Chapter 1317: Refining into a Treasure (First Update)
The Imperial Head was struggling to escape when suddenly the ground around it shifted, and with a series of booming sounds, the earth rose up, forming five mineral veins!
One vein shimmered with the Dao of Grand Simplicity, another swirled with the energies of Yin and Yang, a third transformed with the substance and form of the Dao of Grand Purity, and a fourth turned into a formless, intangible mountain of the Dao of Grand Beginning.
Only the last vein, though it rose, carried no aura of any Great Dao.
Four of these five mineral veins pressed down on the Imperial Head, and four different Great Daos invaded his body, suppressing his divine consciousness and branding seals of the four primordial Daos onto the consciousness within his mind!
The Imperial Emperor’s divine consciousness was instantly locked, unable to be mobilized any further, yet he burst into laughter: “Pastoral Celestial Venerable, was your numerology taught by the Martial Combat Heavenly Master? There are clearly only four mineral veins here, yet you insist on calling it the Five Veins!”
Qin Mu’s face darkened.
He had never comprehended the Dao of Grand Ease, so naturally he couldn’t use it to seal the Imperial Emperor.
The reason he called it the Five Vein Great Seal was because there were five major mineral veins in the Ancestral Court, and he had just said it offhandedly.
Suddenly, he grunted, blood spurting from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and wounds exploded all over his body, also spraying blood everywhere.
The Imperial Emperor struggled fiercely, trying to gather his chaotic divine consciousness to break the seal, and seeing this, he laughed mockingly: “Pastoral Celestial Venerable, you’ve sealed me, but so what? Your injuries are even worse than mine!”
Qin Mu’s expression grew even darker. Trembling, he pulled out a small basket filled with spiritual pills the Pharmacist had refined for him.
That night when the powerful beings from the previous epoch invaded, the Pharmacist had specially refined a basket of spiritual pills. Qin Mu and the others hadn’t used them all, and some remained, which he had kept for emergencies.
The Imperial Emperor’s divine consciousness couldn’t be condensed or focused. His head fled in all directions but was refined smaller and smaller by the four-vein seal, and the pressure from all sides grew heavier, preventing his escape. He still laughed: “Surnamed Qin, it’s impressive you’ve come this far, but unfortunately, you can’t kill me either, only suppress me. Once you’re worn down to death, I’ll still be the winner!”
Qin Mu continued to refine the medicinal power, saying nothing.
The Imperial Emperor laughed: “Cloud Celestial Venerable killed me, and so what? After his death, I still threw his primordial spirit into the Ultimate Void, suppressed within the Divine Consciousness Grand Paradise. Ling Celestial Venerable restrained me, and so what? Wasn’t she killed by me and forced to seal herself in the Heavenly River? Pastoral Celestial Venerable, you’ll meet the same fate.”
Qin Mu catalyzed the medicinal power, suppressing his injuries, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The Imperial Emperor’s head had already been refined by the four-vein seal to the size of a bushel basket, while the four mineral veins were also shrinking.
Qin Mu urged the remnant sword, cutting the ground into a circular disk, then infused some Grand Beginning runes, altering the material structure of the fertile soil, and refined the four-vein seal into a seal stamp about ten feet square.
On this treasure seal were four dragon-shaped mountain ranges, and at the center of these four dragon ranges was the Imperial Emperor’s head, like a pearl trapped by the mouths of four dragons.
Of course, the pearl wasn’t perfectly round.
This treasure seal was still too large. Qin Mu tried to use his own power to refine it smaller, but his injuries were too severe, so he gave up.
Letting the four-vein seal continue to refine, the treasure seal should slowly shrink.
The Imperial Emperor’s head, trapped in the center of the seal, couldn’t escape, and he laughed heartily: “Do you know I have the identity of Qiang Heavenly Consort and the imprint of my Dao fruit in the Grand Paradise? You should know that sealing me is utterly useless. Do you think Qiang Heavenly Consort won’t kill you? Do you think my Dao fruit imprint will let you off? You’re just another trophy I’m about to harvest!”
Qin Mu straightened his clothes, took out a mirror to examine his face, carefully washed off the bloodstains, and checked his wounds to ensure no scars would remain.
