Chapter 900: Digging Up Old History
Long Qilin was startled: "Five million rings, less than one percent? Doesn't that mean Mother Earth has lived for at least fifty million years?"
Qin Mu continued counting the rings, saying, "You're underestimating it. This wooden rod is just the core of the Primeval Wood, the heartwood. There are countless layers of bark outside it; it's not the complete tree trunk. If the heartwood contains even a tenth of her true rings, that would be generous."
Yan'er was also taken aback. Didn't this mean Mother Earth's age started at five hundred million years?
"Master, since this rod isn't Mother Earth's true rings, why bother counting them all?" Yan'er asked, puzzled.
Qin Mu counted while multitasking, "Counting rings isn't the goal. I just want to examine this treasure's rings to decide what kind of artifact it's best suited for. Moreover, the rings hide some of Mother Earth's early secrets... For instance, these few rings are incredibly dense, indicating that about two million years after Mother Earth's birth, a major event occurred that nearly halted the Primeval Wood's growth. This event suggests that the Yuan Realm suffered a catastrophe back then."
Everything before the Dragon Han Era was a blank slate for all post-natal beings. Unless the ancient gods spoke of it, no one could know what happened then.
That was the Primordial Chaos Era, with no records from that time surviving in the world.
Qin Mu finished counting the rings carefully and murmured, "The Primeval Wood's heartwood spans over seventy-six million years, with ten major calamities that nearly stopped its growth. It seems the ancient gods' reign wasn't peaceful in the Yuan Realm either... But weren't the ancient gods the most powerful beings in the Primordial Chaos Era? How could they face danger? Was it infighting, or some external force?"
Logically, the ancient gods were the strongest in the Primordial Chaos Era, with nothing able to threaten them. Mother Earth was on par with Earth Lord and Heaven Duke, second only to the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor in strength.
In the Primordial Chaos Era, such beings couldn't encounter danger unless Earth Lord, Heaven Duke, or the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor attacked her. But back then, the conflicts among these ancient beings hadn't reached irreconcilable levels; they wouldn't have fought each other.
Qin Mu pondered for a long time but couldn't figure it out.
"With so many rings on the Primeval Wood's heartwood, refining it into my divine weapon and controlling it with ease will be extremely difficult. Perhaps I can imprint runic marks on each ring—one ring, one formation, one layer of heaven. Seventy-six million formations alone would have enough energy to destroy heaven and earth!"
Qin Mu was filled with determination, but then his face darkened. The heartwood had too many rings; his knowledge base wasn't deep enough to imprint formations on all of them.
His reserves of knowledge weren't that profound.
"Could I use it as a spear? But I'm not skilled in spear techniques... What about using it as a flying sword?"
He had an idea and tried channeling his primal energy into the Primeval Wood's heartwood. Immediately, Qin Mu's face turned as black as charcoal.
His primal energy had recovered to its peak state, comparable to a venerable god, yet such vast power flowing into this heartwood was like a clay ox entering the sea—it couldn't be filled.
Mother Earth had indeed given him a remarkable treasure, one that even beings at the Throne Realm might not be able to forge, but he couldn't unleash much of the heartwood's power!
Qin Mu continued channeling his primal energy and finally managed to make the heartwood fly. However, the rod was too long. He tried a few sword flourishes and immediately found himself out of primal energy.
"No wonder Mother Earth ran so fast!"
Qin Mu grabbed the rod and swung it with effort, but using it as a spear felt wrong without a tip, and as a staff, it was too long.
"If it could be shorter..."
The moment he thought this, the Primeval Wood's heartwood shortened significantly.
Qin Mu blinked. "Shorter still."
The heartwood shortened again.
Qin Mu said, "Even shorter."
The heartwood shrank to three feet in length. Qin Mu held it like a wooden sword, finding it much more manageable, and said happily, "Longer!"
Whoosh—
The heartwood in his hand suddenly expanded, turning into a long staff that pierced a mountain peak a hundred miles away, leaving a thin hole through it, with the staff's tip emerging on the other side.
Qin Mu was startled. He tried to pull it out but couldn't. Helplessly, he said, "Shorter..."
With a loud whoosh, Qin Mu was involuntarily thrown off Long Qilin's head, carried by the shortening staff as it crashed with a boom into the mountain peak.
Long Qilin and Yan'er were horrified as the mountain split apart. After a moment, Qin Mu jumped out of the mountain, looking very disheveled.
Qin Mu had an idea. He took out his sword pellet, which flew up and attached to the staff's tip as a spearhead. Then he moved with the spear, which grew and shrank, thickened and thinned, lengthened and shortened, hardened and softened, even coiling around him like a massive python, spinning and flipping—a truly terrifying sight.
"The Primeval Wood's heartwood isn't bad."
Qin Mu flew back, praised it, and retrieved his sword pellet, saying with a smile, "Too bad it can't turn into a wooden sword; I'm afraid it wouldn't kill anyone. I don't have much skill with the spear; it's wasted on me."
He put the heartwood into his Taotie pouch. Yan'er came forward to help straighten his messy clothes.
Qin Mu took out a small jade bottle, unsealed it, and channeled his primal energy to draw out a drop of Primordial Chaos Liquid, saying with a smile, "Yan'er, this is for you."
Yan'er was both surprised and delighted, quickly swallowing the drop of Primordial Chaos Liquid.
