Chapter 750: Million Years of Dust and Earth

According to Qin Mu’s experience, traveling back to ancient times through the Yongjiang mist only allowed for “half a day.” Here, “half a day” didn’t mean six hours or a precise duration; instead, it referred to the transition between darkness and daylight.

There was no night in the Celestial Heavens; light was eternal day.

No matter how long they stayed there, it would always be considered daytime; as long as night hadn’t fallen, it wouldn’t be “half a day.”

However, when Earth Count intervened, things changed.

The darkness of Youdu enveloped the Celestial Heavens, making night descend instantly, thus fulfilling the condition for returning to the future.

In the darkness, Qin Mu waved to Vermilion Bird and Heavenly Venerate Ling. His, Emperor Kai’s, and the old ox’s figures in the flowing darkness resembled black sand paintings, scattering with the wind.

Heavenly Venerate Ling’s mind reeled, and she stared blankly at the scene.

Vermilion Bird, as if seeing a ghost, rushed to the spot where Qin Mu, Emperor Kai, and the old ox had stood, fumbling around, but the three seemed to have vanished into thin air!

“How strange, how utterly strange!” Vermilion Bird exclaimed in astonishment.

Meanwhile, a surge of emotion swept through Heavenly Venerate Ling’s heart. She suddenly recalled what Qin Mu had told her earlier: “Perhaps in the near future, you will encounter someone who has returned to the past through your divine art, proving the world’s perception of you is wrong.”

Her expression was dazed, as if in a trance, as she stared intently at Vermilion Bird, who was still searching for Qin Mu and the others.

“Does a divine art truly exist in this world that can make matter indestructible, unchangeable, immutable, unincreasing, and undiminishing? Did I create it?”

The tumultuous waves in her heart transformed into unparalleled confidence, fueling her belief to continue her research: “I will create it. In the future, Heavenly Venerate Mu and Heavenly Venerate Qin will return to see me through my divine art, inspiring me! I will definitely create it!”

She cast off the despondency caused by Heavenly Venerate Yu’s death and revitalized her spirit.

Qin Mu and Emperor Kai had researched with her for a long time, using their future knowledge to pave the first step for her.

All she had to do was continuously lay down new steps until she mastered it and created a peerless ultimate art that would shock the world!

She bid farewell to Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird and walked towards Jade Pool.

On her way, she encountered Heavenly Venerate Yue and Heavenly Venerate Yun and greeted them.

Heavenly Venerate Yue and Heavenly Venerate Yun looked surprised. Their impression of Heavenly Venerate Ling was that of an eccentric girl who never greeted anyone and would never respond if she disliked the person greeting her.

Yet now, she had actually initiated a greeting with them; it was truly astonishing, like the sun rising from the west.

“Heavenly Venerate Ling, don’t be in a hurry to leave yet,” Heavenly Venerate Yue suddenly called out to her. Heavenly Venerate Ling stopped and looked back. Heavenly Venerate Yue and Heavenly Venerate Yun exchanged a glance, then approached the girl and whispered, “Many things happened at this Jade Pool gathering; Heavenly Venerate Yu died, Heavenly Venerate Hao was gravely wounded by Heavenly Venerate Mu, and the Celestial Emperor has ordered the arrest of Heavenly Venerate Mu and Heavenly Venerate Qin. There’s too much right and wrong involved here.”

Heavenly Venerate Ling listened quietly.

Heavenly Venerate Yue mustered her courage, lowered her voice, and said, “We can see that Heavenly Venerate Hao killed Heavenly Venerate Yu, and Heavenly Venerate Mu avenged him. And the rumors of these past few days are not unfounded; the Celestial Emperor and the Empress sisters were also involved. The conflict between demigods and our post-natal races has begun to show. As leaders of post-natal beings, we must prepare early.”

Heavenly Venerate Yun, standing nearby, added, “Heavenly Venerate Mu revealed Heavenly Venerate Yu’s method of becoming a god, so the rise of the post-natal races is inevitable. We’ve discussed it and feel that the future is fraught with peril and immense dangers everywhere. Therefore, we can no longer be disorganized. We must form an alliance to plan the future for humanity and other post-natal beings!”

Heavenly Venerate Ling’s heart stirred: “Heavenly Alliance?”

