Chapter 946: The Wicked Daoist
Lien Hoa Hon's pupils constricted: "You've been by his side all along, why didn't you go snatch it back yourself?"
Van So Tay laughed: "You help me snatch it back. You hold my physical body, you have leverage over me—that way we sisters can cooperate in good faith, and you won't suspect me."
Lien Hoa Hon was skeptical.
Van So Tay's eyes rolled, and she smiled: "Moreover, it's very difficult for me to snatch it back from him. If he were to summon the soul of my corpse, this body's consciousness wouldn't be able to hold on at all—I'd die in one move from him. So I can only ask you to go."
"That's your real intention, isn't it?"
Lien Hoa Hon's gaze flickered: "Among those who went to the Great Void this time, there are your disciples too, aren't there? Why not have your disciples make the move?"
Van So Tay sighed, tears welling in her eyes, speaking with pitiful grace: "You don't know how strong this little nemesis of mine is. My disciples are no match for him at all. From my understanding of this little nemesis, my disciples would only end up dead at his hands, let alone snatching my physical body back from him."
Lien Hoa Hon recalled the incident last night when Qin Mu triggered the Fire Heavenly Venerable's imprint, and she couldn't help but feel a pang of fear.
If not for the sisters acting quickly and using the Return to Void divine abilities to hide, they would have been buried in this city just like Phan Xuân Tận, Tú Du Phương, and the others!
The Heavenly Venerable's imprint was too terrifying. Fortunately, the Return to Void divine abilities had their own subtleties, and most importantly, the Great Dao of Return to Void had yet to be deciphered by anyone.
It was precisely because of the unique nature of Return to Void divine abilities that they had survived the upheaval of last night.
Lien Hoa Hon had crossed hands with Qin Mu once before. Qin Mu had his four arms broken by her, and she was confident she could defeat Qin Mu and reclaim Nguyên Mẫu's physical body. However, Qin Mu's most terrifying aspect was not his strength, but his ability to borrow every power available to him and turn it into his own weapon—like the Fire Heavenly Venerable's imprint from last night.
"Prepare yourself. Retrieve my physical body from the ghost ship and exchange it for your own."
Lien Hoa Hon flicked her sleeves and departed: "And don't forget one thing—you are the birth mother of Hao Heavenly Venerable. Stop calling him 'little nemesis' this and 'little nemesis' that all the time! Have some decency!"
Van So Tay was furious, then suddenly burst into laughter. Her figure flickered and vanished from this Creator city.
"Sister, you have decency, you embody maternal grace for all under heaven—you're just a bit of a fool. Hehe. You go snatch my physical body, then I'll kill you and snatch it back. This is the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind!"
The Great Void was extremely vast. Qin Mu and Lạc Vô Song had walked for several days and still hadn't found that city.
"I wonder if that dragon you visualized was blown to death?" Lạc Vô Song said absently, recalling the divine dragon that had caused them to be discovered by the Empress and her sister.
Qin Mu was checking the spiritual medicines in his Gluttonous Pouch. He shook his head at the question: "It was born from visualization. In a place like the Great Void, it can't die."
Lạc Vô Song was startled, then probed: "You mean the divine dragon you visualized can withstand the Fire Heavenly Venerable's divine ability and survive? That's impossible, isn't it? You don't have that kind of profound strength."
Qin Mu took out some spiritual medicine seeds and scattered them on the ground. He then performed his arts, and the seeds rapidly sprouted and grew, quickly turning the area ahead into a medicinal garden.
"It won't survive, but it will be reborn."
He continued his work while speaking: "This strange place called the Great Void has a peculiar trait when it comes to visualized creations—they reassemble after being shattered. Those Great Void demons are exactly like that. The divine consciousness they use to revive is the divine consciousness of the entire Great Void world. So I speculate that the divine dragon might have died in the city, but it will use the Great Void's divine consciousness to revive. Because the entire Great Void world was visualized into existence by the Creators using divine consciousness. As long as the Great Void doesn't perish, these visualized creatures will have an endless supply of divine consciousness to revive them. Of course, once outside the Great Void, they're much easier to kill."
The medicinal herbs matured, and he began harvesting them, storing them for later use.
Lạc Vô Song watched his technique—he handled it like an experienced herbalist, and his method of baking and refining the herbs was like that of an apothecary. He thought to himself: "Qin the Tyrant Body has truly studied a mishmash of things."
