Chapter 1755: Astounding Strongman

Moon Heavenly Venerate glanced at the box, her heart stirring slightly. "What exactly is Mu's purpose for this trip?"

She had initially thought Qin Mu's goal was to persuade the Five Elders of Peak-Common, but he showed no inclination to do so. Instead, he insisted they return to where they came from. Later, she suspected Qin Mu intended to eliminate the Five Elders in one fell swoop. Yet, he seemed uninterested in them, refraining from delivering a fatal blow. Instead, he stubbornly clashed with the Fourth Young Master's zither string. Now, Qin Mu had glanced at the box and declared his objective achieved. So, what *was* that objective?

She didn't know that Qin Mu's purpose for this trip was not singular; one of his goals was to muddy the waters. Had Qin Mu and she not arrived, Emperor Vast Heaven might have subdued the Five Elders of Peak-Common, putting Yankang in peril. Qin Mu brought her here to ensure there was absolutely no chance of the two sides allying. Even though Qin Mu didn't instigate or play dirty tricks, his presence would create the illusion of a three-way standoff for the Five Elders, leading them to make incorrect judgments.

A triangular structure is the most stable. Thus, maintaining a three-way balance—with the Five Elders not siding with any party but establishing their own power—was the best way to preserve this stable structure. This is why Feng Hualian made grand pronouncements, vowing to prevent the arrival of the Miluo Palace while refusing to ally with Qin Mu. However, his judgment was flawed. The Miluo Palace's power was too immense for a three-way standoff to be possible, which led to Feng Hualian's death. This was chaos. If Qin Mu hadn't come, this seemingly stable chaotic state wouldn't have formed. As the Seventh Young Master of Chaos, Qin Mu's presence naturally brought about disorder and disarray wherever he went.

Moon Heavenly Venerate strummed her zither, playing the "Purple Heaven Dao Proclamation Melody," and the divine arts transmitted through the Fourth Young Master's zither music ceased. As the Fourth Young Master's divine arts stopped, Yanxiu Pavilion immediately charged towards Emperor Vast Heaven. Seeing this, the Joyful Hall Master, having broken free from Lishu's 'One Acre of Yellow Field,' instantly enveloped Emperor Vast Heaven and vanished.

Huang Tang was not yet dead. The Fourth Young Master's attack had severed his Dao Tree and decapitated him, but because the Fourth Young Master was trying to prevent them from killing Emperor Vast Heaven, Huang Tang miraculously escaped. His unique cultivation method perfectly countered the Joyful Hall Master's spatial Dao. He struck them down, leading to another fierce battle.

Lishu and Cangyan Cui charged at Qin Mu and Moon Heavenly Venerate. Moon Heavenly Venerate remained seated, playing her zither, while Qin Mu stood beside her, moving around her to block the attacks from Lishu and Cangyan Cui. The four Peak-Common Elders, eyes bloodshot, ruthlessly attacked them without regard for right or wrong.

Qin Mu frowned, noticing the box moving away. He said in a deep voice, "Moon, that's enough."

Moon Heavenly Venerate put away her zither. A peach blossom bloomed at her fingertip, its petals falling in increasing numbers. By the time Lishu and Cangyan Cui dispelled the petals, Qin Mu and Moon Heavenly Venerate had vanished without a trace.

"The four Peak-Common Elders are truly valiant," Moon Heavenly Venerate remarked.

She brought Qin Mu outside the Celestial Heavens. Looking back, they saw the four Peak-Common Elders savagely battling the Joyful Hall Master and Emperor Vast Heaven, a fierce struggle that left the Celestial Heavens almost in ruins!

"These four elders are extraordinarily capable, but they are no match for the Fourth Young Master's zither string," Qin Mu said. He gazed into the distance, his face filled with worry. "My concern is that the Fourth Young Master's rampage will hasten the arrival of the Miluo Palace." The first time the Fourth Young Master plucked his zither string, it was truly astonishing; a single strike reduced even a Dao-Achiever to ashes. Of course, that was a charged attack, not a normal technique. But even so, the four Peak-Common Elders were no match for the Fourth Young Master, let alone with the Joyful Hall Master also present.

