Chapter 679: Meeting the Prefect Again
"A farming Martial Combat Celestial Master?"
Qin Mu couldn't wait to meet this Celestial Master, but suddenly recalled something and asked, "The Woodcutter is revered as a saint. Are all Celestial Masters saints?"
"Not at all."
The Old Man Fishing shook his head. "Among the four Celestial Masters, only he can be called a saint."
Qin Mu was taken aback. "But among the four Celestial Masters, isn't Teacher Woodcutter the lowest in cultivation and strength?"
The Old Man Fishing gave a knowing smile. "If sainthood were determined by martial prowess, then the entire Kaihuang Era would be filled with saints. The Woodcutter became a saint not because of his cultivation or strength, but because of his achievements and ideology. He laid the foundation for the twenty-thousand-year legacy of the Kaihuang Era. Among the four Celestial Masters, he is the foremost. A pity it only lasted twenty thousand years."
Qin Mu wanted to ask more, but the Old Man Fishing focused on fishing for the moon and didn't continue about the other Celestial Masters.
"Why did Teacher Woodcutter become the head of the four Celestial Masters? And who is the other Celestial Master?"
Qin Mu set aside his doubts and cast Soul Summoning Art, calling forth the souls of the Moon Herders from the Netherworld. Beside the Moon Well, the countless skeletons of Moon Herders stood up one after another.
Dragon Qilin trembled violently and quickly buried his head in the dirt, afraid to look.
Yan Jingjing stepped forward to comfort him softly. "Big dog, don't be afraid. They're all dead people. They won't do anything to you."
Suddenly, a Netherworld emissary hurriedly arrived on a paper boat, riding a gust of eerie wind. He stopped before the Gate of Bearing Heaven but did not cross it into the mortal realm. "What trouble are you stirring up now? Can't you behave for a while?"
Qin Mu quickly bowed in greeting. "Prefect, I couldn't bear to see these righteous souls exposed in the wilderness, so I summoned their spirits back to their bodies. I'll have them bury themselves and then send them back to the Netherworld. My apologies! My apologies!"
The emissary's expression softened slightly. He glanced at the Old Man Fishing, who was busy fishing for and tethering the moon, and showed some wariness. "Qin Fengqing, I'm not unreasonable, but you can't keep coming to my Netherworld to demand souls. This makes it hard for me to explain to Lord Tu Bo! You can borrow these souls, but return them quickly. Still, Lord Tu Bo will have to mark another demerit against you."
Qin Mu let the revived Moon Herders dig their own graves and called out to the emissary through the Gate of Bearing Heaven. "Emperor Yanfeng had a little book to record kill counts. Does Lord Tu Bo have one too? Prefect, how many tally marks are in my book?"
The emissary sneered. "I don't know the exact number, but I do know your book isn't a little one—it's a stack this thick!"
He spread his arms wide to demonstrate. "All your glorious achievements!"
Qin Mu's face darkened.
Many Moon Herders had already dug their graves and carved their own tombstones. They sat in their graves and bowed to Qin Mu in unison. "Thank you, Human Sovereign!"
Qin Mu returned the bow. "May you righteous souls rest in peace."
The Moon Herder skeletons lay down one by one, their spirits rising and flying back through the Gate of Bearing Heaven to the Netherworld. Qin Mu paid his respects, waved his hand, and the graves closed.
The emissary said, "I won't pursue today's matter further. Just one demerit."
Qin Mu walked among the graves, reading the names on the tombstones. He turned back. "During the battle of Taihuang Heaven, a visitor from the Netherdark used the Book of Life and Death to summon countless demon and demon god souls back into their bones. How many demerits was that? Did Lord Tu Bo record it?"
The emissary was taken aback and remained silent.
Qin Mu sneered. "Is Lord Tu Bo afraid of the Black Emperor of the Netherdark? The Netherdark is part of the Netherworld, isn't it? The Black Emperor split off the Netherdark, and Lord Tu Bo didn't even dare to fart. The Netherdark visitor used the Book of Life and Death to summon countless demon souls, blood-sacrificed them, and destroyed Luofu Heaven and Taihuang Heaven. Lord Tu Bo didn't dare to fart either!"
The emissary was furious. "What do you mean by 'didn't dare to fart'?"
The Old Man Fishing's ears twitched. He tightened his grip on his fishing rod, ready to intervene at any moment. "This Qin family boy doesn't know his limits. This emissary is an avatar of the Heavenly Equal Sage King. Disrespecting him and insulting Lord Tu Bo to his face—the Heavenly Equal Prefect won't let him off easily..."
Qin Mu put on a smiling face. "I'm just saying Lord Tu Bo is a bit too spineless. At least he could say something."
"What do you mean 'spineless'?" The emissary was still furious.
Qin Mu fell silent, at a loss for words.
The Old Man Fishing was extremely tense, his back muscles taut and his nerves strung like bowstrings. "This is the second insult to Lord Tu Bo. The Heavenly Equal Prefect absolutely won't hold back!"
After a moment, the emissary sighed. "Lord Tu Bo doesn't act not because he won't, but because he can't. The Netherdark's power is insignificant to him, but the Heavenly Court's power is far too vast."
Qin Mu curled his lip. "So he just bullies me instead? My book of demerits is a thick stack, but what about the Netherdark's? Is Lord Tu Bo a coward who only picks on the weak?"
