Chapter 1292: There Is a Great Terror in the Ancestral Sect

Qin Mu bowed in thanks. He had arrived in a rage, but now his anger had completely dissipated.

"Brother Tai Yi," he said, voicing his doubts, "the powerful beings from the previous cosmic epoch weren't that hard to deal with. Do you really need to be so cautious? Judging by that being's abilities, while intricate, they are still somewhat inferior to the strength of the Ten Celestial Venerables."

"That's because he hadn't recovered to his peak state. Once he recovers, his strength won't be inferior to that of the Ten Celestial Venerables," Young Tai Yi replied. "Moreover, he wasn't the most powerful being in the last cosmic epoch. In that epoch, there were even stronger entities who had imprinted their cultivation onto the ultimate void. They are immortal and indestructible; only the collapse of the universe can cause them to perish. These beings are even more formidable than the current Ten Celestial Venerables."

Qin Mu shivered involuntarily.

"Do you know what's beneath these tree roots?" Young Tai Yi smiled. "You only saw one mineral vein. These 100,000 Black Mountains have sixteen rings, but only the outermost ring contains mineral veins. And there are thousands of these veins."

He stopped Qin Mu, extended a finger into the bucket, and, holding a crystalline water droplet on his fingertip, said, "You possess the strongest divine eyes, but you currently cannot unleash the powers of Grand Beginning, Grand Ultimate, and Earth Count contained within them. This single drop of water can allow you to see what lies beneath the ground."

He dripped the water into Qin Mu's vertical eye between his brows. Qin Mu felt a sudden clarity in his eyes, and the Great Dao contained within the Grand Beginning eggshell and the Grand Ultimate primeval stone instantly became incredibly clear and vibrant! Even the Qin Continent, at this moment, showed lines of Youdu's Great Dao spreading out in all directions, like the retina of an eye!

He looked underground and immediately saw the outermost subterranean reaches of the 100,000 Black Mountains. There, incredibly thick mineral veins clung to the roots of the World Tree; some were close to the surface, while others were deeply buried. These mineral veins resembled the World Tree's roots, crisscrossing everywhere, becoming more ancient the deeper they went! Within the veins, various colorful shimmering lights flowed, surged, and were even somewhat blinding!

Qin Mu's voice was hoarse. "What's in the mineral veins?"

"Haven't you already seen it?" Young Tai Yi leisurely said, "The outer mineral veins are the powerful beings from the previous cosmic epoch. They wanted to come here, so they first infiltrated their weapons or their Great Dao. Over time, these formed mineral veins beneath the Great Blackwood. The one you encountered last night was just a minor figure; the truly significant ones are yet to come. Look at the other rings of the World Tree."

Qin Mu, as instructed, looked towards the second ring of the 100,000 Black Mountains. He saw that the mountain's depths also contained crisscrossing mineral veins, but most of these veins were already empty! Those mineral veins had transformed into numerous mine tunnels. Although their number wasn't as great as in the outermost ring, there were still one or two thousand.

He then looked towards the third ring, where there were also empty mine tunnels left by depleted veins, though their number was significantly smaller. The further inward towards the World Tree's core, the fewer the mine tunnels. The innermost ring had no tunnels, while the slightly outer ring only had one. This indicated that in the earliest universe, a powerful being had traveled through the World Tree to the next universe, initiating this wave of illicit crossings and inspiring powerful beings from subsequent cosmic epochs to follow suit. Ultimately, by this universe, thousands of mineral veins had formed, creating a spectacular scene of thousands of immortal and indestructible beings illicitly crossing over.

"They are parasites," Young Tai Yi said. "However, some of these beings are extraordinarily terrifying. If it hadn't been absolutely necessary back then, I wouldn't have severed the World Tree and burned it. But even so, I only managed to delay them temporarily; I couldn't prevent their arrival."

Qin Mu clenched his fist, then suddenly relaxed it, saying, "Perhaps their entry isn't necessarily a bad thing. All beings have an instinct for survival. Having experienced the universe's destruction, these individuals might be reasonable and shouldn't cause trouble."

"You are mistaken again," Young Tai Yi explained. "The reason I call them parasites is this: Look at the World Tree's earliest rings, which span eight hundred billion years. But by the outermost rings, only over six hundred million years remain. Each successive ring represents a shorter period than the one before it. It is precisely these undying beings, who refuse to perish, that are causing new universes to be destroyed more quickly."

Qin Mu fell silent.

Young Tai Yi continued, "I refer to one cosmic epoch as an Era. All these immortal old monsters crowded into a single Era would inevitably cause the new Era to collapse under the strain. For instance, to enter here, they used the World Tree to steal ancient beasts from this place, creating and deploying Void Beasts. They used Void Beasts to generate death, stealing the mass-energy of this universe to facilitate their entry into this Era."

Qin Mu's heart jolted. "Void Beasts were created by them? Wait, if they created Void Beasts, why did they fall under the control of Grand Emperor? Could Grand Emperor..."

"Grand Emperor is an ambitious schemer. The beings from the previous Era merely exploited his ambition to control the Void Beasts, creating more death to hasten their arrival," Young Tai Yi said. "Grand Emperor didn't know about this. He was consumed by his own desires and developed a fear of his own people, worrying that they might create new Grand Emperors, more Grand Emperors. So he manipulated the Void Beasts to massacre his own kin. That slaughter..." He shook his head. "The Ancestral Court was nearly destroyed because of it. The immortal monsters from the previous Era received enough sacrifices, and the 100,000 Great Blackwood Mountains became an utterly terrifying place. They are all about to descend!"

Qin Mu felt a deep fear emanating from his soul. Just one terrifying being preparing to descend last night had almost wiped out their entire force. What if even more powerful immortal beings descended together...? He couldn't imagine such a scene.

"Later, seeing the situation collapse, I transformed into the Great Dao and told all the ancient gods that the Creators had to be destroyed. If they weren't, the entire universe would be annihilated," Young Tai Yi calmly stated. "Grand Beginning, Heavenly Duke, Earth Count, Earth Mother — all the ancient gods heard my call. The war between the Creators and the ancient gods thus erupted."

Qin Mu's eyes widened as he stared blankly at him.

"The battlefield wasn't in the Ancestral Court, but in the outer starry sky, as I feared the deceased would become nourishment for the Great Blackwood. The brutality of that battle was unprecedented in history; any subsequent war, be it the Dragon Han Unification War, the Crimson Light Annihilation War, or the Emperor's Extinction War, paled in comparison," Young Tai Yi said indifferently. "Ultimately, the Creators were defeated and perished, and the surviving Creators migrated to the Primordial Realm. I told Grand Beginning and the others that there was a great terror within the Ancestral Court and that they should not enter; I instructed them to seal the Ancestral Court. They left this sacred land, sealed the Ancestral Court, and imprisoned the Void Beasts. Only I remained here. It took me hundreds of thousands of years to seal those immortal beings, preventing them from entering the Ancestral Court."

Qin Mu was silent for a moment, then said, "Until Founding Emperor cleaved open the Celestial Heavens, creating a crack in the seal."

Young Tai Yi nodded. "Until the nine of you Celestial Venerables descended, and Grand Emperor once again controlled the Void Beasts to massacre the 100,000 Black Mountains, the seal loosened again. The underground mineral veins weren't excavated by you, nor was the divine bow removed by you, yet you've taken responsibility and actively confronted the beings from the previous Era. So I thought..." He paused. "As the master of the 100,000 Black Mountains, you can bear even more."