Chapter 541: The Art of Face-Changing
Zhe Huali carried Jiang Yi's corpse, following Fu Riluo step by step. As they passed by, he turned his head to look at Qin Mu.
Qin Mu was in the midst of alchemy. He hurriedly smiled and nodded in greeting. "Senior Brother Zhe Huali, we'll meet again when there's a chance."
Zhe Huali's face was expressionless as he followed Fu Riluo away.
The Black Tiger God leaped down from the great hall, glancing at Qin Mu, then at the Woodcutter Sage who had turned around. The Woodcutter Sage had somehow stowed his great axe away and was carefully observing Qin Mu's alchemy technique.
The other deities also jumped down, gathering around them. Everyone had something to say, many questions to ask, but all held back.
Since the Woodcutter Sage hadn't spoken yet, they dared not be the first to ask.
Lord Sang Ye quickly pulled Sang Hua aside, wanting to scold his daughter harshly, but since no one else was speaking, he found it hard to start.
Qin Mu was refining a spiritual pill, at a critical stage. He was completely focused, with no distractions, paying no attention to them. However, surrounded by these deities with their piercing divine gazes fixed on him, even he felt the pressure. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, evenly distributed.
After a moment, Qin Mu finished refining the pill. He gently crushed it, took some water to dissolve it, and dripped it into Yu He and Shu You's eyes and ears.
He carefully observed the growth of their corneas and eardrums, frowned slightly, then rummaged through his Taotie pouch. He took out several medicinal ingredients, refined a bit of ointment, and carefully applied it to their eyes and ears.
"Why did you apply medicine twice?"
The Woodcutter Sage was puzzled and asked, "The first medicine was to make their corneas and eardrums grow, but the second medicine seems to have some toxicity. Why is that?"
Qin Mu observed Yu He and Shu You's eyes, then looked at their ears, and said, "This ointment isn't poison; it's a spiritual medicine to inhibit growth. The first pill I refined was to regrow their damaged corneas and eardrums, but this is my first time formulating and refining such a medicine. I couldn't fully control the potency, so it was a bit too strong. If it continued to grow, it would thicken their eardrums and corneas, affecting their eyesight and hearing. Therefore, I need the second medicine to inhibit that growth."
He stretched his waist and smiled. "Now, they should be mostly recovered. Their eyesight and hearing won't be inferior to before."
The surrounding deities of the Grand Heavenly Realm also breathed a sigh of relief. Yu He and Shu You were the most powerful among the Seven Stars realm practitioners of the Grand Heavenly Realm, and promising young people of the younger generation who had hope of becoming deities. If they had gone blind and deaf, it would have been a great loss for the Grand Heavenly Realm.
The deaths of Huang Yue and others in the sand table world had already been a heavy blow.
Qin Mu bowed to the Woodcutter Sage. "Disciple Qin Mu pays respects to the Grandmaster."
The Woodcutter Sage reached out with both hands to help him up, smiling. "You should have received my teachings and my Dao. Since you are my direct disciple, you are my student. You don't need to call me Grandmaster."
Qin Mu was both surprised and delighted. If he became the Woodcutter Sage's disciple, his seniority would skyrocket. Even if he met the successive demonic cult leaders again, those old ghosts wouldn't be able to use seniority to suppress him!
He hesitated for a moment, then tested the waters. "Holy Teacher, have you ever heard of the Heavenly Saint Sect?"
"The Heavenly Saint Sect?"
The Woodcutter Sage was surprised and shook his head. "Never heard of it."
Qin Mu's face fell, and he was utterly dejected.
The Woodcutter Sage truly had never heard of the Heavenly Saint Sect!
Still unwilling to give up, he probed further. "Then, Holy Teacher, did the sacred tree you left behind, the sacred stone, and the axe marks have any deeper meaning?"
"That old locust tree is still alive?"
