Chapter 494: The Remaining Forces of the Former Emperor

After finalizing his plans, Qin Mu traveled a hundred miles away, with the Ark and Dragon Qilin following closely behind him.

This distance was sufficient; even if the trap's power was immense, it would be difficult for it to threaten them from a hundred miles away.

Qin Mu scooped up a handful of yellow sand and blew lightly. The sand drifted from his palm, transforming into a three-inch-tall figure as it touched the ground.

This "Dune Giant" let out a ferocious roar, yellow sand swirling beneath it. The small figure charged menacingly towards the cliff a hundred miles away.

The Dragon Qilin watched with immense anticipation. After a moment, the large creature's excitement slightly diminished, but he still stared intently into the distance. Yet, nothing at all occurred near the cliff.

Qin Mu leaped onto the Dragon Qilin's head, gaining a vantage point to look towards the "Dune Giant." The tiny sand figure had just crested a dune and was making its way diligently towards the cliff.

The Dragon Qilin yawned, then perked up and asked, "Cult Master, will it be there soon?"

Qin Mu estimated, "It will reach in a little under half an hour."

The Dragon Qilin climbed down and mumbled, "I'll take a nap. Wake me when it gets there."

A little less than half an hour later, Qin Mu nudged the massive creature awake. The Dragon Qilin quickly scrambled up, asking excitedly, "Has it arrived?"

"Almost! Just a little under half an incense stick's time!"

Qin Mu chuckled, "Let's ascend into the air first. If anything goes wrong, it'll be easier to escape!"

The Ark spread its limbs and clambered onto the Dragon Qilin's back. The Dragon Qilin promptly stomped on fire clouds, ascending into the sky. From a distance, a tiny dot could vaguely be seen a hundred miles away, roaring and rushing towards the stone stele. Even with the Dragon Qilin's keen eyesight, it was difficult to distinguish clearly.

Qin Mu, however, had a clear view. The small sand figure had been roaring for quite some time and finally reached the stone stele, full of imposing vigor.

Then, the small sand figure began to diligently dig into the sand, roaring as it worked.

Qin Mu was speechless. The Dragon Qilin opened its mouth as if to speak, then closed it, waiting quietly, thinking, "If I foolishly bring this up, I probably won't get any food tomorrow."

A moment later, the small sand figure dug a shallow pit, revealing the text beneath the stone stele. Before Qin Mu could clearly discern the writing, countless grains of yellow sand suddenly surged from the pit. Streaks of sand, like rising rainbows, shot skyward, engulfing the small sand figure!

Not only was the tiny sand figure engulfed, but the surrounding area for dozens of miles transformed into a terrifying battlefield. The yellow sand boiled, resembling a colossal, earthy-yellow pot inverted over the desert. From within this vast, earthy-yellow sphere, the clang of blades resounded!

The Dragon Qilin's fur and scales bristled in fear, standing perfectly straight. Qin Mu, too, felt a shiver run down his spine!

This trap was even more formidable than he had imagined. Fortunately, he was inherently cautious, which led him to suggest activating the trap from a hundred miles away.

Inside that colossal, earthy-yellow sphere, streaks of blade light darted every which way—cutting, slashing, chopping, and carving—their various maneuvers nearly filling the entire area for dozens of miles!

"This blade technique..."

Qin Mu paused, a sudden sense of foreboding washing over him. He had encountered this blade technique previously!

Not in Yankang, but rather just last night—which for him was thirty or forty millennia ago—he had seen it from the youth named Luo Wushuang, from the Heavenly Court's Spirit Cultivation Army!

The blade technique Luo Wushuang had employed bore a striking resemblance to the blade lights now flashing in the sand.

"The one-armed youth is still alive? Grand Celestial even said that boy wouldn't live long and told me not to worry..."

Qin Mu chuckled wryly, but his smile gradually faltered, and soon his face turned ashen.

The divine power trap laid by Luo Wushuang was incredibly potent, almost unbelievably so. Even Xing An might not command such immense magical power.

This suggested that Luo Wushuang had not only survived but was also thriving, appearing incredibly powerful—most likely having already ascended to godhood!

He still harbored resentment for his severed arm. It seemed that after becoming a god, he revisited this place, found this cliff, saw Qin Mu's handwriting on the cliff face, and thus left a stone stele.

