Chapter 1831: Prehistoric Catastrophe

Qin Mu lifted Qin Lingjun high and placed her on his shoulders. Qin Lingjun was pitifully thin, all bones beneath her skin with hardly any flesh. She sat somewhat uneasily on his shoulders, her small hands clutching his hair tightly.

She turned her head to look at Qin Mu's profile. The white hair at his temples brought a sense of familiarity, for it was the face that had appeared in her hazy vision since her birth.

This face made her feel at ease.

In her memory, besides this face, there was another familiar one.

That was her mother.

Qin Mu looked at the figures in the firelight. They were the perfected beings who had pursued Qin Lingjun. Back then, they had ambushed his family of three on the Primordial Chaos River, forcing him to send Qin Lingjun back to the Primordial Chaos River of the First Epoch, where she entered the First Epoch universe. From that moment, father and daughter were separated.

For Qin Lingjun, this separation lasted five years. For five years, she was without father or mother, becoming an orphan and living a lonely, helpless life.

For Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu, however, it stretched for 3.5 billion years. This separation caused Ling Yuxiu to harbor some resentment towards Qin Mu, and they did not have a second child during these 3.5 billion years.

Qin Mu was relatively fine, having merely waited 3.5 billion years, but Ling Yuxiu still had to continue waiting.

"Seventh Young Master!"

"Chaos!"

From the sea of fire came hoarse divine sounds, mixed with shock, fear, excitement, and mockery.

"You have finally returned, choosing to become the Seventh Young Master, becoming Chaos!" they laughed.

Qin Mu's expression was calm and unperturbed. His palm was tightly clenched into a fist, and he slowly raised his right hand.

"Gentlemen, do you still remember?" he said. "I once said on the Primordial Chaos River that I would put all of you into coffins."

He spread his five fingers. "Today, I've come to fulfill that promise."

In the firelight, Dao Trees suddenly exploded one after another. The angry roars of the prehistoric perfected beings could be heard as they scattered and fled in all directions. Their Dao Fruits hung high, and Dao light pierced through the chaotic sea of fire. However, a massive Samsara rose, encompassing all of them within its cycle!

Their Dao Trees were neatly cut into planks of wood within the sea of fire, and strange runes flickered and changed on these planks.

Those were Chaos runes, 'Yuan'!

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

One by one, planks made from Dao Trees assembled in the chaotic sea of fire. The branches of the Dao Trees turned into wooden nails, hammering into the coffin boards.

One after another, perfected beings from various cosmic epochs were captured by these coffins, uttering shrill screams as they were dragged into their respective coffins. Huge coffin lids flew up, landing on the coffins, and wooden nails hammered down, sealing them shut.

In the chaotic sea of fire, the Dao soldiers of these perfected beings melted one after another, transforming into chains that wove through the sea of fire, piercing through and locking the coffins.

"I am Chaos."

Qin Mu walked in the sea of fire with his daughter Qin Lingjun. Behind him, the cluster of coffins drifted, pulled by the chains. "When I returned to the past, to the First Epoch," he said, "I was already invincible."

From within the coffins came thumping vibrations; it was the perfected beings from various cosmic epochs struggling, trying to break out and escape.

Their cultivation power was extremely formidable. The perfected beings who had dared to ambush Qin Mu and his wife on the way were not simple individuals; the strength of each of them could rival a Hall Master of the Mi Luo Palace!

However, facing Qin Mu, who had already become Young Master Chaos, they were still far, far inferior.

"You don't need to struggle," he said. "I will create a space in this void that even the Calamity of Destruction and the Calamity of Creation cannot destroy, to serve as a place for storing filth."

Qin Mu raised his hand, and a huge area in the shattering ultimate void suddenly stabilized. Coffin after coffin flew past Qin Mu and his daughter, heading towards that area.

"I am not protecting you to survive the Calamity of Destruction and the Calamity of Creation," Qin Mu said. "In fact, this space merely reduces the power of the Calamity of Creation many times over, delaying it by countless years."

Qin Mu watched the cluster of coffins fly away, and his voice transformed into divine sound, steadily entering the ears of the perfected beings within the coffins.

"The Calamity of Creation will always pursue you," he said, "erasing your future again and again, making you slowly watch your own death approach. The power of the Calamity of Creation will cause you to grow together with the coffins, making it impossible for you to escape forever. It will kill you little by little."

"And this process will last for hundreds of billions of years!"

"You separated me from my daughter, preventing mother and daughter from meeting, and separated me from my wife," he declared. "This is my punishment for you!"

