Chapter 859: The Star River Divine Treasury
Although Dragon Qilin only said a single word, "Right," Qin Mu felt as if he had received tremendous encouragement, his spirits soaring once more.
Yan'er witnessed this scene and clicked her tongue in wonder, stuffing a spirit pill into Dragon Qilin's mouth.
The Water Qilin watched with envy, thinking to himself: "When my master is lost and confused, I'll also say 'Right,' and then I can get more rations. But my master seems to be confused all the time..."
Lady Tianyin saw them off with great courtesy, escorting them to the border of the Tianyin Realm. Before parting, she spoke softly: "The Grand Sorcerer won't be angry at my actions, will he? The Heavenly Emperor is, after all, the sovereign of us ancient gods. Although he has done many terrible things to other ancient gods, at his core, he isn't truly evil. The Dao Ancestor sought me out, wanting to obtain the runes of the Tianyin Realm to gather the Emperor's soul. I couldn't refuse."
"Milady need not explain. I understand everything."
Qin Mu smiled and said: "Milady, it's only natural for you to make choices based on old ties. However, Milady, you are no longer an ancient god born of heaven and earth. The ancient god you were has already died. You are now a brand new life, the same as us—a post-natal being."
Lady Tianyin was momentarily stunned.
"Milady is a simple person, so simple that you let down your guard against outsiders, not knowing why you died, so simple that you willingly re-enlisted under the banner of the ancient god Heavenly Emperor. But has Milady ever considered this? At the time of your death, a sliver of the ancient god Heavenly Emperor's soul was already serving as a high-ranking member within the Heavenly Alliance."
Qin Mu bowed deeply in farewell, his tone sincere: "He did nothing to stop the Nether King from striking you down. Likewise, he did nothing to stop the Heavenly Alliance from moving against Earth Mother Yuanjun. Milady, when your physical body was destroyed, when I resurrected you, all that remained was your skin. After your resurrection, you are different from the Heavenly Emperor. His ancient god physical body still exists; he can still be an ancient god. You and he are no longer the same species."
Lady Tianyin wore a look of confusion as she watched them depart. Qin Mu's voice still echoed in her ears: "Milady, you cannot afford to be so simple anymore."
Dragon Qilin used his primordial energy to bind a large mirror, carrying it on his back as he traveled. Qin Mu was no longer perched on his head; the Water Qilin walked alongside, and Imperial Lord Yu had vanished as well. Only Yan'er hopped about, busily feeding them spirit pills.
Occasionally, the girl would pinch a spirit pill and reach her hand into the mirror. Inside the mirror, Imperial Lord Yu would open his mouth and catch it.
Qin Mu was also inside the mirror world. He took out a small mirror, turned his back to the jade slip within, and raised the mirror to examine the runes on the jade slip.
Then, he retrieved numerous calculation spirit weapons, assembling them into a massive computational tool. He continuously performed calculations, attempting to integrate the perfected Taiwei Calculation Sutra from Lin Xuan Daozhu into his work, refining these runes.
Imperial Lord Yu sat nearby in a daze. He had reached a bottleneck, having arrived at the peak of the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasury, and was planning to take the next step.
Qin Mu had not taught him how to open the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury, nor had he taught him how to cultivate. Imperial Lord Yu did not ask, because Qin Mu had told him that people like them, the Overlords, all created their own techniques and found their own paths.
Therefore, he stubbornly decided to find a path for himself.
Dragon Qilin traveled eastward along the Yong River. On the river's surface, many sand-transport ships sailed downstream with the current. Beneath these large vessels, the Dragon Tamer Lord and several Dragon Kings revealed their true forms, swimming in the Heavenly River, using their magical power to harness the water's momentum, making the sand ships travel even faster.
Tianyin Gold was not rare within the Tianyin Realm, but in the outside world, it was a precious commodity. Along the way, there were many bandits. Even the Heavenly River connected to many heavens, and some gods and demons from those heavens came to rob the ships, only to be driven back by the Dragon Tamer Lord and the Dragon Kings.
Qin Mu did not have Dragon Qilin travel at full speed, so his pace was not much faster than the sand ships below. Enjoying spirit pills along the way was quite pleasant.
Occasionally, a Dragon King would fly out from beneath the water, knowing he was Qin Mu's mount, and offer aquatic delicacies. Dragon Qilin rarely ate meat, only accepting treasures like dragon pearls. Yan'er and the Water Qilin, however, ate everything without restriction.
Some of the sand ships docked at the Yong River Academy to unload, transporting the Tianyin Gold there for smelting. However, another portion of the sand ships continued eastward, all the way to the sea.
