Chapter 1810: 归零

The battle at Guixu had a profound impact. The Guixu Abyssal Deep was completely destroyed, leaving only the Six Heavenly Wheels, forged from Primordial Chaos Stones, towering in the Chaos Sea above the sky. Elder Wuya and Young Master Wuji were both severely wounded, and the Third and Fourth Young Masters failed to completely eliminate them.

Meanwhile, in the battle at Jade Capital City in the Ancestral Court, three factions engaged in a brutal fight, suffering heavy casualties.

When Qin Mu headed to Jade Capital City in the Ancestral Court, Zi Xiao and Ling Xiao, who were pursuing Elder Wuya and Young Master Wuji, were forced to abandon their chase and return to Jade Capital City.

They possessed the power to kill Elder Wuya and Young Master Wuji, but doing so would inevitably lead to Qin Mu completely uprooting the forces in Jade Capital City in the Ancestral Court.

To preserve Jade Capital City, they had no choice but to forgo this excellent opportunity.

Qin Mu led Yan Kang's powerful cultivators out of Jade Capital City, while also taking action to protect Elder Wuya's subordinate forces during their retreat, astonishing Elder Wuya's strong individuals.

“If you die, it will only benefit the Third and Fourth Young Masters of the Mi Luo Palace.”

Emperor Kai and Qin Mu covered the rear together, explaining to those people: “Although Primordial Beginning can dissolve blood sacrifices, it can only dissolve a portion of the power. If you die, the Third and Fourth Young Masters will accumulate more energy, making it easier for them to descend. Therefore, you cannot die yet. You can die once Primordial Beginning can completely dissolve the blood sacrifice energy.”

Elder Wuya's powerful subordinates had originally felt a trace of gratitude, but upon hearing this, their last shred of thankfulness vanished.

“Seventh Young Master!”

Young Master Ling Xiao, knowing he couldn't stop them, immediately ordered a halt to the pursuit. Facing Qin Mu from a distance, he coldly stated: “Second Sister Wuji has still been released. Even if you destroyed the Guixu Abyssal Deep, she will sooner or later recover to her peak state. At that time, it will be a disaster for all living beings! This grave consequence must be attributed to you!”

Qin Mu recalled the Cosmic Bell, hanging it before the Chaos Hall, facing Ling Xiao from afar: “Third Young Master, the descent of the Mi Luo Palace will destroy all heavens and myriad worlds, plunging the Seventeenth Epoch universe directly into collapse and destruction, with countless lives perishing. On whose head should this dire consequence be laid? Teacher’s command was for each of you to return to the universe of your birth, yet you defied Teacher’s orders. How should that be accounted for?”

Young Master Ling Xiao, leaning on his spear, snorted coldly: “Teacher abandoned his ideals. As disciples, it is our duty to pick up his ideals and continue forward; only then are we his true successors! Among the Seven Young Masters of Mi Luo Palace, only Zi Xiao and I inherited his ideals. Everyone else, like you, Wuji, and Taishang, are traitors!”

Qin Mu burst into laughter and led his group away.

Young Master Ling Xiao watched him depart, then led his followers back to the Mi Luo Palace, but did not find Young Master Zi Xiao.

“The Fourth Young Master has gone back to the past.”

The enlightened one whose body had been controlled by the Fourth Young Master now regained control and said: “When he left, I felt intense sorrow and longing in his Dao heart.”

Young Master Ling Xiao fell silent, knowing that Zi Xiao's act of striking down Revered Moon and consequently interrupting his own Dao-proving melody had awakened his longing for his deceased wife.

“Fellow Daoist Hao, your physical body has endured the battle of Guixu, collapsing several times, and then was pierced through the glabella by the Seventh Young Master's sword, yet it remained unharmed. This is very strange.”

Young Master Ling Xiao returned the physical body to Revered Hao and said: “The Seventh Young Master is extremely cunning. It’s hard to say whether he secretly hid any mysteries in that sword strike, but I have investigated and found no residual divine abilities. However, we must be cautious. You are an enlightened one of my Mi Luo Palace, and I will not stand by and watch you be harmed.”

He summoned many palace masters and enlightened ones of the Mi Luo Palace and instructed them: “Fellow Daoist Hao’s foundation is shallow. You may teach him the Dao arts and divine abilities of our Mi Luo Palace. Whether they are from enlightened ones, palace masters, or even our own young masters, he may learn them all. You must also meticulously examine the sword wound on his glabella to see if the Seventh Young Master tampered with it. I need to go see the Fourth Young Master to prevent his Dao heart from suffering damage.”

Everyone assented.

