Chapter 1369: The Flower Sea Maidens (Second Update)
Qin Mu and the others watched from afar as the battle of the celestial venerables came to an end, each lost in their own thoughts.
"The reverse side of the Ancestral Court is about to become the private garden of three celestial venerables."
The Nethermoon Crown Prince said, "All three of them have learned the Reverse Summoning divine ability. They can come and go as they please. Soon, Long Xiao won't be able to hold this place. Not only will he fail to hold it, but he might even be captured and turned into a mount."
Wei Suifeng's eyes flickered. "The three celestial venerables all have the ability to come and go freely. They retreated injured this time, but when they return, whoever heals first will subdue Long Xiao and unify the reverse side of the Ancestral Court! However, judging by their personalities, they're definitely worried that another celestial venerable might heal faster and subdue Long Xiao first. So the first thing they'll do when they get back..."
His expression turned strange. "They'll spread the news about the reverse side of the Ancestral Court and teach the Reverse Summoning divine ability to the other celestial venerables, so that no one can obtain the reverse side of the Ancestral Court, and no one can subdue Long Xiao!"
He had a thorough understanding of these three celestial venerables and grasped their way of thinking.
Since one person might gain the greatest benefit, vastly increasing their power and influence, and the chance of that person being oneself was only one in three, with a two-thirds chance of losing power and being killed by the one who gained the most—
Then, it was better to just spill the whole matter. By spilling it, one could at least secure a tenth of the benefit!
This was the optimal choice.
As for Long Xiao, he only had one path: to be eliminated by the Ten Celestial Venerables.
The benefits were only ten shares, and the Ten Celestial Venerables wouldn't share them with outsiders.
However, since Long Xiao couldn't be divided into ten parts, a dead Long Xiao was the best Long Xiao. If no one could have him, that was the best outcome.
The Nethermoon Crown Prince couldn't grasp the intricacies of this logic and said sullenly, "Wouldn't the three celestial venerables gain more benefit by splitting it into three shares?"
"Because their conflicts are irreconcilable, but the conflicts among the Ten Celestial Venerables can be reconciled. They've been compromising with each other since the Dragon Han Era, both competitors and a community of shared interests."
Wei Suifeng sighed emotionally, "Crown Prince, you should really be grateful that the Northern Emperor suppressed you for six hundred thousand years. Otherwise, in those six hundred thousand years, you would have died countless times."
The Nethermoon Crown Prince laughed. "I know I'm not very smart, so I need to learn more from you clever people. In the past, the Netherworld Emperor and the others schemed against me and never taught me how to analyze pros and cons. But you are my friends and will teach me these things."
Wei Suifeng looked at Qin Mu and probed, "Then, what should the Pastoral Celestial Venerable, who is not among the Ten Celestial Venerables, do in this situation?"
"Find Long Xiao before the Ten Celestial Venerables kill him."
Qin Mu smiled slightly. "Then tell him everything you just said, word for word, without missing a single detail. Let him know that he cannot ally with any of the Ten Celestial Venerables; his only option is to form an alliance with me."
Wei Suifeng burst into laughter, but then abruptly stopped, changing the subject. "But Long Xiao is arrogant and stubborn. He is the ruler of the reverse side of the Ancestral Court, commanding all the giant beasts here. He will harbor illusions, thinking that even in the most dangerous moment, he can still submit to a celestial venerable and maintain his status! If you go to him, you'll be walking into a trap!"
Qin Mu smiled. "Things depend on human effort. As long as there is a glimmer of hope for success, I will try."
Wei Suifeng was stunned for a moment, then sighed. "This is where I fall short of you. You see a glimmer of hope and strive to turn it into two or three glimmers, while I often just give up."
Qin Mu taught them the Reverse Summoning divine ability and said, "The Southern Heavenly Gate is here. You two bring Granny, Hua Xuanxiu, Lan Yutian, and Xu Shenghua over. Study it carefully. I will go find Long Xiao."
Wei Suifeng hesitated for a moment. "Be careful on the way."
Qin Mu laughed heartily, stuffed the Glazed Blue Sky Canopy into his hands, and drifted away. "Don't worry. Long Xiao is severely injured now; he can't do anything to me!"
