Chapter 1826: The Battle of Ideas

"Haha, Seventh Brother…"

Ancient memories awakened, and Third Young Master Ling Xiao finally remembered himself, recalling how Qin Mu had thrown him into the Creation Catastrophe of the Seventeenth Epoch.

He fell into the Creation Catastrophe, and countless versions of him simultaneously rushed towards the Filth Land, which had not been destroyed by the Annihilation Catastrophe. Only there was a glimmer of hope!

But as countless versions of him simultaneously ran towards the Filth Land, the Creation Catastrophe erupted. Its power was unimaginable; in myriad spaces, countless future selves exploded as if experiencing the birth of the universe, transforming into the Five Tais and expanding space, their beings and paths obliterated!

Countless future versions of him resisted the Creation Catastrophe with all their might, utilizing the divine arts and paths of the Miro Palace to their utmost. Yet, even with the power of a Young Master, it was useless against this unimaginable catastrophe.

It was then that he realized the gap between himself and the Master of Miro Palace, Tai Shang, Wu Ji, and even Qin Mu. This gap was not in cultivation level, but in their understanding and mastery of the Great Dao.

The Creation Catastrophe severed an untold number of his futures! He even suspected that billions, or even tens of billions, of years of his future had been annihilated by it.

This was terrifying. During that Creation Catastrophe, he only managed to escape into the Filth Land with his head.

"Ninety-five billion years have passed since the Creation Catastrophe, and the wounds I sustained should have healed by now."

As Third Young Master Ling Xiao's head regained its memories, flesh and blood immediately began to grow. Before this, he had been merely a head, drifting aimlessly in the Filth Land, acting purely on instinct, unsure how to restore his physical body.

It wasn't until Qin Mu was sealed within a pagoda formed from Tai Chu's flesh and blood and flew into the Filth Land that Ling Xiao's head managed to acquire a sliver of that flesh.

The most peculiar aspect of this was that the flesh-and-blood pagoda was formed from Tai Chu's flesh, yet it was Third Young Master Ling Xiao who controlled Tai Chu's physical body at that time. Furthermore, the divine art contained within that pagoda was a grand divine ability called "Miro's Path Transformation," which Ling Xiao had created specifically to target the weaknesses in Qin Mu's techniques and divine arts.

Ultimately, the Ling Xiao skull in the Filth Land obtained a trace of flesh and blood from the pagoda, allowing him to be reborn!

The cyclical nature of these events was quite intriguing.

Young Master Ling Xiao tried his best to restore his physical body. This body was essentially composed of the ancient god Heavenly Emperor Tai Chu's flesh and his own skull. However, during the Creation Catastrophe, all spiritual essence had been erased from his skull, so he could only use Tai Chu's flesh to regenerate his body.

Fortunately, Tai Chu's physical body was also extremely powerful. Although Tai Chu himself couldn't cultivate his body to its peak, Young Master Ling Xiao could.

"It seems the Creation Catastrophe only erased ninety-five billion years of my future."

Young Master Ling Xiao's head grew rapidly, a neck emerging beneath it. He sensed his Dao spear, which was impaled through his head. It must have been damaged by the Creation Catastrophe when it fell into the Filth Land with him, significantly reducing its power.

"The future beyond ninety-five billion years was not destroyed by the Creation Catastrophe. I am reborn at this moment, and in the future Seventeenth Epoch, I still have boundless time. In this battle, I still won!"

Ribs and arms grew on him. Once he fully recovered his physical body, even if it was Tai Chu's body, he could refine it to an extremely high level in a very short time.

Even if it wasn't as good as his original body, it would be close. What he lacked now was the cultivation that had been erased by the Creation Catastrophe, but with his abilities, he could cultivate back to his peak in a few years.

Beside him lay a dilapidated boat. Young Master Ling Xiao's pupils contracted slightly. This broken boat had been split in two by something unknown; the other half had vanished, leaving only this remnant.

He looked at the boat but couldn't recall its origin. He remembered that when he was just a skull, there were withered bones of a Dao achiever on the broken boat, vying with him for flesh and blood. One of them tore off a large piece of Tai Chu's flesh from his face and stuck it onto its own withered bones. However, the Dao achiever's cultivation was clearly much lower than his, and it couldn't retain the flesh.

"This isn't Teacher's Golden Ark of Salvation. The Dao achievers on this boat were also extremely powerful. Where exactly did they come from?"

Young Master Ling Xiao frowned. The boat gave him a familiar feeling. Many withered bones of Dao achievers were hidden inside the cabin, locked within. Their power in life had been formidable; though not as strong as a Young Master, their abilities were profound and unpredictable.

Few forces across the past sixteen cosmic epochs had possessed so many powerful individuals.

"This is no place to linger. Seventh Brother will surely be watching this area. Every moment I stay adds to the danger!"

Although he could rapidly restore his physical body now, he was still somewhat inadequate to contend with Qin Mu.

He needed to hide for a few years, recover to his peak state, before he could defeat Qin Mu.

Young Master Ling Xiao reached out his hand, and the rusted Dao spear flew up, landing in his skeletal grasp.

Wielding the spear, Young Master Ling Xiao flew swiftly through the Filth Land as flesh and blood continuously regenerated. Soon, his upper body was fully formed, followed by the growth of his leg bones.

Finally able to walk, Young Master Ling Xiao let out a long sigh of relief. With legs, he could fight and move, his speed greatly increased.

At that moment, his expression changed slightly as he saw the Obelisk Forest, left behind by First Young Master Tai Shang to suppress Miro Palace's enemies. Qin Mu had shattered the portal to the Obelisk Forest, revealing the forest behind it.

