Chapter 1424: The Great Pit Celestial Venerable (Third Update)
Beside the Execution Platform in the Ancestral Court, Qin Mu watched as the two blood-tinged soul-slaying blades swept past above his head, yet even the peachwood hairpin in his hand had not unleashed the Immutable Technique.
Qiang Tianfei appeared on the Execution Platform with an ashen face, the two streaks of blood-colored baleful energy swirling around her.
Qiang Tianfei gently raised her delicate jade hand, and the rough dragon scales of the two blood-tinged soul-slaying blades slid slowly across her palm.
Qin Mu smiled as he looked at her, saying, "Heavenly Consort..."
"Shut up!"
Qiang Tianfei snarled viciously, "Say one more word, and I'll grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes, send your primordial spirit to the Ultimate Void, and trap you in the Divine Consciousness Great Firmament forever!"
Qin Mu quickly fell silent.
Qiang Tianfei was one of the few Celestial Venerables who could handle him. After all, she was the Grand Emperor, and her Divine Consciousness Great Firmament technique was unrivaled. Even Yun Celestial Venerable's primordial spirit had been cast into the Divine Consciousness Great Firmament, let alone Qin Mu's.
Even if Qin Mu could use the Immutable Technique to fight to the death, it would only destroy Qiang Tianfei, not harm the Grand Emperor's true essence.
Qiang Tianfei stared at the two blood-tinged soul-slaying blades, her eyelids twitching uncontrollably. Qin Mu's eyelids also twitched, and he muttered uneasily to himself.
After a moment, Qiang Tianfei exhaled a turbid breath and murmured, "This palace... How should I, the Emperor, deal with you, Mu Celestial Venerable? I kindly lent you the Execution Platform, yet you were insatiably greedy and nearly destroyed my precious treasure!"
Qin Mu quickly said, "Dao brother, you were also ill-intentioned. You planned to use this Execution Platform to eliminate me, but you were afraid of being implicated, so you never came. If I had died here, you would have feigned ignorance..."
Qiang Tianfei glared at him fiercely, and Qin Mu shut his mouth.
Qiang Tianfei's chest heaved violently. After another moment, she said something that made Qin Mu's hair stand on end: "You and the other four absorbed so much baleful energy from the Execution Platform. How many more people must I kill, how many more wars must I incite, to nurture these two blades back to their peak state?"
Qin Mu shuddered several times.
"From the ancient era to the present, the creators fought endless battles, with countless large and small campaigns. Especially the war that wiped out the creators, which caused the extinction of the creators in the Ancestral Court. The baleful energy from these battles was absorbed by the Execution Platform, nurturing these two divine blades."
Qiang Tianfei's gaze swept over, icy and cold, as she said flatly, "Mu Celestial Venerable, tell me, how many more wars must I provoke to forge them?"
Qin Mu's eyes flickered, and he said, "The campaign to conquer the Heavenly Duke is imminent. Your Highness, if you want to forge the Soul-Slaying Mysterious Blades, don't miss this opportunity."
Qiang Tianfei snorted, released the two blades, and stood on the platform with her hands behind her back: "The Xuan Capital battle is the battle where the Heavenly Duke falls. The Heavenly Duke is Ancestral Divine King's prey. Ancestral Divine King will eliminate the Heavenly Duke, absorb his power, and become the new Heavenly Duke. If I go, wouldn't I be antagonizing Ancestral Divine King?"
Qin Mu looked up at the Heavenly Consort on the Execution Platform and said tentatively, "Ancestral Divine King alone cannot handle the Heavenly Duke. Moreover, if Ancestral Divine King absorbs the Heavenly Duke's power, his cultivation and strength will likely skyrocket, possibly reaching the perfection of the Heavenly Court realm. By then, will Ancestral Divine King still tolerate the other Celestial Venerables? Where does baleful energy come from? It comes from slaughter! The place with the heaviest baleful energy in the world is undoubtedly where the Heavenly Palace falls! Even the Heavenly Dao will stir baleful energy for the Heavenly Duke!"
Qiang Tianfei raised an eyebrow and said, "Go on."
