Chapter 1764: No Mistake, I Did It

Xing An arrived at the outskirts of the ancestral court, met with Moon Celestial Venerable and others, and relayed Qin Mu's message. Moon Celestial Venerable immediately began organizing. "All soldiers, return to Yankang and resume production. Your Majesty the Emperor, you also return. You Celestial Venerable, the Black Tortoise Emperors, Lang Wo, Xu Shenghua, Lan Yutian, and Jiang Baigui—the few of you will stay with me."

Xing An took the first step, returning to Yankang via the established psychic transfer bridge. Once in Yankang, he retrieved a prehistoric stowaway's primordial spirit from a box, binding it with chains of primordial qi.

A moment later, Youdu demonic energy suddenly surged, overflowing from another spacetime and transforming a hundred-zhang radius around Xing An into a small Youdu. In that small Youdu, three glowing eyes fixed their gaze on the prehistoric expert's primordial spirit.

"A species I have never seen before," a voice resonated from the darkness, which was Qin Fengqing's incarnation. "Xing An, why did you use this species's primordial spirit to attract me?"

"I need to find Lord Shang," Xing An replied.

Qin Fengqing's incarnation reached for the prehistoric expert's primordial spirit, saying, "Good. Give him to me, and I'll help you find Lord Shang!"

Suddenly, Xing An blocked him, shaking his head. "He is mine."

Qin Fengqing was enraged. "You used his primordial spirit to lure me out and ask for my help; how can you not give me a reward?"

Xing An retorted, "It is your brother who wants to find Lord Shang; I am merely helping him to do so."

Qin Fengqing fell silent for a moment, then indignantly said, "Bad brother! Wait a moment, I'll help you find Lord Shang's location!"

"Hold on," Xing An said with a smile. "It's not impossible for you to obtain this prehistoric expert's primordial spirit."

Qin Fengqing stopped and turned back to him. Xing An continued, "This prehistoric expert is a Celestial Venerable-level being. It took me some effort to obtain his primordial spirit. Acquiring his primordial spirit would greatly benefit you. His primordial spirit's structure is not composed of three souls and seven spirits; its soul composition is vastly different from ours."

Qin Fengqing turned fully, his three eyes gleaming brightly, watching the prehistoric expert, itching to act. Xing An had successfully piqued his greed; if he refused to give it, Qin Fengqing would undoubtedly try to seize it.

"You and Cult Master Qin were originally one, sharing a single body and soul," Xing An explained. "I wish to obtain Cult Master Qin's head, but he would certainly not agree. However, if you can give me one of your heads, I will give you this prehistoric expert's primordial spirit."

Qin Fengqing was overjoyed and laughed, "My brother is so stupid! Just cut off a head and grow another one! Wait for me!"

A moment later, a portal to heaven and earth opened, and the head of Qin Fengqing's true body rolled out from it, exclaiming, "Here's my head, give me that guy's primordial spirit!"

Xing An could barely contain his elation, quickly steadying himself and handing the chains along with the prehistoric expert's primordial spirit to Qin Fengqing. He cradled Qin Fengqing's head and couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Cult Master Qin, you never expected this, did you? I can possess your head without going through you! I want to see why you have all those bizarre ideas!"

He was inexplicably excited.

Qin Fengqing was equally excited, examining the prehistoric expert's primordial spirit. The more he looked, the more he liked it, his mouth watering as he chuckled, "Looks very delicious... What's even rarer is that the soul is completely different from ours. Excellent, truly excellent!"

The prehistoric expert was utterly terrified and trembling.

Qin Fengqing's true body had already located Lord Shang. "Lord Shang is working at a milling machine factory in Bazhou," he said.

Xing An, carrying Qin Fengqing's head, immediately rushed to the Bazhou milling machine factory. Along the way, he meticulously studied Qin Fengqing's head, his face growing progressively darker. Upon arriving in Bazhou, he finally couldn't contain his anger. "Cult Master Qin's head is not as smart as I imagined!"

The head suddenly spoke, smugly, "My brother's brain isn't very smart, indeed. I discovered this long ago; the fact that you just realized it shows you're also quite stupid."

Xing An was exasperated.

He arrived at the Bazhou milling machine factory. Qin Fengqing's head flew up, soaring through the air, helping him locate Lord Shang. "Here!"

Xing An quickly approached, seeing Lord Shang and some Daoists performing precision machining. These Daoists were likely from the Dao Sect, skilled in mathematics, speaking in profound mathematical terms. Lord Shang listened nearby, nodding occasionally.

"Little Shang's knife work is incredibly steady; he can improve the precision of the milling cutter by another order of magnitude," a Daoist remarked. "If the milling cutter's precision increases by an order of magnitude, the error in forging giant divine weapons will be much smaller, and the divine weapons can be forged even larger! Alright, let's rest, it's time for lunch."

Lord Shang stepped down from the platform and looked at Xing An with confusion. Xing An also looked confused, saying, "With your abilities, you shouldn't be working at this milling machine factory in Bazhou, should you? Your talent and skill would be highly valued anywhere."

Lord Shang shook his head. "After coming to Yankang, I found that besides killing, my only other skill is using my knife precision to help people work. I only understand this, and I'm very happy to find that I can support myself and buy what I want."

Xing An shook his head, quite perplexed. Their experiences differed. Lord Shang was born near the end of the 16th epoch, when the universe showed signs of great destruction, with slaughter everywhere, so he could only kill. But after coming to Yankang, he discovered his other values, and thus cherished the opportunity to realize them.

