Chapter 1055: The Past of the Grand Emperor
Luo Xiao was extremely puzzled. He caught up with them and said, "We really can't just barge in recklessly. This place is extremely dangerous. Let me lead the way!"
Qin Mu blocked him and said with a smile, "Dangerous? Where is the danger?"
Luo Xiao was taken aback. Strangely enough, as they walked into the Primordial Divine Stone vein, they indeed encountered none of the rumored dangers. Instead, it was eerily calm.
"Could it be that the clan leader and the others were just speaking casually, and there is actually no danger in this vein?" he wondered to himself.
Gu Xiao and Da Hong walked side by side, with the Heavenly Dragon Carriage bringing up the rear. Yan'er stood on the carriage, holding a lantern, casting light ahead.
Da Hong turned his head and laughed, "Brother Mu, Brother Luo, come closer."
Qin Mu steeled himself and stepped forward. Luo Xiao hesitated, saying, "I still want to go see if there are any ancestral spirits in the depths of the void..."
Gu Xiao turned his head and laughed, "The Nineteenth Void is guarded by a Void Mother Beast. Your divine sense cannot surpass the Nineteenth Void. Brother Luo, there's no need to rush."
Luo Xiao thought about it and realized this was true. The Void Mother Beast was so powerful that if his divine sense reached the Nineteenth Void, it would surely be detected and devoured by the mother beast.
The surrounding rays of light drifted among the grass and trees. Luo Xiao looked around, muttering, "Strange, this place matches the clan leader's description, but why is there no danger? This is a Primordial Divine Stone vein. When the divine sense in the vein encounters people's thoughts, it transforms into one real illusion after another. Even the most powerful Creator could fall for it..."
Qin Mu's gaze fell on the backs of the two figures ahead, and he reminded him, "Perhaps there is a powerful being suppressing this vein."
Luo Xiao's heart tightened. His gaze fell on the golden coffin ahead, and he said in a deep voice, "You mean the person buried in that golden coffin is so powerful that it suppresses this vein? What kind of cultivation would that require? Could it be..."
His eyes lit up, and he suddenly clapped his hands, exclaiming, "I know! It's the Grand Emperor! The golden coffin must contain the Grand Emperor's corpse!"
He said excitedly, "I heard from the clan leader and the others that the Grand Emperor died in the Blood Rust Campaign. The Ancient God Heavenly Emperor must have feared his resurrection, so he ordered his body to be suppressed here! The Grand Emperor is finally dead!"
Gu Xiao's voice came from ahead, ethereal and distant: "The Grand Emperor, the most powerful divine sense in history—how could he die? I heard that in the Blood Rust Campaign, only the Primordial Origin Stone on his brow was shattered. He did not die. After that, he became a stray dog, hiding and living in constant fear."
Da Hong laughed, "I also heard that the Heavenly Emperor's methods for defeating the Grand Emperor were not honorable. It wasn't the Heavenly Emperor who shattered the Primordial Origin Stone, but the Grand Emperor's wife, Divine King Gong Yun. Moreover, the Heavenly Emperor burned the bridge after crossing the river. After defeating the Grand Emperor, he killed Divine King Gong Yun to maintain his glorious and majestic image."
Luo Xiao blinked his big eyes and smiled, "Brothers, where did you hear all this? Even I, a Creator, don't know these things, and the clan elders and clan leader have never mentioned them."
The two did not answer and continued walking forward.
Luo Xiao grew suspicious.
After a long time, they finally arrived beside the eight ancient god corpses.
Their figures floated up and stood beside the golden coffin.
Gu Xiao and Da Hong each looked at the golden coffin, their gazes deep and silent.
Qin Mu and Luo Xiao walked over, with Dragon Qilin following behind, while Yan'er still stood on the carriage holding the lantern.
Da Hong smiled faintly, "The Ancient God Heavenly Emperor prides himself on being glorious and righteous, and he used the Grand Emperor's wife, Gong Yun. He must have promised her many things, such as allowing her people to survive. However, to maintain his image, he had no choice but to kill Gong Yun. Not only did he have to kill Gong Yun, but he also had to eliminate the eight ancient gods who escorted her corpse here."
He raised his head, his gaze falling on Gu Xiao's face, revealing a mocking expression: "And the best way to eliminate these eight ancient gods was undoubtedly the Primordial Vein. The Heavenly Emperor was originally an egg in this vein. He knew full well the terror of this vein. He ordered the eight ancient gods to bury Gong Yun's corpse here, using the vein's power to get rid of these eight witnesses!"
Gu Xiao let out an "oh" and said indifferently, "What I heard is that the Grand Emperor was cruel and feared that the Creator race would cultivate another Grand Emperor. So he wiped out all the Juyu clan members, killed Divine King Gong Yun's people, and even planned to annihilate all Creators. His wife, Gong Yun, was heartbroken because of this. She had an affair with the Heavenly Emperor and bore him a son."
Da Hong's pupils contracted, and he said, "But even though the Grand Emperor was betrayed by Gong Yun, even though she shattered the Primordial Origin Stone on his brow, he never harmed a single hair on her head. Yet the Heavenly Emperor betrayed Gong Yun and killed her!"