The sea was now vaster than before. Dragon Qilin looked eastward and saw that the Heavenly Chart could no longer cover the ocean. The sun actually rose from mid-air, not from below the horizon.
Even stranger, there were enormous planets on the sea surface. Some had crashed into the ocean, revealing half of their spherical bodies, while others hung in the sky, appearing extremely massive.
These planets had torn the Heavenly Chart, leaving shocking cracks across the sky.
The gods tasked with guarding the Heavenly Chart had long since given up, ignoring the damaged chart and making no effort to repair it.
Suddenly, Qin Mu poked his head out of the mirror, looked around, and was also stunned by the sight. "Is this the mouth of the Yong River? The gods guarding the Heavenly Chart are getting more and more negligent. It's an eyesore."
Dragon Qilin said, "We've already reached the river mouth."
On the other side of the mirror, Imperial Lord Yu poked his head out, curiously looking around.
"In ancient times, the Heavenly River flowed continuously, eventually emptying into the Guixu Abyss. Now, the Heavenly River flows into the sea, missing a large section. Finding the Guixu Abyss will be extremely difficult."
Qin Mu suddenly turned the mirror, standing it upright, and looked down parallel to the sea. He saw a fleet of sand ships sailing north along the coastline. "Without the Dragon Kings' protection, aren't the sand ships in danger?"
As he spoke, enormous blue backs, like islands, emerged from the sea. They were massive fish swimming over to guard the sand ships.
Then, a group of Xuanwu giant beasts swam in from the ocean, accompanying the sand ships forward.
At that moment, a multi-story ship sailed out from a dock on the coast. Strange phenomena rose into the air above the ship, forming a long river and dam made of earth, wood, and water.
The long river and dam stretched horizontally and vertically—the dam eight hundred zhang long, the river several hundred li wide—an extremely spectacular sight.
Several blue-backed giant fish swam toward the phenomena, then leaped out of the water, transforming into men and women who boarded the multi-story ship.
A few giant Xuanwu also swam over, transforming into human forms and boarding the ship.
"Such phenomena of water conservancy and civil engineering belong to the Grand Minister of Works of the Yan Kingdom, Wei Pingbo. It seems the Yan Kingdom's Water Conservancy God is personally stationed on the coast, guarding the sand ships."
Qin Mu took a look and said, "The blue-backed giant fish on the sea are the Kun Clan, and those Xuanwu are the Xuanwu Divine Clan. During the battle at the Divine Severing Mountain Range, they answered the call of the Human Emperor Seal and came to help, suffering heavy casualties. With the Water Conservancy God and the sea divine clans, the sand ships are not in much danger."
He relaxed, pulled his head back into the mirror, and continued his research.
Imperial Lord Yu climbed out of the mirror, sitting properly on the Water Qilin's head, and said to Yan'er, "Sister, don't feed me for a few days. I'm going into seclusion."
Yan'er fidgeted anxiously, "Will you get hungry? How about you eat your fill first?"
Imperial Lord Yu thought for a moment. "Alright, I'll eat my fill first."
Dragon Qilin picked up speed, traveling north along the coastline. They ran for nearly twenty days before reaching the mouth of the Jin River.
During this time, one night, a strange phenomenon suddenly occurred. The star patterns in the sky became chaotic, and stellar energy converged into streams, visible to the naked eye, frantically drilling into Imperial Lord Yu's body.
This situation lasted for several days and nights before finally stopping.
Yan'er and the Water Qilin planned to wake Imperial Lord Yu and ask what had happened, but Dragon Qilin quickly stopped them. "Blue Fatty is in a state of enlightenment; we can't disturb him. The Sect Leader said that the state of enlightenment is very rare. For a person to experience it once or twice in a lifetime is already remarkable."
The Water Qilin said suspiciously, "Really? I remember that when my master opened his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasury, he entered enlightenment. It seemed very easy for him."
Dragon Qilin was also a bit puzzled. "That's what the Sect Leader said."
Dragon Qilin traveled upstream from the river mouth, arriving at Jiangling. Only then did he set the mirror down from his back and tapped its surface. "Sect Leader, we've arrived at Jiangling."
Qin Mu jumped out of the mirror, waved his sleeve, and stored the mirror in his Taotie pouch.
Imperial Lord Yu woke up, excitedly saying, "Brother, I've opened my second divine treasury!"
Qin Mu jumped down from Dragon Qilin's head and signaled for them to walk. He smiled and asked, "What divine treasury did you open?"
He had never taught Imperial Lord Yu how to open a divine treasury, nor had he taught him techniques or divine abilities, only letting him learn without forcing practice.
