Chapter 1493: I Will Behead You
Qin Mu also understood Granny Si’s good intentions. This time, Granny Si had actively requested to come along and deliberately brought up these matters to distract him, helping him emerge from the grief of the Cripple’s death.
He was very grateful for Granny Si’s gesture.
The maidservant of Moon Venerable came to greet them from within the peach forest, carrying a lantern to lead the way.
The peach forest had been destroyed once before, but now it had grown back. The forest connected to all the heavens and myriad realms, and Moon Venerable had hidden the entrance to Carefree Village here.
Finding the path to Carefree Village within the vast peach forest was nearly impossible. The peach forest shifted with the operation of the myriad heavens and realms, changing at every moment. Entering the forest at any given point in time presented countless possibilities.
Even the most powerful masters of numerological arts would need ten thousand years to calculate the correct path into Carefree Village. Such was the power of Moon Venerable’s Ultimate Void Sutra.
However, with Moon Venerable’s maidservant guiding them, it became much easier.
They had only taken a few steps when they passed from day to deep night, and from late autumn to early summer. In just a few paces, they experienced the alternation of the four seasons and the cycle of day and night.
The wonder of the peach forest did not end there. They also walked into other worlds, sometimes standing on a star high in the sky, overlooking the lands of the heavens below, and other times descending into the vast ocean, hearing the surging roar of the waves.
Along this journey, they passed through countless heavens and countless worlds before finally arriving before a palace.
The walls of this palace were covered with doors—far more complex than the three rooms at the end of the Tai Xu Void Bridge. Several maidservants went forward to open the doors, but behind those doors were only walls.
Yet their actions seemed to follow a certain pattern, concealing a fixed sequence of opening and closing. Soon, one door swung open, and behind it was no longer a wall, but a stretch of void.
In the void, a solitary door stood there.
“Venerable, please wait a moment.”
One of the maidservants stepped forward, walking with delicate steps to the door. She shook her sleeves, and her slender hands slid out from the cuffs. She gently knocked on the door, then stood there silently.
After a moment, a large eye actually appeared on the surface of that solitary door. The eyeball rolled around, first looking at the maidservant, then at Qin Mu and Granny Si.
The door creaked open. The maidservant took two steps back and said to Qin Mu and Granny Si, “Venerable, you may enter now.”
Granny Si clicked her tongue in wonder. She went to the door to look at the large eye, but saw that it had already closed and merged with the door.
“Granny, don’t stare. This is a spatial divine ability. The caster is probably holding a mirror; by looking into the mirror, they can see everything in front of the door.”
Qin Mu thanked the maidservants and entered the door together with Granny Si.
As they stepped across the threshold, their hearts suddenly felt a vast openness. White clouds drifted gently, green waters flowed, and blue mountains stood tall. This was a pure land envisioned by the Creators. In the sky, one could even see many majestic Creators creating stars!
Behind Qin Mu and Granny Si stood the legendary three rooms—treasures designed by Moon Venerable in her early years for the Creators of the Other Shore.
And in front of these three rooms lay a divine city floating in the air. The soldiers of Carefree Village and the Creators of the Other Shore Void were drilling in formation.
Qin Mu and Granny Si walked forward and saw that the one presiding over the grand formation was a great monk. His appearance was extraordinary, with an imposing air that inspired awe without anger, possessing the bearing of an emperor.
This great monk commanded the formation, controlling thousands of troops and myriad divine demons, leading the elite forces of Carefree Village and the Creators. He merged the divine consciousness expertise of the Creators with the divine abilities favored by Carefree Village.
The formation moved like a dragon. Under the great monk’s command, the aura of all the divine demons connected, their vital energies merging to form celestial palaces, which then became nine Ancestral Dragon Celestial Palaces!
The power of everyone merged into the great monk, making his aura surge to the heavens. Each of his strikes contained the force of a full-powered blow from a Throne Seat expert possessing nine celestial palaces—truly astonishing!
Being able to unleash the power of the dragon-shaped formation to such a degree was an eye-opening sight.
Granny Si and Qin Mu looked over there, both somewhat puzzled. “Other people strive to have different celestial palaces representing different great daos, but this great monk’s celestial palaces are all the same! Can celestial palaces really be cultivated like this?”
One type of celestial palace, one great dao. Different celestial palaces formed the Heavenly Court. After fusing thirty-six different great daos and cultivating each great dao to the perfection of the Throne Seat realm, one could achieve the true Heavenly Court realm!
This was common knowledge!
Whether it was the Ten Venerables of the Heavenly Court, or Nether Venerable and Moon Venerable, or the Dao Ancestor, Buddha Ancestor, and Nether King, or Qin Mu and Xu Shenghua—all of them cultivated this way.
