Chapter 1246: Moon Lord's Strings

The beaded curtain of the Heavenly Venerable's carriage suddenly lifted, revealing not Heavenly Venerable Hao, but a divine artifact, Imperial Heavenly Venerable!

Emperor Tai's pupils constricted at the sight. "Heavenly Venerable Hao isn't in the carriage. Then where is he?"

As he thought this, the Heavenly Venerable's carriage suddenly exploded. The divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable's face twisted into a sneer as its body rapidly expanded, striking forward with a palm.

Qin Mu's expression changed slightly. He quickly retreated, holding the lantern, knowing something was amiss the moment he saw the divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable's starting stance.

This divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable was Heavenly Venerable Hao's treasure. Heavenly Venerable Hao's greatest strength lay in his physique; he was the son of the Heavenly Emperor and Lady Yuan Mu. Lady Yuan Mu was an ancient god from the Return to the Void, while the Heavenly Emperor was an ancient god of Primordial Beginning, born from the Primordial Beginning ore vein.

The most powerful aspect of their bloodline was the Heavenly Emperor's Innate Primordial Qi, the origin of all paths in the world – the "One" that gives rise to two, two to three, and three to all things!

Lady Yuan Mu's Return to the Void Grand Dao, conversely, represented the end of all things, swallowing the starry sky, consuming all paths, and ultimately returning to one.

The divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable's starting stance was precisely an ability derived from the Innate Primordial Qi.

This ability, where myriad paths merged, Qin Mu had witnessed during the battle between Emperor Kai and Heavenly Venerable Hao. Even Emperor Kai could only pierce his palm before his sword dao domain was shattered.

This ability was called the Myriad Dao Heavenly Wheel!

Although Qin Mu and his companions were far from the point of collision, for the abilities of Heavenly Venerable Hao and Emperor Tai, the distance was actually quite close. Their residual power was so immense that not only Qin Mu but even Bai Yuqiong couldn't withstand it.

The instant he retreated with the lantern, Emperor Tai and the divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable collided. Almost simultaneously, a small figure suddenly appeared behind Emperor Tai's head.

It was Heavenly Venerable Hao!

Heavenly Venerable Hao had actually appeared behind Emperor Tai, unleashing an ability. What he displayed was not the Innate Primordial Qi ability, but rather a Return to the Void ability, like the Myriad Dao Heavenly Wheel operating in reverse, transforming from one to myriad, and then from myriad back to one!

The divine artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable's ability and his own formed a cage, trapping Emperor Tai within it!

Qin Mu's expression was solemn. "Heavenly Venerable Hao is no longer the Heavenly Venerable Hao from a million years ago at Jade Pool..."

Two paramount beings collided, yet no sound came from the void. Not only was there no sound, there wasn't even a ripple.

Qin Mu grew more tense, rapidly retreating with the lantern.

Suddenly, a subtle vibration emanated from the void. Qin Mu's floating sleeves vibrated countless times in an instant, turning into dust!

The vibration propagated extremely quickly. Even with Moon Heavenly Venerable's lantern, it swiftly caught up to him.

As Qin Mu rapidly retreated, he suddenly encountered a heart demon wandering in the void.

That heart demon, a manifestation of evil in human hearts, was fierce and powerful. It was overjoyed to see him and lunged forward, intending to devour him.

Then, the heart demon suddenly shattered, exploding into incredibly fine dust!

"It's not easy to watch this battle!"

Qin Mu, holding the lantern, was contracting space when Bai Yuqiong's voice suddenly came. "Master Moon's treasure isn't used like that."

Qin Mu's heart stirred. He said in a deep voice, "Heavenly Teacher Bai, you control the lantern."

Bai Yuqiong flew out from the lantern, extended her fair hand to take it, and activated her magic power. A faint beam of light shot out from the lamp, and the space around them rapidly became incredibly minute, like a string with no thickness.

The aftermath of Emperor Tai and Heavenly Venerable Hao's abilities colliding surged towards them. The terrifying ripples plucked this string of light, as if an invisible hand were strumming a zither string.

