Chapter 1669: The Eighth Tree

"The positions of the World Tree and Gui Xu are eternally fixed in the universe."

The old man said, "Once the positions of the World Tree and Gui Xu are confirmed, we'll have a reference point. This will allow us to map the distribution of Dao Trees from the Sixteenth Epoch to the Ultimate Void of the Seventeenth Epoch, one by one. With this information, finding Taiyi shouldn't be difficult."

Qin Mu nodded, feeling a sense of relief. He smiled and said, "Once Taiyi is found, he should have a way to wake up the cripple. After I deal with this stele forest, I can free the cripple."

Although he spoke lightly, the old man and the old woman knew the difficulties involved.

Taiyi wasn't suppressed here; he must have been suppressed elsewhere. Here, Taiyi broke through the restrictions, but that's not the case there, so Qin Mu will need to break those restrictions himself.

"This journey might be dangerous; let Young Shang accompany you."

The old man said, "Though Young Shang achieved Dao through slaughter, he isn't indiscriminate in killing. With him by your side, your journey will face fewer dangers. Moreover, he is familiar with the distribution of Dao Trees, which can help you find Taiyi more quickly."

Qin Mu nodded. Taking Shang Jun with him shouldn't be too difficult.

"Then..." He looked around, smiling faintly. "Can you tell me whose Dao Tree the eighth one is?"

Counting the pig and the cripple, there were only seven people in the village, but there were eight Dao Trees. Clearly, there was an eighth person besides these seven.

The woman laughed, "Young Master, you're joking again. There's only us here; where would an eighth person be?"

Qin Mu looked surprised and turned to the others. The girl with pigtails said, "There truly isn't an eighth person here."

The pig's head in the platter said, "We wouldn't deceive you, Young Master. There truly isn't an eighth person as you claim. Not only no eighth person, but no eighth Dao Tree either."

The old woman's heart stirred. She quickly said, "Young Master, you've been saying there are eight Dao Trees all along. Are you perhaps not trying to trick us?"

Qin Mu couldn't help but laugh. "I already told you, I am generous and benevolent, a truly compassionate person. Why would I trick you? ...Wait a minute, you mean you don't know there are eight trees in your village?"

The old woman's expression grew serious, and she nodded. The others also nodded, and the atmosphere became somewhat heavy.

The old man said, "All this time, we thought you were trying to trick us, which is why you mentioned eight trees. But in our eyes, there are only seven trees here, and only seven of us are suppressed."

A bad feeling arose in Qin Mu's heart. He asked in a low voice, "You can't see the eighth tree?"

Everyone shook their heads. The atmosphere grew even more oppressive.

Qin Mu could see that Dao Tree because his vertical eye in his forehead was incredibly powerful, capable of seeing through even chaos. They, however, did not possess such divine sight.

The girl suddenly laughed, "Young Master, you're joking, right? Don't scare Ya Ya..."

The pig's head in the platter suddenly shivered, pressing its ears over its eyes, but leaving a sliver open to peek around.

Qin Mu's mind stirred. He retracted his Sword Dao, and the pig god immediately felt the sword wounds that hindered his physical restoration disappear. He quickly pieced his body back together.

Qin Mu smiled. "It seems my divination, probably taught by Martial Arts Heavenly Master Zhuocha, was mistaken. I can take one person out of here, but to free all of you would require breaking the obelisk forest, which I don't have the strength for yet. I'll have to trouble you all to remain here until I gain sufficient power to return, break the obelisk forest, and rescue you."

The old man walked to a tree, his brows furrowed. He gave a wry smile. "My purpose for staying here is to guard the cripple. Until he wakes, I cannot leave. Even if you break the stele forest, I still cannot depart."

He sat on a stone, lit his tobacco, and puffed on his water pipe, his dim, aged eyes occasionally glancing at Qin Mu.

The old woman, trembling, came to another tree. She chuckled, "Old eccentric, I'll stay here with you." She sat down, lazily basking in the sun, and raised her hand to remove the hairpin from her hair.

Shang Jun walked towards the village exit, saying, "I'll wait for you outside the village, Young Master. Don't delay too long."

