Chapter 1530: How Many Sins, Falsely Using Your Name

In front of the great hall, a damaged Dao fruit floated, containing a naked woman who watched Qin Mu walk out of the hall in a daze.

"Heavenly Venerate Mu?" she called softly.

Qin Mu ignored her, sitting down in front of the hall entrance, lost in thought.

The Dao fruit flew to his side, and the woman inside said, "You've met the Master of the Miluo Palace, haven't you? Does he inspire a sense of profound awe in you? I feel the same way. Only he could create such a magnificent divine city, standing eternally at the end of the universe, indestructible even by the Tribulation of Annihilation. You killed the reincarnation of the Grand Emperor, so the Grand Emperor's responsibility now falls on your shoulders..."

Qin Mu stood up, glancing at her. "What responsibility did the Master of the Miluo Palace give the Grand Emperor?"

Just as the woman in the Dao fruit was about to continue, the Chaos River suddenly surged with waves. A person, emanating a powerful aura, stepped on the river and ascended to the Miluo Palace.

Qin Mu looked into the distance, seeing Heavenly Venerate Xiao, covered in blood, walking step by step towards them. His aura was immense; behind him, thirty-six Celestial Palaces and forty-seven Treasure Halls glowed like burning divine fire. So powerful was this aura that even Qin Mu, from a distance, felt the pressure!

"Heavenly Venerate Xiao won?" Qin Mu thought, startled.

Thud.

Heavenly Venerate Xiao collapsed, face-planting into the ground and lying motionless. Falling in such a posture would typically result in the nose scraping the ground and sliding several feet. If it were an ordinary person, their nose would likely be ruined, but a Heavenly Venerate would not suffer such damage.

"Heavenly Venerate Hao won the battle against Heavenly Venerate Xiao!"

Qin Mu was horrified. How did Heavenly Venerate Hao defeat Heavenly Venerate Xiao? Heavenly Venerate Xiao was the reincarnation of Emperor Tai Chu! Qin Mu had once teamed up with Consort Qiang to ambush Heavenly Venerate Xiao, only to be forced to flee in disarray. Now that Heavenly Venerate Xiao was so severely wounded, didn't that imply Heavenly Venerate Hao's strength surpassed his?

But Heavenly Venerate Hao shouldn't have such powerful combat strength! Although Heavenly Venerate Hao controlled the world's resources, Heavenly Venerate Xiao possessed the Primordial Wood, was a former Heavenly Emperor, and now controlled the Grand Primordium ore veins. After escaping from the chaotic space, his cultivation and power had become unfathomable! Even if Heavenly Venerate Hao had Tai Su's help, defeating Heavenly Venerate Xiao would be almost impossible!

"Are Tai Su's Dao weapons truly that powerful? Or was there another hidden reason for the battle between Hao and Xiao? However, this is an opportunity... a great opportunity to capture Heavenly Venerate Xiao and throw him into the river!"

Qin Mu immediately cast aside all his thoughts, his eyes glinting fiercely. "Wait a minute! He already has the power of a Dao Ancestor; throwing him into the river might not kill him... Then I'll just chop him to death—"

The woman in the Dao fruit was about to tell him about the Grand Emperor's responsibility when she saw Qin Mu, who had just been dispirited, now full of vigor, rushing towards Heavenly Venerate Xiao while drawing his Calamity Sword! At the same time, forty-nine Heavenly Dao divine weapons flew out of his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, forming the shape of a supreme treasure Heavenly Blade, which his primordial spirit, behind him, clutched menacingly. Another arm sprouted from his armpit, grasping the Grand Beginning staff. He stomped his foot, and the God Slaying Platform appeared. The two Blood Fiend God Slaying Profound Blades, though not yet at their peak, possessed extraordinary power.

The woman in the Dao fruit was stunned, then relieved. "This is the Young Master Mu I know..."

Qin Mu, free of distractions, moved faster and faster. Just then, an anomaly occurred: a great hall within the Miluo Palace suddenly creaked open its doors, and beams of light shone out, illuminating Heavenly Venerate Xiao.

