Chapter 679: Great Degeneration of the Divine Clan

The Fisherman chuckled, "You're quite the charmer, aren't you?"

With that, he shook the pure Yin energy. It shimmered like a bodiless, tiny dragon, then flowed into Yan Jingjing's glabella.

Yan Jingjing savored the sensation, finding no unusual effects, just a cool feeling in her glabella. "Fisherman Celestial Master," she asked, "is this pure Yin energy useful? I don't feel any immediate benefit."

The Fisherman gave a wry smile. "This isn't the omnipotent, magical dual cultivation method your clan chief talks about. Of course, it won't have an immediate effect. Pure Yin energy is meant to balance your excessive Yang; it works gradually, through subtle influence, rather than instant results."

The Great Crimson Kun let out a long, resonant cry as it soared through the sky above the Great Ruins, drawing closer to the Supreme Emperor Heaven.

The Fisherman explained, "You have a pure Yang body, containing only pure Yang energy. With the sun refined by Sister Qing's deity, this pure Yang energy becomes incredibly potent and volatile. As a Sun Guardian, you lack pure Yin energy. When you control the Sun Ship, this volatile pure Yang energy flows into you, accumulating more and more. Since you have no pure Yin energy at all, it leads to 'withered prosperity' in your vital energy. What does 'withered prosperity' mean?"

Qin Mu interjected, "My Apothecary Grandpa once used a metaphor for 'withered prosperity' in vital energy. He said it's like flower arranging: you cut vibrant flowers, place them in a vase, and they bloom magnificently, but after a few days, they wither and die. Apothecary Grandpa said that 'withered prosperity' causes people to die suddenly at their most beautiful."

The Fisherman was surprised. "Your Apothecary Grandpa is quite knowledgeable. That's exactly right; an excess of pure Yang without balance leads to 'withered prosperity' in vital energy. Your vital energy is clearly on the verge of exhaustion, yet it continues to burn fiercely, indicating that death is not far off. The pure Yin energy I just gave you is to replenish that balance, and it's infinitely better than dual cultivation! Of course, dual cultivation can solve some problems, but it doesn't address the fundamental issue."

The small female fish in the basket poked its head out and chuckled softly, "Master is destined to be alone his whole life."

The Great Crimson Kun flew to the boundary between the Supreme Emperor Heaven and the Great Ruins. Suddenly, the geomagnetism became chaotic, as if they had entered a region devoid of magnetic force. People here could float effortlessly in the air, neither rising nor falling, without needing to cultivate flying divine arts.

This phenomenon occurred because the geomagnetism of the Great Ruins and the Supreme Emperor Heaven interacted here, creating a balance where the magnetic forces from both sides were equal, causing people to drift in the air.

For divine arts practitioners, this was nothing remarkable, as there was still circulating air, allowing them to fly away using their abilities.

"The pure Yin energy that young master Qin gave you isn't ordinary pure Yin energy. It's protective divine essence refined by a deity of the Jade Pool realm within their Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure."

The Fisherman glanced at Qin Mu. "Even if you were to completely absorb a sun created by Sister Qing's deity, this protective divine essence would be enough to help you neutralize its effects."

Yan Jingjing was startled and exclaimed, "It's that valuable?"

"Extremely valuable, of course."

The Fisherman squinted his large eyes, speaking with an air of profound wisdom. "It must have been incredibly difficult for him to obtain such a treasure. Perhaps he endured trials of life and death before being favored by the gods of the High Emperor Era, who then bestowed the Yin-Yang energies upon him. I never imagined he would give you the pure Yin energy without a second thought."

Yan Jingjing's heart swelled with delight. She glanced at Qin Mu, then bashfully lowered her head, overwhelmed with shyness.

Qin Mu scratched his head. "It wasn't very difficult. I met a general from the High Emperor Era in a desert in an alternate dimension. I woke him up and built tombs to bury his soldiers. In gratitude, he gave me the Yin-Yang energies."

The Fisherman trembled with anger.

The small female fish in the basket poked its head out again, giggling, "Master, this young master Qin is very much like you—destined to be alone his whole life."

The Fisherman said flatly, "Tonight, we're having fish soup."

The small female fish quickly retracted its head, not daring to speak.

"Strange," the Fisherman mused. "When I extracted the pure Yin energy from your Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure just now, I noticed something else in your glabella, though it wasn't hidden within the Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure itself."

The Fisherman scrutinized Qin Mu from head to toe, then his gaze settled on Qin Mu's glabella. He was very curious about the willow leaf that slowly changed colors there. "What's beneath this willow leaf? I can't see through it. Can you remove it?"

