Chapter 1750: A String Connecting the Past

Once the light radiating from the Tai Yi coffin dissipated, broken roots were seen everywhere in the starry sky, resembling severed serpents writhing.

Palace Master Changfeng was difficult to kill; even so, his roots continued to writhe, attempting to reassemble.

However, when two roots touched, they immediately triggered the Dao injuries left by the Burial Dao Divine Coffin. The lingering power of the Burial Dao Divine Coffin's divine ability erupted, riddling the roots with holes.

Upon seeing this, Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief.

As he relaxed, searing pain enveloped his entire body. Ever since his battle with Palace Master Chuge, he had been injured. The correct decision would have been to rest for a while, recover to his peak, and then confront Palace Master Changfeng.

However, time was pressing. If Palace Master Changfeng and Palace Master Huanxi were to converge, he would be no match for the two great palace masters.

Moreover, neither of these palace masters had fully descended. Once fully descended, and if they were to project themselves into the void, it was unknown if Qin Mu would be able to defeat them in a one-on-one battle.

Thus, he had to fight while injured. Fortunately, he had startled Palace Master Huanxi away on the journey. If Palace Master Huanxi had arrived to join Palace Master Changfeng, the battle would likely have ended in a complete rout.

"Tai Yi won't hate me, right?"

Qin Mu suppressed his injuries. The Dao injuries left by Palace Master Changfeng were not troublesome, but those caused by the Burial Dao Divine Coffin were far more challenging and difficult to heal quickly.

He approached the Tai Yi coffin, and the fluctuations from the Burial Dao Divine Coffin subsided. Despite being tossed around twice, this divine coffin remained completely unharmed and incredibly sturdy, truly a top-quality coffin.

Qin Mu gently caressed the coffin, then laboriously dragged it towards the Golden Ark of Crossing Worlds.

"Tai Yi is so powerful; a mere Burial Dao Divine Coffin can't harm him."

Qin Mu, full of confidence in Tai Yi, said hoarsely, "Brother Yu, come out quickly. I'm exhausted."

From somewhere within the Golden Ark of Crossing Worlds, Lan Yutian's voice called out, "Brother, wait a little longer."

Qin Mu couldn't drag the Tai Yi coffin onto the ark, so he had to stop and rest. A moment later, Lan Yutian was still nowhere to be seen.

"Brother Yu, aren't you coming out yet?" he wondered.

"Wait for me a little longer, I think I'm almost figuring it out!"

Qin Mu waited a little longer, growing restless, and thought, "Could Lan Yutian be lost again?"

Lan Yutian had an exceptionally high comprehension of the Dao, a naturally gifted individual with a close affinity to it. However, he had one drawback: a habitual tendency to get lost. Previously, he had gotten lost and ended up in the Western Lands, where he spent some time with Xu Shenghua. After leaving Xu Shenghua, he continued to get lost all the way to the outside of the Grand Void, haphazardly acquiring a group of disciples. Fortunately, he met Qin Mu, who brought him back.

The Golden Ark of Crossing Worlds contained numerous golden halls. To find Emperor Kai, Qin Mu had once performed massive and complex calculations to determine the number of golden halls, arriving at an astonishing figure. Qin Fengqing, using Youdu's methods, had transformed into billions of incarnations to search through these golden halls.

If Lan Yutian wasn't so directionally challenged, he could have figured out a way to find his way out; unfortunately, he was.

He had used the unique properties of the golden ark to protect himself and trap Palace Master Changfeng, but he hadn't expected to get himself lost.

"Brother Yu might not find his way out for tens of thousands of years; I can't rely on him."

Qin Mu exerted all his remaining strength, dragging the Tai Yi coffin onto the ark. He lay on the deck, panting heavily, utterly exhausted. Then he closed his eyes and slowly drifted into a dream.

Countless tiny Qin Mus burrowed in and out of the wounds on his body, communicating with "maha-maha-gugu-gugu" sounds, observing the marks of the Dao injuries, and deducing the divine abilities and Dao principles contained within them.

