Chapter 1071: Innate Taiji Egg Formation

The spherical egg had still not hatched. Qin Mu treated Wei Suifeng’s injuries, mending his broken bones. Wei Suifeng flexed his hand, gazing at the massive, round egg with a solemn expression. “Did you see it?” he asked. “What kind of Great Dao is this?”

Qin Mu nodded, his face more serious than ever before. He said in a deep voice, “I saw it, and I heard it too. This is indeed an ancient god’s egg. The ancient god within is extraordinarily unique; once it matures, I fear it won’t be much inferior to the Celestial Emperor. The Great Dao within the egg seems to be a tangible yet formless union of yin and yang, which has a powerful suppressive effect on Celestial Venerable Ling’s Unchanging Divine Art! Senior Brother, have you ever heard of such a Great Dao?”

The Unchanging Divine Art had encountered its nemesis for the first time. "Material Unchanging" was a divine art based on the state of matter, whereas the "tangible yet formless union of yin and yang" was tangible but lacked material substance, truly subverting Celestial Venerable Ling's divine art.

Wei Suifeng shook his head. “I’ve seen most of the ancient gods’ Great Daos. I’ve even visited the Dao Ancestor’s Scripture Pavilion, and there’s no record of this Great Dao there. I’ve never heard of a divine art that could counteract Celestial Venerable Ling’s.”

The two circled the spherical egg several times, finding it very troublesome. However, Wei Suifeng and the Imperial Forest Army soldiers were more excited. If the Great Dao within the ancient god egg could break the "Material Unchanging" divine art, they could free the ghost ship from its unmoving state and escape their predicament!

Qin Mu’s eyes flickered. “This ancient god might be the key to rescuing you all and freeing Celestial Venerable Ling… The Celestial Emperor of the ancient gods was named Tai Chu, a name given to him by Emperor Tai. Since the ancient god in this egg has a connection with us, I shall name it Tai Shi.”

Wei Suifeng couldn’t help but say, “Junior Brother, if this ancient god hatches, it might well become another Celestial Emperor!”

Qin Mu put away the ancient god egg. “Tai Chu was a divine being born from the Primeval Stone mine, conceived by drawing power from it. This Tai Shi egg most likely also requires the power of a special mine in the Ancestral Court. If I leave it here, it won’t be able to hatch. I, on the other hand, can study this Tai Shi Great Dao.”

Wei Suifeng felt a faint unease. “Then, Junior Brother, you must remember not to take the Tai Shi egg to the Ancestral Court. Otherwise…”

Qin Mu nodded solemnly. He then took out various treasures he had acquired from the Zhaoyang Hall. The deck was piled high with them, including even divine mountains and treasure mountains—all naturally formed artifacts!

Wei Suifeng was startled and exclaimed, “Junior Brother, did you raid the Celestial Emperor’s treasury? So many treasures!”

“Mmm!” Qin Mu replied loudly, his voice filled with delight.

Wei Suifeng gazed at the treasures, genuinely tempted. Even among the ancient gods, such items were rare, yet here was an entire boatload!

“So many extraordinary treasures…”

He couldn’t help but gasp, reaching out to gently touch a Dragon Blood Treasure Tree. As his palm made contact, the tree suddenly radiated brilliant light.

Wei Suifeng immediately felt an extraordinary affinity between the treasure tree and vital qi. Moreover, being beneath the tree gave him a sensation of closeness to the Dao, as if he could enter a state of enlightenment at any moment!

Even stranger, he realized that if vital qi sigils were imprinted on the Dragon Blood Treasure Tree’s branches and leaves, it would undoubtedly be exceptionally smooth!

“This treasure tree can definitely be forged into a powerful artifact!”