These past days, Qin Mu had been injured multiple times, and his medicinal herbs were being consumed quickly. Moreover, Lạc Vô Song was an even bigger consumer—healing the injuries to his Heavenly Palace required even more spiritual medicine.
"The divine dragon I visualized—though I only visualized that creature into being, my divine consciousness was essentially contributed to the Great Void. The Great Void will then contain additional divine consciousness that forms the energy of a divine dragon. This world should have a law of conservation of divine consciousness matter, so even if it dies, the Great Void will revive it."
Qin Mu packed away the herbs and continued on his way, speaking with full confidence: "After it revives, it might even chase after us. It should be behind us right now, following our trail. Everything that has happened since we arrived here has validated my speculations. My speculations have always been accurate."
He thought of Van So Tay and Lien Hoa Hon, and the corners of his eyes twitched—his confidence wavered somewhat.
Regarding the identities of those two women, he had guessed wrong.
Lạc Vô Song asked: "You're also proficient in visualization. Why not just visualize miraculous pills and medicines directly, instead of using Creation arts to plant and grow them?"
The corners of Qin Mu's eyes twitched again. He seemed dejected, a hint of bitterness in his heart. He said in a low voice: "My divine consciousness isn't strong enough. I'm only at the level of a newborn infant Creator. I've failed the name of Tyrant Body..."
Lạc Vô Song was puzzled.
Qin Mu's impression on him and others had always been one of overwhelming confidence, like torrential rain pouring down, or like a flood that once unleashed could never be stopped. Why was he being so modest now?
And it was the dejected state of someone who had been severely beaten down and couldn't recover.
What he didn't know was that a Creator lived in the eye on Qin Mu's forehead, constantly belittling him, telling him how inadequate his divine consciousness was. Over time, Qin Mu had come to believe that his divine consciousness was indeed inadequate, and thus felt somewhat inferior.
But in the blink of an eye, Qin Mu was full of confidence again. He laughed: "Fortunately, I'm the Tyrant Body. As long as I work hard enough, my divine consciousness will quickly grow to the level of an adult Creator, and it will only get stronger! I will become another Thái Đế!"
Lạc Vô Song hadn't had much contact with him, and this was the first time he'd seen this fellow's blind faith in the Tyrant Body. He shook his head, thinking: "What Tyrant Body? Don't you know the Heavenly Court treats the Tyrant Body as a joke?"
Regarding the rumors of the Tyrant Body, there was word in the Heavenly Court that the Heavenly Venerables had long realized that all the Tyrant Bodies in history came from the same person—Qin Mu.
The Long Hán Tyrant Body was Qin Mu.
The Thượng Hoàng Tyrant Body was also Qin Mu.
The current Diên Khang Tyrant Body was still Qin Mu.
In truth, throughout the long river of ancient history, no Tyrant Body had ever accomplished anything earth-shattering. Those rumors of Tyrant Bodies were merely ripples left behind when Qin Mu traveled back to the past.
The so-called Tyrant Body was all just Qin Mu's one-man show.
Many in the Heavenly Court knew this in their hearts, but Qin Mu alone didn't know. He still believed that his Tyrant Body was all-powerful, and if he couldn't do something, it was because he hadn't worked hard enough.
They saw another Creator city ahead, but throughout their journey, they hadn't encountered a single Creator, which puzzled them both.
Lạc Vô Song's injuries had improved considerably after Qin Mu's treatment, and he could now use the cultivation and power of the Tôn Thần and Chân Thần realms. Qin Mu, meanwhile, enthusiastically taught him about the Diên Khang reforms and the Heavenly River Divine Treasury, trying to seduce him into abandoning the Divine Bridge and converting to the Heavenly River Divine Treasury.
Lạc Vô Song knew the stakes involved and turned a deaf ear.
Though he was quite tempted by the Heavenly River Divine Treasury, he also knew that if he converted to it, he would become one of the reformers, and it would be hard to say whether he could even keep his life.
After all, he had no background to speak of.
Moreover, he knew something of Qin Mu's deeds. His most prized disciple, Triết Hoa Lê, had been seduced by this brat through some unknown means, severing ties with him and running off to join the Diên Khang reforms.
"If I stay with him any longer, I'm afraid I'll be seduced by him too, and follow him in the reforms."
He felt a growing sense of urgency. Qin Mu had a unique charm, a unique infectious quality—the longer one spent with him, the harder it became to treat him as an enemy.
"Once my injuries heal, I'll have a contest with him. Win or lose, I'll turn tail and run. That way, I won't be seduced by him!"