Soon after, deeper layers of the dream unfolded. Many more tiny Qin Mus emerged, holding axes and chisels. Unlike the other Qin Mus, these were flesh and blood, clearly formed from Qin Mu's Great Dao and Primordial Chaos Qi.

Each Qin Mu resembled a most diligent worker bee or ant, busily tapping and pounding around Qin Mu's wounds, using their own Daoist arts and divine abilities to refine and eliminate the Dao injuries.

The other tiny Qin Mus curiously observed these new companions, asking one after another, "Maha-maha?"

"Gugu-gugu?"

The new forms of tiny companions, looking serious, ignored them. Only when they grew impatient did they respond with a single phrase: "Abba, abba!"

The other tiny Qin Mus stared wide-eyed, appearing to understand, but in reality, understanding nothing at all.

Some tiny Qin Mus were dressed as apothecaries, either carrying medicine chests, or bearing medicine baskets, or holding alchemy cauldrons. They meticulously mended and repaired the sites where the Dao injuries were being refined.

The other tiny Qin Mus swarmed over again, asking questions, only to be poisoned by the apothecary Qin Mus, one by one foaming at the mouth and convulsing.

The other Qin Mus pointed at them, laughing heartily with schadenfreude, "Abba!"

As Qin Mu was about to awaken from his deep dream, these tiny Qin Mus hastily burrowed into his brain, disappearing one after another.

Qin Mu stretched his body, feeling refreshed and invigorated upon waking. The Dao injuries on his body had vanished.

He stood up and checked the Tai Yi coffin once more, but saw that Lan Yutian still hadn't emerged from the golden halls.

"Brother Yu must really be lost."

During the time he spent healing in his dream, the Golden Ark of Crossing Worlds had traveled for more than ten days, drifting towards Ancestral Court and now very close to it.

Qin Mu frowned slightly.

This golden ark traveled according to his will, moving away from the Primordial Realm and approaching Ancestral Court. While he was in his dream, the dream world was unique and magnificent, and his thoughts ran wild, galloping freely. Thus, the golden ark had followed his deepest desires.

"I wonder if Palace Master Changfeng's roots will become a hidden danger."

He felt a little uneasy. He should have stayed, waited until his injuries healed, and then eradicated all of Palace Master Changfeng's roots to ensure no future troubles.

However, the golden ark had already arrived here, and it was too late to go back. Indeed, as the ark's direction indicated, his concerns for Ancestral Court were greater.

"Palace Master Changfeng's roots were severely damaged by the Burial Dao Divine Coffin, and each root bore Dao injuries left by it. He lacks my insight and knowledge, so he can't erase these Dao injuries. The problem shouldn't be significant."

Qin Mu was still somewhat weak. Two direct confrontations with palace master-level entities had significantly depleted his cultivation. Such cultivation could not be restored merely by dreaming.

After resting for a moment, Qin Mu's thoughts stirred, and the golden halls on the ark began to disappear automatically, one by one. The halls did not disappear quickly, giving Lan Yutian enough time to dash from one hall to another.

After a long while, Ancestral Court came into view ahead. The allied forces of Yankang and the Myriad Heavens could be seen in the distance. Only one golden hall remained on the ark.

Lan Yutian carefully pushed open the hall door and poked his head out, peering around. Seeing that the Golden Ark of Crossing Worlds had shrunk to only about a hundred zhang in length, he finally exhaled in relief and stepped out of the golden hall.

"Brother Yu, do you see it?" Qin Mu stood at the ark's bow, raising a hand to point towards the distant Ancestral Court. Behind him stood the upright Tai Yi coffin.

Lan Yutian walked forward and looked at the Tai Yi coffin. Seeing that Tai Yi was again placed upside down on the ark, he quickly picked up the coffin with effort and flipped it over.

He stepped forward and looked in the direction Qin Mu was pointing. He saw that Ancestral Court was stirring with activity, vast and magnificent. The Heavenly Court floated above the center of Ancestral Court, its divine might surging, divine light forming clouds, and golden radiance blazing, far more spectacular than the previous Heavenly Court!

