Chapter 1383: The Scapegoat Heavenly Venerable (Second Update)
Qin Mu's face immediately darkened. Clearly, Madam Yuanmu had spread the news while simultaneously pinning the blame on him.
Of course, the idea had indeed been his, so being blamed wasn't entirely unjust.
However, Qin Mu had originally wanted Madam Yuanmu to take the blame, precisely to avoid offending Palace Heavenly Venerable, Qiang Heavenly Consort, and Langxuan Divine Emperor as much as possible.
Unexpectedly, Madam Yuanmu was quite clever and directly pinned it on him, which led Palace Heavenly Venerable to come and demand an explanation.
Qin Mu laughed heartily, his eyes darting around, while Palace Heavenly Venerable stared at his darting eyes with a cold sneer.
"This idea was mine."
Qin Mu stopped laughing and said seriously, "Daoist friend, if we didn't establish the Beast Realm, do you think you could compete with Qiang Heavenly Consort? She is the Grand Emperor—how powerful is her divine consciousness? In the end, the ancient colossal beasts would be controlled by the Grand Emperor, and she would be like a tiger with wings. It's better to simply open up the Beast Realm, where everyone can use their own abilities and all can utilize the ancient colossal beasts. What do you think?"
Palace Heavenly Venerable said indifferently, "If the Grand Emperor could control all the ancient colossal beasts, then she wouldn't have been overthrown by the ancient gods. Her divine consciousness isn't that strong. When she controlled the Void Beasts, she could only control the Void Mother Beast. As for the ancient colossal beasts, she could only control a batch of them. Establishing the Beast Realm still cuts into my interests."
Qin Mu was at a loss for words and stammered, "Since things have come to this, I'm afraid the other Heavenly Venerables will all agree to establish the Beast Realm. I have no choice either."
Palace Heavenly Venerable suddenly turned from anger to laughter and said, "I heard that over at Hong Heavenly Venerable's place, there's an IOU from Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, owing Hong Heavenly Venerable a favor. So I'll be bold and ask Shepherd Heavenly Venerable to give me an IOU as well."
Qin Mu's expression changed slightly. He hesitated for a moment, then said, "I'll write it." So he wrote an IOU.
Palace Heavenly Venerable accepted the IOU, stood up, and said, "Your legs are inconvenient, no need to see me off."
Qin Mu could only sit there, watching helplessly as she left.
No sooner had Palace Heavenly Venerable left than another palace maid came rushing in, panicked: "Great Heavenly Venerable, something terrible has happened! Qiang Heavenly Consort has come to visit!"
Qin Mu's face changed drastically, and he said angrily, "The other Heavenly Venerables don't come to visit, but the aggrieved party comes looking for me! I won't see her!"
"I'm already here!"
Qiang Heavenly Consort's furious voice came from outside, and then she barged straight in.
Qin Mu had no choice but to wave his hand to dismiss the palace maid and invite Qiang Heavenly Consort to take a seat, saying, "I had a qi deviation while practicing, and both my legs are crippled..."
"Did Palace Heavenly Venerable cripple them?"
Qiang Heavenly Consort was overjoyed and praised, "As expected of my woman, she acts swiftly and decisively, beating you crippled before I could. Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, I heard you proposed establishing the Beast Realm? You're quite bold!"
Qin Mu said seriously, "No. It was Madam Yuanmu who proposed establishing the Beast Realm. It has nothing to do with me!"
Qiang Heavenly Consort sneered, "We're this close. I only need to move my divine consciousness slightly to know what color your underwear is. Do you think you can hide this from me?"
"Consort, you don't know, I never wear that."
Qin Mu said helplessly, "Daoist brother, your edge is too sharp right now. The moment the Grand Emperor revived, she crippled Hao Heavenly Venerable, severely wounded Fire Heavenly Venerable and Void Heavenly Venerable, and also crippled Qin Heavenly Venerable and Langwan Divine King. In the battle at the Ancestral Court, she heavily injured the four great Heavenly Venerables—Dawn, Beauty, Ancestor, and Lang. Your limelight is too strong. Can the Ten Heavenly Venerables still tolerate you? If you also obtain the ancient colossal beasts, your death sentence will truly be sealed. This time, opening the Beast Realm is not necessarily a bad thing for you."
Qiang Heavenly Consort stared at him.
Qin Mu remained expressionless: "I'm thinking of you, Daoist brother. Think about it—if there were no Beast Realm, Palace Heavenly Venerable and Langxuan Divine Emperor, mother and son, would gain the greatest benefit. If they eliminated you, they would surely monopolize all the colossal beasts. Why would you make a wedding dress for others?"
