Chapter 1181: Blocking the Door at the Ancestral Court (Third Update!)
The many disciples under Dawn Heaven Supreme all brightened. Just moments ago, Qi Kang the Human Sovereign had revealed three celestial palaces, his momentum surging like a rainbow. Impressive as he was, Qin Mu’s single slap that buried Qi Kang the Human Sovereign into the ground had exposed the true nature of this burly, rough man—all bark and no bite.
Among the disciples of the Ten Heavenly Supremes, cultivating only one celestial palace was considered mediocre talent; forming two or three celestial palaces was merely the entry level.
Many disciples possessed three to five celestial palaces, and some had even cultivated over a dozen.
For the disciples of the Ten Heavenly Supremes, acquiring Imperial Throne-level techniques was not difficult. The Supremes had collected as many as two to three hundred such techniques.
To cultivate the Heavenly Court realm, the key was not the quantity of Imperial Throne techniques but their variety. One only needed thirty-six different systems of Imperial Throne techniques, merged together, integrated, and unified into a single system of techniques. In theory, this would allow one to achieve the Heavenly Court realm.
However, finding thirty-six different systems of Imperial Throne techniques was extremely difficult, and merging them was even harder.
“I’ll just pick a soft target.”
A young deity stepped forward, smiling. “Fellow senior brothers, let me have this one. My skills are modest, so he’s just right for me.”
The moment the two clashed, Gao Huaitong and the other disciples of Dawn Heaven Supreme all changed expression. Just now, Qi Kang the Human Sovereign had been slapped into the ground by Qin Mu, leading them to underestimate him. But now, the combat power Qi Kang displayed was astonishing. In his exchange with the young deity, he not only held his own but gained a clear upper hand.
Qi Kang the Human Sovereign followed the path of entering the Dao through martial arts. He cultivated fist techniques, using his own physique as a volcano and his essence, energy, and spirit as the firepower, striking with great force and wide range.
Later, after his reincarnation, Qin Mu had sent the Martial Combat Heavenly Master Zhuo Cha’s Martial Combat Heavenly Art to various academies and institutes, and the Human Sovereign Hall also received a copy. Additionally, the First Ancestor Human Sovereign had opened the Jade Bright Palace’s technique treasury, which contained various techniques and divine abilities from the Kai Huang era. This allowed Qi Kang the Human Sovereign and others to advance by leaps and bounds.
Qi Kang continued along his path of entering the Dao through martial arts. His talent was naturally high—after all, the Human Sovereign Hall’s inheritance was passed down to only one person per generation, so each Human Sovereign was almost always the most talented person of their time.
He was Village Chief’s teacher, Village Chief’s guide, and his own talent was extremely high. On the path of entering the Dao through martial arts, he had gone even further than Qin Mu.
Especially the explosive power of his fist techniques, which was astonishing. He beat the young deity back step by step, shaking his primordial spirit into disorder.
Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, Gao Huaitong made a decisive move. He said in a deep voice, “Junior brother, you have already lost. Come down!”
Suddenly, a loud crash rang out. The young deity was shaken until blood sprayed from his seven orifices, and he fell to his knees with a thud.
Qi Kang the Human Sovereign withdrew his fist, grinning. “I won! Old man, it’s your turn now. Don’t embarrass me!”
Yi Shan the Human Sovereign spat a curse and stepped forward, grumbling, “I’m your teacher, after all. What do you mean by ‘embarrass you’?”
He was short and stocky. Though he was Qi Kang’s teacher, his path was completely different from Qi Kang’s—he entered the Dao through divine abilities.
Yi Shan walked to the front but did not immediately challenge Dawn Heaven Supreme’s disciples. Instead, he looked at Qin Mu, glanced at him disdainfully, and sneered, “Fighting these Supreme disciples is boring. If we’re going to fight, let’s fight the strongest. Come down!”
Qin Mu turned to Gao Huaitong apologetically. “My elder needs some discipline. Let me teach him a lesson first. Please wait a moment.”
Gao Huaitong and the others exchanged strange looks. “Are they here to block the door, or to fight their own elders?”
They heard Qin Mu roar angrily, “Old man, you’re pretty cocky, aren’t you? Three days without a beating, and you’re tearing up the roof tiles! How about you old-timers all come at once? I’ll knock you all into submission first!”
Gao Huaitong and the others looked at each other in confusion.
Over there, Qin Mu raised his hand and brought it down. With one move, Grand Empyrean Convergence into a Circle, he nearly turned Yi Shan the Human Sovereign into a flat surface hanging in the sky with no thickness at all, finally forcing Yi Shan to submit sincerely.