Just then, a clattering sound approached as the box quickly ran out of the Celestial Heavens, reaching Qin Mu's side and affectionately rubbing against his calf. Qin Mu smiled slightly, took out the lower half of Chu Ge Hall Master's body, and chuckled, "Do you want it?" The box bounced frantically, trying to absorb the treasure into itself, but it always just missed.

Qin Mu laughed heartily, glancing at a strange man approaching. The man was heavily bearded and robust, not human-like, with lizard scales on his face and several raised lizard bone plates on his head.

"Xing An," Qin Mu said with a faint smile.

The man examined the lower half of Chu Ge Hall Master's body, his gaze peculiar, his pupils vertical. "The body of a Dao-Achiever?"

"Chu Ge Hall Master, one of the seventy-two Hall Masters of Miluo Palace, is possibly the strongest among them," Qin Mu replied. He added, "I went to great lengths to deal with him."

Xing An nodded. "I'll take it. What do you want me to do?"

Qin Mu set down the Grand Beginning Coffin. "Open this divine coffin and safely release the person inside."

Xing An stepped forward, inspected it, and said, "This coffin is much more perfect than the one I refined for you. If it were before, I wouldn't have been able to open it either." Qin Mu frowned. Xing An continued, "However, this coffin had a layer shaved off by the Fourth Young Master's zither string, creating a flaw. Give me half a year, and I will open it."

Qin Mu frowned. "Half a year is too long. How about three months?"

Xing An replied indifferently, "In three months, I can only guarantee you a damaged one."

Qin Mu's head ached, and he gritted his teeth. "Half a year, then! No matter what, you must rescue him completely intact!" He handed over Chu Ge Hall Master's physical body to Xing An. "Take the coffin. In half a year, I want to see the person inside! If not, you know what I'm capable of!"

Xing An paid no mind to his threat, his gaze peculiar. "This coffin is of superior quality. Even if you searched the Ancestral Court for thousands of years, you wouldn't find the materials needed to forge it. Are you truly willing to give this coffin to me? Aren't you afraid I'll keep it for myself?"

Qin Mu chuckled. "Friend, can you even claim this coffin and lie inside yourself?"

Xing An thought for a moment, then nodded, staring at the coffin. "I'd very much like to try. The quality of this coffin is excellent."

Moon Heavenly Venerate's expression was peculiar as she observed Xing An, thinking, "This body of Xing An's shouldn't be his true form, should it? What does he truly look like?" Her curiosity grew. "Heavenly Venerate Mu, Xu Shenghua, Jiang Baigui, Xing An, Hua Xuanxiu, Si Youyou, Qin Fengqing—this era has truly produced many Heavenly Venerates, no less than the early years of the Dragon Han era." These individuals have all made unique contributions in their respective fields. If ranked by their contributions to the cultivation system, Xu Shenghua would even precede Qin Mu. Xing An's contribution, however, lay in his astonishing achievements at the Wen Dao Academy.

Xing An put away the Coffin of Buried Dao and the lower half of Chu Ge Hall Master's body, then departed with the box. Qin Mu and Moon Heavenly Venerate watched him disappear into the vast mountains of the Ancestral Court. Moon Heavenly Venerate praised, "He's truly an extraordinary person. Just now, the way Xing An looked at you was strange. When he looked at you, he always stared at your neck, sometimes even your skull, but his gaze never met your eyes directly."

"He wants my head," Qin Mu said. He dismissed it with a laugh. "It's just that he doesn't have the ability."

He began to walk towards the World Tree. "Moon, since we're here, let's go take a look beneath the World Tree. The departure of the Five Elders of Peak-Common from the World Tree always gives me an uneasy feeling. According to the Joyful Hall Master, these five elders used to always stay under the World Tree. Their departure this time to occupy the Celestial Heavens doesn't seem like a voluntary move; it's more as if they were forced out..."

