Chapter 1184: Strange Mineral Vein

Qin Mu's seal was so subtle that it was impossible to see without close inspection.

Qin Mu smiled, "My power may not match the Eight Celestial Venerables, but my divine arts are not necessarily inferior. Although this seal appears small, it holds a vast universe within."

He propelled the fast boat towards the seal. Everyone on board felt a surge of tension; the Eight Celestial Venerables' seal was incredibly formidable. Even a slight accidental touch could unleash its power, leaving them utterly annihilated.

However, as the fast boat approached the seal at the Celestial Rift, they observed that the surrounding seals of the Eight Celestial Venerables gradually diminished, while the seal left by Qin Mu grew increasingly larger.

This change in size baffled everyone.

The fast boat entered Qin Mu's seal, revealing a direct passage into the Ancestral Court. From this passage, they could clearly discern the seals of the Eight Celestial Venerables outside.

Outside the passage, luminous streaks of Dao light shimmered—an extraordinary phenomenon created by the Eight Celestial Venerables' seals. Standing within the passage, one could admire the beauty of the eight Celestial Venerables' divine arts.

Although the fast boat was not large, its occupants were all elites from Yan Kang. They promptly took out paper, pens, and divine calculating artifacts, diligently deducing the profound mysteries contained within the Eight Celestial Venerables' divine arts.

Some young individuals sought guidance from the blind man, who patiently and meticulously offered his insights.

Seeing this, Qin Mu instructed the fast boat to slow down, allowing them ample time to delve into the Eight Celestial Venerables' divine arts.

By the time the fast boat exited the Celestial Rift, more than ten days had passed, yet the Heavenly Court's warships had still not arrived.

Qin Mu steered the fast boat towards the Great Blackwood, his expression solemn. He earnestly warned, "The Ancestral Court is extremely perilous, teeming with void beasts. These creatures can transform their bodies into void or materialize from it, appearing and disappearing unpredictably from anywhere. Everyone must exercise extreme caution! If you need to go out, always go with Shu Jun."

Shu Jun chuckled, "Yan Kang's divine arts practitioners and gods have already cultivated the Creator's divine sense techniques. Don't be nervous if you encounter void beasts. While your divine sense may not be exceptionally strong, a few of you working together can scare them away."

Everyone readily agreed.

Although the fast boat maintained a decent speed, it was still too slow compared to the Ancestral Court's boundless territory. After more than ten days of aerial travel, the boat had yet to reach the Great Blackwood.

Qin Mu also deliberately slowed down, allowing them enough time to observe the Ancestral Court's geography.

For Qin Mu, holding the Great Blackwood was secondary; these individuals were the most precious treasures. If the Great Blackwood were to fall, their knowledge of the geography would aid their escape.

"My Great Blackwood is the foremost of all treasure lands. When the Eight Celestial Venerables saw it, their gazes were peculiar, likely driven by greed," Qin Mu thought.

He mused, "Those two ancient gods in the Taiji ore vein are truly good to me!"

When the fast boat had completed half its journey, the ten grand warships of the Heavenly Court finally arrived, belatedly.

However, the movement of these ten warships was astonishing. They emerged directly from the Eight Celestial Venerables' seal, descending into the skies above the Ancestral Court. The gods and demons on board simultaneously activated various divine weapons, causing layers of brilliant runic shields to light up around the grand warships, protecting them with impenetrable defense.

Furthermore, Emperor-level experts sat aboard the warships, radiating imperial might to intimidate the massive void beasts.

Yet, strangely, the void beasts in this void realm seemed to have vanished into thin air. Despite such significant commotion, no void beasts appeared.

This was an impossible situation.

Void beasts typically rushed to devour any living creature they encountered, scrambling over each other. When food was scarce, they would even consume plants until nothing remained.

When ravenously hungry, they would even ascend to the sky to devour the sun and moon.

But now, the void beasts remained completely still. Qin Mu and his group, who had been there the longest, had not encountered any void beast attacks, making the Ancestral Court feel incredibly strange.

"The Void Mother Beast has been born," Qin Mu stated.

On the fast boat, Qin Mu's expression was grave as he surveyed the sky, his gaze piercing through layers of void.

His sight could not penetrate the void as deeply as his divine sense could, which was why he saw no trace of the void beasts.

A few more days passed, and the fast boat finally arrived at the Great Blackwood.

The people on the boat gazed at the hundred thousand Black Mountains, their expressions awestruck. This place was vast and immense, far more extensive than the Great Ruins of old!

To mine divine ore here, they wondered how long it would take.

What surprised them even more was the wondrous artifact, the Lapis Lazuli Azure Sky Banner, which had formed twenty-eight layers of heavens, appearing as worlds encircling and protecting this treasure land.

Such a feat was truly astonishing!

Only Divine King Shu Jun, upon seeing the hundred thousand Black Mountains, underwent a dramatic change in expression, seemingly wanting to speak but refraining.

As the fast boat entered the twenty-eight layers of heavens, the Mute immediately urged Qin Mu to stop the boat.

He leaped from the boat and quickly walked to the base of the outer Black Mountains of the Great Blackwood. He poked at the soil and dug out a stone.

Qin Mu landed the fast boat on the ground. Everyone disembarked and saw that the Mute held a plain, unremarkable stone, as if it had been tumbled in a river for countless years, becoming somewhat smooth and polished.

The Mute opened his box, reached inside, and pulled out a large hammer.

Everyone peered into the box, only to see a few silver pellets and nothing else.

Qin Mu smiled faintly. He, too, had once been as curious as these young people about what was inside the box, and the Mute often performed such tricks for him.

The Mute raised the hammer, intending to smash the stone, but suddenly paused, his expression solemn. "Mu'er," he said, "how sturdy are your twenty-eight layers of heavens?"

Qin Mu replied, "They're adequate. They can withstand attacks from Jade Capital and High Heavens realm experts and won't be broken in a short time."

The Mute exhaled in relief, then swung the large hammer fiercely down onto the stone, stating grimly, "That's good! If what's inside this stone gets out, it'll be hard to catch!"

*Clang!*

A tremendous clang echoed, making everyone's ears ring, preventing them from hearing anything for a long moment.

As the Mute's hammer struck, the stone split open. From within the crack, an object covered in shimmering light flew out and immediately darted away. It collided with a *clang* against the world barrier of the outer heavens of the Lapis Lazuli Azure Sky Banner and was bounced back.

The object was incredibly fast. Unable to break through with one impact, it veered elsewhere, flying for hundreds of miles in mere moments, rapidly striking the Lapis Lazuli Azure Sky Banner's world barrier repeatedly, only to be bounced back each time.

Everyone looked closely and saw a flying sword, resembling clear water under moonlight.

The flying sword itself radiated a divine light like a pure stream of moonlight, riding on light as it moved!

Qin Mu looked down at the stone, observing an empty cavity within it. The walls of the cavity were remnants of divine metal. Evidently, this sword had been nurtured from the divine metal inside the stone, and after absorbing all of it, became trapped, unable to escape.

However, this was the first time Qin Mu had ever encountered a naturally formed divine weapon!

Jiang Yunjian and the others leaped up, chasing after the streaking flying sword, hoping to subdue it. However, before they could even reach the sword, a dazzling sword light, dozens of miles long, swept towards them with terrifying power!

The divine sword was sentient, seemingly possessing its own consciousness, unwilling to fall into others' hands, and intent on slaying them.

Just as Qin Mu was about to intervene, the blind man chuckled, "Let them handle it. You're not a mother hen; you can't protect them their whole lives."