The current Yan Kingdom was an era of great knowledge enrichment. The techniques and divine abilities of various academies and schools could be taught openly. Imperial Lord Yu had already read through the classics of the Grand Academy, the Yong River Academy, the Heavenly Saint Academy, the Li River Academy, and the Daoist Sect Academy. His knowledge reserve was extremely deep, and his insight and experience were extraordinary, surpassing the Imperial Lord Yu of ancient times by an unknown margin.
Qin Mu firmly believed that even without cultivating others' methods, he could forge his own path.
"The Star River Divine Treasury!"
Imperial Lord Yu was ecstatic, hopping with joy. "I observed the celestial phenomena and had a thought, so I opened a Star River around my Spirit Embryo."
Qin Mu stopped in his tracks, stunned for a moment, then tentatively asked, "The Star River Divine Treasury? Not the Five Luminaries Divine Treasury, nor the Six Harmonies Divine Treasury?"
Imperial Lord Yu shook his head.
Qin Mu was stunned again. "What does this Star River Divine Treasury look like?"
Imperial Lord Yu thought for a moment, then opened his divine treasury and showed it to Qin Mu.
Qin Mu looked into his divine treasury, his mind going blank. He saw Imperial Lord Yu's Spirit Embryo, chubby and cute, sitting on the Spirit Platform, surrounded by a vast Star River revolving around him.
Most critically, there were no barriers between the divine treasuries!
Qin Mu shook his head and looked again. Indeed, he saw no barriers between the divine treasuries!
This meant that Imperial Lord Yu's Spirit Embryo Divine Treasury and Star River Divine Treasury were one and the same!
"Sect Leader, Blue Fatty entered the state of enlightenment again when he opened the Star River Divine Treasury."
Dragon Qilin said cautiously, "And he was in meditation for ten days. Sect Leader, I think it doesn't really matter whether this Overlord is male or female..."
Qin Mu's face couldn't hold its composure. He nodded and said, "Long Fatty, what you said makes a lot of sense... I don't know why, but suddenly I really want to hit someone!"
His expression turned unpleasant as he walked toward the Jiangling Arsenal.
Jiangling was the place where the Yan Kingdom National Teacher had started his career. The Jiangling Academy was also built here, and this place gathered the most arsenals in the Yan Kingdom, even more than those near the Yong River Academy.
When the sand ships arrived here, they would unload at the arsenals to smelt the Tianyin Gold.
Qin Mu saw that many components for the enormous Sun-Shooting Divine Cannons were already under construction, though assembly had not yet begun.
Qin Mu entered the arsenal. Members of the Heavenly Saint Sect's Artisan Hall came forward to greet him. Qin Mu instructed them to bring the blueprints for the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon. After examining them, he smiled and said, "Sure enough, Blind Grandpa improved it, adding the formation from the Kaihuang Era that borrows the power of heaven and earth. This way, the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon can use the power of heaven and earth to float, without consuming too much medicinal stone."
A disciple of the Artisan Hall said, "Sect Leader, the Sun-Shooting Divine Cannon needs to gather enough energy to kill gods and demons in an instant. It still requires medicinal stone to drive the furnace for a rapid shot."
Qin Mu nodded and smiled, "Is the National Teacher in Jiangling?"
"The National Teacher is not here, but many foreign guests have come to Jiangling recently, challenging the academy."
That Artisan Hall disciple said, "They are said to be young experts from the northern heavens, here to challenge... "
He glanced at Qin Mu and said cautiously, "Here to challenge the Yan Kingdom Overlord. These experts have been blocking the Jiangling Academy for over ten days."
"The northern heavens, challenging the Yan Kingdom Overlord?"
Qin Mu said in surprise, "When did I become so famous?"
That Artisan Hall disciple became even more cautious, even breaking out in a fine sweat on his forehead. "This disciple has heard... I've only heard, it may not be true. I heard that the Woodcutter Saint Teacher and Zixi Heavenly Teacher went to visit the northern heavens and loudly proclaimed that the Yan Kingdom had an Overlord who had defeated all comers across the realms. They also said that if anyone could defeat the Yan Kingdom Overlord at the same cultivation level, the Yan Kingdom would surrender the entire nation. I also heard that the Woodcutter Saint Teacher made countless bets with the gods of the northern heavens, establishing something called the Little Earth Lord's Pact..."
Qin Mu was dumbfounded. It took him a moment to come back to his senses.
"Shifting the conflict onto me? Teacher is really, really an old bastard! But... I was just looking for someone to hit!"
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