Chapter 801: In Accordance with the Dao
After the Woodcutter and the other three Celestial Masters paid their respects, they resumed their normal demeanor and gathered around Imperial Heavenly Lord, studying his blessings from the gods.
They were all scholars from the Kaihuang era, and once they immersed themselves in a matter, they paid no attention to who their subject was.
Imperial Heavenly Lord stood there, not daring to move an inch, letting these people study and probe him.
The Scholar even took a needle and pricked his finger, drawing a bit of blood for research.
As for the discussions among these four Celestial Masters, Imperial Heavenly Lord understood even less. Qin Mu, as a learned scholar of Yankang, also joined the conversation.
Imperial Heavenly Lord stood there at a loss, when suddenly one of the Celestial Masters said, "Go summon Jiang Baigui. He always has ideas."
Not long after, the Yankang National Teacher arrived and, as if discovering a treasure, began circling Imperial Heavenly Lord.
"Minister Qin, quite the lively scene here. I came this time..."
Yanfeng Emperor came to visit, and after a moment, he too became one of the crowd circling Imperial Heavenly Lord.
"Mu'er, why did you ask me to return?"
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign burst in with twenty or thirty young men and women, among them the Village Chief, now fully healed with all four limbs intact. The First Ancestor and the Village Chief crowded around, while the other twenty or thirty young men and women pulled Qin Mu aside, all smiling at him.
Qin Mu was baffled and ventured, "Esteemed senior brothers and sisters, you are?"
"So you're the current Human Sovereign, Qin Mu?"
One of them, short and stout, with a round, pudgy figure, asked bluntly, "I hear you're quite formidable."
Qin Mu humbly replied, "I am the current Human Sovereign, but I am not formidable. There are many in this world whose intelligence and talent surpass mine—quite a few, in fact. Those whose cultivation and strength exceed mine are countless. And you all are?"
"Less talk, let's fight first!"
The group surged forward, all possessing considerable skill and superb techniques, each one a top-tier expert.
Qin Mu quickly dodged, only to find their footwork mysteriously profound, able to keep up with his own, flanking him from left and right, attacking from front and back, leaving him no room to evade. He was inwardly astonished.
"Where did so many experts suddenly spring up in Yankang? Each one is exceptionally powerful. If they were just younger generation, that would be one thing, but the key is that these twenty or thirty people all have very high cultivation realms, not inferior to mine!" he thought to himself.
The group charged together, clearly experienced in chaotic brawls, often fighting this way—they were seasoned scufflers.
"But I've never feared a group fight!"
Qin Mu's body erupted with runes, teleporting the dozen or so who had attacked him over ten miles away. Then he transformed into a three-headed, six-armed form, unleashing martial arts divine abilities. With a series of booming explosions, over a dozen experts lay on the ground, unable to move.
Qin Mu shifted his steps, his three heads and six arms unleashing various divine abilities. Figures were sent flying one after another, collapsing in disarray.
His six arms spread wide, and the runes reversed. The dozen or so who had just been sent over ten miles away and hadn't yet landed found themselves spinning back through space.
"Great Magnetic Divine Ability!"
Qin Mu pushed forward with both palms, and these dozen or so immediately felt their physical bodies and primordial spirits become incredibly heavy. With a thunderous crash, they fell to the ground, pressing a large pit into the earth.
Over ten zhang away, the short, stout man quietly rose, intending to launch a sneak attack with a divine ability. Qin Mu struck back with a reverse palm, unleashing a Heavenly Fire Divine Ability that blasted the stout man into the air, flailing his limbs, landing who knows where.
"Suddenly over thirty young experts not inferior to me appear—when did Yankang produce so many talents?"
Qin Mu was still puzzled. He shook his head and walked toward Imperial Heavenly Lord.
The Village Chief looked at him, a sly glint in his eyes, and winked.