Long Qilin was extremely envious. Qin Mu said, "Long Fatty, you can't suppress the energy of the Primordial Chaos Liquid yet. One drop would kill you. When you're bigger, I'll save a drop for you."
Long Qilin agreed, relieved.
"With the Primeval Wood's heartwood, maybe I can rescue Senior Brother..."
Qin Mu looked around to ensure no one was watching, took out the peachwood hairpin, and activated it toward the Yong River. The Heavenly River surged and connected with the Yong River.
The Cripple had told him about Qi Kangren's observations at the Yong River after rescuing him. The East Heaven Azure Emperor had captured Wei Suifeng and sunk him in the river, where Wei Suifeng merged with the ghost ship and escaped.
Earlier, they were in the East Heaven Palace's territory, and Qin Mu didn't want to alert them. But here, Mother Earth had dared to appear, likely because they'd left East Heaven Palace's domain, so Qin Mu tried using the peachwood hairpin to pull the ghost ship and Wei Suifeng out of Ling Tianzun's divine ability.
The peachwood hairpin's divine ability was triggered, and mist rose from the river's center, as if surging from past time. The river churned and roared!
The Yong River and the Heavenly River were originally one, cut into two sections. Now reunited, the river erupted with various phenomena—strange lights bursting into the sky.
Towering ships, overlapping palaces, countless gods and demons, and innumerable visions all emerged at once, with a cacophony of sounds deafening!
These phenomena were the Yong River's history—past figures and structures, events from history—all dragged forth by Ling Tianzun's Unchanging divine ability!
The Heavenly River and the Yong River shook violently. Suddenly, the entire Heavenly River rose into the sky, a river thousands of miles wide floating in the air, with various phenomena erupting. Those floating palaces seemed ready to emerge from the dust of history into the present!
Boom—
Buildings and gods and demons from different eras collided, with countless fragments raining down, terrifyingly.
The mist grew thicker, and a ghost ship emerged from it, surrounded by black energy. Chains coiled around the ship like flood dragons and pythons, but they didn't touch it.
Qin Mu's hand holding the peachwood hairpin trembled violently. He quickly grabbed it with both hands to steady himself, but even so, the hairpin threatened to slip from his grasp.
"Wei Suifeng—"
Qin Mu roared, arms sprouting from his armpits as he desperately gripped the hairpin, shouting, "Senior Brother, why don't you come out?"
The ghost ship was hazy, moving through the black mist toward him.
At that moment, space became increasingly unstable. The space around Qin Mu was collapsing, different eras seemed to overlap—palaces, gods, and demons all compressed together, and even the ghost ship showed signs of breaking apart!
On the ghost ship, a middle-aged man appeared at the bow, mouthing something to him, but the echoes of history from various eras were too chaotic to hear.
Qin Mu freed one hand, quickly took out the Primeval Wood's heartwood, and shouted, "Longer!"
Whoosh—
The heartwood expanded, shooting toward the ghost ship, growing longer and longer, trying to build a wooden bridge between the present and the past.
The heartwood's length was immeasurable, but it still seemed infinitely far from the ghost ship in the mist and black energy. On the ship, Wei Suifeng leaped up, trying to meet the wood, but as soon as he rose, his body dissolved, and the next moment, he was back at the bow, as if he'd never left.
"...Map..."
His voice came faintly.
Qin Mu could no longer control the peachwood hairpin and had to disperse his primal energy. The Heavenly River immediately broke apart, the other section vanished, and the Yong River fell back into its channel. The ghost ship, towering ships, palaces, and countless gods and demons rapidly receded, disappearing into past history.
The mist also shrank quickly, vanishing without a trace.
A single Primeval Wood's heartwood fell back into Qin Mu's hand.
The turbulent space around Qin Mu immediately stabilized, calm as if the earlier phenomena had been an illusion.
"The peachwood hairpin can't pull the ghost ship out of Ling Tianzun's divine ability. Can I only rescue him by following the map?"
Qin Mu was stunned. He put away the peachwood hairpin and shouted, "Yan'er, take us and go!"
Yan'er immediately transformed into a Vermilion Bird, grabbed Long Qilin, and threw him onto her back. Qin Mu also landed on her back. Yan'er spread her wings and flew off with them.
No sooner had they left than space twisted, and a group of extraordinarily powerful gods and demons arrived, inspecting the area but finding no traces.
Suddenly, a demon god erected a gate. The gate opened, and the Nether Emperor stepped out, looking around.
"Black Emperor, the Heavenly River phenomenon just erupted, history reappeared, and the severed river reconnected. Should we report this to the Heavenly Court?" a divine man asked.
The Nether Emperor frowned, saying, "The Heavenly River was split into two sections, and they reconnected?"
That divine man said, "Just now, the other section of the Heavenly River suddenly appeared and then disappeared shortly after."
The Nether Emperor surveyed the area and shouted, "This is a serious matter. Investigate thoroughly and see what demon or monster is stirring up trouble! I will report this to the Heavenly Court myself!"
The gods and demons departed.
The Nether Emperor turned and walked into the gate, muttering, "Ling Tianzun, ghost ship... Can't this world have some peace? Who is it that's digging up old history?"
—My hometown was flooded, and my parents are still at home. The roads are blocked, and I'm worried sick. I talked to them this morning, but they're reluctant to leave their old house and don't want to live with me.