Chapter 1640: Chaos Hall Asks

"The Mi Luo Dao Burial must be a combined divine art they comprehended from the Dao patterns of Mi Luo Palace, or perhaps from the Primordial Runes, right?" Qin Mu mused, stepping into the chaos, his mind still replaying the combined attack of the sixty-seven Dao achiever projections.

That attack must have been a terrifying divine art specifically crafted against him. He could tell that when he faced the Mi Luo Dao Burial, all his divine arts and techniques were utterly useless; they seemed to be completely suppressed, leaving him no power to resist.

If this had happened elsewhere, Qin Mu wouldn't have died, but he would have been severely injured, and it might have taken him hundreds or even thousands of years to fully recover. However, this attack took place within Qin Mu's Divine Treasure Universe, and in that space, they didn't even have the power to injure him. Of course, this was entirely thanks to him having planted the Return to Ruin Lotus beforehand, enabling his cultivation technique to achieve the great unification of creation and destruction. Otherwise, even within his Divine Treasure Universe, Qin Mu would have been severely wounded, if not killed.

"How unpopular am I in the prehistoric universe?" Qin Mu frowned slightly. "Ancestral Court Jade Capital City has only seventy-two treasure halls, and the masters of all seventy-two halls dislike me so much that they conspired to kill me!" He couldn't help but shake his head. Heavenly Venerate Mu, a figure of such prestige, was adored by everyone wherever he went. Yet, upon arriving in this ancient universe, everyone wanted him dead?

At this moment, he approached the grand Chaos Hall. He looked up and saw only emptiness before him, a void like the ultimate nihility. The grand Chaos Hall had no steps, standing suspended in the void, and he didn't know how to ascend to it.

Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then took a step. The very instant his foot extended forward, a long stone staircase appeared beneath it. The steps, seemingly forged from Chaos Stone, materialized out of thin air. The moment Qin Mu's foot landed on the step, an unimaginable pressure assailed him from all directions!

The pressure was immense, seemingly originating from the hall itself, yet also feeling like Qin Mu's own power suppressing him. Even stranger, a Dao language echoed in his ears, like a Dao Question—a deafening, thought-provoking interrogation of the soul! This Dao language emanated from within the Chaos Hall, as if someone was questioning him through the Grand Dao itself! What puzzled Qin Mu was that the voice was distinctly his own!

"What exactly is inside that grand hall?" he wondered. "Is it another me, or someone else entirely?"

Qin Mu did not answer the Dao Question. Instead, enduring the immense pressure, he lifted his other foot and stepped forward again. To his surprise, however, the second step did not appear; the void still stretched before him. And the pressure immediately intensified!

"This change must be because I didn't answer the Dao Question from the hall!" he realized. Qin Mu retracted his foot, and the Dao Question echoed again, posed once more.

He carefully considered the Dao Question. A Dao Question is difficult to express in ordinary language; whether divine or demonic, it can only convey part of the Dao's meaning, never fully describing it. The Dao Question was posed in Dao language, which could be described as the most precise language, allowing for no misinterpretation, and also the most universal. Of course, this universality applied only to Dao achievers and a select few beings whose Dao arts and divine abilities had reached extremely high levels. When they communicated using Dao language, there were no barriers, and they would not misunderstand each other's intentions. This was also why Qin Mu could communicate with the prehistoric Dao achievers.

Similarly, a Dao Question was also a divine art, a potent weapon. If an opponent's cultivation was inferior and their Dao heart had flaws, a single Dao Question could plunge them into self-doubt and self-negation regarding their own Dao! Heavenly Emperor Hao had once used this tactic to harm Qin Mu.

However, the Dao Question emanating from the Chaos Hall was not so simple. Besides directly challenging Qin Mu's Dao heart, it also posed precisely the difficult questions he had encountered in his cultivation. "Who exactly is questioning me?" Qin Mu frowned, enduring the ever-increasing pressure while racking his brain for the answer to the Dao Question.