Qin Mu was momentarily stunned, then suddenly realized. He exclaimed, "Qikang Human Sovereign! Yishan Human Sovereign! And the Second Ancestor! The Third Ancestor! That's right, it's you! You came with the First Ancestor!"
He quickly went to help the young men and women to their feet, stamping his foot in dismay. "I was wondering where so many experts not inferior to me came from—it turns out to be all you ancestral masters and patriarchs! Why didn't you say something? If you had, I wouldn't have hit so hard... You're the Second Ancestor, right?"
The young man he helped up quickly shook his head: "I'm not!"
"You're the Fifth Ancestor!" Qin Mu sized up another young man, excited.
"I'm not, don't talk nonsense!"
That young man's face flushed red, and he stammered in defense: "The Fifth Ancestor is so tall and mighty—how could I compare to the Fifth Human Sovereign? I'm just a nobody!"
Qin Mu peeled off the willow leaf from his brow, using his third eye to look, and clearly saw everyone's primordial spirits. He laughed, "You are the Fifth Ancestor! Even though your appearance has changed, your primordial spirit hasn't. Did you seize a body or reincarnate?"
That young man's face reddened, unable to speak.
"Lanpo Ancestral Master! Tuoyu Ancestral Master! Qikang Ancestral Master! It really is you! The short, stout man I blasted away with the Heavenly Fire Divine Ability—was that Yishan Great Ancestral Master?"
Qin Mu quickly said, "I don't know where he flew off to. What do we do now?"
Qikang Human Sovereign walked over, snorted coldly, and said, "You just said 'not inferior to you.' Is there anyone like that who's not inferior to you?"
Qin Mu explained, "By 'not inferior to me,' I mean they're still a hair's breadth weaker than me."
Tuoyu Human Sovereign fumed, "A hair's breadth difference can be this big?"
Qin Mu scratched his head: "I mean, a slight difference leads to a vast disparity... Let's not talk about that. Ancestral masters and patriarchs, when the First Ancestor often ran off saying he had important business, was he teaching you techniques and divine abilities?"
The various Human Sovereigns exchanged glances. The Second Ancestor sighed and said dejectedly, "These days, the First Ancestor has been hiding us in the Yuming Palace behind the Human Sovereign Hall, training us in secret. He taught us techniques and divine abilities and dug out all kinds of classics from Yuming Palace—divine skills and wondrous methods from the Kaihuang era. When we came out this time, we wanted to give you a big surprise..."
Qin Mu laughed, "Ancestral masters and patriarchs, don't be discouraged. The First Ancestor's skills are only a hair's breadth behind mine, and you all are already quite formidable. The key is that while you were in seclusion at the Human Sovereign Hall these past few years, Yankang's Dao techniques and divine abilities have advanced rapidly. You learned the techniques from the Kaihuang era but not Yankang's techniques, so they're full of flaws in my eyes. But in terms of cultivation, you're not inferior to me..."
Grandma Si's voice came, surprised: "Mu'er, why is it so lively here?"
Qin Mu quickly left the group to greet her, delighted: "Ancestral masters and patriarchs, Grandmother is the one who created the Great Magnetic Divine Ability. That move I just used, the Great Magnetic Divine Ability, I learned from her. Please find a place to sit; I'll go welcome Grandmother. Oh, and who can go find Yishan Human Sovereign?"
"Mu'er, you're back?" Blind man groped his way in with his bamboo staff.
"Blind man, why are you in such a hurry?" Deaf man and Butcher followed closely behind.
...
Qin Mu's residence was already overflowing with people, with no room to stand. Qin Mu quickly found the Yankang National Teacher and asked, "Junior brother, how many people did you invite?"
"There's also the Dao Lord, the Tathagata, and Little Jade Capital."
The Yankang National Teacher said, "I also notified the King of Hell. The remnants of the Chiming clan in the South Sea aren't our faction, so I didn't inform them. Grand Sacrificial Official Xu Huasheng is far away in the Western Lands, too far from here. Even traveling would take him two or three years, so I didn't notify him either."
