Chapter 695: Giant's Shoulders

Goddess Tian Yin surveyed her surroundings and praised, "Your collective intelligence and talent are truly rare in this world. I'm astonished to find six such individuals gathered here at once. What age are we living in, to suddenly produce so many remarkable people?"

Qin Mu smiled and replied, "Goddess, the six individuals before you represent the collective wisdom of the past two millennia. They are more than one in a billion. Indeed, the accumulated knowledge of the last two thousand years is now concentrated here before your eyes."

The Woodcutter interjected, "Enough self-praise. Hurry up and demonstrate your divine ability to revive the Goddess. There are only five truly intelligent people from the last two millennia, and you're a Hegemon Body, which means you're not one of them."

Qin Mu, looking slightly put out, activated his cultivation art and retrieved the Book of Youdu. He then re-initiated his refined Soul Guiding divine ability, altering the structure of the Gate of Succession. As the Youdu language resonated, everyone present furrowed their brows.

Qin Mu continuously adjusted the Gate of Youdu, first siphoning off the power of Heavenly Duke, then the power of Earthly Duke, ultimately stealing the energies of both ancient gods simultaneously.

The onlookers were both dazzled by the display and bewildered by the accompanying sounds.

"It's the Youdu language," remarked one, "I can understand about eighty percent of it."

King Yama activated his cultivation, causing a portal, somewhat akin to the Gate of Succession, to materialize behind him. "However," he stated, "I've never seen that scroll before, and siphoning power from Heavenly Duke and Earthly Duke could pose significant risks. We are simply not powerful enough to withstand either of those beings."

"I can comprehend sixty percent of the Youdu language," added another.

The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace remarked, "I studied it for a while with my teacher, but many parts remain obscure and difficult to grasp. I fear I wouldn't be able to master it."

The Woodcutter Sage frowned. "I can't understand it completely either. Taking a small amount of power from Earthly Duke and Heavenly Duke might be acceptable, but if too much is siphoned off, those two beings will surely become agitated. Using their power to revive souls in the Heaven Yin World will undoubtedly provoke their wrath."

Having never learned the Youdu language, Xu Shenghua and First Ancestor Human Emperor were even more bewildered.

Xu Shenghua tentatively suggested, "Since we cannot directly siphon power from Earthly Duke and Heavenly Duke, why don't we modify Cult Master Qin's divine ability to work around that?"

The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace replied, "It's not about working around it, but rather that Cult Master has provided us with an excellent foundation. Goddess, the Heaven Yin World doesn't yet possess its own unique system of divine abilities, does it?"

Goddess Tian Yin nodded. "Many divine art practitioners once resided here, but they were all outsiders who sought refuge from war, bringing their external divine arts with them. Before their arrival, I was the sole inhabitant, and there were no divine art practitioners."

The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace smiled slightly. "Then, from this day forward, the Heaven Yin World can finally possess its own system of divine abilities."

Xu Shenghua's eyes brightened, and he instinctively glanced at the Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace, thinking, "A sage who appears once every five hundred years is indeed brilliant! Yet, the Woodcutter Sage's silence likely stems from his desire to observe his own disciple's ingenuity."

First Ancestor and King Yama also experienced a sudden realization. First Ancestor chuckled, "Thanks to the Imperial Preceptor's insight, we've finally found the path forward."

King Yama also exhaled in relief, stating, "Human Emperor Qin's divine ability is the very key to establishing the Heaven Yin World's system of divine arts."

The Woodcutter Sage looked at Qin Mu and instructed, "Disciple, explain your divine ability thoroughly."

Qin Mu meticulously explained his divine ability. Being exceptionally intelligent, everyone present committed it to memory after a single explanation, then began to pace thoughtfully.

The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace quietly chanted in the Youdu language, and the surrounding black soul sand visibly undulated in response to his voice.

Xu Shenghua paused and began reciting the Youdu language towards the starved ghost Qin Mu had captured. The ghost opened its maw, emitting a piercing shriek, as black sand continuously poured out of its body while more black sand surged in from outside.

First Ancestor Human Emperor, meanwhile, borrowed the Book of Youdu from Qin Mu and used his own vital qi to simulate the Youdu script, attempting to refine Qin Mu's divine ability.

