Chapter 1022: The Opening Emperor and the Four Emperors
Lang Wan Divine King’s eyes were as clear as autumn water, her voice gentle: “Ancient gods are not to be trusted. All ancient gods are like this. Holy Infant, you carry the hopes of the Creator race…”
Qin Mu looked at her and said softly, “Does the Creator race have the power to oppose the Heavenly Court?”
Lang Wan Divine King sat there quietly, her gaze fixed on the torrent of the Spirit Energy Reciprocal Bridge outside the window, her eyes deep and enchanting. She said, “Holy Infant, the conflict between the ancient gods and the Creator race is a hatred of extermination. You cannot mediate it. This deep-seated enmity is rooted in the thinking of the Creators, passed down from generation to generation. Likewise, the ancient gods will never let the Creators go.”
This Spirit Energy Reciprocal Bridge was heading to the North Pole Heaven. The Four Pole Heavens had already been opened by the Four Ancient God Emperors, and a series of Spirit Energy Reciprocal Bridges connected the Four Poles, facilitating travel.
In the past, when various gods and demons traveled to the Four Poles, they relied on the Heavenly River waterway, taking boats back and forth, which took a hundred years to get from the Heavenly Court to the Four Pole Heavens.
Of course, this was relative to ordinary gods and demons. For powerful Emperor-level experts and Heavenly Venerables, the time required was much shorter.
The shortest route was to go to the Netherworld or the Mysterious Capital, using them to shorten the path. In the Netherworld, there was the paper boat of the old man of the Yin Officials; taking the boat to the four poles of the universe saved time and effort.
The Mysterious Capital was located in the middle heaven of the universe, where space was distorted. There were various Sun Guardians who could ride Golden Crows to the Four Pole Heavens.
With the Spirit Energy Reciprocal Bridge, it was even more time-saving and convenient.
Qin Mu also looked out the window, silent for a moment, then murmured, “I’m also in a difficult position, Sister Lang Wan. I really am…”
Lang Wan Divine King glanced at him and said nothing.
After a long while, Qin Mu asked, “You’ve been examining the Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven for so long. What have you discovered?”
Lang Wan Divine King’s eyes flickered. She said, “The Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven is indeed extremely powerful. The Heavenly Court’s ability to create such a divine artifact means they are invincible under heaven, and it won’t be as uncontrollable as the Grand Emperor or the Heavenly Emperor. Such a divine artifact suppresses all heavens, securing the Heavenly Court’s rule forever, with no fear of being overthrown. However, it has a weakness.”
Qin Mu looked at her and probed, “Divine Consciousness?”
Lang Wan Divine King nodded. “A major weakness. The Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven is not the true physical body of a Heavenly Venerable; it is a manufactured weapon. The Heavenly Venerable needs to inhabit it with their primordial spirit to master the Imperial Heaven’s immense power. But we Creators can use our powerful divine consciousness to seize control of the Imperial Heaven before the Heavenly Venerable can take command.”
Qin Mu’s eyes flickered. “You didn’t tamper with Lang Xuan Divine Emperor’s Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven, did you? There’s something I haven’t had time to tell you yet. Lang Xuan Divine Emperor is the son of the Heavenly Emperor and Gong Yun Divine King, one of the Three Ancient Kings. He is half-Creator, and his divine consciousness might not be weak!”
Lang Wan Divine King stared at him, wide-eyed, and said in surprise, “Lang Xuan Divine Emperor is the son of the Heavenly Emperor? That means the Ten Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Court are half occupied by the Heavenly Emperor’s family!”
Qin Mu thought about it and realized it was indeed the case.
The Ancient God Heavenly Emperor, Empress Empress, Lady Yuan Mu, Hao Heavenly Venerable, and Lang Xuan Divine Emperor—the Heavenly Emperor’s family accounted for five of them!
Besides the Heavenly Emperor, there was also the Grand Emperor Ju Yu Shi. Among the Ten Heavenly Venerables, only four had no such deep background!
“The Eastern Emperor told me that his bloodline is the number one bloodline under heaven, but he just has many offspring. The Heavenly Emperor’s offspring are of higher quality.”