Qin Mu's spirits lifted, and he said solemnly, "When the Heavenly Dao stirs baleful energy, it will be incredibly fierce. Your Highness, take the Execution Platform and the two blades there, forge them into unparalleled treasures, and surpass all others. On the offensive, you can seize the Heavenly Duke's cultivation; on the defensive, you can protect yourself. Why not do it?"
Qiang Tianfei pondered.
Qin Mu's words had indeed moved her.
The battle of the Heavenly Duke's fall would surely be steeped in baleful energy, no less than the Blood Rust Campaign that wiped out the creators back then.
To restore these two soul-slaying blades to their peak state, or even to form a perfect, tangible form, she had to go to Xuan Capital!
Her ambition didn't stop there.
She even wanted to plunge the two blades into the Heavenly Duke's body as he died, seizing all his life force and blood energy!
By then, the two blades would surely reach perfection, becoming supreme treasures far surpassing their former selves!
However...
"Mu Celestial Venerable, you little brat, would you really give me advice?"
Qiang Tianfei said with a smile, "When others give advice, they dig a pit. When you give advice, you dig a chasm! And not just one chasm, but a whole series of chasms! Falling into your pit means you'll lose several layers of skin even if you survive!"
She knew this all too well.
After the Grand Emperor escaped, he sought out Qin Mu and fell into the chasm Qin Mu had dug. Qin Mu promised him the Primal Chaos Primordial Stone to block Hao Celestial Venerable, but that battle nearly crippled the Grand Emperor's physical body!
Later, Qin Mu only gave him three-quarters of the Primal Chaos Primordial Stone.
Then, in the Ancestral Court, Qin Mu gave the Grand Emperor another idea: use the Void Mother Beast to lure Langxuan Divine King into making a move and ambush him.
As a result, while Langxuan was indeed ambushed, the Grand Emperor was beaten down to just his head by the Four Celestial Venerables.
The Grand Emperor's head went to Qin Mu for revenge, only to be refined into a great seal by Qin Mu's Four Ore Great Seal. Even then, Qin Mu was still giving the Grand Emperor advice with a warm-hearted demeanor.
Thinking of these things, Qiang Tianfei ground her teeth in hatred. Yet even she had to admit that Qin Mu's ideas always seemed like good ones, but during implementation, all sorts of problems would arise, turning them into one bad idea after another, a chasm following a chasm.
Qin Mu protested, "Your Highness, is there anything wrong with my suggestion just now? I am wholeheartedly thinking for you, standing in your shoes, with no selfish motives at all!"
Although she was reluctant to admit it, Qiang Tianfei had to concede that every time Qin Mu gave advice, even if it was terrible, he indeed seemed to stand in her shoes and think for her, with no apparent selfishness.
It was precisely because of this that she had stumbled three times in a row, barely managing to crawl out of the pit.
Qin Mu looked at her eagerly, his eyes full of anticipation: "Your Highness, imagine forging two supreme treasures, seizing all the Heavenly Duke's life force and blood energy. Among the Ten Celestial Venerables, who would dare to contend with you? Who would dare to kick and wrestle with you? Xiao Celestial Venerable, Kaihuang—they aren't even fit to polish your shoes! Hao Celestial Venerable can only be your dog!"
"Enough, enough! You're getting more and more outrageous."
Qiang Tianfei waved her hand and said, "Don't keep looking at me with that expression, like you're expecting me to take the bait. I need to think carefully about whether to jump into this pit of yours..."
She paced back and forth, hesitating.
Qin Mu whispered, "Your Highness, opportunity knocks but once. The Heavenly Duke is only one. Once he's dead, there won't be a next time..."
Qiang Tianfei glanced at him and said in surprise, "You're still here? Go, go. I won't hold you accountable for damaging my treasure. Just stop disturbing my thoughts."
Qin Mu bowed deeply, then turned and left.
Behind him, on the Execution Platform, Qiang Tianfei stared at his retreating figure. She quietly raised her hand, her palm holding the Divine Consciousness Great Firmament technique. But she raised her hand, thought for a moment, and then lowered it.
Yet before her hand fell, a murderous glint flashed in her eyes, and she raised it again.
Still, she didn't unleash her technique, hesitating in her heart.
Suddenly, Qin Mu let out an "Ah!" and fell to the ground. With a bang, he exploded into a cloud of black smoke and dissipated.