Chapter 971: Three Prophecies

"Is Xiu Zhong's divine consciousness nearing the level of the Three Primordial Kings?" Qin Mu was momentarily stunned, lost in thought.

The Creator civilization had undergone several purges. Logically, such a civilization should either be in decline, with each generation inferior to the last, or in a period of rapid transformation and development. However, the Creator civilization was already mature, making radical change difficult. So, how then did the Creator Xiu Zhong manage to cultivate to the same high level as the Three Primordial Kings?

"The Creators on the other shore have abandoned their ancestral traditions!" Shu Jun exclaimed indignantly.

Qin Mu smiled faintly. Shu Jun was likely referring to this ornate carriage. The Creators of the Primordial Era embraced an extremely minimalist style; their architecture and furnishings were largely unadorned, prioritizing flatness. Consequently, their artistic accomplishments were rather meager. In stark contrast, the magnificent carriage conjured by Creator Xiu Zhong was a picture of extreme luxury. It featured a triple canopy, each layer symbolizing a different heaven. Beneath the canopies, the sun, moon, and stars revolved around a central point, dazzling like the most exquisite jewels, making it the epitome of extravagance. From the edges of the canopies hung strands of multicolored gemstones, each unique in its color distribution. Upon closer inspection, the intricate details within each gem revealed a breathtaking array of vibrant patterns, offering new discoveries even after hours of careful study. Furthermore, the carriage shaft, body, cloud couch, and even the wheels were exquisitely carved. Even the reins tethering the nine dragons were woven with intricate patterns, a true testament to artistry.

To the Creators of the Primordial Era, such elaborate design was nothing short of heresy! The Creators of the Primordial Era intentionally kept their visualized objects simple for practical reasons during combat, allowing for rapid manifestation. Incorporating patterns and decorations into visualized objects would burden the divine consciousness, slowing down the visualization process. For Creators, this was a fatal flaw, providing an opening for their enemies.

"This is a betrayal of tradition!"

Shu Jun indignantly told Qin Mu, "It's the most severe betrayal! The Creators are facing extinction!"

Qin Mu chuckled, "Divine King Shu Jun, this is art. Art, too, can be a form of combat strength."

"Bah!"

Shu Jun's prejudices ran deep; he found fault with everything and scoffed at any creation conjured by Creator Xiu Zhong, openly mocking it. Fortunately, their conversation was occurring within Qin Mu's mind, so the fluctuations of divine consciousness would not alert Xiu Zhong.

Xiu Zhong carried him an unknown distance, past the land and into the starry expanse. Ahead, the galaxy churned, and Qin Mu observed colossal Creators forging stars in the cosmos. They congregated around a void, their Primordial Divine Stones glowing on their foreheads, as a rocky planet slowly took shape. Qin Mu stared, wide-eyed and dumbfounded, at these Creators. Behind their heads, he saw radiant divine treasures floating, shining brilliantly! The Spirit Embryo, Five Elements, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Celestial Being, Life and Death, and Divine Bridge—all seven great divine treasures were present, none missing! What astonished him even more was that beyond these Creators' Divine Bridge divine treasures lay a Heavenly Palace, a resplendent and dazzling edifice shining brilliantly in the starry sky! He couldn't help but be mesmerized, gazing intently as the Creators' colossal primordial spirits stood within the Heavenly Palace, visualizing and rapidly creating stars!

"The Creators of the other shore world have begun cultivating the Divine Treasure and Heavenly Palace systems!" An utterly absurd feeling welled up within him. These Creators, who had narrowly escaped catastrophe and fled to this place, were actually cultivating the Divine Treasure and Heavenly Palace systems pioneered by humanity—and they were doing remarkably well! "Could it be that the Creators of the other shore world adopted the cultivation methods from Carefree Village and embarked on the path of Divine Treasure cultivation?"

Qin Mu composed himself. If the techniques for cultivating divine consciousness were adapted into a Divine Treasure cultivation system, and the methods for cultivating vital qi were replaced with those for cultivating divine consciousness, indeed, cultivation could progress much faster! Shu Jun had once mentioned that after his resurrection, he would abandon his previous divine consciousness cultivation methods. He intended to integrate divine consciousness with the Divine Treasure cultivation system to forge new techniques suitable for the current era. If Shu Jun could recognize this, then it was highly probable that the Creators on the other shore had also realized it and had already initiated changes. In fact, Qin Mu himself had modified the Creators' cultivation methods; for instance, Shu Jun's Three Luminaries Supreme Consciousness had been drastically altered by him. Furthermore, the Great Emperor's Great Overarching Supreme Divine Consciousness was, astonishingly, a technique from the Divine Treasure and Heavenly Palace systems. The Great Emperor was, in fact, the first Creator to adopt these systems. The Creators on the other shore would certainly recognize that this cultivation method was considerably easier to master.

