Chapter 841: An Old Friend in the Peach Orchard
The Kunlun Realm was originally a sacred land within the Yan Kang territory, hailed as the King of Ten Thousand Mountains. This sacred land boasted countless peaks, each vying in splendor, with the Dao Sect hidden among the mountains.
When Qin Mu and the others arrived once more at the Kunlun Realm, they looked around and saw divine mountains towering majestically, thrusting into the sky like a forest. But when they turned their gaze to the mountains of the Kunlun Realm itself, they were far shorter, lacking any semblance of a sacred land. They couldn't help but shake their heads.
With the reemergence of the Yuan Realm, the Kunlun Realm could no longer maintain its status as a sacred land.
The Dao Sect Academy was built at the foot of the Dao Sect's mountain. The Daoists were rather easygoing and, unlike the Great Thunderclap Monastery, not wealthy. So they built a city at the foot of the mountain, inscribed the words "Dao Sect Academy" on the city gate, and began recruiting scholars widely.
Beside the Dao Sect Academy stretched a peach orchard spanning ten thousand miles, with peach blossoms in full bloom. Qin Mu peered into the depths of the orchard, but even with his utmost gaze, he couldn't see the end. He could only faintly make out many palaces deep within the orchard, along with city walls, though he couldn't tell who lived there.
The Blind Elder closed his eyes and "looked" toward the orchard with his mind. After a moment, he said, "Very powerful beings dwell within the peach orchard. They have sealed it off. When I used my Mind's Eye to look there, I saw countless peach blossoms swirling in the sky at the deepest point, blocking my view."
Qin Mu was startled and uncertain. "Even the Blind Elder's Mind's Eye can't see through it?"
The Blind Elder's Mind's Eye was arguably the strongest divine eye in the world, and it was also key to his great achievements in the art of formations.
Even in his youth, he had already cultivated his eyes to the level of a true god. Though he was known as the Divine Spear, it was his all-seeing divine eye that truly mattered.
After losing his eyes, he had cultivated the Mind's Eye in the Village of Elderly Cripples.
Now that his eyes had been restored, his mastery of the Mind's Eye had only grown more unfathomable.
His ability to fight on equal footing with Qu He, the squad leader of the Heavenly Court's Divine Capture Battalion, owed much to the Mind's Eye.
Yet even the Blind Elder's Mind's Eye couldn't penetrate the arrangements within the ten-thousand-mile peach orchard, putting Qin Mu on alert. This orchard was so vast, and the beings dwelling within it were no ordinary entities. If they were to attack the Dao Sect, the sect would likely be unable to defend itself.
What surprised him, however, was that the scholars of the Dao Sect Academy seemed accustomed to the neighboring orchard. Some people living nearby, relying on the Dao Sect's protection for survival, even went into the orchard to pick peaches.
The orchard was so vast that it even had its own four seasons, with peaches already ripe on some trees.
Even as these mortals came and went through the orchard, no one from within came out to stop them.
Qin Mu stood outside the academy for a long time, watching, before finally entering the Dao Sect Academy.
The city was filled with ordinary houses, lacking any grand palaces. Many elderly Daoists were teaching disciples, some simply sitting on the ground in open spaces, with the other scholars also sitting on the ground, showing little concern for formality.
The foremost sacred land of mathematics in Yan Kang was so simple and unadorned—it was somewhat unexpected.
Qin Mu brought the Imperial Heavenly Lord to study here, naturally causing quite a stir. Lin Xuan, the Dao Lord, hurriedly came to welcome him, smiling. "Lord Qin is a man of his word. You've come as promised."
After exchanging pleasantries, Qin Mu asked, "What's the origin of the peach orchard outside the academy?"
"I don't know."
Lin Xuan, the Dao Lord, shook his head. "Since the Yuan Realm broke its seal, this peach orchard suddenly appeared beside the academy. Strange to say, the Yuan Realm has so many peculiar places, with countless divine beings among the demigods, yet the area near the Dao Sect has been very peaceful. No demigod has ever caused trouble. I suspect it's because of the peach orchard. I once entered the orchard to investigate, but I could never get close to the palaces within. It's as if there's some kind of profound formation or something."
Qin Mu looked puzzled. "On the way here, I also noticed that there are no demigods near the Dao Sect. It's very peaceful, unlike other places. In those places, it's already considered merciful if demigods oppress humans and treat them as slaves. I thought it was the Dao Sect suppressing those demigods, but it turns out it's the orchard's doing."
