Chapter 959: If the Elders Don't Strive, the Youth Will Regret in Vain
"That woman is the Void Heavenly Venerable?"
Qin Mu gazed intently. Yue Tingge had once said that the Void Bridge was incredibly terrifying, and even he dared not set foot on it. As a being at the Great Perfection of the Heavenly Palace realm, Yue Tingge, despite being somewhat unreliable and feigning madness, still possessed formidable strength.
If he dared not tread the Void Bridge, it showed just how dangerous it was.
Yet the Void Heavenly Venerable was different. This woman had already ventured so deep into the Void Bridge, her strength truly reaching an inconceivable level.
Qin Mu frowned slightly. Yue Tingge had tricked the two Heavenly Venerables into entering the domain of Supreme Divine Consciousness, trapping the Fire Heavenly Venerable there. How had the Void Heavenly Venerable escaped?
Why did the Fire Heavenly Venerable tell him to be wary of the Void Heavenly Venerable?
Did those words carry a deeper meaning?
Why was the Void Heavenly Venerable so determined to cross the Void Bridge? Was it to seek those vanished creators, or to find Carefree Village?
"This Void Bridge is so perilous. With my strength, I probably can't cross it at all. I'd better forget it."
Qin Mu's eyes flickered, and he thought to himself, "The Ark of the Other Shore, built by the Heavenly Artifact Divine Race of the Kaihuang Era, can reach Carefree Village. As long as I can avoid the Heavenly Court's eyes and ears, I can repair that Ark and sail it to find Carefree Village. There's no need to take risks here."
The Ark's astrolabe was still in his hands. Back then, Village Chief, Mute, and the others had found that astrolabe, and Village Chief personally sealed it, saying that only when Qin Mu's strength was enough to break the seal would he be allowed to pilot the Ark to find Carefree Village.
Now, although Qin Mu dared not claim his strength surpassed Village Chief's, breaking Village Chief's seal was a simple task.
The Ark of the Other Shore was severely damaged. Fortunately, through the geographical map left by Wei Suifeng, Qin Mu had found Ying Zhao's strongest divine brain hidden in the Tai Ming Heaven of the Kaihuang Heavenly Court, obtaining the blueprints for the Ark.
The only problem was that the Ark was a tool forged by the Heavenly Artifact Divine Race to reach Carefree Village. The Heavenly Court would surely keep a close watch on that ship.
Avoiding the Heavenly Court's eyes was almost impossible!
"Or perhaps, I could build another Ark of the Other Shore..."
He calculated in his mind, "But building another Ark would probably require tens of thousands of Heavenly Artifacts working together to forge it. I can't find that many Heavenly Artifacts, and even if I could, it would be easy to leak information, making the target even bigger. Maybe..."
A bizarre idea arose in his mind. Once it appeared, it was unstoppable, making him eager to act!
"Maybe, I can visualize an Ark of the Other Shore."
"Ying Zhao imprinted the blueprints of the Ark into my mind. I can use those blueprints to visualize the Ark!"
"As long as I visualize this ship, along with the Ark's astrolabe, I can cross the Void Bridge, and perhaps even find Carefree Village!"
...
He was greatly tempted. Outside, he was under strict surveillance. Now, with his reputation as Mu Heavenly Venerable, no matter where he went, it was hard to escape the Heavenly Court's eyes.
But the Tai Xu was different.
Among the Heavenly Court experts who came to the Tai Xu, only the Fire Heavenly Venerable and the Void Heavenly Venerable were confident of leaving alive. Others, even beings like Yue Tingge, didn't have enough certainty to survive this place.
Here, as long as he avoided the Fire Heavenly Venerable and the Void Heavenly Venerable, he could freely visualize the Ark of the Other Shore and then sail it across the Void Bridge!
"But before that, I need to raise my cultivation level and break through to the Heavenly Palace realm. That way, I can try to cultivate the Imperial Lord's Supreme Divine Consciousness. With the Supreme Divine Consciousness, visualizing the Ark of the Other Shore will be much faster!"
Qin Mu acted on his thoughts. He had never opened a Heavenly Palace before, but he had opened Divine Treasures twenty or thirty times, so he was quite familiar with the process.
However, during the Longhan Era, people opened their Heavenly Palaces by sensing the Longhan Heavenly Court and borrowing the power of the ancient gods from it, allowing them to open a Heavenly Palace within their bodies.
In that era, the Longhan Heavenly Court was still in the mortal world. Although it was high in the sky, gods and humans coexisted in the same realm, making it easy to sense the Heavenly Court and borrow its power and the power of the ancient gods.
When cultivators opened their Heavenly Palaces, structures like the Southern Heavenly Gate, the Jade Pool, the Execution Platform, the Jade Capital, and the Lingxiao Hall were all imprints of the corresponding buildings in the Longhan Heavenly Court, making it very convenient.
However, in the Tai Xu, there was no such convenient method.
Therefore, Qin Mu adopted the method of visualization. He visualized the layout and structure of the Heavenly Court, first outlining its full appearance, then opening up the void to create the Heavenly Palace realm.