Xiu Zhong's carriage passed through the star-making region. The Creators there greeted him, not with words, but with fluctuations of divine consciousness, conveying in an instant what would take half a day to articulate verbally. Qin Mu perceived their divine consciousness, and his own connected with theirs, exchanging a wealth of information in a mere instant. These Creators belonged to the Xiu clan and were the star-makers, tasked with creating the cosmos. They intended to create hundreds of stars to bombard the territory of the villains from Carefree Village, using these planets to crush them to death.

"Do not act rashly."

Xiu Zhong spoke, but the language he uttered was not entirely that of the Creators. Many sentences were spoken in the human tongue, creating a peculiar blend of ancient and human languages. Qin Mu sought clarification from Shu Jun, who then translated Xiu Zhong's words into a divine consciousness message for him.

"Qin Ye, the leader of those scoundrels, is incredibly formidable. These planetary bombardments won't harm them; if you provoke Qin Ye, your lives will be in peril." Xiu Zhong instructed, "Continue to create dead star zones, trapping those villains within Carefree Village so they can never escape."

The Creators assented, then glanced at Qin Mu with expressions of curiosity.

"His name is Mu Qing; he's only two years old and is always running about," Xiu Zhong explained. "His cultivation is quite impressive; many adult Creators cannot compare to him. Look at the eye on his forehead." The Creators all looked at the eye on Qin Mu's forehead, their faces revealing a mixture of surprise and delight. A group of Creators began to dance joyfully in the starry sky, their movements strange yet imbued with a peculiar beauty.

"This is wonderful! It's the manifestation of the Primordial Stone, a blessing for our people!"

"The infant born from the Primordial Stone, the Saint Infant, will save our people and lead us back to the ancestral land!"

"That scoundrel Qin Ye is in trouble now!"

"Qin Ye's big-headed monster infant finally has a rival!"

Qin Mu was bewildered and somewhat lost, unable to understand the source of the Creators' excitement. "What's this about the Primordial Stone's manifestation? What's a Saint Infant? And what's with Qin Ye's big-headed monster infant?"

With a bewildered expression on his face, Qin Mu saw Creator Xiu Zhong smiling. "Didn't that fool named Shu Jun tell you?" Xiu Zhong asked.

Qin Mu shook his head. "Teacher Shu Jun only taught me the cultivation methods for the Three Luminaries Supreme Consciousness; he didn't teach me anything else."

"That fool is quite tight-lipped," Xiu Zhong remarked. "There's no harm in telling you. A million years ago, our ancestors dispatched a young man from the Great Void to the Ancestral Court. Although the Creators there had been massacred, our ancestors' divine consciousness still lingered. Their divine consciousness perceived everything. This young man journeyed for a long time in the Ancestral Court before returning to the Great Void. He was pursued by the Great Emperor, was on the verge of death, and soon perished. However, he brought back the Great Emperor's gem: the Primordial Stone."

Qin Mu's heart stirred. The Primordial Stone? The crystal in his third eye was also a fragment of the Primordial Stone, meaning that the world on the other shore also possessed fragments of it!

"Though he died, he brought back astonishing news: three prophecies conveyed to him by our ancestors' divine consciousness." Xiu Zhong clenched his massive fist. "The first prophecy foretold that our Great Void would face a great calamity, but a young man would come to help us through it. Indeed, the catastrophe arrived; the Great Emperor found the Great Void and unleashed a disaster that nearly consumed us all. Yet, just as predicted, a young man arrived from the outside, identifying himself as Heaven Venerate Yun."

Qin Mu's body trembled violently. "Heaven Venerate Yun!" he whispered.

