Chapter 819: Let's Do It Together!

Chapter 819: Let's Do It Together!

Zhe Huali watched Qin Mu approach, steadied himself, and raised his hand, saying, "Chief Qin, please!"

Qin Mu looked confused. "What for?"

Zhe Huali's expression was solemn. "To die by the Chief's sword is a hundred times better than dying at the hands of Prince Qiuming. Dying by your hand, I will accept it willingly."

Qin Mu found it both amusing and exasperating, shaking his head. "Zhe Huali, you've misunderstood."

Zhe Huali looked bewildered.

"I'm not here to kill you. If you die here, it would be a great trouble for me."

Qin Mu stepped forward, pulled him out from the broken bricks and rubble, and explained, "There's a poem on this pillar—it's the key to breaking the ghost ship's divine ability. If you stand next to it, when the ghost ship undergoes its cycle of reincarnation and reassembles, you'll merge with the pillar. If I were to chop you down, the blood would smear the writing, and I'd have to wait for another cycle. If you want to die, go die somewhere farther away."

Zhe Huali grunted, staring at Qin Mu's hands. He saw that Qin Mu was holding a bottle of dragon saliva balm, applying it to his wounds.

"Chief Qin, you're treating my injuries," Zhe Huali reminded him.

Qin Mu suddenly snapped out of it, casually dropping him to the ground, and muttered awkwardly, "A healer's heart is like a parent's—it's just a habit."

Zhe Huali winced from the pain of the fall, only then realizing that his wounds had already been treated by Qin Mu. The injuries were healing, no longer bleeding.

"You still saved me."

His emotions were complicated. "Chief Qin, you should know we are enemies. Both of us rose from humble beginnings, earning our current positions through our own efforts. That's why dying by your hand would leave me with no regrets. Let us have a duel of the Dao, let me truly be defeated by you, die by your hand!"

Qin Mu shook his head. "Zhe Huali, you really misunderstand. How are either of us from humble beginnings? Compared to Prince Qiuming, you and I might seem like commoners, but compared to ordinary people, we were born with silver spoons in our mouths. You are a descendant of a deity, with exceptional talent, taught by Luo Wushuang and trained by a demon god like Furi Luo. Among mortals, who has such conditions?"

Zhe Huali was taken aback.

Qin Mu continued, "I may have been an abandoned infant in the Great Ruins, but I was taught by the nine elders of the Crippled Village—nine of the most outstanding teachers. I am also the Divine Son of Youdu, a descendant of the Kaihuang, and though it didn't help much, my status was there. And I am the Overlord Body."

He shook his head. "How can we be considered commoners? True commoners are ordinary people—those whose parents work from dawn to dusk, yet still can't afford food or clothing. Born into such families, even three meals a day are a problem, survival itself is a struggle. In some places, tigers and wolves roam everywhere; parents go out at dawn searching for food and may not return alive by nightfall. Those born there still struggle in hardship, striving to climb upward. That is what it means to be a commoner."

He spoke unhurriedly. "Such people don't have our conditions, our opportunities, or our backgrounds. They face countless obstacles and traps, fighting desperately, and eventually achieve something. We are not heroes from the grassroots—they are."

Zhe Huali stood up, pondered for a moment, and nodded. "Chief Qin is absolutely right. Compared to them, we are the detestable Prince Qiuming."

"The Yinkang Reformation aims to change this very situation."

Qin Mu's eyes burned with passion. "The goal of the Yinkang Reformation is to let everyone fulfill their potential and make the best use of everything! It means providing sufficient education for everyone, establishing elementary and advanced schools everywhere, spreading Dao techniques and divine abilities, smoothing the path for commoners to become heroes, removing obstacles and pitfalls, and allowing everyone's potential and talents to shine!"

He grew excited. "This reformation will ensure that the gods are not aloof and untouchable, but each has their role and does their utmost! Imagine the future Yinkang: great ships and vessels flying through the sky, goods flowing in abundance, people conversing across ten thousand miles, reaching for the moon in the heavens and catching turtles in the five seas, freely unleashing their talents! They will build magnificent structures, connect countless heavens and worlds, create splendid art, and countless people will contribute their wisdom to make life better for everyone! Zhe Huali..."

Zhe Huali stared at him, dumbfounded. Qin Mu said eagerly, "Have you heard of the Heavenly Saint Cult?"

Zhe Huali's mouth hung open, eyes wide.

"Let's do it together!"

Qin Mu grabbed his shoulders and shook him vigorously, laughing. "Let's accomplish something great together! You've been struggling in that rotten Heavenly Court, fighting tooth and nail to climb up. Where can you climb to? At the top, you'd only end up like Luo Wushuang, leading the Lingxiu Army. Above you, there would still be countless nobles, and you'd have to bow and scrape to people like Prince Qiuming. But Yinkang's future is different—it allows for higher ambitions and more possibilities!"

Zhe Huali was dizzy from the shaking, struggling to steady himself and his Dao heart. "Chief Qin, let me think about it..."

Qin Mu released him, clenched his fist to encourage him, and whispered, "Think about your dreams, your heart, and your pursuits!"

Zhe Huali was dazed, feeling that Qin Mu's words were excellent and touched his heart. He couldn't help nodding. "I also think the lower realm is far more exciting than the upper realm... But we're trapped on this ghost ship, and it's unlikely we'll get out alive. What use is talking about this now?"

Qin Mu smiled. "We can get out. Haven't you noticed that I'm stronger than you and Prince Qiuming, yet I haven't become ethereal?"

Zhe Huali grunted, feeling he had agreed too soon. "This guy never knows what modesty is!"

