Chapter 906: No Doing Sometimes Exists, Existing Sometimes Not

He suddenly seemed to go mad, laughing and crying simultaneously. Many prison guards quickly dropped what they were doing and rushed over to steady Yan Shaoqing.

Yan Shaoqing yelled, broke free from the guards, and shrieked, "It's fake! You're all fake!"

He injured several guards and killed several people, then suddenly his body stiffened like a puppet. He stood there stiffly, staring blankly at his blood-stained hands.

After a long time, he slowly turned his head to Qin Mu and asked, "Heavenly Venerate Mu, is this real or fake now?"

Qin Mu sighed. "Left Assistant," he said, "I'm about to leave. Won't you see me off?"

Yan Shaoqing's facial muscles twitched uncontrollably, his face contorted.

He followed Qin Mu, walking towards the exit.

Shortly after, he escorted Qin Mu and the others out of the prison. Qin Mu turned, smiling, and said, "Left Assistant, you can stop here. No need to see us off any further."

Yan Shaoqing bowed, saying stiffly, "Farewell, Heavenly Venerate."

Qin Mu, still smiling, slowly sat down. Fiery clouds rose from beneath the Dragon Qilin's hooves, preparing to carry him away.

"Heavenly Venerate Mu, is this real or fake now?" Yan Shaoqing's voice drifted from behind him.

Qin Mu patted the Dragon Qilin's head, and it promptly stopped.

Qin Mu chuckled. "When the real is taken for false, the false becomes real. When nothing is made into something, something can become nothing. Left Assistant, you are the foremost master of divine consciousness abilities in the Celestial Heavens. Is the distinction between real and fake, or existence and non-existence, truly that significant? Please return."

Yan Shaoqing's body trembled slightly, and he looked up at Qin Mu.

The Dragon Qilin carried Qin Mu far into the distance.

Yan Shaoqing's eye twitched. He noticed Qin Mu's shadow on the Dragon Qilin's head squirm, splitting from one shadow into three!

His mind buzzed. He immediately rushed back, bursting into the prison and speeding towards the cells where the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng were held.

He stood stiffly. Both cells were empty; Emperor Yanfeng and the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor were gone!

"So that's it… so that's it..."

Yan Shaoqing chuckled. "So I taught you how to unlock the cell's seals. So this isn't a dream, not a divine consciousness illusion... 'When the real is taken for false, the false becomes real. When nothing is made into something, something can become nothing.' What a clever trick indeed..."

Suddenly, a prison guard passed by, saw the empty cells, and shrieked, "The prisoners have escaped!"

Yan Shaoqing turned to him and smiled faintly. "The prisoners are clearly still in their cells. How could they have escaped?"

The guard paused, then looked at the cells again. Emperor Yanfeng and the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor were indeed there.

The guard looked confused. Yan Shaoqing said, "Stop making such a fuss and go do your work... Wait a moment, how long did Heavenly Venerate Mu spend visiting the prison?"

The guard replied, "Less than a quarter of an hour."

"Less than a quarter of an hour?"

Yan Shaoqing's heart sank; it felt as if months had passed. He waved his hand, dismissing the guard.

Yan Shaoqing slowly walked out, his hands and feet cold. He thought to himself, "You kidnapped Emperor Yanfeng and Jiang Baigui, yet I am forced to cover for you. With my divine consciousness abilities, even if the Celestial Heavens sends someone to investigate, as long as they aren't of the Emperor's Throne realm, they won't be able to tell that the Jiang Baigui and Emperor Yanfeng in the cells are merely my mental illusions. You knew I wouldn't chase after you to retrieve them, because you know I cannot break your divine art. Even if I did pursue you, I would only fall into your illusions and dreams once more."

"You also knew I would cover for you, because I've already been taken to the God-Slaying Platform once. To save my life, I had no choice but to help you conceal it. You even deliberately showed your hand, allowing your shadow to split into three. Those other two shadows must have been Emperor Yanfeng and Jiang Baigui, weren't they?"

"Heavenly Venerate Mu, you have become truly terrifying..."

He went to the Judge's Temple, opened the official documents, and picked up a brush. He wrote, "Heavenly Venerate Mu's prison visit was uneventful," then put down the brush, lost in thought.

Suddenly, he clenched his fists tightly, his nails piercing his palms and drawing blood. But then he weakly loosened his grip, gave a bitter smile, and resumed his official duties.

"I was defeated, but your divine consciousness divine art isn't invincible. Your cultivation is low, making your divine art easy to break. It only requires an outsider's intervention, and your art will dissipate on its own. Your divine art can only last for less than a quarter of an hour."