Wei Suifeng couldn’t help but exclaim in wonder, muttering, “Even a single branch could be refined into an incredible treasure, enough for a strong practitioner at the Emperor’s Throne realm! I’ve also been to the ancient Dragon Han era and served as a general in the Imperial Forest Army, so I’ve seen a lot. While I’ve seen many treasures, most don’t compare to this boatload of yours, Junior Brother. Only one treasure is better than what you ‘borrowed’ from the Celestial Emperor’s treasury.”

Qin Mu took out the remaining few pieces of Primeval Stone. After checking them and finding no trace of Emperor Tai’s lingering consciousness, he relaxed. Curiously, he asked, “Whose treasure? How could it surpass the Celestial Emperor’s collection?”

Emperor Tai’s Primeval Stone had been shattered into many pieces; he had given a larger piece to Celestial Venerable Cloud, and Qin Mu intended to refine these remaining pieces into his own vertical eye between his brows.

He tried to piece them together but couldn’t form a complete Primeval Stone; it seemed another six or seven fragments were missing.

“The Northern Emperor Xuanwu’s family has a treasure that is truly a peerless wonder!”

Wei Suifeng spoke of the Northern Emperor Xuanwu’s family treasure with endless praise. “The Northern Emperor and his wife reportedly gathered various ancient treasures to forge an extraordinary artifact called the Lapis Lazuli Azure Sky Banner. I saw it once; Crown Prince Youming took me to see it. It truly is the greatest treasure under heaven; no other artifact can compare to it! While you have many treasures ‘stolen’ from the Celestial Emperor’s family, none can match the Lapis Lazuli Azure Sky Banner.”

Qin Mu picked up a piece of Primeval Stone and brought it to his brow. Suddenly, a surge of power from his brow captured the Primeval Stone.

The Primeval Stone instantly vanished into his brow, merging with the Primeval Stone already in his vertical eye!

Qin Mu was delighted and took out the second piece.

“The Lapis Lazuli Azure Sky Banner? Is that the treasure that Northern Emperor’s son, Crown Prince Youming, was tricked out of by that unscrupulous couple? Is this Lapis Lazuli Azure Sky Banner really so powerful that even the Celestial Emperor’s treasures can’t compare?”

He thought for a moment. The Northern Emperor Xuanwu was an ancient god conjured by the Ju Yu Clan, Emperor Tai’s tribe. The Ju Yu Clan was the most powerful tribe in primeval times, controlling immense resources.

It was possible that during the war between the Creation Spirts and the ancient gods, the Northern Emperor Xuanwu and his wife seized the opportunity to plunder the Ju Yu Clan’s treasury.

Wei Suifeng was still recalling his encounter with the Lapis Lazuli Azure Sky Banner, and he sighed in admiration again. “It truly is the greatest treasure under heaven! If you saw it, you’d be amazed too. The Lapis Lazuli Azure Sky Banner is incredibly wondrous; if you bow and pay homage to it, it will transform into twenty-four layers of Lapis Lazuli Heavens. It truly is impervious to all techniques, invulnerable to anything!”

Qin Mu placed the other Primeval Stones at his brow, one by one. Each stone merged with his third divine eye, colliding and becoming one.

He blinked, noticing no difference from usual. However, when he activated the Three-Pillars Tyrant Body Art, his divine consciousness advanced rapidly, improving several times faster than before!

He sighed as if in a dream, “There’s a reason Emperor Tai was able to become Emperor Tai. I only have at most half of the Primeval Stone here, yet it can boost my divine consciousness so quickly. If I were to find a complete Primeval Stone, the speed of my divine consciousness cultivation would be unimaginable!”

Wei Suifeng was still lost in thought about the Lapis Lazuli Azure Sky Banner, a look of longing on his face as he murmured to himself, “The treasures hanging within that Lapis Lazuli Azure Sky Banner are even more numerous than what you ‘stole’ from the Celestial Emperor’s treasury…”

“Senior Brother, most of these treasures probably came from the Ancestral Court. Go ahead and pick one,” Qin Mu said with a smile.

