Chapter 631: Meeting the First Ancestor Again
"I imagined that the Founding Emperor was a great hero, capable of saving the common people from misery and suffering. I imagined that this ancestor would live and die together with his supporters and followers. I thought he would be the person I envisioned. But he is not."
In the Ruins' Crippled Elderly Village, Qin Mu sat by the campfire, quietly watching the water in the pot steam. His expression was calm as he said, "The more history I uncover, the more I feel he is unworthy of being the Founding Emperor, unworthy of being the leader of countless heroes and legends. Perhaps he is just an old man frightened out of his wits by his enemies, only wanting to live out his days in peace and comfort. He simply does not have the boldness and breadth of vision to make those heroes and legends follow him."
"Cluck!" Beside him, a hen-dragon nodded seriously.
"You're right."
Qin Mu added a piece of firewood, his expression somewhat dim. "If he had such a breadth of vision and boldness, how could he have suddenly retreated during the final war, abandoning his old brothers and comrades-in-arms, abandoning the common people in their misery? If he truly were the great hero I imagined, then what has he done in these twenty thousand years? Nothing!"
The hen-dragon nodded, extremely serious. "Cluck cluck cluck!"
"Heh heh, he did nothing. No wonder those gods and demons who followed him felt their hearts grow cold and their spirits chill."
Qin Mu gave a wry smile and shook his head. "How I wish I could return to the Land of No Worries, overturn his nest of comfort, and question him myself. Perhaps I could repair the Ark of the Other Shore and sail that ship there to find him. I still have a mirror that Village Chief and the others found on the Ark of the Other Shore, a mirror that records the path to the Land of No Worries. Village Chief sealed it, saying I should only seek the Land of No Worries when I am able to break his seal..."
"Cluck cluck?" the hen-dragon asked, puzzled.
"You're so good, listening to all this nonsense."
Qin Mu turned to look at it, slowly drawing a sword, and said softly, "But you know too many of my secrets... Don't struggle. The only hen-dragon that doesn't reveal secrets is one that has been boiled and eaten. In your next life, don't be a chicken."
A commotion erupted in the Crippled Elderly Village. Flocks of hen-dragons huddled together, staring in terror at Qin Mu, who was stewing a chicken by the campfire.
After a while, Qin Mu drank the chicken soup and ate the perfectly cooked meat, feeling satisfied. "Grandmaster Medicine and the others haven't returned here. They've probably gone to Fengdu to see Village Chief. This place isn't far from Xianglong City, so I can enter Fengdu through the boundary between life and death... But first, I'll go pay respects to Village Chief and let him know I'll come to see him."
He got up and left. After a while, he arrived at the small mountain village in his memory. This small village originally had only a few households, built around Village Chief's stone statue. When Qin Mu arrived, he was startled to find that several more stone statues had appeared, but Village Chief's stone statue was gone!
"You mean the stone statue without hands or legs? Someone moved it."
The villagers told him, "A few strange people came—a blacksmith, a butcher, a medicine seller, and a painter of Spring Festival couplets and New Year pictures. They said the statue was an acquaintance of theirs. They helped us move a few stone statues here, and then they carried that one away."
"The old statue was better! The old statue would often show its divine power when we made offerings. These new statues don't show any divine power at all."
"Oh, and one of those strange people, an old thief, stole the cured pork leg hanging in my house!"
Qin Mu was astonished. "Grandmaster Mute and the others came here and moved Village Chief's statue? What for? Oh!"
His eyes suddenly lit up. "Grandmaster Medicine must be planning to recall Village Chief's soul and see if he can revive him!"
He became excited and immediately took his leave, heading straight for Xianglong City.
Xianglong City.
This city had become a vital commercial hub. In just a few months since his last visit, its prosperity had already exceeded Qin Mu's imagination. Goods from all over—the Eastern Lands, the Western Lands—were gathered here.
Airborne ships came and went, dense as a woven fabric, with unloading vessels everywhere.
Merchants from the Eastern and Western Lands traded here, saving them the trouble of going to Yinkang or the Western Lands, making it very convenient. Besides Xianglong City, other cities in the Ruins were also flourishing.
This commercial boom, in turn, drove the rise of numerous academies and schools. Now, every city in the Ruins had many academies and schools. The people of the Ruins called the students there "scholars," who studied divine abilities. Even some transformed spirit beasts and monsters had infiltrated the academies to study.
Qin Mu arrived at the boundary between life and death. It was still very lively, with many scholars paying to enter Fengdu from here.
The one guarding the boundary was a Xiangzhu of the Heavenly Saint Cult. Qin Mu naturally didn't need to pay to enter. He took a boat drifting down the long river towards Fengdu. When he reached the bridge, he leaped up and landed on it. By the time he came down from the bridge, he had turned into a skeleton.
"Human Sovereign Qin!"
Qin Mu followed the sound and saw the short-statured Yishan Human Sovereign pushing through the crowd of ghosts, beaming. "It really is you! I recognized you by your skeleton!"
Qin Mu quickly bowed. "Grandmaster Ancestor!"
The Yishan Human Sovereign said warily, "What are you doing in Fengdu? You're not here to fight the ancestors again, are you? Trying to stand up for that kid Su?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "I'm here to see Village Chief..."
The Yishan Human Sovereign breathed a sigh of relief, turned back, and waved to the people peeking out from the street corner. "He's not here to fight us! Come on out!"
The Qikang Human Sovereign, the Lanpo Human Sovereign, and the others all came out from the street corner. The Qikang Human Sovereign said in a loud voice, "Human Sovereign Qin, did that kid Su Muzhe come to tattle on us?"
