Chapter 781: Origins and Connections
"If I had known the truth about the Supreme Emperor era, I wouldn't have come this time."
The scholar picked up a radish to tease the donkey, sighed, and said, "The Supreme Emperor era has been annihilated, the Primordial Realm has vanished, leaving only the Supreme Emperor Ruins. Even if one wanted to uncover the secrets of that era, it's impossible. Even the Supreme Emperor Sword God, because he was young, knows little about that time. I once encountered some remnants of the Supreme Emperor era, but they were all vague about that period. This time, the Earth Mother Primordial Realm appeared, so I came out to explore its secrets."
Suddenly, the fog on the sea thickened, sweeping in and shrouding the Yao Sea. A voice called out from ahead: "This is where the Earth Mother fell. The sudden thickening of the fog is suspicious! Everyone, be careful!"
The voice wasn't far from them, likely from a powerful deity or demon who had rushed here from another heaven.
Just then, Qin Mu suddenly saw a huge shadow sweep past them in the fog. Then came screams and angry shouts from ahead, followed by terrifying waves of divine power, and then bursts of sword light and blade shadows on the sea!
The Dragon Qilin and Water Qilin tensed up, each opening their mouths to spit out something. The Water Qilin spat out a Qilin Pearl, stirring the surrounding seawater to form a barrier against the impact of the divine powers.
The Dragon Qilin, however, spat out two pearls—one was a Fire Qilin Pearl, and the other was a Dragon Pearl.
The Water Qilin glanced at him, thinking, "This guy's bloodline isn't as pure as mine, and his skills aren't as good."
Just as he thought that, the two pearls of the Dragon Qilin suddenly erupted with violent blood energy and mana. The pearls, each about a zhang in diameter, shot out countless divine lights in all directions, stabilizing the surrounding fluctuations!
The Water Qilin was dumbfounded.
The sword light and blade shadows were the residual power of Luo Wushuang and Bai Qiu'er's techniques, triggered by the people ahead, causing chaos on the sea. When the storm subsided, the area ahead fell silent again.
They cautiously moved forward. Before long, they saw many people standing in front of a pillar floating on the sea, wearing eerie smiles, staring at them and laughing endlessly.
The fog was thick, and their figures were hazy.
The pillar floated on the water, and the people in front of it were demons and deities, including a few powerful divine and demonic beings, tall and sturdy, radiating intense divine and demonic might.
Some other deities and demons formed a large circle, nervously watching their surroundings, while more focused on the pillar floating on the sea.
Qin Mu felt a chill run down his spine from their laughter and made the Dragon Qilin stop.
Those deities and demons kept smiling at them, their expressions stiff beyond words.
"What are they laughing at?" Yu Tianzun asked curiously.
As soon as he spoke, suddenly those deities, demons, and the pillar floated up into the air, then retreated into the fog.
"Hee hee hee..."
The laughter of those deities and demons came from the thick fog, now left, now right, now front, now back.
"There's a monster in the sea! Join forces to fight!" the deities and demons in the large circle shouted to them.
Qin Mu looked at the scholar, who said, "They're a big group, a big target. The monster must be attacking them. We can take the chance to slip past."
Hearing this, those deity and demon experts cursed loudly. The scholar, riding his donkey, grinned and circled around them.
Qin Mu told the Dragon Qilin and Water Qilin to follow closely. He looked back and saw the deities and demons still in their large circle, on high alert, cursing incessantly.
Suddenly, a thick shadow flashed through the fog again. After it passed, the sea was empty. The hundred or so deity and demon experts had vanished without a trace!
Qin Mu shuddered. Among those experts were several deities, and they had disappeared in an instant!
He quickly told Yu Tianzun to stay close and ordered the Dragon Qilin and Water Qilin to follow the donkey.
The eerie laughter came again from all around, circling them, and the fog grew thicker.
Divine light swirled in Qin Mu's eyes, forming a Sevenfold Heavenly River. He looked around, and suddenly a face appeared in front of them.
The Dragon Qilin, who feared this most, almost screamed. Then more faces emerged from the fog, forming a large circle around them.
These faces belonged to the deities and demons from before!
