Chapter 1142: Equal Division of Interests (Fourth Update)
Qin Mu felt an unparalleled sense of absurdity and strangeness as he looked around at the several Heavenly Venerables in the carriage. These familiar faces had once again become unfamiliar.
"Xiao is the Heavenly Emperor, Qiang is the Grand Emperor. No wonder they are so close to Heavenly Venerable Gong. Heavenly Venerable Gong should be Gong Yun. These three have confirmed true identities."
"But what about Heavenly Venerable Hong and Yan Tianfei?"
His head throbbed with confusion. Was Yan Heavenly Venerable the Empress or Lady Yuanmu?
She should be one of the Empress sisters, noble and aloof, most likely the Empress herself. Then who was Heavenly Venerable Hong?
"Back then, the Grand Emperor was trapped and killed by Heavenly Venerable Yun in the Tai Xu. Da Hong flew toward the Xiao Han Heavenly Court, intending to destroy it for revenge. I blocked Da Hong, using the supreme divine consciousness domain developed by Heavenly Venerable Yun and Heavenly Venerable Ling to contend with him."
Qin Mu kept his eyes fixed and his mind focused, thinking to himself: "That time, I nearly perished, body and soul, but I also forced Da Hong to retreat, wounded. Later, I went to the era sixty thousand years ago when the Long Han Heavenly Court split—the time when Heavenly Venerable Yun ambushed the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor, leading to his death. I went to seek healing from Heavenly Venerable Gong, and she said Da Hong had died. Someone took advantage of Da Hong's injury to kill him and erase his divine consciousness."
"It must have been then that someone used Da Hong's corpse to walk the world, replacing the Grand Emperor as Da Hong and becoming the later Heavenly Venerable Hong."
"As for the Grand Emperor, he likely used his divine consciousness, the Great Luo Heaven, to split off another strand of consciousness and descend into the world, transforming into Qiang Tianfei and becoming a member of the Heavenly Emperor's harem."
Qin Mu opened his eyes: "So who exactly is Da Hong? Why did he ask me for a favor IOU? And where has Lady Yuanmu gone? Who has she become? She must be in the Heavenly Court. If she's not among the Ten Heavenly Venerables, where is she hiding?"
"This time, the Ancestral Court has revealed its traces. As one of the oldest Ancient Gods, Lady Yuanmu should also go, right?"
Suddenly, the treasure carriage came to a halt.
"Heavenly Venerable, that great rift has arrived!" came the voice of the Heavenly Dragon from outside.
Everyone stood up and stepped out of the carriage. They saw that Heavenly Venerable Hao's carriage had also arrived and stopped. Heavenly Venerable Hao, Divine Sovereign Langxuan, and Ancestral King God looked toward the great rift.
The rift was almost as wide as the Heavenly Court itself, stained a bloody red, an indescribably shocking sight!
Looking into the Ancestral Court from here, they could see many enormous strange beasts, like spiders clinging to the rift, trying to tear it wider and break the seal.
Those were Void Beasts, countless in number, densely packed.
At the same time, huge beast eggs kept falling from the void. The oval eggs hit the ground and immediately hatched into smaller Void Beasts.
Although these Void Beasts had just broken out of their shells, they moved swiftly as soon as they were born, growing with the wind. Soon they climbed high mountains, leaped, spread their six limbs, and the membranes between their legs snapped open with a *shua* sound, fluttering as they flew toward the rift.
A single adult Void Beast could easily slaughter a divine-demon army of several hundred. If so many Void Beasts from the Ancestral Court surged out all at once, it would be an absolute catastrophe for all the realms!
Qin Mu glanced at Qiang Tianfei, who was still chatting and laughing with Heavenly Venerable Gong.
"They are all Creators. The Grand Emperor wants to enter the Ancestral Court to release all the Void Beasts, while Heavenly Venerable Gong has deep feelings for the Ancestral Court—after all, it is the ancestral land of the Creators."
Qin Mu thought to himself: "They all want to break the seal of the Ancestral Court, but their purposes differ. As for the Ancient God faction, like the Heavenly Emperor Xiao Tianzun and the Empress sisters, their goal is to reseal the Ancestral Court. Perhaps the Empress sisters don't think that way, but Xiao Tianzun certainly does. As for Heavenly Venerable Hao, Heavenly Venerable Lang, and Ancestral King God, they want to enter the Ancestral Court to obtain the treasures within. Or even monopolize the Ancestral Court!"
