Chapter 861: Star River Divine Treasury

Despite Long Qilin only saying "Yes," Qin Mu seemed immensely encouraged, his spirits lifting once more.

Seeing this, Yan'er clicked her tongue in amazement and gave Long Qilin a spirit pellet.

Shui Qilin watched enviously, thinking, "When Master is confused, I'll say 'Yes' too. That way, I'll get more food. Though, my master always seems quite confused..."

Empress Tianyin diligently escorted them out of the Tianyin Realm. Before parting, she whispered, "Grandmaster won't be angry about my actions, will he? The Celestial Emperor is, after all, our ancient gods' sovereign. While he has done many bad things to other ancient gods, ultimately, he isn't entirely evil. Dao Ancestor approached me, seeking the runes of the Tianyin Realm to gather the Emperor's soul, and I couldn't refuse."

"You don't need to explain, Empress. I understand."

Qin Mu smiled, "It's natural for you to make such choices out of consideration for old ties. However, Empress, you are no longer an ancient god born of heaven and earth. As an ancient god, you are dead; you are now a completely new life, an acquired being, just like us."

Empress Tianyin was taken aback.

"Empress, you are a simple person, so simple that you don't guard against outsiders, unaware of why you died, and simple enough to rejoin the ancient Celestial Emperor's ranks. But haven't you considered? When you died, a wisp of the ancient Celestial Emperor's soul was already serving as a high-ranking member of the Celestial Alliance."

Qin Mu bowed deeply in farewell, saying with utmost sincerity, "He didn't stop Yin Tianzi from attacking you. Similarly, he didn't stop the Celestial Alliance from attacking Earth Mother Yuanjun. Empress, your physical body was destroyed, and when I resurrected you, only your skin remained. After your resurrection, you are also different from the Celestial Emperor; his ancient god body is still intact, and he can still be an ancient god. You are no longer the same species as him."

Empress Tianyin looked bewildered, watching them depart, Qin Mu's voice still echoing in her ears: "Empress, you can't be so naive anymore."

Long Qilin, using his vital qi, bound a large mirror to his back and carried it as he traveled. Qin Mu was not on his head, and neither was Yu Tianzun; only Shui Qilin trotted alongside, while Yan'er hopped around, busy feeding them spirit pellets.

Occasionally, the girl would hold a spirit pellet, reach her hand into the mirror, and Yu Tianzun inside the mirror would open his mouth to receive it.

Qin Mu, also within the mirror world, took out a small mirror. With his back to the jade slip in the mirror, he held up his mirror to examine the runes on the jade slip reflected within it.

He then took out numerous calculating spirit weapons, forming a massive calculating tool. He continuously calculated, attempting to integrate the Great Clarity Calculation Scripture, perfected by Dao Master Lin Xuan, into it, thereby improving these runes.

Yu Tianzun, meanwhile, sat beside him, lost in thought. He had reached a bottleneck in his cultivation, having arrived at the peak of the Spirit Embryo realm, and was planning to advance further.

Qin Mu hadn't taught him how to open the Five Elements Divine Treasure, nor had he instructed him on cultivation methods. Yu Tianzun didn't ask either, as Qin Mu had told him that Hegemonic Physiques like theirs were meant to create their own cultivation techniques and discover their own paths.

Thus, he stubbornly decided to find his own path.

Long Qilin traveled eastward along the Surging River. Many sand-carrying boats were also heading east along the river. Beneath these large vessels, the Dragon Rearing Sovereign and several Dragon Kings revealed their true forms, swimming in the Celestial River and using their magic to harness the water currents, making the sand-carrying boats move faster.

Tianyin Gold was common in the Tianyin Realm but rare outside. Along the way, there were many bandits. Even the Celestial River connected to various heavens, and some gods and devils from these heavens came to rob them, but they were repelled by the Dragon Rearing Sovereign and the Dragon Kings.

Qin Mu didn't make Long Qilin travel at full speed, so his pace wasn't much faster than the sand-carrying boats below. He leisurely enjoyed spirit pellets along the way.

Occasionally, Dragon Kings would emerge from the water. Knowing he was Qin Mu's mount, they offered aquatic delicacies. Long Qilin rarely ate meat and only accepted treasures like dragon pearls, but Yan'er and Shui Qilin ate anything.

Some sand-carrying boats unloaded their cargo at Surging River Academy, where the Tianyin Gold was refined. However, other sand-carrying boats continued eastward, all the way to the sea.