Qin Mu was puzzled. "What would Village Chief tattle about?"
The various Human Sovereigns exchanged glances, revealing strange smiles, and all laughed it off without mentioning the matter.
Qin Mu was suspicious and asked, "What happened? Why was Village Chief beaten? How did he offend you seniors?"
The Fifth Ancestor Human Sovereign laughed and said, "That kid Su Muzhe isn't in Fengdu anymore. He got cocky, was revived by Bronze Face, and said he was going to Taihuangtian to find you. A few months ago, a few strange people came looking for him. They muttered for a long time, and then one of them, Bronze Face, said he might still be saved. The Bird God Chixiu also said that kid Su was a half-dead person who still smelled of the living. So Bronze Face had Su return to his physical body and revived him."
Qin Mu blinked and smiled. "I see. Bronze Face is Grandmaster Medicine from our village. His medical skills are the best in the world, better than mine. If he treated him, Village Chief will surely be out of danger. But why did you ancestors beat Village Chief?"
The Qikang Human Sovereign said bluntly, "That rascal tricked us, making you give us a good beating and humiliate us. Then he came back all pleased with himself, saying he'd discovered records of the Overlord Body. If we don't beat him, who do we beat? I took on such a disciple, and even his own master gets schemed against. A beating was the least of it, so we beat him every day..."
"Every day?"
Qin Mu's face darkened. He said softly, "Honored Ancestors, I've learned a few more skills outside. I'd like to ask you seniors for some instruction again."
The faces of the various Human Sovereigns all darkened, and they began to change the subject.
"Someone burned a set of clothes for me a few days ago. The workmanship was excellent. I forgot to wear them out today to show off."
"Someone heard I was a Human Sovereign and made offerings to me!"
"Someone burned a few paper maidens for me. It seems someone in the mortal world remembered us again."
"Old Lingtou, I heard it was Emperor Yanfeng who ascended the Altar of Heaven to worship his ancestors and continued the family tree, claiming to be your descendant. Those maidens were probably burned for you by the Emperor."
...
Qin Mu hadn't seriously intended to fight. He laughed and said, "Honored Ancestors, I came back this time to see Village Chief. Since he's not here..."
He didn't finish his sentence. His gaze fell on the end of the street, and his aura suddenly fluctuated violently.
The various Human Sovereigns immediately sensed his aura fluctuation and looked towards the end of the street. A young Human Sovereign was standing there, quietly looking back at Qin Mu.
The Second Ancestor Human Sovereign's heart tightened, and he quickly laughed. "Human Sovereign Qin hasn't met the First Ancestor yet, has he? Let me introduce you. First Ancestor, this is Human Sovereign Qin, the current Human Sovereign, who specially came to see us! The boundary between life and death you see was built by him to connect the yin and yang realms! Quite an idea, isn't it? Human Sovereign Qin, come quickly and meet the First Ancestor..."
"No need!"
Qin Mu raised his hand and said calmly, "Second Ancestor, your bones were shattered by him, your tombstone was knocked down by him. I doubt that escapes your notice. You know his deeds far better than I do."
The Second Ancestor Human Sovereign was stunned. He opened his mouth but couldn't speak.
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign walked over and said calmly, "Since you're here..."
"That's right! Since I'm here!"
Qin Mu gently raised his hand and peeled the Golden Willow Leaf from his forehead. As the Golden Willow Leaf was removed, he had been a skeleton in Fengdu, but now his flesh and blood returned to his body at a visible speed, quickly restoring his physique! Qin Mu flexed his hands and feet and said flatly, "I'll kill you first, then leave!"
The various Human Sovereigns were startled. Qin Mu's position was not within the boundary between life and death, yet he had restored his physical body without being restricted by Fengdu's rules. This was almost impossible!
They didn't know that Qin Mu was born in the Netherworld, and Fengdu was part of the Netherworld. Previously, he would be restricted by Fengdu's rules, turning into a skeleton upon entering, his flesh and blood gone.
But now, with the opening of his third eye, his identity and bloodline as the Netherworld Prince had been partially activated. With his third eye open, he could manifest a physical body in Fengdu!
Qin Mu's gaze was cold as he watched the approaching First Ancestor Human Sovereign. A storm raged in his heart. Outside the Human Sovereign Hall, he had been defeated by the First Ancestor Human Sovereign. He had watched helplessly as the First Ancestor Human Sovereign destroyed the life's work of generations of Human Sovereigns, watched helplessly as this god crushed the bones of the Second Ancestor Human Sovereign to dust, ground his memorial tablet and tombstone into powder!
He had suffered the greatest defeat of his life at the hands of this man. This defeat had plunged Qin Mu into depression for months, forcing him to risk entering Taihuangtian to seek a higher level of cultivation, to comprehend the methods to defeat the First Ancestor Human Sovereign!
His Calamity Sword, his cultivation method entering the Dao—all were breakthroughs made under the pressure of this man, pushing his potential to its limits!
The most powerful enemy in his heart was not the demons of Taihuangtian, nor the lofty Heavenly Court, but the man before him—the founder of the Human Sovereign Hall, the one who had shattered his dreams and his worship!
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign's expression was indifferent. "You want to fight here? This place is no good. Damaging Fengdu would be hard to explain to King Yan. Go to the Human Sovereign Hall. After I defeat you, I'll destroy another Human Sovereign's bones!"
Qin Mu turned and walked out of Fengdu, his face dark. "Wait for me at the Human Sovereign Hall!"
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*—In the iron pot, the hen-dragon's despairing little eyes: Cluck...*