Qin Mu sighed. “By the way, the East Pole Heaven isn’t the Ancestral Court, is it?”
Lang Wan Divine King shook her head. “No. But the East Pole Heaven contains treasures from the Ancestral Court: the Spirit Treasure Mountain and the Jade Pool, both from the Ancestral Court.”
Qin Mu was greatly tempted. The Ancestral Court of the Creators actually had such treasures?
He became even more eager to see the Ancestral Court.
In the East Pole Heaven, the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon led his civil and military officials back to the Azure Dragon Heavenly Palace. Yuan Long Crown Prince asked, “Father, are you really not sending anyone to pursue Mu Heavenly Venerable and reclaim the Spirit Treasure Mountain?”
The Eastern Emperor shook his head and laughed. “Although the Spirit Treasure Mountain is precious, it’s just a treasure I used to grind my teeth. It’s not the most valuable treasure of my East Pole Heaven. Even though he made me lose face, I gave it to him nine times. The Heavenly Court won’t tolerate him now; they will definitely send people to hunt him down.”
Yuan Long Crown Prince hesitated. “Father needs Mu Heavenly Venerable, so why push him into such a dangerous situation?”
The Eastern Emperor glanced at him and said flatly, “Mu Heavenly Venerable is unruly and too hard to control. He’s just a lucky young human who stumbled into his current position by chance. If he were sensible, he would have obediently accepted my two tests. But instead, he wanted to turn the tables, humiliate me, and claim a status equal to the ancient gods.”
There was no lack of anger in his voice, but his tone grew calmer. “If he grows up, what difference would he be from the Ten Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Court?”
“The goal of the Ten Heavenly Venerables is to eliminate us ancient gods and seize all power. Our goal, besides self-preservation, is also to eliminate them—not to cultivate an opponent!”
He walked forward, entered the Lingxiao Hall, and sat directly on the throne. His long, slender fingers spread out, gripping the armrests of the imperial seat, his majesty suppressing the Azure Dragon Heavenly Palace. He said coldly, “Mu Heavenly Venerable has never understood this. Since he hasn’t, let reality teach him! After he leaves the East Pole Heaven, he will hit walls everywhere, break his bones, and shatter his tendons. Only then will he lower his stance, bow to the ancient gods, and do his work obediently!”
His gaze was like lightning, sweeping over Yuan Long Crown Prince, and his voice could cut iron and nails: “From ancient times to the present, the ancient gods have been the rulers of this universe. So-called Creators, half-gods, Ten Heavenly Venerables, humans—all are merely passersby. It is our charity that gave you the chance to survive. It is we who maintain the order of the universe’s vastness, allowing you the possibility to multiply!”
“Post-natal beings who dare to steal the authority of the ancient gods, dare to change the laws and disrupt the Dao—this is inherently treasonous and unforgivable!”
“This is not just my thought; it is the thought of all ancient gods!”
Yuan Long Crown Prince shuddered and bowed his head, not daring to speak.
“In the past, we ancient gods used the Opening Emperor Qin Ye, planning to cultivate him to confront the Ten Heavenly Venerables. But unfortunately, Qin Ye didn’t play along. We ancient gods expended so much effort to cultivate him, yet he took his elite troops and ran.”
The Eastern Emperor snorted coldly, crushing the armrest of the throne into powder. He said coldly, “How much effort did we ancient gods put into cultivating him and the Opening Emperor Era? We expected him to fight the Heavenly Court, but his Opening Emperor Heavenly Court was a mess internally! He probably understood that we were pushing him out, so he took the elites of the Opening Emperor Era and fled. He even taught Qin Mu his sword techniques to harm me—truly repaying kindness with enmity!”
Yuan Long Crown Prince’s body trembled, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
He had experienced some of these events himself. Back then, the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon had been very kind to the Opening Emperor. He had even descended to the mortal world to fund the Opening Emperor’s rise.
The Opening Emperor had sent Di Yi Yue to be cultivated by the Eastern Emperor, who accepted her as a disciple and taught her divine arts.
