Chapter 927: Gazing into the Abyss
The Dao is a toad.
This single sentence can summarize the Dao Ancestor's heart in seeking the Dao.
In the past, the Dao Ancestor sought the Dao without concerning himself with worldly affairs. He couldn't even manage his own food, clothing, shelter, and transportation, relying on the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha for alms. Back when Qin Mu returned to the early Longhan era and met the two of them, it was the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha who went begging, bringing back divine pills to sustain them both.
At that time, the Dao Ancestor was completely engrossed in the Dao, ignoring all matters of right and wrong.
The Dao is a toad. He regarded the ancient gods as the Dao, as toads, using mathematical calculations to decipher them. Over this long span of a million years, he pushed classical mathematics to its peak, using it to unravel the great Dao of each ancient god, transforming their Dao into runes, and helping the Ten Heavenly Sovereigns construct the Heavenly Court realm.
He no longer needed the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha to beg for him.
However, when Qin Mu said that seeking the Dao from the Dao itself meant seeking it from the ancient gods, the ancient gods are incarnations of the Dao. He sought the Dao from them, but the Dao of the ancient gods was always there. He didn't need to seek it; the Dao existed regardless. He had created nothing.
Qin Mu also said that seeking the Dao from humanity refers to human creativity. Before humans, there was no Sword Dao; humans created it. There was no Calligraphy and Painting Dao; humans created it. There were no Spirit Embryo Divine Treasuries; humans created them. There were no cultivation techniques; humans created them.
The cultivation system, whether Divine Treasuries or Heavenly Palaces, was all created by humans. It doesn't exist in the ancient gods, nor in the toads.
The Dao Ancestor, over these years, has been studying the ancient gods, completely immersed in his scholarship. Instead, he has been trapped by his own scholarship, and his achievements have fallen short of the Ten Heavenly Sovereigns.
However, he must have realized his own limitations, which is why he told those two toads to act as his front.
Living longer doesn't necessarily mean greater intelligence or wisdom. Intelligence and talent are fifty percent innate and fifty percent cultivated. Cultivation depends on the environment.
Qin Mu came from the Yancheng civilization and experienced the Yancheng Reformation. He was the leader of that reformation, witnessing the process from reforming the law to reforming the Dao itself, where the great Dao of heaven and earth was transformed.
His insight and experience may not surpass the Dao Ancestor's in every way, but in certain aspects, his understanding is above the Dao Ancestor's.
"I heard that Lady Xiaoyun went to the Jade Pool and met with Mu Heavenly Sovereign. So, Your Excellency the Heavenly Sovereign must be here for Yun Heavenly Sovereign's box."
The Dao Ancestor took out a wooden box and said, "This old Daoist has guarded this box for hundreds of thousands of years. Now, I can finally lay down this burden on my heart."
Qin Mu took the box and asked, "Does the Dao Ancestor not know what is inside the box either?"
The Dao Ancestor shook his head and said, "It was something Yun Heavenly Sovereign entrusted to Mu Heavenly Sovereign. How could this old Daoist dare to open it without permission? Yun Heavenly Sovereign left two boxes: one for Mu Heavenly Sovereign and one for Qin Heavenly Sovereign. I have already given the other box to Qin Heavenly Sovereign."
"Yun Heavenly Sovereign also left a box for the Kaihuang? Lady Xiaoyun never mentioned this to me."
Qin Mu was surprised and asked, "What was in Qin Heavenly Sovereign's box?"
The Dao Ancestor smiled and said, "When Qin Heavenly Sovereign opened it, I was right there. It was a geographical map of a place called the Great Void. I didn't look at it closely."
"The Great Void?"
Qin Mu's heart stirred. He said, "I just visited Fire Heavenly Sovereign and Void Heavenly Sovereign, and I heard that the Great Void is showing unusual activity. They took their disciples to travel through it. What is the Great Void?"
The Dao Ancestor shook his head and said, "I don't know. Only the Ten Heavenly Sovereigns know what the Great Void truly is. I have only heard of such a place, but I don't know what is there or where it is located. However, after Qin Heavenly Sovereign obtained the geographical map of the Great Void, the Kaihuang Calamity broke out, and Qin Heavenly Sovereign went to the Land of No Worries. There are rumors that the Land of No Worries is within the Great Void. The reason the Ten Heavenly Sovereigns of the Heavenly Court are so interested in the Great Void is most likely to find Qin Heavenly Sovereign's whereabouts."
Qin Mu pondered for a moment. The Great Void, the Land of No Worries, and the world created by the subjective imagination of the Creators—was there a connection between these three?