They were staying in the last gathering place of the creators. Luo Wushuang acted as his protector, guarding against enemy attacks.
Qin Mu sat silently for a long time, continuously visualizing. In his Embryonic Divine Treasure, a Southern Heavenly Gate made of glazed jade gradually took shape, and the runic patterns on the gate became clearer.
Next, the Azure Wave Bridge spanning the Heavenly River appeared, with golden dragons holding the sun in their mouths flying about and phoenixes with crimson crests perching.
Further in, the Longevity Star Platform, Heavenly Street, Heavenly Market, Chariot Path, Water Mansion, Three Platforms, Heavenly Ramparts, and Three Masters appeared. Following the Heavenly River further in, there was the Jade Terrace, and the vast Jade Pool with its blue seas and divine mountains, all emerging one after another.
Beyond the Jade Pool were the Left and Right Feather Forests, Left and Right Dragon Martial, Left and Right Divine Martial, Left and Right Divine Strategy, and Left and Right Divine Might—the Ten Imperial Guards. Then came the Execution Platform.
After the Execution Platform were the Jade Capital City and the Lingxiao Hall.
The first Heavenly Palace Qin Mu visualized followed the specifications of the current Heavenly Court. He had some understanding of the Dao runes of various ancient gods. The palaces and halls of the Heavenly Court were all imprinted with the Dao runes of the ancient gods, making them more complete and perfect than the Heavenly Palaces of the past.
However, visualization was just visualization. Relying solely on visualization, he couldn't turn the Heavenly Palace into reality.
He also needed to open up the void and manifest the Heavenly Palace.
In his Embryonic Divine Treasure, Qin Mu's primordial spirit stood on the black-and-white Taiji Diagram. He stomped his foot heavily, and the Taiji Diagram rapidly expanded, growing wider and wider. The Primordial Tree stood lush and graceful.
As the Taiji Diagram expanded, Qin Mu took out a jade bottle sealed with Primordial Chaos Essence Liquid. Carefully, he took out a drop of the liquid and flicked it with his finger. The drop flew out and landed on the Taiji Diagram, instantly transforming into a vast ocean with surging waves!
Qin Mu took out another drop of the liquid. This drop turned into a Heavenly River, rising from the ground, roaring and surging, climbing up the Primordial Tree behind him and shooting straight into the void!
Qin Mu's primordial spirit remained on the Taiji Diagram, not ascending with the Heavenly River. Instead, he controlled the river to flow across the Taiji Continent.
Qin Mu frowned slightly. He hadn't obtained the Dao runes of the Guixu Abyss, so he couldn't visualize the Abyss.
He could only let the Heavenly River flow along the Taiji String at the center of the Taiji Diagram. When it reached the end, it turned into the Styx River, flowing mightily toward the Netherworld, spiraling down around Tu Bo.
"Yuan Mu's wife's physical body is right here with me. I'll take it out sometime and study it carefully. I must figure out the Dao runes of Guixu!"
He took out another drop of the Primordial Chaos Essence Liquid and flicked it out.
Before this drop hit the ground, it began to expand, turning into incredibly pure energy, like a vast ocean about to land.
At the same time, Qin Mu activated the Overlord Body Three-Dan Art, mobilizing all his own primal energy and blasting it toward the surroundings of the Taiji Diagram!
Tens of thousands of streams of primal energy flew in from all parts of the Embryonic Divine Treasure, intertwining and weaving, activating the energy within that drop of liquid. With the impact of the primal energy streams, a Southern Heavenly Gate rose abruptly, and thousands of palaces and halls emerged one after another.
In an instant, the Azure Wave Bridge, Longevity Star Platform, Heavenly Street, Heavenly Market, Chariot Path, Water Mansion, Three Platforms, and other Heavenly Court structures appeared from nothing, from foundations to eaves, as if invisible hands were painting and invisible Heavenly Artifacts were creating things, bringing a magnificent Heavenly Palace into existence!
The Heavenly Palace materialized, radiant with bright clouds and shrouded in blue mist.
The energy of that one drop of liquid was exhausted.
This Heavenly Palace was unique. Other people's Heavenly Palaces were usually built on the other shore of the Divine Bridge or above the Heavenly River, but Qin Mu's Heavenly Palace was built directly on the Taiji Diagram.
The ocean formed by his first drop of Primordial Chaos Essence Liquid had now become the Jade Pool and Jade Sea, becoming part of this Heavenly Palace.
Qin Mu took out another drop of liquid. The Overlord Body Three-Dan Art continued to operate, primal energy flowing, and another Heavenly Palace emerged!
The various buildings in this Heavenly Palace were dominated by dragons. Even the Execution Platform had twin dragons coiled around it, forming double blades.
Qin Mu took out a fifth drop of liquid, and a third Heavenly Palace materialized!
This Heavenly Palace was located on the reverse side of the Taiji Diagram, dominated by darkness. There were dark suns and moons. Qin Mu's reflection formed the image of Tu Bo Qin Mu, and this dark Heavenly Palace floated between the horns of Tu Bo Qin Mu.