Zhu Santong hoisted his Dao Tree and chuckled, "This battle was a way for us to get acquainted. Old Zhu here previously misunderstood you, Young Master; please forgive me. I'll go plant my tree first."

The girl, clutching her Dao Fruit, skipped to her Dao Tree and laughed, "I still need to hang my Dao Fruit on the tree."

The woman sighed. "I originally wanted to invite you for a simple meal, but too much has happened. Young Master, I need to tidy up the cripple's clothes. Once they're washed, I'll hang them on his Dao Tree to dry."

She picked up the basin, came to the cripple's Dao Tree, and hung his clothes on it. After finishing this, the woman went to the tree by the old well, took out her washing stick, and began to beat other clothes.

At the village entrance, Shang Jun stood beneath his Dao Tree, veins bulging on his hands. Only half a blade remained in his grasp; though Qin Mu had severed it, this had little effect on his strength.

The girl peered out from the canopy of her Dao Tree, her expression tense, her eyes fixed on Qin Mu's movements.

The old man smoked his water pipe, the old woman combed her hair, and Zhu Santong planted his Dao Tree. He transformed into a black wild boar, using his snout and tusks to push the soil and compact it, his small eyes darting around.

The woman sporadically beat the clothes but forgot to add water.

In their eyes, Qin Mu moved to an empty spot where nothing was visible, yet he raised his hand and gently extended it forward. Everyone instantly grew highly tense. Suddenly, Qin Mu seemed to touch something.

It was the hidden eighth Dao Tree!

The moment Qin Mu's fingertips touched the Dao Tree, six figures suddenly surged forward!

The girl leaped from the tree, swooping like a swallow skimming water, her body close to the ground. Her toes barely touched, then she soared just above the earth. She bit the tip of her tongue, spitting out Dao blood onto the Dao Fruit in her hand, which then burst forth with dazzling light!

The woman swung her washing stick, her steps shifting, her body spinning like the wind. She roared repeatedly, wielding the stick and slamming it fiercely towards the spot Qin Mu had touched!

Zhu Santong roared, tearing up his newly planted Dao Tree. He transformed into a towering black wild boar, stood upright, and swung the Dao Tree towards where Qin Mu's finger pointed!

At the same time, Shang Jun's broken blade, the old man's water pipe, and the old woman's hairpin attacked simultaneously!

The six unleashed their full power, their might no less than when they had just besieged Qin Mu!

They knew they only had one chance to strike. This Dao Tree, hidden among them for billions of years without their detection, demonstrated the opponent's truly unfathomable strength! If the opponent were prepared, even their combined efforts might not harm them in the slightest! Therefore, with this single strike, they were determined to destroy the opponent's Dao Tree, extinguish their Dao Fruit, and ruin their Dao cultivation!

Incredibly violent fluctuations erupted, and a storm swept through, causing Qin Mu's clothes to flap wildly as he stood by the Dao Tree, forcing him to retreat continuously!

Qin Mu retreated steadily, resisting the formidable impact. When the turmoil subsided, he found himself outside the village.

He opened his vertical eye in his forehead and saw that the Dao Tree still stood there motionless, with no one visible around it.

Qin Mu was startled. He searched carefully and saw the girl hanging from her Dao Tree, one foot dangling out, still clutching her Dao Fruit, unconscious.

The woman had fallen into her well, tightly grasping her washing stick, which was wedged in the well's opening.

Shang Jun sat splayed out under his Dao Tree, the web of his sword-holding hand bleeding. His eyes were blank, his broken blade shattered entirely, and the hilt reduced to fragments.

The old woman's hairpin was lodged in her forehead, her breath faint. The old man's water pipe was broken, and his head had struck the large stone where he usually sat, leaving him bleeding profusely.

As for Zhu Santong, all his tusks were broken, and he lay unconscious, embracing his Dao Tree.

Qin Mu was stunned. In this brief moment, all six Dao Achievers were defeated and injured!

"Young Master!"

The old man shakily sat up, his arm trembling as he tried to fill his water pipe with tobacco. However, the pipe was broken, and tobacco water seeped out.

