Chapter 1825: Three Young Master's Skull

Prince Lingxiao gasped for breath, dragging his Dao spear behind him. His expression was grim, and his heavy footsteps resonated on the sea as he approached Qin Mu, one step at a time.

He was still a step too late.

When Zixiao's Sword Dao power erupted, he sensed its astonishing might and even heard the zither music of Zixiao's Dao Proving Tune.

He had followed the zither music to reach this place.

Zixiao's Sword Dao power had both shocked and delighted him. He had been certain that Qin Mu would be unable to withstand Zixiao's sword, making victory assured. Yet, upon his arrival, he saw Zixiao sinking into the river.

Zixiao, as he had feared, had suffered a Dao Heart collapse, abandoning everything to return to the Calamity of Destruction to be with his deceased wife.

"Third Senior Brother."

Qin Mu greeted him respectfully. Despite his severe injuries, he maintained his decorum, saying, "Fourth Senior Brother has found what he desired. What is your wish, Third Senior Brother? Your humble junior will do his best to fulfill it."

Prince Lingxiao's anger gradually subsided. He also bore many sword wounds inflicted by Zixiao, but his injuries were far lighter compared to Qin Mu's. He said indifferently, "Seventh Brother, I am not like Fourth Brother. His Dao Heart was flawed, making him vulnerable to your schemes. But my Dao Heart has no weaknesses; it is perfectly complete and transparent. Had you encountered me at the start, your defeat would have been certain."

Qin Mu smiled faintly, retreating gradually. His Dao blood dripped into the boundless River of Chaos. The Dao injuries Prince Zixiao had inflicted were too severe for him to recover from quickly.

"Indeed, I had no chance of victory against Fourth Senior Brother. When his full power erupted, it was astonishingly brilliant and left me in awe. I imagine Third Senior Brother possesses similar capabilities. Therefore, I have prepared another challenge for you."

The River of Chaos beneath their feet transformed into a colossal ring. Qin Mu walked along the inner perimeter of the river, with Prince Lingxiao following closely, dragging his spear.

Suddenly, with a whoosh, another River of Chaos intersected their path. Qin Mu stepped onto it, and simultaneously, Prince Lingxiao's feet landed on the same river, giving him no opportunity to escape.

Another river rolled in, and Qin Mu shifted his steps, stepping onto it. Prince Lingxiao continued to follow him, his fighting intent escalating, his killing intent growing stronger.

He was preparing to strike Qin Mu down with his strongest blow, giving him no chance!

"Even at my peak, I wouldn't dare claim I could defeat you, Senior Brother, let alone now, when I'm utterly spent?"

Qin Mu continued to move, making it impossible for Prince Lingxiao's aura to lock onto him. "All seven princes and princesses of the Mi Luo Palace possess the power to survive the Calamity of Destruction," he said, "but only three can pass through the Calamity of Creation: First Prince Taishang, Second Princess Wuji, and myself."

No sooner had he spoken than Prince Lingxiao's expression changed slightly. As he moved with Qin Mu, he realized that the surroundings were no longer the boundless River of Chaos, but a vast chaotic sea.

He looked around and saw that the previous rivers of chaos had vanished without a trace, with no indication of where they had gone.

He looked up and saw countless universes of the Sixteenth Epoch!

These universes were like countless cross-sections of time, collectively forming the history of the Sixteenth Epoch.

Turning his gaze, he saw countless universes of the Seventeenth Epoch, also appearing as innumerable cross-sections. The entire history and future of the Seventeenth Epoch were laid bare before him.

Then, everything dissolved into chaos; both the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Epoch universes vanished completely.

He looked down and could no longer see the chaotic sea.

At this moment, he saw countless Qin Mus, and countless versions of himself!

Before and behind him, there were countless versions of both himself and Qin Mu. Each version of himself seemed to possess an independent consciousness, looking around, yet all of them wore wary expressions.

Prince Lingxiao reached out to touch the version of himself directly ahead. At that moment, he felt the back of his own head.

The other versions of himself performed various actions: some touched another's face, some gazed around, while others stepped on another's sole, each performing a distinct movement.

He couldn't even count how many versions of himself there were!

"This is a precursor to the imminent Calamity of Creation."

The countless Qin Mus suddenly looked at him in unison. This sight was extremely strange and peculiar, yet Qin Mu seemed to be able to control his countless selves.

These Qin Mus moved through various strange spaces, yet no matter how they moved, they always faced him, and his countless other selves.

"This is the state after the complete destruction of the Sixteenth Epoch. Chaos gathers at a single point, appearing as a sea of chaos, but it is in fact a bizarre point where countless extremely dense spaces are compressed together."

Qin Mu's voice seemed to emanate from countless spaces, yet no matter where it came from, it entered his ears simultaneously.

"The entire Seventeenth Epoch universe will be born from here. Please look, Third Senior Brother."

Prince Lingxiao looked in the direction he pointed and saw the Mi Luo Palace, which caused him to pause slightly in surprise.

The Mi Luo Palace, unlike himself, was not divided into countless versions; it remained a single palace.

"Master's Grand Primordium Runes are 'one,' from which myriad Daos evolve, incapable of further division. Therefore, the Mi Luo Palace also represents this 'one' within the Calamity of Creation."

Qin Mu said, "Senior Brother Taishang inherited Master's legacy and can also achieve this. Senior Sister Wuji is the Goddess of Gui Xu, embodying both destruction and creation, and she too can achieve this. They can all become 'singular' within the Calamity of Creation. Of course, I can also achieve this."

Suddenly, the countless Qin Mus in those myriad minute spaces vanished, replaced by a single Qin Mu who appeared before all the Prince Lingxiaos, walking back and forth in front of them.