Qin Mu flew into the sky, unrolled a geography map, compared it with the surrounding mountains and rivers, showed a look of disappointment, and descended.
The geography map left by Ngụy Tùy Phong didn't correspond to the mountains and rivers of the Great Void. In a place like the Great Void, where divine consciousness matter was conserved, the geography and mountains couldn't change with the passage of time. If Ngụy Tùy Phong had been here and left a geography map, he would definitely be able to find that place.
They walked into this Creator city. It was also an abandoned city. The two entered a Creator's dwelling and saw flames still burning in the stove, a teapot on top, the water bubbling and gurgling.
Here, beds and bedding, gold and silver treasures—everything was still there, untouched by anyone.
The scene here was as if the Creators had been busy in the city just moments before—some preparing to drink tea, some preparing to sleep, some visualizing gold and silver treasures—when suddenly something major happened. They couldn't pack anything and fled in panic, abandoning this place.
"The Creators must have abandoned this world."
Lạc Vô Song looked around: "Was it those Great Void demons that drove them away?"
The Great Void demons revived after death, endlessly and inexhaustibly. That would indeed annoy the Creators beyond measure, and moving away was a possibility.
In the square, they also saw a giant bonfire with a beast leg over a dozen zhang long roasting on it—some unknown creature.
Beside the bonfire were drinking vessels two or three people tall, filled with fragrant wine. The aroma mixed with the smell of roasted meat, making one's mouth water.
Qin Mu walked over, cut off a piece of meat, and tasted it. He praised: "Excellent!"
He cut another piece and handed it to Lạc Vô Song.
Lạc Vô Song hesitated. Qin Mu laughed: "This is meat created by the Creators. Eating it won't do anything to you—at most, it will turn into divine consciousness."
Lạc Vô Song tasted it, and it was surprisingly delicious.
Qin Mu sat down, eating the roasted meat, and raised his hand to summon the wine from the cup. This wine was also indescribably good, making the two of them exclaim in delight.
"Being a Creator isn't so bad after all." He couldn't help but laugh.
"So fragrant, so fragrant!"
Suddenly a voice came. Qin Mu and Lạc Vô Song were startled and looked toward the source. They saw a Daoist in black robes with wide sleeves and a high topknot emerge from who knows where. His face was fierce and vicious. He plopped down beside them, swallowing saliva, and said: "Truly fragrant!"
Lạc Vô Song was about to ask about this Daoist's origins when the Daoist suddenly opened his mouth and spat a glob of saliva onto the beast leg. He chuckled darkly: "There's my spit on this now. Are you still going to eat it? If you don't eat it, this beast leg belongs to me!"
Qin Mu and Lạc Vô Song exchanged bewildered glances.
The Daoist hauled the beast leg down and devoured it with great relish. Then, suddenly, he spat into each of the large wine cups, chuckling darkly: "You're not drinking the wine either, are you?"
Qin Mu frowned, then suddenly smiled: "Lạc Thần Đao, let me show you a trick."
He opened the vertical eye on his forehead, activated the Tam Viên Thượng Thức, and visualized for a moment. Then, all sorts of delicacies and fine dishes came falling from the air, along with fine wines aplenty, spreading out into a full banquet.
After a moment, many beautiful women emerged from the void, singing and dancing, frolicking and playing around the two men, attending to them as they ate.
"Lạc Thần Đao, how is it?" Qin Mu asked with a smile.
Lạc Vô Song was dumbfounded. It took him a moment to recover: "Qin the Tyrant Body truly knows how to enjoy himself."
Qin Mu laughed heartily, arms around the women on both sides.
The black-robed Daoist looked at the two of them, a look of envy on his face. He moved closer.
"Ptoo!"
Qin Mu and Lạc Vô Song rapidly spat on all the delicacies. Lạc Vô Song even intended to spit on the visualized beauties to keep the Daoist from taking them, but Qin Mu stopped him.
The black-robed Daoist saw this and sneered coldly: "You are people of the Heavenly Court. Do you know who I am? How dare you treat me with such disrespect!"
Qin Mu smiled slightly and turned to Lạc Vô Song: "Lạc Thần Đao, tell him who I am."
Lạc Vô Song coughed and said: "This is the Long Hán Tyrant Body, the Heavenly Venerable appointed by the Heavenly Emperor's decree, one of the five founding elders of the Heavenly Alliance—Mục Heavenly Venerable."
The black-robed Daoist's expression changed drastically.
Qin Mu smiled: "So then, who are you? And why are you here?"