"Looking through the crystal as an eye is different from an actual eyeball. However, I believe that shouldn't be the crystal's only use."
Qin Mu touched the heart of his own brows, which had a small b.u.mp.
During the calamity of the Primordial Realm, he dug out his third eye and threw it into Youdu. Ever since the wound at the heart of his brows had healed, there had been a small meaty b.u.mp.
"In the past, my third eye was used to connect with Youdu, to execute the divine arts of the Great Dao of Youdu. These prehistoric giants embedded the crystals into the heart of their brows… What divine arts were they trying to execute?"
He didn't have an answer even after thinking for quite some time. After pondering for a time, he went to the center of the sacrificial altar and looked at the body of liquid light. The liquid light was like moving water, slowly coagulating.
Earlier, when Red Deity Qi Xiayu mobilized the phoenix s.h.i.+p to crush that bizarre Heaven Duke-like spirit body, it caused the liquid light to be depleted. Now, liquid light was slowly coagulating again.
It was likely that once this sacrificial altar had gathered enough of that strange liquid light, it would coagulate another "Heaven Duke" to guard this land.
"What is this liquid light?"
Qin Mu carefully scooped up a lump of liquid light, divine light glistening in his eyes as he examined it in detail. However, there were no runes of Great Dao within this liquid light. It looked as though it was nothing special.
"How can this liquid light form such a powerful spirit body of Heaven Duke?"
He gingerly executed his vital qi, using it to interact with the liquid light. Suddenly, that lump of liquid light coagulated, forming a mini Heaven Duke that was only five inches tall. It struck out with a punch.
Qin Mu was caught by surprise and grunted, hearing the sound of his bones breaking in his chest as he flew backward. Loud bangs rang out as he crashed into the prehistoric giant skeletons.
In the next instant, he found himself stuck to the prehistoric structure. The force of the punch from the mini Heaven Duke caused the structure behind him to crack.
That power was still surging forth with unmatched strength, and it crushed him so much that he penetrated the structure.
Qi Jiuyi shouted loudly, "On guard! Protect my second brother!"
The nine G.o.ds surrounded the dragon qilin, guarding him closely as though a great enemy was arriving.
On the sacrificial altar, that five-inch-tall Heaven Duke jumped up, and his palms caved towards him as both of his arms started rotating inwards, forming the Chinese character symbolizing the fourth Heavenly Dao.
Qin Mu landed on the ground, his ten fingers dancing as he swiftly rejoined his broken bone. He raised his head to see the mini Heaven Duke striking out with both hands. His expression changed as he cried, "The Fourth Heavenly Dao, Heaven Mudra?"
That was the fourth Heavenly Dao among the Heavenly Daos. Yan Qiling once said that Dao Ancestor helped the celestial heavens tidy up the various types of Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, dividing them up into different arrangements. Among which, Dao Ancestor sorted out 49 types of Heavenly Dao based on the runes of Great Dao on Heaven Duke's body.
Qin Mu had gotten the jade scroll of the runes of the ancient G.o.ds' Great Dao from the Guardian Pavilion, so he knew about the 49 types of Heavenly Dao. Among them, the fourth was called Heaven Mudra.
That was what the mini Heaven Duke was executing—the Fourth Heavenly Dao, Heaven Mudra!
Two mudras from that mini Heaven Duke flew over, their power unusually strong. It felt like it contained the interaction of Yin and Yang, filling up the heaven and earth and making one unable to avoid it.
The Heaven Mudra of the dainty Heaven Duke was already in front of Qin Mu, the two mudras striking out. Suddenly, Yan'er, who was perched on Qin Mu's shoulder, flapped her wings and extended one of her claws, gripping the face of this little Heaven Duke.
The little Heaven Duke howled in anger. The Heaven Mudra struck forward but was unable to reach her. His rage filled the sky, and his howls were like thunder.
"Sister Yan'er, don't kill him."
Qin Mu quickly said, "Seal him so that I can study him. This spirit body of Heaven Duke is indeed bizarre."
Yan'er waved her two wings, drawing a circle in front of her. The mini Heaven Duke was then trapped by this circular ring.
The little Heaven Duke bellowed in rage, and he struggled unsuccessfully. Suddenly, blazing heavenly fire burst out around him. He wanted to use it to destroy the circular ring.