In the past, while comprehending the Dao, he had attempted to solve this difficult question, but with too many trivial matters at the time, he quickly abandoned it to pursue other Dao arts. Someone once called him a "silly roe deer," and the description was quite apt. A "silly roe deer" is curious about everything and can uncover many mysteries that others miss, but it lacks the patience to get to the bottom of things. Thus, Qin Mu had left many solvable problems unresolved on his cultivation journey.

In truth, with his current perspective and understanding, revisiting these questions was no longer as difficult as it had been. He racked his brain, attempting to answer the Dao Question. At that very moment, the stone steps beneath his feet began to creak and crackle, with fissures spreading across their surface. Suddenly, the surface of the steps crumbled, and pieces of Chaos Stone began to fall away. The Chaos Stone fragments plummeted downward, immediately dissolving into the void!

Qin Mu held his breath, closed his eyes, and ignored it all, continuing to ponder deeply. Just as he was about to lose his footing, Qin Mu suddenly opened his eyes and, speaking in Dao language, provided the answer! The stone steps beneath his feet immediately stopped crumbling. By the time Qin Mu finished answering the Dao Question, the steps beneath his feet had imperceptibly restored themselves to their original state.

Qin Mu sighed in relief and reached up to wipe cold sweat, only then remembering that he was in his primordial spirit form and couldn't sweat. If he could, it would be his physical body sweating profusely. He was completely absorbed in ascending the Chaos Hall, utterly unaware that outside the Surging River Heavenly Palace, the cold sweat pouring from his physical body had already submerged his ankles, forming a small pond.

With the first Dao Question answered, Qin Mu felt a surge of lightness, and the pervasive pressure he had felt moments before instantly vanished. Not only that, but he also felt his Dao heart become clearer, and his Dao cultivation subtly improved. He took a step, and the second Chaos Stone step automatically materialized beneath his feet. Simultaneously, from the lofty Chaos Hall, Qin Mu's own voice echoed once more, posing the second Dao Question! And this Dao Question was precisely another difficult problem Qin Mu had encountered during his cultivation but had set aside without solving!

"How interesting!" Qin Mu's primordial spirit eyes flickered, growing increasingly curious about what lay within the Chaos Hall. He thought, "Could there be another me inside the hall? Or is it my Dao heart asking? I really want to go in and see..."

His current realm was equivalent to the Numinous Sky Realm, which follows the Jade Capital Realm. Numinous Sky and Emperor's Throne were two traditional realms, but Qin Mu did not have a deep understanding of either. He did not have a Numinous Sky Treasure Hall; instead, he had transformed his own cultivation technique into a Chaos Hall. He knew nothing of what he might encounter when ascending it or what lay within. He didn't even know if others, upon reaching the Numinous Sky Realm, encountered the same challenges he was facing in his current realm. Would everyone who cultivated to a similar realm face the same tests? Would Dao Questions also emanate from the Numinous Sky Hall when they stood before it, probing the issues they had abandoned on their path to the Dao? Would their Dao Questions strike directly at their Dao hearts?

However, he couldn't afford to ponder these questions further. The Chaos Stone steps beneath his feet had already begun to crack and crumble, and the pressure he endured was steadily increasing. He had to solve the problems he had once avoided before the steps completely disintegrated! He put his mind to work, dedicating all his effort to solving the second Dao Question. Finally, just before the steps completely collapsed, he solved the problem, answering in Dao language.

The third step appeared, and Qin Mu's voice emanated from the Chaos Hall, posing yet another Dao Question—another problem he had previously avoided. Qin Mu's mind quieted. No longer impetuously rushing forward, he calmly remained on the steps before the Chaos Hall, meticulously solving the various difficult problems he had abandoned during his cultivation. Some problems he had been too lazy to solve, others he had been unable to resolve at the time, and some he had simply forgotten. Now, these very problems stood before the Chaos Hall, presenting the greatest obstacles to him entering and ascending to the Emperor's Throne!

The debts accumulated from seeking temporary ease back then would have to be repaid sooner or later! Now was the time to repay those debts, but it was also a process of filling in deficiencies—a process of rectifying the shortcomings on his cultivation path.