Lin Xuan, the Dao Lord, smiled bitterly. "The Dao Sect doesn't have that kind of strength! On the divine mountains nearby live many powerful demigods. I once saw one of them breathing, and even the sun in the sky was pulled closer. Of course, that's the sun in the celestial chart. There's another strange thing: entering this orchard is easy, and leaving is even easier."
Qin Mu was puzzled.
"When you look at the orchard from outside, it seems ten thousand miles wide. But when you walk in from the edge, even if you travel ten thousand miles, a hundred thousand miles, or even a million, you never reach the end. As I walked forward, the orchard around me went through spring, summer, autumn, and winter, with the weather changing through the four seasons. Clearly, the path I took was real."
Lin Xuan, the Dao Lord, wore a strange expression. "But the moment I turn around, I find myself still at the edge of the orchard. I only need to take a few steps back to walk out. So many nearby villagers go into the orchard to pick peaches without any fear of getting lost. I originally wanted to explore the orchard's secrets, but I had no way to do so, and since the orchard's owner seems to have no ill intent, I let it be."
The Blind Elder suddenly spoke up. "This should be a formation, but it doesn't feel like one. It's more like using divine power to shrink an infinite space into ten thousand miles, or even into the span of a hand! But no one in the world could have such immense divine power. Only a formation, borrowing the power of heaven and earth, could achieve this."
Qin Mu asked, "Blind Elder, can you tell what kind of formation it is?"
The Blind Elder shook his head. "I can't tell from outside. I'd have to go in to see the details. And I can see very few traces of a formation. If it really is a formation, then even Heavenly Master Zi Xi would be far inferior to the orchard's owner! But it's impossible for there to be a formation master much stronger than Heavenly Master Zi Xi."
"Since the orchard's owner has no ill intent and even protects the people here, we don't need to worry."
Qin Mu smiled. "Dao Lord Lin, I've come to study at the Dao Sect Academy. I'll be eating and staying here for a while. Also, my younger brother, the Imperial Lord, needs to learn mathematics. Could you find some excellent scholars from the Imperial Academy to teach him the basics?"
Lin Xuan nodded. "Don't worry. The Dao Sect has many mathematics experts. I'll have Lan Yutian study with them. As for you, Lord Qin, I and the Dao Sect's elders will teach you."
Qin Mu was overjoyed and bowed in thanks.
Lin Xuan quickly returned the bow, saying seriously, "Lord Qin, you flatter me. You taught the Taiwei Calculation Classic to the Dao Sect. Whatever the Dao Sect achieves is merely a repayment."
Qin Mu, the Imperial Heavenly Lord, and the others settled into the Dao Sect Academy. The Imperial Heavenly Lord went with his teachers to learn various mathematical texts. The Dao Sect had many calculation classics, and Lin Xuan had brought back a vast sea of them from the Azure Heaven. Mastering them all would be no easy task.
Learning mathematics was extremely tedious, yet it was a crucial foundation in the system of divine powers and techniques. Aside from a few disciplines like martial arts, which had low demands for mathematics, most other systems required it.
The texts Lin Xuan brought back from the Azure Heaven were macroscopic mathematics, the classics of the Heavenly Court's Dao Sect, profound and developed to their peak.
Microscopic mathematics, on the other hand, was just beginning. Although Qin Mu had pioneered this field, it was the Dao Sect that had truly developed it.
Lin Xuan, the Dao Lord, and others had already pushed the Taiwei Calculation Classic to a level incomprehensible by conventional mathematics. They had even discovered phenomena where macroscopic laws of the Dao failed at the microscopic level, along with an uncertainty principle in microscopic observation.
Despite these phenomena, when the microscopic formed the macroscopic, all the laws of the Dao applied once again—a truly mysterious occurrence.
Qin Mu studied humbly, finding that although the Taiwei Calculation Classic explained and solved microscopic problems, its system was vast and could be applied to all kinds of divine powers.
It took him over twenty days to absorb the Dao Sect's achievements and make them his own knowledge, filling him with deep emotion.
Lin Xuan, the Dao Lord, had long known Qin Mu was exceptionally intelligent, so he wasn't surprised that he mastered the Taiwei Calculation Classic in twenty-odd days. But the old Daoists who taught him were utterly incredulous.
Qin Mu found the Imperial Heavenly Lord. The Imperial Lord, with his unparalleled comprehension, had finally encountered a tough nut to crack. He was worn down and listless from being tormented by various calculation classics.
