Chapter 1359: The Cruel Truth (Fourth Update)
"If it's possible to avoid conflict with an existence like Long Xiao, it's best to steer clear."
Qin Mu couldn't help but feel a twinge of worry. Long Xiao was far too powerful. When the Earth Mother Primordial Sovereign had summoned him, those nine heads had blotted out the sky—a truly awe-inspiring sight. Qin Mu had no desire to offend such a formidable being.
He continued his actions, tracking the trail of Shu Jun's soul.
The aura of Shu Jun's soul grew clearer and clearer. Qin Mu's spirits lifted. His connection with Shu Jun was also becoming more distinct, and now he could clearly sense Shu Jun's precise location.
"He's still alive, after all!"
Qin Mu felt slightly relieved. He sensed many people together with Shu Jun, likely including Lan Yutian, Xu Shenghua, and the First Ancestor.
As long as these people were alive, he could find a way to pull them out of the Backside of the Ancestral Court and plan for the long term.
Whoosh—
Qin Mu led the group, their divine consciousness surging forward like a mighty tide. They quickly neared Shu Jun and the others. Once within close range, he could immediately use his divine consciousness to form a summoning divine ability, sweeping Shu Jun and the others away and summoning them to the Great Dark Mountain!
Just then, Shu Jun's divine consciousness suddenly touched Qin Mu's. In an instant, Shu Jun understood his intention, and his consciousness was filled with panic: "Celestial Venerable Mu, run—"
Qin Mu was momentarily stunned, not understanding the meaning, and was about to ask when Shu Jun's divine consciousness fluctuated violently: "Long Xiao is here! He's trapped us all! He noticed you long ago and is waiting for you to walk right into the trap!"
Qin Mu was horrified and immediately withdrew his divine consciousness!
Suddenly, the void shook violently. An incredibly terrifying wave of divine consciousness cut across the moment Qin Mu's and Shu Jun's consciousness touched, separating the two!
Divine consciousness has no physical form; it is merely thought and awareness. Yet this terrifying consciousness felt like a tangible object, like a mountain range spanning heaven and earth, blocking the path of Qin Mu and the others' consciousness.
Shua—
A blindingly bright light shone. Wei Suifeng, Granny Si, Youming Crown Prince, and the others felt their own consciousness and thoughts melting away like snow under a scorching sun.
They seemed to witness a scene both magnificent and horrifying: nine dragon heads that filled heaven and earth crammed their "field of vision" of consciousness, causing their own consciousness to continuously collapse and disintegrate!
Long Xiao—that terrifying ancient creature whose strength was close to that of the Grand Emperor—merely by manifesting his divine consciousness, was enough to make them unable to withstand it!
"Supreme Divine Consciousness of the Grand Dao!"
Qin Mu's imitation of the Grand Emperor's Supreme Divine Consciousness Domain erupted. As the domain expanded, everything became incredibly slow, as if time itself was condensing!
Long Xiao's terrifying divine consciousness was also affected. The process of it invading his Supreme Divine Consciousness Domain was stretched infinitely, unable to destroy their consciousness in one fell swoop!
Of course, time did not actually stop. This was merely an illusion created by the Supreme Divine Consciousness Domain, a suppression of the invader's consciousness within the domain.
The pressure was mutual. Qin Mu's Supreme Divine Consciousness Domain was only a pseudo-domain; his divine consciousness Grand Dao had not been cultivated to the Grand Emperor's level. While he restricted Long Xiao's consciousness invasion, the pressure on himself was also skyrocketing!
His Supreme Divine Consciousness Domain emitted a series of crackling explosions. Alarming fissures appeared in the void of the domain, and cracks even appeared in his own consciousness from the pressure!
Long Xiao was simply too powerful to suppress!
However, Qin Mu finally gained a sliver of an opportunity. He immediately sent the consciousness of Wei Suifeng, Granny Si, and the others back to the Great Dark Mountain.
The group awoke on the Great Dark Mountain altar, their consciousness returning to their respective physical bodies. Granny Si, Wen Yuan Ancestral Master, and the others immediately checked Qin Mu's physical body. They saw that his primordial spirit was still there, but his divine consciousness had not returned!
"Damn it, has Celestial Venerable Mu's consciousness been trapped by that invincible creature?"
"This is terrible! That creature is too terrifying!"
...
The group fell into a panic. Wei Suifeng said in a deep voice, "Everyone, don't panic! If my junior brother could send us back, he can definitely get out himself. The reason he hasn't returned directly is probably because he wants to meet Long Xiao."
Granny Si, Wen Yuan Ancestral Master, and the others breathed a sigh of relief. Worry had clouded their judgment; they hadn't thought of this, so they had lost their composure.
Since Qin Mu could send them back, he could certainly escape on his own.
