Chapter 1084: A Fleeting Acquaintance (Second Update!)
With the help of the Lưu Ly Thanh Thiên Tràng, Long Kỳ Lân and Yên Nhi led the six heavenly dragons quickly out of Huyền Vũ Thiên Cung. Looking back, the mist within Huyền Vũ Thiên Cung had still not dispersed.
Long Kỳ Lân and Yên Nhi hugged the Lưu Ly Thanh Thiên Tràng, jumping and kissing it, overjoyed and triumphant. The six heavenly dragons also danced and sang around this number one treasure of the world, exceptionally joyful.
Suddenly, Long Kỳ Lân stopped and said, "It seems like someone is missing... Damn it, the giáo chủ is still in Huyền Vũ Thiên Cung!"
Everyone looked at each other in dismay.
The six heavenly dragons coughed repeatedly, looking around nervously, and whistling.
Yên Nhi stomped her foot and said, "We were so focused on beating up Âm Thiên Tử and stealing things that we forgot the young master in Huyền Vũ Thiên Cung. Now the young master's injuries haven't healed, and he can't use his divine consciousness. What are we going to do?"
Long Kỳ Lân's expression also shifted uncertainly as he paced back and forth, saying, "The reason we stole the Lưu Ly Thanh Thiên Tràng was because the giáo chủ was severely injured, and we wanted to use this treasure's miraculous power to protect us. Now that we've stolen the treasure, we've lost the giáo chủ..."
The young heavenly dragon interrupted the whistling and whispered, "Stop whistling! I'm about to piss myself from fear..."
The whistling stopped.
Everyone froze on the Heavenly River. Beneath the river surface, a large pitch-black fish leisurely swam past beneath their feet, letting out strange croaking sounds.
"The giáo chủ will definitely be fine."
Long Kỳ Lân looked toward Huyền Vũ Thiên Cung and saw many Huyền Vũ clansmen chasing out of the palace, charging toward them. He made a decisive decision: "The giáo chủ has always been resourceful. He's the one who takes care of us; we rarely take care of him. Let's go first—he'll definitely turn misfortune into fortune on his own!"
Yên Nhi and the six heavenly dragons nodded repeatedly.
Everyone fled in haste.
"You left the Long Huyết Bảo Thụ for the giáo chủ, right?"
"Mm."
"Is there a lantern on the tree?"
"Mm."
"That's good. At the very least, the giáo chủ can extinguish the lantern and return to the ghost ship."
...
Meanwhile, in the guest room in Ngọc Kinh Thành, Tần Mục heard the commotion outside and was somewhat puzzled: "What's happening? Could it be Long Phi and Yên Nhi stealing the Lưu Ly Thanh Thiên Tràng?"
After another moment, Tần Mục wondered, "Why haven't Yên Nhi and Long Phi come back yet?"
After a long while, Tần Mục was finally certain: "These guys stole the Lưu Ly Thanh Thiên Tràng and then abandoned me and ran off! Two ungrateful wolves!"
He couldn't fight anyone right now. If he ran out and was discovered, he'd definitely be captured as a thief. He could only endure.
U Minh Thái Tử finally woke from his hangover. Upon learning that the Lưu Ly Thanh Thiên Tràng had been stolen, he was stunned, exclaiming, "Who stole it?"
When he heard it was Long Sơn Tán Nhân and the princess of the Nam Đế family, he was even more dumbfounded, unable to speak for a long time.
He was silent for a moment before coming to his senses and instructing, "Tell the clansmen to stop chasing. Have them return to the palace. Although the Lưu Ly Thanh Thiên Tràng is precious, the lives of our clansmen are more important. We must immediately return to Bắc Cực Thiên—no more delays!"
The Huyền Vũ clansmen returned to the palace. U Minh Thái Tử steadied his mind and wholeheartedly drove the palace along the Heavenly River toward Bắc Cực Thiên. But whenever he thought of the Lưu Ly Thanh Thiên Tràng—a rare treasure forged with the life's savings of his parents—his heart ached as if twisted.
"That damned couple!" U Minh Thái Tử cursed, burning with resentment.
Tần Mục carefully adjusted the lantern light, staying where he was, continuing to circulate the Bá Thể Tam Đan Công to restore his divine consciousness, using the Thái Sơ Nguyên Thạch to recover to his peak state as quickly as possible.
During this time, several Đằng Xà Thần Nữ came to clean the room. Tần Mục had no choice but to use his divine consciousness to cloud their perceptions, barely managing to fool them.
However, every night, light automatically emanated from the guest room, which drew the attention of more Huyền Vũ clansmen.