Wei Suifeng and the Nethermoon Crown Prince watched him go. The Nethermoon Crown Prince said sincerely, "The Pastoral Celestial Venerable is truly an extraordinary man."
"The nine celestial venerables of the Dragon Han Era were all extraordinary. They had ambitions, pursuits, and their own ideals, which is why they could do extraordinary things and become extraordinary people."
Wei Suifeng executed the Reverse Summoning divine ability and said solemnly, "Let's summon Shu Jun, Lan Yutian, and Si Youyou over. There's no need to go back to the Ten Thousand Sacred Mountains."
The Nethermoon Crown Prince hesitated. "You also call them the Ten Thousand Sacred Mountains, but I see those ten thousand great black mountains don't look like sacred mountains at all. Instead, they seem like an extremely treacherous place, always giving me an ominous feeling..."
"The Pastoral Celestial Venerable says they are sacred mountains, so they are sacred mountains. If the sky falls, the Pastoral Celestial Venerable will hold it up!"
"That's true."
...
Qin Mu followed the trail of Long Xiao's departure, searching all the way. Long Xiao was injured and had left bloodstains, but he hadn't gone far before the bloodstains disappeared. It seemed Long Xiao had suppressed his injuries to avoid leaving a trace.
Qin Mu pondered for a moment. In the distance, a giant beast spotted him and roared as it charged toward him.
His divine consciousness erupted, imprinting itself into the beast's mind. After a moment, Qin Mu stood on the beast's forehead, searched its memories for Long Xiao's direction, and controlled the beast to run there.
Not long after, he arrived at the spot, but the beast had lost Long Xiao's trail. However, there were other giant beasts nearby. Qin Mu immediately switched to another beast, leaving the original one behind, and sped away.
He searched all the way, stopping and starting, but Long Xiao's trail grew increasingly elusive. Finally, after switching several beasts, Qin Mu found no trace of Long Xiao at all.
"Long Xiao is indeed cautious."
Qin Mu leaped down from the beast's forehead, chuckled softly, raised a finger, and gently tapped an ancient tree. "May I ask, sir, have you seen Long Xiao?"
The ancient tree, awakened by his call, suddenly gained sentience. Its roots rumbled as they pulled out of the ground, and it stood upright. Eyes and a mouth grew on its trunk, and it raised a branch to point into the distance. "He went that way."
Qin Mu thanked it and left.
The awakened tree raised a branch to scratch its crown, puzzled as to why, after basking in the sun peacefully, it could suddenly speak and walk.
Qin Mu's divine abilities were now extraordinary. They were no longer simple True Heavenly Palace awakening techniques; he could also use Netherworld Realm divine abilities to bestow souls, or divine consciousness abilities to grant the power of speech. His abilities were infinitely ingenious.
In terms of the sheer power of divine abilities in the world, many surpassed Qin Mu, but in terms of ingenuity, aside from the unfathomable Taiyi, no one could rank above him.
He searched for a long time again before losing Long Xiao's trail once more. Ahead lay a vast sea of spirit flowers, ten thousand acres wide, with countless flowers over ten feet tall swaying in the wind.
Qin Mu stomped heavily on the ground, and instantly the ten thousand acres of spirit flowers began to sway. From within the blossoms, young and beautiful maidens yawned, stretched their waists, poked their heads out, and looked around.
Qin Mu asked, "Ladies, have you seen Long Xiao?"
The girls chattered noisily. Qin Mu coughed. "Please point me in the right direction."
The girls all pointed in the same direction. Qin Mu thanked them and followed the trail.
"Ah! I'm not wearing any clothes!" one of the flower maidens exclaimed in surprise.
"Me too!"
"None of us are wearing clothes!"
"We've been seen naked!"
"Why is your chest bigger than mine? And your butt is perkier too. So ugly, they just get in the way when walking!"
...
The flower sea was bustling with activity. The girls sneaked out of their blossoms, searched for leaves, and cut them into various beautiful garments, decorating them with petals.
They also teased the big-chested girl, and the flower sea echoed with cheerful laughter.