Chapter 1627: Summoning the Soul of Lord Tu
Ancestral Court, Heavenly Sea.
Heavenly Sovereign Hao descended upon the Heavenly Sea, walking across its surface. The sea lay calm, without a single ripple, flat as a mirror.
Heavenly Sovereign Hao thought of Qin Mu, recalling the humiliations Qin Mu had inflicted upon him in the past. Still, the Heavenly Sea remained utterly undisturbed.
"My inner demon has been completely eradicated."
His heart was filled with tranquility, and he felt the myriad subtleties of his Dao techniques and divine powers converging upon him. The Dao resonance within him was also gradually rising—this was a sign that he was on the verge of breaking through to the next Dao realm!
The Wheel of Ten Thousand Daos spinning behind his head grew increasingly powerful, its Dao resonance heavier and heavier. After a long while, the Wheel of Ten Thousand Daos suddenly began to split repeatedly. With a series of *weng weng weng* sounds, thirty-one Wheels of Ten Thousand Daos appeared above the Heavenly Sea, clearly divided into positive and negative aspects!
One Dao realm, one layer of heaven.
These thirty-one Wheels of Ten Thousand Daos represented his achievement of thirty-one layers of heaven in the Dao realm!!
Suddenly, all the Wheels of Ten Thousand Daos merged into one, transforming back into a single wheel behind his head, slowly rotating.
As the second Celestial Venerable among the Dragon Han Celestial Venerables to establish a realm, Heavenly Sovereign Hao possessed exceptional talent and comprehension!
"Kaijun, you pioneered the Dao realm system—brilliant and unparalleled. What a pity you died. Not being able to truly settle the score with you is a lifelong regret of mine."
Heavenly Sovereign Hao's robes fluttered in the wind as he rose slowly from the Heavenly Sea, heading toward the Heavenly Court. "Kaijun is dead, and Celestial Venerable Mu is wounded. In this world, who else can be my opponent and help me take another step forward?"
A trace of melancholy welled up in his heart, but as soon as he arrived at the Heavenly Court, a divine official came to report: "Your Majesty, someone from the lower realms named Xing Han has arrived, claiming you invited him to serve as the Master of the Zaofu Palace."
Heavenly Sovereign Hao's eyes lit up, and he laughed heartily: "Celestial Venerable Mu handles matters efficiently! Quickly, invite him in!"
The melancholy in his heart vanished without a trace, and he chuckled: "With this Celestial Venerable Xing Han, I can take yet another step forward!"
Above the Yong River, the heavenly palace where Qin Mu had secluded himself lay in perfect stillness. In recent days, Qin Mu had been herding cattle, raising chickens, feeding fish, picking bugs off carrots, drinking tea with Medicine King and Village Chief, sparring in blade techniques with Butcher, competing in divine eyes with Blind, helping Mute with his forging, and occasionally going to Deaf to paint and write calligraphy—a leisurely life indeed.
Ling Yuxiu had gone to Grandmother's place to learn sewing. As Grandmother Si sewed baby clothes, she kept glancing at Ling Yuxiu's belly. Ling Yuxiu's face flushed slightly.
"Ten months of pregnancy—in a few more days, it should start showing, right?" Grandmother Si rubbed the silver needle against her hair, asking casually, as if by chance.
"Not yet!"
Ling Yuxiu hurriedly said: "My husband says the Heavenly Court could press down on us at any moment, so he doesn't want children."
"He talks nonsense!"
Grandmother Si cursed, then suddenly chuckled: "If the Heavenly Court doesn't attack for a day, you won't have children for a day? If everyone in the world thought like you, the human race would have gone extinct long ago. Have one soon."
Ling Yuxiu murmured in agreement, then quickly changed the subject: "Grandmother, have you noticed anything strange about the chicken-dragons lately? These days, they've been sneaking around, as if discussing some major matter..."
"They're just a bunch of chickens."