For a time, the Eastern Emperor’s reincarnated body even descended personally, addressing the Opening Emperor as fellow Daoist.
When the Opening Emperor established the Thirty-Three Heavens and created the Opening Emperor Heavenly Court, the Eastern Emperor and the other three great emperors had personally attended to congratulate him.
But Yuan Long Crown Prince had never considered the hidden schemes behind all this.
Now, thinking back, it sent chills down his spine.
This history he had personally witnessed was actually fraught with such danger!
The Eastern Emperor’s tone softened, and he said with a gentle smile, “You don’t need to worry. You are my son; I won’t do anything to you. Do your work well, and in the future, when we rebuild the Heavenly Court…”
He said leisurely, “Who knows, you might even have a chance to ascend to the throne. This Dragon Han Heavenly Court needs a bloody purge and a change of master.”
In the North Pole Heaven, the Heavenly Dragon Chariot appeared on the altar of the Spirit Energy Reciprocal Bridge.
Like the East Pole Heaven, the altar of the North Pole Heaven was at the edge of this vast realm.
The Spirit Energy Reciprocal Bridge was designed and built jointly by Qin Mu and the Black Tiger God under the Woodcutter Saint. At the time, the Black Tiger God was merely a god, called Tiger Venerable, while Qin Mu was just a small cultivator.
Two insignificant figures actually managed to design and create a tool that influenced the layout of the Heavenly Court and various heavens—truly a marvel.
Just for this, the two of them were already worthy of being remembered in history.
Six Heavenly Dragons pulled the chariot forward. The North Pole Heaven was somewhat cold and dark, with thunderclouds covering the sky, rare sun and moon, and fierce winds. In the wind and clouds, thousand-winged Teng Snakes shuttled through the clouds.
The great snakes spread their wings, shifting and changing, fierce and warlike.
Qin Mu looked down and saw that the geography of the North Pole Heaven was not a single continent but a vast marsh. The Heavenly River converged here into a great marsh, where many divine turtles roamed. They had dragon heads, ghost-like divine bodies, and crocodile tails, their bodies enormous. They carried continents on their backs as they swam in the Heavenly River marsh, their roars like thunder.
These Xuan Turtles opened their mouths to spit out thunderbolts, which crackled and rose higher and higher. The Teng Snakes flying through the air opened their mouths to spit out bright pearls, which collided with the thunderbolts, producing bursts of thunder.
The Heavenly Dragon Chariot passed through the wind and thunder. Whenever those Teng Snakes and Xuan Turtles looked at them, they would transform into young boys and girls, either standing in the air or on the marsh, leaving the lands on their backs aside.
Occasionally, young boys and girls would descend from the sky or rise from the marsh, embracing in the air, and upon landing, they would transform into Xuan Wu, becoming strange half-gods with intertwined turtles and snakes.
Or they would take human form, strange beings with turtle shells and snakes coiled around them.
Qin Mu marveled. He had long heard of the Northern Emperor Xuan Wu and had even met him once.
Back when the Yan Kang Calamity was about to break out, a divine artifact called the Five Thunder Pot fell from the sky into Yan Kang. That Five Thunder Pot was a treasure of the Northern Emperor Xuan Wu. Besides the Five Thunder Pot, there were also weapons from the other three ancient god emperors.
Qin Mu revived Di Yi Yue, who dispelled that celestial calamity. It was then that Qin Mu learned Di Yi Yue had once studied under the Four Ancient God Emperors and had deep ties with them.
On the ghost ship, Qin Mu had also stolen the power of the Northern Emperor Xuan Wu to break free from the ship. At that time, he was caught and saw the Northern Emperor from afar.
The Heavenly Dragon Chariot traveled deep into the North Pole Heaven, and Qin Mu saw another Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven. He stopped the chariot to observe.
This Divine Artifact Imperial Heaven was also enormous in stature, wearing a faint smile that actually appeared somewhat charming. Behind it, a youthful aura steamed, seemingly melting the cold of the North Pole Heaven.
“Lan Yu Tian can actually look charming too. I wonder which female Heavenly Venerable’s divine artifact this is?” Qin Mu said with a laugh.