Chapter 1668: Taiyi's Identity

“A Dao Tree Distribution Map?” Qin Mu’s spirits soared.

The location marked on the Tai Yi Geographical Map had always puzzled him. He had never found such a place in the 17th epoch universe, and earlier, he even thought it might be related to the arrangement of the Obelisk Forest, planning to search again later. He never expected this young man named Shang Jun to recognize the map!

“A Dao Tree Distribution Map of the 16th epoch’s ultimate void?” Qin Mu was immediately taken aback, a deep sense of confusion in his heart. “I haven’t returned to the past universe, so why did Tai Yi give me a map from the 16th epoch? How am I supposed to rescue him with this?”

Shang Jun replied, “During the 16th epoch, I wanted to kill a few more Dao Attainers, so I specifically researched the distribution of these Dao Lords’ Da Luotians. That’s why I recognized this map when you showed it to me.”

Qin Mu couldn't help but scrutinize him further. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he asked, “While passing through the long chaos in the Ancestral Court’s Jade Capital City, I once saw someone attain Dao through slaughter. Before the destruction calamity arrived, they killed Dao Attainers, cultivated to the 36th Heaven of the Dao Realm, imprinted the ultimate void, achieved a Dao Fruit, and eventually crushed the ultimate void. Was that person you?”

Shang Jun’s face darkened, and he nodded silently.

“You destroyed the 16th epoch of the universe,” Qin Mu stated. “All living beings perished because of you; almost everyone indirectly died by your hand. No wonder your abilities are so formidable.”

Shang Jun’s aura withered. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, lifeless, and stood there motionless like he was about to dissipate into the Dao.

The old woman coughed. “It’s said that Seventh Young Master kills hearts first. Seeing it today, it’s true. Whether Shang Jun attained Dao through slaughter or not, or even attained Dao at all, the 16th epoch would have been destroyed regardless. The reason for its destruction wasn’t Shang Jun, but the Miluo Palace. If not for so many Dao Attainers from Miluo Palace transmigrating into the 16th epoch, how could this universe have perished so quickly?”

Shang Jun’s complexion improved slightly, and his aura recovered a little.

Qin Mu glanced at her. “The only difference is whether the 16th epoch was destroyed by the Miluo Palace or by Shang Jun. If it was destroyed by the Miluo Palace, then the killers are the Miluo Palace. If it died by Shang Jun’s hand, then the killer is Shang Jun.”

Shang Jun’s aura withered once more, even worse than before!

“You!” The old woman’s forehead pulsed with veins, and her white hair fluttered. The old man quickly stopped her, chuckling, “No wonder people say that the Seventh Young Master is the most difficult to deal with among the Miluo Palace. Seeing him today, we are truly convinced. Seventh Young Master, what is your business with this person named Tai Yi?”

“I owe him a debt of gratitude. All living beings in the 17th epoch owe him. Therefore, I must repay this kindness and rescue him no matter what,” Qin Mu said without concealment. “Tai Yi prevented past Dao Attainers from transmigrating and resisted the Miluo Palace invasion. Although he was the first transmigrator into the 17th epoch, this debt of gratitude must be repaid! He was suppressed by the Miluo Palace and left this geographical map. I plan to find him and rescue him.”

“I never thought Seventh Young Master would be a person of such loyalty and integrity,” the girl named Ya Ya said with surprise. “This is different from what I’ve heard about him. I heard that Miluo Palace’s Seventh Young Master is a scoundrel who commits all sorts of evil deeds, cunning and vicious, rotten from head to toe, who has done every bad thing imaginable!”

Qin Mu’s face flushed red, and he stammered in defense, “That’s slander! Absolute slander! Anyone who knows me knows I’m benevolent and helpful…”

The pig head on the platter coughed, still positioned on the dish. “Seventh Young Master, there’s no need to explain further. Our current situation already speaks for itself. If Seventh Young Master wasn’t the kind of person legend describes, we wouldn’t have fallen so miserably.”

Qin Mu snorted. “This is our first meeting. Why would I lie to you? Shang Jun, please guide me with this 16th epoch Dao Tree Distribution Map.”

Shang Jun remained silent, looking at the others.