Grandmother Si waved dismissively: "When you're pregnant, have Blind kill one every day to nourish you. The ones raised outside the heavenly palace aren't enough, but luckily there are flocks down in the Crippled Elderly Village. That ginseng can also be sliced and stewed in the pot. What has Mu'er been doing these days?"
Ling Yuxiu replied: "Cultivating. He seems to have run into some difficulties, but he hasn't told me about them. I can guess, though. He's reached the Jade Capital realm, but he only has fifty-eight precious halls, not seventy-two. He's been agonizing over it, feeling he can't enter the next realm."
Grandmother Si put down her needle and thread, thinking: "Fifty-eight precious halls? Seventy-two precious halls... Why not just ask the National Teacher directly? Doesn't he have the complete seventy-two precious halls?"
The National Teacher she referred to was Jiang Baigui, who had already cultivated thirty-six heavenly palaces and seventy-two precious halls.
Ling Yuxiu understood this as well and said: "My husband says that the seventy-two precious halls the National Teacher cultivates are based on the innate Dao, while the thirty-six heavenly palaces are based on the acquired Dao. They are different from the seventy-two precious halls of Jade Capital City. The seventy-two precious halls of Jade Capital City are actually the Dao manifestations of seventy-two prehistoric Dao-achievers, representing their Dao attainments."
Grandmother Si dismissed it: "Mu'er sometimes likes to overthink things. When there's something ready-made, he insists on chasing after something that looks better. The seventy-two precious halls of Jade Capital City are borrowed power—even if cultivated perfectly, they're nothing but a reflection in a mirror, a flower in the moon. Didn't the Woodcutter Sage give him three hundred and sixty types of acquired Dao? Just pick seventy-two and forge them into precious halls."
Ling Yuxiu smiled: "Grandmother speaks sense. But my husband is too proud; he can't bring himself to cultivate the Woodcutter teacher's techniques."
Grandmother Si spat: "He's gnawed on everyone under heaven—who hasn't he gnawed on? Even Dragon Qilin has been gnawed by his Beast Taming Sutra! What's wrong with gnawing on his own teacher? It's only natural!"
"I'll go talk to him."
Ling Yuxiu stood up to find Qin Mu, but Grandmother Si hastily stuffed several baby clothes into her hands, saying: "You're very good. I was worried you might still have the airs of an empress and couldn't adapt, but it seems I was overthinking. Give these clothes to the cowherd! Hang them by his bedside every day!"
Ling Yuxiu accepted the clothes and hurried away.
She found Qin Mu and relayed Grandmother Si's words: "Grandmother makes a lot of sense. Husband, why not consider it?"
Qin Mu smiled: "My dear, my concerns go beyond that. Studying the acquired Dao is time-consuming and labor-intensive—it's creating something from nothing. How difficult is it to reach a high realm? The war between Yan'gang and the Heavenly Court can't be delayed for many years. Cultivating the acquired Dao at this point would take too long."
Ling Yuxiu thought for a moment, then smiled: "National Teacher Jiang's realm is already very high. Could his thirty-six heavenly palaces be converted into precious halls? Since husband has already gnawed on Xing Han and Heavenly Sovereign Hao, why not gnaw on him a little?"
She took out a branch that Jiang Baigui had given them at their wedding and smiled: "Husband should be able to infer from this what realm National Teacher Jiang has reached!"
Qin Mu took the branch and flicked it with his finger. The branch shot into the air with a *shua* sound, and the Dao resonance within it burst forth. In an instant, thirty-six heavenly palaces and seventy-two precious halls materialized. Jiang Baigui's phantom stood atop Jade Capital City, his battle intent surging to the heavens!
*Shua!*
Jiang Baigui thrust his sword—a sword path vast and boundless, majestic as the universe splitting open at the dawn of creation, grand and overwhelming!
Qin Mu extended a finger and lightly tapped the sword light.
*Ding.*
A soft sound rang out, and the sword light shattered instantly.
Jiang Baigui appeared again, his sword technique even fiercer. His phantom unleashed the second layer of heaven in his sword path, pouring all the aspirations in his heart into it!
The power of this sword path had the momentum to surpass Kaijun!
