Chapter 1362: First Arrogant, Then Humble (Third Update)
At the Ten-Thousand-Mile Great Black Mountain in the ancestral court, on the altar, Qin Mu's divine consciousness returned to his body. He opened his eyes, his expression somewhat grave.
Grandmother Si, Wei Suifeng, and the others saw him return safely and all breathed sighs of relief.
*Smack.*
Grandmother Si slapped him hard on the buttocks.
Qin Mu rubbed his rear, somewhat puzzled, but didn't take it to heart, thinking to himself: "Long Xiao is powerful and also stubborn and self-opinionated. He definitely won't let Shujun, Lan Yutian, and the others go. It seems I need to personally go to the back of the ancestral court to rescue them."
He let out a turbid breath. Although Long Xiao was absurdly strong, he still hadn't reached the level of the Ten Heavenly Venerables. Compared to them, he was still far inferior.
Moreover, the back of the ancestral court was so rich in resources—the Ten Heavenly Venerables would definitely covet it.
Wei Suifeng, Dragon Qilin, Prince Youming, and the others felt a surge of satisfaction seeing Qin Mu get slapped on the butt, but then their hearts tightened with worry for the safety of the First Ancestor, Xu Shenghua, Lan Yutian, and the others.
"Rest assured, they're all still alive. Long Xiao has trapped them but hasn't killed them—he just wants to subdue them as his mounts. But there's a huge turning point in this matter, because that fellow Shujun brought the Grand Emperor's head into the back of the ancestral court!"
Qin Mu waved his hand, and the nine-tiered altar collapsed, transforming into a stream of divine consciousness that returned to his mind. He said in a deep voice, "Long Xiao can deal with Shujun and the others, but can he deal with the Grand Emperor? Shujun brought the Grand Emperor's head into the back of the ancestral court. The Grand Emperor must have discovered the richness of that place, as well as the immense power of the ancient colossal beasts."
"The Grand Emperor's head?" The crowd felt a chill in their hearts, none of them knowing when the Grand Emperor's head had fallen into Shujun's hands.
Wei Suifeng frowned and said, "Didn't the Grand Emperor's head fall into Heavenly Venerable Hao's hands? Heavenly Venerable Hao has already refined it into a treasure to intimidate the Primordial Realm!"
"It's another one of the Grand Emperor's heads—the one I subdued and suppressed."
Qin Mu said, "The head in Heavenly Venerable Hao's possession is the strongest. The one I suppressed is a physical body the Grand Emperor visualized. Although its power isn't great, it won't be easy for Long Xiao to see through it."
He looked into the distance, toward the direction of the ancestral court's Execution Platform, which was occupied by Heavenly Venerable Qiang.
Qiang Tianfei was one of the Grand Emperor's identities. Although little remained of the Grand Emperor's true body—one hand in the Earth Mother's possession, one head in Heavenly Venerable Hao's hands—Qiang Tianfei still existed and possessed boundless power.
As one of the Ten Heavenly Venerables, Qiang Tianfei would definitely not sit idly by!
"Qiang Tianfei won't actively break the seal of the ancestral court to reveal its back side, because then she wouldn't be able to monopolize the resources there. She must swallow it all herself, and the simplest way to monopolize the back of the ancestral court is to subdue Long Xiao!"
Qin Mu narrowed his eyes. Qiang Tianfei should already be at the ancestral court!
"She has two ways to enter the back of the ancestral court. One is to come find me. The other is to find the Earth Mother Yuanjun! The Earth Mother is proficient in summoning divine arts. She could derive a reverse summoning art from summoning arts, thereby teleporting to the back of the ancestral court without breaking the seal."
Qin Mu muttered to himself, then said, "That's a bit difficult, after all, the Earth Mother isn't as clever as I am."
"So, coming to find me is the simplest path!"
Just then, a woman's voice came from outside the Ten-Thousand-Mile Black Mountain: "Heavenly Venerable Mu, Lady Tianfei has come to pay you a visit!"
"Speak of the Grand Emperor, and the Grand Emperor arrives!"
Qin Mu laughed heartily and said in a clear voice, "The Lady has come from afar, bringing glory to my sacred mountain! Everyone, come with me to welcome the Lady's carriage!"
Wei Suifeng, Prince Youming, and the others exchanged glances, then followed Qin Mu as they walked out.
Facing the Grand Emperor, they couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Qin Mu's sleeves fluttered as he strode forward with ease, personally leading the crowd to welcome her with great ceremony. They saw Qiang Tianfei's carriage approaching, pulled not by phoenixes but by majestic ancient beasts of the ancestral court, moving at tremendous speed.
