Chapter 1123: Once Human (First Update)
If this ancient god were to be born, transforming into any ancient god, even able to become Heaven Duke, Earth Mother, or Tu Bo while possessing their power simultaneously, that would already be extremely terrifying!
But even more terrifying was that he (or she) was even more adept at manipulating the human heart!
Qin Mu had found it strange from the very beginning. Whether it was Long Qilin, Wei Suifeng, or himself, upon coming into contact with the Colored Glass Azure Sky Canopy, they would all be enchanted by this treasure.
Long Qilin could be excused, but both Qin Mu and Wei Suifeng had weathered the great storms of the Long Han Era, their Dao hearts unshakably firm. Yet even they could be seduced by the ancient god egg, unconsciously becoming infatuated with this treasure.
Just now, when a wisp of Qin Mu’s divine consciousness entered the ancient god egg, it had immediately discovered the weakest part of his Dao heart, nearly causing him to sink into the egg, unable to extricate himself!
Moreover, Qin Mu had not destroyed the haven of pleasure that the ancient god egg had created to exploit the flaw in his Dao heart. He had merely annihilated that wisp of his own divine consciousness.
In other words, the flaw in Qin Mu’s Dao heart still remained.
As long as this flaw existed, he would still be deceived by the being within the ancient god egg.
This was the most terrifying thing he had ever felt!
Qin Mu put away the Colored Glass Azure Sky Canopy, his expression shifting between light and dark.
“Uncle-Master, this little girl is already dead.” Yu Chudu’s voice came through.
Qin Mu steadied himself, setting aside the matter of the ancient god egg for the moment. He stepped forward to examine the scene. The little girl from before had all her bones crushed by the pillar ancient god, her internal organs shattered, and she had long since stopped breathing.
In her hand, she still clutched a half-gnawed animal bone.
Yu Chudu’s expression darkened. “In the myriad realms, things like this happen all the time. Uncle-Master, even if you are Celestial Venerable Mu, you cannot change all of this. Heh, my master couldn’t change it either…”
“She can still be saved.”
Qin Mu stepped forward, crouching down. The runes of creation on his fingertip flickered with an uncertain light, extremely delicate, the radiance faint and elusive as it burrowed into the little girl’s body.
His mastery of the Dao of Creation was profound, having reached the pinnacle of this era. Soon, the physical injuries of the little girl had completely healed.
Qin Mu extended a finger and gently pressed it against her chest. The sound of a heartbeat came through, and her small chest began to rise and fall slowly.
Yu Chudu couldn’t help but say, “Uncle-Master, the divine might of an ancient god is terrifying! Her soul has scattered; she cannot be saved!”
Qin Mu stood up, his primordial energy surging forth, lifting the little girl’s body into the air. He said solemnly, “She can be saved. I, the Epochal Immortal Grand Mage, am not a grand mage exclusive to ancient gods.”
He activated the Soul-Drawing Incantation, pulling the fragmented black sand of her soul toward him. The Heavenly and Earthly Gate appeared behind him, and he began to borrow the power of Heaven Duke and Tu Bo to reshape her soul.
This was a further improved divine ability for soul reconstruction, different from before in that he used the Heavenly and Earthly Gate to replace the Gate of Inheritance.
He could actually have revived this little girl entirely with his own power, without needing to borrow from Heaven Duke or Tu Bo.
However, he decided to alert Heaven Duke and Tu Bo nonetheless.
Because he wanted to make his stance clear!
“Celestial Venerable Mu——”
Heaven Duke’s voice came from an extremely high and distant place, transmitting into his mind, audible only to him alone. Along with this voice, Qin Mu even “saw” Heaven Duke’s white eyebrows and long beard, high above in the Xuan Du, and those eyes filled with pure white light.
“You borrow my power to revive a mortal.”
Heaven Duke’s face was unreadable, his voice long and drawn: “You killed the ancient gods of the Nine Provinces, killed the ancient gods of the Three Pillar Heavens, and now you borrow our power to revive a mortal. Are you still the Epochal Immortal Grand Mage?”
“Heaven Duke, nothing here escapes you. You saw me kill the ancient gods of the Nine Provinces and the Three Pillar Heavens, and you did not stop me from slaying them.”