Qin Mu clicked his tongue in wonder, then picked up this mini Heaven Duke, examining him from left to right.
This little Heaven Duke stared at him angrily. However, he was unable to move since he was restrained by Yan'er, a great expert at the Numinous Sky Realm.
"Young Master, what is the matter with this little Heaven Duke?"
Yan'er was curious. "Is this the son of Heaven Duke?"
"No, this is a type of spirit body, one formed by liquid light."
Qin Mu inspected it carefully and said, "There is no soul or corporeal body, just a lump of pure energy. He doesn't have the Great Dao in his body, nor does he have runes or a consciousness. It's strange that he's able to execute the Heavenly Dao. What sort of thing is he?"
The more he examined him, the more doubts he had in his heart.
How could he be so strong without a soul, a corporeal body, a consciousness, the Great Dao, or rune imprints?
This was completely illogical!
"There is nothing strange about the liquid light. When my vital qi interacted with it, it began to transform into little Heaven Duke. Not to mention, this little fellow's power is too strong, he even broke my bones."
Qin Mu was filled with anger as he thought about this. He picked up the little Heaven Duke and gave him two slaps on his backside.
That little Heaven Duke was filled with even more rage. However, he was unable to escape.
Suddenly, he exploded with a loud bang, transforming into a lump of light that dissipated.
Qin Mu's hand was empty, leaving him with only Yan'er's circular ring.
Qin Mu was stunned and fell into deep thought. He circled the sacrificial altar and noticed that the prehistoric giant skeletons were all facing the sacrificial altar. There were no rune imprints on the sacrificial altar, and it was just made from ordinary rocks.
He was unable to figure out how these giants from the ancient primordial era were able to create such a strange and mysterious energy as the liquid light.
"Since Big Senior Brother left me the geographical map of this area, he must have found something!"
Qin Mu roused his spirit and walked towards the location marked on the geographical map. The dragon qilin hurriedly followed behind, leaving Qi Jiuyi with no choice but to go along as well. His heart was filled with worry.
Although Qin Mu's abilities were great, he was almost killed by a little Heaven Duke formed by a lump of liquid light. One could imagine how dangerous this place was!
"The place Big Senior Brother marked is here."
Qin Mu rolled up the geographical map and looked in front. The place Wei Suifeng marked on the geographical map contained a majestic palace hall. Although it was run-down, it still looked impressive.
This was a roofless hall that opened up to the sky, and the interior was vast and s.p.a.cious. Qin Mu was the first to walk in, and he noticed that the rock walls were carved with various relief sculptures.
Qin Mu looked at them one by one. These relief sculptures were of prehistoric giants, who ruled over expansive and boundless land.
The size of these giants was ma.s.sive, and they looked like they had fearsome strength, seeming as if they could pluck the stars and grab the moon.
The land in which they lived was vast beyond imagination, and they lived in different places with different races and tribes. The environment was harsh and contained strange and powerful prehistoric beasts.
These giants and strange beasts fought and killed each other, often over territory and people.
"The prehistoric giants of these relief sculptures didn't have three eyes!"
During Qin Mu's careful examination, he realized that these relief sculptures of giants didn't have any hexagon-shaped crystals at the heart of their brows.
These relief sculptures recorded scenes of giants hunting or fighting battles. From what Qin Mu saw, these prehistoric giants didn't know any Dao skills or cultivate any divine arts. They relied on their brute strength and huge bodies to fight. At most, they carried large bone clubs or simple bronze weapons.
To a grandmaster of paths, skills, and divine arts like Qin Mu, the battle scenes of these relief sculptures were too unsightly to watch.
However, as he walked deeper into the roofless hall, the content of the relief sculptures became more interesting.
Qin Mu stopped in front of one set of relief sculptures, where a well-built giant was holding a hexagon-shaped crystal in between his thumb and index finger, observing it against the sunlight.
"This crystal is almost the same as the crystal in the heart of the brows of those skeletons outside!"
Qin Mu's heart quivered slightly, and he walked towards another set of relief sculptures. The relief sculptures continued to show the same giant. However, the difference was that he had embedded the hexagon-shaped crystal that he discovered into the heart of his brows.
The rest of the giants knelt in front of him, kowtowing in fear and trepidation.
This giant was much bigger than the rest. He held a golden scepter in his hand, and on his head was a helmet with bull horns. As for his other hand, it was raised, pointing forward.
