Chapter 1181: Blocking the Door at the Ancestral Court (Third Update!)
The many disciples under the command of the Heavenly Venerable of Dawn all brightened at the sight. Just moments ago, the Human King of Qikang had revealed three celestial palaces, his aura surging like a rainbow—undeniably powerful. But when Qin Mu slapped him into the dirt with a single palm, it exposed the true nature of that big, burly fellow: all bark and no bite.
Among the disciples of the Ten Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Court, cultivating a single celestial palace was considered mediocre talent. Completing two or three celestial palaces was merely the threshold of entry.
Many disciples possessed three to five celestial palaces, and some had even cultivated more than ten.
For the disciples of the Ten Heavenly Venerables, obtaining Emperor-Throne-level techniques was not difficult. The Ten Heavenly Venerables had collected as many as two to three hundred such techniques.
To achieve the Heavenly Court realm, what mattered was not the quantity of Emperor-Throne techniques, but their variety. One only needed to gather thirty-six different systems of Emperor-Throne techniques, fuse them together, and unify them within a single cultivation framework—theoretically, that would allow one to reach the Heavenly Court realm.
However, finding thirty-six different systems of Emperor-Throne techniques was extremely difficult, and fusing them was even harder.
"I'll just pick an easy target."
A young deity stepped forward, smiling: "Seniors, leave this one to me. My skills are modest, so he's just right for me."
The moment the two clashed, Gao Huaitong and the other disciples of the Heavenly Venerable of Dawn all changed expressions. Just before, Qikang Human King had been slapped into the ground by Qin Mu with a single palm, which made them somewhat look down on him. But now, the combat power Qikang Human King displayed was astonishingly formidable. In his exchange with the young deity, he not only held his ground but gained a clear upper hand.
Qikang Human King followed the path of entering the Dao through martial arts. He cultivated fist techniques, using his own physical body as a volcano and his vital energy and primordial qi as the firepower—grand and sweeping in style.
Later, he was reborn through reincarnation. Qin Mu had sent the Martial Combat Heavenly Master Zhuo Cha's Martial Combat Heavenly Art to all the academies and institutes, and the Human King Hall also received a copy. Additionally, the First Ancestor Human King had opened the technique treasury of Yuming Palace, which contained various techniques and divine powers from the Kaihuang era. This allowed Qikang Human King and others to advance by leaps and bounds.
Qikang continued along his path of entering the Dao through martial arts. His natural talent had always been high—after all, the Human King Hall's inheritance was passed to only one person per generation, so each generation's Human King was almost always the most gifted individual of their time.
He was the village chief's teacher and guide, and his own aptitude was extremely high. On the path of entering the Dao through martial arts, he had gone even further than Qin Mu.
Especially the explosive power of his fist techniques—it was utterly astonishing. He beat the young deity back step by step, shaking his primordial spirit into disarray.
Gao Huaitong saw the situation turning unfavorable and made a decisive call, speaking in a low voice: "Junior brother, you have already lost. Come down!"
Suddenly, a loud crash rang out. The young deity was shaken so violently that blood sprayed from his seven orifices, and he fell to his knees with a thud.
Qikang Human King withdrew his fists and chuckled: "I win! Old man, you're next. Don't embarrass me!"
Yishan Human King spat curses and stepped forward, grumbling: "I'm your master, after all. What do you mean, embarrass you?"
He was short and stocky. Though he was Qikang's master, his path was completely different from Qikang's—he had entered the Dao through divine powers.
Yishan stepped onto the field but did not immediately challenge the disciples of the Heavenly Venerable of Dawn. Instead, he looked at Qin Mu, casting him a sidelong glance, and sneered: "Fighting these Heavenly Venerable disciples is boring. If we're going to fight, fight the strongest. Come down—"
Qin Mu apologized to Gao Huaitong: "My elder lacks discipline. Let me go teach him a lesson first. Please wait a moment."
Gao Huaitong and the others wore strange expressions: "Are they here to block the door, or to discipline their own elders?"
They heard Qin Mu roar in anger: "Old man, you're pretty cocky, aren't you? Three days without a beating, and you're tearing up the roof tiles! How about all you old-timers come at me together? I'll knock you all into line first!"
Gao Huaitong and the others exchanged bewildered glances.
Over there, Qin Mu raised and lowered his hand—one move, Great Luo Heaven Gathering Circle into Perfection—and nearly turned Yishan Human King into a flat surface with no thickness, hanging him in the sky. Only then did Yishan Human King concede, convinced.
"That short, fat man looks pretty weak..."
