Chapter 817: The Divine Blade, Zhe Huali
The Dragon Tamer gazed at a demigod approaching from afar. That demigod was likely also a deity, his body already half-substantial and half-illusory. He should be a demigod-level powerhouse who had followed the Ancestral Dragon King, constantly hunting down other boarders.
However, this man feared the Village Chief, only daring to show himself after seeing the Village Chief disappear.
"My lord, this man's strength is extraordinary."
The Dragon Tamer leaped down from the hall, his voice deep: "I will fight to the death, and I hope my lord will be able to revive me in the future!"
"Rest assured, Dragon Lord. You are my Tianhe Dragon King, and I will not let you die here."
Qin Mu also descended from the great hall, saying, "You will become illusory in the next cycle, and so will that demigod. You only need to hold out until the next cycle, and both of you will turn into void."
The Dragon Tamer faced the demigod, chuckling darkly: "But I'm not confident. His dragon bloodline is purer than mine. I can only contend with him if I'm prepared to die together. If I try to stall for time, he'll kill me instead."
He let out a fierce roar, striking his palm and fist together heavily before his chest. His blood and qi surged, and he laughed heartily: "On a narrow path, the brave prevail! Back in the day, I was a deity who fought to the death with the Human Sovereign Su, and I didn't die by his sword! I followed my lord and became the Tianhe Dragon King, not some minor god raising dragons for the heavens! If you want my lord's life, you'll have to step over my corpse!"
He clashed with the demigod, both transforming into two massive dragons, tumbling and battling, manipulating water and fire, their divine abilities terrifying in power.
Qin Mu walked into the great hall.
Outside came the thunderous sounds of the two divine dragons fighting. Of those who had boarded together, few remained, but some still survived. He didn't see Luo Wushuang's Lingxiu Army, nor did he see the Autumn Ming Prince from the Heavenly Court.
These people should be in hiding. None of them had cultivated to the divine realm yet, so they wouldn't be affected by the void transformation for now. They could wait until the deities killed each other or turned into void.
Qin Mu carefully examined the palace. This great hall was Wei Suifeng's palace.
Wei Suifeng, the founding patriarch of the Tiansheng Sect, had explored the Guixu Abyss and experienced a strange time-travel event there, returning to the Longhan Era.
He became the Left Lang General of the Yulin Army in the Longhan Heavenly Court, commanding the most powerful army of gods and demons.
This senior brother also had some understanding of Ling Tianzun's divine ability. When the Yulin Army was returning to the Heavenly Court, they encountered the mist again. Realizing it was time to go back, he extinguished the lantern and returned.
Wei Suifeng was very clever. He had likely figured out the flaws in Ling Tianzun's divine ability, which was why he managed to escape disaster.
"Perhaps I'll find some clues here with senior brother."
Qin Mu observed the layout of the palace, memorizing the exact position of every item, then began a meticulous search.
They found the founding patriarch's bookshelf. Some books were written in ancient divine language, some in ancient god or demon language, and others in human script.
Qin Mu flipped through them one by one, then placed the books he'd read in disarray.
He found a journal written by senior brother in human script, recording trivial matters from his time in the Longhan Heavenly Court. Qin Mu read it carefully. The journal contained little useful information, but there was a geographical map of the Guixu Abyss.
Qin Mu was slightly startled. This Guixu geographical map closely matched one of the maps senior brother had left him. Though there were minor geographical differences, most of the terrain was consistent.
"Senior brother wants me to go to the Guixu Abyss! He must have left something there too, and it must be extremely important!"
Qin Mu steadied himself. From what he could see, the geographical maps Wei Suifeng had given him all concealed great secrets and treasures. The first map led him to the Yulin Army's military tally.
The second map led him to the Red Creek Divine Being and the Divine Execution Blade, but the main achievement was connecting with the remnants of the Chiming Era, forming an alliance between Yankang and the Chiming Divine Son.
The third map led Qin Mu to the Tai Ming Heaven, where he found the brain of the Ying Zhao deity in a jar and obtained the complete blueprints for the Ark of the Other Shore.
This Guixu map was the fourth named map. Wei Suifeng had returned to the Longhan Heavenly Court while exploring the Guixu Abyss. He must have discovered something there and hidden the secret in the Guixu Abyss, waiting for the Woodcutter or Qin Mu to uncover it.
The ghost ship trembled slightly—a sign of another impending cycle.
Qin Mu's expression shifted. He quickly left the great hall, weighed down the journal with a stone, picked up a brush, and scribbled randomly on the pillar where Ling Tianzun had left her poem. Then he leaped back.
Outside the hall, the battle between the Dragon Tamer and the divine dragon continued. Dragon blood splattered everywhere. Both had fought to the point of madness, unable to stop even as the next cycle approached.
Light burst forth. The ghost ship left this spacetime. When the light faded and Qin Mu's vision returned to normal, he saw that the journal he had weighed down with a stone had vanished without a trace!
Qin Mu's eyes lit up. He returned to the hall and saw that the items he had scattered were back in perfect order, neat and undisturbed.
Qin Mu turned and walked out of the great hall, examining the pillar before it. The scribbles he had made were gone, but Ling Tianzun's handwriting remained.
Qin Mu was momentarily stunned, then suddenly burst into laughter.