A smile appeared on his face, but when his gaze fell on Heavenly Venerable Hong, his smile froze.
He couldn't understand what this old man wanted to do.
Thinking carefully, Heavenly Venerable Hong seemed to have done everything, yet nothing at all.
Among the Ten Heavenly Venerables of the Heavenly Court, he seemed to just go through the motions. When the Heavenly Emperor's egg was stolen, he showed up, went through the motions. When the Void Bridge in the Tai Xu was discovered, he scurried over to go through the motions.
When the Western Emperor White Tiger tried to forcibly take his divine artifact, the Imperial Heavenly Venerable, he also appeared, asked Qin Mu for a favor IOU, went through the motions, and happily withdrew.
Now that the Ancestral Court had appeared, he scurried over again, looking like he had nothing to do with it, just watching the show.
Qin Mu blinked. Heavenly Venerable Hong noticed his gaze and quickly approached, holding a IOU in his hand.
Qin Mu's face darkened, and he said awkwardly, "I know, I remember. Fellow Daoist Hong doesn't need to take it out every time he sees me."
Heavenly Venerable Hong put away the IOU and laughed, "I'm just afraid you might forget!"
Qin Mu's face darkened. He wanted to stay away from him, but Heavenly Venerable Hong came closer, looking across the great rift at the Ancestral Court, and said cheerfully, "It's really terrifying inside... When we divide the spoils later, it would be better if our territories are adjacent."
Qin Mu glanced at him and, for some reason, silently nodded.
"This time, the Ancestral Court has appeared, and it can no longer be sealed."
Heavenly Venerable Hao clearly knew about the Ancestral Court and said, "This Ancestral Court dates back to the ancient times, the Dark Age. All the Ancient Gods joined forces, along with the powerful demigods of that time, to seal it. Now that the Heavenly Court's seal has been broken, many of the Ancient Gods from that era have died, and many demigods are also gone, so it cannot be resealed."
He looked at Ancestral King God and Divine Sovereign Langxuan and said, "Both of you come from that era and know a great deal. Am I correct?"
Divine Sovereign Langxuan said politely, "Heavenly Venerable Hao is correct."
Ancestral King God laughed, "I was born later and didn't experience the Dark Age, but I've heard my old man talk about it. He said there is great terror in the Ancestral Court, so the Heavenly Emperor, for the sake of all living beings, led the gods and demigods to seal it. The people of that time are no more, and it's impossible to maintain the seal as it was."
Yan Tianfei said, "So, Heavenly Venerable Mu's proposal for equal division of interests is still feasible."
Many eyes turned to Qin Mu.
Ancestral King God snorted coldly, "A brat like you wants to share equally with us? What strength do you have?"
Qin Mu said calmly, "Son of the Heavenly Duke, you should at least call me 'fellow Daoist.' I am the only one who can enter the Ancestral Court. Without me, you can only stare at the Ancestral Court and drool!"
Ancestral King God was furious and glared at him with murderous intent, then flew toward the rift in the Ancestral Court, sneering, "What's so hard about entering?"
He charged into the rift.
Heavenly Venerable Hong whispered, "Fellow Daoist Mu, if he manages to get in, we won't share with you."
Qin Mu's eyelid twitched, and he watched Ancestral King God's figure anxiously.
Inside the rift, Ancestral King God moved farther and farther away, but his steps grew slower and slower, as if bearing boundless pressure that only intensified!
He struggled to move, feeling as though the Primordial Realm, the Four Extremes Heaven, the Xuan Du, the You Du, the Return to Void, and the Heavenly River were all pressing down on him!
Not only that, but around him, many Dao patterns emerged, taking the form of ancient deities, becoming clearer and clearer as he went deeper!
Vaguely, he could even see the backsides of huge worlds gradually appearing!
Ancestral King God roared and retreated. After a moment, he appeared before everyone with a livid face and said coldly, "Equal division of interests, I have no objection!"
Qin Mu smiled, "Nephew Ancestral..."
"Pah!"
Ancestral King God almost spat in his face, furious, "Just now you wanted me to call you 'fellow Daoist,' and now you call me 'nephew'? Your seniority rises fast!"