Everyone looked at the disheveled Yishan Human King, and the same thought arose in their minds: "Could they be putting on a double act? The short, fat man deliberately lost to Heavenly Venerable Mu in one move to make us underestimate him, and then he'll unleash his full power and catch us off guard?"
They were misunderstanding Qin Mu and the Human Kings.
Whether it was Yishan or Qikang, both had used their full strength when facing Qin Mu. It wasn't that they were feigning weakness, but Qin Mu's strength was simply too terrifying, so they still lost in a single move.
As for challenging Qin Mu before fighting the disciples of the Heavenly Venerable of Dawn, that had to do with the rules of the Human King Hall.
The rule of the Human King Hall was that disciples did not learn their master's techniques. They had to forge their own path, different from their master's, and disciples had to be stronger than their masters. Therefore, masters tricking disciples and disciples beating up masters were common occurrences.
The Human King Hall had also developed a peculiar tradition: affection skipped a generation. Masters and disciples would start fighting the moment they met, but they were very close to their grandmasters and ancestral masters.
By Qin Mu's generation, the rules had changed again. Qin Mu fought his way from Qikang all the way to the First Ancestor Human King. Naturally, the Human Kings refused to accept this, and whenever they got the chance, they wanted to teach this fellow a lesson—but every time, they ended up being the ones taught a lesson.
Each Human King who stepped up to challenge had wins and losses. The winners celebrated, and the losers were mocked mercilessly by the other Human Kings. However, before every challenge, each of them had to first call out Qin Mu, get beaten up by him, and only then would they happily go challenge the disciples of the Heavenly Venerable of Dawn.
The disciples of the Heavenly Venerable of Dawn looked at each other in confusion, unsure whether these people had come to block the door or to get beaten up by Qin Mu.
But the disciples of the Heavenly Venerable of Dawn could also see the strength and peculiarity of these Human Kings. The Human Kings had not cultivated many celestial palaces—by all rights, they should be inferior.
Yet whether in the depth of their primordial qi or the subtlety of their divine powers, these Human Kings were not inferior to them—in fact, they were even stronger!
This was the benefit brought by the Yankang reforms. Every generation of Human Kings had cultivated the Heavenly River Divine Treasury, and combined with the influence of the reforms, at the same realm, their combat power was no weaker than that of these Heavenly Venerable disciples!
Finally, it was the First Ancestor Human King's turn.
The First Ancestor Human King stepped forward, looked at the disciples of the Heavenly Venerable of Dawn, then looked at Qin Mu. He opened his mouth but said nothing.
Qin Mu understood and apologized to Gao Huaitong: "This is the First Ancestor of the Human King Hall, and also the hundred-generation ancestor of the Qin family. Although I've been removed from the family register, he is still my elder, so I must give him a beating." With that, he stood up again.
Gao Huaitong felt quite displeased. Ever since Qin Mu had arrived to issue challenges, his presence had been constantly suppressed by Qin Mu's. Qin Mu always held the initiative.
If one had never interacted with Qin Mu, one would never know how overwhelming his presence was!
He had previously been sent away by the Heavenly Venerable of Dawn to serve as a feudal lord in the outer regions. Though he had heard of Qin Mu's reputation, they had never crossed paths.
Like the other disciples of the Heavenly Venerables, he had initially thought Qin Mu was just a lucky young man who had stumbled into the title of Heavenly Venerable by chance. But after making contact, he realized Qin Mu was no fraud.
"Heavenly Venerable, wait."
Gao Huaitong stood up and smiled: "Since this is a betting match, let me take this fight. The contest between your fellow sect members can wait until after this battle."
He was determined to overpower Qin Mu's presence, and his method was simple: decisively defeat the First Ancestor Human King!
As long as the First Ancestor fell to his hands, then even if the First Ancestor later challenged Qin Mu and lost to him, it would not overshadow his own brilliance!
Anyone who could cultivate to the Emperor-Throne realm was no fraud—he could see that clearly!
The First Ancestor Human King watched Gao Huaitong approach, slightly bowing his body, then straightened himself to his full height—steady as a mountain, immovable and unshakable. He stood there like the center of the vast world, with all the heavens and myriad realms revolving around him!
Gao Huaitong's heart skipped a beat. The First Ancestor Human King was not truly motionless—what was motionless was his Dao heart!
"Is this a figure from Yankang? Among all the Dao hearts I've seen, this man's is the strongest! When I return to the Heavenly Court, the Heavenly Venerable of Dawn mentioned the Kaihuang Dao-realm cultivation system with great admiration. This First Ancestor, Qin Wu, must be walking the path of the Dao-realm system!"