The sea surface was now wider than before. Long Qilin looked eastward and saw that the Heavenly Map could not cover the ocean. The sun, surprisingly, rose from mid-air, not from below the horizon.

Even stranger, there were massive planets on the sea surface; some had crashed into the ocean, revealing half their spherical bodies, while others hung in the sky, appearing enormous.

These planets had torn the Heavenly Map, leaving alarming cracks across the sky.

The deities guarding the Heavenly Map had long given up, ignoring the damaged map and making no effort to repair it.

Suddenly, Qin Mu poked his head out of the mirror, looked around, and was also stunned by the sight. He said, "Is this the mouth of the Surging River? The gods guarding the Heavenly Map have become incredibly negligent; it's an eyesore."

Long Qilin said, "We've reached the river mouth."

On the other side of the mirror, Yu Tianzun poked his head out, looking around curiously.

"In ancient times, the Celestial River flowed continuously into the Returning Ruins, but now it flows into the sea, having lost a significant portion. Finding the Returning Ruins will likely be extremely difficult."

Qin Mu suddenly reoriented the mirror, setting it upright and looking down parallel to the sea. He saw fleets of sand-carrying boats sailing northward along the coastline. "Aren't the sand-carrying boats in danger without the protection of the Dragon Kings?" he asked.

As he spoke, huge blue backs emerged from the sea, like islands. They were actually large fish swimming over, guarding the sand-carrying boats.

Then, several massive Xuanwu beasts swam from the sea, accompanying the sand-carrying boats forward.

At that moment, another multi-decked boat sailed from a coastal pier. On the boat, a strange phenomenon rose into the air, forming a long river dam made of earth, wood, and water constructions.

That long river dam, both horizontal and vertical, was eight hundred zhang long and extended for hundreds of li, a magnificent sight.

Several blue-backed fish swam towards the phenomenon, then suddenly leaped out of the water, transforming into men and women who boarded the multi-decked boat.

Several giant Xuanwu also swam over, transformed into human form, and boarded the boat.

"This kind of hydrological and construction phenomenon belongs to Wei Pingbo, the Grand Minister of Works of the Eternal Peace Empire. It seems the Water God of Eternal Peace is personally overseeing the coast, guarding the sand-carrying boats."

Qin Mu glanced over and said, "The blue-backed fish on the sea surface are from the Kun race, and those Xuanwu are from the Xuanwu God race. During the battle at Divine Broken Mountain Range, they came to assist at the invitation of the Human Emperor's Seal, suffering heavy casualties. With the Water God and the sea god races, the sand-carrying boats aren't in much danger."

Relieved, he retracted his head into the mirror and continued his research.

Yu Tianzun, meanwhile, climbed out of the mirror, sat properly on Shui Qilin's head, and said to Yan'er, "Sister, don't feed me anymore. I'm going into seclusion for the next few days."

Yan'er, feeling uneasy, asked, "Will you get hungry? Why don't you eat your fill first?"

Yu Tianzun thought for a moment: "Alright, I'll eat my fill first then."

Long Qilin sped up, heading north along the coastline, traveling for nearly twenty days before reaching the mouth of the Jin River.

During this time, one night, a strange phenomenon suddenly occurred: the celestial constellations became chaotic, and starlight gathered into visible streams, frantically pouring into Yu Tianzun's body.

This continued for several days and nights before finally subsiding.

Yan'er and Shui Qilin intended to wake Yu Tianzun and ask about it, but Long Qilin quickly stopped them, saying, "Blue Fatty is comprehending the Dao; you can't disturb him. The Cult Master said that the state of Dao comprehension is very rare, and it's remarkable if someone experiences it once or twice in their life."

Shui Qilin asked suspiciously, "Really? I remember Master comprehended the Dao when he opened his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure. It seems easy for him."

Long Qilin also seemed puzzled, saying, "That's what the Cult Master said."

Long Qilin traveled upstream from the river mouth to Jiangling. Only then did he take the mirror off his back, tap its surface, and say, "Cult Master, we've arrived at Jiangling."

Qin Mu leaped out of the mirror, waved his sleeve, and stored the mirror in his gluttonous pouch.

Yu Tianzun woke up, excitedly exclaiming, "Brother, I've opened my second divine treasure!"

Qin Mu jumped off Long Qilin's head, motioned for them to walk, and smiled, "What divine treasure did you open?"

