Chapter 911: Prehistoric Creator

Qin Mu pried off another rhomboid crystal. The crystal was about his height. He stood behind it and looked forward, seeing a world that was different from normal, but that was just due to the crystal's refraction.

"The world seen through the crystal, as if it were an eye, is different from what the naked eye sees, but surely the crystal has more than just this function?"

Qin Mu touched his brow, where a small lump had formed.

During the calamity in the Yuanjie, he had dug out his third eye and thrown it into Youdu. After the wound on his brow healed, a small, fleshy lump remained.

"Previously, my third divine eye was used to connect with Youdu and to unleash Youdu's Great Dao divine arts. Did the prehistoric giants embed these crystals in their brows to also use some kind of divine art?"

Puzzled, he walked to the center of the altar and looked at the pool of glowing liquid. The liquid, like flowing water, was slowly condensing.

Earlier, Empress Chi Xiayu had used the Phoenix Boat to shatter the peculiar "Heavenly Duke," depleting the liquid. However, it was now slowly reforming.

If this altar were to fully accumulate that strange glowing liquid, it would likely form another "Heavenly Duke" to guard the area.

"What exactly is this glowing liquid?"

Qin Mu cautiously scooped up a mass of the glowing liquid. Divine light flickered in his eyes as he examined it closely, but the liquid contained no runes or Great Dao principles; it seemed to possess no unique characteristics.

"Why can this glowing liquid form a powerful Heavenly Duke spirit body?"

He carefully channeled his vital qi, making contact with the liquid. Suddenly, the mass of liquid condensed, forming a tiny Heavenly Duke, only five or six inches tall, which lunged forward with a punch.

Caught off guard, Qin Mu grunted. The sound of bones breaking echoed from his chest as he was sent flying backward, shattering several skeletal remains of prehistoric giants.

The next moment, he was pressed against a prehistoric structure, which cracked from the immense force of the tiny Heavenly Duke's punch.

The unstoppable and overwhelming force continued to surge, pushing him through the building!

Qi Jiuyi shouted sternly, "Be on guard! Protect my second brother!"

The nine divine beings stood guard around the Dragon Qilin, poised as if facing a formidable enemy.

On the altar, the five or six-inch tall Heavenly Duke leaped up, its palms sinking inward and hands rotating inward, forming a "mao" character pattern.

Qin Mu landed, his fingers rapidly moving to mend his broken bones. Looking up, he saw the tiny Heavenly Duke striking with both hands, and his face changed drastically as he exclaimed, "The Fourth Heavenly Dao, Heavenly Seal?"

That was the Fourth Heavenly Dao among the Heavenly Daos. Yan Qiling had once mentioned that the Dao Ancestor had organized various Great Daos of heaven and earth for the Heavenly Court, dividing them into different sequences. Among these, the Dao Ancestor had compiled forty-nine types of Heavenly Daos based on the Great Dao runes found on the Heavenly Duke.

Qin Mu had obtained the jade slips of ancient god Great Dao runes from the Sutra Repository, knowing these forty-nine Heavenly Daos, of which the Fourth Heavenly Dao was called the Heavenly Seal.

And this tiny Heavenly Duke, formed from the glowing liquid, was employing the Fourth Heavenly Dao, the Heavenly Seal!

The tiny Heavenly Duke's dual seals flew forth with immense power, truly embodying the harmonious interplay of yin and yang, filling the space and making evasion impossible.

The exquisite and tiny Heavenly Duke's Heavenly Seal was already upon Qin Mu, both seals striking. Suddenly, Yan'er flew out from Qin Mu's shoulder, flapping her wings, and extended a bird claw to grasp the tiny Heavenly Duke's face.

The tiny Heavenly Duke roared incessantly, its Heavenly Seal striking forward but unable to reach her, growing ever more furious, its roars like thunder.

"Sister Yan'er, don't kill him."

Qin Mu quickly added, "Seal him up! I need to study him properly! This Heavenly Duke spirit body is peculiar!"

Yan'er extended her two wings, drawing a circle in front of her, and the ring encompassed the tiny Heavenly Duke.