He flicked out a sixth drop of liquid, and a fourth Heavenly Palace emerged!
This Heavenly Palace was also on the Taiji Diagram, with buildings and sculptures mostly featuring three-headed, six-armed divine demons.
After the fourth Heavenly Palace formed, Qin Mu took out a seventh drop of liquid, and a fifth Heavenly Palace rose abruptly. This Heavenly Palace was the Sword Heavenly Palace, filled with a chilling sword aura!
He took out an eighth drop of liquid. The spirit of martial arts filled heaven and earth, and his aura transformed into a sixth Heavenly Palace behind him—the Martial Arts Heavenly Palace!
A ninth drop of liquid flew out. Qin Mu's aura turned into brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. On his left side, half of a Painting Dao Heavenly Palace formed.
A tenth drop of liquid flew out. Sword light shocked the world. On his right side, half of a Blade Dao Heavenly Palace formed.
An eleventh drop of liquid formed half of a Medical Heavenly Palace.
A twelfth drop formed half of a Divine Ability Heavenly Palace.
A thirteenth drop formed half of a Forging Heavenly Palace.
A fourteenth drop flew out, forming half of a Buddhist Dao Heavenly Palace.
A fifteenth drop flew out, forming half of a Thief Heavenly Palace.
A sixteenth drop formed half of a Formation Heavenly Palace.
These sixteen drops of liquid were exhausted. Qin Mu's Embryonic Divine Treasure stopped changing. Various Heavenly Palaces, some complete and some incomplete, stood interwoven, forming different phenomena, totaling fourteen Heavenly Palaces.
Others thought his technique had at most integrated three or four Imperial Throne techniques. This guess wasn't wrong. Qin Mu's Overlord Body Three-Dan Art had indeed only integrated a few Imperial Throne techniques like the Red Emperor's, the Bright Emperor's, the Great Dark Heaven's, and the Ancestral Dragon's Supreme Profound Art. Among them, the Great Dark Heaven's Dark Demon Scripture was incomplete, counting as half a Heavenly Palace.
However, Qin Mu had entered the Dao through the sword. His sword Dao divine abilities were unparalleled in the world, allowing him to establish a Sword Heavenly Palace. He had also studied martial arts and researched the Martial Combat Heavenly Master Zhuo Cha's Martial Combat Heavenly Art. It was only natural for his martial arts spirit to transform into a Martial Arts Heavenly Palace.
As for the other acquired Daos—blade techniques, calligraphy and painting, thievery, formations, divine abilities, forging, medicine, and so on—they were all learned from the elders of the Crippled Village.
Although Qin Mu hadn't entered the Dao in these areas, the elders of the Crippled Village were all beings who had entered the Dao, just with low cultivation realms and hadn't pushed their techniques and divine abilities to the Heavenly Palace level.
The elders of the Crippled Village had essentially planted seeds in him, and those seeds had sprouted.
So, while it seemed that Qin Mu had cultivated very few Imperial Throne techniques, in reality, he had quite a few.
"After I return to Yancheng, I must severely urge Village Chief, Grandpa Mute, and the others to train hard, diligently comprehend, and raise their cultivation realms and insights!"
Qin Mu's primordial spirit walked under the Southern Heavenly Gate of the main Heavenly Palace, feeling the pressure from the gate. He was somewhat distressed and thought to himself, "If the elders don't strive, the youth will regret in vain! If Grandpa Village Chief and the others don't work hard, I won't be able to perfect the other Heavenly Palaces."
"In the past, they forced me to train hard. Now, I must force them to study hard and train diligently! Only when all the grandpas and grandmas cultivate their Heavenly Palaces will my Heavenly Court be perfected."
His primordial spirit endured the heavy pressure of the Southern Heavenly Gate. At the same time, projections of him walked under the Southern Heavenly Gates of the other Heavenly Palaces, but one by one, they were crushed by the pressure.
Qin Mu frowned. To pass through all fourteen Heavenly Palaces simultaneously and become a true god was still very difficult for him.
Because the techniques for the other Heavenly Palaces were often incomplete. Without complete techniques, it was hard for him to pass through all fourteen Heavenly Palaces at the same time and become a true deity.
He sighed and opened his eyes.
Luo Wushuang's voice came: "Qin Overlord Body, I noticed your cultivation suddenly became incredibly profound. What happened to you again?"
Qin Mu grumbled, very unhappy: "I've become a venerable god."
Luo Wushuang said in surprise, "That's good news. Why are you still frowning? You're only in your thirties, and you've already become a true god. That speed is already rare in the world. There's another thing. The Void Heavenly Venerable is trapped."
"I'm not yet two years old, not in my thirties. The Void Heavenly Venerable is trapped?"
Qin Mu cheerfully ran toward the Void Bridge, laughing, "Trapped well! Now there's no one in the Tai Xu who can threaten me!"
"Is that so, Mu Heavenly Venerable?" A cold, clear voice came from behind him.
—Classmates must study and work hard. If you don't work hard, how will your children become the second generation of the rich?