Chapter 1441: A Beauty on the River (Fourth Update)
Qin Mu, the Butcher, and the other five departed, leaving behind those Sun Guards and the Xuan Du populace. After a moment, they began to set sail, heading for the Yuan Realm. Each person’s heart was a mix of a hundred different flavors.
They would settle in the Yuan Realm, and the stories of Qin Mu, the Butcher, Zhe Huali, Luo Wushuang, and Tian Shu would likely be passed down through the generations.
Zhe Huali let out a long sigh, glanced at Qin Mu, and chuckled, “After cursing them out, I feel much better. Mu Tianzun, you’re an honest man…”
He quickly added, “Honest at your core. You’re only cunning and deceitful toward your enemies. But when it comes to your own people, ordinary folks, you’re too honest. You can’t bear to harm your own, to harm common people. You won’t even say a harsh word, don’t want to. I’m not like you.”
He was brimming with spirit, raising his voice: “If I have something to say, I say it! If I have grievances, I pour them out! If I do good deeds, I want them known! I can’t let good people suffer injustice, and I can’t let bad people strut around! Those bastards are always too harsh on good people! A villain may have ten thousand flaws, but if they have even one good point, they’ll be praised. A good person may have ten thousand virtues, but one single flaw will get them cursed to death! I can’t stand it!”
Tian Shu laughed heartily, “Demon Blade Zhe Huali, your thoughts are as unblocked and magnificent as your blade!”
Zhe Huali tightened the Demon Blade Dragon Fang on his back and smiled freely, “I just don’t want the friends I respect to bear a bad reputation! Qin Cult Leader, Mu Tianzun, Beast, Qin Demolisher, Mu Thief—whatever you call him, he’s my friend, someone I respect. He has all sorts of little flaws, but on matters of right and wrong, he’s never made a mistake!”
Qin Mu’s eyes reddened, but he smiled.
Luo Wushuang showed a faint smile, saying, “My disciple…”
He quickly added, “Formerly.”
The Butcher glanced at him, saying, “Formerly your disciple, but he learned too many rules from you. It wasn’t until he spent some time with me that he learned properly.”
Luo Wushuang’s face darkened, and he said no more.
Qin Mu smiled as he looked at them. These people were his friends; one was even an elder, but they were more like good teachers and honest companions. Having such friends was truly a great blessing!
His cultivation was recovering rapidly. The Jade Terrace in the Ancestral Court, along with the Jade Terrace realms in his various Heavenly Palaces, gave him an astonishing recovery speed.
Of course, his current cultivation was too deep. Even with such speed, it would take a few days to return to his peak state.
Qin Mu also took out spiritual medicines gathered from the Ancestral Court to refine elixirs for quickly restoring his vitality. He used both methods simultaneously, to avoid being unable to escape if Hong Tianzun came looking for them.
Hong Tianzun was determined to obtain the Heavenly Net Dao Soldiers. Even if he got forty-eight of the forty-nine Heavenly Dao Soldiers, without the Heavenly Net Dao Soldier, they were merely powerful treasures.
Only by obtaining the Heavenly Net Dao Soldier could he integrate the power of all these soldiers into a single, supremely powerful Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasure—far stronger than the one forged by Ancestral God King!
“So Hong Tianzun won’t go after those Xuan Du people; he’ll come after us.”
Qin Mu’s eyes flickered. The five of them flew together toward the direction of the Heavenly Duke.
The Heavenly Duke was majestic beyond measure, impossible to see in its entirety. Along the way, they saw more divine cities. Xuan Du had forty-nine major divine cities, named after the forty-nine Heavenly Dao principles.
In the ancient era, these cities were built around the Heavenly River, extremely old.
During the Dragon Han era, the Heavenly Court was established, forcing the Heavenly River to flow past the Southern Heavenly Gate. The river’s course changed little.
But by the mid-to-late Dragon Han era, the Heavenly Court moved out of the Yuan Realm, causing the Heavenly River to change course. Xuan Du no longer had the Heavenly River, leaving only these forty-nine divine cities and the ancient riverbed.
Now, the Heavenly River had returned to its original course. The ancient riverbed surged with roaring waters, reflecting the starlight of Xuan Du in a dazzling, enchanting display.
Yet this time, it brought only death!