His voice was hoarse, his eyes showing both fear and anger. "It's Young Master's Dao Tree! He's been here all along! Heh heh, that old schemer..."

Qin Mu looked around, his gaze suddenly falling on the sun suspended high in the sky. That sun blazed fiercely, having burned for perhaps ten cosmic epochs, for billions of years, from the Seventh Epoch until now! According to natural laws, the sun should have long since extinguished, died, evaporated, and eventually become void. Yet, this sun was still alive, which couldn't help but raise suspicions.

"Young Master isn't truly here," Qin Mu suddenly said. "He merely left his eye and his Dao Tree here."

The old man struggled to his feet, gazing at the sun in the sky. He sighed dejectedly, his voice hoarse. "I've been suppressed here for too long; I'm already no match for him. Heh heh, to think I was once his equal, and now I can't even compare to one of his eyes..."

He was deeply disheartened. He had guarded the cripple for ten cosmic epochs due to a promise. During these ten epochs, he had neglected his cultivation and was now far inferior to Young Master, who had once been his peer. His sense of loss was immense.

Qin Mu also realized that the old man, revered as an 'old eccentric' by the villagers, must have been a highly renowned figure in his era, so much so that many had heard legends about him. However, among everyone in this small village, he was not the strongest; instead, it was Shang Jun. Although Shang Jun possessed only one Dao Fruit and one Dao Tree, his strength already surpassed that of the other Dao Achievers in the village! This was also why Qin Mu wanted to take Shang Jun with him.

Qin Mu stepped forward, pulled the hairpin from the old woman's forehead, gave her a simple treatment for her injuries, and then patted the old man's shoulder.

The old man regained his composure and said dejectedly, "I cannot see you off, Young Master."

The others struggled to their feet and escorted Qin Mu to the village entrance.

Shang Jun barely stood up. After a moment of silence, he said, "I no longer have a blade, so I probably can't help you much. Moreover, my killing intent is too strong, and I have many enemies. I will only bring you disaster."

Qin Mu chuckled, "Coincidentally, I also have many enemies, probably far more than yours."

Shang Jun hesitated. Qin Mu looked at him calmly. "Shang Jun, who achieved Dao through slaughter, you are timid. The reason you fear the outside world isn't because you lost to Young Master; it's because you're afraid to return to it."

Shang Jun remained silent.

"Even if you achieved Dao through slaughter and cultivated the Thirty-Six Heavens of Killing Dao, your Dao Heart is still incomplete." Qin Mu's gaze sharpened. "You feel that the Sixteenth Epoch was destroyed by your hand, and because of this, you feel guilt, self-reproach, and feel unworthy of leaving here. What sealed and suppressed you wasn't Young Master; it was you who found a cage for yourself and imprisoned yourself within it. You are no longer the Shang Jun who achieved Dao through slaughter. Even if you walk out of here, you won't be able to imprint your Dao on the Ultimate Void and become a Dao Achiever."

Shang Jun's voice was hoarse. "So, do you still need me?"

Qin Mu walked past him, smiling. "Of course, I do. I need your help to find Taiyi, and I also need the sharpest blade in the world. You are no longer that blade, but I can sharpen you into one. Follow me, and I can help you break free."

Shang Jun followed him closely, like his shadow.

Soon, they entered the obelisk forest. Shang Jun hidden in his shadow, their steps identical, both stepping forward and setting their feet down in unison, moving with the same rhythm, gradually disappearing into the forest of steles.

Outside the village, as everyone watched the two disappear, Zhu Santong suddenly said, "The Seventh Young Master of the Mi Luo Palace is a strange person."

"He is indeed a strange person," the old woman sighed. "He's clearly from an opposing force, yet it's hard to hate him. Not only can't you hate him, but you even want to be his friend."

The woman chuckled, "It's my first time seeing such a strange person. It's a pity he's married; otherwise, Ya Ya could have found a good husband..."

The girl spat, her face flushing as she hid behind a tree.

Everyone burst into laughter, then their laughter turned into violent coughing.

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