"Other princes, while possessing the strength to survive the Calamity of Destruction, cannot pass through the Calamity of Creation. This is because at the moment the Calamity of Creation erupts, countless versions of themselves are destroyed by countless Calamities of Creation."

Qin Mu's gaze settled on Prince Lingxiao's face, meeting the eyes of his countless selves: "These countless versions of yourself are actually countless temporal cross-sections of your future self in the Seventeenth Epoch. Your body contains innumerable material particles; any slight change in one of these particles can create a possibility in the future. Each material particle has countless variations over the long Seventeenth Epoch, and countless material particles have an infinite number of future possibilities. But all of this is encompassed within the Calamity of Creation."

Prince Lingxiao's mind reeled. He saw countless versions of himself, some asking questions, some in shock, and some in terror.

These selves were indeed him, but they were future selves—innumerable versions of himself resulting from changes in his own matter.

The strangeness of the moment before the Calamity of Creation erupted was beyond his imagination!

"Third Senior Brother, if you cannot withstand the Calamity of Creation, your countless futures will all be destroyed by it, and you, naturally, will cease to exist. The Calamity of Creation will completely erase you!"

Qin Mu continued unhurriedly, "Your countless futures will become nourishment for the Seventeenth Epoch. This is why even Dao practitioners cannot survive the Calamity of Creation. However, you have one glimmer of hope: to gather your countless futures into one, like Master, like Taishang. Only then can you preserve your life in the Calamity of Creation."

Prince Lingxiao heard countless versions of himself shouting in rage, asking questions, and saw countless versions of himself attacking, yet none could harm Qin Mu in the slightest.

"Is this the scene Master encountered in the First Epoch when he forged the Golden Ark of Salvation to ferry all beings?" he asked amidst the clamor.

Qin Mu, however, seemed to clearly discern this specific question amidst the cacophony of his own thoughts. He said, "At that time, Master was only capable of surviving the Calamity of Destruction; he shouldn't have encountered the Calamity of Creation while bringing all beings with him. The beings of the First Epoch had already been annihilated during the Calamity of Destruction. Had he encountered the Calamity of Creation, he would have been even more desperate. However, I believe Master did encounter the Calamity of Creation after the destruction of all beings, but he survived. In that fleeting moment, he must have been able to see the future."

Prince Lingxiao let out a long breath. Although the Mi Luo Palace Master's power was profound then, it was still not comparable to his own current strength.

Since Master could survive the Calamity of Creation back then, he surely could too!

"Whether you can survive the Calamity of Creation doesn't depend on strength, but on whether you can gather all futures into one."

Qin Mu seemed to hear his thoughts. "Senior Brother," he said, "if you were me, you could even leap out of the Calamity of Creation and arrive directly in the post-calamity era. This is the Dao of Chaos. If I'm not mistaken, the reason Master's Dao Heart perished and he returned to the First Epoch to become the Dao was that, before the destruction of the Sixteenth Epoch and the onset of the Seventeenth Epoch's Calamity of Creation, he witnessed the entire future of the Seventeenth Epoch—a future that filled him with utter despair."

Prince Lingxiao's pupils constricted abruptly.

Just now, he had caught a fleeting glimpse of all the future cross-sections of the Seventeenth Epoch, but there were simply too many future cross-sections for him to see through to the end of the Seventeenth Epoch!

However, the Mi Luo Palace Master should have been able to do it.

"This is my first time entering the Calamity of Creation, and also my first time encountering such peculiar phenomena. I haven't even had a chance to clearly see the future of the Seventeenth Epoch within this Calamity of Creation."

Qin Mu said somberly, "However, Master once said that the Seventeenth Epoch's future is one of ultimate desolation, transforming into a completely frigid void after eight hundred billion years, devoid of all life and with no subsequent universe. I imagine he saw this future for the Seventeenth Epoch and thus despaired."

"Aren't you despairing?" Prince Lingxiao asked.

Qin Mu shook his head: "I am not. I don't believe that the future of the Seventeenth Epoch is already fated. Even if it is, I will change it! Senior Brother, Master took the wrong path. Will you still continue down his road?"

Prince Lingxiao fell silent, gripping the Dao spear in his hand, his grasp tightening more and more.

"Junior Brother, you said my only path to survival is to gather all futures into one, like Senior Brother Taishang and Master. I don't agree with that."

He pursed his lips, revealing a slight smile. "Besides that," he said, "there's another glimmer of hope: the Ultimate Void's putrid ground, that abandoned place!"

Qin Mu's expression darkened, and his pupils constricted sharply.

The Calamity of Creation erupted!

Suddenly, countless Prince Lingxiaos rose up, their Dao spears simultaneously thrusting forward as they charged towards the abandoned place that had not been destroyed by the Calamity of Destruction!

Qin Mu flicked his sleeve, vanishing from the Calamity of Creation at the moment it erupted!

Above Jade Capital City in the Ancestral Court, Qin Mu's figure appeared. His wide robe and long sleeves fluttered as he surged into the Ultimate Void!

In the putrid ground of the Ultimate Void, a massive skull, buffeted by frigid winds, crashed against a dilapidated boat, its head snagged by a tattered long spear.

That grotesque head was the very one Qin Mu had encountered years ago during his first entry into the putrid ground. The skull had since gained a trace of flesh, and over the years, more flesh and blood had begun to grow on its surface.

It grew eyes, and its features could faintly be distinguished.

This was Third Prince Lingxiao, who had escaped the Calamity of Creation and had remained in a state of confusion ever since.

At this moment, as Third Prince Lingxiao vanished from Jade Capital City, he finally recalled his name and identity, and a torrent of divine abilities and Dao arts flooded into his mind.