Chapter 1620: You, I Collect
Qin Mu returned to the Ferry of the World Gold Ship, looking down at the Southern Heaven. The various heavens of the Southern Heaven hung like bright pearls in the universe, shimmering with light and brilliant colors.
Fire Heavenly Venerate of the Dragon Han Era, once a Celestial, had finally fallen in this battle, filling his heart with much melancholy.
"Amidst power and desire, it is difficult for people to hold fast to their original hearts; they often easily sink and lose themselves?"
Qin Mu thought silently to himself: "Fire Heavenly Venerate must have lost himself the moment Imperial Heavenly Venerate died. In the end, he sank deeper and deeper, until today, he has completely forgotten what he once looked like back then."
He recalled returning to a million years ago, the scene at the Jade Pool banquet when he met Fire Heavenly Venerate. At that time, Fire Heavenly Venerate was a spirited and ambitious youth, a kind person. He felt that Qin Mu's praise and encouragement of Ling Heavenly Venerate's research on the Unchangeable Divine Art had harmed her, and thus he fought fiercely with Qin Mu.
Even after being defeated by Qin Mu, he held no grudge.
That Fire Heavenly Venerate was the true Fire Heavenly Venerate. But after Imperial Heavenly Venerate died, that Fire Heavenly Venerate also died.
"Pity, from beginning to end, he never awakened, never did one last good deed. He educated the people of the Southern Heaven into slaves, but before his death, he could not make the people of the Southern Heaven shed their servility."
Qin Mu withdrew his gaze, and the Ferry of the World Gold Ship sailed toward the Primordial Realm.
On the other side, since the appearance of Lady Yuanmu, the battle between Primordial Beginning and Hao Heavenly Emperor immediately ceased. Primordial Beginning was extremely shrewd; seeing Yuanmu, he instantly knew he had no chance of victory. Not only would Fire Heavenly Venerate die without a doubt, but even his own son, Langxuan, could not be saved. It was better to simply and securely become an Emperor Emeritus.
And Hao Heavenly Emperor, constrained by his strength, would not kill him outright.
"Emperor Emeritus, tomorrow, I want to see my elder brother Langxuan's head placed on my desk," Hao Heavenly Emperor called out to Primordial Beginning, who was about to leave, speaking in a flat tone.
Primordial Beginning's body stiffened, and he nodded silently.
"Two fellow Daoists, will you not leave with me?" Primordial Beginning looked at the Taiji Ancient Gods, frowning slightly.
He moved his steps, but the two Taiji Ancient Gods remained where they were, not following him.
Taiyin Heavenly Venerate and Taiyang Heavenly Venerate exchanged glances and shook their heads together, saying, "Brother Primordial Beginning, our path to enlightenment is long and arduous. We still need to train in the mortal world and understand our Dao hearts. We cannot accompany you into seclusion and retreat from the world."
"You are preparing to defect to Hao Heavenly Emperor, aren't you? Indeed, indeed..."
Primordial Beginning laughed heartily, turned around, and said solemnly to Hao Heavenly Emperor, "Hao'er, if you want to sit firmly on the throne of the Heavenly Emperor, you must never heavily employ the Taiji Ancient Gods. You can only let them charge into battle; never give them any power! These two have long been corrupted by the struggle for power. They are weathervanes, fickle and heartless, leaning whichever way the wind blows, selfish and self-serving. The Empress Dowager is a lesson from the past, and I am a lesson from the past—you must not fail to observe this!"
Hao Heavenly Emperor smiled ambiguously, leisurely saying, "The Emperor Emeritus's lesson, I have heard, but I may not necessarily adopt it. Emperor Emeritus, go and fetch my brother's head. I have reserved a place of seclusion for you, namely the Eastern Extreme Heaven. I hope the Emperor Emeritus will deal with the Azure Dragon of the Eastern Extreme Heaven. After all, he has already died in battle in the Southern Heaven. I do not wish for him to still be alive."
Taiyang Heavenly Venerate frowned. Taiyin Heavenly Venerate said, "Brother Primordial Beginning, you have lost. Why blame us? Survival of the fittest; the fit survive. You cannot adapt and plan to retire, but we still seek the Dao!"
"Two fellow Daoists, you have become Ten Heavenly Venerates, just like I was back then."
