Chapter 1066: Darkness Approaches

Qin Mu immediately tensed up and urgently asked, "Which A'chou?"

The divine being didn't recognize him and replied, "That's unclear. This is a border region where humans and demigods live together. We can't control this area, nor can the demigods, so there's no population census."

Qin Mu's expression changed slightly. He quickly told Yan'er, "Guard the lantern carefully; it absolutely must not go out."

Yan'er was puzzled. The lantern was Wei Suifeng's treasure, and Wei Suifeng was, after all, Emperor Yunluo. How could a lantern he crafted be easily extinguished?

Qin Mu, however, was very tense, pacing back and forth. He urgently told Heavenly Venerate Yue and Heavenly Venerate Ling, "Immediately migrate the population; move all humans to the inland, away from this place. Something incredibly terrifying is about to happen here!"

Heavenly Venerate Yue was stunned but quickly gave orders to move the humans in the area inland.

Darkness was coming; the darkness of that day must have originated from one of the surrounding heavens, meaning those demigods had searched in the wrong place.

Qin Mu looked up at the sky, where several heavens hung. Some powerful demigods were flying towards them, leaving trails of divine light like meteors streaking across the firmament.

Qin Mu muttered, "A'chou is actually in a nearby heavenly world, but when darkness descends, it will inevitably affect this place. This lantern can't stop it! Heavenly Venerate Yue, Heavenly Venerate Ling, I must leave this place immediately and head to the Celestial Heavens. I must reach the Celestial Heavens before darkness descends to complete what I need to do this time!"

Heavenly Venerate Yue and Heavenly Venerate Ling were both somewhat reluctant. "You just arrived, and now you're leaving?" they asked.

Qin Mu swiftly jumped onto the treasure chariot and told them, "We'll have opportunities to meet again in the future. Don't worry, I will definitely come back to see you! Yan'er, guard the lantern. Pi, prepare to depart!"

He entered the carriage, opened the window, and said in a deep voice, "You shouldn't stay here either. Leave immediately!"

Heavenly Venerate Yue and Heavenly Venerate Ling saw his solemn expression and knew that the matter was likely significant. Heavenly Venerate Ling stepped forward and handed him a peach wood hairpin, saying, "Before you leave, return my hairpin to me."

Qin Mu stored the peach wood hairpin into his glabella. As the peach wood hairpin entered the Qin character continent, another peach wood hairpin appeared in Heavenly Venerate Ling's hair.

Heavenly Venerate Ling smiled and whispered, "With this memory, I can continue to persevere."

Six celestial dragons pulled the treasure chariot, soaring into the sky, speeding through wind, clouds, thunder, and lightning. As the chariot passed the palace carried on the back of the great green bird, the man tied to the pillar, his face covered in blood, looked up and shouted, "I can't die! If I die, none of you will escape!"

Qin Mu looked at the man through the carriage window, expressionless, and said nothing.

The woman from the palace walked out again, exchanging gazes with Qin Mu in the chariot from a distance. Qin Mu nodded slightly, and the woman subtly returned the gesture.

The woman's divine consciousness resonated in Qin Mu's mind: she was clear about debts and gratitude, and there would certainly be repayment in the future.

The celestial dragon chariot passed the palace and flew towards the Celestial River.

The man on the pillar, whose chest had been pierced by a spear, laughed, "Nu Xin, I feel a terrifying power surging in the darkness. Earth Count has reincarnated. Do you want to take this opportunity to get rid of him?"

The great enemy of the Creator Race, besides Supreme Emperor and Grand Beginning, was Earth Count.

The woman said indifferently, "Supreme Emperor and Grand Beginning must die, and Earth Count must also die. This is an excellent opportunity to eliminate Earth Count; then the Creator Race will have no natural enemies! I can give birth to many Creators and re-establish the Nu Xin tribe!"

"I can help you," the man offered.

The man said softly, "After all, we are husband and wife..."

It would have been fine if he hadn't mentioned it, but as soon as he did, the woman flew into a rage. She turned and retrieved a tray from the palace, which held over a hundred silver needles.

The woman picked up a silver needle, and with a slight shake, it extended to a foot long. She then stabbed him with one needle after another.

The man screamed in agony, his cries horrifying.

Just then, the woman suddenly felt something and looked up at the sky. The man tied to the pillar also grew excited and said urgently, "You sense it too? This surging dark power! This power comes from Earth Count! They've already found Earth Count. We, as husband and wife, can join forces to eliminate this natural enemy..."