Qin Mu was stunned for a moment, then quickly called over a few maidservants and said, "I have too many guests here; there's no room. Take some money and buy up the neighboring residences."
The head maid said, "Those living nearby are mostly wealthy merchants and nobles; they'll likely jack up the prices."
"Don't worry about the small change." Qin Mu waved his hand, telling them to handle it quickly.
The Yankang National Teacher was silent for a moment, then said, "Most of the Heavenly Saint Church's wealth was donated to the national treasury for disaster relief. Why does senior brother still have so much money?"
"It might be what Ling'er earned in Xianglong City."
Qin Mu wasn't entirely sure either and said apologetically, "I never asked about money matters. I'm not interested in it."
The Yankang National Teacher silently walked away, continuing to study the ancient god's blessings behind Imperial Heavenly Lord's head along with the others.
After the surrounding residences were purchased, Qin Mu immediately knocked down the walls to connect them for easy movement.
Some days later, Wang Muran, Mu Qingdai, and others from Little Jade Capital arrived. After a while, Linxuan Dao Lord brought many old and young Daoists from the Dao Sect.
Ma Tathagata arrived with the Demon Ape Zhan Kong and the Bright Mind Monk. Qin Mu heard that Emperor Shakra Buddha King had also arrived, but he didn't see him. He guessed the Buddha King was hiding from the Old Farmer or had been beaten into some gutter by him when no one was looking.
This cluster of residences was packed with experts. Linxuan Dao Lord led many Daoists in diligently recording the various runes within the ancient god's blessings, while others deduced the mysteries within these runes, trying various methods to decipher the blessings.
"Imperial Heavenly Lord's ancient god blessings are a vast treasure trove!"
The Yankang National Teacher suddenly said, "Once we've organized all the runes hidden in these blessings, we can establish the rune system of the ancient gods' great Dao! Yankang's rune Dao is bound to experience a massive explosion!"
The Woodcutter said, "Don't rush to eliminate these blessings. Let's quickly compile them! If we can fully organize them, this will be the rune Dao system of the ancient celestial court!"
...
Qin Mu also intended to study the mysteries, but he was chased out by the four Celestial Masters. The Old Farmer said, "You have your own business. Go open the seventh divine repository. When you're done, call me!"
Qin Mu had no choice but to focus on his cultivation, opening one divine repository after another.
His speed in opening the seventh divine repository grew faster and faster. Each time he opened one, the Old Farmer would destroy it with a single punch, then return to his research.
Four or five months later, every house was piled high with various rune records. The divine and demonic experts in the residences were all disheveled and dirty, with only the Scholar, Grandma Si, and a few other women still caring about their appearance.
Qin Mu, meanwhile, was opening the last seventh divine repository—the Heavenly River Divine Repository.
This divine repository was based on his sudden inspiration from the ancient celestial court's Heavenly River, which he had designed.
This repository flowed out from the celestial palace, passed through the seventh divine repository, went through the Heavenly Man, Seven Stars, Five Luminaries, and Six Harmonies, flowed past the Spiritual Platform, and poured into the Netherworld.
Qin Mu suddenly paused: "If this is the case, then once the seventh divine repository is opened, wouldn't all the divine repositories merge into one?"
He blinked. Xu Huasheng had already created the Jianmu Primordial Divine Bridge as a technique to connect the other divine repositories and merge them into one. However, the Jianmu Divine Bridge required too high a level of mathematical skill. Those in the current world with such mathematical mastery capable of forging the Jianmu Divine Bridge were probably few and far between. They would need a mathematical expert to plant a Dao heart demon seed, first implanting a sapling inside the cultivator's body.
Thus, the Jianmu Divine Bridge was difficult to popularize.
But with this Heavenly River Divine Repository, it became much simpler—directly using a Heavenly River to connect all divine repositories, even linking the celestial palace itself!