But this great monk had cultivated all his celestial palaces into the same form, all embodying one great dao, forming nine Dragon Celestial Palaces. This unique method of cultivation was something Qin Mu and Granny Si had never seen before, so they couldn’t help but take a few more glances.
“Mu’er, this monk looks familiar!” Granny Si said in surprise.
Just as Qin Mu was about to speak, the great monk suddenly noticed them. His eyes lit up, and he immediately activated the formation, throwing a punch at the two of them from afar!
The great monk’s cultivation realm was not very high—at most the Jade Capital realm. But with the support of the formation, he seemed like a minor Heavenly Court expert who had cultivated all nine celestial palaces to the Throne Seat realm, possessing combat power no less than that of the Four Emperors like Nether King and White Emperor!
As this strike was unleashed, ten thousand dragons danced and roared, charging straight at the two of them!
Qin Mu raised an eyebrow and pressed his palm forward. With a hum, a Taiji diagram appeared in his palm, yin and yang interweaving, and collided fiercely with the charging ten thousand dragons!
Hum—
Qin Mu’s blood and energy surged, his hair flying backward. Behind his head, celestial palaces flew out with a clang, arranged in an orderly fashion. In an instant, a vast Heavenly Court took shape, composed of twenty-three celestial palaces, radiating divine light that filled the sky, dazzling and magnificent.
Qin Mu shifted his steps, and the divine treasure domain beneath his feet bloomed, completely blocking the power of this strike. He said in a deep voice, “His Imperial Majesty, do you intend to give me a show of force right from the start?”
This great monk was none other than Yanfeng Emperor. Seeing that Qin Mu had recognized him, he withdrew his momentum and had the myriad divine demons disperse the formation.
His aura plummeted sharply, dropping from the Throne Seat realm all the way down to the Jade Capital realm. He walked over, laughing, “Minister Qin, your cultivation has become even more profound. Even a formation like this can be withstood. How far are you from the Venerables now?”
“The gap is not too great.”
Qin Mu humbly replied, then secretly transmitted a message to Granny Si: “Granny, make yourself a bit uglier. Yanfeng Emperor has never been able to forget you.”
Granny Si shot him a glare, a half-smile on her face. “He’s not the emperor anymore. Can he still force a common woman? A retired emperor is worse than a chicken. No need to worry about him.”
Yanfeng Emperor walked up to the two of them, reluctantly tearing his gaze away from Granny Si’s face, and said admiringly, “I have already abdicated. Otherwise, seeing Youyou again, my harem would surely be in chaos! What brings you two here?”
Granny Si said with a smile, “We’ve come to find Moon Venerable and King God Langhuan.”
Yanfeng Emperor couldn’t help but be drawn to her voice again, his gaze fixed on her face, unable to look away.
Qin Mu coughed. Yanfeng Emperor laughed, “I am no longer the emperor, so I cannot be a tyrant. Youyou is still so stunningly beautiful…”
“Your Majesty, if you continue, I will behead you,” Qin Mu said flatly.
Yanfeng Emperor shuddered and said angrily, “You’ve grown bold, Minister Qin! In my little notebook, the tally marks behind your name fill over a dozen pages! I am broad-minded and have never settled accounts with you. But now you’re being petty with me. Enough of this—I’ll take you to see Moon Venerable!”
Qin Mu smiled slightly and followed his steps. Yanfeng Emperor said to Granny Si, “I have seen King God Langhuan countless times over the years. She is breathtakingly beautiful, like a celestial being, but celestial beings are too distant, too far to reach. However, Youyou’s beauty is the beauty of the mortal world. Now that I have abdicated and left all my harem beauties behind, and you are a widow, why don’t we just make do…”
Qin Mu coughed and said, “Your Majesty, I’ll make a note of that.”
Yanfeng Emperor laughed heartily and turned his face away. Qin Mu asked, “Is my junior brother also in Carefree Village?”
“Junior brother? You mean Bai Gui? Out with the old, in with the new.”
Yanfeng Emperor couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. “In the past, you always called him the Yan Kang National Teacher, but now that you are the National Teacher, you call him junior brother. He is in that divine city over there.”
He led the two of them over and said, “Although Bai Gui has been heavily relied upon by the Opening Emperor, he has been somewhat frustrated in recent years.”
Qin Mu was puzzled. “My junior brother is a genius of unparalleled brilliance. Why would he be frustrated?”
“His cultivation realm has been stuck.”
Yanfeng Emperor was silent for a moment before saying, “After I came to Carefree Village, I went through various battles, and my cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds. I also found my own path. However, Bai Gui has participated in no fewer battles than I have over the years, yet his realm has never been able to improve.”
