Chapter 1201: Plucking Feng Yu

Dragon Count King was completely stripped of his dragon scales, even his reverse scale, leaving no more scales to pluck. Qin Mu also plucked many of his dragon whiskers before finally stopping.

"We're just a hair's breadth away from success!"

Qin Mu, overjoyed, waved to Feng Qiuyun and smiled, "Sister Qiuyun, I need to borrow something from you!"

Feng Qiuyun's face turned ashen. Steeling herself, she walked forward, gritted her teeth, plucked a phoenix feather, and declared, "My phoenix feathers have been tempered countless times; each one is an extraordinary treasure. In the Primordial Realm, people would fight over them!"

Dragon Count King angrily retorted, "Our Dragon Count scales are a hundred times more precious than your phoenix feathers. We've all been stripped bare; do you still intend to keep yours?"

Feng Qiuyun ignored him and handed the phoenix feather to Qin Mu.

Qin Mu reassured her, "It's almost a success, truly almost a success."

Feng Qiuyun replied, "That's what you said when you plucked the scales off the third Dragon Count."

Qin Mu laughed, "This time is different; this time, it truly is almost a success."

*Boom—*

Wei Suifeng flicked his sleeve, and a vibrant, multicolored sun appeared in the sky. Feng Qiuyun looked up at it, her face etched with distress.

Her phoenix feathers were gradually thinning. Unbeknownst to her, she had plucked and given half of them to Qin Mu for experiments. However, just as before, Qin Mu's previous attempts had always gone smoothly until the last moment, where they would fail, causing the feather's mass-energy to reverse and explode on the spot.

Each time Qin Mu's experiment failed, he would ponder deeply, and these periods of contemplation grew increasingly long.

Unbeknownst to them, another half month passed. Even Wei Suifeng was tormented to the point of losing his composure, feeling despair inwardly, but he forced himself to endure.

As the renowned Emperor Yunluo, he had weathered great storms and witnessed the rise and fall of countless heroes. He knew deeply that what destroys a person is not external factors, but their own Dao heart. He knew how many heroes had their Dao heart collapse due to setbacks, never to recover. Though he understood this principle, when faced with the situation, he couldn't help but feel a certain despair.

"Junior brother, however, seems to have always maintained his original resolve. Logically, repeated failures should affect him the most, yet he acts as if nothing happened... No, he acts like someone completely unburdened, as if he hasn't experienced any setbacks at all!" He was both puzzled and filled with admiration for Qin Mu. "His indomitable spirit," he thought, "this might be why he is revered as Heavenly Venerate Mu, and why I am inferior to him."

Suddenly, Qin Mu's voice was calm as he announced, "It's done."

Everyone became excited and quickly looked at his hand, where Qin Mu was indeed holding a complete phoenix feather!

Qin Mu gently shook the phoenix feather, which shimmered with seven-colored light, emitting dazzling divine radiance and imbued with inherent divine power.

Qin Mu appeared utterly calm, yet the light within his body gradually brightened, though he quickly suppressed it again.

"Everyone, please don't get too excited." Qin Mu advised everyone, "Be careful of explosions. Sister Qiuyun, I need to experiment a few more times to solidify the success rate."

Feng Qiuyun gritted her teeth, reached out, and plucked over a dozen more phoenix feathers, hastily asking, "Is that enough?"

Qin Mu looked troubled and said, "Using only the Grand Ultimate Divine Stone for experiments should be enough; even if there are failures, the chance isn't too high. However, I still need to experiment with the Grand Ultimate Primeval Stone. Its power is incomparably greater than the Grand Ultimate Divine Stone, so..."

Feng Qiuyun, expressionless, fiercely plucked about a hundred phoenix feathers, handed them all to him, then turned and left, stating calmly, "I'm going to find something to wear. Call me when your experiments are successful."

Qin Mu nodded and carefully put the phoenix feathers away.

Wei Suifeng whispered, "Junior brother, can't you manage without phoenix feathers? I think using hair pulled from our own heads for experiments would also work."

"What?! I forgot!" Qin Mu exclaimed in surprise.

In the distance, Feng Qiuyun stumbled, falling to the ground before quickly scrambling back up and walking away without a backward glance.