Both were surprised and quickly said, “Heavenly Venerate Ling, do you also have this intention? To establish an alliance? Did you name it ‘Heavenly Alliance’?”

Heavenly Venerate Ling shook her head: “It was named by Heavenly Venerate Mu, and Heavenly Venerate Qin is also part of the Heavenly Alliance. This time, I plan to seek out Heavenly Venerate You and Heavenly Venerate Huo and bring them into the Heavenly Alliance as well.”

Heavenly Venerate Yun quickly interjected, “Heavenly Venerate You is fine, but Heavenly Venerate Huo has a quick temper and no filter. Moreover, he is very close to Heavenly Venerate Hao. It wouldn’t be appropriate for him to join the Heavenly Alliance.”

“Where are Heavenly Venerate Qin and Heavenly Venerate Mu?” Heavenly Venerate Yue asked.

Heavenly Venerate Ling smiled and calmly said, “They are waiting for us in the future. When that day comes, we will meet them. Let’s go find Heavenly Venerate You.”

The three of them walked towards the Jade Pool Pavilion. Heavenly Venerate Yun pondered, “We must establish a charter. The Heavenly Alliance must consider the safety of the post-natal races. Only exceptionally talented individuals should be allowed to join, and their character must also be assessed to prevent internal strife.”

Heavenly Venerate Yue said, “The charter must be well-defined. We cannot be too lenient with bad people, nor too harsh with good people. We should be better to good people and worse to bad people. Only then can the Heavenly Alliance endure.”

Heavenly Venerate Ling stated, “The Heavenly Alliance’s objectives also need to be determined. Let’s find Heavenly Venerate You first. This era is prosperous, but signs of chaos are already emerging. We must prepare early!”

Darkness enveloped the scene, but in Emperor Kai’s eyes, it was different from what Heavenly Venerate Ling and Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird saw.

He saw himself still standing in place; what changed was matter. Heavenly Venerate Ling and Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird vanished as if black sand blown away by the wind, and the vast, magnificent Celestial Heavens also dispersed like a sand painting.

The dissipation of matter did not mean that time was moving forward.

“Heavenly Venerate Ling is right.”

Sunlight streamed down, all darkness vanished, and the place he was in was no longer the ancient Celestial Heavens but a desolate desert, with the Yongjiang River flowing endlessly in the distance.

This was the Great Ruins, a relic of the High Emperor era. The Great Ruins were filled with strange and unpredictable events. Many survivors of the High Emperor era lived within the Great Ruins, while others struggled to survive in the outside world.

Emperor Kai stared blankly at the scene, then composed himself and walked towards the Yongjiang River, thinking, “Heavenly Venerate Mu, we will meet again, won’t we? Yes, I also need to forge a sword like that...”

In the distance, many divine arts practitioners were searching by the Yongjiang River. Someone spotted Emperor Kai from afar and joyfully exclaimed, “Qin Ye is there!”

Everyone rushed forward. Leading the way was an old ox covered in green scales, carrying a young, muscular farmer on its back, though the farmer was not tall.

Behind them was a girl holding a folding fan, a fisherman with two small red kun fish peering out of his basket, and at the very back, a woodcutter.

They ran towards Emperor Kai, the woodcutter the slowest, panting, “Wait for me, wait for me!”

“Qin Ye, where have you been? We’ve been looking everywhere for you!”

The farmer jumped off the ox’s back and gave him a hard punch. Emperor Kai staggered, wincing in pain. The farmer quickly said, “Stop pretending. We’ve fought many times before, and you always made me yelp. You’ve been gone for days. The fisherman tracked you here, but then your trail vanished.”

Emperor Kai smiled and chuckled, “I stumbled into an incredible place and encountered many bizarre things.”

Everyone gathered around, curious: “What exactly happened?”

Emperor Kai looked lost in thought, then suddenly shook his head and chuckled, “Let’s not talk about it.”

The old ox beside the farmer spoke, saying, “Benefactor, that’s not fair. Is there anything you can’t tell us?”

Upon hearing that voice, Emperor Kai was suddenly struck as if by lightning. It took him a moment to regain his composure. He looked at the old ox, feeling a sense of absurdity, and decided to say even less about his experience.

Time passed.

More and more people followed Emperor Kai, including many who would later become famous throughout the world, such as Di Yiyue, Tian Shu, and Di Shitian; they all followed him.