Hearing this, the woman's hatred flared up. She whipped him furiously, leaving him covered in wounds.

The man on the pillar screamed and laughed simultaneously, "As long as you're by my side, even if you beat me ten times harder, I'll be happy!"

The woman put away her whip, looked up at the source of the dark fluctuations, and sneered, "It's not easy to scheme against Earth Count. Your true body must come. Where is your true body? Why haven't you appeared yet?"

The man looked at her tenderly, "My true body has always been here, silently watching you, watching your appearance. I watch you hit me, and even if I watch for another hundred thousand or a million years, I'll never get tired of it..."

The woman delivered another brutal beating. "Get out here!" she demanded.

Heavenly Venerate Yue and Heavenly Venerate Ling also sensed the dark fluctuations. The darkness was not coming from nearby, but from the heavens above them.

The Primordial Realm had myriad heavens and worlds, suspended in the sky. Their origin and reason for appearing in the Primordial Realm were a mystery to the post-celestial races.

They only knew that the myriad heavens and worlds simply hung there.

After Heavenly Venerate Yun returned from his travels, he once revealed that these heavens might be worlds created by a prehistoric race, but he did not elaborate.

Suddenly, the earth violently shook, and countless dark demonic energies surged from underground. The people in the border region fell into chaos, scattering in all directions as if the sky had collapsed.

Heavenly Venerate Ling and Heavenly Venerate Yue were alarmed. They looked up and saw that the heaven in the sky resembled a gigantic demonic eye, with demonic energy overflowing from its surroundings like countless waving tentacles.

The demonic energy surging from the cracked earth of the Primordial Realm was flying towards that heaven, but both immediately sensed that this demonic energy was not from underground but from another spacetime.

It was Youdu!

A drastic change had occurred in Youdu, they both thought simultaneously.

At this moment, the dark demonic energy grew thicker and thicker. Heavenly Venerate Yue quickly flew up and urgently said, "Quickly move the nearby people away!"

In the sky, streaks of light cut across the firmament, all flying towards that heaven—they were exceptionally powerful demigods!

On the Celestial River, Qin Mu kept urging, and the celestial dragon chariot flew faster and faster, heading straight for the Celestial Heavens. Just then, he saw the stars in the sky suddenly brighten, obscuring the sun's brilliance.

Qin Mu's heart stirred. It was the ancient gods transporting their ancestral stars, flying from distant spacetime!

At the same time, he saw several large warships dragging a colossal object flying past the Celestial River, heading towards one of the heavens in the Primordial Realm.

He was now very far from that heaven, and from a distance, it looked like a black line.

The colossal object dragged by those large warships was a massive divine platform, and two enormous streams of baleful energy, like intertwining flood dragons, continuously swirled, reaching the highest point in the sky!

A muffled roar, the voice of an ancient god, echoed from the sky: "Sacrifice, my people! Sacrifice, let us descend!"

More warships arrived, appearing in front of the celestial dragon chariot. Ship after ship connected, astonishingly forming a gigantic altar.

Numerous demigods escorted countless living beings, from various races, out of the ship cabins and brought them to the altar.

The blood sacrifice began. In the crimson light, the lifeblood of those beings rapidly evaporated. They opened their mouths wide, screaming upwards, their bodies shriveling at a visible rate!

In the sky, streaks of crimson light drew the stars closer and lower.

Ancient deities, grotesque in appearance, descended from the heavens. Following the crimson light, they landed on the altar, opened their mouths, and inhaled deeply. Countless limbs flew up, flailing, and disappeared into their mouths!

The myriad strange ancient gods laughed loudly, exclaiming, "Let's go, let's go meet that A'chou!"

The celestial dragon chariot drove past. Long Qilin looked back into the carriage and tentatively asked, "Cult Master?"

"No need to pay attention," Qin Mu said.

Qin Mu said indifferently, "Darkness is coming. We must hurry and not waste this opportunity. We only have five chances left to return to the past."

Long Qilin affirmed, saying, "However, those warships have blockaded the Celestial River. I'm afraid it won't be easy to pass."

"Drive straight through," Qin Mu said.

The ancient gods majestically seated on the altar immediately noticed the approaching treasure chariot. Their gazes instantly fell upon it, and the many demigods on the warships also looked towards the chariot, eager to act.

"This treasure chariot looks somewhat familiar..." an ancient god with a wolf's head and a human body mused. He was Star Lord Kui Mulang.