Had Qin Mu come here, he would undoubtedly have wanted to know what was written beneath the stele, and then he would have fallen into the trap!

"I really shouldn't have revealed my name; I should have made one up then... But at least we're in this together. Luo Wushuang is far too petty. Grand Celestial had one of his legs chopped off by me, and the same leg twice, yet he never uttered a word."

The divine power left by Luo Wushuang did not last long. Soon, the trap's potency waned, and the yellow sand in the sky was reduced to fine dust, scattering and diffusing everywhere with the wind.

Qin Mu narrowed his eyes, a silent surprise dawning in his heart.

Last night, when he encountered Luo Wushuang, Luo Wushuang's blade technique, though exquisitely refined, was still considerably inferior to his own.

Luo Wushuang's blade technique was a fission style: one split into two, two into four, four into eight, continuously splitting. By the tenth fission, there would be 1,024 blade lights; by the fourteenth, over 16,000.

However, this blade technique possessed a significant flaw: Luo Wushuang's magical power was finite. The more times it fissioned, the weaker each individual blade light became. Splitting too many times resulted in insufficient attacking power.

Against other masters, he could still dominate, but when facing someone like Qin Mu, who was a grandmaster of both sword and blade techniques, it was difficult to gain an advantage.

Consequently, even with his magical power nearly depleted and his body covered in injuries, Qin Mu was still able to sever one of Luo Wushuang's arms.

This time, however, Qin Mu observed that Luo Wushuang's blade technique had progressed to an incredibly terrifying degree.

For dozens of miles around, yellow sand filled the sky, yet the true killing intent still resided in the blade lights embedded within the sand.

It seemed as though blade lights were ubiquitous within the dozens of miles of yellow sand, still appearing to be the fission blade technique. Yet, in reality, there was only a single blade light.

The blade light struck the sand, reflecting and bouncing. Its immense speed created the illusion of blade lights everywhere, yet Luo Wushuang had only unleashed a single strike!

Qin Mu could imagine Luo Wushuang, after achieving godhood, arriving here, seeing Qin Mu's script on the stone wall, recognizing his sword technique from the writing, and consequently erecting the stone stele.

He stood before the stele, striking a single blade into the yellow sand, concealing his blade intent and divine power within the sand, beneath the stele!

After an unknown number of years, Qin Mu arrived here, triggering his blade intent and divine power, causing the divine power to erupt!

"His blade technique has reached the Dao Realm."

Qin Mu's eyelid twitched. He stepped into the swirling dust, making his way towards the cliff, enduring the choking sand.

Luo Wushuang's blade technique had already ascended to the Dao Realm, making him a formidable entity of the Dao Realm, much like the Yankang Imperial Preceptor!

From blade to Dao, this person's comprehension of the blade path was likely no weaker than the Butcher's. Even more terrifyingly, his cultivation was profound, probably far exceeding the Butcher's!

Qin Mu was momentarily surprised. The cliff ahead was still intact, and his writings on it remained. The entire cliff was surprisingly undamaged, as if Luo Wushuang's divine power had intentionally bypassed it.

Without further thought, he looked towards the stone stele.

The stone stele also remained, perfectly unharmed.

The text beneath the stone stele was now visible. After the phrase "buried," it was not, as he had suspected, "here," but rather a new column of very small regular script.

Qin Mu read it carefully: "You think this is a trap, you think this blade technique of mine is meant to kill you? You are mistaken. If you stand here, you will be completely unharmed."

"I have been waiting for you, Heavenly Saint Cult Master. I have lived through two thousand years, through the entire Kaihuang Era, and never found any trace of the Heavenly Saint Cult—not until the end of the Kaihuang Era."

"The remnants of Kaihuang founded the Heavenly Saint Cult. Only then did I realize that the one I had been waiting for was not in the past, but in the future!"

"The Heavenly Saint Cult, though it bears the word 'Saint,' is in fact a demonic path. Heavenly Saint Cult Master Qin Mu, you are actually Heavenly Devil Cult Master Qin Mu!"

"When you trigger my trap, my divine power will inform me of your arrival!"

"I have finally waited for you..."

Qin Mu's expression turned solemn. He exhaled a long breath, then leaped onto the Dragon Qilin's back, shouting, "Quickly! We cannot linger here!"