Qin Mu and Lan Yutian, who were within the string, heard beautiful zither music. The vibrations from Emperor Tai and Heavenly Venerable Hao's collision were extremely complex, yet when transmitted onto the string, they played out an overture of the Grand Dao.

Although Qin Mu was quite familiar with Moon Heavenly Venerable, he rarely saw her use her abilities. He had always been unfamiliar with Moon Heavenly Venerable's divine powers.

In fact, when he returned to the past, although he had interacted with Moon Heavenly Venerable many times, always encountering her or those close to her, Qin Mu could see that Moon Heavenly Venerable was always a supporting character in every era—be it the early, mid, or late Dragon Han period, or the later High Emperor era.

A foil to Heavenly Venerable Yun, a foil to Heavenly Venerable Ling.

She rarely took the lead in transforming an era. She always seemed like Heavenly Venerable Yun's younger sister, or Heavenly Venerable Ling's younger sister; her brilliance was always overshadowed by them, and everyone's attention was focused on Heavenly Venerable Yun or Heavenly Venerable Ling.

However, Moon Heavenly Venerable was by no means insignificant. On the contrary, it was precisely due to her support and tireless efforts that the High Firmament Heavenly Court and the subsequent High Emperor Heavenly Court could achieve such splendor.

Qin Mu had seen her zither and also the zither of her disciple, Red Emperor Qi Xiayu. He had heard their beautiful zither music.

He had never imagined that Moon Heavenly Venerable's zither playing wasn't merely about melodies. It wasn't until Bai Yuqiong transformed the lamplight into a zither string that he realized the vastness and incredibility of Moon Heavenly Venerable's divine powers.

Her melodies were not mere musical notes but the strings of the Great Dao itself. Touching this string would produce beautiful music.

While Emperor Tai and Heavenly Venerable Hao's abilities were indeed powerful and mysterious, embodying their lifelong learning, insights, and their respective Daos, Qin Mu was now captivated by the exquisite music played by this string, as if it were the most beautiful thing of all.

He listened enthralled. The music produced by this string was not merely Moon Heavenly Venerable's path of space, but rather used the path of space to manifest the Daos of Heavenly Venerable Hao and Emperor Tai.

"This Tai Zu rhythm contains the Dao rhythm of Innate Primordial Qi! To comprehend the Dao essence of Innate Primordial Qi from this Dao rhythm, it's truly marvelous—"

Qin Mu was completely mesmerized. When he had obtained the innate runes from the Heavenly Emperor Primordial Beginning's eggshell, it had been incredibly difficult for him to grasp the mysteries of Innate Primordial Qi. But with Moon Heavenly Venerable's zither rhythm and music, the previously incomprehensible innate runes suddenly became clear.

"This Wu She rhythm is the Dao rhythm within the Supreme Divine Consciousness of Da Luo! Eh, this Dao rhythm of Supreme Divine Consciousness actually shares a remarkable similarity with Innate Primordial Qi!"

Within the string of light, Qin Mu gesticulated excitedly. He heard the same Dao essence as Innate Primordial Qi from the Dao rhythm of Supreme Divine Consciousness.

If it had been anyone else, they certainly wouldn't have known the reason, but he understood the connection.

In the Primordial Era, divine consciousness was prevalent, and there were no later generations' divine abilities or the Divine Treasure Heavenly Palace cultivation system.

The cultivation of divine consciousness in the Primordial Era was built upon the foundation of Primordial Beginning divine stones. These stones originated from the Primordial Beginning ore vein, and Heavenly Emperor Primordial Beginning's Innate Primordial Qi drew its power from the divine stones and raw ores within that same vein.

In other words, the two were interconnected!

Qin Mu had never thought of this before, but the moment Emperor Tai and Heavenly Venerable Hao collided, and the fluctuations of their Daoist abilities were transmitted to Moon Heavenly Venerable's string, he immediately realized it!

"My Innate Primordial Qi can be refined!"

Qin Mu was inexplicably excited. "My seventeenth Heavenly Palace, the Innate Heavenly Palace, can also be completed!"