An ancient god with a chicken's head and a human body mused, "It seems the Celestial Emperor also has such a carriage..."

"In the Celestial Heavens, all prominent figures have such treasure chariots," one said. "However, the Celestial Emperor's is pulled by ten celestial dragons, and the Four Emperors' are pulled by nine."

An ancient god, Jiaomu Jiao, with a jiao-dragon head and horns like wood, whose head resembled a large alligator, spoke, "Lords are pulled by eight dragons, and Crown Princes by seven. I haven't heard of a six-dragon carriage."

"Jiaomu Jiao," another ancient god interjected, "I have heard of a six-dragon carriage. One hundred thousand years ago, that fierce god had a carriage pulled by six celestial dragons. At that time, the Five Elemental Star Lords all..."

Qin Mu opened the carriage window, revealing half of his profile. He gazed forward, not looking at the Twenty-Eight Mansions ancient gods, and said calmly, "It's me. You don't interfere with my affairs, and I won't interfere with yours. Twenty-Eight Mansions, clear the way."

The Twenty-Eight ancient gods' gazes fell upon his profile, and they hesitated.

Suddenly, Kui Mulang waved his large hand and shouted, "Clear the river!"

Ship after ship moved to the sides. Six celestial dragons pulled the treasure chariot forward, and the ancient gods on both sides kept their eyes on Qin Mu inside the carriage.

Suddenly, an ancient god chuckled, "Heavenly Venerate Mu's battle on the Celestial River once shocked the world. I wonder if your current combat power is still any good? You've intervened several times since, and you've also been defeated a few times."

The celestial dragon chariot reached the center of the fleet. Qin Mu closed his eyes to rest, not speaking.

Gui Jinyang laughed, "You disappeared seventy thousand years ago, and I heard you were defeated in a battle with Heavenly Venerate Hao, becoming disheartened ever since. A hundred thousand years have passed; your former opponents have all become renowned powerful figures, yet you still look the same as before. Have you made any progress?"

Qin Mu opened his eyes and said calmly, "I have cultivated from the Venerable God realm to the Heavenly God realm."

Laughter erupted all around. "Everyone else has already reached the Numinous Sky realm," they mocked, "and Heavenly Venerate Yun has even cultivated to the Emperor's Throne realm! Yet you're still a Heavenly God!"

Qin Mu closed his eyes again. "I am different from them," he stated.

Laughter erupted again all around.

The celestial dragon chariot continued forward.

Suddenly, Jing Mu'an reached out towards the treasure chariot and laughed, "Heavenly Venerate Mu, come down and play!"

Qin Mu remained seated in the carriage, motionless. Just as Jing Mu'an's large hand was about to grab the chariot's canopy, a portal suddenly appeared in front of his palm.

It was the Gate of Heaven and Earth.

Jing Mu'an's palm passed through this portal, and on the other side of the gate, it had already turned into bone.

Jing Mu'an shrieked, trying to withdraw his hand, but he was pulled with a whoosh by the force within the gate, passing through it entirely.

On the other side of the gate, he had already become a skeleton. It swayed, then fell into the Celestial River, carried away by its currents.

Silence fell all around.

From inside the carriage, Qin Mu's calm voice resonated, "My Heavenly God realm is different from theirs."

The celestial dragon chariot drove forward, exiting the warships' encirclement.

The remaining Twenty-Seven Mansions watched in horror as the treasure chariot moved further and further away.

"A divine ability even more terrifying than Earth Count's..." someone said in a hoarse voice.

On the treasure chariot, Yan'er's eyes flickered, and she whispered, "Young Master, they always say your cultivation realm is low. Can we stay in the past to cultivate for hundreds or thousands of years?"

Qin Mu looked out the window, gazing towards the Celestial Heavens. "Wood without roots, water without a source—cultivating for any amount of time would be useless," he said.

Yan'er did not understand what he meant.

"Without the soil for reform," Qin Mu continued, "even if we stayed in the past for a thousand, ten thousand, or a hundred thousand years, we would only cultivate into ordinary Emperor's Thrones.

Qin Mu retracted his gaze and said slowly, "At that time, I would become ordinary, only fit to contend with figures like Heavenly Venerate Hao and Heavenly Venerate Huo, unable to surpass my peers or defeat the Ten Heavenly Venerates. Only by absorbing the achievements of Eternal Peace's reforms can I surpass them. All my accomplishments come from Eternal Peace's reforms, not from the past."