Qin Mu replied, "Beneath the willow leaf is a third eye, and my elder brother resides within it. It's best not to remove the leaf. Also living in my eye, alongside my brother, are the consciousnesses of Grand Brahma Heavenly King Buddha, Heavenly Duke, and Crimson Emperor from the Crimson Light Era."

The Fisherman was startled. He stared at Qin Mu with wide eyes. "Are you exaggerating? That just makes me even more curious about your eye. Take it off, and I'll put my fishing hook in; maybe I can fish your brother out."

Qin Mu quickly said, "Grand Brahma, Heavenly Duke, and Crimson Emperor are inside precisely to seal him, and there's also Earth Count's seal in the eye! How could I let him out?"

The Fisherman was filled with doubt and astonishment, his curiosity about Qin Mu's eye growing even stronger.

Qin Mu felt a surge of alertness. "Are Celestial Masters always this curious?"

The Great Crimson Kun flapped its wings and flew to the Supreme Emperor Heaven, executing a swift turn. However, this swiftness was relative to Qin Mu and his companions; for the giant kun, its maneuver was remarkably leisurely and unhurried.

Upon reaching the Supreme Emperor Heaven, Qin Mu saw the Great Ruins standing upright, perpendicular to the Supreme Emperor Heaven. At this moment, heaven and earth seemed to have rotated ninety degrees.

This phenomenon, while appearing incredible, was actually due to the effect of geomagnetism, or primal magnetic force.

"Divine arts related to primal magnetic force are also mentioned in the Grand Education Demonic Scripture. Grandma Si is quite familiar with them, though such divine arts seem rare."

Qin Mu stared blankly, lost in thought. Primal magnetic divine arts seemed incredibly useful, perhaps a promising direction for specialized research and development by the scholars of Celestial Saint Academy.

It might even lead to the creation of a magnificent system of divine arts!

The Fisherman cast a glance at him, pondering, "This young master Qin seems to be often lost in thought. Even with a beautiful girl beside him, he keeps getting distracted by other things."

Qin Mu took out a small notebook, picked up his pen, and jotted down his ideas. Then he carefully blew on the ink to dry it, thinking, "When I return, I'll ask Grandma Si to lead those scholars in making primal magnetic divine arts their main focus!"

Yan Jingjing watched his earnest demeanor and found him quite charming.

"This girl is beyond saving," the female fish in the basket shook its head and said, "Completely smitten by that foolish young man."

Qin Mu looked down and saw that the Supreme Emperor Heaven's original magma waves had frozen, forming magnificent undulating mountain ranges.

As it had cooled down, some demon beasts had ventured there in recent days, and various birds had brought many plant seeds. Qin Mu was even surprised to see some patches of green.

He also noticed that the exotic beasts of the Great Ruins were migrating towards the Supreme Emperor Heaven, likely because it was so high that the sun could illuminate it even at night, meaning they wouldn't have to worry about being swallowed by darkness. This made the Supreme Emperor Heaven an attractive place even for the beasts of the Great Ruins.

"Two thousand years have passed. The descendants of the former Celestial Court gods and devils have all devolved into ignorant exotic beasts. What a pity, what a pity," the Fisherman shook his head.

Qin Mu's heart jolted. He murmured, "Uncle Master, do you mean these exotic beasts are all...?"

The Fisherman replied, "They are the remnants of the gods of the Founding Emperor's Celestial Court, but they have severely degenerated."

Qin Mu stammered, "So the Chicken-Dragon is also a remnant of the Celestial Court...?"

He thought about how he ate Chicken-Dragon every holiday and couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.

"Chicken-Dragon?"

The Fisherman shook his head. "These creatures didn't die when the Celestial Court fell? Chicken-Dragons aren't remnants of the gods. During the Founding Emperor Era, some divine dragon and a chicken, well, got together and produced the Chicken-Dragons. Those divine dragons had very messy private lives... Later, people discovered that Chicken-Dragons actually tasted quite good, and since dragon liver and phoenix brains weren't readily available, they started raising Chicken-Dragons as poultry."

Qin Mu finally let out a sigh of relief.

They bypassed Mount Luofu and, after another day or two, finally arrived at the western side of the Great Ruins.

Qin Mu let out an exclamation of surprise. The place where the Supreme Emperor Heaven had fallen was not far from the source of the Surging River. The massive canyon spanning the area had become deeper and steeper, with more cracks appearing on the cliffs. From countless fissures, beams of light burst forth, illuminating the far side of the Supreme Emperor Heaven.

