Chapter 1023: The Two Emperors, Xuan and Wu
The divine artifact Yutian Supreme was overwhelmingly powerful, with streams of light flowing before and behind him like ribbons, bright in color.
He held a hand gesture like a blooming orchid, as if plucking a flower and smiling, standing on the tip of one foot while the other foot was raised, resting against the knee of the other leg. Qin Mu said he was charming, and this was the reason.
Unlike the Yutian Supreme of the Eastern Extreme Heaven, this Yutian Supreme was surrounded by several landmasses, floating around him, shrouded in mist, with clear waters and lush mountains. On these lands, divine beings and demons dwelled, forming armies that trained day and night.
Qin Mu looked into the distance and saw that the Northern Extreme Heaven seemed somewhat gloomy, but it was only upon arriving here that he felt a bit of warmth.
Among the distant mountains, there was a peak like a pillar, with several green vines climbing up it, winding and growing, adding a touch of green.
Lang Wan, the Divine King, gazed at those green vines from afar, a look of surprise on her face.
"Sister, are you also going to see this divine artifact Yutian Supreme?" Qin Mu asked.
Lang Wan hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly. "Those green vines should also be things from the Ancestral Court."
The next moment, she vanished from the carriage.
Qin Mu looked into the distance at the green vines, thinking to himself, "The things that grow in the Ancestral Court of the Creators are truly enormous."
The carriage continued forward, heading toward the green vines. After a long time, they arrived before the pillar-like peak. Qin Mu looked up and saw that the green vines were probably gourd vines, with very large leaves covering the mountain.
Hanging on the mountain were some green gourds, as if made of green jade, about five or six zhang tall.
The number of gourds was not large. Some women were flying back and forth, weaving among the vines, catching insects.
The insects on the gourds were also strange and ferocious, two or three zhang long, covered in bristles, with sharp fangs and fierce mouths that spat thunder and fire. When they couldn't fight back, they would shake their bodies, shooting their bristles out like extremely sharp steel spears!
Those women weaved among the vines, trying hard to catch the insects, but they often encountered danger. Whenever danger arose, they would transform into flying snakes to dodge, coming and going swiftly.
"Could the Five Thunder Gourds be treasures born from this gourd vine, capable of containing the five great cloud thunders and forging the Fire Bell Divine Soldiers?"
Qin Mu marveled: "There are actually such huge insects in this world? Could they also be insects from the Ancestral Court?"
Suddenly, the mountain rumbled and moved about a hundred li. Qin Mu was startled and looked closely, only to see that there was an old turtle under the mountain.
The old turtle had an extremely massive body, carrying a continent on its back as it walked, but it moved very slowly, taking half a day to take a single step, yet each step covered about a hundred li!
Carrying the mountains on the continent on its back, it walked through the vast marsh, panting heavily, as if it was very strenuous.
The Heavenly Dragon Carriage arrived at the old turtle's head. The old turtle slowly moved its dragon-like head, its eyes like two suns staring at the carriage.
Qin Mu stepped out of the carriage and bowed. "Elder."
The old turtle had a dragon head with a snow-white beard, looking very old, even its eyebrows were white. "Mu Tianzun, please forgive me for not returning the courtesy. My apologies."
His voice rumbled like thunder, very loud.
Qin Mu was surprised. "You recognize me?"
"Who in the Heavenly Alliance doesn't know Mu Tianzun?"
The old turtle said, "Has Mu Tianzun come to visit the Xuanwu Great Emperor?"
Qin Mu nodded. "May I ask where the Northern Emperor Xuanwu is?"
The old turtle laughed. "There is no Northern Emperor Xuanwu in this world, only Emperor Xuan and Emperor Wu. Does Mu Tianzun wish to see Emperor Xuan or Emperor Wu?"
Qin Mu blinked, his expression strange, and probed, "The Northern Emperor Xuanwu is two people?"
The old turtle laughed. "Two divine beings, one in the Kingdom of Men, called the Xuan Kingdom, and one in the Kingdom of Women, called the Wu Kingdom. If you go to the Xuan Kingdom, you can see Emperor Xuan; if you go to the Wu Kingdom, you can see Emperor Wu. When they combine, they are the Xuanwu Great Emperor."
Qin Mu thanked him and asked, "How should I address you, elder?"
"I dare not accept the title of elder. I am the son of Emperor Xuan and Emperor Wu, named You Ming. Because I committed a fault, I was punished."
The old turtle said, "My parents, the two divine beings, punished me by carrying this mountain on my back and walking through the Northern Extreme Heaven until all the Five Thunder Gourds on the gourd vine are fully ripe, only then can I be absolved of my crime. I have already walked for six hundred thousand years."
Qin Mu was startled and said doubtfully, "The things hanging on this vine are indeed the Five Thunder Gourds, but shouldn't these gourds ripen in less than six hundred thousand years?"
