Chapter 1866 — The Central Origin Fashions the Mystic Art

Shen Mu arrived at the domain of Old Man Wuya.

Old Man Wuya had grown ever more powerful, his Dharma boundless and unfathomable. Countless mighty beings thronged about him, and his domain was now veritably the foremost holy ground in the universe.

After four cosmic epochs of ceaseless war between Miluo Palace and the Divine City of Tiandu, both had been gravely wounded, and the Heaven-Openers had vanished beyond knowing. Old Man Wuya alone stood supreme, and what was more, he possessed the World Tree, which could connect to the future and allow those who had not yet attained the Dao to live on into the next epoch. Hence his multitude of adherents.

Ever since Tiandu's defeat, since Ling the Heavenly Venerable had been suppressed by the Master of Miluo Palace and the Heaven-Openers had melted from sight, only Shen Mu remained of the "Defilers of the Dao. " The Dao-Realm Dao-Tree system made Old Man Wuya's cultivation ever stronger; there were even rumors that his power had long since surpassed the Master of Miluo Palace's, that he was the undisputed foremost being.

Even the Fourth Young Master, Zixiao, consorted with him closely, borrowing his strength to fulfill his grand design of unifying the universe and becoming the Cosmic Emperor of the Twelfth Epoch. Zixiao had much to do, and he even intended to borrow Wuya's power in an attempt to return to the past and rescue his deceased wife—yet all of it was in vain.

Old Man Wuya, for his part, was content to let Zixiao serve as his puppet, propping him up to rule the cosmos. At this time, the Third Young Master, Lingxiao, created the Blood Sacrifice Mass-Energy Substitution Art, by which one could travel to the next cosmic epoch through blood sacrifice and the substitution of mass and energy.

In this way, Miluo Palace would no longer need to fear the loss of Dao-attainers in each Calamity of Destruction and Calamity of Creation—only, he had not yet spread this art abroad. Shen Mu came to visit Old Man Wuya, and Old Man Wuya, because Shen Mu was a "Defiler of the Dao," held him in great disfavor.

In times past their relations had been excellent; the friendship between Old Man Wuya and Shen Mu could be traced back to the very dawn of the Second Epoch.

Yet Shen Mu's closeness to Tiandu had opened a rift between them, and afterward Old Man Wuya seldom paid him any heed, regarding him even as an enemy. When Shen Mu, leading Shen Lingyun by the hand, came to the foot of the World Tree, chaos abruptly surged vast and boundless, shrouding the entire World Tree, the thick chaos-breath so heavy it stifled the breath. Everyone believed that the Seventh Young Master, Chaos, and Old Man Wuya must surely fight, and even Miluo Palace was stirred; the Master of Miluo Palace emerged from seclusion and watched from afar across the void. But no one knew what happened within the chaos.

When the chaos-breath dispersed, the relationship between Old Man Wuya and Shen Mu seemed to have returned to what it once was; the two talked and laughed freely, as though nothing had ever happened. Tai Yi and the others had likewise not seen what transpired within the chaos, and so they went to ask the Master of Miluo Palace. The Master of Miluo Palace said: "Chaos's divine abilities—even I cannot quite fathom them.

But Old Man Wuya must have forgotten certain things. " Tai Yi and the rest pressed him further, but the Master of Miluo Palace did not elaborate, saying only: "Chaos is your junior brother; he draws ever nearer to attaining the Dao.

Do not provoke him. These days I must leap free of the Chaos River of eleven cosmic epochs to probe the future—do not be forever pestering me about Old Seven.

" "Old Seven has not yet attained the Dao? " Their eyes shone bright.

The Master of Miluo Palace at last leaped free of the Chaos River and came to stand upon its surface; his divine abilities had reached a height surpassing all ages.

It was not until the late Sixteenth Epoch that Miluo Palace's divine abilities would reach this step. Moreover, the Miluo Palace abilities of that time could only return to the past, not advance toward the future.

The Master of Miluo Palace had already gone far ahead; standing upon the long river, he saw all the myriad things of the past, and all the myriad things of the future. Before him lay the Chaos River of the Twelfth Epoch; behind him, the eleven cosmic epochs gone by. From time to time figures passed across the rivers—people returning to the past—and they seemed unable to see the Master of Miluo Palace, passing through his very body.

In but a short while, the Master of Miluo Palace had penetrated all things of the past eleven cosmic epochs, comprehending the affairs of the world—but of the future, he knew nothing. He turned and walked on, past the ruined future of the Twelfth Epoch, toward the Thirteenth Epoch. The Thirteenth Epoch too had been destroyed. He walked on to the Fourteenth, the Fifteenth, the Sixteenth.

Though he could not see through the Chaos River to behold what happened in these future cosmic epochs, their destruction bespoke his failure.

Beyond the Sixteenth Epoch there was no longer any Chaos River. He gazed out over the water and could see nothing of the future Seventeenth Epoch. No Miluo Palace, no World Tree, no Great Abyss of Guixu—only vast darkness, where nothing at all existed. The Master of Miluo Palace wept.

Alone upon the long river he cried aloud, crying like a helpless child. All his persistence, all his ideals, collapsed in thunderous ruin.

Just then, from the darkness of the Seventeenth Epoch, chaos-breath abruptly surged forth, and a treasure hall appeared within the chaos-breath, connected to the sixteen long rivers.

This treasure hall, like Miluo Palace, the World Tree, and Guixu, appeared upon all the long rivers of the past sixteen epochs. Dimly, faintly, he saw within that hall a figure standing.

"Is that the vitality of the future? " The Master of Miluo Palace's heart surged; following the chaos-breath that connected to the Chaos River, he walked toward that great hall.

He drew ever nearer to the hall, purple qi wreathing about him, resisting the resistance from the future.

He saw that the hall was grand and ancient, concealing within it all manner of wondrous great Daos.

He stepped into the hall, yet there was no one within—only sixteen Chaos Rivers.

These sixteen long rivers were the sixteen long rivers outside the hall! He raised his head and looked; at the end of the sixteen Chaos Rivers there was yet another chaos hall, and within it a figure, hazy and indistinct!

He stepped forward, crossing the sixteen long rivers, and entered the hall—only to find within it still sixteen long rivers, and at the end of those rivers still another chaos hall! In that moment, the Master of Miluo Palace knew not whether he was inside the hall or outside it, knew not whether the figure in the hall was inside or outside!

"Chaos, turbid and veiled, like an egg; dim and silent, filling the void.

Vast Taizu embraces the Primal Muddle!

The One Qi cycles, heavy and dense.

" He could not help but chant aloud in a long voice—this was another Dao art that stirred him, giving him the feeling of meeting a fellow Daoist in the future. He continued walking toward that figure in the hall.

"Within lie true water and true fire, dense and coiled as ice.

The Central Origin fashions the Mystic Art!

The Three Qi divide in perfect stillness.

" His great Dao trembled; he yearned for a response from the one in the hall: "What a chaos hall!

Standing at the end of time and space, guiding me here! Is this the universe of the future Seventeenth Epoch?

Fellow Daoist of the future world, to cultivate to such a step is truly no small feat.

Has your universe not yet passed through the Calamity of Destruction?

" "This junior, Shen Mu, Heavenly Venerable of Pasture, of the Seventeenth Universe, pays his respects to the Senior Brother. " The figure saluted him.