Chapter 995: The Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace
The goddesses who were tending to the body of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor were at a loss, having never seen the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor in such a state of panic and composure lost.
The Ancient God Heavenly Emperor now seemed to have completely lost control of his physical body. The muscles of his face contorted, twisting in different directions. His face could be divided into eight parts, each part like an independent visage, each with its own expression.
The muscles of his body also seemed to have lost control. His ten fingers twisted, great sinews writhed chaotically, and strands of muscle beneath the skin writhed like countless great dragons coiling and fighting.
The scene was so horrifying that those goddesses were frozen in fear.
Qin Mu stood up and said, "You may withdraw."
The goddesses all retreated, leaving the Hall of Nourishing Glory.
Qin Mu bowed and said, "Your Majesty seems unwell. Your servant shall take his leave."
He was about to leave when suddenly waves of fluctuations came. The eight Heavenly Venerables all ceased their fighting, leaving the Heavenly Emperor's body almost simultaneously, each withdrawing their own magical power and divine consciousness, no longer entangled with the other seven Heavenly Venerables!
Each of them was wary, attacking the others while inside the Heavenly Emperor's body, while also having to defend against attacks from the other seven Heavenly Venerables. Everyone felt mentally exhausted, and some might even be forced by the others working together to expose their true techniques.
Rather than that, it was better to simply retreat.
After all, being within the Heavenly Emperor's physical body was extremely dangerous for each of them. The Great Emperor was hidden among them—that matter could be investigated slowly—but exposing one's greatest asset would be losing more than gaining.
The Heavenly Emperor's physical body emptied in an instant.
Without their control, the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor slowly closed his eyes. The halo behind his head still rotated slowly, not as violently as before. His chest rose and fell; he was still breathing.
His breath returned to calm, and the blood in his body still flowed, like a vast heavenly river surging through his blood vessels.
Within his heart was hidden the most surging power, like the energy source of an entire galaxy, extremely terrifying!
Although this was merely a Heavenly Emperor's physical body crafted with numerology and creation arts, not the true body of the Heavenly Emperor, it still possessed boundless power.
Qin Mu was stunned. In this Hall of Nourishing Glory, only he and the Heavenly Emperor's physical body remained!
He looked at the Heavenly Emperor's body, his gaze flickering. Although it was a replica of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor, this body could still be said to be the crystallization of the Heavenly Court's wisdom, a supreme divine artifact second only to the Divine Artifact Imperial Heavenly Venerable!
But the key was not the power of this divine artifact Heavenly Emperor, but rather the authority and status it represented!
"The Ten Heavenly Venerables can play with it. As the Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, whose status is even higher than theirs, why can't I play with it..."
Qin Mu, as if possessed, walked toward the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's physical body, murmuring to himself: "Many secrets are hidden in the Heavenly Court. Shujun said this is also the birthplace of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor, and there's the remnant soul of Imperial Heavenly Venerable, and the creation divine artifacts of the Zaofu Palace. I can't get close to any of these places. But if I take up residence in the Heavenly Emperor's physical body..."
He suppressed the agitation in his heart and continued walking, soon arriving at the brow of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor.
Although this Heavenly Emperor's physical body was a replica, looking at its bodily structure, one could not see any trace of numerology.
The Heavenly Court Daoist Sect had not studied the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's body and runes for just a day or two, but for hundreds of thousands of years. Their research on this Ancient God could be said to have reached the extreme.
Although Qin Mu had obtained the Great Dao runes of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor, he had still not fully studied this Heavenly Emperor's Great Dao. Rather, he had benefited greatly from the Heavenly Lord's Great Dao runes. This showed the precision and difficulty of the Heavenly Emperor's Great Dao runes.
His divine consciousness surged out, flowing into the Heavenly Emperor's brow.
He immediately "saw" a haze of purple light within the Heavenly Emperor's mind. In the purple light, the Heavenly Emperor's brain seemed to be composed of countless meticulous runes, as if countless Great Daos were linked together.
His divine consciousness entered the Heavenly Emperor's Great Dao, like entering an extremely precise machine. Which part of the brain controlled the eyes, which part controlled the mouth, which part controlled the fingers—all required him to figure out.
Even with Qin Mu's currently extremely powerful divine consciousness, fully controlling this body was somewhat taxing.
The Heavenly Emperor's physical body was too massive. Each part of the brain represented different Daos, controlling different parts of the body, and mobilizing these parts required him to precisely control the Heavenly Emperor's brain. For him, it was difficult to fully master this body in a short time.
Moreover, controlling the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's physical body required continuous consumption of divine consciousness, and this rate of consumption also made things very difficult for him.
"Perhaps I can use the method of 'borrowed life' to mobilize the body's own power..."
Qin Mu thought and acted. He had obtained the wisdom of the Creator race and was very familiar with the Creator-exclusive technique of "borrowed life." The Great Emperor had once said that he could borrow life in whoever's body he wished, transforming into anyone.
Although Qin Mu's skill was not as good as the Great Emperor's, he could still perform the borrowed life technique.
After a while, he felt his divine consciousness perfectly merge with the Heavenly Emperor's physical body, as if he had become the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor. His control over the body reached an extremely acute level, as if he were controlling his own body.
Not only that, he could also precisely locate all the power sources within the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's body.
Although it was a replica, the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's body contained nearly two thousand power sources of various sizes. Mobilizing these powers would cause minimal drain on Qin Mu himself.
And mobilizing these power sources of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor made him feel unprecedentedly powerful!
"The borrowed life method of the Creator race is truly formidable. I can now mobilize all the power in this body! I wonder how strong the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's power is?"