But when they went inside to check, they couldn't see anything, nor could they tell where the light came from. This inevitably stirred unease among the people.
Gradually, rumors that the guest room was haunted spread among the clansmen.
More than ten days later, Tần Mục finally felt his divine consciousness stabilize, and the Hồng Minh Nguyên Dịch in his body had been consumed by seven or eight parts.
He examined his physical body internally and saw that this reborn body had muscles like jade, rich red blood, and flourishing vitality. With the slightest movement, rosy light steamed from all parts of his body. Nearly two thousand ancient god phantoms emerged from various parts of his body, with dao sounds swirling around.
"Senior Brother truly has extraordinary insight. Using so much Hồng Minh Nguyên Dịch to reshape my body has greatly improved it!"
He was overjoyed: "As expected of Senior Brother—an old hand with far more experience than me. In my daily cultivation, I only dare to use a single drop of Hồng Minh Nguyên Dịch. I wouldn't dare use a full vat of the raw liquid to recast my body like he did!"
Tần Mục then examined his Linh Thai Thần Tàng. The sun, moon, and stars that had been recast were also brighter. The sky hung like a mirror, with brilliant stars. U Đô was dark and deep, its depths unfathomable.
Each heavenly palace shone brightly as if new. Each palace carried a profound dao resonance. The various dao sounds merged together like a grand symphony of the Great Dao, containing countless mysteries.
"Senior Brother truly has seen much and knows much!"
Tần Mục praised again. After this narrow escape from death, his Linh Thai Thần Tàng had actually become much larger than before. The divine treasury had expanded outward once more. His primordial energy was vigorous like blazing fire sweeping across the wilderness, like surging waters flooding heaven and earth—vast and surging.
His divine consciousness hadn't improved much, only becoming more tenacious than before.
Tần Mục let out a breath, stood up, withdrew his divine consciousness that had been lodged in the Long Huyết Bảo Thụ, then walked to the window and opened it to look outside.
Outside was daytime.
His divine consciousness rippled as he withdrew the Long Huyết Bảo Thụ and the lantern into his brow, hiding them in the Tần Tự Đại Lục. He opened the door and walked out, thinking to himself: "After the Heavenly Emperor's death, the Celestial Venerables will fight over his body. I still need to go take a look, to see Vân Thiên Tôn..."
He quietly left Huyền Vũ Thiên Cung and arrived at the Heavenly River. Suddenly, he saw that beneath Huyền Vũ Thiên Cung, the water was rushing swiftly. A dragon-headed black turtle was carrying Huyền Vũ Thiên Cung on its back, traveling along the Heavenly River.
Tần Mục laughed heartily and called out, "U Minh Thái Tử, do you recognize Mục Thanh?"
That black turtle was indeed U Minh Thái Tử. Feeling he had lost the treasure, he had punished himself by carrying Huyền Vũ Thiên Cung on his back to Bắc Cực Thiên. Hearing this, he quickly slowed his pace and exclaimed, "Mục Thanh? Could it be Mục Thiên Tôn?"
Tần Mục smiled and nodded, saying, "Indeed. I was being hunted by enemies, so I temporarily borrowed your esteemed residence to hide from them and recover from my injuries. I didn't inform the master of this place. Please forgive me."
U Minh Thái Tử quickly said, "Thiên Tôn need not blame himself. In fact, I should call you Master! If it weren't for you passing down the method of becoming a god, how could I have achieved what I have today? Thiên Tôn, allow me to transform back, and let's go into the palace. I'll have people entertain you warmly!"
Tần Mục saw his warm-hearted nature and shook his head, saying, "My enemy is formidable, so I cannot show my face in your Huyền Vũ Thiên Cung, lest I bring trouble upon you."
U Minh Thái Tử probed, "May I ask who the Thiên Tôn's enemy is?"
"Thái Đế!"
Tần Mục's expression turned somewhat grave as he said in a low voice, "You may not have heard of him, but if you encounter Bắc Đế in the future, they will tell you of Thái Đế's origins."
U Minh Thái Tử hesitated for a moment, then said, "Thiên Tôn, I lost my family's treasure. I'd like to ask the Thiên Tôn to stay for a few days and plead for me before my parents, so they won't punish me..."
Tần Mục smiled ambiguously and said, "Thái Tử, if I stay, I'll be harming you, and also harming the Bắc Đế couple. As for you losing the treasure and facing punishment, when we meet again in the future, I will plead for you."
U Minh Thái Tử didn't dare insist. He escorted him out of Huyền Vũ Thiên Cung, waving and watching him go far into the distance, calling out loudly, "Thiên Tôn, don't forget—you must plead for me!"