The old man chuckled. “Seventh Young Master just said that Tai Yi could save that paralyzed person? Could you explain why?”

Qin Mu smiled slightly. “Then I would like to ask all of you: when did you first feel you could break free from the obelisks?”

Everyone paused, each lost in thought.

“Your escape from the obelisks should have happened in this cosmic epoch, shouldn’t it?” Qin Mu continued. “That person was Tai Yi. Back then, Tai Yi transmigrated into this cosmic epoch, seized a chaotic egg, and became Tai Yi. After he attained Dao, he immediately came to this abandoned land, found this portal, and forcibly broke the Grand Scholar’s seal.”

The old man and old woman exchanged glances, remaining silent. The girl and the woman were bewildered. The woman asked, “Why did this Tai Yi come to save us?”

Qin Mu shook his head. “He didn’t come to save you. He came to save the paralyzed person in your village.”

This time, even Shang Jun and the pig head were surprised. The pig head on the platter lifted a left trot from another platter and scratched its mane, puzzled. “The paralyzed person? You mean the one from our village?”

“Yes, that paralyzed person,” Qin Mu confirmed. “His purpose for this trip was to rescue him. He was the first to transmigrate into this cosmic epoch and also the first to attain Dao, preventing the Miluo Palace’s transmigration. He was the only one in the entire universe at that time, allowing him to complete a great task he never had the chance to complete before! This task was extremely important! So, he broke in here, blasted open the portal with unparalleled power, uprooted the obelisks, shattered the Grand Scholar’s arrangements, and allowed you to break free from the steles!”

Everyone looked at the old man. The pig head exclaimed, “Old Monster, you have the highest cultivation and were the first to wake up. You woke us up and allowed us to emerge from the steles. Was your escape from the stele as he described?”

The old man sighed, nodding silently. “Indeed, that’s what happened at the beginning of this universe’s creation. You were suppressed and remained asleep, but I was awake from the moment I was suppressed. I had to watch the paralyzed person. He is extremely important and must not be lost. It was then that I sensed a powerful being from this cosmic epoch descending…”

Shang Jun suddenly asked, “Who is the paralyzed person?”

Everyone looked towards the paralyzed person in the room. The small village had been almost leveled, and the room where the paralyzed person lay was also destroyed, yet he still lay on his bed, sunbathing. Despite the fierce struggle that had just taken place, he seemed completely unaffected. Logically, given the confrontation between beings like them and Qin Mu, the paralyzed person should have been swept away by the aftermath, but he lay there perfectly fine, not even a corner of his clothes stirring. Although they were all suppressed here, only the old man and the old woman knew the paralyzed person’s identity. They were extremely secretive about his origin. Both of them held high and respected positions, yet they were extremely respectful towards this paralyzed person, so the other villagers also took great care of him.

“He is…” The old man hesitated, then said, “He is the creator of Tiandu.”

The pig head, the woman, and the girl’s expressions changed drastically. Their gazes fell upon the paralyzed person on the sickbed, and they exclaimed, “He is that being?” Shang Jun clearly hadn’t heard of Tiandu and looked somewhat bewildered.

The old man continued, “I was actually entrusted by someone and willingly allowed myself to be captured by the Grand Scholar. Hehe, although the Grand Scholar’s abilities were high, my own abilities back then were not inferior to his. Of course, after being suppressed for several cosmic epochs, I’m certainly far from matching him now. The person who entrusted me owed me immense kindness. When she entrusted me, I would do it even if it cost me my life. She entrusted me with caring for the paralyzed person, so I came here.”

The old woman had never heard him speak of this before and asked in surprise, “Old Monster, your name was extremely well-known back then, and your abilities were high, your origin ancient. I was still wondering why you were also captured and suppressed here. I never expected there was such a reason! Who has such great influence that they could make you do something like this?”

The old man was reluctant to elaborate. “Let’s not talk about that. Back then, I sensed a powerful being breaking the restrictions, shattering the Grand Scholar’s seal. As the seal loosened, I broke free from the stele. I sensed the power of that person, who should be the Tai Yi that Seventh Young Master mentioned. However, when this Tai Yi approached the stele forest, something strange happened.”