Qin Mu’s divine consciousness rippled within his mind as he conversed with this lofty existence. “Now, I want to borrow your power to reshape this mortal’s soul. Will you lend it to me? Reviving her is simple; the power I borrow from you is insignificant, just a single drop in your vast ocean.”
Heaven Duke was silent for a moment, then said, “Will you revive the ancient gods of the Nine Provinces and the Three Pillar Heavens?”
“No.”
Qin Mu’s tone was exceptionally calm as he slowly said, “Heaven Duke, you already know the answer. I will not revive them. Ancient gods are no nobler than mortals. If ancient gods commit evil, I will slay them as well.”
“Who defines right and wrong, good and evil?”
Heaven Duke said, “The wolf eats the sheep; how innocent is the sheep? The sheep eats the grass; how innocent is the grass? The ancient gods use humans as sacrifices—is that not the same as the wolf eating the sheep? Celestial Venerable Mu, from the perspective of the Heavenly Dao, the right and wrong, good and evil you speak of are chaotic and indistinguishable. The Heavenly Dao is impartial; it does not condemn the wolf for eating the sheep, nor the sheep for eating the grass.”
Qin Mu replied, “That is why you are Heaven Duke, and I am not. I only look at these matters from the perspective of a human. Heaven Duke, you are not truly impartial either. You look at the world from the perspective of an ancient god. You can sit by and watch ancient gods devour the world, watch all living beings become their sacrifices, yet when I kill an ancient god, you still harbor resentment.”
Heaven Duke fell silent.
“Will you lend me the power to revive this little girl?” Qin Mu pressed.
Heaven Duke was silent for another moment, then said, “Celestial Venerable Mu, child of the Qin family, have you ever considered that you cannot change all of this? When ancient gods are no longer the orthodox of heaven and earth, and demigods replace them, they will still devour all living beings. Even if you kill the ancient gods, you will only allow demigods to completely replace them. At that time, the fate of all beings in the myriad realms might not be any better than it is now.”
Qin Mu stubbornly asked, “Heaven Duke, will you lend me the power to revive this tiny mortal?”
Heaven Duke was silent for a long time, then said, “I will lend it to you. However, you cannot continue like this. You cannot keep slaughtering ancient gods. If news of you killing the ancient gods of the Nine Provinces and the Three Pillar Heavens spreads, it will push the other ancient gods to oppose you and become your enemies.”
Qin Mu said, “Should I smile and face them, sit by and watch them take my people as sacrifices, chat and laugh with them as if I saw nothing? Teach me, Heaven Duke.”
Heaven Duke said, “You can look upon all living beings from the height of the Heavenly Dao, seeing all as equal, without interfering.”
“That is why I am not Heaven Duke.”
Qin Mu laughed. “I am merely a person, an ordinary person. If I shed the identity of being human and become Heaven Duke, I would no longer be human. Heaven Duke, you could also restrain the ancient gods, make them stop enjoying blood sacrifices, stop coveting offerings.”
Heaven Duke sighed. “I will try to restrain them, tell them to give you and your people the respect you deserve. But I will not force them; that would go against the Heavenly Dao.”
Qin Mu nodded.
He continued to activate the Heavenly and Earthly Gate, sensing the power of Tu Bo.
Tu Bo also sensed his divine art and lent him his power.
“Tu Bo, why did you not stop me from borrowing your power to revive this tiny mortal?”
Qin Mu asked. “I killed the ancient gods of the Nine Provinces and the Three Pillar Heavens, causing them to scatter their souls. As the ancient gods’ Epochal Immortal Grand Mage, I did not revive them but instead revived an insignificant mortal. Are you not angry, Tu Bo? Do you have no doubts?”
“Perhaps because I was once human.”
Tu Bo said indifferently, “Once, as Ugly, I was a human, a child of an old mother, a husband to a wife. They did not despise me. Since then, I felt that within my consciousness born from the Dao, there was a different kind of emotion.”
His voice was grand, yet his tone still seemed devoid of any feeling: “I think I have been tainted by humanity, no longer a pure Dao-born god. Therefore, I can understand you. But this trace of humanity is also where I fall short of Heaven Duke.”
“I understand.”
Qin Mu bowed, then continued to activate his divine ability, reshaping the little girl’s soul.
At this moment, Tu Bo felt a minuscule, insignificant amount of his power diminish, while Heaven Duke felt no change in his own power at all.
But that little girl had already woken up, slowly opening her eyes.