King Yama, possessing prior knowledge of Youdu divine arts, proceeded to directly modify Qin Mu's ability.

The Woodcutter Sage, for his part, continuously circled and observed Ning Jin, the Divine Human of Emperor Kai.

Each of them pondered individually, offering distinct insights, and all were in the process of altering Qin Mu's divine ability.

Only Yan Jingjing, having no prior research in this field, could merely observe these peculiar individuals quietly.

Qin Mu watched them with a darkened expression. He had always been the one to modify others' divine abilities, and now he was finally experiencing what it felt like for his own to be altered.

A long time passed as they continued to ponder deeply, some walking, some lying down, some sitting, some even pacing quickly.

The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace sketched peculiar runes on the sandy beach. First Ancestor used vital qi to draw in the air. Xu Shenghua retrieved his measuring instruments and arithmancy tools, rapidly calculating and jotting down strange equations on the ground in an attempt to solve them.

Behind King Yama, a massive metal ring floated, its surface adorned with various runes that flickered into and out of existence.

The Woodcutter Sage removed the necklace pendant Qin Mu had forged for Ning Jin from his neck, then turned his attention to the Heavenly Cauldron crafted by the Heavenly Son of Hades.

After another indeterminate period, everyone converged beside the Heavenly Cauldron. Each imprinted the void with their vital qi, causing magnificent symbols to materialize in the air.

These were golden runes, each constantly radiating sand-like golden light, resembling black soul sand but distinctly not black in color.

"What are they doing?" Goddess Tian Yin, unable to comprehend, quietly asked Qin Mu and Yan Jingjing.

Qin Mu, with a solemn expression, whispered, "They are attempting to extract the foundational runes for the Heaven Yin World's divine abilities from my own abilities and the Heavenly Son of Hades' Heavenly Cauldron, and then deduce all remaining foundational runes."

Goddess Tian Yin was slightly taken aback. "Foundational runes for the Heaven Yin World? Such things exist?"

"Goddess, you haven't been to the outside world, have you? You might not be aware that most divine abilities in this world are constructed from foundational runes."

Qin Mu explained, "Wind, rain, thunder, lightning, clouds, mist, celestial bodies — even creation itself — each category of divine ability possesses its most fundamental structures, which are these foundational runes. For instance, sword arts have eighteen basic stances. Your Heaven Yin World, Goddess, is distinct from the outside world, operating under different rules. One could say its divine arts and Dao methods constitute their own self-contained system."

Yan Jingjing, whose ascent to the divine realm had been forcibly achieved through the Sun Ship, possessed limited foundational understanding of Dao methods and divine abilities. At this moment, she listened intently, striving to comprehend and bridge her knowledge gaps.

"The divine ability I used to revive the Goddess," Qin Mu continued, "was developed from several major systems of divine arts: Youdu, Mingdu, Xuandu, Creation, the Divine Path, Demonic Path, Buddhist Path, and the Dao Sect. I delved into the divine abilities of all these major systems, and countless smaller systems within them. It was only by integrating so many distinct systems of divine arts that I was able to revive the Goddess."

Qin Mu went on, "However, I didn't use the actual foundational runes of the Heaven Yin World. Instead, I drew upon knowledge from those other divine ability systems to mimic what I believed the Heaven Yin World's foundational runes would be."

Goddess Tian Yin seemed to grasp it. "So, they are using your divine ability and the Heavenly Son of Hades' treasure to strip away external divine art systems, attempting to forge a set of foundational runes unique to the Heaven Yin World. The more they deduce, the closer they get to the true foundational runes."

Qin Mu nodded, smiling. "Goddess, observe the runes before them; they are progressively shedding the characteristics of external runes. Beyond my divine ability and the Heavenly Son of Hades' treasure, they also need to understand your own divine power, as well as the unique rune markings on your body."

The Woodcutter Sage and the others approached, their forms hovering as they meticulously examined the divine radiance emanating from Goddess Tian Yin. They recorded each natural rune they found, and also inspected the unique rune markings on her body—peculiar symbols she had possessed since birth.

Goddess Tian Yin had limited interaction with the outside world and knew little about the markings on her own body.

After an unquantifiable amount of time, the five individuals descended to the ground and gathered, discussing in hushed tones.