Primordial Beginning sighed, laughed long, and said, "I am alone, haha, now I truly am alone!"
His spirits were low. He waved his hand, turned around, and headed for the Eastern Extreme Heaven.
Hao Heavenly Emperor, having won a great victory, was full of ambition.
The Ferry of the World Gold Ship sailed through the void. Suddenly, Qin Fengqing and Taishi flew in from the void and jumped onto the ship. Taishi shook his head and said, "There was no chance to eliminate Void Heavenly Venerate and Ancestral God King. The two Taiji Ancient Gods have already arrived. Their strength is extremely high; Big Head and I found it difficult to take the opportunity to eliminate them."
Qin Mu nodded, saying, "It's normal that we couldn't eliminate them. These two, one controls the Xuan Du, the other controls half of the Netherworld. Now that the Netherworld Emperor should be dead, Void Heavenly Venerate controlling the entire Netherworld should not be difficult either. The threat these two pose to Yan Kang, and even to the Primordial Realm, is fatal!"
He frowned slightly.
Even more fatal was Hao Heavenly Venerate.
Now, Hao Heavenly Venerate was the sole dominant power, with Lady Yuanmu's help, and even Primordial Beginning was no match for him. Given Primordial Beginning's nature, he would definitely hand over all his power.
More critically, Primordial Beginning would never defect to Yan Kang. On the contrary, if Hao Heavenly Venerate moved against Yan Kang, Primordial Beginning would still come out of retirement to help.
After all, their interests were still tied together.
The Ten Heavenly Venerates were a community of shared interests—this was no empty talk.
Once one became a Ten Heavenly Venerate, it was extremely difficult to break free from this community of interests!
"Little brother, Fire Heavenly Venerate still has an incarnation in Yan Kang. Who will deal with him?" Qin Fengqing asked.
Taishi pondered, "Yan Xiudi should have already made arrangements, right? There are many experts among the younger generation of Yan Kang; we don't need to worry."
Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, "The Emperor doesn't need to send anyone. Fire Heavenly Venerate's incarnation cannot escape death either. The one who most wants to kill him is actually not us, but Hao Heavenly Venerate."
Qin Fengqing and Taishi were somewhat puzzled. The two pondered deeply. Suddenly, Qin Fengqing clapped his hands and said, "I understand! The one who most wants to kill him is actually Hao Heavenly Emperor! This time, wasn't it Hao Heavenly Emperor who struck down Fire Heavenly Venerate? Hao Heavenly Emperor also has an incarnation in Yan Kang. He will definitely not miss this opportunity and will surely act against Fire Heavenly Venerate's reincarnated body!"
Qin Mu smiled. His elder brother had truly grown up.
Yan Kang.
At the Star-Picking Peak, beside the Wen Dao Academy of the Earth Virtue Heavenly Palace.
Ling Yuxiu, dressed in imperial robes, was accompanied by only a few attendants. She arrived before the palace at the top of Star-Picking Peak and said to the palace, "Mr. Star, you have lived in seclusion all these years. I have ordered the continuous delivery of the results of Yan Kang's reforms to you. You have received many benefits. I would like to ask you to do one thing."
"The Emperor has shown me kindness. Speak freely." A youthful voice came from within the palace, carrying a hint of childishness.
Ling Yuxiu said, "I would like to ask you to kill someone. This person is a reincarnation of one of Fire Heavenly Venerate's souls, who has fallen in Yan Kang. His name is Gu Duyi. I ask Mr. Star to take action."
She raised her hand, and a golden paper flew out, landing in the palace.
After a moment, a handsome young man emerged from the palace, holding the golden paper, followed by a box that ran with a *da da* sound.
The box came to Ling Yuxiu's side, affectionately rubbed against her leg, then followed the young man and quickly left.
Ling Yuxiu descended the mountain with her attendants. One of the women asked curiously, "Your Majesty, who is this Mr. Star?"
"A sage appears every five hundred years. Although it is an inspiring rumor, possibly spread by the National Teacher, every five hundred years, there is indeed a person of unparalleled talent among the human race."