In contrast, Dragon Qilin was full of energy, sneaking into various departments of the Dao Sect Academy to listen in, gaining a lot.
"Lan Yutian's comprehension is high, but in mathematics, he's only a first-rate talent, not as good as Dragon Qilin."
Lin Xuan said to Qin Mu, "He'll need more time to master the Dao Sect's various calculation classics."
"His strength lies in comprehension. Mathematics is just a tool for him to seek the Dao; it's not that important to him."
Qin Mu sighed. "Dao Lord Lin, have you ever seen a true genius?"
Lin Xuan became alert. "Are you about to be modest again?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "I'm also a genius, but my strength lies in talent. In terms of comprehension, I'm only slightly better than you. Because I have the Overlord Body, as long as I'm willing to work hard, I can learn anything quickly. But Lan Yutian is different. He is closer to the Dao. The Dao Ancestor created mathematics to analyze all the great Daos of the world; mathematics is a tool for seeking the Dao. If someone is born close to the Dao, able to clearly sense and understand it, do they still need this tool of mathematics?"
Lin Xuan was stunned. He looked at Lan Yutian, who was scratching his head over a difficult math problem, beads of sweat on his forehead.
"Where did the Blind Elder go?"
Qin Mu searched the entire Dao Sect Academy but couldn't find the Blind Elder. His heart tightened, and he quickly found Dragon Qilin, who was listening attentively and seriously to a lecture. Dragon Qilin said, "The Blind Elder went into the peach orchard. He said he was going to take a look and told me not to tell the Lord."
Qin Mu was furious. "That old blind man never lets anyone worry! How long has he been gone?"
"Right after the Lord went to study mathematics, the Blind Elder went in."
Dragon Qilin quickly said, "Lord, go ahead and look for him. I'll protect Young Master Lan. He can also refine elixirs, so you don't need to worry about my rations."
"Protect him well. Nothing can go wrong!"
Qin Mu hurried out of the city and arrived at the edge of the peach orchard. Looking out, he saw dense peach trees, clusters of flowers, and countless trees and blossoms.
He leaped into the air and looked forward, but the peach trees still stood before him, impossible to fly over.
Qin Mu had no choice but to land and walk step by step into the orchard, sending out his indestructible divine consciousness in all directions to search for the Blind Elder.
After walking for who knows how long, the peach trees beside him bore green fruits. He continued forward, and the peaches turned red. Walking further, the leaves withered and fell red. Still moving ahead, snow began to fall from the sky.
Qin Mu suddenly turned around, only to find himself at the edge of the orchard, having barely entered at all.
"Just as Dao Lord Lin said, this orchard is indeed strange! The Blind Elder should be able to turn around and walk out, so why hasn't he come out yet?"
He steadied himself and tried to find the formation, but no matter how hard he activated his divine eyes, he couldn't see any trace of one.
His indestructible divine consciousness also couldn't find the orchard's end.
Then the sun set, and the sky grew dark. Stars twinkled in the sky. Qin Mu looked up at the stars, trying to determine his position, when he suddenly froze.
"This star pattern is off... It's definitely off. This isn't the star chart covering Yan Kang—it's the real starry sky!"
He quickly uncovered the willow leaf on his brow and said in a deep voice, "Heavenly Lord, can your true body see me?"
From the Qin Continent, the Heavenly Lord's voice came, saying, "Wait a moment, let me find you... Found you! Huh, when did you leave the Yuan Realm?"
Qin Mu's mind shook. "I'm not in the Yuan Realm? Heavenly Lord, then where am I now?"
"In a very strange celestial realm. You're standing next to a peach tree."
Qin Mu said solemnly, "Heavenly Lord, are there palaces ahead of me? Can you guide me?"
The Heavenly Lord's avatar in the Qin Continent laughed. "Look up at the stars. I'll light a guiding star for you. Follow that star."
Qin Mu looked up at the sky. Suddenly, a new star appeared. It seemed the Heavenly Lord had plucked a sun from somewhere and hung it in the Heavenly Capital.
In the Heavenly Capital, the Heavenly Lord moved this star. Qin Mu followed its trajectory forward. After a long time, a stretch of palaces appeared ahead. In the night, lanterns hung outside the palace gates.
Then a pleasant female voice laughed, saying, "I have a guest, an old friend. Go and invite him in."
"Yes."
Several girls' voices came from within the palace, and then a few young maidens, carrying lanterns, rustled out of the palace.
Today is Monday. I forgot to ask for recommendation votes. Crying and begging for recommendations!!!