The old turtle You Ming said, "This gourd blooms once every three thousand years, bears fruit once every three thousand years, and ripens once every three thousand years. In six hundred thousand years, the harvested gourds have already gone through sixty-six generations, producing nearly six hundred gourds. However, this gourd vine blooms and bears fruit, bears fruit and blooms, and the gourds on the vine are never all ripe at the same time, so I am still in a state of punishment to this day."
Yan'er, transformed into a little green sparrow, hopped out of the carriage and landed on Qin Mu's shoulder, exclaiming, "What crime did you commit to deserve such punishment?"
The old turtle glanced at her and said, "I was framed by a pair of wicked men and women, ending up like this. Six hundred thousand years ago, when the Four Emperors split from the Heavenly Court, I was ordered to escort the Xuanwu Heavenly Palace to the Northern Extreme Heaven. On the way, I met a young man and a young girl who chatted with me, saying they knew me. I unknowingly developed a fondness for them. However, they broke into the Heavenly Court and stole the treasure my parents had refined, the Glazed Azure Sky Canopy."
He gritted his teeth and said, "My parents were furious and suppressed me here. But those hateful men and women vanished without a trace! The Glazed Azure Sky Canopy was refined from rare treasures my parents collected from the ancient times, with incredibly great power, but it disappeared. My parents have been searching for it for a long time. If I ever find that pair of dogs and bitches, I will skin them, pull their tendons, grind their bones, and scatter their ashes!"
Qin Mu sighed repeatedly, thinking to himself, "The Northern Emperor Xuanwu is also so wealthy, truly a figure who has lived since ancient times, possessing many heavenly materials and earthly treasures. It seems many ancient gods are like this. They probably obtained these treasures from the Ancestral Court of the Creators. This green vine might be a sacred object visualized by the Creator race."
He examined the green vine, trying to connect with it using his divine consciousness, but the vine gave no response.
The old turtle You Ming was still cursing incessantly, spewing all kinds of foul language, completely losing the noble demeanor he had earlier, clearly extremely hateful toward the "pair of dogs and bitches" who had tricked him out of the Glazed Azure Sky Canopy.
Just then, there was a buzzing sound in the air, and many winged insects flew over, laying eggs on the mountain.
The women on the mountain were both angry and anxious, flying up to drive them away, but many eggs still fell, turning into large green caterpillars upon contact with the wind, which clung to the green vines and began to gnaw.
The women had to go catch the insects again.
Qin Mu glanced over and said, "Where do these insects come from?"
"The insects raised by the Yin Heavenly Emperor. The Yin Heavenly Emperor somehow obtained a packet of ancient insect eggs. He came to seek gourds from my parents, but my parents refused to give him any, so he played a trick and laid the eggs."
The old turtle You Ming said, "Every time these insects are all caught, flying insects come to lay eggs again. This has been going on for four or five hundred thousand years. That bastard has astonishing perseverance!"
Qin Mu took his leave. The old turtle You Ming called out from behind, "Mu Tianzun, you have great face. Please put in a good word for me before my parents, so that I can be freed from this suppression! We did meet once, sixty thousand years ago!"
Qin Mu turned back in surprise. "I met you sixty thousand years ago?"
"Yes, in the Heavenly River, we saw each other from afar!"
Qin Mu pondered. He had originally thought the old turtle knew him because the name Mu Tianzun was indeed very famous.
He didn't expect that the old turtle had actually seen him.
"I went to sixty thousand years ago? I don't remember that?"
Qin Mu agreed and the carriage continued forward.
Emperor Xuan and Emperor Wu had split, dividing into two kingdoms, one the Kingdom of Men and the other the Kingdom of Women. When Qin Mu arrived at the Kingdom of Men, he saw that the men here mostly had dragon heads, human bodies, and turtle backs, strange in appearance but extremely powerful, and there were no women at all.
A heavenly palace floated above the Xuan Kingdom, but it was only half a palace. The Xuanwu Heavenly Palace had been cut in half, split along the center line, and even the Hall of Lingxiao was neatly cut in two!
Qin Mu stood on the carriage and looked up, even able to see the imperial throne that had been cut in half from the middle!
"What kind of quarrel did Emperor Xuan and Emperor Wu have, that they would split to this extent?"
He shook his head. During the Jade Pool incident, the Northern Emperor Xuanwu had also acted, but at that time they should have been combined, so their strength was extremely strong. It seemed that although these two ancient gods usually did not get along, they would still join forces to face the enemy at critical moments.
The Heavenly Dragon Carriage flew up to the half-palace, arriving before the half Southern Heavenly Gate. He saw the guards at the Southern Heavenly Gate flirting with several women from the Wu Kingdom.
It seemed that although the two ancient gods did not get along, there were many men and women from the two kingdoms who were deeply in love.
