Chapter 100: Creation Seven Chapters

Qin Mu returned to the inn and continued studying the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture. He became engrossed and didn't realize it was already deep into the night. He had learned over ten spells, but without the corresponding cultivation techniques, their power could only be utilized by little more than half.

"I must find a unified cultivation technique," he thought, "otherwise, it will be difficult to fully unleash the power of the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture."

As he was reading intently, he suddenly felt a warmth around his waist, as if something was nudging him. He looked down to find the little white fox asleep beside him, rubbing its head against him in its dreams.

Qin Mu smiled and carefully moved the little demon fox to the bed, letting her sleep with a pillow. He then returned to the table to continue his study of the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture.

Much later, feeling drowsy himself, he extinguished the lamp, lay down on the bed, and soon fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning, Feng Xiuyun arrived to see Qin Mu off onto the boat. "Young Master," she said, "this is as far as I can accompany you. From here, follow the river downstream, and you will enter Yankang. Please be careful on your journey and reach Yankang Imperial City soon. The Ancestor is already waiting there."

Qin Mu nodded and waved goodbye.

Ahead of the fleet, at the tall pier, soldiers were turning a winch, creakingly lifting a massive iron gate. One by one, merchant ships slowly started moving, carried by the current away from Mishui Pass and down the Surging River.

Qin Mu and Hu Ling'er stood at the bow of the ship, looking around. They noticed that the scenery along the banks of the Surging River was gradually changing from that of the Great Ruins. Here, there were some prosperous villages hidden among the mountains and forests along the river, unlike the Great Ruins, where most dwellings were thatched huts.

The number of boats on the river also increased, mostly vessels laden with ore, sitting low in the water. Along the riverbanks, there were also mines where many miners were extracting minerals.

"How many of these are abandoned people from the Great Ruins?" Qin Mu wondered, withdrawing his gaze.

After traveling another hundred li, they saw more smelters along the riverbank. Huge furnaces were refining ore, and many ships were docked there, unloading minerals.

The furnaces emitted flames dozens of yards high, burning fiercely. As their small boat passed, Qin Mu saw over a dozen divine arts practitioners fanning the flames, casting spells to intensify the fire and raise the temperature.

Other divine arts practitioners were using spells to draw river water to cool the refined profound iron and red copper.

Still others were using White Tiger qi to cast divine arts, cutting the profound iron and red copper into neat, uniform blocks for easy stacking and loading onto ships.

Such a sight was rare in the Great Ruins.

"In terms of manpower, material resources, and financial strength, Yankang far surpasses the Great Ruins," Qin Mu marveled.

Observing small details can reveal the prosperity and strength of a nation. The smelters along the Surging River, being close to a water source and having convenient transportation, could continuously supply materials to the empire for refining spirit weapons and upgrading military equipment. It was clear how formidable Yankang's military and national power must be.

"Feng Xiuyun mentioned that some sects were taking advantage of Yankang Imperial Preceptor's defeat in the Great Ruins by attempting to assassinate him on the road, severely injuring him, and instigating rebellion."

Qin Mu mused, "Although Yankang Imperial Preceptor suffered a setback at the edge of the Great Ruins, the army's vitality remains intact, and their overall combat strength is still there. He has a cloud of strong individuals around him, and he himself is the foremost person below the gods. How could he have been severely injured by an assassination? There's something very strange about this. If I don't see it clearly, I fear these rebellious sects will all meet a terrible end."

The merchant fleet, pulled by giant water beasts, traveled at an extremely fast speed and reached Tijiang County by evening.

Tijiang County, built along the river, was slightly larger than Xianglong City. Qin Mu opened his Divine Firmament Eye and looked around, but found no majestic divine statues. A faint unease stirred in his heart, then he suddenly realized and chuckled to himself, "I still thought I was in the Great Ruins..."

Having lived in the Great Ruins since childhood, his instinct to find shelter under the protection of a divine statue before nightfall had become ingrained. It would likely be difficult to change this habit in a short period.

In front of Tijiang County, the merchant fleet suddenly stopped. They saw fishing boats ahead, with some fishermen using hooks to pull floating corpses from the water.

"How unlucky," a merchant muttered, shaking his head.

Qin Mu, with Hu Ling'er, entered the city with the merchant fleet. As soon as they entered, they saw numerous coffins, around four or five hundred, lining both sides of the streets.

Qin Mu was startled. Some coffins were not yet sealed, and soldiers were still carrying bodies into them. Some coffins were already covered. The city residents kept their distance, not daring to approach.

"What happened here? Why did so many people die all at once?"

Qin Mu wondered, as a merchant stepped forward to inquire. A soldier replied, "They're floating corpses, washed down by the river. We don't know where they're from. We suspect they drowned in an upstream flood and were carried to Tijiang County, where they were stopped by the dam. The county magistrate said that if these bodies piled up, there would be a plague, so he ordered us to quickly prepare some simple coffins, lay them to rest, and bury them tomorrow."

"I see," the merchant responded.

Merchants from all directions drove their carriages to avoid the scene and sought inns to settle down. Qin Mu also found an inn to stay and rest. After dinner, he took out the Yankang geography map to examine it.

Tijiang County was in central Yankang. Traveling north, it would take about ten days to reach the Imperial City. If one were to travel east from there, the sea would be visible after about three thousand li.