Moon Heavenly Venerate frowned and kept pace with him. Though their steps weren't rapid, their speed was astonishing.

Just then, a zither note suddenly echoed from deep within space-time. Qin Mu shuddered and hastily pulled Moon Heavenly Venerate down. The Celestial Heavens suddenly split a second time, rent asunder by the zither note. Then, the zither music suddenly became chaotic, urgent and rapid, like pearls scattering across a jade plate, and the Celestial Heavens instantly shattered into pieces! Qin Mu looked back, only to see the vast Celestial Heavens being separated and disintegrated by invisible blades. Amidst the zither music, the four Peak-Common Elders flew frantically, trying to evade the unseen blades. Yet, someone failed to escape and was decapitated by the zither note; it was unclear which of the four elders it was!

"The Fourth Young Master is enraged."

No sooner had Qin Mu thought this than a light suddenly shot out from beneath the World Tree, like a swallow's tail feathers cutting the air. It flew to the collapsing Celestial Heavens and, with a sharp snip, the zither music abruptly ceased. Qin Mu looked with his vertical eye in his forehead, seeing two severed zither strings swirling and flying through space-time, suddenly coiling towards the World Tree!

The two strings were invisible to the naked eye and moved silently. As they coiled towards the World Tree, they passed through six or seven divine cities built by prehistoric powerhouses. As they passed, those divine cities showed no abnormalities, but once the zither strings had flown far away, city after city silently cracked apart! The prehistoric gods within those cities were all Heavenly Venerate-level beings, immensely powerful, yet they died and their Dao vanished without even knowing what had happened!

Beneath the World Tree, two leaves flew forth. The World Tree's leaves grew larger and larger, meeting the two zither strings. They swiftly coiled, ensnaring the strings. Suddenly, the leaves ignited, and the zither strings burned along with them. Two streaks of fire vanished along the strings into the depths of space-time, likely to soon burn into the Great Catastrophe of the Sixteenth Epoch!

Qin Mu's heart pounded. He stopped and said in a deep voice, "Moon, go back. I'll go to the World Tree alone!"

Moon Heavenly Venerate hesitated. She hadn't witnessed the clash between the zither strings and the World Tree's leaves. She had only seen divine cities suddenly cracking open, then two leaves flying out, suddenly curling up, and then burning. She hadn't seen the seemingly effortless yet powerful struggle.

"How strong is the person under the World Tree?" she inquired.

Qin Mu's expression was grave. He said in a deep voice, "No less powerful than a Young Master of Miluo Palace!"

"Take care!" Moon Heavenly Venerate turned and left, her figure disappearing, zither on her back.

Qin Mu composed himself and walked towards the World Tree. Behind him, the Celestial Heavens collapsed. The three surviving Peak-Common Elders, covered in blood, furiously attacked the Joyful Hall Master and Emperor Vast Heaven. The Joyful Hall Master, dragging Emperor Vast Heaven, fled frantically towards the Celestial Heavens army led by the Empress.

Qin Mu arrived at Great Black Mountain, where the World Tree appeared even taller and more magnificent, supporting the Ancestral Court's firmament and making its sky higher than before. Looking up from there, it seemed as though all the heavens and myriad worlds were much closer. However, Qin Mu knew this was an illusion. In reality, all the heavens and myriad worlds were constantly moving away from the Ancestral Court. As the World Tree grew, the Ultimate Void also continuously expanded, pushing the heavens and myriad worlds farther apart. According to the Miluo Palace Master's deductions, in eight hundred billion years, the entire universe would completely voidify, becoming a void membrane.

Behind Qin Mu, the primordial chaos stretched vast and boundless, with the Chaos Palace resting on the chaotic qi. He stepped into Great Black Mountain and declared in a clear voice, "Which fellow Daoist is residing in my territory?"

"Your territory? Seventh Young Master of Chaos, when did you become the landlord here?"

From beneath the World Tree, an ancient voice responded, "I have resided here for more than ten chaotic epochs. When you came to visit me under the World Tree back then, you didn't say that."