Chapter 1118: Ling Tianzun's Handwritten Notes

The West Heaven.

At Cloud Luo Celestial Palace, on the Spiritual Energy Transfer Bridge, a beam of light descended, transforming into a Celestial Dragon Chariot on the bridge.

Qin Mu stepped out of the chariot and looked around. Cloud Luo Celestial Palace was in ruins, with collapsed palaces everywhere. Some of the divine metals and materials used in the palaces had been dismantled and taken away, leaving only crumbling walls.

It looked as if the place had been ransacked; everything of value had been plundered, leaving nothing intact.

Currently, only a few scattered gods, white-haired, gaunt, and raggedly dressed, guarded Cloud Luo Celestial Palace. From a distance, they peered timidly at Qin Mu's chariot, hesitant to approach.

Yan'er flew over, and the gods scrambled to flee, but in the next instant, Yan'er caught them and threw them to the ground.

"Mercy, High God!" the gods pleaded, kowtowing repeatedly.

Qin Mu frowned slightly and asked, "Why has Cloud Luo Celestial Palace fallen into such a state?"

"High God, you don't know," one tattered god wailed, "after the former Cloud Luo Emperor's incident, the Celestial Heavens never sent a new Cloud Luo Emperor to guard this place. The Three Pillar Heavens and the Nine Provinces have been plagued by rampant bandits who repeatedly raided and plundered Cloud Luo Celestial Palace."

He continued, sobbing, "Originally, many of our brothers guarded this place, but they were captured and enslaved, leaving only us, the old, weak, sick, and disabled. Just two days ago, another group of bandits came and ransacked the place. Since they couldn't find anything valuable, they bled us old brothers dry, taking our divine blood, claiming it was for refining treasures…"

Qin Mu was astonished. "Why didn't you report this to the Celestial Heavens?" he asked.

"We dared not."

The old gods cried out, "Those demon kings warned us that if we dared to report to the Celestial Heavens, they would kill us and use us as appetizers for their drinks!"

Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Standing above Cloud Luo Celestial Palace, he looked around. The palace was situated at a high elevation between West Heavenly Pillars One, Two, Three, and the Nine Provinces, offering a panoramic view of both the Nine Provinces and the Three Pillar Heavens.

"Pillar One, Pillar Two" referred to the Pillar Heavens.

The Pillar Heavens were worlds shaped like immense pillars. From a distance, Qin Mu saw three such Pillar Heavens suspended above the Nine Provinces, where stars converged to form celestial pillar worlds.

The Nine Provinces of the West Heaven were: Shenzhou in the southeast, called Morning Earth; Angzhou in the south, called Deep Earth; Rongzhou in the southwest, called Surging Earth; Yanzhou in the west, called Open Earth; Jizhou in the center, called White Earth; Zhuzhou in the northwest, called Fertile Earth; Xuanzhou in the north, called Accomplished Earth; Xianzhou in the northeast, called Hidden Earth; and Yangzhou in the east, called Trust Earth.

Each of these Nine Provinces had its own ancient god, and ancient gods also resided in the Three Pillar Heavens, known as the Three Pillar Gods.

Cloud Luo Celestial Palace was constructed between the Three Pillar Heavens and the Nine Provinces.

During the mid-to-late period of the Dragon Han era, the Celestial Heavens ascended and departed from the Primordial Realm. The Dragon Han dynasty split, and the Right Gods of the Celestial Stars and the Four Emperors of the Ancient Gods each left the Primordial Realm and the Celestial Heavens, migrating to various parts of the universe.

The Four Extremity Heavens were the abodes of the Four Emperors of the Ancient Gods, while the West, East, South, and North Heavens were ruled by the White Emperor, Azure Emperor, Crimson Emperor, and Black Emperor, respectively.

These four emperors, known as the Four-Color Great Emperors (distinguished by the color in their titles), were different from the Four Emperors of the Ancient Gods, having ascended through cultivation as postcelestial beings or demigods.

The Four Emperors wielded immense power, each commanding four great celestial palaces. Cloud Luo Celestial Palace was one of the four great palaces in the West Heaven, serving as a vassal under the White Emperor.

From the Dragon Han era to the present, wars had been ceaseless. The Four-Color Great Emperors were replaced generation after generation; whenever one fell in battle, the Celestial Emperor would promote an Emperor's Throne realm expert to take their place.