Qin Mu stopped and looked at the light, vaguely seeing a figure within it walking towards Heavenly Venerate Xiao. The light retracted back into the great hall, and Heavenly Venerate Xiao was gone.

Qin Mu looked at the great hall, filled with doubt, and saw that it was the High Heavens Palace!

"Which Young Master's palace is the High Heavens Palace?" he asked the flying Dao fruit.

The woman in the Dao fruit said, "The Third Young Master."

Qin Mu frowned, looked at the High Heavens Palace, and said gravely, "Is the Third Young Master in the High Heavens Palace right now?"

The woman in the Dao fruit shook her head. "The Third Young Master is like a divine dragon whose head is seen but not its tail, rarely appearing. He should currently be in the Tribulation of Annihilation of the Sixth Universe."

Qin Mu's eyes flickered. Back then, the Grand Emperor and Tai Chu led their forces into Jade Capital City; they might not have met the Master of the Miluo Palace, but they must have seen the High Heavens Palace! And now, Heavenly Venerate Xiao was severely wounded, a beam of light shot out from the High Heavens Palace, and Qin Mu vaguely saw a figure within that light. Was this event related to the Grand Emperor and Tai Chu's exploration of Jade Capital City back then? Why, by such a coincidence, did the Grand Emperor and Tai Chu choose to visualize the High Heavens Palace? Why, after Tai Chu became Heavenly Emperor and built the Celestial Heavens, was his supreme palace, the High Heavens Hall, modeled after the High Heavens Palace in Jade Capital City? Why were the Celestial Palace realms later created, and the High Heavens and Emperor's Throne realms designated as the supreme realms? And why did someone rescue Heavenly Venerate Xiao from the High Heavens Palace?

"The depths of this Miluo Palace are far murkier than I imagined!"

Qin Mu composed himself. If the Master of the Miluo Palace wasn't lying, then after he assimilated with the Dao, the Miluo Palace had split into different factions, secretly attempting to control the future universe. The path taken by "Third Young Master," the owner of the High Heavens Palace, must be the "Jade Capital Trap"!

"The Master of the Miluo Palace said there was no Jade Capital Trap. He meant that by cultivating according to the layout of Jade Capital City, one could obtain the various Great Daos of the past universe's Dao Ancestors, thereby achieving Dao. Upon cultivating to the Miluo Palace, one would become a Dao Ancestor, at the very least achieving Dao through force! That path is correct."

"However, someone tampered with this path from the very beginning. They altered the ultimate realm of the Miluo Palace into the High Heavens Palace, turning it into the High Heavens and Emperor's Throne realms!"

"And that person is naturally..."

Qin Mu put away his Calamity Sword, Heavenly Dao supreme treasure, and Grand Beginning staff, his gaze fixed on the High Heavens Palace. "The Third Young Master! When the Grand Emperor and Tai Chu came back then, it was the Third Young Master's scheme."

"So, the Ancestral Court altar, the Grand Emperor's massacre of the Creator race, and the creation of the void beasts and mother beasts—whose schemes were those? The Second Young Master, Fourth Young Master? Or the Fifth Young Master, Sixth Young Master?"

"These two schemes must have been set simultaneously after the Grand Emperor and Tai Chu first entered Jade Capital City in the Ancestral Court! The Grand Emperor and Tai Chu were both their pawns! Pawns in their open and secret struggles!"

"Tai Yi's expulsion of the Creators and Ancient Gods, forcing them to leave the Ancestral Court, was an attempt to break a scheme—specifically, the scheme of the Ancestral Court altar. However, he did not break the Third Young Master's Jade Capital Trap scheme."

Qin Mu took a deep breath, trying to view Tai Yi's actions with a detached mindset, not allowing the Master of the Miluo Palace's words to influence his thoughts. He murmured, "Tai Yi guarding the Great Black Mountain and repairing it day and night—the Great Black Mountain should be another scheme. This scheme is the 'Stowaway Scheme,' meant to tie Tai Yi down in the Great Black Mountain, preventing him from leaving it or the Ancestral Court. And Tai Yi broke this scheme by using me."