The faces of these powerful beings spun around them rapidly, their smiles growing more sinister, and all kinds of strange laughter came from all directions.
Suddenly, a pitch-black gate appeared behind Qin Mu. The gate swung open, and those faces passed through it one after another, but they still continued to whirl around them.
Qin Mu's heart sank. He whispered, "They're corpses, not living people!"
His Gate of Bearing Heaven could take away the souls or primordial spirits of the living, but these faces passed through it unscathed, meaning they had no souls!
The scholar glanced at the gate behind Qin Mu and said in surprise, "Your gate seems extremely advanced."
He took out a zither and casually plucked a few strings. A muffled groan came from the thick fog. The faces twisted, stopped spinning, and then an incredibly bright light blazed in the fog, like two small suns rising, emitting a dazzling radiance.
"Heh, a real expert!" A foul stench came from near the two small suns.
The scholar hooked three strings and suddenly released them. The zither's sound burst forth, and three notes merged into one line. The two small suns went out one after another, and the sound of heavy objects falling into the water came, splashing loudly.
The thick fog around them gradually thinned, and their vision slowly cleared.
Qin Mu and Yu Tianzun looked around and saw a huge tentacle floating on the water. The tentacle was covered with suction cups, each about a zhang in size, and hanging from those suction cups were the deities and demons!
These beings were gasping for air, but their expressions showed they could barely breathe.
They wailed, their faces rapidly shriveling, their bodies growing thinner, until they became nothing but dried-up skins!
The scholar on the donkey had somehow stowed away the zither. He picked up a radish, and the donkey chased after it, continuing forward.
Qin Mu quickly followed. When they reached the place where the light had gone out, they saw a round head the size of a hundred-li island floating on the sea. The top of the skull had been torn off, and the two eyes on the bald head had been cut open by sharp objects!
All around on the sea were the corpses of deities and demons, hanging from thick tentacles, reduced to mere skins.
Qin Mu and the others passed by this colossal creature and looked up to see they had reached the shore.
Ahead was a divine mountain, with two streams of baleful energy entwined at its peak.
Qin Mu looked back. The monster slowly sank into the sea and disappeared.
"This demigod was extremely powerful, yet you killed him with just a few plucks of your zither. Your zither music has reached the Dao. Where does your zither rank in the world?" Qin Mu asked.
The scholar looked up at the two streams of baleful energy and said, "My top skills are zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting—these I've worked hard on. My second-tier skills are sword, spear, halberd, and saber—these are just for fun. My top skills can rank first or second, but my second-tier skills are mediocre. My zither has lost once, to Red Emperor Qi Xiayu."
His expression darkened. "That woman's skill is extraordinary. Her zither artistry surpasses mine."
Qin Mu's heart shook.
Red Emperor Qi Xiayu's skill was transcendent and saintly; she was a Throne Seat powerhouse. Qin Mu had experienced her zither music before. When he and Emperor Shi Tian Buddha escaped from the Buddha Realm, Red Emperor Qi Xiayu's "Phoenix Seeking a Mate" had pursued them across realms, severely wounding Emperor Shi Tian Buddha with just the sound of her zither!
This scholar had once dueled her in zither and survived, which showed his skill!
"Originally, I thought zither was my best, but now I think my chess is number one. It should be chess, calligraphy, painting, zither."
The scholar rode his donkey up the divine mountain, waving his feather fan, and laughed, "Where do you think your zither and chess rank, Sect Leader Qin?"
Qin Mu sighed. "I know almost nothing about them."
The scholar laughed. "I thought the great Sect Leader Qin was omniscient. I didn't expect there to be things you don't know."
Qin Mu took out paper and a brush, smiled, and said, "Your calligraphy ranks second. Could you write a few characters for me?"
The scholar picked up the brush. "What's so hard about that? What do you want me to write?"
"Just write 'Qin Fengqing'."
The scholar wrote Qin Mu's name on the paper. Qin Mu took the paper and brush, carefully examined the three characters, his eyes flickering, and asked, "Where is Carefree Village?"
