Chapter 874: One Flower, One World
Qin Mu didn't know how he had managed to execute the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha's Sutra of Infinite Kalpas. He only felt that this technique existed within his mind, and at that moment, he simply wanted to sleep.
When he entered his dream, he involuntarily unleashed the Sutra of Infinite Kalpas.
In the dream, he saw a bubble world. This world was created within the dream, and the bubble grew continuously, gradually merging with the ruins of the Dragon Bo Kingdom.
Within this bubble world, countless versions of himself sprouted up like weeds, running around in all directions.
It was a bizarre dream. Every version of himself in the dream seemed to be an independent entity, yet they were all inexplicably connected to his perception. The murmurs he uttered in his sleep also became the language of these tiny Qin Mus.
Speaking in sleep-murmurs was meaningless. Even the small Qin Mus found it difficult to understand each other. Later, he decided to use the simplest language for these tiny versions of himself to communicate, and so the Maha language of the flood dragons became their medium of communication.
This was a carnival within a dream. Amidst the great dream, Qin Mu searched the entire Dragon Bo Kingdom and finally found the clues left by the sect's founding ancestor. Only then did he awaken from the dream, yawning and stretching.
The bubble world collapsed and vanished with his awakening, as if the world was ending. All those tiny versions of himself within the bubble world also disappeared completely.
The Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha's Sutra of Infinite Kalpas possessed unimaginable power. This dream world was merely one of its wondrous uses; there were other marvelous cultivation methods. However, Qin Mu had no idea how to cultivate or execute this technique—everything seemed to happen naturally.
He set aside his doubts about the Sutra of Infinite Kalpas and went to the ruins he had discovered.
Dragon Qilin and Yan'er followed him there. They saw Qin Mu standing on an observatory platform in the Dragon Bo Kingdom. The armillary spheres and other divine weapons on the platform were shattered, leaving a mess.
Qin Mu lowered his head to examine the star imprints on the ground, then took out his computational divine weapon and began to calculate with a crackling sound.
Yan'er was not proficient in mathematics. After watching for a long time without understanding, she asked curiously, "Young master, what are you calculating?"
Dragon Qilin replied, "This is a puzzle left by the founding ancestor of the Heavenly Saint Sect. Every time, this senior brother would use mathematics to set a problem for the sect master to solve. Once solved, it would reveal his clues. The master and his senior brother often communicated using this mathematical language."
Yan'er was astonished. "Mathematics is also a language?"
"For a master of mathematics, it is indeed a language," Dragon Qilin said. "Others say the Dao Sect is the foremost school of mathematics, but they overlook our Heavenly Saint Sect. Back then, I followed the founding ancestor in studying mathematics and achieved some skill. The Heavenly Saint Sect's teleportation techniques, teleportation arrays, star and constellation formations, and the art of creation are all based on the study of mathematics. Moreover, the founding ancestor was a great mathematician, the Woodcutter Sage was a master of mathematics, and even his mount, Senior Brother Tiger Lord, was an expert in mathematics. Placed within the Dao Sect, he could rank among the top experts."
Yan'er rewarded him with a spirit pill and praised, "Fatty Dragon, you know so much!"
Qin Mu solved the puzzle left by the founding ancestor and paced back and forth on the observatory platform, muttering to himself, "He left behind a spatial dimension coordinate, but to determine that spatial dimension, a central point is needed. If I take the observatory platform as the central point to locate that dimension..."
His expression turned strange. Suddenly, arms sprouted from his armpits, and he began calculating with his fingers.
"This spatial dimension is not in the same space as the Yuan Realm!"
Qin Mu's expression grew even stranger. According to the dimensional data left by Wei Suifeng, the Guixu was indeed not in the Yuan Realm but belonged to another world.
This dimensional structure was like the Youdu in relation to the Yuan Realm.
The Youdu overlapped with the Yuan Realm and all the myriad realms, yet it was not on the same dimension.
The Guixu was the same.
"Relying solely on teleportation techniques, it's difficult to enter this dimension."
Qin Mu immediately began inscribing runes on this observatory platform. Only a teleportation array from a great star could possibly send them to that dimension.