The Imperial Emperor watched him, sneering: “I won’t kill you directly. I’ll slowly torment you, make you taste every pain in the world, make you wish you were dead but unable to die!”
Qin Mu took out a comb, combed his disheveled hair in front of the mirror, and after tidying up, examined himself several times. Finding no flaws, he put away the mirror and comb.
The Imperial Emperor fell silent, watching Qin Mu rinse his mouth to clear the blood.
Only then did Qin Mu turn to look at him, reaching out to grab the Imperial Emperor’s head at the center of the seal. The Imperial Emperor’s face darkened, and he said coldly: “Pastoral Celestial Venerable, are you sure you want to do this?”
Qin Mu had already lifted the seal by gripping his head. The Imperial Emperor snorted angrily: “You can refine my head into a divine weapon, but first, erase my divine consciousness! A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated! If you erase my consciousness, you can do whatever you want with my corpse!”
Qin Mu laughed heartily, set down the seal, and the Imperial Emperor’s head rolled once within the four-vein seal, his long hair curling up again as he sneered: “That’s more like it. Pastoral Celestial Venerable, speak. What do you want?”
Qin Mu said gently: “Cloud Celestial Venerable’s soul. As long as you give me Cloud Celestial Venerable’s soul, I’ll let you go, and you won’t have to suffer this humiliation.”
“Impossible!”
The Imperial Emperor’s head said decisively: “Cloud Celestial Venerable’s soul was sent by me into the Ultimate Void, trapped in the Grand Paradise. If I release him, and you have his physical body, wouldn’t he be resurrected? One of you is already a headache; I absolutely won’t release Cloud Celestial Venerable! Besides, my head isn’t worth as much as Cloud Celestial Venerable! Change the terms!”
Qin Mu frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and tested: “Imperial Emperor, your head is still very valuable. You’re revered as the strongest physical body of prehistoric times. I’ve heard many Creators say that even the Heavenly Emperor’s physical body isn’t as good as yours. Now you only have this head left. If you find the Primordial Origin Stone, you can still rebuild your body. Won’t you consider it?”
The Imperial Emperor shook his head: “Even if I find the Primordial Origin Stone and rebuild my body, it will never match my original body. I can’t find billions of Creators to sacrifice to me anymore; I can never return to my peak state. Heh, if Hao Celestial Venerable hadn’t worn down my head and severed one of my arms, how could I have been injured to this extent by the Four Celestial Venerables?”
This head of his was created by visualizing the Primordial Origin Stone, not his original physical head.
His original head had been worn down and refined by Hao Celestial Venerable using the Guixu Great Divine Ability during the Grand Emptiness War!
This new head couldn’t compare to the original.
The Imperial Emperor continued: “Moreover, even if I could return to my peak state, I wouldn’t be the strongest physical body. The Heavenly Emperor’s physical body has always been a notch above mine.”
Qin Mu’s heart stirred slightly.
The Heavenly Emperor and the Imperial Emperor both bore the title of strongest physical body, but who was stronger had never been settled.
For the Imperial Emperor, although the Creators gnashed their teeth in hatred, they unanimously agreed that his physical body was the strongest in history.
As for the Heavenly Emperor’s physical body, it was recognized by all Celestial Venerables from the Dragon Han era to the present as the strongest.
Which of these two deities had the stronger body was hard to judge.
Now, the Imperial Emperor himself admitted that the Heavenly Emperor’s physical body was stronger, finally resolving this long-standing mystery.
“Since you won’t release Cloud Celestial Venerable’s soul, then let’s trade for Ling Celestial Venerable.”
Qin Mu said with a smile: “When I rescue Ling Celestial Venerable, you’ll let me take her away without interference.”
The Imperial Emperor’s head laughed heartily: “Cloud Celestial Venerable is at least dead. Even if you revive him, it’ll take years for him to cultivate to the point of contending with the Ten Celestial Venerables! But once Ling Celestial Venerable is rescued, her combat power can match the Ten Celestial Venerables! Pastoral Celestial Venerable, your calculations are too clever, but I’m not stupid!”
Qin Mu flew into a rage, grabbed the Imperial Emperor’s head, lifted the seal, and struck out with it!
“Surnamed Qin, you humiliate me—you’re dead!”
—Wishing readers Lonely and Gege Wu a happy birthday (apologies for the belated wishes, two days late~)