The Woodcutter Sage was astonished. He calculated for a moment and said, "That tree is almost twenty thousand years old, isn't it? I chopped it with so many axe blows, yet it's still alive to this day. It must be about to become a spirit."
Qin Mu stammered, "Holy Teacher, that, that sacred stone..."
"What sacred stone? Oh, you mean the stone where I transmitted my teachings? What about it?"
Qin Mu felt as if struck by lightning, his mind in chaos. He stammered, "Every time our Heavenly Saint Sect holds a grand sacrifice, we have to kowtow to that sacred stone, and also kowtow to the sacred tree. Only sect leaders and elders who have made outstanding contributions are qualified to have their ashes buried under the sacred tree after death..."
The Woodcutter Sage shook his head. "So many rituals? I hate rituals the most. Could the Heavenly Saint Sect have been founded by that disciple of mine? Your senior brother didn't learn all my skills, but he sure set up a lot of rules. He focused only on the rules, losing the meaning of why I passed on my teachings to him. Useless, utterly useless!"
The "disciple" and "senior brother" he mentioned was the founding patriarch of the Heavenly Saint Sect. This founding patriarch was also a figure who showed his head but not his tail. Qin Mu hadn't seen him in Fengdu.
He had never been to Fengdu, and no one knew where he had gone.
Qin Mu's face alternated between pale and green. The sacred tree and sacred stone, which the successive sect leaders, elders, hall masters, and followers of the Heavenly Saint Sect treasured as holy treasures, were, in the Woodcutter Sage's eyes, nothing more than dispensable items!
If this fact were to spread, everyone in the Heavenly Saint Sect, from the young patriarch to the successive sect leaders in Fengdu, would probably go mad!
The Black Tiger God saw his dazed expression, opened his mouth, but held back, thinking to himself, "My master always scolds me and never believes that this kid has a bad mental state. In just a short while, this kid's face has changed a dozen different colors..."
Lord Pang Yu, a true deity, stepped forward to check Yu He's eyes and ears, and also examined Shu You. Seeing that they were fine, he said in a low voice, "Young friend Qin Mu saved the two of you. Why don't you go forward and thank him? You were able to walk out of the sand table world alive, thanks to him sacrificing himself to draw the enemy away and taking out three experts first."
Yu He and Shu You were greatly shocked. "He took out three demonic experts by himself?"
"Counting Jiang Yi, it was four."
Lord Pang Yu sighed. "Of the ten demonic experts who entered, four died at his hands, nearly half. If we add the demonic expert that Lord Sang Ye's daughter took out, the two of them claimed most of the battle merits. The rest of you, including yourselves, fought desperately, lost six people, and only took out four. The demonic race is not to be underestimated. Their strength is still greater than yours..."
He shook his head and fell silent.
Yu He and Shu You were each silent. They exchanged a glance, both feeling bitter.
Nine demonic experts had died. Qin Mu had taken out four by himself, and Sang Hua had taken out one. That was indeed the majority.
As for Yu He and Shu You, each had taken out one demonic expert, and together they had killed another. That meant the other six human experts who died had only achieved one kill, and all six of them had perished.
The combat power of the demonic race was indeed higher than that of the humans. If not for the unexpected factor of Qin Mu joining them, the fate awaiting these human experts would have been total annihilation!
Yu He and Shu You exhaled a turbid breath. They walked over to Qin Mu, whose face was still changing between gloom and brightness, looking lost and dejected, and bowed to thank him.
Qin Mu quickly returned the bow, his face beaming with smiles. "Just now I was engrossed in tempering my flying sword to increase my combat power, so I didn't introduce myself to Senior Sister and Senior Brother. I am Qin Mu. The 'Qin' is for pounding grain with a pestle, and the 'Mu' is for herding cattle. Greetings, Senior Sister Yu He, Senior Brother Shu You."
The Black Tiger God saw that he had gone from gloomy and uncertain to bright and sunny in the blink of an eye, and snorted coldly. "My master just can't see how fast this kid's face changes!"