Qin Mu was overjoyed. The Ancient God Heavenly Emperor suddenly rose, raised a hand and drew a line across his brow. His brow split open, and Qin Mu flew up, landing within the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's brow. Then the brow closed, and the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor walked out of the Hall of Nourishing Glory.
Outside the Hall of Nourishing Glory, a group of palace maids all knelt in worship, not daring to raise their heads.
Qin Mu waved a hand and said calmly, "Rise."
Those palace maids all acknowledged, but only rose after he had walked far away.
Qin Mu drove the Heavenly Emperor's physical body around, but this was the inner city, and he was unfamiliar with the area. He could only wander about randomly. Fortunately, he was now the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor, so even if he wandered about randomly, no one dared to question him. Instead, wherever he passed, whether female officials in the palace, eunuchs, or divine generals guarding the Jade Capital Imperial City, all knelt in worship.
"Shujun sensed the birthplace of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor in the harem, so that place should be in the harem."
Qin Mu walked toward the harem with great interest, lewd thoughts rising in his mind: "I've heard that the Heavenly Emperor's harem has countless beauties, with stunning women from all races. If I enter the harem, what if those consorts and concubines beg to serve me in bed?"
He blinked his eyes, feeling somewhat troubled.
"Your son pays respects to Your Majesty!"
Suddenly, a tall and sturdy young divine being knelt in worship before Qin Mu, raising his head joyfully and saying, "Your Majesty has always kept to himself. Your son has not seen Your Majesty for many days."
Qin Mu's heart tightened. He did not recognize this young prince and did not know his name. He could only raise his hand and say, "Rise. I have been very busy these days and have neglected you."
That young divine being was extremely delighted in his heart, quickly rising, tears glistening in his eyes which he forcibly held back, saying, "Your Majesty has not paid attention to your son for over forty thousand years. Although your son is the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace, the number of times he has seen Your Majesty is fewer than even the palace maids. He cannot fulfill his filial duties before Your Majesty."
Qin Mu's heart skipped a beat: "Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace? Could this be the Eastern Palace Crown Prince who, at the end of the Shanghuang Era, captured Red Emperor Qi Xiayu and forced him to surrender? Damn! This Crown Prince is a great expert at the Imperial Throne realm!"
Back then, Qi Xiayu, as an expert of the Southern Shanghuang Heavenly Court, killed the previous Red Emperor, proudly erected a stele to commemorate the event, and was then captured by this Eastern Palace Crown Prince, forced to surrender to the Heavenly Court.
This Eastern Palace Crown Prince was also an extremely formidable figure. After capturing Qi Xiayu, he also erected a stele to commemorate it. Qin Mu saw these two stone steles when breaking the seal in the Yuan Realm and was deeply impressed.
"I wonder if this Eastern Palace Crown Prince can see through me..."
He felt uneasy. Historically, the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor had established many Crown Princes, but none of them had come to a good end. This Eastern Palace Crown Prince was likely a prince born from the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's true body, possessing extremely high bloodline, which was why his strength was so formidable.
If he saw through him, could this Heavenly Emperor's physical body defeat him?
And more critically, he had no idea what this Eastern Palace Crown Prince's name was!
"If only Qi Xiayu or that little vixen Yun Chuxiu were here... No, no, the little vixen is Yuanmu Furen. If she learned I had taken over the Heavenly Emperor's physical body, she wouldn't kill me but she'd skin me alive!"
Qin Mu looked down at this Eastern Palace Crown Prince and said warmly, "These days have been hard on you. Although I rarely see you, I know your techniques and divine powers have advanced rapidly. But the imperial family rarely has father-son affection. The stronger you become, the harder it is for me to feel at ease, so I try not to see you. Your elder brothers all rebelled against me after achieving success back then, to the point where father and sons ended up on different paths between the living and the dead. This is the reason I have been cold to you. I don't want you to end up with the same fate as your brothers."
The Eastern Palace Crown Prince hastily knelt again, choking with emotion: "Your Majesty, your son's loyalty to Your Majesty is witnessed by heaven and earth! Your son would never dare harbor any disloyal thoughts! In recent years, your son has seen the Ten Heavenly Venerables growing stronger day by day, seizing control of the Heavenly Court's government, and usurping Your Majesty's authority. Your son worries for Your Majesty's safety!"
Qin Mu's expression shifted slightly, and he said coldly, "How dare you! You dare to criticize the Ten Heavenly Venerables? Do you know what the crime of treason means?"
The Eastern Palace Crown Prince pressed himself deeply to the ground, not daring to rise, choking: "Which of the Ancient Gods in court now does not cower before the Ten Heavenly Venerables, fearing that if they slightly displease them, they will meet a tragic end? Your son worries that if this continues, Your Majesty will have no one to rely on!"
Qin Mu looked at him coldly. After a moment, he said, "Rise. Do you think I don't know what you speak of? I know your loyalty, and I have my own means to deal with it."
The Eastern Palace Crown Prince rose and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.
Qin Mu was filled with emotion, sighing deeply, and said, "Good child, truly a good child. You are not like Hao..."
He seemed unwilling to mention Hao Heavenly Venerable and changed the subject, saying, "In this Heavenly Court, my birthplace is hidden. Do you know where this sacred place is?"
The Eastern Palace Crown Prince felt a chill in his heart, bowed, and said, "Although your son has never dared to inquire about that sacred place, he has heard palace staff mention that forbidden zone. But your son has never entered it!"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Today I... your father will take you in to see this ancestral land. Come, lead the way."
The Eastern Palace Crown Prince heard the change in his self-designation and was overjoyed, leading the way ahead.
Qin Mu followed him, secretly worrying: "What exactly is this Eastern Palace Crown Prince's name? Without knowing his name, I'm afraid I'll be exposed sooner or later... Also, which consort is his mother? It can't be Empress Dihou, can it?"