Chapter 979 - 965: Mountain and River Map
The colorful mural is different from the ones she had seen before; this cave is extremely peculiar.
Unlike other caves, the stone walls are not ordinary, but layered with intertwining colorful rock patterns.
These are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet intertwined.
These are sacred colors.
Su Muyao knows that in the Beast World, these colors represent auspiciousness.
As if spanning eons, the colors of this mural remain vivid, as if the enchanting painting was engraved here when Heaven and Earth first emerged.
On the mural, there is only one man in blue, standing alone on the ethereal Green Lotus Platform, performing an ancient sacrificial dance with unparalleled grace.
His figure is long and perfect, but his brows and eyes are blurred, seemingly shrouded in a mist of Heavenly Dao, making it difficult to discern his features, yet he exudes supreme sanctity and majesty, as if he is the High Priest who communicates the Great Dao.
Every dance move conceals the mysteries of Heaven and Earth.
As he raises his hand, his gentle gesture guides the circulating sacred colors within the mural, seemingly corresponding to the trajectory of the celestial stars.
During the dance, his wide sleeves flow like clouds swept by the wind, seemingly fitting with the cycle of the seasons.
As he spins, the mural also depicts the scene of all things awakening under the rules of Heaven and Earth.
The stillness and movement are the most direct embodiment of the heavenly rules.
The entire sacrificial dance progresses as if fully restoring the original and ancient sequence of the ritual Qi Dance of ages past.
The dance movements contain profound Dao essence.
Just standing in front of the mural, watching the man’s movements, seems to bring the sacrificial scenario to life.
It’s as though the image has come alive, pulling him into another time and space to witness the complete Qi Dance ritual.
Invisible Great Dao aura spills from the mural, filling the entire cave, immersing her mind in the profound essence of the Beast World’s life and the balance of Yin and Yang.
Su Muyao stood paralyzed, unconsciously holding her breath, her body feeling as if her blood nearly congealed, and her heart surged with shock.
Her spirit seemed to transcend all things, arriving at a miraculous realm.
After finishing the dance, the man turned to look at her.
Yet he was shrouded in a Heavenly Dao radiance, making his appearance indistinguishable.
"You have come."
This voice was ethereal, as though echoing from a distant past.
It shook the listener’s heart.
Moreover, why did this voice sound so familiar, like her master’s voice?
While she was on the Cang Beast Continent, she had entered an Underwater Secret Mansion and apprenticed under a master.
That master taught her the Green Lotus Sword Technique and gave her the Green Lotus Sword, and afterward, the master’s figure disappeared.
Though this person’s appearance was as indistinct as her master’s, the aura felt very similar.
Her master was called Lian Jin and said she possessed the Taichu Wood Spirit Body and the Chaos Green Lotus Bone, making her best suited for cultivating the Green Lotus Sword Technique, though at the time both her spiritual body and innate Chaos Green Lotus Bone were sealed.
Her master released those seals and then taught her the sword technique.
She stayed in the Underwater Secret Mansion for three months before leaving.
Who knows what happened to her master.
She only remembers leaving when the master’s residual soul became increasingly ethereal, seemingly on the verge of vanishing.
The only thing she knows is her master’s name, nothing about his origins.
But during those three months, her master treated her very well.
Su Muyao was unsure of who this person was and didn’t dare to rashly call him master.
She pointed to herself and asked, "Do you... know me?"
The ethereal voice sighed, "Little girl, don’t you recognize your master."
Upon hearing this, Su Muyao’s nose tingled, her eyelashes trembled greatly, in disbelief, "Master, is it really you?"
"I can’t see your face clearly."
"So I didn’t recognize you right away."
Lian Jin sighed deeply, "It’s been ages, obstructed by Great Dao Rules, it’s normal not to see clearly."
"To meet here across eons is already quite extraordinary."
Su Muyao listened slightly confused, "Master, is this your residual soul?"
Lian Jin replied, "Not exactly, it’s only through the sacrificial dance that I’ve seen you across the ages."
"Seeing the Qinglian aura and the Green Lotus Sword on you, I know you are the apprentice of my residual soul from eons later."
Su Muyao’s heart trembled, experiencing an intangible sense of the Great Dao.
A feeling of facing across time and space.
"I saw the sacrificial dance on the mural in this cave, and I don’t know how, but then I saw you, Master."
Lian Jin nodded thoughtfully, looking at Su Muyao but couldn’t see her background, only a vortex of emptiness behind her.
Using the sacrificial dance with his unique ability, resonating with the Great Dao, and sensing the source of Heaven and Earth, he saw her.
She is the key to breaking the situation, as well as the key to saving it.
"The sacrificial dance long disappeared within Heaven and Earth; I’ve recorded it only within the Lotus Clan, not elsewhere."
Pausing, he waved his sleeve, picking up a tortoise shell from a nearby wooden bucket, glanced at it, his expression moved, "It seems to be the Taichu Mountain and River Map."
"Taichu Mountain and River Map?"
Su Muyao felt puzzled, unable to understand.
What is this thing?
Seeing Su Muyao’s confused expression, Lian Jin’s voice explained ethereally, "You must have entered the Divine Artifact Taichu Mountain and River Map."
"It is the painting made by Heavenly Dao."
"After the Taichu Giant Beasts were obliterated, Heavenly Dao merged the giant beast forests into a map with the Mountain and River Brush, in which they seem to still live."
"In this map, there might be records of things from the Taichu period, including my sacrificial dance."
Su Muyao’s heart surged with tumult.
Really? She and Mei Qingchen haven’t fallen into a Secret Realm or reached another continent.
Instead, they’ve entered a Divine Artifact, the Mountain and River Map.
She knows that every Divine Artifact is extraordinary; here, it’s like a small world.
"I’ve never heard of such a thing or any Divine Artifact."
All have been Magic Artifacts, not any Divine Artifacts.
"After the giant beast world was destroyed, the Divine Artifacts disappeared."
"Perhaps this beast world has erupted with some heavenly anomaly, causing the Mountain and River Map to surface and draw you here."
Su Muyao thought carefully and agreed.
At Ghost Ruins Canyon, it was indeed a heavenly anomaly, and it seemed a volcanic eruption occurred, then she fell into the river, and it kept expanding until reaching this forest.
Jing Chu mentioned earlier that many beastmen gathered at Ghost Ruins Canyon to seek treasure.
He said that previously, innumerable treasures suddenly emerged from its abyss.
So the Mountain and River Map emerged from Ghost Ruins Canyon’s abyss?
The events she is now experiencing have overturned her understanding once again.
She envisioned many possibilities but never thought they would be inside the map.
"Yet the giant beasts we ate felt so real."
Lian Jin softly explained, "Given it’s a world within the Mountain and River Map, it is a small world, and your experiences are genuine, but the food eaten remains ethereal."
Su Muyao thought about how the beast meat lacked any gamey taste and was so delicious.
Clearly connected to the Mountain and River Map’s unique nature.
"Master, how can we leave this place?"