Chapter 529: Taiji Creation Sun

Mid-air, the demon general's two halves of a body tumbled down. Not yet entirely deceased, he twitched twice upon landing.

After all, he was a master of the Celestial Realm and had four heads. Qin Mu had only cut him in half with the Taiyin Jade Eye, so it was impossible for his immense vitality to extinguish instantly. His four heads glared fiercely at Qin Mu, but gradually, his breath faded.

Around them, the astonishment on the faces of many divine ability users from Grand Emperor Heaven had not yet subsided. They stared blankly at the young man, who, in the middle of the gory battlefield, was still absorbed in his calculations. The vicious demon general just slain was a formidable master of the Celestial Realm, a renowned young powerhouse among the demon race with unfathomable strength. Had he fought, it was likely hundreds of people on the altar would have perished, and even then, they might not have been able to stop him.

"Who is this person?" a divine ability user from Grand Emperor Heaven whispered.

Someone nearby replied, "He's a disciple of the Demon God Furiro. Among the demon race's Celestial Realm masters, he ranks seventh and is considered a powerhouse who could grow into a true demon—Furiro's most favored disciple..."

"No, I meant him," the first person clarified.

"We don't know..."

The girl with the long braid pulled Qin Mu to his feet and smiled. "You killed Fu Yuxiao! That guy held a very high position among the demon race's Celestial Realm experts. You've performed a great service!"

Qin Mu glanced at the corpse and said in surprise, "His status was that high? No wonder his strength was so formidable. If I hadn't learned that move from the Woodcutter Saint, I probably wouldn't have been able to withstand even a single attack from him." He then squatted down again, resuming his calculations.

The long-braided girl looked at the jade eye beside him, puzzled. "How did you kill him? What is this eye...?"

"This jade eye was likely crafted by a god during the Supreme Emperor era," Qin Mu explained. "It was meant to build a formation on the moon, using moonlight for illumination." He continued his calculations, explaining, "Fu Yuxiao has four heads. While four heads controlling one body would typically cause conflicting thoughts, in a sudden emergency, his reaction wouldn't be individual control but rather muscle memory. I just needed to calculate his muscle memory response based on his divine abilities and moves, then determine how his muscle memory would influence him in a critical situation. This allowed me to predict his movement trajectory, and then activate this Taiyin Jade Eye. The moment he launched into the air, he would simply collide with it and kill himself."

The long-braided girl's eyes widened in disbelief as she stared at him. "He crashed into it and killed himself? Calculations can be used like that? How did you figure that out?"

"Do you have any masters of calculation and mathematics here?" Qin Mu opened his Taotie Pouch, and his calculating spirit artifacts rustled back inside. He frowned and said, "Building a world bridge requires an immense amount of computation. If I do it alone, it would likely take over half a year to calculate the sacrificial spirit energy conversion equation, deduce the spirit energy migration equation, and then establish the spatial mathematical model for a bridge spanning two worlds."

A silence fell over the surroundings.

After a moment, the long-braided girl asked hesitantly, "What 'cheng' did you just say?"

"Equations. 'Fang' means 'parallel,' and 'cheng' means 'a vertical arrangement.' An equation is used to solve for variables... variables? Not 'vital qi.' Don't you know what a variable is? In mathematics, a variable is an unknown quantity." Qin Mu looked up and saw the expressions on her face and those of the surrounding Grand Emperor Heaven divine ability users. They looked as if they were listening to an arcane text. He couldn't shake a bad feeling and cautiously asked, "Do you not have the Ten Books of Computation Classics here? Or even the most basic *Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art*? You haven't learned that? What about the *Tai Xuan Calculation Classic*? You haven't learned calculation classics at all? Surely you've learned the Zhou Tian Star Array Equation? That's for calculating celestial phenomena!"

Everyone around them shook their heads blankly.

The long-braided girl said, "What's the use of learning calculations?" Others nodded in agreement, chuckling, "We're on the battlefield fighting every day; who has time to learn this? The quickest way to improve our strength is through diligent practice, learning divine abilities, and comprehending them!"

Qin Mu, exasperated, asked, "Don't you calculate celestial phenomena? Surely you must calculate the trajectories of the stars in the sky?"

Everyone's expressions turned peculiar. Qin Mu wondered why they looked like that, and then, a divine ability user suddenly said, "There are no stars in the sky. What is there to calculate?"

Qin Mu froze, then looked up at the sky. Grand Emperor Heaven's sky was pitch black, devoid of stars. Only a half-sun hung there. The reason it was a 'half-sun' was because the orb truly was only half a sun! Qin Mu even noticed some massive structures on the incomplete part of that half-sun, though they weren't finished. This half-sun, astonishingly, seemed to have been constructed rather than naturally formed! What made him truly speechless was that neither of the two suns in the sky were perfectly round!

The last time he had visited, he hadn't seen the sun; it must have been nighttime. This time, he saw Grand Emperor Heaven's sun, but not only was there a half-sun in the sky, but the sun itself wasn't a perfect sphere. It was somewhat square, somewhat oval, and even twisted in places! Qin Mu almost wished he could fly up there and smooth out those two suns himself!

Even Yankang's celestial phenomena, which were merely elaborate formations, were crafted with meticulous care by the gods and demons to deceive mortals. Both the sun and moon there were perfectly round, without any discernible flaws. Even the stars, constellations, and the Milky Way in Yankang's sky were rendered so realistically that they fooled the Daoist priests for twenty thousand years, causing Dao Master Lin Xuan's Dao heart to collapse when he uncovered the secret. Grand Emperor Heaven, however, was another story; even its one-and-a-half fake suns in the sky were made with extreme carelessness!