The crystal in the heart of his brows emitted light patterns, and while Qin Mu gave it some thought, he couldn't understand its meaning.
Qi Jiuyi and the rest came over and observed the relief sculptures.
"Cult Master Qin, these are all barbaric and primitive aboriginals. What is there to see?" Qi Jiuyi was greatly puzzled.
Qin Mu walked to the next set of relief sculptures and said, "These primitive aboriginals created a strange Heaven Duke-like ent.i.ty which almost destroyed the phoenix s.h.i.+p of Red Deity."
Qi Jiuyi gave a snort.
Qin Mu gave a soft cry of astonishment as he examined the relief sculptures before him, revealing a shocked expression.
The content of this set of relief sculptures showed that the giants had become even bigger. There were plenty of giants who were like the earlier giant, with similar hexagon-shaped crystals embedded in the hearts of their brows. Who knew where they found them.
The strange thing was that after these giants embedded the hexagon-shaped crystals in the heart of their brows, the crystals glowed and gave off light, which formed all sorts of weird-looking things.
Some light formed prehistoric giant beasts, some formed plates of food, while some were weapons like knives, spears, staffs, and cudgels.
There were even some whose light from their "Third Eye" formed a beautiful woman!
"This is…"
Qin Mu was stunned, and he immediately took out the crystal he had collected. However, this crystal was too big to be inserted into the heart of his brows.
"Sister Yan'er, are you familiar with the art of s.p.a.ce? Can you shrink this piece of crystal?"
Yan'er inspected it and said, "The art of s.p.a.ce can only let it appear smaller. It's the s.p.a.ce that is actually being compressed, to the point where it's as small as a mustard seed. The crystal didn't actually shrink. If you embed this crystal in the heart of your brows, your head will explode if the art of s.p.a.ce loses its effect."
Qin Mu laughed. "I just want to place it in front of the heart of my brows and see if anything peculiar happens."
Yan'er had cultivated with Celestial Venerable Yue for many years. Therefore, within a short time, she was able to shrink the hexagon-shaped crystal down to the size of an inch.
Qin Mu picked up the crystal and placed it on the heart of his brows. He tried to execute his vital qi, but there was no response from the crystal.
He didn't give up, executing his qi and blood, but there was still no strange phenomenon from the crystal.
He gathered his spirit, but the crystal remained unchanged.
'Unless this crystal is useless to us humans? What is my big senior brother's intention in making me come here?'
When he had this thought, the crystal suddenly glowed, and Wei Suifeng's figure appeared within the light.
Qin Mu was stunned. The figure of Wei Suifeng in the light disappeared when he broke his thoughts.
"Unless…"
Qin Mu immediately focused, gathering his consciousness and thinking of the figure of Heaven Duke. The crystal once again gave out its light, and within it, a dainty Heaven Duke materialized!
Qin Mu stumbled back in shock. He felt that anything he thought could be materialized using this strange crystal!
As his consciousness dispersed, the Heaven Duke within the light disappeared as well.
"Is it because my consciousness isn't strong enough? What I cultivated was the undying G.o.d consciousness!"
Qin Mu executed his undying G.o.d consciousness. This time, he thought about the figure of Earth Count. As the crystal gave off its light, it produced a dainty Earth Count.
The little Earth Count within the light was becoming more and more real, and it gradually grew flesh. After a while, an Earth Count the size of a palm had appeared in front of everyone!
When Qin Mu dispersed the undying G.o.d consciousness, that dainty Earth Count fell to the ground. He then opened his mouth wide, mooing like a cow.
Everyone was astonished. They felt like laughing when they heard Earth Count mooing like a cow, but they didn't dare to.
"He isn't the real Earth Count, so you can laugh all you want. There is no need to be afraid of him," Qin Mu said.
Qi Jiuyi's voice trembled as he said, "It seems that we can create something out of nothing. How is this even possible? Just by using a piece of rock, things can be created out of nothing? Were these giants masters of creation from prehistory?"
Qin Mu played around with the crystal and said unhurriedly, "They may be masters of creation from prehistory. However, their ability to create came from these crystals. Based on my earlier attempt, these crystals are able to magnify consciousness many times over. When the consciousness is strong enough, it can create things out of nothing. Even so, there aren't many who can utilize these crystals."
