Chapter 1002: Heavenly Dragon Chariot
Qin Mu submitted his memorial requesting permission to leave the Heavenly Court and travel the mortal realms to the Lingxiao Hall in Jade Capital City. Before long, the Heavenly Emperor approved it, bestowing upon him the Heavenly Dragon Chariot to display the majesty of a Heavenly Venerable.
Qin Mu naturally knew that it was not the Heavenly Emperor who had approved his departure from the Heavenly Court, but rather the Ten Heavenly Venerables.
Discord had already arisen among the Ten Heavenly Venerables, each restraining the others. They had no time to spare for even the Great Void and Carefree Realm. Whether Qin Mu remained in the Heavenly Court or not was useless to them. Sending a few people to keep watch over him would suffice.
And sure enough, Yun Chuxiu arrived.
Qin Mu’s expression flickered between dark and bright. He thought to himself, “This time I leave the Heavenly Court, besides seeking the ancestral court of the Creators and visiting the ancient gods of the various realms, I also need to evade the Heavenly Court’s spies and perform the soul-summoning ritual for Heavenly Venerable Yun. Yet you insist on coming to provoke and monitor me. Heh, the Luoshen Blade has already cut you once—it wouldn’t mind cutting you again!”
He was still satisfied with the Heavenly Dragon Chariot. It was drawn by nine divine dragons at the Jade Capital realm, and the chariot itself was extremely luxurious. Of course, it couldn’t compare to the Phoenix Chariot of King God Langhuan, but it was still the most splendid chariot Qin Mu had ever used.
“You’re dead meat!” Yun Chuxiu said to Qin Mu, trembling with excitement when she saw the chariot.
Qin Mu replied without good humor, “You’re the one who’s dead meat! I am still the Mu Heavenly Venerable—how dare you speak to me like that?”
“These nine heavenly dragons are of the bloodline of the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon. Aren’t you going to the Eastern Pole to see the Azure Dragon Emperor?”
Yun Chuxiu was overjoyed, laughing, “When the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon sees his bloodline being used to pull your chariot, he will surely be furious. Aren’t you dead meat then?”
Qin Mu’s heart skipped a beat. He stammered, “Then I’ll invite these nine brothers to sit in the chariot, and have Fatty Dragon pull it instead.”
Yun Chuxiu examined the canopy on the chariot and laughed, “That’s still dead meat. Look at the canopy—it’s imprinted with the Heavenly Dao’s principles. The trajectory of the stars on it takes the form of the Heavenly Lord. When you reach the Heavenly Lord, he’ll kill you!”
Qin Mu’s face darkened. He stepped into the chariot and looked up. Indeed, the Heavenly Dao principles formed the shape of the Heavenly Lord, using him to shield Qin Mu from wind and rain. Offending the Heavenly Lord was no small matter.
“And under the chariot.”
Yun Chuxiu bent over to look beneath the chariot and waved to him, “Come quick! The patterns under the chariot are the Xuanwu patterns, riding the wind and taming the waves. They press the Xuanwu beneath the chariot. When the Northern Emperor Xuanwu sees this chariot, he will also take your life!”
Qin Mu went to her side, and together they bent over to look under the chariot.
The underside indeed bore Xuanwu patterns. Qin Mu’s face grew even darker.
“The patterns on the golden railings of this chariot are the White Tiger patterns, indestructible, breaking through all obstacles. The White Tiger patterns connect all the way to the armrests.”
Yun Chuxiu jumped back onto the chariot to inspect the seats, delighted, “You sit on the Western Emperor White Tiger and grip her head with the armrests. How could the Western Emperor White Tiger tolerate that?”
Qin Mu’s heart trembled. “Is there more?”
“At the rear of the chariot are Vermilion Bird patterns, depicting the Vermilion Bird’s colorful wings. When the Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird sees your chariot using her as a tail, how could she tolerate it?”
Yun Chuxiu leaped onto the chariot shaft, swinging her legs, and picked up the whip hanging by the shaft, laughing, “The charioteer sits here, holding the whip, while the shaft is inscribed with the Great Path of the Netherworld, allowing this chariot to ignore the Netherworld’s path and drive straight into it.”
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. “I have a good relationship with Lord Tu. Inscribing the Netherworld’s path is no problem.”
Yun Chuxiu sneered, “Lord Tu is the one who wields the whip! Your charioteer sits here and also wields a whip. Do you think Lord Tu will give you a good face?”
Qin Mu’s face was as black as iron. He fumed, “This chariot was given to me by you Ten Heavenly Venerables—it’s none of my business! Besides, aren’t you among the Ten Heavenly Venerables? Who’s to say you didn’t have a hand in this mischief?”
His trip this time was indeed intended to visit the ancient gods of the various realms. The memorial he submitted to the court was also under the pretext of visiting them while traveling the world. The Heavenly Court giving him this chariot was clearly meant to make things difficult for him.