"Though not one of our kin, Heaven Venerate Yun wholeheartedly aided us. His wisdom was unparalleled; he devised a trap. He exploited the Great Void's heart demons to suppress the Great Emperor's cultivation, then lured the Emperor into the trap and slew him." Xiu Zhong continued, "Our ancestors' second prophecy concerned the other shore. We survivors, following the prophecy, used the Primordial Stone to forge the other shore world, integrating the stone into it to create this realm. And our ancestors' third prophecy was about the Saint Infant!" He looked at Qin Mu, his excitement barely contained. "The third prophecy states that one day in the future, a Saint Infant born from the Primordial Stone will appear, leading our people back to the ancestral land! The moment I first saw you, I suspected you might be that very Saint Infant from the prophecy. Now, the elders also believe you are the Saint Infant, which means you truly could be the Primordial Stone Saint Infant, sent by the Primordial Stone to save us!"

Qin Mu's eyes widened, and his mouth fell open, rendering him speechless. "I'm really not..." he thought to himself.

"Divine King Shu Jun, I'm not the Saint Infant, am I?" he quickly asked Shu Jun.

Shu Jun grunted, clearly displeased. "Of course, you're not! If anyone is, it's me! This Primordial Stone is mine. My body was destroyed, my cultivation crippled, and I was born from the Primordial Stone. I am the Saint Infant who will save the Creators! You're a human spy!"

"Heh heh," Qin Mu chuckled awkwardly.

Xiu Zhong continued, "However, whether you are the Saint Infant still requires confirmation from the ancestral spirits. The young man who brought the three prophecies created the Ancestral Spirit Realm before his death, a place where the divine consciousness of our deceased Creators can reside forever, undisturbed by worldly affairs. I am taking you back to our tribal land to prepare to notify all the clans for your entry into the Ancestral Spirit Realm. Before entering, you'll need to pass a few simple tests..."

Qin Mu's face darkened, and he thought, "Go to the Ancestral Spirit Realm? Won't I be exposed there? Haven't my parents come to get me? Why aren't they here yet? Hurry, come and hijack me, take me away!"

"I am the Saint Infant!" Shu Jun remained indignant, fuming, "This fellow is an imposter; I am the genuine Saint Infant!"

"Shut up!" Qin Mu snapped, feeling uneasy. "You don't have the Primordial Stone; it's embedded in my forehead."

Shu Jun erupted in fury. "You stole it from me! You and your senior brother stole it! This Primordial Stone was originally mine; your black-hearted senior brother snatched it, and then you embedded it in your forehead! I am the Saint Infant—"

Qin Mu immediately activated his Great Overarching Supreme Divine Consciousness, sealing the Primordial Stone's internal space to prevent Shu Jun's divine consciousness from erupting and alerting Xiu Zhong.

"My parents should be here by now, shouldn't they?" he thought to himself.

Xiu Zhong urged the ornate carriage onward. "As for Qin Ye's big-headed monster infant, that's a different story. Over a year ago, Qin Ye's family suddenly acquired a large-headed monster infant. Its physique is comparable to ours, the Creators, and it possesses numerous abilities, having killed many of our kind; it's genuinely formidable. That scoundrel Qin Ye even boasted that it was his 107th-generation descendant, incredibly powerful, and would 'devour us all' when it grew up." He sneered, "But with the Saint Infant's arrival, that big-headed monster infant's good days are numbered!"

Qin Mu offered a dry laugh.

Meanwhile, a flying fortress burst forth from the void, arriving before the three chambers.

"Mu'er!" Consort Zhen emerged from the fortress, exclaiming joyfully, "Mu'er, are you here? Come out quickly, it's time to go home!"

Qin Hanzhen flew out of the fortress, still bearing faint traces of petrification. He scanned the surroundings, frowning. "He's not here. Did he run off again? When Heaven Venerate You captured me, he mentioned that Mu'er is a restless one, never staying in one place for more than half a day, always stirring up trouble... This isn't good!" He looked down the mountain, his expression drastically changing. "There are Creator footprints here!"

Consort Zhen's voice trembled. "Are you saying Mu'er fell victim to the Creators? He couldn't be..."

"Impossible!" Qin Hanzhen quickly reassured her, "If the Creators knew he was a descendant of the Founding Emperor, they would surely capture him, torture him, or even use him to threaten the Emperor. He might endure some hardship, but we will absolutely rescue him, no matter the cost! Let's return first!"

Consort Zhen burst into tears. "Mu'er is a child burdened by fate. He has already endured so much hardship; must he suffer even more in Carefree Village? Why is Heaven so unfair to him?"