It was here, years ago, that he had ridden his box, along with Dragon Qilin and Ban Gongcuo, to escape Xing An's pursuit and travel forty thousand years back to the High Emperor Era!

However, these fissures were not pathways through time, but rather gateways to various peculiar worlds.

He and Ban Gongcuo had entered a desert world at that time, and then, as darkness enveloped the desert, they inexplicably traveled forty thousand years into the past.

Moreover, the Surging River's strangeness didn't end there; he had even seen the Founding Emperor on it once!

"Uncle Master, is there anything special about the source of the Surging River?" Qin Mu suddenly asked.

"Of course, there's a lot."

The Fisherman seemed unsurprised by the Surging River's source. He instructed the Great Crimson Kun to avoid the glowing areas, saying, "This place hides many entrances to various heavens. Some are ruins left from the High Emperor Era, while others are ruins from the Crimson Light and Dragon Han eras. The Founding Emperor once mobilized many gods and devils to explore them, but it eventually came to nothing. Don't touch those lights; be careful not to get sucked in!"

The Great Crimson Kun steered clear of the lights at the broken cliff, carrying them away from the area and towards the Moon Well.

Qin Mu looked back at the increasingly distant source of the Surging River. "So, can anyone return to an era tens of thousands of years ago from here?" he asked.

The Fisherman let out a burst of laughter. "What kind of thing is that? I've never heard of it. As far as I know, these entrances to various heavens should be relics left by multiple Celestial Courts throughout history. These Celestial Courts might have overlapped, causing the heavens connected to them to be smashed together, which is why there are so many bizarre things here."

Qin Mu pondered, unable to fully understand why he, Ban Gongcuo, and Dragon Qilin had been able to return to ancient times.

His encounter with Bai Qu'er in ancient times was no mere fleeting dream.

"When will the secrets of the Surging River finally be revealed?"

He withdrew his gaze, turned around, and thought, "I will definitely unravel these mysteries!"

Finally, they arrived at the Moon Well. Qin Mu jumped off the Great Crimson Kun's back. The kun grew smaller and smaller, transforming back into a tiny red fish that leaped into the basket, where the two red fish snuggled together affectionately.

Yan Jingjing looked around and saw that the Moon Well was protected by an invisible barrier, formed by the moonlight from within the well, creating its own distinct realm. If an outsider came here without knowing the path, they would certainly be unable to enter, because from the outside, the Moon Well was invisible, appearing only as a dense jungle.

The Fisherman had clearly been here before and knew the way well.

The space enveloped by the Moon Well was a scene of devastation, with rubble and broken structures everywhere, and countless skeletal remains strewn across the ground. Qin Mu knew what had happened here: an external enemy had invaded and attacked the Moon Well, but the Moon Guardian had abandoned his people, fleeing frantically alone on the Moon Ship to Fengdu.

All of his tribesmen had died fighting around the Moon Well, and because the Moon Guardian had betrayed his people, Yama refused to take him. He could only moor the Moon Ship on the outskirts of Fengdu.

Even more frustrating was that a demon god had followed him into Fengdu and also settled outside its borders. This female demon god had attempted to tempt and capture Qin Mu, but fortunately, the Village Chief had wounded her.

This Moon Guardian was later consumed by the Moon Ship when Qin Mu replaced him as the new Moon Guardian, which was arguably a fitting end for him.

Qin Mu carefully avoided the bones of the Moon Herders, telling Dragon Qilin, "These Moon Herders were guardians of the Great Ruins and deserve our respect. Don't step on them and damage them."

Dragon Qilin, who feared bones and similar things the most, immediately tucked its dragon tail between its legs, almost leaping into Qin Mu's arms. It stammered, "Step on them? Cult Master, are they still alive?"

"In a moment, I will awaken them and have them dig their own graves to bury themselves."

Qin Mu said calmly, "Heroes who guard the Great Ruins should not die without a burial place."

The Fisherman set down his small stool and sat by the well, smiling. "You have the bearing of a benevolent person. Celestial Master Zha Cha will surely like you very much when he meets you."

"Who is Celestial Master Zha Cha?" Qin Mu asked.

"He's one of the four Celestial Masters of the Founding Emperor's Celestial Court. He's a farmer who leads an ox."

The Fisherman lowered his fishing line. The small female fish jumped out of the basket and swam into the Moon Well. The Fisherman added, "He's our strongest among the four Celestial Masters, the Martial Battle Celestial Master."