Chapter 914: The Creator Shu Jun
Qin Mu's hair stood on end. The source of this divine consciousness was precisely the Creation Divine Stone within his third divine eye!
He had only just begun to arrange the Dao runes of the Three Hundred Sixty Star Lords when he was detected by the prehistoric creator hiding within the divine stone!
He had originally thought he could set everything up calmly, but he never expected this prehistoric creator to be so alert.
Qin Mu made a split-second decision. He forced cold sweat to break out on his forehead and stirred his blood energy to make his heart pound violently, feigning terror. His voice trembled as he said, "Who? Who is in my mind?"
Half of the cold sweat on his forehead was real, half was fake. To be honest, he had truly been startled, never imagining that despite his extreme caution, he would still be detected by that prehistoric creator.
As for stirring his blood energy to make his heart pound violently, that was fake. He was not so easily shaken.
The obscure divine consciousness that had appeared in his mind fell silent for a moment, then its consciousness rippled. "You don't need to be so guarded, nor so deliberate. I did indeed harbor the intention to harm you earlier, but after seeing your methods, I think it would be better to be open and honest. Let us have a proper discussion. It might lead to a better outcome, avoiding mutual destruction."
Qin Mu's heart stopped pounding violently, and his blood energy returned to normal. His consciousness rippled as he laughed. "Senior, do you understand my language?"
"No."
The divine consciousness said, "I am merely conversing with you through consciousness. When consciousness collides, meaning can be understood without language. Young friend, I was the one in the wrong earlier, secretly making a move against you. There is no need for you to secretly make a move against me either. We can absolutely cooperate for mutual benefit!"
Qin Mu's spirit embryo frantically mobilized his primal energy, continuing to imprint his third divine eye. He completed the imprint of the second Star Lord and immediately began working on the third.
"Senior is joking. Right now, you have the means to deal with me, but I have no means to deal with you. How can we achieve mutual benefit?"
Qin Mu's consciousness rippled as he continued imprinting, laughing. "Senior nearly drained all my blood energy and primal energy earlier, trying to kill me. Cooperation is possible, but I must first have the ability to protect myself before I can discuss cooperation with you. What should I call you, Senior?"
The divine consciousness said, "My name is Shu Jun. I was from the Fangbo Kingdom... Never mind, my race is already extinct. Why mention my former identity? Young friend, even if you finish your arrangements, you still cannot harm me."
Qin Mu continued his preparations. "Though I cannot harm Senior, it will at least make me feel a bit more at ease."
He deliberately omitted some of the Star Lord Dao runes, leaving various flaws, precisely to make this prehistoric creator believe he could not harm him.
Once he had arranged the Dao runes for all three hundred sixty Star Lords, he could instantly fill in the missing parts. At that point, he would seize the initiative!
The divine consciousness Shu Jun allowed him to continue his arrangements, saying, "I only wish to revive. I truly have no ill intent. If you can lend me some blood energy and consciousness to help me be reborn, I will gift you this Primal Origin Stone. Do you know the origin of this stone? This divine stone is from the very beginning of the primordial era. We searched the entire universe and only found one, which was taken by the Grand Emperor Ju Yushi."
Qin Mu hummed in acknowledgment, unconcerned whether the stone was called the Creation Divine Stone or the Primal Origin Stone. He laughed. "This stone was originally mine. My senior brother found it and gave it to me."
Shu Jun was silent for a moment before saying, "There are two kinds of divine stones in this world: the Primal Divine Stone and the Primal Origin Stone. The Primal Divine Stone is an ordinary rhomboid crystal that can strengthen divine consciousness. But the Primal Origin Stone is far more powerful! I can teach you how to activate the power of the Primal Origin Stone, allowing you to wield strength as formidable as that of the Grand Emperor Ju Yushi!"
Qin Mu asked curiously, "How do I activate the Primal Origin Stone?"
Shu Jun said, "The Primal Origin Stone contains boundless power. After we discovered this stone, we researched many ways to use it. I will teach you one method, and then you can decide whether to cooperate with me. Now, let your consciousness enter the Origin Stone."
Qin Mu frowned slightly, worried that Shu Jun might use this opportunity to channel his consciousness through the altar within the stone.
Shu Jun said, "You can test it after you finish your arrangements."
Qin Mu made a snap decision and sped up. After an unknown amount of time, he finally completed the formation of the Three Hundred Sixty Star Lords, though he did not fill in the gaps.
"Now you can try it," Shu Jun's consciousness rippled, his voice echoing in Qin Mu's mind.
Qin Mu released some of his consciousness into the Primal Origin Stone, cautiously testing it. "How do I activate the Primal Origin Stone?"
"The difference between the Primal Origin Stone and other divine stones is that what you think becomes reality. The stronger your consciousness, the more real the result."
Shu Jun said, "Try imagining fire."