Qin Mu asked doubtfully, “What realm is he at now?”
Yanfeng Emperor hesitated for a moment before saying, “The Jade Terrace realm. He has been struggling in recent years, unable to break through the Jade Terrace realm, and his cultivation realm even shows a trend of regressing rather than advancing. I’m worried about him…”
He shook his head and didn’t continue.
Yanfeng Emperor and the former National Teacher Jiang Baigui were a perfect pair of ruler and minister. It was the two of them who single-handedly pushed forward the reform, giving Yan Kang its present state.
Among them, Jiang Baigui was hailed as a sage. Whether in talent, aptitude, wisdom, comprehension, or the cultivation of his Dao heart, he was a flawless figure, with no weaknesses to be found!
His cultivation and strength had always been above Yanfeng Emperor’s. That he would be trapped by his realm surprised Qin Mu.
“He should be in seclusion now, cultivating in solitude. I went to see him a few times and found that his cultivation had regressed a bit each time.”
Once Yanfeng Emperor mentioned Jiang Baigui, he forgot about Granny Si. Somewhat anxiously, he said, “The Opening Emperor and Moon Venerable also went to see him. They said he had encountered the same bottleneck as the sage Wen Tian’ge. If he can’t get past it, his cultivation realm in this lifetime will probably end up like Saint Wen’s…”
Qin Mu frowned. The Woodcutter Sage was also trapped at the Jade Pool realm, unable to enter the God-Beheading Platform. Could Jiang Baigui be the same?
They arrived at Jiang Baigui’s secluded cultivation site. Qin Mu looked up and saw that above this mansion floated seventy-two precious halls, arranged in an orderly fashion, along with thirty-six celestial palaces, together forming a grand Heavenly Court!
The construction of this Heavenly Court was so perfect it was breathtaking!
Qin Mu couldn’t help but secretly admire Jiang Baigui’s talent. He thought to himself, “The National Teacher is indeed the National Teacher…”
Just then, the perfect Heavenly Court formed by the thirty-six celestial palaces and seventy-two precious halls suddenly collapsed, destroyed in an instant!
Qin Mu immediately sensed that Jiang Baigui, who was in seclusion, had suffered a severe blow, his aura plummeting!
The reason his cultivation was regressing instead of advancing was that the Heavenly Court could not stabilize, shattering again and again, destroying his Dao heart!
The three of them hurriedly rushed into the mansion, where they saw an old man with white hair sitting there, his skin wrinkled and his hair like a crane’s—indescribably aged.
Yanfeng Emperor quickly stepped forward and said gently, “Baigui, your senior brother, the one surnamed Qin, has come to see you.”
Jiang Baigui looked up blankly, his gaze falling on Qin Mu. Then he began to tremble as he tried to stand up to pay his respects.
Qin Mu stepped forward, pressed his shoulder, and said slowly, “A sage of a generation—is your Dao heart still firm?”
Jiang Baigui’s lips moved. After a moment, he said hoarsely, “Senior brother, please don’t joke…”
“Thirty-six celestial palaces, seventy-two precious halls, thirty-six innate Dao methods, plus seventy-two acquired great daos, supporting each other and advancing together—there was originally no mistake.”
Qin Mu offered guidance. “The fault is not yours, nor is it the Woodcutter Teacher’s. The fault lies in the incomplete realms. Your realm lacks the Four Heavenly Gates realm. Once the Four Heavenly Gates open, the great Heavenly Court will be stable, unassailable!”
He spread his palm, and in the center of his palm appeared a piece of Ancestral Court. Between its front and back, it revealed the Four Heavenly Gates.
Jiang Baigui’s cloudy eyes gradually brightened as he stared fixedly at the Ancestral Court in his palm.
(Taking the child to tutoring classes, two chapters will be updated together in the evening)
Zhaizhu went to send the child to tutoring classes this morning. The midday chapter couldn’t make it, so two chapters will be updated together in the evening.
Speaking of which, the Ministry of Education’s burden reduction policy only makes the burden heavier. Teachers don’t teach much in class, so if you want good grades, the children still have to attend tutoring on Saturdays and Sundays.
Before, it was my wife who took the child to classes. Now, Zhaizhu is responsible for picking up and dropping off morning and evening. When I asked around, I was shocked—there are three classes on Sunday: one in the morning and two in the afternoon. That means only during the afternoon class time do I have time to write.
In the near future, for a period of time, Zhaizhu will have to take the child to and from school. Let me say it again: updates will be unstable, and I can only manage six or seven thousand words per day. Seeing some readers come to scold me, saying I’m not on time or writing too little, it makes me feel very sad. Please understand.