Yun Chuxiu swung her legs and giggled, “Exactly! I strongly recommended the Heavenly Dragon Chariot to them. Everyone agreed it was good, so they gave it to you.”
Qin Mu snorted angrily. King God Langhuan had already walked over, gracefully boarding the chariot and taking the seat beside the main throne. “This chariot isn’t bad. Heavenly Venerable, when do we depart?”
Yan’er stood on the head of the Dragon Qilin, who trotted over quickly. The Heavenly Demon King sat astride the Dragon Qilin with his legs spread wide. When they reached the chariot, he leaped into the air and landed on the chariot shaft.
Yun Chuxiu grinned mischievously and handed him the whip. The Heavenly Demon King took it and praised, “This chariot is great—it must be fast!”
Yun Chuxiu raised her delicate hand and mimed cutting her own throat.
Qin Mu gave her two eye rolls and asked Yan’er, “Sister Yan’er, have you seen Big Head?”
Yan’er replied, “Big Head has been studying with Qi Jiuying these past few days. I’ve sent someone to find him. It should be about time for him to arrive.”
The Dragon Qilin jumped onto the chariot, crawled into the cabin, and lay down on the cloud carpet. Yan’er flew up from his head, landed on a pillar of the chariot, and shook her feathers.
After a moment, Shu Jun hurried over. Seeing the Heavenly Dragon Chariot from afar, he praised, “What a fine chariot! Truly magnificent!” With that, he boarded the chariot and sat to the right of the main throne.
Qin Mu had no choice but to board the chariot and take the main seat.
Yun Chuxiu also climbed onto the chariot. Seeing no seat for herself, she was about to sit on Qin Mu’s lap. Just as Qin Mu was about to kick her off, King God Langhuan smiled and said, “Sister, come sit here. This seat is quite spacious.”
Yun Chuxiu squeezed into the seat with her, giggling, “Sister Langhuan, we look like we were born from the same mother. It’s rare to be so alike.”
King God Langhuan smiled serenely, “Indeed.”
Yun Chuxiu blinked, looking at the willow leaf on her brow, curious, “What’s under Sister’s willow leaf?”
“You wouldn’t want to know.” King God Langhuan smiled gently.
Outside, the Heavenly Demon King cracked the whip. The nine heavenly dragons immediately soared into the air, pulling the chariot out of the mansion. As the chariot’s wheels moved, the Xuanwu vision appeared beneath them, stepping onto a heavenly river that wound away into the distance.
“Chief, where are we going?”
The Heavenly Demon King’s voice came from outside, “There are many Spirit Energy Transfer Bridges in the Heavenly Court that connect to all realms. Taking the Spirit Energy Transfer Bridges will save us a lot of travel.”
Just as Qin Mu was about to speak, Yun Chuxiu said excitedly, “Go to the Eastern Pole first!”
Qin Mu’s face darkened. He could no longer hold back. His trembling finger pointed at the woman, and he laughed in anger, “Yuanmu, you’ve fallen now. You’re acting like you’ve given up all pretense. Where is your former dignity? Don’t forget, back then, it was I who beat your and the Heavenly Emperor’s illegitimate son, Hao Heavenly Venerable, so badly he couldn’t take care of himself for a thousand years! And I did it right in front of you, while you could do nothing about it!”
Yun Chuxiu immediately threw herself in front of him, carefully massaging his legs, looking up at him with a pitiful expression, “Heavenly Venerable, calm your anger. How did you know I was Yuanmu? Did I reveal myself in the Great Void? The way the Heavenly Venerable gets angry, I really like it…”
Qin Mu’s anger had nowhere to vent. He snorted.
Yun Chuxiu giggled, “Hao’er is no good. He plotted against his father and then tried to plot against me, but he didn’t want to do it himself, so he asked Ling Heavenly Venerable to deal with me. Fortunately, I was clever and had already prepared against Ling Heavenly Venerable. I used her hand to fake my death and escape. Instead, she helped me. I was very angry when you beat him, but later I became very happy.”
She continued massaging his legs, excited, “On this trip of yours, many Heavenly Venerables will surely make a move against you, including Hao’er! You offended him too badly. I want to watch him beat you to death with my own eyes!”
Qin Mu said dejectedly, “Let Hao Heavenly Venerable just beat me to death. You don’t need to massage anymore. Go back to your seat and rest. Heavenly Demon, let’s not go to the Eastern Pole first. Let’s go to the Primordial Realm first, then to the Eastern Pole from there. I haven’t been back to the Primordial Realm in a long time. I want to visit my hometown and see my relatives and friends.”
The Heavenly Demon King acknowledged, and drove the nine dragons, pulling the chariot toward a Spirit Energy Transfer Bridge.