The Dragon Qilin immediately broke into a run, and the Ark behind it likewise picked up its pace, sprinting as if its life depended on it.

Qin Mu's face was grim.

That wasn't a trap at all.

Although its display was grand, the trap merely served to alert Luo Wushuang that his divine power had been triggered, letting him know that Heavenly Saint Cult Master Qin Mu had arrived—nothing more!

That was an ancient monster who had lived for thirty or forty millennia, consistently harboring resentment for Qin Mu having severed his arm. For Qin Mu, it had occurred just last night, but for Luo Wushuang, it was an event from thirty or forty thousand years ago!

To hold a grudge for thirty or forty thousand years, and to set a trap not for killing but merely to notify his true self—Luo Wushuang's obsession was truly terrifying!

He preferred to render his own trap ineffective just to preserve Qin Mu's life, because he intended to take it himself!

Qin Mu, carrying the Ark, fled into the distance. It was now past noon, and the sun was beginning its descent. The sun above this vast, sandy desert seemed unlike the sun in Yankang, suggesting this world was also distinct from Yankang.

He galloped through the vast desert on the Dragon Qilin, with the Ark. This world seemed endless; he could not see the horizon nor reach a destination.

He couldn't even locate the rift he had entered through.

Cold sweat beaded on Qin Mu's forehead. If he couldn't escape this place, even if Luo Wushuang didn't come to kill him, he would eventually perish in this peculiar land!

He could die of thirst, or hunger, or madness from isolation, or simply grow old and die alone.

"Don't panic, don't panic. Think carefully..."

He calmed his mind and meticulously recalled his path of arrival. In the boundless desert, the way he came was no longer discernible. Furthermore, even if he could find a way back, he absolutely could not take that route.

"Xing An didn't catch us. He will undoubtedly be guarding the rift at the entrance, waiting for me to deliver myself directly to him."

Qin Mu's eyes gleamed. He looked up at the sky and silently mused, "At the source of Yongjiang, near the towering cliff that bisects the Great Ruins, I once witnessed five layers of heaven—five worlds' heavens overlapping! This overlapping suggests that this world must have other exits. I can return to the Great Ruins through them!"

Layers of array patterns spun in his pupils. He gave the Dragon Qilin free rein, letting it wander eastward and westward, while he focused solely on the sky.

By night, the Dragon Qilin dared not proceed and jumped onto the Ark. Qin Mu, meanwhile, lay on the Ark with his legs crossed, gazing at the pitch-black night sky, as the Ark continued to cross dunes and move into the distance.

When day broke again, he appeared much more haggard, his eyes bloodshot, yet he still stared wide-eyed, not daring to show the slightest slack.

Finally, Qin Mu spotted a cloud.

This world was entirely desert, devoid of any moisture, yet this cloud inexplicably materialized, first as a small patch, then steadily growing larger!

Qin Mu's spirits soared. He sat up and laughed heartily: "Heaven never seals off all paths; more often, it's people who cut off their own way by abandoning hope! As long as I don't give up, I can make it out alive!"

He placed the Ark on the Dragon Qilin's back. The Dragon Qilin ascended rapidly, rushing towards the cloud.

Just as they traversed this world, divine light flickered within the cliff. Within that light lay another spectacularly vibrant world, filled with towering plants and enormous, multicolored flowers.

The divine light flowed from the cliff like a waterfall, connecting the two worlds.

The ethereal silhouette of a young girl stepped on flowers, emerging from the other world. She gazed at the line of text on the cliff and whispered, "It will be forty thousand years in just two hundred more. You should have been born by now, shouldn't you? I'm still waiting for you."

A hint of resentment lingered on her face as she murmured, "I survived, but after forty thousand years, I can never forget you... I dare not age, fearing you might not recognize me..."

Suddenly, the nearby stone stele began to swell and clang. Pieces of stone split outwards, rapidly forming a stone archway.

"Heavenly Devil Cult Master Qin Mu, I have finally waited for you!" A one-armed figure appeared on the other side of the portal, a long blade strapped to his back, his laughter a mix of sobs and pleas.

The girl in the divine light and the one-armed figure in the portal locked eyes, both their hearts seizing with shock.

"Remnant of the Supreme Emperor!"

"Fiend from beyond the realms!"