"Ling Tianzun's divine ability turned this ship into a ghost ship. It looks incredibly powerful, but it's actually based on creation divine abilities, reversing matter, keeping it in a static state, even causing matter to flow backward! However, when she used this ability, her magical power was insufficient, and she didn't truly achieve it."

Light burst forth again, engulfing them.

Qin Mu's eyes sparkled with excitement as he paced within the light, explaining to Zhe Huali, "The matter on the ghost ship is still changing. When the change reaches its limit, it triggers her divine ability, which erupts and readjusts the ship's matter back to its original state."

The light faded, and the destroyed halls were restored to their original form. The pillar inscribed with the poem also returned to its original state.

Qin Mu still showed no sign of becoming ethereal, continuing to pace around Zhe Huali, excitedly saying, "This adjustment brings about changes in time and space, so the ghost ship travels through different times and spaces. After thirty-six such traversals, the divine ability completes one full cycle. Therefore, after thirty-six small cycles, there is one great cycle, returning to the starting point! Do you understand now?"

Zhe Huali's eyes were wide, filled with confusion. After a moment, he snapped out of it and quickly shook his head.

Qin Mu continued to explain, "I put myself in a frequency of matter change identical to the ghost ship's, so Ling Tianzun's divine ability thinks I'm part of the ghost ship, and I don't become ethereal. So, among those who boarded the ship at the same time, two of us can survive: you and me. Do you understand now?"

Zhe Huali's eyes went wide again, and the demon blade behind him also widened its eyes, equally confused.

"I understand."

Zhe Huali's expression returned to normal, and he said seriously, "Listening to your words is worth more than ten years of study. Chief Qin is truly wise beyond measure. Admirable, admirable!"

Qin Mu felt gratified.

The demon blade behind Zhe Huali still had a blank look in its eyes, not having caught up.

"If I said I didn't understand, wouldn't he look down on me?" Zhe Huali thought to himself. "With these research fanatics, when you don't understand, just pretend you do. As long as you don't interrupt, you won't expose your shallow knowledge."

"And the best chance to escape this ship!"

Qin Mu grew even more excited. "It's during the period of most intense matter change! When is that? It's the ghost ship's first traversal. At that time, all the Yulin troops on the ship became ethereal, and the ghost ship itself became ethereal! If my guess is correct, the four ancient god emperors—Black Tortoise, Vermilion Bird, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger—also boarded the ship at that time and left their seals!"

Zhe Huali clapped his hands in praise. "Brother Qin is truly talented!"

The demon blade behind him still had a blank look.

Zhe Huali said happily, "Brother Qin, what should we do?"

"Stay alive!"

Qin Mu's expression turned grave, and he said softly, "Stay alive during this time. Am I right, Lin Xiao?"

Zhe Huali was startled and looked around. Suddenly, his gaze fell on a lantern hanging from the ship's mast.

The lantern's door opened, revealing a small figure with a bird's head and a human body, standing in the small doorway. Behind it was a brilliant sun.

The small figure clapped its hands in praise. "As expected of one of the Nine Heavenly Venerables, Venerable Mu! In just a few cycles, you've figured out the solution. Prince Qiuming's method of killing all the inconstants didn't work. It seems the only way to escape this ship is your method."

Qin Mu smiled faintly. "But as a trusted agent of the Empress, you can't allow anyone to escape this ship, lest the secret be exposed."

The small figure in the lantern sighed. "That's right. All inconstants must die, must die."

Qin Mu suddenly asked, "Then, Lin Xiao, do you remember how many cycles you've been through on this ship?"

The small figure in the lantern was startled, not understanding the question.

Qin Mu smiled. "Every small cycle of this ship brings a new batch of people aboard. It shows that no one on this ship truly dies. After they die and become ethereal, they come back to life in the next cycle and board again. The matter on the ship is constant, neither increasing nor decreasing, unchanging and unalterable—that's Ling Tianzun's divine ability. So, when you board the ship again with Jue Wuchen, will the current you still exist?"

The light in the lantern suddenly blazed intensely, and the bird-headed, human-bodied small figure grew restless.

Qin Mu smiled leisurely. "At that time, the current you will disappear, replaced by the you who just boarded. You will board this ship again with your companions, carrying Jue Wuchen, and repeat everything you've done. How many times have you repeated it?"

The small figure in the lantern laughed. "I remember all the cycles..."

"You don't."

Qin Mu showed a look of disdain. "If you did, I would also remember how many cycles I've been through, and all the inconstants would remember too. Yet they've been killed by you repeatedly, which shows you don't remember, and neither do they. The only one with some memory is Long Bo, that mad old dragon fused with the ship, but even his memory is incomplete."

The small figure's pupils contracted sharply. Suddenly, it let out a cackling laugh, like a chicken's cry. "But you'll die soon. After thirty-six cycles, you'll come back to life, and I'll kill you again!"

The lantern blazed with light, and the sun within it spun. An incredibly terrifying wave of energy erupted, shattering the ground where Qin Mu stood!

The small figure lunged forward, but Qin Mu and Zhe Huali had already vanished!

Qin Mu used a teleportation divine ability, taking Zhe Huali with him, and said rapidly, "This guy has reduced his cultivation, but he's still as strong as a deity, able to withstand a blow from the Village Chief. Let's find a safe place to hide until he cycles again! Then he won't remember us..."

Suddenly, a beam of lantern light swept over, vaporizing everything in its path. The small figure in the lantern laughed. "Hide? I know this ship like the back of my hand. Where can you hide?"

Zhe Huali shook his head. "Chief Qin, can't we join forces and kill a deity?"

Qin Mu paused, looked at him carefully, and shook his head. "If I teamed up with Xu Shenghua, I could fight a deity, but you're not Xu Shenghua."

Zhe Huali grunted, his battle intent blazing. "I'm not as good as Xu Shenghua? Don't underestimate me!"

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