The canopy of the World Tree had grown to the extent of covering the sky like a majestic parasol. The Great Dao, like ethereal mist, surged from the canopy, causing the lands of Ancestral Court to expand ever wider.

Beneath the World Tree's canopy, magnificent divine cities floated. Chains descended from the heavens, piercing the earth and connecting to mountains and rivers, seemingly locking these divine cities in place to prevent them from flying out beyond the sky.

Over the past few decades, Ancestral Court had undergone immense changes. Prehistoric powerhouses and Dao achievers had smuggled themselves in, transforming the land and imbuing Ancestral Court with an extraordinary, breathtaking beauty.

"Brother, what do you see?" Lan Yutian looked for a long time, not understanding what Qin Mu was referring to.

Ancestral Court was vast, with many notable places. The World Tree, the Ancestral Court Sacred Land, and the five Dao Trees above the Heavenly Court were all very conspicuous.

"A string."

The direction Qin Mu was pointing was precisely the location of Ancestral Court's Jade Capital City. He said gravely, "A string that has traversed time and space from the sixteenth epoch. This string originated from the Chaos River of the sixteenth epoch and was pulled by Heavenly Venerate Hao, drawing it out of Ancestral Court's Jade Capital City."

The vision from the vertical eye in his glabella was astonishing. It could even pierce through time and space, perceive chaos, and see the past.

What he saw was this string extending from a past universe, growing longer and longer as Emperor Hao Tian walked out of Ancestral Court's Jade Capital City. It traversed vast stretches of time, crossing the six-billion-year history of this universe to reach the present, following Heavenly Venerate Hao towards the Heavenly Court.

This string was almost imperceptible. Only Qin Mu's eyes could see it; others could not notice its existence at all.

"Emperor Hao Tian no longer exists; only the lackeys of Ancestral Court's Jade Capital City remain."

Qin Mu exhaled a turbid breath and said gravely, "What Heavenly Venerate Hao intends to do is to bring this string to the Heavenly Court, subdue the five great Dao achievers there, and harness that power for himself!"

Ahead of the golden ark, Heavenly Venerate Yue, Heavenly Venerate You, and others had already stabilized their armies. They had not launched an attack on Ancestral Court but instead arrayed themselves outside it. For days, they had been building psionic transfer bridges, constructing large-scale ones to facilitate travel to and from Yankang.

The situation in Ancestral Court was still unclear; attacking it now would only invite trouble.

As the golden ark sailed in, Jiang Baigui, Heavenly Venerate Yue, Heavenly Venerate You, Xu Shenghua, Lang Wo, the Dragon Qilin, and the two Heavenly Emperors Xuan and Wu, among others, came forward to greet them. Qin Mu put away the Tai Yi coffin and stepped off the ark, and immediately someone approached to dock the ark securely.

"Heavenly Venerate Mu, Ancestral Court has fallen into the hands of prehistoric powerhouses, and Emperor Hao Tian's remaining forces have fled into Ancestral Court. With our current strength, we are no match for either side."

Lang Wo's beautiful eyes glanced around as she inquired, "Does Heavenly Venerate have any plans?"

Qin Mu's gaze fell upon her, his mind somewhat unsettled. He felt that Lang Wo seemed a little different today, no longer as aloof as before. Yet, he couldn't quite pinpoint what the change was.

"Naturally, I have plans."

Qin Mu laughed heartily, "I'm going to the Heavenly Court to visit the five Dao achievers there, and while I'm at it, meet Heavenly Venerate Hao and Palace Master Huanxi, along with the string behind him!"

Lang Wo smiled and said, "I'll go with you."

Not far away, Emperor Yanfeng, looking somewhat surprised, stroked his beard and tilted his head to Jiang Baigui, saying, "Imperial Advisor, something is fishy here. I think this Creator wants to poach from my Ling family."

Jiang Baigui, looking serene and composed, said, "Your Majesty is overthinking it."

Emperor Yanfeng remained skeptical.