“That short, fat guy looks pretty weak…”
Everyone stared at the disheveled Yi Shan the Human Sovereign, and the same thought arose in their minds: “Could they be putting on a double act? That short, fat guy deliberately lost to Mu Tianzun in one move to make us underestimate him, then planned to unleash his full power and catch us off guard?”
They were misunderstanding Qin Mu and the Human Sovereigns.
Whether it was Yi Shan or Qi Kang, both had used their full strength against Qin Mu. It wasn’t that they were feigning weakness, but Qin Mu’s strength was simply too terrifying, causing them to lose in a single move as well.
As for challenging Qin Mu before fighting Dawn Heaven Supreme’s disciples, it had to do with the rules of the Human Sovereign Hall.
The rule of the Human Sovereign Hall was that disciples did not learn their master’s techniques. They had to forge their own path, different from their master’s, and the disciple had to be stronger than the master. As a result, masters tricking disciples and disciples beating masters were common occurrences.
The Human Sovereign Hall had also developed a peculiar tradition: affection skipped a generation. Masters and disciples would start fighting the moment they met, but they were very close to their grandmasters and ancestral masters.
By the time it reached Qin Mu’s generation, the rules had changed again. Qin Mu had fought his way from Qi Kang all the way to the First Ancestor Human Sovereign. Naturally, the Human Sovereigns were unwilling to accept this. Whenever they got the chance, they wanted to teach him a lesson, but every time, they ended up being taught one instead.
Each Human Sovereign stepped up to challenge, some winning and some losing. The winners celebrated, while the losers were mocked by the others. But before every challenge, they all had to call out to Qin Mu first, get beaten by him, and then cheerfully go on to challenge Dawn Heaven Supreme’s disciples.
The disciples of Dawn Heaven Supreme looked at each other, unsure whether these people had come to block the door or to get beaten by Qin Mu.
But they could also see the strength and uniqueness of these Human Sovereigns. The Human Sovereigns had cultivated only a few celestial palaces, which in theory should have put them at a disadvantage.
Yet, whether in terms of the depth of their essence and energy or the subtlety of their divine abilities, they were not inferior to the Supreme disciples—in fact, they were stronger!
This was the benefit brought by the Eternal Peace Reformation. Every generation of Human Sovereigns had cultivated the River of Heaven divine storage, and combined with the influence of the Reformation, they were no weaker than these Supreme disciples at the same level of cultivation!
Finally, it was the First Ancestor Human Sovereign’s turn.
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign stepped forward, looked at Dawn Heaven Supreme’s disciples, then at Qin Mu. He opened his mouth but said nothing.
Qin Mu understood and turned apologetically to Gao Huaitong. “This is the First Ancestor of the Human Sovereign Hall, also the hundredth-generation ancestor of the Qin family. Though I’ve been removed from the family tree, he is still my elder. I have to beat him up too.” With that, he stood up again.
Gao Huaitong was quite displeased. Ever since Qin Mu had arrived and started challenging them, his aura had been suppressed by Qin Mu, who always held the initiative.
If one had never interacted with Qin Mu, they would never know how powerful his presence was!
Gao Huaitong had previously been sent out by Dawn Heaven Supreme to serve as a feudal lord in the outer regions. Though he had heard of Qin Mu’s reputation, they had never crossed paths.
Like the other Supreme disciples, he had initially thought Qin Mu was just a lucky young man who had stumbled into the title of Tianzun. But after making contact, he realized Qin Mu was no mere name without substance.
“Tianzun, wait a moment.”
Gao Huaitong stood up, smiling. “Since this is a bet, let me handle this battle. Your internal sect competition can wait until after this fight is over.”
His method of suppressing Qin Mu’s aura was simple: decisively and cleanly defeat the First Ancestor Human Sovereign!
As long as the First Ancestor lost to him, even if the First Ancestor later lost to Qin Mu, it would not overshadow Gao Huaitong’s brilliance!
Those who could cultivate to the Imperial Throne realm were no mere names without substance. He had judged correctly!
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign watched Gao Huaitong approach, slightly bowed, then straightened his body like a mountain or an abyss. He stood unmoving, unshakable, as if he were the center of the great universe, with all the heavens and myriad realms revolving around him!
Gao Huaitong’s heart leaped. The First Ancestor Human Sovereign was not truly motionless; what was motionless was his Dao heart!
“Is this a figure from Eternal Peace? Among all their Dao hearts, this man’s is the strongest! When I returned to the Heavenly Court, my master Dawn Heaven Supreme mentioned the Kai Huang Dao realm cultivation system and praised it highly. This First Ancestor, Qin Wu, must be walking the path of the Dao realm system!”