At this point, the two of them no longer cared about Luo Xiao, Qin Mu, or the others. It was clear that they had each determined the other's true identity and were about to reveal their hands and fight to the death!
Luo Xiao was bewildered. He shook his head and said to Qin Mu, "Are you humans and demons really that ancient? You even know things that happened in the primordial era."
Qin Mu's eyelids twitched, and he barely restrained the urge to punch Luo Xiao and knock some sense into him.
Da Hong and Gu Xiao each reached out, grabbed the coffin, and prepared to open the golden coffin.
Qin Mu took a step back.
The golden coffin was lifted open by the two, but their gazes remained fixed on each other's faces, unwilling to miss any expression or reaction.
Qin Mu gritted his teeth, unable to suppress his curiosity. He steeled himself and stepped forward to look into the golden coffin.
The golden coffin was very large. The woman inside was also a giant. She lay there with her eyes closed, as if asleep.
The vertical eye on her brow had been gouged out, and there was a patch of crimson on her chest. The fatal wound should have been on her chest. Gouging out her vertical eye was merely to greatly reduce the power of her divine sense techniques.
She had died at the hands of someone close to her. The person who killed her had a very close relationship with her, which was why they could gouge out her vertical eye while she was off guard, severely weakening her strength.
That person had been good to her. After her death, they had tidied her appearance, dressing her in the most beautiful clothes and adorning her head with a phoenix crown, making her look like a lofty empress.
In her hand, she still held a flower, which had not withered to this day. She held it against her chest, perfectly covering the fatal wound.
Da Hong chuckled darkly, "Three brothers, the Heavenly Emperor truly deserves to die, doesn't he?"
Qin Mu's hair stood on end. He stepped back and coughed, saying, "Brother Luo, let's go find the spirits of your ancestors!"
Luo Xiao was about to step forward, saying, "I haven't seen Divine King Gong Yun yet. Let me take a look..."
"Don't look!"
Qin Mu was furious and pulled him away.
Luo Xiao was startled and laughed, "Brother Mu, you're the youngest, but you scold me like I'm your son. Fine, I won't look. Why are you so fierce?"
Just then, Da Hong's voice came over: "Heavenly Emperor, heh heh, or should I call you Primordial Origin? Back when I dug you and the Primordial Origin Stone out together, I sensed that there was an incredibly powerful life in the egg, a life even more ancient than us Creators."
Luo Xiao was stunned. Suddenly, he shivered several times, his face showing disbelief.
"I sensed your power, but you hadn't yet reached the time of your birth. If you had stayed in the Primordial Vein, you would have eventually absorbed the vein's power and become incredibly strong."
Da Hong continued, "At that time, I even thought of using your body to be reborn, but I held back. I obtained the Primordial Origin Stone and became arrogant, believing I didn't need to fear you. I thought I would only be stronger than you! So I raised you like a son. To help you be born, I even had my people offer sacrifices to you."
He chuckled darkly, "Unfortunately, I still underestimated you."
Gu Xiao said calmly, "You had your people offer sacrifices to me, forcing growth prematurely, with ill intentions. You wanted to use the power of the sacrifices to limit me and cultivate me into your weapon. Do you think I didn't understand your intentions? While still in the egg, I had already comprehended various laws of the Dao and absorbed the power of the Heavenly Dao. I was born enlightened. However, you took the Primordial Origin Stone, interrupting my growth. So I simply used the power of the Creators to help me grow and absorb nourishment."
Luo Xiao's hair stood on end. He couldn't help but quicken his pace, walking out of the mining area.
Gu Xiao continued, "Grand Emperor, this time you didn't come in your true form. How much power can you muster? You merely borrowed a body to be reborn as a low-level demon. Even if you know the history of the past, even if you see Gong Yun, what can you do?"
"Killing you is enough."
Da Hong said calmly, "Aren't you using a reincarnated body? You reincarnated as a human and often use this body to secretly meet with Lady Yuanmu. You arranged yourself to be the Celestial Master of the Southern Falling Sect. How much combat power does this human body of yours have?"
Gu Xiao said indifferently, "Then what are you waiting for?"
Qin Mu immediately felt two extremely terrifying tremors coming from the vein, making people tremble and fear. He quickly shouted, "I can't die! If I die here, who the hell..."
"We know!" Da Hong and Gu Xiao's voices came almost simultaneously, both shouting angrily.
Behind him, the two terrifying tremors subsided slightly.
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "Fat Dragon, Yan'er, get on the carriage! Brother Luo, you too!"
Everyone boarded the treasure carriage. Dragon Qilin cracked the whip, and the Heavenly Dragon Carriage sped out of the vein.
Just as the Heavenly Dragon Carriage rushed out of the vein, an extremely violent fluctuation of divine techniques came from within. Qin Mu turned his head to look and saw Da Hong pulling his hands out of his sleeves!
What he pulled out of his sleeve was a large spear. Strangely enough, the spear was very long, but his sleeve was only a little over a foot long. When the spear was drawn out, it was already over three zhang in length.