Qin Mu's mind went blank. He shook his head, the impact of this sight even more jarring than when he first saw the Sun Ship—though, of course, one was awe-inspiring craftsmanship, and the other was shocking sloppiness! "With not a single star, you certainly wouldn't need the Zhou Tian Star Array Equation..."

Qin Mu nodded repeatedly, feeling a pang of longing for Dragon Qilin. *The divine ability users in this world likely don't possess high mathematical prowess,* he thought. *If only I had brought Dragon Qilin, things would be much easier for me...* The divine ability users in this world, due to constant warfare against the invading demon race, likely prioritized survival. To survive, they needed to continuously enhance their strength, and the best way to do that was through rigorous practice of divine abilities, tempering their bodies, and empowering their spirit weapons. For them, mathematics was not very important; it was extremely tedious and didn't offer a noticeable immediate boost to their strength. Consequently, over generations, their mastery of mathematical arts had steadily declined.

More and more divine ability users from Grand Emperor Heaven arrived at the altar. Perched on this high ground, they had a commanding view. These practitioners successively drew their longbows, firing arrows downwards. Streaks of arrow light pierced through the battlefield, striking down demon after demon. Other divine ability users conjured blade and sword pellets, launching them from afar into the fray.

"How did you create this altar?" Qin Mu suddenly realized a crucial detail and quickly asked.

The long-braided girl, also adept at archery, drew her bow to shoot down enemies. "The altar has existed for a very long time," she said. "My father said it was left in Grand Emperor Heaven twenty thousand years ago. Whenever Grand Emperor Heaven couldn't hold out, they could use the altar to awaken a divine master to come and help. Now, Grand Emperor Heaven can no longer hold on, so the gods and demons of Mingyi City buried the altar in the center of the battlefield, treating the fallen soldiers as sacrifices, offering enough flesh and blood..." Her expression saddened. Many of the sacrificed had been divine ability users from Grand Emperor Heaven.

"The altar was left here twenty thousand years ago." Qin Mu looked into the distance where the Woodcutter Saint was already fighting far away. The battle there was even more intense; the Woodcutter Saint was destroying the enemy camp! "The altar must have been left by the Woodcutter Saint himself, so that Grand Emperor Heaven could summon him when they couldn't hold on any longer. So his purpose is to buy time for Yankang..."

Qin Mu positioned the Taiyin Jade Eye, adjusted its direction, and beams of light shot forth from it, striking down demon masters. The Taiyin Jade Eye had a longer range and greater power than the bows and arrows of the other divine ability users. It struck down demon powerhouses one by one. Qin Mu specifically targeted the demon generals; once a general fell, the demon forces became leaderless and disorganized, making it difficult for them to maintain any numerical advantage.

Even so, more and more heavenly demons surged towards the altar. The defenders no longer had time to shoot at distant demons and could only fire downwards at those approaching the altar's base. Below the altar, bodies piled up into mountains, yet a dark, dense mass of demons continued to surge forward, about to storm the altar.

Qin Mu put away the Taiyin Jade Eye and grabbed a sword pellet, joining the bloody battle atop the altar. The heavenly demons were exceptionally brave and fearless of death. Despite the extraordinary abilities of Grand Emperor Heaven's divine ability users, it was difficult to repel their relentless assault. Around Qin Mu and the long-braided girl, divine ability users fell one after another. Even Qin Mu and the girl found themselves in perilous situations, several times nearly succumbing to enemy attacks.

The defenders on the altar grew fewer and fewer, soon numbering only twenty or thirty. Suddenly, earth-shattering shouts erupted from the distance, and the demons surging towards the altar seemed to receive some signal. They rapidly retreated, fleeing frantically back the way they came. Those on the altar breathed a collective sigh of relief, gasping for air and collapsing to the ground, their bodies covered in blood. Behind them, the blare of horns and the beat of drums resonated. Tens of thousands of troops from Mingyi City surged out, charging towards the fleeing demon army.

The long-braided girl struggled to her feet, wanting to join the army in pursuing the retreating demons, but her legs were too weak, and she had to sit back down. Qin Mu watched the Mingyi City army surge into the distance, then suddenly remembered something. "We've faced death twice and fought side-by-side, but we haven't even exchanged names yet," he said. "My name is Qin Mu. 'Qin' as in the character meaning 'to thresh grain with a pestle held in both hands,' and 'Mu' as in 'a shepherd herding cattle.' What's your name?"

Lying in the pool of blood, the long-braided girl looked up at the one-and-a-half suns in the sky, steadying her breath. "My name is Sang Hua," she said. "'Sang' as in 'many woods,' and 'Hua' as in 'woman' and 'picture.' That day, I spoke so many words to you, but you didn't hear any of them. It's a good thing you were by my side; otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to endure that battle for so long. Guess what I said!"

She turned her head, revealing two small dimples. "What did I say to you?"

Qin Mu shook his head. "We were separated by two worlds; I couldn't hear anything clearly."

Sang Hua looked up at the sky again. "Look, the suns in the sky are huge. We in Grand Emperor Heaven didn't have suns naturally. These two were built by the gods of Grand Emperor Heaven, who guided us. We called that deity the Sun Creator. Unfortunately, the second sun wasn't finished before the Sun Creator god was killed by a demon god... Aren't the suns magnificent?"

"Yes, magnificent..." Qin Mu replied, somewhat disingenuously, and then asked, "What did you say to me that night?"