He had never taught Yu Tianzun how to open divine treasures, nor had he taught him cultivation techniques or divine arts, only telling him to learn without forcing himself.

The current era in Eternal Peace was one of great knowledge abundance. Cultivation techniques and divine arts from various academies could be taught to outsiders. Yu Tianzun had already read through the texts of Imperial College, Surging River Academy, Heavenly Saint Academy, Lijiang Academy, and Daoist Academy. His knowledge reserve was now exceptionally profound, and his insight extraordinary, surpassing the Yu Tianzun of ancient times by countless folds.

Qin Mu firmly believed that even without practicing others' methods, he could forge his own path.

"The Star River Divine Treasure!"

Yu Tianzun excitedly bounced, saying, "I observed the celestial phenomena and had an idea, so I opened a star river around my spirit embryo."

Qin Mu stopped, stunned for a moment, then probed, "Star River Divine Treasure? Not the Five Elements Divine Treasure, nor the Six Directions Divine Treasure?"

Yu Tianzun shook his head.

Qin Mu was stunned again, saying, "What does this Star River Divine Treasure look like?"

Yu Tianzun thought for a moment, then activated his divine treasure, displaying it to Qin Mu.

Qin Mu looked at his divine treasure, his mind bewildered. Yu Tianzun's spirit embryo was plump, sitting on the spirit platform, surrounded by a vast star river revolving around him.

The most crucial thing was: there were no barriers between divine treasures!

Qin Mu shook his head, looked carefully, and indeed saw no barriers between the divine treasures!

In other words, Yu Tianzun's Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure and Star River Divine Treasure were integrated!

"Cult Master, Blue Fatty fell into the state of Dao comprehension again while opening his Star River Divine Treasure."

Long Qilin cautiously added, "And he was in seclusion for ten days straight. Cult Master, I think whether this Hegemonic Physique is male or female doesn't really matter..."

Qin Mu's face twitched. He nodded, "Long Fatty, you make a lot of sense... For some reason, I suddenly really want to hit someone!"

With a grim expression, he walked towards the Jiangling supervisor's factory.

Jiangling was the starting point for the Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace, and Jiangling Academy was also built here. It also gathered the most supervisor's factories in Eternal Peace, even more than those near Surging River Academy.

When the sand-carrying boats arrived here, they would unload at the supervisor's factories, where the Tianyin Gold would be refined.

Qin Mu saw numerous gigantic components for the Sun Shooting Divine Cannon already under construction, though not yet assembled.

Qin Mu arrived at the factory, where members of the Heavenly Works Hall of the Heavenly Saint Cult came forward to greet him. Qin Mu instructed them to bring the blueprints for the Sun Shooting Divine Cannon. After examining them, he smiled, "As expected, Grandpa Blind has improved it, adding formations from the Kaihuang era that harness the power of heaven and earth. This way, the Sun Shooting Divine Cannon can use ambient energy to levitate, without consuming too many medicinal stones."

The Heavenly Works Hall disciple said, "Cult Master, the Sun Shooting Divine Cannon needs to gather energy capable of slaying gods and devils in an instant. It still requires medicinal stones to activate the alchemy furnace for rapid firing."

Qin Mu nodded and smiled, "Is the Imperial Preceptor in Jiangling?"

"The Imperial Preceptor is not here. However, Jiangling has recently received many foreign visitors who have come to challenge us. They are said to be young powerhouses from the Northern Heavens, coming to challenge the Hegemonic Physique of Eternal Peace. These powerhouses have already blockaded Jiangling Academy for over ten days."

"Northern Heavens, challenging the Hegemonic Physique of Eternal Peace?"

Qin Mu asked, surprised, "When did I become so famous?"

The Heavenly Works Hall disciple became even more cautious, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead. He said, "This disciple heard... I only heard this, it may not be accurate. This disciple heard that Saint Butcher and Heavenly Master Zi Xi visited the Northern Heavens and widely proclaimed that Eternal Peace has a Hegemonic Physique, undefeated across all realms. They also said that if anyone could defeat the Hegemonic Physique of Eternal Peace in the same realm, then Eternal Peace would surrender completely. This disciple also heard that Saint Butcher made countless wagers with the gods of the Northern Heavens, establishing something called the 'Little Earth Overlord's Agreement'..."

Qin Mu was dumbfounded. After a moment, he finally came to his senses.

"Shifting the conflict to me? Teacher is truly, truly... an old scoundrel! But, I was just looking for a fight!"