Slowly, Qin Mu answered more and more Dao Questions, his Dao heart growing more complete, and his Dao cultivation steadily improving. Although each rectification didn't yield a huge leap in cultivation, as he progressed step by step, the cumulative improvement in his Dao was quite significant. He had already ascended hundreds of steps, and the Chaos Hall was right before him. Yet, each time he took a step forward, new Chaos Stone steps continued to appear! Moreover, the Dao Questions from the Chaos Hall grew increasingly profound and unfathomable, making them progressively harder for him to answer!

"The Dao Questions will eventually run out," Qin Mu thought, "and I will eventually be able to ascend this grand hall!"

Qin Mu remained calm, neither arrogant nor impatient, steadily advancing. After an unknown period, he still hadn't managed to ascend the Chaos Hall. He looked back and saw the Chaos Stone steps stretching for over ten miles, like a white line, extending all the way to Jade Capital City. Yet, when he looked up, the Chaos Hall remained neither too far nor too close, still out of reach.

Qin Mu composed himself. This realm, he realized, corresponded to the Numinous Sky Realm. Only then did he understand why there were many Numinous Sky Realm experts, yet so few in the Emperor's Throne Realm. Perhaps those Numinous Sky Realm experts also faced various Dao Questions of the Dao heart at this stage. The questions and pressure they faced might not have been as intense as Qin Mu's, but they were surely enough to trap them before the Numinous Sky Hall!

At that moment, the Dao Question from the Chaos Hall posed a difficult problem concerning the Dao of Taiji, specifically the principle of Taiji evolving into Yin and Yang. Qin Mu frowned and pondered for a long time. The steps beneath his feet had crumbled to the point where he could barely stand on one foot, yet he still couldn't find the answer. He sighed, took a step back, and landed on the previous step.

"I can answer this Dao Question later," he murmured. "Perhaps I can ponder this problem at my leisure. How long have I been here? I wonder what's happening outside."

His physical body slowly awakened. He saw an old ox sitting not far in front of him under a tree, his chest bare, contentedly puffing on a water pipe. Beside him sat a few Kui Dragons, gazing at Qin Mu expectantly. The old ox passed the water pipe, and the bull-headed Kui Dragons eagerly took it, each taking two noisy puffs before passing it to the next.

By the Heavenly River in the distance, a pure black tiger was using its tail to fish for red Kun. Suddenly, with a snap, the black tiger quickly pulled its tail out of the river, only to find that a section had been bitten off by a red Kun! The black tiger wore a mournful expression as it activated its Creation Mysterious Art, and its tail slowly grew back. From the distant mountains and forests came a "huihui" cry, followed by a voice as unpleasant as a donkey's bray: "Just let me have one bite, please! I won't eat you whole, just one bite!"

Qin Mu looked at them suspiciously. "Brother San Duo, why are you all here?" he asked.

The old ox, seeing him awake, hurriedly stood up. "Heavenly Venerate, all Four Heavenly Masters have arrived! Seeing you were cultivating, they didn't disturb you. They are waiting in the palace now!"

"All Four Heavenly Masters?" Qin Mu paused, then immediately headed towards the palace. The Village Chief and Apothecary were drinking tea under a large tree near the palace gate, both reclining lazily in rocking chairs. Apothecary glanced at Qin Mu and chuckled, "Mu'er, you've been cultivating for four months. You're finally awake."

"Four months already?" Qin Mu was startled. It hadn't taken him long to defeat the seventy-two Dao achiever projections, but answering the Dao Questions before the Chaos Hall had likely consumed nearly four months!

"Grandpa Apothecary, have you heard any news about the Heavenly Court's negotiations with Eternal Peace?" Qin Mu hastily asked.

"Yu Chenzi already came to see you once," Apothecary replied. "Seeing you weren't awake, he left in a hurry." Apothecary thought for a moment. "He seemed to say that the Heavenly Court's negotiations with Eternal Peace were on the verge of breaking down."