Wei Suifeng snapped out of his reverie and hurried among the various treasures, examining their quality. The more he looked, the harder it became to choose.

These heavy treasures from the Ancestral Court had been meticulously selected by the Creation Spirits over countless eons. Each one was exceptionally outstanding; not only were they impossible to find in the Primordial Realm, but it would be difficult to find even one if one searched the entire cosmos!

Any remaining treasures were likely held by immensely powerful ancient gods or demigod leaders!

Wei Suifeng pondered for a long while, wanting every single item. Ultimately, he chose a divine mountain. “My old brothers on the ghost ship have followed me for so many years,” he said, “and once we’re free, they’ll probably be behind the times. Their Jade Capital and High Heavens realms back then are now, at best, comparable to the Jade Pool realm of today’s celestials. I’ll refine this divine mountain into a treasure, and everyone can get a piece, to at least boost their strength. Please give me these palace lanterns too.”

Qin Mu nodded. The palace lanterns were used in the Celestial Emperor’s treasury to guard the treasures; they were useless to him and would just take up space if he stored them in his Qin Continent.

Wei Suifeng put away the palace lanterns, smiling. “These palace lanterns are also refined from powerful artifacts. With so many of them, a slight modification could turn them into a Thousand Lantern Grand Array, guarding the ghost ship.”

Qin Mu put away the other treasures and looked at the Imperial Forest Army soldiers on the ghost ship. “They were once the most outstanding talents selected from various races,” he said. “If they could train in Eternal Peace for a few years, their strength would certainly increase greatly. Their future achievements would be limitless!”

Wei Suifeng glanced at him. “That depends on whether you can rescue us.”

Qin Mu frowned deeply. He still wasn’t very confident about breaking Celestial Venerable Ling’s Unchanging Divine Art, unless he could thoroughly research the Great Dao of the ancient god Tai Shi.

“I spent some time under the tutelage of various Heavenly Venerables in the Celestial Heavens,” Wei Suifeng said. “Although I didn’t learn their true abilities, I did see many Emperor’s Throne cultivation techniques.”

Wei Suifeng tidied the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Chariot for him, blinking. “Many of the Emperor’s Throne cultivation techniques I couldn’t learn, but I copied them down. If you follow the map I give you, you can find these techniques.”

Qin Mu was torn between laughter and tears. “You have them on you, just give them to me directly! Why make me follow a map to ‘rescue’ me?”

Wei Suifeng shook his head. “I was lurking in the Celestial Heavens, knowing it would be difficult to hide from the Ten Heavenly Venerables. I didn’t know when I might die, so I hid the Emperor’s Throne cultivation techniques I collected in places I’ve traveled. Junior Brother, Celestial Venerable Ling’s notes are also in one of those places. After you rescue the Southern Emperor, you must go there.”

Qin Mu chuckled. “Senior Brother, you’re right here! Just teach them to me directly. Why do I need to search for them using those maps?”

He suddenly realized and asked suspiciously, “Could it be that you didn’t learn them?”

Wei Suifeng’s face flushed. Annoyed, he said, “How could I not learn them? I just disdain learning other people’s techniques. I absorb the strengths of their techniques and integrate them into my Heavenly Dipper Dao Art. I want to forge my own path; I am destined to become a saint! How could I not learn them? Hehe…”

The smile on his face gradually twisted.

Qin Mu stopped prodding him. Wei Suifeng was the disciple most diligently taught by Saint Qiao Fu. Among the three disciples, Wei Suifeng had trained with Saint Qiao Fu the longest and had likely picked up Saint Qiao Fu’s habit of biting off more than he could chew.

Of course, Wei Suifeng was still better off than Qiao Fu. Qiao Fu’s cultivation path encompassed 360 trades and 360 types of acquired Great Daos, which was also the origin of the 360 halls of the Heavenly Saint Sect.

For this very reason, Qiao Fu’s cultivation realm was fixed at the Jade Terrace realm; he spent his entire life unable to ascend the God-Slaying Platform.