Xing An, on the other hand, was born in the era before Yankang, an era of greedy, high-and-mighty cultivators who had power over common mortals, which made his personality eccentric. Later, with Yankang's reforms and his encounter with Qin Mu, he reined himself in somewhat, operating within Yankang's rules. Their differing experiences led to different approaches.

"Cult Master Qin asks you to go to the ancestral court. A Purity Palace enlightened one has descended, and he needs you to deal with the Master of Joyful Hall," Xing An explained his purpose.

Lord Shang replied, "I'll go after I finish the milling cutter and collect my wages."

Xing An was greatly bewildered. Qin Fengqing's head interjected, "Lord Shang, you weren't in a milling machine factory before; how did you end up here?"

"The previous manufacturing plant didn't dare to employ me, gave me some money, and fired me," Lord Shang said sullenly, resuming his work.

Xing An shook his head, finding his actions difficult to comprehend.

Lord Shang finished the milling cutter and went to resign. The factory supervisor was very reluctant, trying to persuade him to stay. Lord Shang simply stated, "Celestial Venerable Mu invited me to kill an enlightened one." Upon hearing this, the supervisor suddenly remembered someone and quickly paid him his wages.

Lord Shang departed. Xing An thought for a moment, then left with him, saying, "Cult Master Qin still owes me a coffin. Moreover, this head isn't very useful."

Qin Fengqing's head flew away, laughing, "If it's not useful, I'll take it back. When you see my brother, tell him that forty-two years are almost up, and I want to see that person!"

"Forty-two years are almost up? What does that mean?" Xing An was puzzled.

***

In the Void Filth Ground, after nearly a month of travel, the Golden Ship of Salvation finally reached this desolate place. Qin Mu frowned slightly. "It shouldn't take this long from the ancestral court to here, at most twenty days. Did the World Tree grow rapidly after Old Man Wuya appeared, making the Ultimate Void larger than before?"

A faint unease stirred in his heart. If the Ultimate Void grew, it would inevitably push the myriad heavens and worlds to grow along with it; the expansion of the universe was gradually accelerating.

"I wonder if my judgment is correct, or if the growth of the Ultimate Void hasn't affected the myriad heavens and worlds. Hmm, this requires my father-in-law, Star Official, to measure the major heavens and the Primordial Realm."

He steadied himself. The growth of the myriad heavens and worlds, making them larger than before, seemed like a good thing, but in reality, it meant the universe was constantly being voidified!

The Golden Ship of Salvation entered the Void Filth Ground. Qin Mu temporarily put that matter aside, whispering, "The Obelisk Forest is a sealed area left by the Eldest Young Master, Grand Emperor. The last time I was able to enter was because one obelisk was thrown out of the forest by Grand Primordium, and one of the two portals was missing. However, when I left, Eldest Young Master, Grand Emperor, appeared, put the obelisk back, and repaired the portal. This time, to get in, I'll have to break open the portal and the suppression of the obelisk forest..."

Divine light flashed in his eyes. "Do I have such strength?"

The Golden Ship of Salvation navigated through the Filth Ground, avoiding various strange places. Suddenly, a head covered in flesh but without skin, with hair like steel wires growing in all directions, flew towards them. Qin Mu narrowed his eyes, then suddenly his aura erupted. The strange head sensed his aura, immediately turned around, and vanished into the darkness of the Filth Ground.

"I'm strong enough," Qin Mu muttered, clenching his fist. "After Old Man Wuya's teachings, I'm strong enough. I can even cleave the Eldest Young Master's Grand Emperor Hall, let alone the Obelisk Forest?"

He let out a low roar, his primordial qi of grand creation exploding, purple flames rising around him. The Golden Ship's speed immediately accelerated, roaring as it charged into the Filth Ground! Wherever the Golden Ship passed, all the strangeness in the Filth Ground became calm, suppressed by his aura.

Qin Mu smashed his way through. Ahead, coffins blocked the path. These coffins were made from enlightened ones' Dao trees. The enlightened ones hid in the coffins, hoping to survive the Calamity of Destruction and Calamity of Creation. However, these enlightened ones were sealed, unable to escape their coffins, condemned to wander the desolate place forever. The cluster of coffins blocked the way, showing no sign of moving aside.

The Golden Ship crushed past, shattering six or seven giant coffins. Dao blood flowed from the coffins, then was voidified. Qin Mu glanced briefly, seeing that the flesh of the enlightened ones in the coffins had grown together with the coffins. The flesh in the coffins was bloody and constantly writhing; the original forms of these enlightened ones were unrecognizable.

Suddenly, a furious roar in a prehistoric Dao language came from a shattered giant coffin. "Seventh Young Master, why did you suppress me—"

*Swish*, a sword light struck, and the person in the coffin was split apart by the sword, like a small universe rising within the coffin, then assimilated by the void. Qin Mu retracted his sword; the Golden Ship had long since sped away.

On the ship, Qin Mu was somewhat perplexed. "These enlightened ones in the coffins, did I suppress and seal them? I thought it was some righteous person's good deed..."

Ahead, a portal stood tall. Qin Mu's eyes gleamed, and he suddenly furiously propelled the Golden Ship of Salvation, making it go faster and faster, directly crashing towards the portal! At the bow of the ship, the Grand Primordium Divine Axe appeared in Qin Mu's hand. He stared at the portal ahead, raised the axe, and brought it down!

An earth-shattering roar sounded. The portal left by the Eldest Young Master, Grand Emperor, was split open by an axe, then shattered into pieces by the Golden Ship of Salvation! The Golden Ship of Salvation barged into the Obelisk Forest, sliding along, knocking obelisk after obelisk askew!

"I'm back!" Qin Mu leaped from the Golden Ship and roared.