The only one who had never been replaced was the Black Emperor Yin Chaojin, also known as the Yin Son of Heaven, who firmly held the position of Black Emperor, ruling the North Heaven and establishing the Underworld Capital.

The area guarded by Cloud Luo Celestial Palace was only a portion of the West Heaven; three other major celestial domains combined to form the complete West Heaven.

"It's truly remarkable that Senior Brother alone can suppress twelve ancient gods."

Qin Mu looked down at the Nine Provinces world. He saw that the provinces were connected, inhabited by many demigod races and postcelestial beings. As he gazed, he witnessed a sky filled with murderous aura and blood-red light, indicating rampant warfare throughout the Nine Provinces world!

From his vantage point, he could discern terrifying fluctuations created by divine abilities, with mushroom clouds rising one after another, accompanied by intense divine light.

"The Nine Provinces world and the Three Pillar Heavens are both guarded by ancient gods, so why is there such chaos?" Qin Mu asked.

A white-haired god shook his head. "The twelve ancient gods guarding this place don't concern themselves with worldly affairs; why would they bother with this? When the villains below wage war, they even offer flesh and blood sacrifices to them, upon which they descend and wreak havoc."

Qin Mu's brows furrowed slightly. "What about the Cloud Luo Emperor's disciples?" he inquired.

"After the Cloud Luo Emperor was captured, they fled. Most likely, they became demons and monsters in the lower realms. I suspect they were among those who plundered Cloud Luo Palace."

An old god added, "A few days ago, someone from the Celestial Heavens also came looking for them. Failing to find them here, they went to the lower realms and haven't returned since."

Qin Mu waved his hand, dismissing them. Yan'er, feeling pity, gave the gods some spiritual pills to fill their stomachs.

The gods expressed their heartfelt gratitude, hurriedly ate the pills, and shed tears, saying, "It's been so long since we've eaten anything so delicious! For the past few years, we've been surviving by gnawing on tree bark and leaves from the palace. Not long ago, those damnable raiders even carried off the divine trees, leaving us with no bark to chew…"

As they spoke of their plight, these elderly gods embraced each other and wept bitterly.

Qin Mu took out Wei Suifeng's geographical map and compared it with the layout of Cloud Luo Celestial Palace. He found the marked location on the map, but it was just a pile of rubble, completely empty.

Qin Mu frowned slightly, then raised his hand and swept it. The rubble floated into the air, forming a grand hall which then slowly descended.

Qin Mu entered the hall and looked around. On the ceiling, he noticed a fragmented star map.

He approached the star map for a closer look. It was incomplete, making it difficult to discern what the full star map originally looked like.

Qin Mu pondered for a moment, then his vital qi surged, transforming into individual stars to complete the map.

He had some understanding of Wei Suifeng's Heavenly Combat Dao technique, as it also originated from the Great Creation Demonic Scripture. Therefore, completing the star map was not difficult for him.

As the star map was completed, an item fell from it: a potted plant.

Qin Mu raised his hand to catch the potted plant. It was a rectangular pot containing miniature rockeries and trees, surrounded by water. Beside the central rockery stood a small, gnarled pine tree with twisted branches. Beneath the pine was a tiny house with a courtyard.

The small house had three rooms on each side and three in the main hall. It had doors and windows, and light emanated from inside. Through the windows, he could see stacks of papers on tables and chairs, a teapot, and steam still rising from a teacup.

"Ling Tianzun's manuscripts!"

Qin Mu's heart pounded. This was no ordinary potted plant; Wei Suifeng had used spatial divine abilities to shrink Ling Tianzun's former residence and place it inside the pot!

Ling Tianzun's former residence was very simple. After her death, the Celestial Heavens took away all her manuscripts and even relocated her residence.

Later, Ling Tianzun's residence was stolen, and the culprit was Wei Suifeng!

"I've finally found Ling Tianzun's manuscripts!"

Qin Mu's heart raced. He looked into the other rooms, which were filled with countless manuscripts. Clearly, Ling Tianzun had dedicated immense effort to researching the Dao of Creation and the Unchanging Divine Ability.

"With these manuscripts, I can comprehend Ling Tianzun's Unchanging Divine Ability and Creation Divine Ability. I can even reverse-engineer the Dao runes of the Grand Primordium Egg based on the Unchanging Divine Ability, thereby unraveling it!"