Chapter 1510: Living Beings Compete to Cross

Qin Mu walked past the palaces of these enlightened beings, stopping at each one to study the profound principles of the Great Dao contained within. He gained a great deal.

Comparing the Grand Heavenly Court method of the Woodcutter—which involved thirty-six Heavenly Palaces and seventy-two Treasure Halls—the palaces in the Ancestral Court's Jade Capital City did not follow the path of the innate Dao protecting the acquired Dao, but rather the innate protecting the innate.

"If Teacher Woodcutter's method works, it might be possible to escape the control of the Miluo Palace Master."

Qin Mu pondered. In the Woodcutter's method, the seventy-two Treasure Halls represented the innate Dao, while the thirty-six Heavenly Palaces represented the acquired Dao. The innate protected the acquired, allowing one to cultivate a true Heavenly Court realm with a stable foundation.

Although there appeared to be only a difference of thirty-six Heavenly Palaces between the two methods, there was a fundamental distinction: the Woodcutter's approach prioritized the acquired Dao, with the innate Dao serving merely as an auxiliary.

The Woodcutter himself had not cultivated this method, but instead passed it on to Jiang Baigui.

Back when Taihuangtian was spreading his teachings, the former Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace ascended the altar. After a series of questions from the Woodcutter Sage and Jiang Baigui's answers, the Woodcutter expressed his approval, allowing him to ascend the altar.

Jiang Baigui then spent several years choosing the thirty-six most suitable Great Daos from the three hundred and sixty acquired Great Daos, thus selecting his own cultivation path.

The Woodcutter Sage had merely theorized that this method could cultivate a true Heavenly Court, creating a grand master who would surpass the Ten Celestials. However, he could not assist with whether the Heavenly Court could actually be formed; that depended solely on Jiang Baigui's own wisdom.

"My third junior brother has already opened his acquired Heavenly Palaces and cultivated the seventy-two Treasure Halls using his own method, so he doesn't need to come to Jade Capital City. The Jade Capital realm is no longer a trap for him."

Qin Mu continued forward, feeling a surge of emotion. His own cultivation path had been fraught with difficulties, but Jiang Baigui's path was already smooth sailing.

If Jiang Baigui cultivated to the Emperor's Throne realm, he would be the culmination of millions of years of civilization, unsurpassed by any other!

"Strange, the Ten Celestials have split into two factions."

He stopped before another palace, examining the traces of battle there. He noticed that the attackers were no longer Celestial Venerable Hao and his group, but rather Celestial Venerable Xiao, Consort Yan, and others.

The ten Celestials had split into two groups, fighting among themselves. From the footprints they left, one group was led by Celestial Venerable Hao, and the other by Celestial Venerable Xiao.

"The Ten Celestials have fractured. Oddly, judging by the footprints, there are only nine Celestials; Consort Qiang is not among them..."

Qin Mu made his assessment: the Ten Celestials were circling the outer palaces, studying the Great Daos contained within each one. Clearly, in addition to Celestial Venerable Hao receiving guidance from a "master" and understanding the function of the seventy-two Treasure Halls, Celestial Venerable Xiao also had a "master" guiding her!

What was peculiar was that Consort Qiang had not sided with Celestial Venerable Hao, nor with Celestial Venerable Xiao.

Consort Qiang was the Grand Emperor. Logically, the Grand Emperor would not pledge allegiance to anyone, but the Grand Emperor was also a fickle and adaptable individual.

If she excluded herself from both factions, she would be isolated and at a significant disadvantage.

Therefore, the strangeness lay in the Grand Emperor's decision to act alone!

This did not align with his character.

"They are all trying to organize the Dao patterns of the seventy-two Treasure Halls before the other side, and cultivate the seventy-two Treasure Halls."

Qin Mu's eyes gleamed as he murmured, "If it were me, while studying, I would take away a few palaces so the other side couldn't obtain the Dao patterns of the seventy-two Treasure Halls, thus severing their path to the Heavenly Court."

Not long after, Qin Mu stood with a grim expression outside a set of ruins. All that remained were shattered walls and a massive crater.

As he had predicted, the Ten Celestials had taken this palace!

He didn't know whether it was Celestial Venerable Hao or Celestial Venerable Xiao who had done it.

"It's also possible Consort Qiang took a palace as leverage for negotiations with the other Celestials. But Consort Qiang alone shouldn't have that kind of strength... This is truly unscrupulous!"

Qin Mu muttered indignantly and continued on. Before long, he arrived at the site of another palace, which had also been taken and was no longer there.

Veins throbbed on Qin Mu's forehead. The actions of the Ten Celestials were understandable: if one side discovered the other had taken a palace, their intention was clear. Therefore, as bargaining chips, they would also take a palace that the other side hadn't had time to study.

This way, both sides would hold a palace, preventing the other from achieving completeness, ensuring neither would suffer a loss during negotiations.

Qin Mu composed himself and sneered, "If I were one of the Ten Celestials, taking just one palace to bargain with the other side means losing out if I can't gain an advantage. So, I would simply take several more palaces. That way, I'd have more leverage, and the other party would have to pay dearly with other benefits in exchange!"

Before long, he stood with a face as dark as charcoal before the ruins of yet another palace. Clearly, someone among the Ten Celestials shared his thought process and had taken a second palace as leverage.

"Utterly shameless! But then again, if I were one of the Ten Celestials, I'd try to take all the other unstudied palaces..."

