Chapter 1186: The Apothecary's Celestial Palace

Shu Jun was also dumbfounded.

Throughout Creator history, Void Beasts had always been the most coveted mounts for Creator warriors. Possessing a Void Beast would dramatically elevate one's status within the tribe.

Of course, Shu Jun didn't have a Void Beast. This wasn't due to a lack of strength; on the contrary, in his previous life, he was the most powerful Creator of that era, revered as the God King!

Although Void Beasts were formidable, the Void Mother Beast was in the Grand Emperor's hands. Therefore, Shu Jun did not subdue a Void Beast; instead, he subdued another extremely powerful giant beast called the Taipu.

The Taipu's combat power was even greater, almost on par with the Void Mother Beast, though it lacked the Void Beast's elusive ability to vanish into the void.

Later, during the great upheaval at the Ancestral Court, the primeval giant beasts here became extinct. Shu Jun's Taipu also fought and died alongside him in the Blood Rust Zone.

"With the Void Mother Beast, we can control the Void Beasts to attack and harass the territories of other Celestial Venerables. If they covet our land, we'll strike where they are forced to defend!"

Qin Mu burst out laughing, "Pi, you've done an excellent job!"

The Dragon Qilin looked very pleased with himself.

Qin Mu's mind became active, and he began to scheme. "We can also preempt them. First Ancestor, Second Ancestor, I'll take you to block the gates of the various Celestial Venerables' territories!"

The First Ancestor Human Emperor chuckled, "Mu'er, you're so grown up now, and you're even Celestial Venerable Mu. You don't need us to tag along for things like blocking gates."

Qin Mu shook his head, "I'll be taking you to block the gates. Blocking gates requires powerful individuals to oversee it. I'll take you there to block the various Celestial Venerables' mining areas and observe the divine abilities of the Heavenly Court's powerhouses."

The successive Human Emperors clenched their fists tightly, their expressions grim.

Human Emperor Yishan sneered, "If I couldn't beat you, I'd beat you so badly that even Su Muzhe wouldn't recognize you!"

The other Human Emperors nodded in agreement, and the First Ancestor nodded repeatedly as well.

Qin Mu laughed heartily, "Then it's settled. I'll take care of things here first, and then I'll take you to meet them."

He led the Apothecary to a densely vegetated area on Great Black Peak and tentatively asked, "Grandpa Apothecary, are these plants spiritual medicines?"

The Apothecary bent down and carefully examined a plant. His expression grew stranger and stranger. After a long while, he straightened up and cautiously pricked a tender green leaf with a silver needle.

With a whoosh, the plant suddenly burrowed into the ground and fled.

The Apothecary frowned in thought, then took out a spiritual pill and carefully placed it in front of the small hole left by the fleeing divine plant. A moment later, the divine plant cautiously extended a branch and a leaf, tested the surroundings, and finding no danger, grew back out. It then used its roots to coil around the spiritual pill and drag it underground.

"The spiritual medicines here are all rare varieties, ones I've never seen outside."

The Apothecary looked around, his voice solemn. "As for their medicinal potency and efficacy, I'll need to examine them in detail... Eh, how strange..."

He approached another spiritual medicine. This one was so potent it had almost solidified into a tangible form, its medicinal power transforming into patterns of the Dao, manifesting as various runic phenomena.

The Apothecary was greatly shaken. He meticulously examined the structure of each segment of medicinal power. After a long time, he exhaled a stale breath and murmured, "My Dao... it's about to be achieved..."

He couldn't help but shed tears, but Qin Mu was ecstatic, looking up at the sky and murmuring, "My Dao... it's also about to be achieved..."

The Apothecary kicked him flying, fuming, "All you ever do is freeload! If you put in more effort yourself, you would have achieved it long ago!"

Qin Mu rubbed his backside and retorted self-righteously, "I'm busy with so many other things every day, running around and comprehending various divine abilities and Dao techniques. Where would I find time to study medicine? Of course, I'll freeload!"

Seeing him dare to talk back, the Apothecary wished he could stuff a handful of poison down his throat.

Qin Mu quickly left and saw the Dragon Qilin and Yan'er settling the people from Yankang. Once they were settled, Qin Mu called them over and carefully questioned them about the old man who had no fixed appearance or gender.

After a long pause, Qin Mu's eyes gleamed. "He seems to know everything? He even knew I taught you the Three Enclosures Supreme Consciousness, the Grand Luo Peerless Divine Sense, and that the Void Mother Beast was born... Before this, the Ancestral Court had always been sealed, only partially unsealed when we arrived. So, this mysterious elder must be a divine being born from that enigmatic Chaos Ore Vein."

Yan'er said, "He's been carrying buckets these past few days, repairing the shattered divine mountains. Those divine mountains are incredibly fearsome!"

"This is the Dao of matter displacement."

Qin Mu's expression was calm. "The total matter and total energy of the universe are eternally constant. The process of cosmic destruction is the transformation of matter into energy, and the process of cosmic birth is the transformation of energy into matter. Although those terrifying creatures come from universes that have already been destroyed in the past, they must still follow this principle. With this black wood, there is now a connecting passage between the past and the future."

He paced back and forth, contemplating, "They are using the Void Beasts to steal some matter from our universe and fill the past universe. Then, as matter decreases here and increases there, they can seize the opportunity to displace themselves over, coming into our world."

"In other words, in the previous universe, next to the roots of this Great Black Wood, they performed a reverse summoning to steal matter from our side. That's why you saw the piles of Void Beast corpses quickly lose their blood and muscle, and even their bones disappeared within a few days."

Qin Mu looked up into the distance, clenching his fist. "That Ancient God handled it very poorly. He sealed off the mountains of this Great Black Wood, but our universe still lacks a portion of matter, and that past universe still has an excess. They will come again sooner or later!"

"Sealing Great Black Mountain only treats the symptoms, not the root cause!"

"Well said!"

No sooner had Qin Mu finished speaking than a voice sounded, praising, "Celestial Venerable Mu speaks truly well, as expected of Celestial Venerable Mu."

Qin Mu looked in the direction of the voice and saw a scholar-like figure, who had appeared behind them unnoticed. He held a folding fan, possessed an elegant demeanor, and had a handsome yet somewhat effeminate appearance.

Qin Mu looked at the Dragon Qilin and Yan'er. Both quickly shook their heads and whispered, "Every time he comes, his gender is uncertain, his appearance is uncertain, and his race is uncertain. We don't know if it's really him."

Qin Mu bowed politely and asked, "May I ask how to address you, Dao brother?"

The scholar tapped his folding fan against his hand and returned the bow. "Later generations call me Tai Yi. Celestial Venerable Mu still holds the eggshell from when I was born!"

Qin Mu's face flushed slightly. "Seeing such a treasure, it was hard not to be tempted. Does Dao brother intend to ask for it back?"

The scholar Tai Yi shook his head. "It's useless to me now."

Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't intended to return it to Tai Yi anyway.

The scholar Tai Yi said, "Celestial Venerable Mu, we have actually met before."

Qin Mu was greatly surprised. "May I ask where we met?"

"A million years ago, I transformed into a Great Kun, carrying Celestial Venerable Mu, Celestial Venerable Qin, and others as we roamed the Dragon Han Heavenly Court."

"Six hundred thousand years ago, when the Heavenly Court split, and the Great Sun Star Lord released the Howling Celestial Dogs to search for Celestial Venerable Gong, I was one of those dogs and ran past you. When the Heavenly River fell, I was a panicked mortal fleeing for his life under Celestial Venerable Mu's feet."