Dragon-Qilin jumped in shock. "Five million rings, not even a tenth—doesn't that mean Earth Mother Primordial Lady has lived at least fifty million years?"
Qin Mu kept counting the rings, saying, "You're underestimating it. This staff is only the heartwood core of the Origin-Root Tree, just the tree's center. There's no telling how many layers of bark are outside—it isn't the whole trunk. If the heartwood holds even a tenth of her true age rings, that's already impressive."
Annie was startled too. Wouldn't that mean Earth Mother Primordial Lady is at least five hundred million years old?
"Young Master, if this staff isn't really Earth Mother's true age rings, why bother counting them all?" Annie asked, puzzled.
Qin Mu counted as he spoke, distracted: "Counting rings isn't the point. I just want to see the age rings on this treasure before deciding what kind of artifact it's fit to become. Plus, the rings hide some of Earth Mother Primordial Lady's early secrets... For example, these few rings are incredibly dense, which means something major happened about two million years after Earth Mother's birth—an event that almost stopped the Origin-Root Tree's growth. That shows the Origin World suffered a catastrophe then."
Everything before the Dragon-Han Era is a blank to all postnatal beings. The ancient gods never spoke of it, so no one can know what happened back then.
That was the Primordial Origin-Capital age—there aren't any records at all from that era.
Qin Mu finished counting the rings, murmuring, "The Origin-Root Heartwood Staff is more than seventy-six million years old, and in that time, there were ten calamities that nearly stopped its growth. Looks like even during the ancient gods' rule, the Origin World was far from peaceful... But the ancient gods were the strongest beings of the Primordial Origin-Capital era. How could they have faced danger? Was it infighting, or some outside force?"
Logically, the ancient gods were the mightiest in the primordial era—nothing should've been able to threaten them. And Earth Mother Primordial Lady was on par with Tu Bo and Heaven Duke, second only to the Ancient-God Emperor in strength.
Beings like that in the Primordial Origin-Capital era couldn't have faced danger, unless Tu Bo, Heaven Duke, or the Ancient-God Emperor himself attacked her. But back then, the old ones weren't yet sworn enemies—they couldn't have been killing each other.
Qin Mu pondered for a long time, but still couldn't figure it out.
With so many rings in the Origin-Root Heartwood, refining it into my divine weapon and reaching full control will be extremely difficult. Maybe I could engrave a formation on each ring—one ring, one array, one heaven. Over seventy-six million arrays; the energy from just the formations would be enough to destroy worlds!
Qin Mu was full of fighting spirit, but his face quickly fell—the Origin-Root Heartwood had too many rings, and his knowledge simply wasn't deep enough to engrave formations on all of them.
His knowledge reserves weren't nearly profound enough for that.
Could I use it as a great spear? But I'm not skilled with spear arts... Maybe as a flying sword?
He was tempted, and tried pouring his yuanqi into the Origin-Root Heartwood. Instantly, Qin Mu's face darkened like charcoal.
His yuanqi had already recovered to its peak, no less than a Revered God. Yet when he poured such vast power into the Origin-Root Heartwood, it was like a clay ox into the sea—he couldn't fill it at all.
Earth Mother Primordial Lady had truly given him an incredible treasure—perhaps even Emperor's Throne level beings couldn't refine such a thing. But he couldn't unleash much of the Origin-Root Heartwood's power!
Qin Mu kept pouring in yuanqi, and finally the Origin-Root Heartwood floated up. But the staff was so long that after a few sword flourishes, he found himself out of power.
No wonder Earth Mother ran so fast!
Qin Mu reached out and grabbed the staff, swinging it with difficulty. Using it as a spear, he found it had no spearhead; using it as a staff, it was far too long.
If only it could be shorter...
As soon as he thought that, the Origin-Root Heartwood instantly shortened considerably.
Qin Mu was stunned. "Shorter," he said.
The Origin-Root Heartwood shortened again.
Qin Mu said, "Shorter."
The Origin-Root Heartwood shrank to three feet long. Qin Mu held it, using it as a wooden sword—much handier, and he couldn't help but exclaim with delight, "Long!"
Whoosh—
Suddenly, the Origin-Root Heartwood in his hands surged in length, turning into a long staff that pierced the distant mountain, punching a small hole through it with the tip emerging on the other side.
Qin Mu jumped, tugged hard, but couldn't pull the Origin-Root Heartwood out. Helpless, he said, "Short..."
With a swoosh, Qin Mu was flung off Dragon-Qilin's head, dragged by the shortening staff, and crashed into the mountain with a boom.
Dragon-Qilin and Annie were shocked. They saw the mountain split open from the impact, and after a moment, Qin Mu jumped out, looking very disheveled.
Qin Mu's mind stirred. He took out his Sword Pill, which flew up and landed on the tip of the staff, transforming into a spearhead. He moved with the spear, which grew and shrank, thickened and thinned, hardened and softened, even coiling around him like a giant serpent—truly terrifying.
The Origin-Root Heartwood isn't bad at all.
Qin Mu flew back, praised the staff, put away the Sword Pill, and laughed, "Too bad it can't be a wooden sword—I'm afraid it wouldn't kill anyone. I'm not much of a spear expert, so it's wasted in my hands."
He stowed the Origin-Root Heartwood in his Glutton Dragon Pouch. Annie came forward to help tidy his messy clothes.