Ling Yuxiu smiled and said, "The last five hundred years saw the former National Teacher, Jiang Baigui, who initiated the Yan Kang reforms. And five hundred years before that, it was this man. His name is Xing Han. He is an extreme and biased person. Back then, when the Yan Kang Divine Bridge was broken and no one could live past eight hundred years, he was the only one who lived beyond eight hundred. Later, the National Teacher subdued him, but his temperament was truly strange. He was not accustomed to the Wen Dao Academy, did not associate with others, and only wished to live on this Star-Picking Peak."
These attendants had never heard of Xing Han's name. They each pondered but still had no impression of this person.
Ling Yuxiu said, "It's normal that you haven't heard of him. Since the Yan Kang Calamity, he has lived in seclusion and rarely appeared. But back in the battle at the Heavenly Sage Academy, he single-handedly fought against the most powerful beings of Yan Kang at that time, and almost all of Yan Kang's experts were wiped out."
The attendants were horrified and looked at each other.
"Fire Heavenly Venerate was one of the Nine Heavenly Venerates of the Dragon Han Era. Each of the Nine Heavenly Venerates had their unique skills and unparalleled techniques. Fire Heavenly Venerate's reincarnated body is also extremely powerful. At the same level, it will only be stronger than Fire Heavenly Venerate's original body!"
Ling Yuxiu said, "To kill his reincarnated body, one needs a Heavenly Venerate of equal caliber to take action. However, Xu Shenghua, Lan Yutian, and others are all in the Ancestral Court. So, I had no choice but to ask Xing Han to act. But his temperament is too strange; I had to use the favor of these years to persuade him to come out of seclusion."
Xing Han walked through the air, the box following behind him. This box had been awakened by Qin Mu and was very clever, but its temperament was as strange as Xing Han's. Occasionally, it would take out two eyes from the box and stick them on its own walls, peering around furtively, and sometimes quicken its pace to catch up with Xing Han.
Xing Han looked at the golden paper Ling Yuxiu had given him. On the paper were only two red dots: one was him, and the other was Fire Heavenly Venerate's reincarnated body, Gu Duyi.
Tapping the red dot would reveal Gu Duyi's voice, appearance, and mannerisms, vivid and lifelike.
"This paper was refined using the Dao of the Netherworld, locking onto the soul. You only have spirit, no soul; this paper will not show your trace," Xing Han said to the box.
After a day or two, the distance between Xing Han and Gu Duyi grew closer and closer.
Suddenly, waves of terrifying divine ability fluctuations came from ahead. He frowned slightly, raised his hand, and the box leaped up, its handle automatically falling into his palm.
Xing Han carried the box and walked toward the source of the divine ability fluctuations. The fluctuations ahead grew more intense. Although the two fighters were not of high traditional cultivation realms, their Dao realms were extremely deep, actually displaying a Dao realm of thirty heavens!
Such strength was already at the very top of Yan Kang's experts!
As long as one had high enough talent and comprehension, the simplest way to quickly increase strength was not the traditional Divine Treasury and Heavenly Palace system, but the Dao realm system!
Those with extremely high comprehension could comprehend over twenty heavens of the Dao realm in just a hundred years, elevating the power of a single great Dao to a level comparable to the Jade Capital realm!
However, such people were extremely rare throughout the universe, past and present, over hundreds of thousands of years!
Xing Han frowned. By the time he arrived, he saw two youths crossing paths and separating. The terrifying fluctuations of the Dao realm divine abilities caused the mountains to tremble like paintings floating on water!
Xing Han landed, and the trembling mountains immediately calmed down, motionless.
*Plop.*
One of the youths fell, his soul and spirit extinguished, dying a violent death.
Xing Han stepped forward and turned the corpse over. It was Gu Duyi.
As Gu Duyi's soul dissipated, the red dot representing him on the golden paper also disappeared.
"Are you Lan Yutian?"
The other youth looked at him, showing a surprised expression, then shook his head and smiled, "You are not Lan Yutian. This body of yours looks like Lan Yutian, but it should have been created by the Creation Divine Artifact. No need to look; Fire Heavenly Venerate has already been eliminated by me. You can go back and report to the Emperor of Yan Kang."
Xing Han stood up, tilted his head to examine him, and his eyes lit up: "Your body, I like it very much."
The youth laughed, "Do you know who I am?"
Xing Han shook his head, put down the box, and said, "I don't need to know. But you, I collect."