His aged face full of wrinkles, he picked up his water pipe, intending to take a few puffs, but the tobacco had long burned out. The old man tapped out the ash, then pinched a few Dao Tree leaves, rubbed them into tobacco, and said, “That person’s aura was extremely powerful, but as he approached the stele forest, his aura suddenly plummeted rapidly. The speed of its decline was beyond my imagination!”

The pig head in the platter said, “The Grand Scholar’s Obelisk Forest can even suppress our magic power and divine arts. Tai Yi must have been suppressed by the Obelisk Forest!”

The old man shook his head. “Not so. Tai Yi’s strength was not inferior to the Grand Scholar’s. How could he have been suppressed to such an extent by the seals left by the Grand Scholar? I also sensed that besides his aura plummeting, his vital energy was also dropping sharply. In the blink of an eye, he seemed as if he was about to die.”

Qin Mu continued his thought, “Then he rapidly retreated, and as he retreated, his aura grew stronger and stronger, and his vital energy rapidly recovered, right?”

“How did Seventh Young Master know?” The old man looked at him in surprise. “It is indeed as Seventh Young Master said. After he left the Obelisk Forest, his aura and vital energy rapidly recovered. I sensed that by the time he reached the entrance, his aura had recovered by about seventy to eighty percent, and by the time he exited, his aura and vital energy had reached their peak.”

Qin Mu’s eyes flickered. “The reason this happened is due to mass-energy invariance. Someone used the divine art of mass-energy invariance to preserve his soul, allowing him to live in the future despite dying at the hands of the Miluo Palace master. However, when two identical souls meet, one must disappear.”

Everyone was utterly bewildered. The old man, making a sudden guess, looked at the paralyzed person and exclaimed, “You mean he came back?”

Qin Mu nodded. “That’s right, he came back. But he cannot approach the paralyzed person. When he hadn’t pulled out the first obelisk outside, he and the paralyzed person were in different timespaces, so there was no problem. But once the first obelisk was pulled out and the seal broken, he and the paralyzed person were in the same timespace. Therefore, he was rapidly disappearing, which is why you felt his aura and vital energy plummeting.”

The old man was extremely agitated, his voice hoarse. “He sensed that he was about to disappear and knew he couldn’t save himself, so he voluntarily retreated! But he still left us a chance to escape; he took that obelisk with him!”

Qin Mu said, “After that, he continued to guard the Ancestral Court, waiting for an opportunity. After I appeared, and the Ancestral Court’s Jade Capital City reappeared, he tricked me into guarding the Ancestral Court’s Great Black Mountain to stop the transmigration of primordial experts, while he headed straight for the Miluo Palace to reason with the Miluo Palace master, only to be cast down to the Fourth Epoch by the Miluo Palace master.”

He did not continue speaking.

“This person is Tai Yi,” Qin Mu said meaningfully. “Old Monster, the person I want to rescue is him. However, I have urgent matters now and cannot go to the 16th epoch to find him. Do you have a way?”

The old man paced back and forth, then suddenly stopped, urgently saying, “Young Master, although I don’t know about mass-energy invariance, if he was suppressed in the 16th epoch’s void, he would certainly not be obliterated by the destruction calamity of the 16th epoch. Therefore, he must have survived until the 17th epoch! When he was not trapped, his suppressed form in the 17th epoch’s void was invisible and unobservable. But when he was cast down to the Fourth Epoch by the Miluo Palace master, then his suppressed form would surely appear in the 17th epoch’s void!”

Qin Mu’s heart trembled slightly, and he laughed. “No wonder he left the geographical map for me to rescue him! However…” He frowned deeply. “But this is a Dao Tree Distribution Map of the 16th epoch’s ultimate void, and it’s not the same as the 17th epoch’s ultimate void…”

Shang Jun suddenly interjected, “The ultimate void has no matter; only Da Luotian can exist there. Therefore, the ultimate void of all cosmic epochs is the same, a blank space.”

Qin Mu’s eyes widened, and his heart pounded furiously. “That means, as long as I have the 16th epoch’s Dao Tree Distribution Map, I can find where Tai Yi is imprisoned!”