Revered Hao felt both shock and joy in his heart. This time, he could be considered to have turned misfortune into a blessing, finally gaining the recognition of the Mi Luo Palace.

“How powerful are the Dao arts and divine abilities of the Mi Luo Palace? That fellow Revered Mu only began to rise after encountering the Mi Luo Palace’s Dao arts and divine abilities, and his cultivation strength has far surpassed mine! If I fully inherit the Mi Luo Palace’s legacy, my cultivation speed will only be faster than his, not slower! This is truly a turning point, a reversal of fortune!”

He was confident he was no weaker than anyone; all he lacked was an opportunity, and now that opportunity had finally arrived before him!

The enlightened ones and palace masters in Jade Capital City examined the sword wound on Revered Hao’s forehead one by one. But even Young Master Ling Xiao had found no residual divine abilities, so naturally, they discovered nothing either.

They also checked Revered Hao’s body and found no hidden dangers, prompting them to ponder.

Revered Hao smiled and said: “Sirs, please rest assured. Although I did not participate in the Battle of Guixu, I observed the entire process. At that time, the Seventh Young Master Qin Mu had already exhausted all his abilities to dismantle Guixu and simply had no power left to attack Young Master Ling Xiao. His sword strike was nothing more than a feint.”

“Let us hope so.”

The group set the matter aside and led him into the Mi Luo Palace’s treasury of Dao scriptures, allowing him to examine them. They said: “Anyone can learn the Dao arts and divine abilities of the Mi Luo Palace. Fellow Daoist Hao, the texts here are as vast as the ocean. Feel free to consult them. If there’s anything you don’t understand, simply ask us.”

Revered Hao was both surprised and delighted, expressing his thanks repeatedly. He asked: “Can I also study the texts of the Mi Luo Palace Master?”

Palace Master Huadu smiled and said: “Yes, you can. Not only can the enlightened ones of the Mi Luo Palace learn Teacher’s Dao arts and divine abilities, but everyone else can also learn them. The texts of the Mi Luo Palace have never been a secret.”

He gave Revered Hao a profound look and said meaningfully: “However, how much you can learn and whether you can comprehend the profound mysteries depends entirely on your personal aptitude and comprehension. Fellow Daoist Hao, your comprehension is extraordinary, but your foundation is not firm. I suggest you start by learning the ultimate arts of the various palace masters and enlightened ones to first solidify your foundation. Once your foundation is firm, then learn the young masters’ ultimate arts, and only then approach Teacher’s ultimate arts. This way, it will be easier to grasp. Directly attempting Teacher’s ultimate arts is only feasible if one possesses the intelligence and comprehension of a young master.”

Revered Hao solemnly replied: “Even a slow bird takes flight first. I am willing to put in extra effort and begin by learning Teacher’s ultimate arts.”

The other palace masters chuckled quietly, led him to the collection left by the Mi Luo Palace Master, left him there, and then departed.

Revered Hao’s heart pounded wildly: “My fortune has finally arrived! Revered Mu could become the Seventh Young Master just by comprehending a single Primordial Chaos Rune. If I obtain the ultimate arts of the Mi Luo Palace Master, my achievements are bound to far surpass his!”

He opened the first text. Its pages were refined from the same divine metal as the Golden Ship of Crossing Worlds, and imprinted on them were characters written with Primordial Chaos Runes.

Revered Hao stared with wide eyes, feeling dizzy. He looked for a long time but couldn’t understand a single word.

To understand the characters in this text, one first needed to comprehend all the variations of the Primordial Chaos Runes, and only then could one discern the profound mysteries within the characters!

The information contained within any single character in this text was likely comparable to the information contained within an entire Great Dao!

After a long while, Revered Hao put down this text and looked through other texts, finding them all to be the same!

Even with his exceptional wisdom, he couldn’t understand a single character!

“If I can’t understand the Mi Luo Palace Master’s texts, then I’ll settle for the next best thing and study the ultimate arts of the Mi Luo Palace’s Young Masters!”

He composed himself and went to the texts left by the First Young Master Taishang. He opened one, and his face immediately darkened.

He saw that the First Young Master Taishang had used the exact same characters as the Mi Luo Palace Master to write his Dao arts and divine abilities!

Revered Hao went to the texts of the Second Young Master Wuji, and his face darkened again. The Second Young Master Wuji’s texts had no characters, only a pile of incomprehensible symbols.

He went to the texts left by the Third Young Master Ling Xiao, opened one, and found it filled with Ling Xiao’s dense annotations on the Mi Luo Palace Master’s Dao arts and divine abilities.

Yet, even these annotations were incomprehensible!