Yun Chuxiu, being restless by nature, ran outside again and held onto a pillar to look around.
King God Langhuan looked puzzled and glanced at Qin Mu. Qin Mu transmitted his thoughts through divine consciousness, “She is Yuanmu Madam among the Ten Heavenly Venerables, though I don’t know her identity among them. Yuanmu Madam is also an ancient god, born in the Guixu. She is the Heavenly Emperor’s mistress and the Empress’s sister.”
“Her temperament is quite strange.”
King God Langhuan said in surprise, “As the Yuanmu Madam of the Guixu, shouldn’t she be dignified and proper? Why is she like this?”
Qin Mu sighed. After this Yuanmu Madam transformed into Jue Wuchen’s appearance, her personality had indeed become truly unpredictable.
Shu Jun transmitted his thoughts, joining their conversation, “The ancient god Yuanmu controls the power of destruction. In the ancient era, she was always like this—both annoying and endearing.”
Qin Mu glanced at him and asked, “King God Shu Jun, do you know if the ancient god Heavenly Emperor was born from an egg?”
Shu Jun nodded, “I do.”
Qin Mu pressed on, “If the Heavenly Emperor was born from an egg, where did the egg come from?”
“That, I don’t know.”
Shu Jun shook his head, “We also don’t know where the Primal Divine Stone came from, nor where the Primordial Essence Liquid originated, nor where those ancient giant beasts came from. The egg of the ancient god Heavenly Emperor was picked up by the Primordial Emperor’s people from a treasure site in the ancestral court. I don’t know much about it.”
Qin Mu frowned.
Shu Jun continued, “It is said that after the Primordial Emperor’s people discovered this egg, they found it to be enormous, with life inside it—a life even more ancient than the Creator race—but it was in a deep sleep. In the early days, they even worshipped this egg as a divine object. Later, with the Primal Divine Stone, the Creators themselves became gods, so they tossed the egg into a corner. Who knows when they dug it out again and resumed worship? Then, from it, the ancient god Heavenly Emperor was born! They brought it upon themselves.”
He shook his head and sighed.
The hatching of the ancient god Heavenly Emperor had opened the curtain on the destruction of the Creator race.
“Do you think, this time you leave the Heavenly Court, which Heavenly Venerable will make a move against you?”
King God Langhuan asked, “Just now, Yuanmu said Hao Heavenly Venerable won’t be able to sit still. Besides Hao Heavenly Venerable, who else might strike at you?”
Yun Chuxiu poked her head in, laughing, “We’re entering the Spirit Energy Transfer Bridge! What are you all talking about?”
Qin Mu steadied himself, looking at the roaring streams of light outside the window, and said, “We were discussing who might ambush me halfway after I leave the Heavenly Court. Yuanmu Madam, do you think anyone will try to kill me this time?”
“Don’t call me Yuanmu. I am now Yun Jianli’s younger sister, accompanying the Heavenly Venerable down to the mortal realm to find my brother.”
Yun Chuxiu thought for a moment, then said, “Every Heavenly Venerable seems to have a reason to strike. Even I have a reason to kill you now that you’re leaving the Heavenly Court. However, there are many secrets in the Heavenly Court that you don’t know. The one you’ve harmed the most isn’t Hao’er, but the Primordial Emperor. He was hiding well, but you said the Primordial Emperor is among us. I think he won’t be able to sit still.”
Qin Mu was puzzled, “If you can guess that the Primordial Emperor will strike, then the other Heavenly Venerables should be able to guess too. Will the Primordial Emperor still make a move against me?”
Yun Chuxiu blinked. After a moment, she said leisurely, “There is an Eleventh Heavenly Venerable in the Heavenly Court, but he has been dead for over forty thousand years. Back then, he drove the ancient god Heavenly Emperor’s physical body to ambush Ling Heavenly Venerable, and was trapped and killed by her in her divine ability. For forty thousand years, his body should not have decayed. If he is the Primordial Emperor, and the Primordial Emperor is indeed still alive, then this physical body of his will be mobilized.”
She smiled, “Using this body to kill you, no one can expose his true identity.”
Qin Mu’s mind shook violently. He exhaled a turbid breath, “Very clever. If the Eleventh Heavenly Venerable’s physical body leaves the Heavenly Court, then he certainly cannot hide it from your eyes and ears. In that case, you all…”
Yun Chuxiu shook her head, “His physical body is not in the Heavenly Court.”
Qin Mu was startled.
Yun Chuxiu giggled, “He was buried in the Primordial Realm. I already told you to go to the Eastern Pole first, but you insist on going to the Primordial Realm. Isn’t that just walking into death?”
Qin Mu’s mind went blank. Suddenly, the chariot jolted, and the Heavenly Demon King’s voice came from outside, “Chief, we’ve arrived at the Primordial Realm!”