The most magnificent city, Heavenly Square City, had already been destroyed. It was the gateway to resist the Heavenly Court’s army, where the Heavenly River flowed into Xuan Du. Heavenly Square City was Xuan Du’s portal.
Emperor Qing had gathered his forces there to block the Heavenly Court’s army, precisely because Heavenly Square City was so crucial.
Heavenly Square City had concentrated Xuan Du’s strongest power, leaving the other divine cities much weaker. The Heavenly Court’s army had already arrived here. Along the way, Qin Mu and the others saw city after city destroyed, shattered into pieces.
These cities had fewer troops, far inferior to Heavenly Square City, so they were easily broken without even needing a Heavenly Venerate.
Along the way, they saw countless Xuan Du divine beings captured, imprisoned in cages—trophies for the various Heavenly Court generals.
As for the countless corpses floating in the starry sky, the dead included gods and demons, but far more were ordinary beings living in Xuan Du.
They were half-gods, but among the half-gods were ordinary creatures who couldn’t cultivate or could barely reach the divine realm.
Countless Xuan Du beings were also captured, herded into the holds of warships. These people, along with the captured Xuan Du divine beings, would become slaves for the generals, sent to various places or sold to mines in the various heavens.
“Who would have thought, back when Xuan Du was so lofty, that it would come to this?” Tian Shu sighed with deep emotion.
They sped up, avoiding the Heavenly Court’s army, heading toward the Heavenly Duke in Xuan Du.
The Heavenly Dao killing intent grew thicker and stronger. The Heavenly Malice was so fierce that the Execution Platform in Qin Mu and the others’ Heavenly Palaces grew more powerful, the killing intent forming blades that howled and raged across the platform.
Though their cultivation was improving, the five of them felt heavy-hearted.
The stronger the Heavenly Malice, the greater the number of divine beings and living creatures who had died in Xuan Du.
“Will the killing intent coalesce into a fiftieth Heavenly Dao Soldier?” the Butcher murmured.
“No, Qiang Tianfei will bring the Execution Platform from the Ancestral Court’s sacred ground and sweep away all the Heavenly Malice.”
Qin Mu’s eyes flickered, saying, “The Grand Emperor won’t miss this chance to let the Execution Mysterious Blade mature!”
Suddenly, the sound of a zither came, and space rippled rapidly. Qin Mu’s heart stirred. Following the sound, he saw a beautiful figure flash past the Heavenly River, with Fire Heavenly Venerate’s figure behind her.
Fire Heavenly Venerate held the Dao Fire Ancestral Land in one hand, the massive nine-tiered Dao Fire Altar above his head, striding forward with a towering figure, chasing Moon Heavenly Venerate.
“Is there a chance to ambush Fire Heavenly Venerate?”
Just as he thought this, he felt a sudden sensation and quickly looked back. There, Hong Tianzun, with wide sleeves fluttering, was approaching through the void.
“Let’s go!”
Qin Mu’s figure rose, and he was about to use spatial techniques to evade Hong Tianzun with the other four, when suddenly a patch of starry sky appeared in Xuan Du.
At first, it was just a small galaxy, but it quickly spun and expanded. Vast divine consciousness manifested in Xuan Du, turning the imaginary into reality, causing stars to swell and form a barrier between Hong Tianzun and Qin Mu’s group.
“Lang Wan Divine King!”
Hong Tianzun chuckled lightly, striding across that starry sky. But then he saw one of the stars suddenly evolve into a heavenly realm, catching him off guard and plunging him into it.
“A mere trick.”
Hong Tianzun sneered, leaping up to escape that heavenly realm, passing through layers of stars. Yet as soon as he emerged, he found himself in another heavenly realm.
Layer upon layer of heavenly realms, like paintings within paintings, flowers within flowers, stacked one over another, one covering another.
Seeing Hong Tianzun trapped, Qin Mu relaxed and looked toward the source of the divine consciousness. There, Lang Wan Divine King walked on the Heavenly River, cold and aloof, starlight flowing like flowers beneath her feet.
Where she passed, the Heavenly Court’s army fell silent, setting down their drums and weapons, staring at her in a daze. Only after she had gone did they seem to wake from a dream, and the slaughter resumed.
Qin Mu gazed at the beauty on the river. She looked back at him and waved from afar.