"Aren't you going to the Celestial Heavens? If you use this divine art there, you'll surely die! However..."

He stopped writing, fear clouding his face, and shivered uncontrollably. "But if you cultivate to the Emperor's Throne realm and combine your divine consciousness divine art with the Boundless Calamity Sutra and the Netherworld Great Dao, that would be truly terrifying!"

He dared not imagine how terrifying such a scenario would be!

He continued writing official documents, when suddenly his pen stopped, and his eye twitched.

"How can I be sure that I've truly escaped his dream illusions now?"

Yan Shaoqing's pupils contracted sharply. "What if this is also an illusion? Am I in a dream or reality right now?"

Despair filled his eyes. "Could it be true, as he said, that I must abolish the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure and accept the Eternal Peace Reform to completely escape his dreams? If so, what difference would there be between me and those rebels of Eternal Peace..."

The fear on his face intensified.

Although Qin Mu had left and his divine art had ceased, the impact of his divine consciousness ability was like a demonic seed taking root and sprouting in Yan Shaoqing's heart.

Yan Shaoqing knew he had to break free. He had to abolish the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, accept the Eternal Peace Reform, and cultivate the Heavenly River Divine Treasure. Otherwise, he would be perpetually tormented, unable to distinguish between dreams, reality, and illusions. The flaw in his Dao Heart would also make it impossible for him to cultivate to the Emperor's Throne realm!

However, the Celestial Heavens strictly prohibited the reform. If he were to accept the Heavenly River Divine Treasure, he would become one of the reform's rebels.

"If I abolish the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure, my Celestial Palace will collapse, and I'll die... Jiang Baigui told me he developed a method to seal the South Heavenly Gate, which would allow me to abolish the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure without dying... Why did he tell me this?"

Yan Shaoqing suddenly realized, "Those master and apprentice brothers conspired to set a grand trap for me! A comprehensive, interlocking scheme... I need to secretly learn about the Eternal Peace Reform. I won't participate in it; I'll just discreetly educate myself..."

Far from the prison, Qin Mu had the Dragon Qilin stop. He chuckled, "Yan Shaoqing didn't pursue us. The prison break is a success. You can come out now. Yan Shaoqing is intelligent; he'll use his divine consciousness divine art to help us cover it up, so no one will know you've escaped."

Three shadows lay at his feet. Two of them squirmed, then straightened, slowly transforming into the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Yanfeng.

Emperor Yanfeng greedily inhaled the outside air, still somewhat in disbelief. He murmured, "I actually made it out alive. I thought I would die in there..."

The Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor bowed to Qin Mu. "Thank you, Senior Brother, for saving us!"

Qin Mu quickly returned the bow, smiling. "If you hadn't taught him the Three Primordial Spirits Undying Divine Consciousness, it would have been difficult for me to so smoothly discover the flaws in his cultivation method and plant a demonic seed in his Dao Heart. We expended immense human and intellectual resources researching the weaknesses of the Three Primordial Spirits Undying Divine Consciousness, an Emperor's Throne cultivation method, to ensure it kept pace with the times."

The Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said solemnly, "But to control him so absolutely, that is not an easy feat."

"I used the Boundless Calamity Sutra of Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha to enter his dreams. In a short time, I deduced countless possibilities and found the simplest method to restrain him. Then, by employing the Netherworld Great Dao's Dao Heart Seed Demon, the demonic flower bloomed in his Dao Heart, causing him to fall into a cycle of dreams and illusions."

Qin Mu explained, "My divine art infiltrated his Dao Heart and rooted itself within his Divine Treasure. It was exceedingly difficult for him to escape the dreams and illusions I created. Each time he forcibly broke through an illusion, he actually sank deeper into the dream. His repeated attempts to break my divine consciousness divine art only caused him to fall deeper into boundless calamity, experiencing tribulation after tribulation."

Emperor Yanfeng and the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor were greatly impressed.

The Boundless Calamity Sutra was Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha's Emperor's Throne True Sutra; the Undying Divine Consciousness was the Crimson Emperor's Emperor's Throne cultivation method; and the Dao Heart Seed Demon was a technique from the Woodcutter Sage's Grand Creation Demonic Sutra.

Qin Mu had integrated these three cultivation methods and divine arts, and through the catalysis of the Eternal Peace Reform, he was able to trap even a formidable being at the Numinous Sky realm. It was truly a miraculous display of skill.

The Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor's eyes flickered. "Yan Shaoqing might become our fellow Daoist in the future," he said. "I've already shown him a path. Now it's up to him whether he chooses to walk it."

"Although you are now free, you must not show your true faces; you need to change your appearance," Qin Mu reminded them.

Emperor Yanfeng and the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor nodded. Having cultivated the Three Primordial Spirits Undying Divine Consciousness and the Imperishable Creation Profound Sutra—the pinnacle of creation arts—changing their appearance or even altering the structure of their primordial spirits was simple for them.

Qin Mu took out a mirror and handed it to the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor. "This mirror contains the Celestial Heavens' research on ancient gods from the past million years," he explained. "Dao Ancestor gave it to me. The Celestial Heavens even used this knowledge to recreate weapons like Imperial Heavenly Venerate. You should study it thoroughly."

The Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor examined it carefully. The mirror contained a hidden world, filled with countless jade slips imprinted with various runes.

"You're giving this to us, but what about you?" the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor asked.

"I forged these mirrors myself," Qin Mu replied. "Creating a few more is no problem at all."

Qin Mu flipped his hand and produced another mirror, smiling. "When two identical mirrors face each other, the information from the jade slips can be imprinted into the other mirror. I have several more mirrors here, so don't worry about me. Farewell, both of you!"

He bowed. "I am heading to the Celestial Heavens," he said. "I don't know when I will return. I made a promise to Empress Yanxiu to see her within a year. If either of you returns to Eternal Peace, please let her know I am safe!"

The Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor asked, "You're not returning? Are you truly going to the Celestial Heavens?"

Qin Mu smiled. "I want to see if the Celestial Heavens truly has any weaknesses. Only by knowing oneself and one's enemy can one emerge victorious in every battle. If I don't go to the Celestial Heavens, I won't understand its true strength and vulnerabilities! So, I must go!"

Emperor Yanfeng suddenly interjected, "Did you marry Yuxiu? Did you become her empress consort?"

Qin Mu's face flushed crimson, and he quickly waved his hand. "Your Majesty, why would you say such a thing? We are innocent!"

Emperor Yanfeng scoffed, then sneered. "I, as Empress Yanxiu's father, certainly don't wish for you two to be 'innocent.' You rascal, I'm simply worried you won't find a wife. It's not as if I'm trying to marry off my daughter to you, so why are you so frightened? I won't kill you! Like the Imperial Preceptor, you're both incapable of finding a wife on your own. If I hadn't granted the Imperial Preceptor a wife back then, he'd still be a lonely old man..."

The Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor coughed, reminding him, "Your Majesty, it's time to go."

Emperor Yanfeng sighed. "I'm no longer the emperor; Yuxiu is. You're no longer the Imperial Preceptor either. I wonder which rascal is the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor now."

Qin Mu reminded him, "That 'rascal' is standing right in front of you, and that 'rascal' just saved both of you."

Emperor Yanfeng burst into laughter and waved goodbye.

Qin Mu, full of vigor, called out, "Fat Dragon, let's go!"

Emperor Yanfeng and the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor watched him disappear into the distance. After a long time, Emperor Yanfeng, having changed his appearance, remarked, "Yuxiu became the empress, and he became the Imperial Preceptor. Fate truly plays strange tricks. I had originally hoped they would end up together."

"Didn't Your Majesty consider this outcome long ago, in fact?"

The Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor also changed his appearance and walked east, saying calmly, "We had planned long ago that if the reform failed and we perished, someone would need to inherit our legacy. The individuals Your Majesty chose were precisely Empress Yanxiu and Cult Master Qin."

Emperor Yanfeng caught up with him, remaining silent for a moment. Then he said, "Back then, as emperor, I didn't consider Yuxiu's personal happiness; I only wanted her to inherit our cause. Now, I am no longer emperor, but a father, and I don't wish for her to bear this burden. I only hope she finds a suitable husband and lives a peaceful, happy life. With her as empress, the possibility of her being with Qin Mu is virtually nonexistent. He cannot be her empress consort, and an empress cannot marry out. They..."

He shook his head, leaving the thought unfinished.

The Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor understood what he meant.

With Ling Yuxiu inheriting the throne as Empress Yanxiu and Qin Mu becoming the new Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, there was no longer any possibility of them being together.

Ling Yuxiu must have realized this outcome when she accepted the position, yet she still took the throne.

Qin Mu also realized this outcome when he agreed to become her Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, yet he still became her Imperial Preceptor.

Both had silently relinquished some of their inner feelings, though neither had ever spoken of it to the other.