With 360 types of acquired Great Daos, if Qiao Fu’s primordial spirit were to ascend the God-Slaying Platform, it would be struck down 360 times!

Given Qiao Fu’s habit of biting off more than he could chew, being struck down once would likely be enough to make him cry out in despair.

Although Wei Suifeng also had a tendency to take on too much, he at least cultivated to the Emperor’s Throne realm.

The ghost ship burst through the water’s surface with a roar, sailing into the mist of the Heavenly River.

“Junior Brother, you only have four chances left,”

Wei Suifeng watched the imperial chariot drive away from the ship, reminding loudly, “Don’t waste all your chances on rescuing the Southern Emperor. You can save one or two opportunities for something more meaningful.”

Qin Mu leaned out of the chariot window, waved at him, and laughed, “Last time was half successful; this time, it will definitely succeed!”

“Don’t jinx it!”

Wei Suifeng seemed a little nervous, admonishing, “I think you’re a jinx. You always say that, and it never works out.”

Qin Mu burst into laughter, retracting into the chariot. A long, melodious song drifted from his lips, echoing through the mist. The tune was rich and drawn-out, like a comforting old wine, leaving a taste of both melancholy and grandeur.

“My body is now in the Grand Luo Heaven!Drunk in a haze, upon the misty Jade Capital Mountain. After chanting the Daoist melodies and the pure banquet ends, I know not what year it is tonight?Seas turn into mulberry fields again!”

Wei Suifeng listened to the song, watching the chariot disappear into the depths of the mist, and shook his head with a smile. “How sentimental. I wonder who he learned that from.”

From his generation onward, the leaders of the Heavenly Saint Sect were always versatile. Wei Suifeng himself had once been a dashing and unrestrained character. He could discern from Qin Mu’s lyrics that Qin Mu was expressing his ambitions through song.

What year is it tonight?I am in the Grand Luo Heaven!

“Junior Brother’s grand ambitions are truly evident!” Wei Suifeng praised.

The singing stopped, and the Heavenly Dragon Imperial Chariot arrived on the Heavenly River, heading towards the High Heavens Celestial Court.

“I left a letter for the Southern Emperor, asking her to find Celestial Venerable Yue, give one of her feathers to Celestial Venerable Yue, and secretly split off a soul for reincarnation. So, I only need to find Celestial Venerable Yue and obtain that feather to complete this trip.”

Qin Mu was full of confidence, looking towards the High Heavens Celestial Court in the distance. He saw that the scale of this human Celestial Court had grown much larger than before, and he felt a sense of unfamiliarity upon arriving there.

From afar, he heard a woman singing on the Heavenly River, her voice graceful and melodious: “A hundred rivers flow to the vast sea, myriad stars encircle the North Star. Shining brightly in the glorious heavens, flowing far into distant streams.Amidst collapsing heaven and earth, a king saves the people. Once the realm is cleansed, all heroes will surely arrive.”

Qin Mu followed the sound and saw a woman in red at the bow of a towering ship, seeming almost ready to fly in the wind, singing towards the High Heavens Celestial Court with an indescribable sense of freedom.

Qin Mu involuntarily felt a fondness for her. He ordered Dragon Qilin to stop the chariot and listened to the woman in red sing.

Yan’er chuckled, “Master, this woman actually bears some resemblance to me.”

Her voice startled the woman in red on the ship. The woman looked over, her expression slightly displeased, as the speaker was a chubby green sparrow, almost growing sideways. Naturally, she was quite unhappy and retorted quickly, “How am I similar to this silly bird?”

However, Yan’er’s words enlightened Qin Mu. He carefully observed the young woman in red and indeed saw a slight resemblance to Yan’er in her features. He laughed, “You really do look alike!”

The young woman in red, her skirt fluttering, a Vermilion Bird feather tucked behind her elegant head, retorted indignantly, “How am I alike? She’s so fat!”