He walked on, his face growing darker and darker, veins throbbing on his forehead.

As expected, palace after palace had vanished, clearly taken by Celestial Venerable Hao, Celestial Venerable Xiao, and the others.

These palaces would become their capital for mutual coercion and trade. The Ten Celestials were far more adept at such underhanded dealings than Qin Mu.

With nothing left to study along the way, Qin Mu had no choice but to continue along the path taken by the Ten Celestials, completely forgetting the geographical map Wei Suifeng had given him.

Jade Capital City was vast, and walking within it, it was impossible to discern where Wei Suifeng had marked points of interest.

Suddenly, the roar of surging water echoed from ahead, making Qin Mu's heart stir. "The Chaos River? This means I've reached the core of Jade Capital City!"

The Ancestral Court's Jade Capital City was extremely dangerous. In ancient times, the Grand Emperor had gathered the strongest experts of that era, including powerful ancient gods like the future Heavenly Emperor Tai Chu, to explore this place, but even they retreated, acknowledging its difficulty.

However, on this journey, while Qin Mu had faced some perilous moments, he had not encountered any deadly dangers. This was because the Ten Celestials had scouted ahead, clearing away these perils, making his passage relatively smooth.

From this, it was evident that the current Ten Celestials were far more powerful than beings like the Grand Emperor and Tai Chu of ancient times.

Finally, Qin Mu saw the Chaos River ahead.

He gazed across the river, unable to see anything on the other side.

As he surveyed the nearby geography, comparing it to the map Wei Suifeng had left him, he couldn't find any similar locations.

"This river must have changed its course; it's not where the map indicates. My senior brother's map is completely useless!"

Qin Mu shook his head, giving up on finding any markers on the map. He opened his vertical eye in his forehead to examine the great river, wondering, "How did the Ten Celestials cross the river?"

He looked towards the Chaos River, and his vertical eye immediately perceived the scene within it clearly.

What he saw in the river was a universe in destruction, with countless beings struggling in the great cataclysm, trying to escape, but all were obliterated, turning to dust and vanishing without a trace!

Even beings like the Ten Celestials had no power to resist in this great cataclysm; they were directly annihilated, transforming into a state of pure energy, formless, massless, and bodiless!

And within the chaos, countless powerful beings were struggling to cross, attempting to pass through the Chaos River and enter Jade Capital City.

Qin Mu's heart stirred. Putting himself in their shoes, if he were in this great cataclysm of destruction, he would surely look up and witness an incredibly spectacular sight.

As the entire universe collapsed and was destroyed, compressed and stretched, surrounded by chaos, by dying worlds and helplessly struggling people.

At that moment, everyone who looked up would see an ancient and mighty divine city, standing in the midst of chaos, unshaken by the ferocity and terror of the great cataclysm in the slightest.

And that divine city was the Ancestral Court's Jade Capital City, where Qin Mu now stood!

Presumably, this was the sight seen by the people in that perishing universe!

However, from Qin Mu's perspective, these powerful beings were merely struggling in the Chaos River, trying to reach the shore.

Only this could explain why the powerful beings from that perishing universe were all striving to swim to the surface of the river.

"The Miluo Palace Master is remarkable, to be able to forge such a divine city and survive the great cataclysm! But where is the World Tree?"

He scanned the Chaos River. His eye in his forehead, which utilized the Grand Beginning's eggshell, could see through the chaotic energy. After searching, Qin Mu finally found the Ancestral Court's World Tree.

He saw the World Tree with its boundless roots, situated within the perishing universe. Its roots drifted, resembling a giant octopus with countless tentacles swimming through the chaos.

Many others were struggling in the cataclysm, striving to swim towards the World Tree's roots, attempting to grasp them.

Numerous powerful beings had already climbed onto the World Tree's roots. These mighty entities were trying to split the roots open and merge themselves within them, hoping to evade the great cataclysm.

They hid within the roots, using the World Tree to preserve their lives.

As long as these stowaways converted their mass and energy, stealing the mass and energy of future universes, they could transcend the great cataclysm and gain new life!

However, from Qin Mu's perspective, the World Tree was now precarious and struggling to protect itself!

He also saw a colossal giant, swinging an axe and hacking at the World Tree!

The giant's form was hazy, like a phantom, likely the Grand Beginning from a future universe, felling this precious tree that had existed for sixteen cosmic epochs. By cutting it down, he was severing the hopes of those stowaways!

Meanwhile, the prehistoric powerhouses who had already climbed onto the precious tree's roots cried out in despair, cursing the giant's phantom. It seemed the Grand Beginning had accumulated all sorts of malicious curses upon himself.

"The Grand Beginning is truly formidable!"

Qin Mu couldn't help but exclaim in admiration before withdrawing his gaze.

He wasn't entirely confident in crossing the Chaos River. He saw many powerful beings in the river, reduced to mere skeletons, or just souls, or only their Dao fruits, stirring restlessly, trying to grab anyone attempting to cross, drag them into the water, and pull themselves onto the shore.

Falling into the river meant certain death!

"So how did the Ten Celestials cross the river?"

Qin Mu looked into the river and suddenly, faintly, through the chaotic energy, he saw the figure of Celestial Venerable Xiao. Celestial Venerable Xiao was standing on a Dao tree, using it as a boat, sailing towards the opposite bank!

His gaze extended further, and his heart skipped a beat: all Ten Celestials were currently in the river!