On the reliefs in the Bloodstained Zone, he saw the prehistoric Creators gathering their immensely powerful divine consciousness to create another world in the void, hoping to escape this chaotic world and avoid the slaughter of the ancient gods.
Could this world created by the Creators be the Great Void?
Is the Land of No Worries located within the Great Void?
And both Qin Hanzhen and the Zhen Princess had said that the Land of No Worries was dangerous. What did that mean?
He couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he thought.
Qin Mu opened Yun Heavenly Sovereign's box and was stunned. Inside the box was a small altar.
The altar was extremely small, only about one cun and three fen long, and about two fingers high. It looked very miniature inside the box.
Qin Mu reached in to take out this small altar, but as his hand entered the box, his hand also became smaller and smaller, never reaching the bottom.
"The internal space of this box is very large, and the altar is not as small as it appears."
Qin Mu carefully examined the box and the altar. Suddenly, he noticed that there was something on the altar, but it was incredibly tiny.
He activated his mana, and his primordial energy transformed into a hand that reached into the internal space of the box, picking up the object on the altar.
Qin Mu withdrew his primordial energy, and in his hand was a square, four-sided treasure seal, slightly larger than a palm, just enough to grip with five fingers.
"This treasure seal is..."
He was puzzled. The seal was not large, semi-transparent, and made of some unknown material. Through the seal, he could vaguely see the texture of his palm.
Since it was a seal, there were usually characters underneath, but this seal was completely blank. Only the top had a complex mountain-shaped carving.
He played with it for a moment, then handed the treasure seal to the Dao Ancestor. "Dao Ancestor, can you see any secrets in this treasure seal?"
The Dao Ancestor observed it carefully. Suddenly, a third eye grew on his forehead, emitting infinite starlight—it was the Heavenly Eye divine ability.
After a moment, the Heavenly Eye on his forehead closed, and another eye grew, blazing with the ghostly fire of the Youdu—it was the Earth Bo Eye.
He then dispersed the Earth Bo Eye and used various divine eye abilities of the ancient gods, but he still couldn't find the mystery of this treasure seal.
"I cannot see the mystery of this treasure seal."
The Dao Ancestor shook his head and returned the seal to him. "Since Yun Heavenly Sovereign was so solemn about handing this seal to the Heavenly Sovereign, there must be a deeper meaning."
Qin Mu's heart stirred. He opened the vertical eye on his forehead and examined it carefully. At that moment, Shu Jun's voice came to his mind: "This is the Imperial Seal of the Great Emperor Juyushi! It is a treasure condensed from the divine consciousness of the Great Emperor Juyushi!"
Using his third eye, Qin Mu immediately noticed the abnormality of the Imperial Seal.
This Imperial Seal was a substance condensed from immensely powerful divine consciousness. In the sight of his third eye, the Imperial Seal transformed into a towering emperor standing in the palm of his hand!
As Qin Mu's gaze fell upon this emperor, he immediately felt his own divine consciousness being impacted!
In an instant, his divine consciousness was forced back into his body, back into his brow, squeezed almost to the point of collapse!
Qin Mu quickly closed his brow eye, and Shu Jun's voice continued: "How did a treasure of the Great Emperor Juyushi end up here? This Imperial Seal symbolizes Juyushi's authority. In the past, Juyushi's envoys would take the Great Emperor's Seal to all corners of the universe. Any race that refused to submit would be annihilated by the Imperial Seal! Once the Imperial Seal was deployed, corpses would litter the ground for ten thousand li, and no one dared to disobey! But the Great Emperor Juyushi should have died in the siege of the ancient gods. Why has his Imperial Seal appeared?"
Qin Mu's divine consciousness was impacted so severely that his head ached. After a while, he felt his divine consciousness recover a bit and said, "Shu Jun, how can I unleash the power of the Great Emperor's Seal?"
Shu Jun chuckled and said, "Give me the blood and divine consciousness of your next three years, and I will teach you how to activate the might of the Great Emperor's Seal. The Great Emperor's Seal is extremely powerful. In the past, it killed countless Creators. Even the clan leaders, even the ancient gods constructed by hundreds of millions of clansmen, could not withstand the power of this treasure! As long as you give me the blood and divine consciousness of your next three years, I can let you master this power!"
"Forget it."
Qin Mu ignored him, tossed the Great Emperor's Seal in his hand, and muttered to himself, "What deeper meaning did Yun Heavenly Sovereign have in leaving this Great Emperor's Seal? The box left for the Kaihuang contained a geographical map of the Great Void, and the box left for me contained the Great Emperor's Seal. These two items must be connected somehow..."