Yu He and Shu You quickly returned the bow. Shu You said apologetically, "I repeatedly mocked Senior Brother Qin Mu just now, calling him a grain thresher and a blacksmith. I hope you won't hold it against me."
Qin Mu's face turned serious. "The seal-script form of the character 'Qin' depicts two people below, pounding rice with a pestle. It's not a joke. To be honest, I have studied various classics since childhood with my teacher, and I have also learned the languages of the demonic race, dragons, Buddhas, and the Netherworld, as well as various written languages. I am also somewhat familiar with divine language. Sometimes I like to be pedantic, but it's not all showing off."
"This kid's face changed again!"
The Black Tiger God gritted his teeth. "But my master just can't see it!"
"Senior Sister Yu He, Senior Brother Shu You."
Qin Mu's serious expression vanished, replaced by a smile as warm as a spring breeze. His eyebrows danced as he spoke with great animation. "Have you two ever heard of the Heavenly Saint Sect? To be honest, I am the sect leader of the Heavenly Saint Sect. The Heavenly Saint Sect was founded by my master, this Holy Teacher here. You've met the Holy Teacher. He is wise, mighty, and a man of few words. But the doctrines of my Heavenly Saint Sect are truly excellent, truly wonderful. As the saying goes, the sage's way is no different from the daily needs of the common people..."
After a moment, Qin Mu exhaled a turbid breath and smiled as he looked at Yu He and Shu You, who had just joined the sect. He thought to himself, "The Holy Sect has finally opened for business in the Grand Heavenly Realm. Not a bad day today. I've recruited two hall masters who will become deities in the future! It doesn't matter if the Woodcutter Sage doesn't recognize the Heavenly Saint Sect, as long as he doesn't say anything. Oh, right, and Hua Mei!"
The Black Tiger God listlessly flipped his ears. "My master can't see..."
Qin Mu eagerly walked towards Sang Ye and Sang Hua, father and daughter, but was immediately blocked by many deities. The deities praised him profusely. Qin Mu had to respond with humble words. The more the deities praised him, the more confident he became, his heart blooming with joy.
"My master still can't see..." The Black Tiger God flipped one ear forward and one ear back, thinking to himself.
Qin Mu was detained by the many deities. When the excitement died down, these deities of the Grand Heavenly Realm went to busy themselves with deploying troops, lest the city be left empty and be retaken by the demonic race. Sang Hua was also taken away by Lord Sang Ye, which made Qin Mu sigh with regret.
The Woodcutter Sage said, "Come with me. There are some things I need to ask you."
Qin Mu quickly followed. The Black Tiger God also tried to follow, but the Woodcutter Sage glanced back. The Black Tiger God immediately stopped and looked away.
"Are you of the demonic race or human?"
As Qin Mu followed the Woodcutter Sage to a secluded spot, the Woodcutter Sage suddenly asked, "Although you have learned my techniques and received my inheritance, there is a strange power within you, the power of the demonic race. You suddenly appeared on the battlefield, in the midst of the demonic race, which is suspicious. Tell me, where do you come from?"
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. "Carefree Village."
The Woodcutter Sage suddenly turned around, staring straight at him, as if trying to see if he was telling the truth or lying.
Qin Mu's face was calm. "I wasn't born in Carefree Village. My mother was pregnant with me when my parents left Carefree Village. They were attacked on the road, and I was eventually born in the Netherworld. The King Yan of Fengdu said that because I was born in the Netherworld, something might have gone wrong at my birth, and the demonic nature of the Netherworld entered my body."
"Master, his face has changed to calm again, but you're staring at his face and still can't see it!" In the distance, the Black Tiger God was indignant.
"You say you come from Carefree Village. Do you have any token?" the Woodcutter Sage asked.
Qin Mu quickly took a jade pendant from around his neck.
--- First update. If any readers have monthly tickets, please give one~