"Tai Yi gained my trust, giving me his Dao tree willow branch, iron bucket, and Dao dew, allowing me to repair the Great Black Mountain for him, while he seized the opportunity to leave and attend to matters he couldn't before."

"Upon leaving the Great Black Mountain, he came to Jade Capital City. Fighting the Master of the Miluo Palace was one of his objectives—to test if the Master of the Miluo Palace was alive or dead, or perhaps to ascertain the Master of the Miluo Palace's intentions. His other objective was to set his own scheme."

"Therefore, his being sent into the Fourth Universe wasn't entirely due to the Master of the Miluo Palace; it might also be that he himself wanted to return to the past."

"Only by returning to the past could he conveniently set up his schemes."

"Logically, I should have remained in the Great Black Mountain, continuously repairing it, unable to leave. But he didn't expect that I would pass this boring task to Xu Shenghua and escape myself. —I've always detested repeating the same thing day after day. So..."

Qin Mu fell into deep thought, pacing back and forth, occasionally looking up at the High Heavens Palace, and occasionally looking at other Miluo Palace halls, such as the Grand Supreme Jade Purity Hall and the Purple Heavens Hall.

"Then, was the chaotic space where Heavenly Venerate Yue exiled Heavenly Venerate Xiao another scheme? Was it set by Tai Yi, or by one of the Miluo Palace Young Masters? That place was also a sanctuary found by the Scarlet Emperor for the Scarlet Emperor Divine Race; the Hanging World is there..."

The Scarlet Emperor found that place but couldn't leave alive, so his body merged with a small universe, becoming the Hanging World. Heavenly Venerate Yue also once drifted there and discovered many incredible ruins. And after Heavenly Venerate Xiao was exiled there by Heavenly Venerate Yue, his strength greatly advanced upon his return. Thus, Qin Mu suspected that place might also be a scheme set by the "Young Masters" of the Miluo Palace.

He let out a breath of stale air. Tai Yi's fall into the Fourth Universe seemed accidental, but now Qin Mu suddenly understood many things, feeling that it was an event deliberately created by Tai Yi, seemingly accidental but actually inevitable!

"Did Heavenly Venerate Hao defeat Heavenly Venerate Xiao purely by his own strength, or was it a contest between two schemers?"

Qin Mu's thoughts delved deeper and deeper. Was there also a schemer behind Heavenly Venerate Hao? In this confrontation, Heavenly Venerate Hao seemingly won, but in reality, it was the schemer behind Heavenly Venerate Hao who triumphed!

"There are still many secrets in this universe, but few of them can still baffle me. However, the schemes laid by these Young Masters are among the few that can."

Qin Mu looked at the dilapidated Dao fruit beside him and the woman within it, and suddenly smiled. "Was the task the Master of the Miluo Palace gave the Grand Emperor to incite chaos, kill more powerful beings in the Ancestral Court, and initiate a blood sacrifice?"

The woman in the Dao fruit smiled. "The Grand Emperor is not cut out for it; only Heavenly Venerate Mu, Young Master Mu, can accomplish this."

Qin Mu burst into laughter, shaking his head as he walked towards the Miluo Palace. "Master of the Miluo Palace, how many sins have been committed in your name? This scheme might deceive the Grand Emperor, but it won't deceive me; I won't fall into it. I will stay here for a few days to comprehend the Dao runes of the Miluo Palace. You may withdraw."

The woman in the Dao fruit was stunned, then exclaimed, "What do you mean by that? What do you mean 'how many sins in your name'? This task was personally given by the Master of the Miluo Palace to Grand Emperor Ju Yu Clan!"

Qin Mu scoffed, then turned back and smiled. "Have you ever seen the Master of the Miluo Palace?"

The woman in the Dao fruit was momentarily taken aback.

Qin Mu shook his head, walked to the front of the palace, carefully examining the runes on the palace walls, and muttered, "Even after achieving Dao, still a foolish woman..."

"Who are you cursing?" the woman in the Dao fruit retorted furiously.