The Dao Ancestor said in surprise, "Does Mu Heavenly Sovereign know the name of this treasure seal?"
Qin Mu put away the Great Emperor's Seal and smiled. "I know a little about it. This Great Emperor's Seal was condensed from the divine consciousness of the prehistoric Great Emperor Juyushi. Its power is immense, but I don't know how to activate it. Dao Ancestor, you must have had a good relationship with Yun Heavenly Sovereign, right?"
The Dao Ancestor nodded. "After I had some achievements back then and began to stand out among the human race, Yun Heavenly Sovereign sought me out and asked about my mathematical skills. He talked with me for a long time and told me that my mathematical Dao could be used to decipher the great Dao of the ancient gods and overthrow their rule."
He narrated the story of how Yun Heavenly Sovereign found him.
At that time, Yun Heavenly Sovereign was already the Heavenly Emperor of the Xiaohan Heavenly Court, nominally subordinate to the Longhan Heavenly Court, ruling over all post-natal beings of the mortal world on behalf of the ancient god Heavenly Emperor.
The Longxiao Heavenly Court was ruled by Hao Heavenly Sovereign, who was the Heavenly Emperor of the Longxiao Heavenly Court, ruling over all demigod races in the world.
The two heavenly courts were constantly at war. The battles between demigods and post-natal beings never ceased. The racial wars lasted for hundreds of thousands of years during the Longhan era, and countless people died.
However, nominally, both heavenly courts were branches of the Longhan Heavenly Court. The ancient gods still ruled the entire world. The war between demigods and post-natal beings made the rule of the ancient gods extremely stable. Both the Xiaohan and Longxiao heavenly courts still offered sacrifices and tributes to the ancient gods.
If they failed to offer sacrifices and tributes, the ancient gods of the Longhan Heavenly Court would descend, helping the other side in the war and punishing the forces that defied the Longhan Heavenly Court. Blood would flow like rivers, and bones would pile up like mountains.
It was under these circumstances that Yun Heavenly Sovereign found the Dao Ancestor, who was already somewhat famous, and invited him to join the Heavenly Alliance.
At that time, the Dao Ancestor was trying to use mathematics to analyze all the great Dao of the world. He was proficient in various divine abilities, but his combat power was not high. He just knew many divine abilities.
In that era of suffering, geniuses were as numerous as brilliant stars, and those with strong combat power were not few. The Dao Ancestor and the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha were not particularly prominent among them.
When Yun Heavenly Sovereign told the Dao Ancestor that his mathematics could decipher the great Dao of the ancient gods, completely overthrow their rule, and end the suffering of the world, the Dao Ancestor was also startled and couldn't believe Yun Heavenly Sovereign's words.
At that time, the Dao Ancestor had already parted ways with the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha, each living their own life, each with their own disciples and followers.
However, Yun Heavenly Sovereign made him believe that this step could be achieved. Mortals could also gain insight into the source of the ancient gods' power and even obtain that source.
So, the Dao Ancestor began to implement Yun Heavenly Sovereign's plan, continuously deciphering the great Dao of the ancient gods. This work lasted for five or six hundred thousand years.
To this day, he has basically mapped out the great Dao of the ancient gods.
"However, I have also noticed the changes in the world. The ancient gods are no longer the threat to the world."
The Dao Ancestor stared blankly into space and suddenly said, "Instead, the Heavenly Alliance has replaced the ancient gods as the threat to the world. I am just a researcher who doesn't care about worldly affairs. I was caught off guard by this situation and didn't know what to do. That's why, last time at Qingyun Heaven, when I heard that Mu Heavenly Sovereign was visiting, I took the risk to send the Heavenly Sovereign to the Scripture Depository, hoping to pass on the great Dao of the ancient gods to the Heavenly Sovereign and make some changes."
Qin Mu thanked him and asked, "Dao Ancestor, why did you pass on the great Dao of the ancient gods from the Scripture Depository to the ancient god Heavenly Emperor?"
The Dao Ancestor hesitated for a moment and said, "That was also Yun Heavenly Sovereign's idea."
Qin Mu was stunned.
"In his final days, Yun Heavenly Sovereign seemed to know that his life was coming to an end. He told me that the Heavenly Alliance had gone out of control and needed an enemy. He sensed that one person in the Heavenly Alliance might be the ancient god Heavenly Emperor, so he told me to get close to him."
The Dao Ancestor said, "He was powerless to solve the Heavenly Alliance, so he could only do this, hoping to split the Heavenly Alliance and prevent it from becoming a behemoth. Unfortunately, the Heavenly Alliance still became what he feared."
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