On this day, the Kai Emperor Nation was established. They built a divine dynasty upon the ruins of the High Emperor’s era, and he was revered as Emperor Kai.

After the ascension ceremony, Emperor Kai felt somewhat tired. He dismissed everyone and went to the imperial study to review memorials.

Just then, the door to the imperial study opened, and a woman in green robes walked in.

Emperor Kai looked up and, upon seeing the woman in green, was profoundly shaken.

“Heavenly Venerate Qin.”

The woman smiled: “Long time no see. I’ve waited for you for a very long time.”

Emperor Kai rose, tears streaming from his eyes.

“Heavenly Venerate Ling!”

“Heavenly Venerate Qin, founding elder of the Heavenly Alliance, welcome back to the Heavenly Alliance!”

The scene witnessed by Qin Mu and the old ox was similar to Emperor Kai’s. It was Qin Mu’s second time seeing matter dissipate like black sand, but it was Niu Sanduo’s first, and he couldn’t help but marvel.

As the darkness cleared, Qin Mu looked around and saw that they were on the western side of Taihuang Heaven, with a cliff about a hundred miles ahead.

“The ancient Celestial Heavens of that time no longer exist; only the Great Ruins remain. Perhaps the ancient Celestial Heavens are also buried deep beneath the Great Ruins?”

He looked down at the ground beneath his feet, feeling a touch of melancholy as he reminisced about the past.

How many years had passed from the ancient Celestial Heavens and the early Long Han era until now?

How many immensely talented individuals had been buried by this long and vast history?

In the annals of history, they were like stars in the sky, appearing and vanishing, fading away as matter dissipated.

Ding-a-ling.

The Carefree Sword floated, spinning and dancing around Qin Mu. This sword also returned with him to the present, chiming cheerfully, as if waking from death and reviving.

The Carefree Sword did not follow Emperor Kai.

It belonged to Qin Mu’s era and would not depart with Emperor Kai.

Qin Mu gently stroked the sword’s body. The Carefree Sword slowly moved under his fingertips, and he could feel the spiritual power contained within it.

This sword of Emperor Kai’s had come to life.

“Brother Sanduo, let’s go.”

Qin Mu raised his hand, and the Carefree Sword let out a cheerful chime, merging with the sword pellet.

Qin Mu looked into the distance, roused the still-distracted Niu Sanduo, and chuckled, “Let’s go to Fengdu. Sister Di Yiyue and Heavenly King Tian Shu should already be there, transforming Fengdu. Perhaps I can travel through Fengdu to Youdu and meet that old acquaintance with the ghost-face mask on the back of his head.”

The old ox snapped back to reality, dazed, and said, “This period of time felt like a dream. I truly don’t know if I experienced an illusion or if I really went back to the past. Junior brother, what do you think happened in Long Han after we left? Did Heavenly Venerate Ling establish the third pole, the third Celestial Heavens? In the division of Long Han into three, who won?”

“I don’t know. I also really want to know what happened after we left.”

Qin Mu walked forward with him and said, “However, traveling through time to revisit the past is not something we can control. I think we are not far from uncovering the truth and revealing this period of history. Brother, you can return the yellow paper talisman on your person to me now.”

The old ox hastily took off the yellow paper talisman and handed it to him, his expression odd. He said, “I fought Emperor Kai, wreaked havoc in the ancient Celestial Heavens, hit the Celestial Emperor’s women, and thoroughly thrashed various ancient gods—even the Heaven and Earth Net couldn’t capture me! I even met Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird and the most ancient human Heavenly Venerate. My old man wouldn’t believe it if I told him! Hehe, it would scare him to death... Huh, my Jinwu Langjiang military token is still here!”

He took the military token from his waist, held it up to the sunlight, and examined it carefully, chuckling, “I never imagined that I, Niu Sanduo, held the official position of a divine general in the ancient Celestial Heavens! The fact that this token is still here proves it wasn’t a dream, but really happened! My old man will definitely be scared witless when he sees this token!”

Qin Mu looked at the military token in the sunlight, his expression subtly changing. He took out the incredibly ancient military token belonging to Patriarch Wei Suifeng. Both tokens faced the sunlight together, one very new, the other very old.

The new token’s runes flowed, surprisingly activating the old token as well, which gradually revealed numerous ancient characters and symbols!