Qiang Heavenly Consort burst into laughter, charming and alluring, and said, "I also understand this reasoning, but being outmaneuvered by you leaves me quite unwilling. My physical body was almost completely ruined because of you, yet you want to stay out of it. I feel displeased."
Qin Mu probed, "The Heavenly Emperor's physical body is still under Daoist brother's control. When I rescue Ling Heavenly Venerable another day, Daoist brother will possess this body, and your abilities will surpass even your former self."
"Don't you dare think about getting Ling Heavenly Venerable out!"
Qiang Heavenly Consort sneered, "I'd rather keep the Heavenly Emperor Taichu's physical body and my primordial spirit forever in the Heavenly River! Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, you ruined my good fortune. You must come up with real gold and silver, not fob me off with these empty, flashy things!"
Qin Mu thought for a moment, then said with utmost sincerity, "I extracted the essence blood of Hao Heavenly Venerable from his heart. Each drop of essence blood contains the imprint of a Heavenly Palace..."
Qiang Heavenly Consort turned from anger to joy and laughed, "Hao Heavenly Venerable's heart was given to you by me, but I didn't expect you could refine such good stuff from it. Give me a share, and this matter will be lightly settled!"
Qin Mu looked pained: "I used Hao Heavenly Venerable's Heavenly Palace to exchange for fifty percent of the Taishi Divine Stones from Beauty Heavenly Consort..."
"That spendthrift Empress Dowager actually promised you that many Taishi Origin Stones?"
Qiang Heavenly Consort was surprised, then sneered, "But I won't give you anything! Hand over the goods!"
Qin Mu had no choice but to hand over thirty-five drops of Hao Heavenly Venerable's essence blood. Qiang Heavenly Consort carefully inspected them, then collected the essence blood and swaggered away.
Qin Mu's face darkened, and he thought to himself, "Fortunately, I extracted a great deal of essence blood from Hao Heavenly Venerable's heart. I can still sell it a few more times..."
"Great Heavenly Venerable! Langxuan Divine Emperor requests an audience!" That palace maid came rushing in panic again to report.
Qin Mu was exasperated. He stood up and angrily said, "Girl, are you a jinx? You always come reporting bad news!"
"Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, is my visit bad news for you?"
Langxuan Divine Emperor's voice came from outside, growing closer. Qin Mu quickly sat down and watched Langxuan Divine Emperor walk into the main hall, saying with a smile, "I had a qi deviation while practicing..."
"I've already heard about it. Shepherd Heavenly Venerable need not say more."
Langxuan Divine Emperor sat down and said leisurely, "Qi deviation, both legs paralyzed. Palace Heavenly Venerable and Qiang Heavenly Consort came to visit. If you weren't paralyzed, they would have beaten you paralyzed anyway. So it's better to just pretend to be paralyzed and show weakness to the enemy. Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, your heart is quite dirty."
Qin Mu coughed repeatedly to cover up his embarrassment and said, "Divine Emperor, what brings you here? Is it also about the Beast Realm?"
Langxuan Divine Emperor said indifferently, "Not entirely. Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, you are a smart man. You've smashed my Langxuan Divine Palace twice, and you've coerced me time and again, but I won't quibble with you over it."
He waved his hand to dismiss the palace maid and said, "This palace maid is someone I planted in your Heavenly Venerable's mansion. I won't hide that from you. What benefits did you give the Grand Emperor? I want a share too. But I won't take it for nothing—I'll tell you that besides the back side of the Ancestral Court, there are several other major matters at this Heavenly Alliance meeting."
Qin Mu's expression stirred, and he said, "What I gave the Grand Emperor was the imprints of thirty-five Heavenly Palaces hidden in Hao Heavenly Venerable's essence blood."
Langxuan Divine Emperor's eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands and laughed, "It seems I didn't come for nothing!"
Qin Mu gave him a share of the essence blood refined from Hao Heavenly Venerable's heart, his eyes flickering, and said, "What is to be discussed at this Heavenly Alliance meeting?"
"Not discussed—we Ten Heavenly Venerables have already made the decision. We just need you to nod in agreement."
Langxuan Divine Emperor smiled slightly and said unhurriedly, "Someone always has to take the blame. As the Alliance Leader of the Heavenly Alliance, you are naturally the best candidate for carrying the black pot. At this Heavenly Alliance meeting, what will be discussed is the punitive expedition against Heaven Duke! Shepherd Heavenly Venerable, this pirate ship of the Ten Heavenly Venerables—it's time for you to come aboard."