This large spear was not straight. Ordinary divine spears had straight shafts, but the shaft of his spear was curved and winding, like a dragon vein.
The spear was refined from the Ancestral Dragon Vein of the Ancestral Court. He held it in his hand and thrust it out. Instantly, a loud and clear dragon roar echoed in the minds of everyone outside the vein!
At the same time, Gu Xiao's file also underwent a transformation. The file was shaped like a sword, but it was covered in dense dots. When the file revealed its true form, it became an imperial sword symbolizing the Heavenly Emperor's pacification of the four directions!
The dots on both sides of the sword also transformed into imprints formed by bird-seal and insect script. Both sides of the sword were covered with countless imprints—these were the Dao Steel Seals!
When Gu Xiao used the file to file his nails, no one could see the true form of this sword, nor did anyone know that the neatly arranged dots would actually be Dao Steel Seals!
The steel seals on the sword numbered nearly two thousand, representing the blessings of nearly two thousand ancient gods from prehistoric times to the Heavenly Emperor, the submission of these ancient gods to the Emperor of the Ancient Gods!
The treasured sword met the Ancestral Dragon Divine Spear. The collision of sword and spear produced a Dao sound that rang out in an instant, as if thousands of ancient gods were singing in unison, using the Dao to empower their most powerful emperor!
The eight ancient god corpses carried the golden coffin. Above the golden coffin, the two terrifying figures clashed for the first time.
The fluctuations quickly reached Qin Mu and the others. Yan'er flashed to the back of the carriage, merging her primordial spirit with her physical body, transforming into the Dragon Sparrow Holding the Sky stance to protect the treasure carriage.
Boom—
She let out a muffled groan, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. In an instant, her physical body and primordial spirit were riddled with holes, and she was forced back to her original form, becoming a chubby girl.
The terrifying fluctuation pressed this three-to-five-hundred-jin chubby girl against the back of the treasure carriage, pushing both her and the carriage forward. The six heavenly dragons tried their best to brace against the carriage, but they too were pushed back by the terrifying force.
Because they were using too much force, their skin split open from the tension of their sinews, and dragon blood flowed everywhere.
Qin Mu reached out and drew a circle. A teleportation divine technique erupted, forming a large ring behind the treasure carriage to deflect the residual power of Da Hong and Gu Xiao's techniques. However, his teleportation technique shattered immediately.
Qin Mu's fingers kept spinning, drawing one large circle after another. Countless teleportation runes flew out from the circles, forming one teleportation technique after another. As one shattered, another took its place, helping Yan'er withstand the residual power of the techniques.
Luo Xiao immediately controlled the void beast to block behind the treasure carriage, but it too was pushed back continuously.
Finally, after the first wave of impact passed, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They looked into the distance and saw that the treasure carriage had been pushed hundreds of miles away.
"Da Hong is no match for Gu Xiao."
Qin Mu's divine eyes were unparalleled. He immediately saw the scene within the vein. Da Hong was already injured. Compared to Gu Xiao, he was still a bit weaker. This time, he had come using a demon race's physical body.
Although he was the first demon to open heaven and earth, facing Gu Xiao, who had the blessing of the Dao and the Imperial Sword, he suffered a great loss in the first move.
Gu Xiao's sword could not be called a sword; it was a Dao weapon. As the sword moved, the phantoms of nearly two thousand ancient gods stood behind him, large and small, arranged in an orderly fashion. Among them were even the phantoms of such majestic beings as Tu Bo, Heavenly Lord, and Earth Mother!
"In recent years, I have been searching for your whereabouts. As long as the Grand Emperor is not dead, my heart cannot rest."
Gu Xiao was calm and composed, but his sword light was truly terrifying, forcing Da Hong to spread his wings behind him and take flight. He said calmly, "To lure you out, I could expose the location of the Ancestral Court, chat and laugh with Mu Tianzun, and even hold back from searching for the whereabouts of other Creators! My goal is right here, in front of Gong Yun, to humiliate you and eliminate you!"
"Do you really think you can defeat me?"
Da Hong laughed heartily. Suddenly, the sky became extremely bright. A colossal Void Mother Beast squeezed out from the layers of void, its eyes as bright as ten thousand suns.
"In later generations, the Dao is revered, and visualization has declined. It's outdated. Heavenly Emperor, I know that this body of mine may not be your match. Even if you separate a mere thread of Dao attainment from your main body, I would not be your opponent. But here in the Ancestral Court, you are no match for me."
The voice of Hong Tianzun came from the vein, and the Void Mother Beast in the sky also squeezed out of the void, its body descending lower and lower, heading straight for the vein!
That incredibly powerful mother beast was shrinking its body. Void beasts could be large or small, large enough to devour the sun and moon, small enough to become a mustard seed.
It was so powerful that it even ignored the power and might of the Primordial Vein, descending into it!
"The most powerful Void Mother Beast submits to the most powerful Creator! The void beasts here are also its descendants."
Da Hong's voice carried joy and mockery: "Primordial Origin, this is why I chose to duel you here!"