Chapter 1297: Ancestral Sect's Dark Side

Without Lunar Heavenly Venerate’s lantern, even with their teleportation divine arts, it would take them several days to return to the Hundred Thousand Black Mountains of the Great Black Wood. Qin Mu simply found a divine mountain and settled there.

Tai Shi in the egg taught him the Dao of Tai Shi, which he had comprehended himself. He said, “Without fully absorbing the power of the Tai Shi ore veins, even my understanding of my own Dao is incomplete. I am a god born from the Dao of Tai Shi, but I am not the Dao of Tai Shi itself. Only by fully absorbing the power of the Tai Shi ore veins and achieving true transcendence can I truly be considered Tai Shi. Otherwise, I am no different from other ancient gods.”

Despite this, the Dao of Tai Shi comprehended by Tai Shi in the egg was far superior to what Qin Mu had figured out on his own. Qin Mu hadn't even fully organized the runes of the Dao of Tai Shi. The Tai Shi runes he had deciphered using the runes of the Immutability divine art only accounted for one-third of the true Tai Shi runes, and there were many errors among them. It was only after being taught by Tai Shi in the egg that he could correct these mistakes.

The Dao of Tai Shi was extremely profound and difficult to comprehend. Even when Qin Mu activated Dream Entering Dao to use countless versions of himself for comprehension, progress was slow in its obscure and abstruse aspects. With Dream Entering Dao, he transformed into countless dream worlds, where innumerable Qin Mus utilized their intelligence to solve difficult problems. This was Qin Mu's unfailing method, one that even Grand Brahma Heavenly King Buddha envied and could not learn. However, he encountered difficulties while comprehending the Dao of Tai Shi.

The most terrifying aspect of comprehending the Dao of Tai Shi was the risk of virtualization. If one inadvertently entered the state of enlightenment, their body and spirit would often transform into a Tai Shi state, having form but no substance, merely a shape without a true body. Even their primordial spirit, vital qi, consciousness, and thoughts would all be virtualized, leaving only their form without their essence! Not even divine consciousness would remain! The Dao of Immutability governed matter and countered the Dao of Divine Consciousness, while the Dao of Tai Shi countered the Dao of Immutability. Therefore, the Dao of Divine Consciousness had no power to resist in the face of the Dao of Tai Shi.

His dream worlds were destroyed in this peculiar state of enlightenment, turning into nothingness. Eventually, he couldn't even wake up from these dreams, and his divine consciousness couldn't be retrieved! He couldn't help but feel a lingering fear. If his true body had attempted to comprehend, it would likely have turned into nothingness, becoming an ethereal entity devoid of knowledge, desire, or ambition.

He could only explore slowly and comprehend cautiously using Dream Entering Dao. Even when using Dream Entering Dao, he had to arrange some dreams that did not involve comprehending the Dao of Tai Shi, but rather stood guard on the periphery, waking him up in time to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control and dragging his entire being into the state of enlightenment. He comprehended for more than ten days, and although progress was slow, he gained much, gradually figuring out some of the mysteries of the Dao of Tai Shi.

One day, while he was still dreaming, tender green traces suddenly sprouted from the rocks on this barren divine mountain—grass and saplings. The greenery gradually thickened, and the saplings slowly grew. Qin Mu sensed something and immediately woke from his dream. The Tai Shi egg was beside him and also became alert. The man and the egg stood on the mountaintop, looking around, only to see the trees gradually growing taller, and the vegetation on the barren land around the divine mountain growing denser.

The greenness spread like a plague at a speed visible to the naked eye, extending to the riverbanks and climbing up mountain after mountain. Thick roots traveled underground, like earth dragons writhing and twisting beneath the surface. Occasionally, incredibly thick roots would break through the ground, then slowly sink back, hiding their tracks.

"Earth Mother Yuanjun!" Qin Mu's expression was solemn. The evilized Earth Mother Yuanjun had actually come to the Ancestral Court! Earth Mother Yuanjun had many enemies, but Qin Mu undoubtedly held a prominent position among those she hated most! "Although her strength is far from what it used to be, having been evilized by the battle of Xuandu and having devoured the vital energy of countless gods and demons there, her current strength is probably far superior to mine!"