The tiny Heavenly Duke roared, struggling but unable to break free. Suddenly, raging Heavenly Fire ignited around its body, seemingly intending to melt the ring with the Great Dao of Heavenly Fire.

Qin Mu clicked his tongue in wonder, picked up the tiny Heavenly Duke, and examined it from all sides.

The tiny Heavenly Duke glared at him fiercely, but it was immobilized, locked down by a master of Yan'er's Lingxiao realm.

"Young Master, what's going on with this tiny Heavenly Duke?"

Yan'er asked curiously, "Is it Heavenly Duke's son?"

"No, it's a spirit body, a spirit body formed from the glowing liquid."

Qin Mu examined it closely and said, "It has no soul, no physical body, just a mass of pure energy. There's no Great Dao, no runes, no consciousness within it... Strange, how can it unleash Heavenly Dao? What exactly is it?"

The more closely he examined it, the more doubts arose in his mind.

Without a soul, a physical body, consciousness, or imprints of Great Dao or runes, how could it be so powerful?

This completely defied common sense!

"Just now the glowing liquid was normal. It was when my vital qi touched it that it transformed into a tiny Heavenly Duke... This little guy's strength is too great; it broke my ribs."

Thinking of this, Qin Mu got annoyed. He picked up the tiny Heavenly Duke and gave its little backside two hard slaps.

The tiny Heavenly Duke became even more enraged, but unable to break free from its confinement, it could only grow increasingly frustrated.

Suddenly, with a "pop," it exploded and dispersed into a burst of light.

Qin Mu's hand was empty, with only Yan'er's ring remaining.

Qin Mu was stunned, deep in thought. He circled the altar, observing that the skeletal remains of the prehistoric giants were all facing it. However, the altar itself had no inscribed runes, being merely constructed from ordinary stones.

He truly couldn't fathom how these giants from the Primordial Era could produce such peculiar energy as the glowing liquid.

"Since Senior Brother left a map of this place, he must have made some discovery!"

Qin Mu's spirits lifted, and he walked towards the location marked on the map. The Dragon Qilin quickly followed him, and Qi Jiuyi had no choice but to brace himself and follow, full of worry.

Qin Mu's abilities were extremely powerful, yet he was almost killed by a tiny Heavenly Duke formed from a mass of glowing liquid, which showed just how perilous this place was!

"The place Senior Brother marked is right here."

Qin Mu rolled up the map and looked ahead. The spot Wei Suifeng had marked was a magnificent hall. Although dilapidated, it still exuded an imposing grandeur.

It was an open-air hall without a ceiling, vast inside. Qin Mu stepped in first, noticing various bas-relief carvings on the walls made of polished stone.

Qin Mu looked at each one. These bas-relief murals depicted prehistoric giants ruling over a vast and boundless continent.

These giants were enormous, capable of plucking stars and seizing the moon, possessing astonishing strength.

Their continent was also incredibly vast. The giants lived in different places, belonging to various tribes and clans. The environment there was harsh, home to all sorts of extremely powerful prehistoric beasts.

Giants battled against strange beasts, and they also frequently fought among themselves over territory and population, engaging in brutal conflicts.

"The prehistoric giants in the bas-reliefs don't have three eyes!"

Qin Mu observed closely; the giants in the reliefs also lacked rhomboid crystals on their brows.

These bas-reliefs depicted scenes of the giants hunting and fighting. Qin Mu noted that the prehistoric giants did not practice Dao arts or divine arts; they fought purely with brute strength and powerful physical bodies, at most wielding large bone clubs or simple bronze weapons.

For a grandmaster of Dao arts and divine arts like Qin Mu, the battle scenes on the reliefs were naturally crude and unimpressive.

However, as he proceeded deeper into the open-air hall, the content of the bas-reliefs gradually became more interesting.

Qin Mu stopped before a bas-relief mural, which depicted a burly prehistoric giant holding a rhomboid crystal between his thumb and forefinger, examining it against the sunlight.

"The crystal in the drawing is almost identical to the crystals embedded in the brows of the skeletons outside!"

Qin Mu's heart stirred, and he moved to the next bas-relief. This relief still depicted the same giant from the previous one, but this time he had embedded the rhomboid crystal he discovered into his own brow.