The scholar turned his donkey around and laughed, "Sect Leader Qin's mind is so jumpy. We were just talking about zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and suddenly you bring up Carefree Village. I'm quite puzzled."
"You've been to Carefree Village. You might even have come from there!"
Qin Mu took out the Qin family genealogy, flipped to his own name, and said, "I've seen your handwriting on my father's ship. Many names in the Qin family genealogy were written by you! And the name my father wrote for me on the last page—his handwriting is very similar to yours. It's clear he learned calligraphy and painting from you, imitating you! You are from Carefree Village!"
He suddenly became excited. "Celestial Master Zixi, where exactly is Carefree Village? Is the Founding Emperor still there? Why hasn't he shown himself in twenty thousand years?"
The scholar fell silent, then suddenly laughed. "The descendants of the Founding Emperor are indeed no simple people. I did revise many names in the Qin family genealogy, but I never wrote your name. You had me write your name to catch me off guard, but I forgot—I once taught Qin Hanzhen calligraphy and painting."
She turned back to look at Qin Mu, her gaze somewhat pitying. She shook her head and said, "You don't want to go back to Carefree Village. Give up that idea and live well. I've seen you now. You're not bad. You haven't disgraced the Founding Emperor... Lu Zheng, let's go!"
She picked up the radish, and the donkey suddenly leaped high, landing on the peak of the God-Slaying Platform. The donkey brayed loudly, its body shifting to become a donkey-headed divine demon, muscles bulging. Its two hands reached out and grabbed the two streams of baleful energy on the platform!
These two streams of baleful energy were the God-Slaying Mysterious Blades of this heavenly palace. The donkey swung them like two great dragons, and with a crack, it split the God-Slaying Platform in two!
The divine mountain split in half, and blood gushed out from within. In a few breaths, it turned into a vast sea of blood, blocking the path ahead!
"Qin Fengqing, this place is not for you. Go back!"
The scholar's voice came from ahead. "If you weren't so clever, I could have taken you on a tour. But you're too clever. Turn back!"
Qin Mu looked forward and saw the sea of blood growing wider. Broken baleful energy filled the air, forming countless eerie visions of demons and monsters, making it impossible to set foot!
Qin Mu also possessed a God-Slaying Mysterious Blade and knew the origin of the God-Slaying Platform. It was forged in imitation of the one in the Dragon Han Heavenly Court, absorbing the blood and energy of deities and demons. Anyone who suffered even a minor wound on the platform would have all their blood and energy drained, absorbed by the blade and the mountain.
And Chi Xi had once said that the Supreme Emperor era was the most brutal, with countless deities and demons beheaded on the God-Slaying Platform. The baleful energy here must be terrifying!
"But if you think you can stop me, you're mistaken!"
Qin Mu reached into his Taotie bag and pulled out a small box. With a click, he opened it.
The box opened, and the bone membranes rustled. The jade Throne Seat head inside became wildly excited, frantically absorbing the baleful energy of the blood sea!
Qin Mu used his primal energy to lift the small box, floating it in front of him, and let it sink into the sea of blood.
Yu Tianzun quickly urged the Water Qilin to follow him. They saw Qin Mu's small box devouring the baleful energy of the blood sea. The blood energy grew denser, the bone membranes turned blood-red, and the baleful energy in the jade head's eyes grew stronger.
The Dragon Qilin was terrified, constantly looking up at the small box. The Water Qilin whispered, "Brother, why are you staring at that box?"
The Dragon Qilin trembled. "I'm watching to see when the box gets full. You've never taken spirit pills, so you don't know that eating too much can make you burst. I've been stuffed before. If it gets full, it'll stop eating..."
Just then, a burping sound came from the small box.
Click. The small box suddenly closed.
The Dragon Qilin's fur stood on end. He shouted, "Oh no!"
The bloody baleful energy on the sea surged toward them. Qin Mu's body was covered in countless formation symbols, and he was about to activate a teleportation formation, when suddenly the bloody baleful energy calmed down. A voice came from the depths of the blood sea: "Honored guest, the Earth Mother invites you. Please follow me!"
——Recommend a book from a fellow reader, "Wielding a Sword for Ten Thousand Li"!