The Calamity of Destruction of the First Epoch arrived as scheduled. The Mi Luo Palace Master, using immense magical power, transformed it into sound, summoning all perfected beings and divine beings in the entire universe. He led all living beings from all heavens to the Ancestral Court to board the Golden Ark of Salvation, using it to traverse the great Calamity of Destruction.

This was an incredibly magnificent scene. On the Golden Ark of Salvation, golden halls emerged one after another. The interiors of these golden halls were like miniature heavens, containing the environments necessary for the survival of all living beings.

The First Epoch was an incredibly glorious era, a level of cosmic development that even Yan Kang could not surpass. The Golden Ark, crafted by the Mi Luo Palace Master by pouring all the wealth of this universe into it, was naturally no small feat.

When the Calamity of Destruction descended, the massive Golden Ark passed through the dense Primordial Chaos River. Resisting the winds of heat death and cold death that broke through the river's surface, as it sailed upon the Primordial Chaos River, the Mi Luo Palace Master could barely conceal his excitement.

The Golden Ark had not been destroyed in the Calamity of Destruction!

His voice was hoarse, and he let out a long laugh. Amidst his laughter, the Dao Trees of the perfected beings on the Golden Ark of Salvation turned to ashes, and their Dao Fruits dissipated. It was then that he noticed his Dao companions had already turned into skeletons as the Golden Ark passed through the Calamity of Destruction.

The Mi Luo Palace Master was stunned. He stood at the bow, watching the skeletons of his Dao companions shatter and collapse.

Suddenly, he let out a loud cry and rushed towards the golden halls on the ark.

The first hall was empty; everything within it had been destroyed, turning into primordial chaos!

The second hall was empty!

The third hall was empty!

The Mi Luo Palace Master, as if mad, rushed into and out of hall after hall. He cried out like a madman; his cries contained no syllables, no Dao, only dry wails.

It was as if he had suffered an extremely severe Dao injury. He rushed into those golden halls again and again, even though he had already entered some of them more than once.

"Daddy, what is he doing?" the little girl Qin Lingjun asked her father, looking up from his side in the Primordial Chaos River.

"He is searching for his Dao heart," Qin Mu replied, "searching for his philosophy."

Qin Mu watched this scene from a distance. He looked down at Qin Lingjun and said, "His Dao heart has collapsed, his philosophy has crumbled, and he wants to find it back. Perhaps in the future, I too will be like him, seeking to recover my own philosophy and Dao heart."

The Mi Luo Palace Master searched again and again, but he was the only one left on the entire Golden Ark. Finally, he slumped down, staring blankly at the Primordial Chaos River.

The Golden Ark of Salvation drifted with the Primordial Chaos River. The Calamity of Destruction was intensifying, but it could not shake the ark in the slightest, nor could it shake him.

The Mi Luo Palace Master's Dao heart was desolate, as if he was about to enter nirvana and merge with the Dao.

At this moment, a man with graying temples, holding a little girl by the hand, arrived on the Golden Ark.

The Mi Luo Palace Master looked at him with vacant eyes. Suddenly, his eyes shifted, and the man with graying temples bowed to him in the manner of a disciple.

"A visitor from the future?"

The Mi Luo Palace Master returned the greeting, saying, "From you, I see things that do not belong to this universe. You seem to have traveled very far through time. Are you from the future?"

"Teacher, I am your seventh disciple, Chaos," Qin Mu said.

"I've come back here to see you."

The Mi Luo Palace Master stared blankly at them, then suddenly asked, "Is the future well?"

"The future is well," Qin Mu smiled.

The Mi Luo Palace Master fell silent. His desolate Dao heart seemed to slowly recover, and his philosophy returned. He staggered into the golden halls, commemorating his past friends, all past beings, and the years within each hall.

After a long while, he walked out of the golden halls. His seventh disciple and the little girl were already gone.

The Mi Luo Palace Master felt a profound sense of loss.

After the Calamity of Destruction came the Calamity of Creation.

When the Calamity of Creation erupted, the Five Great Primes evolved. After the Grand Ultimate Dao evolved into the myriad Dao of heaven and earth, a new universe was born.

Old Man Wuya sat in the Jade Pool beneath the World Tree. Bored, he took out Primordial Chaos Nectar and rubbed the dirt off his body. While the Calamity of Destruction and the Calamity of Creation were grand and magnificent, they always left him covered in dust.

"Brother Wuya."