A powerful suppressive force emanated from the forest, and faintly, a Dao tree bearing twelve Dao Fruits could be seen standing there.

"Tai Yi! Or rather, Tian Du! He's hiding here!"

Young Master Ling Xiao left, thinking, "So, the Heaven-Opening people who smuggled themselves here must also be in this place. They were suppressed by Tai Yi; no wonder they haven't been seen for thirty-five billion years. I need a few years to recover. If these Heaven-Opening people could break free, they might be able to help Miro Palace."

After all, he needed several years to heal, and that time would be enough for Qin Mu and the Eternal Peace people to completely eradicate Miro Palace's influence.

If the Heaven-Opening people were freed, Qin Mu wouldn't be able to help the Eternal Peace people eliminate Miro Palace. With the Heaven-Opening people running rampant, Qin Mu would be forced to deal with crises everywhere, leaving him no time to destroy Miro Palace or search for Ling Xiao's whereabouts.

But how could he free the Heaven-Opening people?

Soon after, Young Master Ling Xiao showed a hint of delight. He saw the Heaven-Opening Land!

The ruins of Tiandu City appeared before him, and the Heaven-Opening Land was there. If he could send the Heaven-Opening Land into the Obelisk Forest, the Heaven-Opening people's power would greatly increase, allowing them to shatter the Obelisk Forest in one fell swoop!

Young Master Ling Xiao composed himself and stepped into the ruins of Tiandu City. Just then, a voice suddenly came from behind him: "Third Senior Brother, do you know what the consequences would be of using the Tiandu City ruins to strike the Obelisk Forest?"

Young Master Ling Xiao's body stiffened. He stopped, gripping the rusted Dao spear tightly.

"First Young Master Tai Shang, in previous cosmic epochs, captured and suppressed those heinous villains in this Filth Land. Many of them have perished in one Creation Catastrophe after another. But some have not died and are still suppressed within the Obelisk Forest."

Behind him, Qin Mu's figure slowly emerged and walked towards him, speaking unhurriedly: "Tian Du's physical body is also suppressed there, still intact even after ten Annihilation Catastrophes and eleven Creation Catastrophes. Tai Yi guards that place, transforming into an obelisk to suppress the Heaven-Opening people, and simultaneously suppressing his former life's body. If you use the Tiandu City ruins to strike the Obelisk Forest, you will unleash a great terror."

Young Master Ling Xiao felt Qin Mu's aura lock onto him and dared not make a single move.

Qin Mu came to his side, looked with him towards the Heaven-Opening Land within the Tiandu City ruins, and said, "The Heaven-Opening people will be released, Tai Yi will transform into Tian Du, and the demons suppressed by Tai Shang will pour out. The entire Seventeenth Epoch universe will be plunged into misery, perhaps even destroyed! Third Senior Brother, is this the philosophy of our Teacher that you uphold? Or have you become unscrupulous in your pursuit of victory?"

Young Master Ling Xiao's grip on his Dao spear tightened, and he coldly said, "What Teacher could not achieve, I can! To fulfill Teacher's philosophy, sacrifices must be made!"

Qin Mu turned to face him and sneered, "Sacrifice? The offerings on an altar are sacrifices, but you have never been the one making that sacrifice. The moment you became unscrupulous, you completely abandoned Teacher's philosophy. You used blood sacrifice to bring the Miro Palace members here—how are you any different from the Heaven-Opening people?"

Young Master Ling Xiao vibrated his Dao spear, unleashing its lingering power to sever Qin Mu's locking aura.

Young Master Ling Xiao immediately took a step back, his aura rapidly rising. He sneered, "Junior Brother, after Teacher's Dao heart died and entered Nirvana, Miro Palace already collapsed! Tai Shang ignores worldly affairs, Tai Ji was suppressed for his wickedness, Fourth Brother is obsessed with personal affections, and Fifth and Sixth Brothers are nowhere to be found. You're still stirring up trouble everywhere! Only I can be the backbone of Miro Palace, only I can uphold it and inherit Teacher's philosophy! What right do you have to accuse me?"

His aura grew stronger and stronger, and his Great Dao rapidly awakened. He said grimly, "Without me, Miro Palace would have long turned to dust! Dao achievers leaving Miro Palace would only cause more and greater evils!"

"That's why Miro Palace must be destroyed!"

Qin Mu stepped forward, coldly saying, "Miro Palace was meant to save all living beings. If it cannot save them, it should not continue to exist!"

Young Master Ling Xiao was furious: "So you insist on destroying Miro Palace, on obliterating Teacher's legacy?"

"Precisely!"

Qin Mu's killing intent soared: "I will destroy Miro Palace, obliterate Teacher's legacy! His closed-door disciple will correct his mistakes! If you persist in your delusion, you too are a mistake, and you need to be corrected!"

Young Master Ling Xiao thrust his Dao spear violently beneath the Tiandu City ruins. With a surge of power, he could lift this ruin with his spear and hurl it towards the Obelisk Forest!

The collision of the two ruins would unleash the residual power of the Heaven-Opening Land, capable of destroying the Obelisk Forest and releasing the scourges of the past sixteen cosmic epochs!

"You cannot kill me."

Young Master Ling Xiao spoke each word distinctly: "The Creation Catastrophe has erased ninety-five billion years of my past, but in the future, I have endless time. Junior Brother, in the end, I won this battle!"

Qin Mu's gaze was peculiar as he shook his head. "All your futures have been obliterated in the Creation Catastrophe, Third Senior Brother. Of countless futures, only your present self escaped. You have only this brief span of time remaining."

Young Master Ling Xiao's pupils suddenly constricted, and he exerted all his strength to hoist the Tiandu City ruins!