As the sword path stirred, Village Chief was drawn over, looking up at Jiang Baigui's sword technique, his excitement palpable.
Qin Mu pointed again, and Jiang Baigui's second sword path was broken once more.
Sword light surged continuously, the sword path shifting and evolving, vigorous and magnificent, like the Yan'gang reforms themselves, containing the spirit and essence of the era.
Qin Mu casually broke the moves. Soon, Jiang Baigui's twenty-six layers of heaven in sword techniques were all exhausted. Qin Mu showed a hint of disappointment. With his final strike, Jiang Baigui's phantom, along with the thirty-six heavenly palaces and seventy-two precious halls, shattered completely, crushed to dust.
Village Chief watched, utterly entranced, repeatedly praising the display.
"Turning the acquired Dao into precious halls is still not right."
Qin Mu shook his head: "Junior Brother Jiang's skills have indeed reached the pinnacle, enough to contend with the Heavenly Court's Heavenly Masters. But he hasn't perfected the acquired Dao. If I forcefully cultivate his techniques, I'll only be filling gaps, unable to push my combat power to the extreme. Moreover, the sword path may not necessarily surpass the Primordial Unity Qi..."
Suddenly, Mute's voice rang out, displeased: "Mu'er, do you look down on the acquired Dao?"
The others from Crippled Elderly Village were also unhappy, as they had all started cultivating the acquired Dao.
Qin Mu quickly said: "Grandpa Mute, I absolutely don't mean that. Kaijun's sword path is itself the acquired Dao—how would I dare belittle it? In the future, many will achieve the Dao through the acquired Dao, but now is not the time. If Yan'gang had enough time, the acquired Dao would surely flourish and surpass the innate. However, I don't have that much time to push the acquired Dao to an extremely high level. Besides, each has their specialty. The acquired Dao needs future generations to complete it with their wisdom and talent."
He smiled: "We are their predecessors. What we can do is give them a world where they can realize their ambitions and display their talents! This requires our generation to fight with blood and flesh, to shape such a future with our lives!"
Mute fell silent. After a long while, he sighed: "I misjudged you. Doesn't the Ancestral Court have the seventy-two precious halls? You're only missing fourteen now. Go to the Ancestral Court again."
Qin Mu shook his head: "The seventy-two precious halls of the Ancestral Court have already been divided between Heavenly Sovereign Hao and Tai Chu. The other fourteen are all in Tai Chu's hands."
"Can't we get them from Tai Chu?" Village Chief asked.
Qin Mu shook his head: "Tai Chu was defeated by his son, but under no circumstances would he ally with me. When Yuxiu and I got married, he came with ill intentions, sending the scales of the Eastern Emperor Azure Dragon to test whether I was truly disheartened and in seclusion. If I resurrect the Azure Dragon, he'll immediately inform Heavenly Sovereign Hao."
His eyes flickered: "Once a Celestial Venerable of the Ten, always a Celestial Venerable of the Ten. He can't escape it either."
Grandmother Si suddenly said: "Tai Chu has two souls reincarnated in Yan'gang, but no one has ever found them! If Tai Chu still has ambition, then they must have also learned the other fourteen precious halls! Perhaps we can start with these two reincarnations to get those halls!"
Qin Mu's heart stirred: "Can the Book of Life and Death find them?"
Ling Yuxiu shook her head: "I once ordered a nationwide census to find them, but I couldn't. He's on guard, so the Book of Life and Death can't locate them either. Netherworld Celestial Venerable also searched but couldn't find them."
Qin Mu pondered, pacing back and forth. Suddenly, he said: "Invite Heaven Duke to come! Have him bring Ugly Lord Tu!"
A few days later, Heaven Duke arrived, excited, and set down Ugly Lord Tu's body, laughing: "Has Celestial Venerable Mu's anger subsided?"
"Being put in such a passive position—how could my anger subside?"
Qin Mu shook his head, waved his hand to seal off the entire heavenly palace, and immediately began performing the ritual to summon the soul of Lord Tu.