Old Man Wuya heard the voice. He poked his head out of the Jade Pool and saw a man with graying temples walking towards him, leading a little girl. He quickly jumped out of the Jade Pool, rapidly put on his clothes, and chuckled, saying, "I know you! You are not from this universe; I saw you leap out of the primordium."

"I am Chaos, the seventh disciple of the Mi Luo Palace Master," the young man smiled. "In the future, I will benefit from your kindness, brother, and have specifically come to thank you for your assistance."

"You will help me in the future, brother," the young man smiled, "and I have nothing to repay you with. I will owe you a favor, so I had to return to the past to write you an IOU."

Old Man Wuya laughed. "So you're Mi Luo's disciple. What kind of status do I have? In terms of seniority, even Mi Luo has to call me 'senior'. Do I still need your IOU? That's improper! Never mind, never mind, no need for an IOU."

Qin Mu's expression was kind. "Brother, please take it anyway," he said. "It might be useful in the future, mightn't it?"

He finished writing the IOU, and Old Man Wuya casually accepted it. Seeing this, Qin Mu kindly reminded him, "Brother, this IOU cannot survive the Calamity of Destruction and the Calamity of Creation. It's best to put it in the tree roots."

Old Man Wuya did as told and laughed, "You are quite interesting."

He looked at the little girl beside Qin Mu, finding her as lovely as ice and snow, and asked doubtfully, "I saw a little girl beside you during the Calamity of Destruction in the First Epoch. Is that her? How has she not grown up yet?"

Qin Mu smiled. "She was born in the future and survives by drawing energy from the Calamities of Destruction. She has already absorbed the power of several subsequent Calamities of Destruction. Only the power of the First Epoch's Calamity of Destruction did she begin to absorb after her birth, and therefore, she can only grow during the First Epoch."

"Such a strange thing exists?"

Old Man Wuya was surprised. Seeing his extraordinary demeanor and speech, he became interested and sat to discuss Dao with him. The longer they chatted, the more he felt this person was extraordinary.

Qin Mu looked around. This vast Ancestral Court was uninhabited; only the Five Great Primes were gathering and brewing, and the Five Great Primes deities were waiting to be born.

"Don't look," Old Man Wuya chuckled. "There's no share for you."

Old Man Wuya laughed. "Mi Luo has been guarding that place for a long time. As soon as the beings from the first ore vein are born, he takes them. Oh right, you're also his disciple, and you're from the future. So you must know what I'll be like in the future, right?"

Qin Mu said solemnly, "Ancestor Wuya, your magical power is boundless, and your might spans across countless cosmic epochs! Countless perfected beings submit and guard you, Ancestor!"

Old Man Wuya burst into laughter. "You speak so nicely! Truly worthy of being the seventh of Mi Luo's family! I really like you!"

During the Second Epoch, the Mi Luo Palace Master entered the world to guide people, teaching divine abilities and Dao techniques. Life in the world gradually increased, and many ancient gods and beings from various races followed him to seek knowledge and the Dao.

The Mi Luo Palace Master's eldest disciple was still a fledgling, yet he had already received the true teachings of the Mi Luo Palace Master and would sometimes preach on behalf of his teacher.

One day, he encountered a strange father and daughter. He curiously observed them, but could not discern their origins.

Tai Shang felt a sense of awe. He stood up and asked, "Where do you two brothers come from?"

Qin Mu quickly said, "Senior Brother Tai Shang, I am your seventh junior brother, Chaos. I joined the sect later than you, so I don't deserve to be called 'brother' by you!"

Tai Shang looked bewildered.

Qin Mu said, "Senior Brother, what is your origin?"

Tai Shang replied, "I was born from the Tai Yi ore vein, originally an egg. Teacher enlightened me and told me to cultivate with him."

Qin Mu suddenly understood and burst into laughter.

"No wonder Tai Yi could never defeat Young Master Tai Shang, and always suffered setbacks at Tai Shang's hands," he exclaimed. "So that's how it is, so that's how it is!"

He finally understood the crucial point. Tai Yi was the primordial spirit of the Lord of Tian Du, who had taken over the body of Tai Yi of the Seventeenth Epoch. Because it was a body seizure, his understanding and application of the Dao of Tai Yi were always lacking, repeatedly being restrained by Tai Shang, eventually captured, and placed in the God Coffin of Dao Burial!

"Senior Brother, has Teacher taken you to see the Ruins of Return?" Qin Mu asked with a smile.

Tai Shang felt his smile was mischievous, but since he was a junior brother, he figured he wouldn't harm him. He shook his head and said, "No."

"Why not go and see?" Qin Mu coaxed.