"This kid, his guts are way too big."
Granny Si gritted her teeth and said angrily, "He deserves a good spanking!"
As soon as she said this, everyone's eyes lit up. Youming Crown Prince coughed and said, "Daoist friend Si, you must keep your word. You can't just talk big and not follow through."
Wei Suifeng, Yu Chudu, and others nodded vigorously, saying, "As an existence who has entered the Dao through divine abilities, your words carry the force of law. You can't break your promise."
Long Qilin also excitedly wagged his tail, wanting to speak but fearing Qin Mu would notice. The little blue bird on his forehead raised a wing in agreement.
Granny Si still couldn't bear to do it, so she had to say, "We'll talk about it after he comes back..."
Suddenly, the nine-layered altar shook violently. A vast and profound divine consciousness reached the Great Dark Mountain from another space, lifting Qin Mu's physical body off the altar. Even the nine-layered altar itself was being lifted, about to fly into that other space!
The people on the altar staggered. Youming Crown Prince and Wei Suifeng were the first to react, each reaching out and grabbing one of Qin Mu's legs to prevent him from being pulled into the Backside of the Ancestral Court!
Their hearts were filled with terror. The owner of this divine consciousness was undoubtedly Long Xiao. This terrifying creature had followed the trail of Qin Mu and the others' consciousness back here, attempting a reverse summoning to pull Qin Mu's physical body into the Backside of the Ancestral Court!
Even though Wei Suifeng and Youming Crown Prince were both at the peak of the Imperial Throne realm, they were no match for Long Xiao's terrifying divine consciousness summoning. Their bodies were lifted, floating involuntarily in the air.
"Hold him!"
Wei Suifeng roared. His primordial spirit erupted, his celestial palace floating behind him. His primordial spirit rose from the imperial throne with a bang, fully mobilizing his divine power.
On the other side, Youming Crown Prince's Black Tortoise primordial spirit floated into the air, also exerting his full strength, desperately trying to hold onto Qin Mu's body.
Others also joined in, finally pulling Qin Mu's physical body back down onto the nine-layered altar!
However, to their horror, the nine-layered altar itself also flew up, heading towards the other space!
The moment Qin Mu's feet landed on the altar, his eyes suddenly snapped open. His primordial spirit flew up with a whoosh, landing behind him, and he bellowed: "Divine Treasury Domain!"
His primordial spirit became immensely vast. The moment it landed on the altar, all the runes on the nine-layered altar lit up. The runes of the summoning altar reversed, countless runes changing simultaneously, performing a reverse summoning to try and pull his own divine consciousness back!
Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Their combined power, plus the nine-layered altar, was evenly matched against Long Xiao's summoning. The two sides were locked in a stalemate in the air, wrestling for power, neither able to suppress the other.
"Use the Glazed Azure Heavenly Canopy!"
Mute roared. Blind, Youming Crown Prince, Wei Suifeng, and the others snapped to attention. The power of the Glazed Azure Heavenly Canopy, the number one ultimate treasure of its time, erupted instantly. The power of all the treasures within its twenty-eight layers exploded simultaneously, pressing down on the nine-layered altar, finally suppressing Long Xiao's summoning.
The nine-layered altar crashed heavily to the ground, and everyone finally relaxed.
The Glazed Azure Heavenly Canopy truly lived up to its reputation as the number one ultimate treasure. Coupled with the continuous reforging by Blind and Mute leading the Eternal Peace artisans, its power had surpassed its former self by an unknown degree.
Although it lacked the Taishu Divine Egg as its core, making it slightly less versatile in its transformations, its raw power had increased many times over.
Qin Mu's primordial spirit remained in a daze, clearly not having retrieved his divine consciousness.
Everyone exchanged glances, their expressions turning grim again.
Meanwhile, in the Backside of the Ancestral Court, Qin Mu's divine consciousness condensed into his own form, floating before Long Xiao's divine consciousness. His robes fluttered, and he said with a smile, "Long Xiao, the mount of King Bo Yang, can we talk now?"
"King Bo Yang's mount?"
Long Xiao's divine consciousness suddenly burst into laughter, a look of mockery appearing on its face: "Young creator, you are mistaken. The three great Primordial Kings were not Bo Yang, Shu Jun, and Gong Jun. They were Long Xiao, Shu Jun, and Gong Jun. King Bo Yang was my mount!"
—I barely managed to save two chapters of drafts, but after two days on a business trip to Nanjing, they're gone again. Tears streaming~ Zhai Zhu is trying hard to save up drafts again, but I have to go out again in a couple of days, and the Year of the Pig is almost here. Speaking of the Year of the Pig, if you don't vote for Zhai Zhu's *The Legend of the Shepherd God*, your New Year's pork won't taste good, hmph~~~