Only with a profound understanding of the most fundamental Primordial Chaos Runes could one hope to understand these annotations.

Revered Hao went to the texts of the Fourth Young Master Zi Xiao. Zi Xiao’s texts were also annotations on the Mi Luo Palace Master’s Dao arts and divine abilities.

He then went to the texts of the Fifth Young Master Wuzong and the Sixth Young Master Zhanji; these texts were no different.

Revered Hao approached the texts of the Seventh Young Master Chaos, hesitated for a moment, and thought: “Other mountains’ stones can be used to polish jade. Although Qin Mu is my sworn enemy, that doesn’t prevent me from understanding his cultivation methods and divine abilities!”

He opened the text and saw that the runes on the golden book resembled incomprehensible scribbles!

Revered Hao's eyes went dark. Suddenly, the runes on the golden book transformed into characters he could recognize, but they were a series of numbers, precise down to the 'sudden moment' digit.

Moreover, those numbers were constantly changing.

Revered Hao closed Qin Mu’s text, puzzled in his heart: “Young Master Chaos is indeed a chaotic, incomprehensible mess... Huh, how strange!”

Even though he had closed the golden book, that series of flickering numbers still appeared before his eyes!

Revered Hao rubbed his eyes, but the string of numbers seemed imprinted in them, still there and continuously changing!

“Could Qin Mu have anticipated that I would look at his texts here and now, and therefore laid a divine ability ambush within the book to harm me? That’s impossible!”

Panic rose in his heart. That constantly changing string of numbers seemed to be a countdown, likely units of time. The foremost numbers were years, followed by months—a base-12 system from month to year—and then days, a base-30 system from day to month.

After days came hours, a base-12 system, followed by even finer units, extending all the way to the base-10 'sudden moment' digit.

The flickering of the characters appeared random, but in reality, they were the results of calculations using different number bases at each stage.

“These characters are counting down. What will happen when everything reaches zero?” Revered Hao felt a little lost.

The number for years was ninety-three. This meant that in ninety-three years, the numbers in his eyes would all turn to zero.

Revered Hao set this matter aside for the time being and went to examine the ultimate arts of the palace masters. However, they were still abstruse and difficult to understand. Ultimately, he had no choice but to turn to the ultimate arts of the enlightened ones, to study their insights into the Mi Luo Palace Master’s Primordial Chaos Runes.

At this time, Young Master Ling Xiao arrived at the Tenth Epoch, standing before its calamitous destruction, and looked into the long river of chaos.

In the long river of chaos, Young Master Zi Xiao had returned to the time of his wife’s death. This universe was already showing signs of great destruction. Just as the calamity was about to erupt, he held his wife in a tight embrace.

Young Master Ling Xiao watched this scene in a daze. He knew that Zi Xiao had repeated this final tender moment countless times.

Every time he missed his deceased wife, he would return here, enter the calamity, regress to his Tenth Epoch self, hold his beloved wife, and then struggle and strive tirelessly, hoping to save everything.

However, it was all in vain.

This time was no different.

Young Master Ling Xiao did not continue watching, abandoning his plan to console Zi Xiao, and left directly.

Some pain was beyond his ability to heal.

“Zi Xiao, only by defeating the Seventh Young Master, descending into the Seventeenth Epoch, and continuing Teacher’s ideals will you have a chance to save your wife!”

Young Master Ling Xiao silently thought: “Now, no one will interfere with your Dao heart. I hope you can rally and fight for the future!”

“Where is Revered Moon?” On the Golden Ship of Crossing Worlds, Lang Wo looked around, unable to find Revered Moon, and asked, puzzled.

She shared the closest and deepest bond with Revered Moon; they often allied against enemies. However, she had not seen Revered Moon in this great battle, and her heart felt uneasy.

Qin Mu gently said: “Revered Moon has gone to the Fourteenth Epoch universe. In the future, I will return to the past and reunite with her there.”

Lang Wo looked at him intently but did not press further.

Meanwhile, Elder Wuya and Young Master Wuji seized the opportunity to catch their breath and hide to heal their injuries. Since Elder Wuya was the World Tree, everyone knew his whereabouts, but Young Master Wuji’s traces remained unknown to anyone.

Unbeknownst to them, ninety-three years passed. On this day, Jade Capital City in the Ancestral Court launched an attack on Yan Kang’s forces. Revered Hao, whose cultivation strength had greatly increased, confidently confronted Emperor Kai Qin Ye alone.

Emperor Kai Qin Ye glanced at him with a strange look, shook his head, and said: “Hao, your time of death has come.”

Before Revered Hao's eyes, the final numbers flickered continuously, then suddenly turned to zero.