"The Goddess bears 108 types of rune markings on her body," one of them stated. "And we've deduced another 216 types from the Cult Master's divine ability and the Heavenly Son of Hades' treasure."

Xu Shenghua organized the runes, then swept his hand through the air, causing runes composed of golden sand to materialize in the wake of his palm.

"That totals three hundred and twenty-four distinct runes," Xu Shenghua continued. "These runes form the very foundation of the Heaven Yin World's divine ability system."

"Goddess, observe," Xu Shenghua proceeded, "different sequences of these runes can yield varying divine ability effects."

His vital qi shifted, combining dozens of runes to form a divine ability that struck the starved ghost Qin Mu had captured. The black sand within the ghost instantly vanished, transforming into streams of spiritual energy from heaven and earth that dispersed into nothingness.

The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace demonstrated another divine ability, also composed of the 324 foundational runes. "It can also reassemble souls," he explained, "gathering the dispersed spirits that originally belonged to a given body."

Only a human skin remained after the starved ghost perished. As the Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace activated his divine ability, black sand from the Heaven Yin World streamed in like smoke, swirling into the empty skin.

King Yama then activated a different divine ability. "It can also reshape the black soul sand back into a complete soul," he stated.

His divine ability took effect upon the black sand within the human skin, and that sand was visibly beginning to coalesce, showing a tendency to revert to a complete soul state.

First Ancestor Human Emperor also demonstrated a hand seal composed of these runes. "It can also suppress and subdue starved ghosts!" he declared.

When he executed his hand seal, it was as if a king of starved ghosts had appeared, causing countless starved ghosts throughout the Heaven Yin World to tremble in fear.

The Woodcutter Sage smiled. "Goddess, the foundational runes of the Heaven Yin World were incomplete until now, but they are complete. You can now command starved ghosts to fight for you, punish them, and even protect the people living in the Heaven Yin World. From this day forward, you can rest easy."

Qin Mu remarked with emotion, "In the future, countless cultivation arts and divine abilities in the Heaven Yin World will likely be born from these three hundred and twenty-four runes."

The Woodcutter Sage took out his woodcutting axe and began carving the runes onto a cliff face by the sea, striking axe blow after axe blow. "Goddess," he announced, "our task here is complete. We must take our leave."

Goddess Tian Yin rose to see them off. "My abilities are limited, so I've had to burden you wise ones," she said. "In the future, should you ever require assistance, you may present this token, and I will certainly aid you!"

From her divine radiance, she drew forth a strand, divided it into seven, and refined it into seven gleaming pearls. These she presented to the Woodcutter, the Imperial Preceptor, First Ancestor, King Yama, Xu Shenghua, and also to Qin Mu and Yan Jingjing.

Yan Jingjing hastily demurred. "I haven't contributed anything significant," she said, "I couldn't possibly accept."

Goddess Tian Yin chuckled. "It's for your young lover standing beside you. You can hold onto it for him."

Yan Jingjing's face flushed slightly, and she put away the divine pearl.

As everyone stepped out of the Heaven Yin World and into the sunlight, they all felt a profound sense of relief and comfort.

"Disciple, now you see what true intelligence looks like, don't you?" the Woodcutter Sage said with a smile.

Qin Mu smiled back. "That's because you're standing on the shoulders of a giant—my shoulders. Without my divine ability to revive Goddess Tian Yin, you would have had no way to deduce the Heaven Yin World's foundational runes."

"The shoulders of a giant?"

The Woodcutter Sage burst into laughter, and with teleportation array patterns swirling around him, he vanished with a whoosh.

"Human Emperor Qin, farewell." King Yama's form receded, enveloped by surging darkness, before disappearing completely.

The Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace said, "Cult Master, we shall meet again in Eternal Peace." With that, he too teleported away.

Qin Mu looked at First Ancestor Human Emperor, who shook his head. "I cannot stay with you; I have urgent matters to attend to," he said. With that, he ascended into the sky, transforming into a streak of divine light and vanishing.

"They truly are some intelligent individuals."

Qin Mu sighed, not turning around. "Brother Xu," he said, "I wasn't referring to you."

Xu Shenghua burst into hearty laughter, then stepped into the air and departed. His form shimmered in and out of sight, as lotus flowers successively bloomed in his wake.