The other giants knelt before him, prostrating themselves and bowing their heads, filled with awe and trepidation.

This giant appeared much larger than the others, holding a golden scepter in one hand and wearing a horned helmet. With his other hand raised, he pointed forward.

The crystal on his brow emitted a pattern of light, and Qin Mu pondered its meaning but couldn't quite understand.

Qi Jiuyi and the others also came over to look at the reliefs.

"Cult Master Qin, these are just barbaric, primitive natives, what's so interesting about them?" Qi Jiuyi asked, utterly confused.

Qin Mu walked to the next bas-relief and said, "These primitive natives are the ones who created that peculiar Heavenly Duke that almost destroyed Empress Chi's Phoenix Boat."

Qi Jiuyi snorted.

Qin Mu let out a soft exclamation of surprise as he examined the bas-relief before him.

The content of this bas-relief showed the giants becoming even more massive. Many other giants, like him, had also found similar rhomboid crystals from unknown sources and embedded them in their foreheads.

What was strange in the relief was that for these giants with embedded rhomboid crystals, the crystal "eyes" on their brows were also glowing. Moreover, Qin Mu saw all sorts of peculiar things within the light!

Some of the lights showed a prehistoric beast, others a plate of food, and some even weapons like swords, spears, or staffs!

Some giants' "third eyes" even emitted light containing a beautiful woman!

"This is..."

Qin Mu was startled. He immediately took out the crystal he had collected, but it was too large to place on his brow.

"Sister Yan'er, have you researched spatial techniques? Can you shrink this crystal?"

Yan'er examined it and said, "Spatial techniques can only make it appear smaller; it's actually compressing space, hiding it within a mustard seed, not truly shrinking it. If you want to embed it in your brow, your head will explode if the spatial technique fails!"

Qin Mu laughed, "I just want to place it in front of my brow to see if anything remarkable happens."

After all, Yan'er had cultivated with Heavenly Venerate Yue for many years, so it wasn't long before she shrunk the rhomboid crystal to about an inch in length.

Qin Mu picked up the crystal, placed it on his brow, and tried to channel his vital qi, but the crystal had no effect.

Still undeterred, he mobilized his blood and qi, but the crystal still showed no unusual signs.

He concentrated, but the crystal remained unchanged.

"Is this kind of crystal useless to us humans? What did Senior Brother mean by having me come here?"

As soon as this thought crossed his mind, the crystal suddenly emitted light, and within the light appeared the figure of Wei Suifeng.

Qin Mu was startled. His thought process broke, and Wei Suifeng in the light vanished.

"Could it be..."

Qin Mu immediately concentrated his mind and divine consciousness, envisioning the form of the Heavenly Duke. The crystal once again burst forth with light, and a tiny Heavenly Duke appeared within it!

Qin Mu's heart pounded. He immediately felt that the scene he was imagining was transforming into reality through this peculiar crystal!

His consciousness dispersed, and the Heavenly Duke in the light also vanished instantly, not being preserved.

"Is it because my divine consciousness isn't strong enough? I cultivate the Indestructible Divine Consciousness!"

Qin Mu activated his Indestructible Divine Consciousness. This time, he envisioned the form of Earth Count, and light burst from the crystal, reflecting a tiny Earth Count.

The tiny Earth Count in the light became increasingly real, gradually developing flesh and blood. Before long, a palm-sized Earth Count appeared before everyone!

Qin Mu dispersed his Indestructible Divine Consciousness, and the tiny Earth Count landed, letting out a bellow that sounded like an ox.

Everyone was horrified, but when they heard an ox's moo coming from Earth Count's mouth, they wanted to laugh but dared not.

"He's not the real Earth Count; you can laugh, don't be afraid of him," Qin Mu said.

Qi Jiuyi said with a tremor, "It can truly create something from nothing! How is this possible? Creating something from nothing with just a stone, are these giants the prehistoric creators?"

Qin Mu idly handled the crystal and said, "They might be prehistoric creators, but their ability to create was achieved through this crystal. I just tried it; this crystal can amplify divine consciousness many times over. If one's divine consciousness is strong enough, they can create something from nothing! Even so, not many people can achieve creation from nothing using this crystal."