The sky had already dimmed, and night was thickening. Qin Mu put down the map and looked out the window. The darkness here was different from the darkness in the Great Ruins. In Yankang, the sky gradually darkened, but there was still moonlight and starlight. In the Great Ruins, however, night arrived from the west, blanketing the sky and everything else in an instant, with no light whatsoever in the darkness.

He cautiously extended his hand out the window. The darkness outside posed no danger.

"What exactly happened to the Great Ruins," he pondered, "to cause such strange phenomena as the dark invasion?"

The young man dismissed his doubts and took out the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture to continue his study.

He unraveled a thread from his white glove, and as his vital qi permeated it, the thread immediately expanded, growing thicker and revealing countless characters.

Qin Mu studied it carefully. This time, he was delving into the Creation Chapter of the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture. The Creation Chapter contained many types of techniques, including Creation Heavenly Devil Technique, Creation Heavenly God Technique, Creation Innate Technique, Creation Human King Technique, Creation Ghost God Technique, Creation Spirit Technique, and Creation Earth Essence Technique.

Qin Mu had learned part of the Creation Heavenly Devil Technique, but Granny Si hadn't taught him the complete method back then, only the soul-sealing technique, not the actual cultivation method.

"There are seven Creation Techniques: Innate Technique, Earth Essence Technique, Heavenly God Technique, Heavenly Devil Technique, Human King Technique, Ghost God Technique, and Spirit Technique. They all involve creation. Is there a connection among them?"

Qin Mu read each section one by one. The flaying and garment-making aspect of the Creation Heavenly Devil Technique was merely an external application; its true power lay in strengthening one's own soul. The Creation Heavenly God Technique was adept at imitating other cultivation methods, but upon careful study, Qin Mu felt that the Heavenly God Technique was actually meant to convey the concept of impermanence in form and power, and that imitating other techniques and divine arts was merely its superficial manifestation.

The Innate Technique reversed one's state to that of an infant, allowing for eternal youth. The young Ancestor of the Heavenly Devil Cult likely cultivated the Creation Innate Palace. The Heavenly Devil Cult's Free Innate Technique was probably a branch of the Creation Innate Technique.

The Earth Essence Technique refined the Yang Spirit, the Human King Technique refined the King's Way, the Ghost God Technique refined the Path to the Netherworld, and the Spirit Technique refined transformation.

Each of these seven Creation Techniques had its own subtleties, yet they were all obscure and difficult to comprehend. Qin Mu became engrossed, delving into their mysteries. Unbeknownst to him, it was already deep into the night. Outside, everything was silent except for the sound of the night watchman's gong.

Just then, a cold wind blew in from the window, making the candlelight flicker. Qin Mu quickly raised his hand to shield the flame. Suddenly, a soft creaking sound came from the street, distinct in the silent night.

Qin Mu's heart tensed. With one hand, he extinguished the candle, then swiftly moved to the window, closing the casement but leaving a small gap.

The young man spread his fingers, and the threads formed by the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture immediately flew to his palm, weaving into a cicada-wing-thin glove with soft whirring sounds.

Qin Mu peered through the window. Moonlight spilled onto the streets of Tijiang County, where coffins lined both sides. The night watchman, striking his gong, walked from the other end of the street.

Suddenly, the watchman stopped, as if he had seen something.

Creak, creak.

The strange sound came again. A coffin lid was pushed open halfway, and a figure sat bolt upright inside.

Clang.

The watchman's gong clattered to the ground in alarm. Suddenly, the figure from the coffin, moving like a phantom, flashed before the watchman. Its movements were stiff, and it thrust its hands forward, severing the watchman's head from his neck.

Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly. He heard continuous creaking sounds as coffins opened one by one, and floating corpses sat up inside. Just then, a door on the street opened, and dozens of Taoists emerged in single file.

The leading Taoist wore an eight-trigram yellow robe, with a whisk draped over his arm, a Taoist crown on his head, and cloud-treading boots on his feet. The Taoists behind him wore black robes, each with a sword case on their back, moving silently.

From the yellow-robed Taoist's sleeve, sheets of yellow paper flew out, floating in the air and forming a long bridge.

This long bridge of yellow paper stretched from one side of the street all the way to the county yamen of Tijiang County's magistrate!

Then, one by one, the floating corpses leaped up, flying out of their coffins, stiffly running through the air, treading on the yellow paper, and heading straight for the yamen!

Qin Mu gazed intently, watching as the floating corpses rushed into the yamen. Immediately, more sheets of yellow paper flew from the yellow-robed Taoist's sleeve, forming bridges in the air, but this time stretching towards the four city gates: southeast, northwest.

Behind him, the black-robed Taoists immediately rose into the air, stepping on the yellow paper, and flew towards the four city gates.

"This is bad!"

Qin Mu's heart pounded. He spun around like a whirlwind, quickly packed his clothes into a bundle, woke the white fox, and hurriedly said, "Don't speak! We need to leave the city quietly! Ling'er, you handle the wind!"

Hu Ling'er, still groggy, blinked her sleepy eyes, not understanding what he meant, and hadn't fully woken up yet.

Suddenly, an earth-shattering roar came from the direction of the county yamen. A voice, both surprised and enraged, cried out: "Flying zombies! There are flying zombies! The Corpse Immortal Cult is attacking! Quickly, protect the lord!"

"Your lord is dead, and his head is right here!"