Qin Mu took out the small jade bottle, broke the seal, and used his yuanqi to draw out a drop of Primordial Origin Essence, smiling, "Annie, this is for you."
Annie was both surprised and delighted, quickly swallowing the drop of Primordial Origin Essence.
Dragon-Qilin was extremely envious. Qin Mu said, "Fat Dragon, you can't suppress the power of Primordial Origin Essence yet. If I gave you a drop, you'd die. When you grow up, I'll save one for you."
Dragon-Qilin agreed and felt relieved.
With the Origin-Root Heartwood, maybe I can rescue First Senior Brother...
Qin Mu looked around, saw no one, took out the Peach-Wood Hairpin, and activated it over Yong River. The Celestial River surged and connected with Yong River.
After the Cripple rescued him, he told Qin Mu about Emperor Evan's experiences at Yong River: Eastern Azure Emperor had captured Wayne Gale and sunk him into the river. Wayne Gale merged with the Ghost Ship and escaped.
[Irrelevant webnovel content skipped.]
Earlier, they were within Eastern Heaven Palace's territory. Qin Mu didn't want to alert them, but now that Earth Mother Primordial Lady dared to appear, they must have left Eastern Heaven's domain. So Qin Mu tried using the Peach-Wood Hairpin to rescue the Ghost Ship and Wayne Gale from Venerable Skysoar's divine art.
The Peach-Wood Hairpin's power flared, and mist rose from the river, as if pouring in from past times. The river churned and surged!
Yong River and the Celestial River were originally one, split into two segments. Now reunited, the river erupted with strange phenomena and light burst from the water, illuminating the sky.
Towering ships, overlapping palaces, countless gods and demons—all sorts of phenomena appeared, mixed sounds deafening!
These phenomena are Yong River's history—figures, buildings, and events of the past, all brought forth by Venerable Skysoar's Invariant Divine Art!
The Celestial River and Yong River churned violently. Suddenly, the entire Celestial River soared into the sky, its thousands-of-miles-wide surface floating above, bursting with phenomena. The floating palaces seemed ready to reappear from history!
Boom—
Buildings and gods and demons from different eras collided, and countless fragments rained down from the sky—truly terrifying.
The mist thickened, and a Ghost Ship sailed into view, wreathed in black qi. Chains whipped around it like giant serpents, but never touched the ship.
Qin Mu's hand holding the Peach-Wood Hairpin trembled violently. He grabbed it with both hands to steady himself, but even so, the hairpin seemed ready to fly out of his grip.
Wayne Gale—
Qin Mu shouted, extra arms sprouting from his sides to grip the Peach-Wood Hairpin. He roared, "First Senior Brother, aren't you coming out?"
The Ghost Ship loomed, hazy in the black mist, drawing closer.
At that moment, space grew increasingly unstable. The area around Qin Mu began to collapse, eras seemed to overlap, palaces and gods and demons stacked together—even the Ghost Ship showed signs of breaking apart!
On the Ghost Ship, a middle-aged man appeared at the bow, trying to say something. But the echoes of history were so loud, Qin Mu couldn't make out his words.
Qin Mu freed a hand, quickly took out the Origin-Root Heartwood, and shouted, "Big—"
Whoosh—
The Origin-Root Heartwood surged in length, heading for the Ghost Ship, growing longer and longer, trying to build a bridge between present and past.
The Origin-Root Heartwood stretched to immeasurable length, but the Ghost Ship in the mist and black qi still seemed out of reach. Onboard, Wayne Gale leapt toward the staff, but his body dissolved, reappearing at the bow as if he'd never left.
...map...
His voice faintly reached Qin Mu.
Qin Mu could no longer control the Peach-Wood Hairpin and had to withdraw his power. The Celestial River instantly broke apart, one segment vanished, Yong River crashed down into its channel, and the Ghost Ship, palace ships, countless gods and demons all sped away, vanishing into history.
The mist rapidly contracted and soon disappeared without a trace.
The Origin-Root Heartwood fell into Qin Mu's hand.
All around Qin Mu, the turbulent space instantly stabilized, calm and quiet, as if the earlier phenomena had been just an illusion.
The Peach-Wood Hairpin can't pull the Ghost Ship out of Venerable Skysoar's divine art. Does that mean I can only rescue him by following the map?
Qin Mu was stunned, put away the Peach-Wood Hairpin, and shouted, "Annie, get us out of here!"
Annie instantly transformed into a Dragon-Sparrow, grabbed Dragon-Qilin and tossed him onto her back, Qin Mu landed on her as well, and Annie took off immediately, flying away with them.
Just after they left, space twisted and several extremely powerful gods and demons arrived, searching all around but finding no traces.
Suddenly, a demon god raised a gate, which opened and Prince Umbral stepped out, looking around.
'Black Emperor, the Celestial River anomaly just erupted, history reappeared, the broken river reconnected—should we report this to Heavenly Court?' said a god.
Prince Umbral frowned, saying, 'The Celestial River was split in two, and now it's reconnected?'
'Just now, the other segment of the Celestial River suddenly appeared and then quickly vanished,' said the god.
Prince Umbral surveyed the area and commanded, 'This is serious—investigate thoroughly! Find out what monster or demon is stirring up trouble! I'll report this to Heavenly Court myself!'
The gods and demons dispersed.
Prince Umbral turned and walked through the gate, muttering, 'Venerable Skysoar, Ghost Ship... Can't this world be peaceful? Who keeps dredging up old history?'
[Irrelevant author note skipped.]