Dragon Qilin also helped. Two days later, they finally constructed the teleportation array.
Yan'er transformed into a green sparrow and perched on Qin Mu's shoulder. Dragon Qilin also stepped into the center of the observatory platform. Qin Mu activated the array, and a beam of teleportation light shot into the sky. When the light faded, they had vanished from the Dragon Bo Kingdom!
When Qin Mu set foot on solid ground, he saw that the surroundings were dim and unclear. In the sky hung low-hanging planets, each with large holes broken through them. Near the damaged parts of the planets were scattered fragments, hanging silently in the sky.
Beneath their feet was a pitch-black ring-shaped mountain range, beside which stood a magnificent palace. Surrounding the ring-shaped mountains was a vast, boundless dark ocean.
At the center of the ring-shaped mountains was a bottomless abyss!
The ring-shaped mountains were enormous, with a circumference of unknown thousands of xun. Even if the twenty heavens of Mount Sumeru were moved here, they would not fill the abyss at the center of the ring-shaped mountains.
This abyss was the Guixu Great Abyss!
The Heavenly River originated from the Heavenly Court and ended at the Guixu.
However, Qin Mu did not see the Heavenly River flowing here. He looked up at the sky and could faintly see the riverbed left by the Heavenly River in the sky.
The riverbed was a spatial trace left by the weight of the Heavenly River.
But the Heavenly River was severed.
At the end of the Upper Emperor Era, Ling Tianzun used her divine power in the Upper Emperor Heavenly Court of the Yuan Capital to cut off the Heavenly River, replacing the river's substance with herself and unleashing a divine technique that spanned past, present, and future.
From then on, the Heavenly River no longer flowed into the Guixu but into the Eastern Sea.
When the Yuan Realm was sealed, the Heavenly River became the Yong River.
With the Heavenly River cut off and no longer flowing into the Guixu, the broken planets in the sky were likely the stars that once revolved around the Heavenly River. Many had been shattered in a great battle.
Qin Mu and the others stood before the Guixu Palace, looking into the Guixu. They immediately felt dizzy and disoriented, as if their souls were being drawn into the abyss. They quickly averted their gaze.
"Senior brother's geographical map points to this place."
Qin Mu took a scroll of geographical map from his Taotie pouch, spread it out, and examined it carefully. Among the geographical maps Wei Suifeng had drawn with star sand in the Star Canyon outside the Ark of the Other Shore twenty thousand years ago, one depicted the geography of the Guixu.
Twenty thousand years ago, he had come to the Guixu to explore ancient secrets, hoping to achieve the three accomplishments and become a sage. Here, he encountered an incredible event: the Heavenly River flowed again.
Although the Heavenly River had long been severed, when he arrived, the river reappeared. The dry riverbed in the sky was filled with the mighty Heavenly River, cascading down into the Guixu.
Strangely, a mist surged from the Heavenly River, enveloping Wei Suifeng. In the mist, he encountered Ling Tianzun. When he emerged from the mist, he had returned to the Longhan Era, becoming a member of that magnificent age and rising to command the Yulin Army of the Longhan Heavenly Court, leading the most powerful divine and demon armies under the Heavenly Emperor.
Qin Mu carefully examined the geographical map.
On the ghost ship, Wei Suifeng had a journal containing a geographical route map of the Guixu, but it differed from the one Qin Mu held, clearly drawn at a different time.
However, the general layout of the Guixu had not changed.
"Senior brother hid his things in the Guixu."
Qin Mu's expression turned strange. He looked at the geographical map, then at the Guixu Great Abyss, feeling a bit dizzy.
The geographical map indicated that the place where Wei Suifeng had hidden his items was the Great Abyss itself!
"Can we enter the Great Abyss?"
He was puzzled. The Great Abyss could even swallow the Heavenly River and was extremely eerie, seemingly capable of devouring souls. If one were careless, they might die without a burial place.
Dragon Qilin picked up a large stone and threw it into the Great Abyss. The stone fell into the darkness and disappeared. After a long time, there was no sound of it hitting the ground.
"Do we have to jump in?"
Qin Mu frowned. He used the Demonic Art of Creation to seal his soul, suppressing it within his body. This way, the Great Abyss would not be able to pull his soul out.
