combinations of primordial energy particles, expressing the principles of the Dao and generating power. Is time matter? No. You cannot touch time, so time does not exist."
The crowd was thoughtful. Some shook their heads, but couldn't find words to refute her.
Qin Mu stepped forward and said, "Ling Heavenly Venerable, then why do we age? Do people not grow old and die as time passes?"
Ling Heavenly Venerable looked at him, then suddenly pulled out her hairpin. The peach wood had already withered.
"Fellow disciple, do you see this hairpin? Has it aged and died?" she asked.
Qin Mu nodded.
Ling Heavenly Venerable activated her divine ability. The peach wood slowly turned green, then red, sprouting branches and leaves. Tender flower buds emerged, and peach blossoms bloomed on the revived dead wood, along with a few peach leaves sprouting.
"Did I reverse time?" she asked with a smile.
Qin Mu was stunned, then shook his head: "You merely used a creation divine ability to change the structure of the dead wood, bringing it back to life... Wait, I understand what you mean!"
His face showed disbelief, and he exclaimed, "You mean time is an illusion! Our aging and death are just changes in the matter of our bodies. Time doesn't exist—it's an illusion caused by material changes!"
Ling Heavenly Venerable looked at him with surprise and delight, joyfully saying, "I've finally met someone who can understand me! I told the Imperial Heaven Sovereign and the others about my ideas, but they said I was being ridiculous! You are my Dao friend! Yes, time doesn't exist. If time existed, there would be time divine abilities in the world. But there are none—only illusions created by material changes! You called my divine ability just now a 'creation divine ability'? The word 'creation' is well chosen! Truly well chosen!"
Her mind was pure, and when she said "truly well chosen," the emotion she expressed was genuine delight, without excessive embellishment.
Qin Mu's mind shook violently. He stood there dumbfounded, murmuring, "Then is it possible for someone to go back to the past?"
"The past doesn't exist. What exists is only matter that has changed."
Ling Heavenly Venerable's eyes sparkled: "If matter can return to its past form, then one can return to ancient times. That's what I believe. Can you understand me?"
The crowd around them still couldn't grasp her meaning. A buzz of discussion arose, mostly critical. Someone muttered, "Ling Heavenly Venerable has lost her mind..."
Ling Heavenly Venerable grew angry and shouted, "In the future, I will surely create a divine ability that can eternally freeze matter. By stepping onto that matter, one can see the entire universe's past, present, and future!"
— A 3,700-word chapter. River Wave Wide's alliance leader's book, "Urban Omnipotent Heavenly Book," goes on the shelves today. River Wave Wide is an old reader who, after reading a lot, wanted to write. First, congratulations on his launch. Interested readers, please go support him. Writing isn't easy, and Zhai Zhu sincerely hopes River Wave Wide can persevere and finish this book!
Also, the female author Drifting Melbourne's book, "Fragrant Love," also goes on the shelves today. Drifting Melbourne is the Silver Alliance leader of "The Shepherd's Chronicle." Zhai Zhu has never dared to chat with her in the group (turns head, wife not around, sighs in relief). Recommend it!