Qin Mu's mind stirred slightly, and he thought of fire. At that moment, the wheel of light formed by his primal energy behind his head began to spin. His primal energy transformed into blazing flames, forming a wheel of fire. Within it, divine powers twisted, turning the circular wheel into an elliptical shape, somewhat resembling the wheel of fire behind the Fire Celestial Venerable!
Qin Mu's heart shook violently. "I didn't actively change the nature of my primal energy; I only thought of it in my mind, and the primal energy wheel turned into a wheel of fire. How marvelous!"
Shu Jun said, "What you think becomes reality—that is the precious nature of the Primal Origin Stone. Your consciousness is not yet strong enough. The stronger your consciousness, the greater the fire's nature and the more astonishing its power! When this Origin Stone was embedded in the brow of the Grand Emperor Ju Yushi, it could even transform into world-destroying fire, easily burning planets to ashes!"
Qin Mu tried to increase his consciousness. His indestructible consciousness surged into the Primal Origin Stone, and the firepower behind him skyrocketed, growing so powerful that it even slightly distorted space!
At that moment, he felt a small portion of his consciousness being drained away, stolen by Shu Jun.
Qin Mu snorted and immediately reduced his consciousness. Shu Jun did not continue stealing, saying, "You can try other things as well. Whatever you think of can become reality."
Qin Mu thought of the Heavenly River, and the wheel of fire immediately transformed into a Heavenly River wheel. The river's waters surged torrentially. The Heavenly River wheel appeared very short, with a circumference of only four or five feet, but upon closer inspection, it seemed like a river hundreds of miles long!
"This kind of circular wheel resembles the wheels formed by the blessings of ancient gods, similar to the wheels behind the phantom images of ancient gods in the Blood Rust Zone."
Qin Mu was greatly astonished. The Primal Origin Stone revealed to him a completely different method of cultivation and divine power.
Cultivators of divine powers relied on runes and primal energy.
They learned various techniques, first opening the spirit embryo divine repository. The spirit embryo divine repository imitated ancient gods, thereby obtaining different natures of primal energy. This was the origin of the Four Great Spirit Bodies of Yankang.
To cultivate divine powers, one needed to practice different techniques and learn divine power runes based on the structure of ancient gods, using primal energy to construct these runes to unleash the power of the divine powers.
Of course, there were exceptions, such as the combat technique school and sword technique divine powers, which were not structured based on ancient god runes but were created by humans later.
However, the creators of the Hongmeng era completely deviated from this. They did not use runes or primal energy, nor did they study the structure of ancient gods to deduce Dao runes.
They used consciousness.
Their consciousness was naturally extremely powerful, and when amplified by the Primal Divine Stone or the Primal Origin Stone, it possessed incredible power.
This was a completely different cultivation system.
His mind stirred again, and the Heavenly River wheel behind him transformed into an Azure Dragon wheel, like a blue dragon with its head and tail connected. As it moved, dragon roars and thunder echoed, producing a sound similar to the Eight Sounds of the Ancestral Dragon, vibrating his physical body.
The Azure Dragon wheel greatly enhanced his physical body and primal energy, no less than when he personally activated the Eight Sounds of the Ancestral Dragon, and even stronger.
His thoughts kept changing, and the Azure Dragon wheel turned into a Golden Light wheel, radiating ten thousand beams of golden light, like a wheel formed by countless golden swords.
The golden light then transformed into a Xuan Du Starlight wheel, like a galaxy coiling behind his head. It then turned into a You Du Demon Wheel, a black wheel of energy that seemed like a gateway leading directly to You Du.
Not long after the You Du Demon Wheel formed, a lamp light shone from the darkness behind the demon wheel. The old man of the underworld, carrying a horse lantern and riding a paper boat, rushed over to investigate who had recklessly opened the barrier between the real world and the You Du world.
But before the old man of the underworld could arrive, the You Du Demon Wheel behind Qin Mu had already transformed into a Yuan Du Magnetic Wheel.
"What kind of demon is causing trouble?" The old man of the underworld arrived to find nothing, and he was furious.
However, by the time he crossed the barrier of the You Du world into the real world, the Phoenix Boat had long since sailed away.
Qin Mu casually switched between various types of light wheels, feeling satisfied. However, every time he activated the Primal Origin Stone, Shu Jun would steal some of his blood energy and consciousness.
"Senior Shu Jun, does the Primal Origin Stone have other wonderful uses? Your creators have extremely powerful consciousness. This Origin Stone must be able to strengthen consciousness, right?" he probed.
Shu Jun did not answer. "Now that you have seen the power of the Primal Origin Stone, will you cooperate with me? If you are willing to lend me enough blood energy and consciousness to help me revive, I can teach you all the methods of using and cultivating Primal Consciousness."
Qin Mu pondered.
"This kind of divine wheel is equivalent to the blessing of an ancient god, like having a powerful divine power constantly guarding you, adding an extra layer of protection! However, this Shu Jun clearly has ill intentions. The Primal Origin Stone is so precious. If he revives, he will surely kill me and take the stone."