In the distance, the Dragon Tamer's opponent had disappeared. This great dragon was also exhausted, covered in wounds. His body had become illusory, on the verge of turning into void. He panted: "My lord, what are you laughing at?"
"I changed the positions of objects, and after the cycle, they returned to their original places."
Qin Mu studied the poem on the pillar with great interest, smiling: "I also defaced Ling Tianzun's poem, but the places I altered vanished, while Ling Tianzun's poem remained. Do you know what this means?"
The Dragon Tamer looked bewildered.
"We are within Ling Tianzun's divine ability. We cannot change anything on the ship. Anything damaged on the ship will be restored to its original state after the cycle. But Ling Tianzun boarded later, yet she changed something on the ship—she left a poem on the pillar."
Qin Mu asked: "Why could her poem remain?"
The Dragon Tamer was even more confused, shaking his head: "My lord, I'm dull-witted. That's why I was captured by you and had to become the Tianhe Dragon King."
"Matter on the ship neither increases, decreases, changes, nor alters. Yet Ling Tianzun could leave a poem, which means she herself cracked her own divine ability."
Qin Mu laughed: "In her poem, she expounds the principles behind this divine ability. And when she wrote the poem, she used the method to crack it. That is to say, in this short poem, she hid both the divine ability of unchanging matter and the method to break it. Dragon Tamer, Dragon Tamer..."
The Dragon Tamer's body grew fainter and fainter. He looked back, and this dragon king gradually faded like a bubble in a dream.
"My lord, the road ahead... rely on yourself..."
The Dragon Tamer vanished completely.
Qin Mu stood there in a daze. After a long moment, he came back to himself. He was alone, with only himself and his shadow.
"You're still here with me, aren't you? I know the Village Chief and you are both here, never far away."
He sat down, gazing at the poem on the pillar, speaking softly: "Don't worry. I will find a way to crack it. Ling Tianzun believes that time does not exist, that it is merely an illusion caused by changes in matter. If matter neither increases, decreases, nor changes, then time does not exist. Her divine ability is based on this. When she first used it, she hadn't perfected it, leaving a flaw. When she returned here, she left words on this pillar, increasing the matter..."
Far away, in the ghost ship's armory, divine weapons were placed on weapon racks. Even after countless millennia, these weapons remained as pristine as new.
This armory hall was extremely spacious, but the ground was littered with corpses. A blood-dripping blade slanted downward, its tip dripping blood with a steady patter.
The hand gripping the blade was steady. The blade's owner, like the corpses on the ground, was also a one-armed youth.
"Junior Brother Zhe Huali, Teacher Luo has already turned into void. There are fewer and fewer people on the ship. Our Lingxiu Army selects the most outstanding disciples from the divine peoples of the Heavenly Court. After rigorous screening and elimination, only then can one enter the Lingxiu Army."
The one-armed youth looked at Zhe Huali from the other side of the weapon rack, speaking calmly: "Every selection, hundreds or even thousands die before one Lingxiu Army disciple is chosen. And to receive Teacher Luo's true teachings, most choose to cut off one arm, only then can they comprehend entering the Dao through the blade from Teacher Luo's sword techniques. But Teacher was biased toward you, thinking you had the best talent. He sent you down to the mortal world to study under Fu Riluo, hoping you could walk a different path."
Zhe Huali's demonic blade vibrated softly behind him, his voice deep: "Senior Brother, you learned Teacher Luo's blade techniques the best. I am not your equal. But when it comes to entering the Dao through the blade, you are inferior to me. You only follow behind Teacher Luo. Why did you have to kill so many junior brothers and sisters? They could have turned into void and not threatened you."
"They had to die, because they are weaker than me. I will turn into void before them."
The one-armed youth said coldly: "I must ensure that the last person alive is me. I didn't hesitate to cut off my own arm to enter the Dao through the blade, so why would I hesitate to kill them? As for you, Junior Brother, I want to know what Teacher saw in you that made him think you were better than me, that you would go further than me! That's why I saved you for last."
Clang—
Blade light blazed forth. In an instant, the armory hall was filled with blade light. The two youths clashed. The terrifying power activated all the divine weapons in the hall, and their unleashed might blasted the entire hall to pieces!
After the terrifying divine power swept in all directions, Zhe Huali raised his hand and sheathed his twin blades behind his back. He walked out of the ruins without looking at the one-armed youth's corpse.
His steps were as if measured, each stride neither too long nor too short.
"My blade techniques, honed through battles with the Tyrant Qin, have long surpassed Teacher Luo. Teacher didn't know, and you didn't either. And I entered the Dao through the blade, comprehending the two heavens of the blade Dao. This is my own Dao, my own method. You used Teacher Luo's techniques, Teacher Luo's blade Dao, so you died."
He walked toward the barracks and saw Qin Mu sitting before the great hall in the distance. His pupils contracted sharply.
Qin Mu sensed something, turned his head, and smiled at him.
Zhe Huali couldn't help but smile back, then immediately grew wary: "This scoundrel uses a smile to lower my guard. I must not fall for his tricks! He is an enemy—I must kill him!"
At that moment, another figure appeared not far away—the Autumn Ming Prince.
"Of those who boarded together, only the three of us remain."
The Autumn Ming Prince flicked his sword, sending blood droplets flying, and said calmly: "I killed several more groups of later boarders. I discovered a secret, and I want to share it with you two."
He smiled: "It turns out that the unchanging constant on this ship can also die. I just killed one."