The carriage stopped. A palace maid lifted the beaded curtain, and Qiang Tianfei bowed her head as she stepped out of the carriage, then slowly raised her head. Her features were stunning, with a seductive charm that could captivate all beings. She saw Qin Mu leading the crowd standing at attention on both sides, extremely respectful.
Her beautiful eyes swept over them, and she couldn't help but laugh, saying, "Why is Heavenly Venerable Mu first arrogant, then humble?"
Qin Mu raised his head and smiled, saying, "It's not that I'm first arrogant then humble, but rather that the Lady is His Majesty's beloved consort, and although I am honored as a Heavenly Venerable, I am still His Majesty's subject. So I cannot be anything but respectful."
Qiang Tianfei smiled and said, "That's not what you said when you were being domineering before."
Qin Mu extended his hand in invitation, but Qiang Tianfei was unwilling to enter the Ten-Thousand-Mile Black Mountain. She shook her head and said, "This place of yours is quite eerie. I don't wish to go inside. Let's just talk out here."
Qin Mu's heart stirred. Previously, Qiang Tianfei had mobilized all her void beasts to attack the Ten-Thousand-Mile Black Mountain, only to be routed by Qin Mu, with most of the void beasts killed or wounded—a heavy loss.
But Qiang Tianfei probably wasn't refusing to enter the Great Black Mountain because of that incident. After all, she was the Grand Emperor; the void beasts were merely her tools.
"During the ancient era, the Grand Emperor must have also discovered the eeriness of this place, which is why he doesn't dare enter." He thought to himself.
Qiang Tianfei got straight to the point, saying, "I want to enter the back of the ancestral court. Will the Heavenly Venerable grant me this?"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "Since the Lady has spoken, how could I dare refuse? But the benefits in the back of the ancestral court are so great that I worry the Lady might not be able to swallow them all in one bite."
"That's not for you to worry about."
Qiang Tianfei said calmly, "To be honest with you, Langxuan Divine Emperor has already arrived at the ancestral court and captured that fool Earth Mother Yuanjun. His goal is to use the Earth Mother's divine arts to reverse-engineer your reverse summoning art. With his intellect, deducing it won't be too difficult. His goal is also Long Xiao, and as the son of my husband Gong Rui and Taichu, his divine consciousness attainment is extremely high. If he subdues Long Xiao, you'll be in danger."
Qin Mu was startled.
Langxuan Divine Emperor had arrived at the ancestral court and already captured the Earth Mother Yuanjun?
This was a major event!
He didn't agree with Qiang Tianfei's claim that Langxuan Divine Emperor could subdue Long Xiao. Langxuan's divine consciousness definitely couldn't compare to Long Xiao's, so subduing him wouldn't be easy. But Langxuan Divine Emperor's strength was indeed unfathomable!
If he deduced the reverse summoning art and entered the back of the ancestral court, that would be a troublesome matter.
He might not be able to subdue Long Xiao directly with divine consciousness, but he could severely wound him first and then subdue him!
Langxuan's relationship with Qin Mu was extremely poor—after all, Qin Mu had invaded Langxuan's divine palace multiple times in the past and killed countless of his disciples.
If Langxuan subdued Long Xiao and obtained the greatest power under heaven, there would definitely be no good outcome for Qin Mu!
"If I obtain Long Xiao, your little friends can also survive."
Qiang Tianfei smiled bewitchingly, her demeanor captivating, and said, "What does Heavenly Venerable Mu think?"
Qin Mu pondered for a moment, then raised his head and said, "Fine! The Lady will allow me to prepare for a moment."
Qiang Tianfei said calmly, "Are you planning to notify Heavenly Venerable Gong to have her restrain me?"
The corner of Qin Mu's eye twitched. He had indeed had that thought—to drive the tiger to swallow the wolf and drag Heavenly Venerable Gong into the mess as well.
Qiang Tianfei smiled lightly and said, "If you don't want to die, you'd best abandon that notion."
Qin Mu took out a lantern and handed it to Grandmother Si, laughing heartily, "I did indeed plan to notify Heavenly Venerable Gong, after all, she is the Lady's natural enemy. Unfortunately, the Lady saw through me. Oh well. Then, Lady, shall we set off now?"
Qiang Tianfei giggled and said, "The Heavenly Venerable is truly an interesting person—his face changes so quickly. Let's set off now!"
Qin Mu immediately activated the reverse summoning art. The two stood on the altar. Qin Mu glanced at Dragon Qilin, then the divine art erupted, and the two vanished.
The crowd frowned deeply, at a loss for what to do.
Suddenly, Grandmother Si said, "I'll go to the Heavenly Court to fetch Heavenly Venerable Gong. Dragon Fatty, you immediately prepare a reverse summoning altar. When I return with Heavenly Venerable Gong, send us to the back of the ancestral court!"