He narrowed his eyes. A revived Shu Jun, as a prehistoric creator, could crush Qin Mu with just his physical body alone.
"But if I don't help him, I'm afraid I won't be able to uncover the mysteries of the Primal Origin Stone. The Primal Origin Stone can not only enhance the power of my divine powers but also strengthen my consciousness and physical body. If I can combine it with the current techniques and divine powers, it would be terrifying."
Thinking this, Qin Mu laughed. "Senior, I don't have enough blood energy to let you revive all at once. But I can give you some blood energy and consciousness during my cultivation, helping you recover slowly."
Shu Jun chuckled. "That's acceptable. I can also teach you one or two methods each time."
"Old fox!" Qin Mu and Shu Jun both cursed inwardly.
The Phoenix Boat sped through the starry sky, passing by one magnificent celestial palace after another. These were the thirty-six celestial palaces that made up the Heavenly Court, each sitting at the center of a galaxy, extremely grand and bright, outshining billions of other stars.
Dragon Qilin and Yan'er came to the bow of the boat, admiring the magnificent sights of these celestial palaces, exclaiming in wonder.
Suddenly, a great light shone ahead. A massive Heavenly River surged from the depths of the starry sky, with countless stars revolving around the wide river. Such a spectacle was truly magnificent!
The Phoenix Boat sailed onto the Heavenly River, heading upstream. Along the river, there were scattered boats coming from the planets revolving around the river, mostly carrying gods and their disciples.
The Phoenix Boat was the personal vessel of Red Emperor Qi Xiayu, far more luxurious and spacious than other ships. The other ships all gave way.
Dragon Qilin and Yan'er looked around, taking in the sacred sights on both sides of the Heavenly River, marveling endlessly.
On both sides of the Heavenly River, besides planets, there were also large and small landmasses. From the river's surface, these landmasses seemed small, but in reality, they were vast continents spanning tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of miles.
These continents floated above, below, left, and right around the Heavenly River. Some even drifted overhead, with lush green landscapes, inhabited by unknown races.
"Second brother, where does the Heavenly River come from, and where does it flow?" Dragon Qilin asked.
Qi Jiuyi said, "I don't know. But the Heavenly River once flowed to the Yuan Realm and emptied into the Guixu."
Yan'er asked curiously, "Since the Heavenly River flows to the Yuan Realm, why don't we go upstream from the Yuan Realm instead of taking a detour through the starry sky?"
"Going upstream along the Heavenly River would only take us in a circle around the Four Extremes Great World, making the journey even longer. Moreover, we would need to break through the barriers of each world."
Qi Jiuyi explained, "The Four Extremes World, also known as the Four Extremes Heaven, is located at the four extremes of the universe, where the Four Ancient God Emperors reside. Each world is slightly smaller than the Yuan Capital, but together, the four worlds are even larger than the Yuan Capital. If we detour through there, even the Phoenix Boat would take over a decade to reach the Heavenly Court."
As they spoke, golden light shone ahead. A massive Southern Heavenly Gate appeared before them, towering high in the center of the heavens.
The Heavenly Court had finally arrived!
Qi Jiuyi said, "Someone, go invite the Qin Sect Leader to disembark!"
"No need."
Qin Mu's voice came from behind him. Qi Jiuyi was startled, but he saw Qin Mu walking out of the cabin, approaching them. Behind his head, a wheel of light, like a dragon sparrow holding the sky, formed a circular wheel.
Yan'er was shocked. "The young master has actually used my divine power! Strange, the aura he gives me now is like that of a pure-blooded dragon sparrow!"
Qin Mu walked up to them, looking up at the approaching Southern Heavenly Gate. He couldn't help but think back to a million years ago, when he and Niu Sanduo had come to the Longhan Heavenly Court. The grand gathering at the Heavenly Court, the Yao Chi gathering, with all nine Celestial Venerables present—it had been a splendid spectacle.
However, that might have been the only gathering where all nine Celestial Venerables were present.
Now, the Imperial Celestial Venerable had been resurrected but was in a daze. The Cloud Celestial Venerable had died. The Qin Celestial Venerable had hidden in the Land of No Worries. The Moon Celestial Venerable had retired into seclusion. The You Celestial Venerable had become an underworld messenger.
And now, he, the Mu Celestial Venerable, had finally returned, revisiting his homeland.
Where were his old friends now?
The Heavenly River flowed on.
The Heavenly Court was still the same Heavenly Court, but the Mu Celestial Venerable was no longer the Mu Celestial Venerable of the past. Yet, even without his original soul, his original aspiration remained unchanged.
Qin Mu's heart surged with emotion. Thousands of words eventually turned into a single loud laugh, shaking the Southern Heavenly Gate: "Longhan Heavenly Court, the Mu Celestial Venerable has returned!"