Qin Mu sent the Dragon Qilin to announce his arrival. After a moment, a loud laugh came: "Mu Tianzun has indeed come!"
A middle-aged emperor came forward to greet him, with dragon whiskers and a long beard, majestic and extraordinary, but his back was hunched, looking somewhat strange. He must have been hiding his turtle shell under his clothes.
"Mu Tianzun, this is our second meeting, isn't it?" Emperor Xuan laughed heartily.
Qin Mu returned the greeting, saying indifferently, "Before the outbreak of the Yan Kang Calamity, there was a celestial phenomenon of great calamity, which included the divine weapon of the Northern Emperor, extremely powerful. I have great admiration for Emperor Xuan's treasures."
Emperor Xuan returned the greeting, laughing, "Is Mu Tianzun blaming me for this incident? Tianzun, you may not know, but the Five Thunder Gourd was lent out by that demoness, it has nothing to do with me. I even said at the time that the demoness was bringing disaster upon herself, that she was beyond redemption. She lent out the Five Thunder Gourd to destroy the Shang Huang era, then lent it out again to destroy the Kai Huang era, and now she wants to destroy Yan Kang. Sooner or later, she would offend someone she shouldn't and die because of it!"
Qin Mu's expression softened slightly. "So it has nothing to do with Emperor Xuan. I wrongly blamed you. This rare treasure, the Five Thunder Gourd, can contain the five great cloud thunders, and within the cloud thunders, the Fire Bell Divine Soldiers are forged. I am very impressed."
Emperor Xuan understood the implication and said, "I feel a deep connection with Mu Tianzun, as if we are old friends. I consider you a close confidant. I split the Five Thunder Gourds with that demoness; she has over a dozen, and I also have over a dozen. When Tianzun leaves, I will give you one as an apology!"
Qin Mu's expression became even more relaxed, and he laughed, "I just met your son, You Ming, and heard him say he has been suppressed under the mountain for six hundred thousand years, during which nearly six hundred Five Thunder Gourds have been produced. Why does Emperor Xuan only have over a dozen? Moreover, from ancient times to now, countless billions of years have passed, how can there be only over a dozen?"
Emperor Xuan's face flushed red, and he cursed, "So many have been produced? That demoness must have embezzled them!"
He sighed and said, "To be honest, in the wars of successive dynasties, countless Five Thunder Gourds have been destroyed. I really don't have many left. How about this: I will give all sixteen Five Thunder Gourds to Tianzun."
Qin Mu sighed, "Yan Kang is weak and has no powerful divine artifacts to protect the country. Its destruction is only a matter of the Heavenly Court's whim. If Yan Kang is destroyed, I will not live on alone."
Emperor Xuan laughed, "Tianzun, don't say that. Did you come from the Eastern Emperor's side? The Eastern Emperor's temperament has always been straightforward. He didn't make things difficult for you, did he?"
Qin Mu said, "The Eastern Emperor set up two trials: first, to resurrect someone without using the power of the Heavenly Duke or the Earth Lord, and second, to test my potential."
Emperor Xuan's eyes flickered, clearly waiting to see what price he could get, and said, "So, did Tianzun pass the trials?"
Qin Mu said calmly, "After I resurrected someone, I smashed his Azure Dragon Heavenly Palace, wounded his reincarnated body, and made him lose face in front of all the divine dragons of the Eastern Extreme Heaven."
Emperor Xuan laughed heartily, raised five fingers, and said, "I just remembered that in my long-sealed treasure vault, there are still some stockpiles. I can give Tianzun fifty Five Thunder Gourds, enough to form a Five Thunder Army!"
Qin Mu raised one finger.
Emperor Xuan shook his head. "To be honest, many Five Thunder Gourds have indeed been destroyed in successive wars. Moreover, during the Kai Huang era, I gave fifty Five Thunder Gourds to the Kai Huang Emperor. The Kai Huang Emperor is Tianzun Qin, so I cannot favor one over the other. If I give you more, and the Kai Huang Emperor comes to demand an explanation, how will I face him?"
Qin Mu said seriously, "The Kai Huang Emperor is not the Ten-Thousand-Calamity Immortal Extinguishing Great Mage."
Emperor Xuan gritted his teeth and nodded heavily. "Then one hundred, no more!"
Qin Mu laughed heartily, and Emperor Xuan also laughed heartily, extending his hand. "Mu Tianzun, please!"
"Please!"
The two walked hand in hand through the half Southern Heavenly Gate and entered the Xuanwu Heavenly Palace. Qin Mu was all smiles, thinking to himself, "After I leave Emperor Xuan, I will go see Emperor Wu, and I can get another hundred Five Thunder Gourds from her!"
Emperor Xuan said, seemingly casually, "If Mu Tianzun is going to see that demoness, tell her that I gave you two hundred Five Thunder Gourds."
Qin Mu's mind was greatly shaken, and admiration arose spontaneously.