Qin Mu took a deep breath, about to hide in the void, when he suddenly felt a slight tremor from the ground at the foot of the mountain. Countless trees grew wildly from the ground, and the vines became thicker and thicker, intertwining and crossing like flood dragons with the trees! Soon, the hundred-mile forest at the foot of the mountain transformed into a magnificent tree altar!

Qin Mu gazed intently, and the patterns and textures of every leaf on this green altar formed a strange Dao of Yuan Du! And how many leaves constituted this altar? He had never before seen such a complex and intricate altar! What was even stranger was that not water, but divine blood, flowed within these trees and vines! The divine blood flowed through the branches, trunks, and vines, emitting divine light that made these trees almost transparent, giving the entire altar an eerie atmosphere! As the divine blood flowed, countless rune patterns also appeared on the surface of the branches, trunks, and vines. These rune patterns became clearer and brighter.

Qin Mu's heart stirred. He immediately put away the Tai Shi egg, leaped backward, and instantly vanished from the divine mountain, taking the Tai Shi egg into the void. His mastery of the Dao of Tai Chu was still much stronger than that of the Dao of Tai Shi, so his physical body entering the void was not difficult. The moment he disappeared into the void, the green altar suddenly split open, and a woman slowly ascended. The altar closed, supporting the woman in its center. That woman was none other than Earth Mother Yuanjun!

However, the current Earth Mother Yuanjun had lost all the grace of the Earth Mother of old, who embodied vast virtues. Instead, her body was wreathed in malevolent and murderous qi. The bloody malevolence around her was incredibly dense, a result of countless vengeful spirits dying at her hands. These deceased vengeful spirits were the deities stationed by the Heavenly Court in Xuandu, and Earth Mother knew nothing about the Dao of Youdu, so she was completely unable to dispel this malevolence. And this malevolence would affect her judgment and, consequently, her life.

Earth Mother Yuanjun stood on the altar and immediately began to perform her ritual. Qin Mu observed from his hiding place in the void for a moment. Earth Mother Yuanjun's strength was far from recovered at this point. Her combat power should be equivalent to a strong Emperor's Throne realm practitioner with six or seven Heavenly Palaces. Of course, she was still an ancient god and possessed a portion of her Primeval Wood physical body. However, her strength could not be entirely measured by the Divine Treasure Heavenly Palace realm.

Qin Mu observed carefully. Earth Mother Yuanjun's summoning altar was similar to the Creator's summoning altar; they were quite alike, but Earth Mother Yuanjun's altar was more complex. "Earth Mother Yuanjun has a deep understanding of the Dao of Yuan Du. It should be that the Creators created the summoning altar, and because Earth Mother is an ancient god, she couldn't learn it directly, but she re-derived it using the Dao of Yuan Du."

As he thought this, bright flashes suddenly appeared from outside the sky. Powerful ancient gigantic beasts were summoned by her from the backside of the world, descending upon the Ancestral Court! The beasts Earth Mother Yuanjun had summoned previously were only young beasts, but the beasts summoned this time were larger and more powerful!

"What exactly does Earth Mother want to do?" Qin Mu wondered.

Just then, the sky suddenly became incredibly dark. Qin Mu looked up and saw that the sky was filled with colossal scales, and a head resembling a dragon's was summoned by Earth Mother Yuanjun from the backside of the world!

"One of the three great ancient Divine Kings, the mount of Divine King Boyang, Long Xiao, the overlord existing in the dark side of the Ancestral Court, descend from that world!" Earth Mother's voice rang out, and the sky became increasingly turbulent. The giant dragon head slowly opened its eyes, making the sky incredibly bright, as if two suns had suddenly appeared! Then, the sky's turbulence intensified. Another incomparably huge head emerged, followed by a third, a fourth...

Nine heads in a row filled the sky. Long Xiao's nine heads opened their eyes, and it was as if eighteen suns had suddenly appeared in the sky, scorching the mountains and rivers! Qin Mu's scalp tingled, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead: "No wonder Boyang is the 'Bo' (elder) among the three ancient kings, and Shujun is the 'Shu' (younger). So Shujun was just the younger brother among the three kings..."