Just as he was about to jump into the Great Abyss, a meteor shower suddenly fell from the sky. Huge rocks plummeted down. It turned out that a broken planet had drifted above the Guixu Great Abyss and was caught by its gravitational pull. The planet's fragments crazily fell into the abyss.
Those mountain-sized fragments streaked across the sky with trails of fire, accelerating as they plunged into the Great Abyss, disappearing one after another.
In the sky, although the planet was already broken, it was still enormous. Now, it too was captured by the Great Abyss. It shifted slightly in the sky but could not escape the abyss's gravity and was soon dragged toward it.
As the broken planet moved, it was crushed and cracked. Massive volcanoes erupted on its surface, and soon the entire surface turned into a sea of molten lava!
Then, the planet was torn apart by the terrifying force, stretched thinner and longer like a noodle pulled by a cook in Yankang.
Under Qin Mu and the others' horrified gazes, the planet was stretched into a streak of fire and plunged into the Great Abyss!
Deep within the abyss, a flash of light briefly brightened before gradually fading.
Qin Mu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said hoarsely, "Fatty Dragon, we can leave through the Heavenly River's riverbed..."
Before he finished, a light began to glow again from the depths of the Great Abyss, growing brighter and brighter.
Qin Mu was startled. Suddenly, a deafening roar erupted, and the Guixu Great Abyss erupted!
"An outburst of the Guixu undercurrent?"
Qin Mu's heart leaped. The entire Guixu Great Abyss suddenly spewed a torrent from below at an incredibly high speed, shooting upward with such force that it shattered the sky!
Earlier, they had seen light in the Guixu, but the torrent erupting from the Great Abyss was pitch black, devoid of any light!
This Guixu Great Abyss was like the mouth of an immensely huge monster that, after devouring a planet, let out a burp!
The sky lost all color. It had been dim here before, but now it was even darker, with no sunlight. The seawater outside the Guixu turned blacker, and the sky seemed to melt from the eruption of the dark undercurrent. Ash rain slowly drifted down from the sky.
Those black, flocculent fragments seemed to be the remnants of the sky burned to ashes. They dissolved upon touching the hand, vanishing without a trace.
"This isn't the ash of the sky, but the ash of that planet just now..."
Qin Mu looked up at the surging dark torrent and almost cursed aloud. "This damn place is no place for humans! The Guixu Great Abyss easily refines planets—who could enter there? Senior brother, you hid your things too well!"
Just then, the erupting undercurrent gradually slowed. Light rose higher and higher from the Guixu, clearly the glow that had appeared before the undercurrent erupted.
Qin Mu was stunned. The darkness seemed to freeze in the air, like a dark Heavenly River, flowing extremely slowly.
And within the dark undercurrent, the light grew closer and closer.
Finally, the light appeared before them.
It was a flower, an immensely huge flower. It was a single plant, but two blooms grew together, like twin lotuses, one on the left and one on the right. One was cinnabar red, the other pitch black. The black flower was almost invisible in the dark undercurrent.
Qin Mu's heart stirred, and he suddenly laughed heartily. "So that's it! Senior brother, you're clever! Now that the Guixu is calm and has no gravitational pull, we can enter the flower and use these two blooms to descend into the Great Abyss and retrieve what he left behind!"
"Chief, are you sure you want to go in?" Dragon Qilin asked, his heart pounding.
Qin Mu had already stepped into the dark Heavenly River, flying toward the two massive flowers. Yan'er perched on his shoulder, turning back to say, "Fatty Dragon, hurry up!"
Dragon Qilin didn't want to go in, but looking around, he saw only darkness and faint, eerie sounds—whether from the friction of the Guixu undercurrent with space or from some monster being spewed out, he couldn't tell. He had no choice but to rush into the dark Heavenly River and catch up with Qin Mu.
"Chief, what if these two flowers retract into the Great Abyss? Won't we be trapped inside?" he whispered.
At that moment, the two massive flowers trembled slightly, and the dark Heavenly River began to flow back!
Qin Mu glared at him fiercely and sped up, charging toward the two flowers!
"Fatty Dragon, were you a crow in your past life?" Yan'er asked curiously.
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