Qin Mu then experimented with the Grand Ultimate Divine Stone over ten more times, finally stabilizing the success rate. After that, he took out the Grand Ultimate Primeval Stone and continued his attempts with it.

The path of Yin-Yang evolution contained within the Grand Ultimate Primeval Stone was even more complex and difficult to grasp. Qin Mu experienced dozens more failures, and after each one, he would summarize his findings and ponder the evolution of Taiji and Yin-Yang. Although he hadn't yet succeeded, his understanding of the Dao of Taiji grew much deeper, and his comprehension more profound.

"It's a pity I can't enter the Dao in dreams and deduce the way of Taiji using the dream world," Qin Mu mused. "Otherwise, it wouldn't take long to fully comprehend the principles contained within this Grand Ultimate Primeval Stone." Qin Mu sighed inwardly. The Grand Ultimate Primeval Stone contained many unfathomable principles, far beyond simple mass-energy conversion. It encompassed the evolution of the Grand Dao itself, profound and mysterious, not something he could decipher quickly.

However, he was already quite confident in using the Grand Ultimate Primeval Stone for mass-energy conversion. Now, the task was to stabilize the success rate. He was completely confident in using the Grand Beginning Divine Stone to transform everyone's energy bodies into living beings. However, the Grand Ultimate Divine Stone could only restore their physical bodies and divine power, not their Dao arts. The Grand Ultimate Primeval Stone, however, was different. Using the Grand Ultimate Primeval Stone for the transformation could restore everyone to their most perfect state, even stronger and more flawless than before! Of course, for those whose hair and scales had been completely plucked, these could not be instantly restored and would have to grow back naturally.

Qin Mu continued experimenting with the remaining phoenix feathers and finally succeeded. After being restored by the Grand Ultimate Primeval Stone, the feather shimmered with a seven-colored radiance, its divine power abundant and even imbued with the Dao charm of the Phoenix race's Grand Dao!

Qin Mu gently waved the phoenix feather, and a flash of seven-colored light instantly pulverized the mountain ahead.

"This phoenix feather is even stronger than Feng Qiuyun's original ones!" He nodded gently. Wei Suifeng, Dragon Count King, and the others watched him with expectant faces, awaiting his word.

Qin Mu, however, continued his experiments, aiming for a 100% success rate. Without realizing it, he had experimented with all the remaining phoenix feathers. The success rate grew higher and higher, with very little chance of failure. Only then did he sigh in relief and smile, "Everyone, I can restore you now."

Feng Qiuyun walked over, her expression filled with excitement.

Qin Mu pondered for a moment, then gave Wei Suifeng a subtle look. Understanding, Wei Suifeng said, "First, let's restore a few Imperial Forest Army soldiers, just in case of failure, and then we'll restore ourselves."

Qin Mu smiled, "These Imperial Forest Army soldiers are truly admirable for their selfless sacrifice."

Feng Qiuyun and Dragon Count King knew perfectly well that Qin Mu and Wei Suifeng said this primarily because they worried that if Dragon Count King and Feng Qiuyun were restored first, the two might rebel and seize the opportunity to kill everyone. The Imperial Forest Army soldiers, however, were different. They only obeyed the orders of their Commander, and Wei Suifeng was their Commander, the leader in their hearts whom they had long since revered. Their loyalty to Wei Suifeng even surpassed their loyalty to the Heavenly Emperor!

Wei Suifeng called over a few soldiers. Qin Mu immediately activated the Grand Beginning Primeval Stone, and the energy within the first Imperial Forest Army soldier gradually began to form a heart, which slowly materialized. It was a divine heart! From this divine heart, blood vessels extended in all directions, spreading throughout the body. Following these vessels, bones and internal organs also slowly formed. As it reached the locations of the major divine treasures, these too began to form!

Suddenly, Wei Suifeng gasped in surprise. He noticed that this Imperial Forest Army soldier's Divine Bridge Divine Treasure had not been restored; instead, it had transformed into a Heavenly River Divine Treasure!

"Junior brother is transforming him!" Wei Suifeng thought. "That fellow is still so audacious. What if he makes a mistake?"