The emissary was choked with anger. After a moment, he laughed despite himself. "I won't argue with you. Lord Tu Bo is impartial. He won't make your book thin just because the Heavenly Court is powerful, nor will he make it thick just because you have no background. The reason you have a thick book is that you've committed far too many evils."
"That was my brother's doing! Why pin it on me?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "If a Netherdark visitor came to Yancheng and used the Book of Life and Death to awaken the dead, then blood-sacrificed them, what could the Netherworld do? What could Lord Tu Bo do? Would Lord Tu Bo dare to fart even once?"
The emissary flew into a rage. "You dare use foul language again!"
Qin Mu looked aggrieved and disappointed. "Lord Tu Bo can't uphold justice. He's too cold-hearted, yet harsh toward me. I might as well let my brother return to the Netherworld..."
The emissary stared at his expression through the gate and suddenly laughed. "Lord Celestial added another seal on you. You can't release him. Don't try to bluff me!"
Qin Mu peeled off the willow leaf, revealing his third eye. The emissary immediately saw that within the pupil of this eye, another overlapping pupil had appeared—someone else's eye peering out curiously.
The Old Man Fishing quietly turned his head, staring curiously at Qin Mu's third eye, even forgetting to reel in his line.
He desperately wanted to see if Lord Tu Bo's seal, Lord Celestial's avatar, Sovereign Chi's consciousness, and the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha were truly inside Qin Mu's eye.
If the emissary weren't here, he would have crawled into Qin Mu's eye to pay respects to these senior experts.
The emissary's face changed drastically. "Cover it! Cover it! I'm afraid of you now. Let me think first..."
Qin Mu put the willow leaf back in place.
The emissary paced back and forth on his small boat, looking very troubled. He wanted to enter the mortal realm to discuss things in detail, but it wasn't nighttime, so he couldn't appear.
Qin Mu waited quietly. After a moment, the old emissary sighed. "Fine. Bring me your Book of Life and Death. I'll imprint a divine ability on it to suppress the opponent's Book of Life and Death. Will that do?"
Qin Mu said earnestly, "Prefect, give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Wouldn't it be better to teach me this divine ability?"
The old emissary shook his head. "You're digging a pit and waiting for me to jump in. I'd be a fool to trust you. If I teach you this ability, you'll use it against those Netherdark fellows. And given your nature, you'll definitely teach it to everyone in the world. Then my Netherworld divine ability won't be worth a cabbage."
Qin Mu looked embarrassed and ashamed as he handed over the Book of Life and Death. "The Prefect is wise."
"Of course I'm wise."
The old emissary turned his back, performed the divine ability, and imprinted it onto the Book of Life and Death. Then he turned back and tossed the book to Qin Mu. "Don't casually summon Netherworld souls anymore. It's terrifying! Who knows if it's you summoning them or your brother planning to eat some? And as for that moon fisherman—your idea is very dangerous. Drop it now, or his brother will come gnaw on your big head!"
He sailed away.
Qin Mu dispelled the Gate of Bearing Heaven, sighed in relief, and excitedly flipped through the Book of Life and Death to examine the divine ability the old emissary had left on it.
The Old Man Fishing muttered, "This Heavenly Equal Prefect is so blunt? Gnaw on my head? Qin family boy, is your brother really that fierce?"
Qin Mu nodded repeatedly. "Extremely fierce! You absolutely must not provoke him!"
The Old Man Fishing reeled in a moon, rubbed it with his primordial spirit until it was only the size of a plate, and said calmly, "What do you think of my strength?"
Qin Mu praised, "The Celestial Master's power is unmatched. Your strength is many times greater than Teacher Woodcutter's."
The Old Man Fishing asked, "Can I provoke your brother?"
Qin Mu scratched his head. "Last time, my brother threw me into his eye and trapped me. I saw Lord Celestial's avatar and Sovereign Chi's avatar being beaten into submission by him."
The Old Man Fishing's face turned pale. He said nothing more and focused on fishing for the moon, though his usually steady hands trembled slightly.
Qin Mu continued examining the divine ability on the Book of Life and Death. The book had originally been as bright as a mirror, but now a cluster of seemingly chaotic runes appeared in the middle.
These rune marks were very complex, like ghostly scribbles, revealing nothing at first glance. But when he looked deeper, another world opened up.
Beneath the ghostly scribble exterior lay an incredibly intricate and complex runic structure. Some patterns were like pillars supporting the sky, extending downward without end. Others were like interwoven nets, crisscrossing in complexity. Still other runes constantly shifted and transformed, flashing with various colors.
Qin Mu had never seen such a complex and magnificent divine ability. He was unconsciously drawn in, his face moving closer and closer to the Book of Life and Death as he tried to see more of its internal structure and fully comprehend this technique.
Yan Jingjing couldn't pull Dragon Qilin's head out of the dirt, so she walked over to Qin Mu. "Cowherd brother, your big dog won't come ou—"
Her expression froze. Qin Mu's head had suddenly disappeared!
His head had entered the Book of Life and Death. The book was just an extremely thin sheet of golden paper, yet Qin Mu's head had gone into it without emerging from the other side, as if his head had vanished into thin air!
Yan Jingjing was startled and quickly stepped forward, tugging at Qin Mu's clothes. Qin Mu pulled his head out of the book, looking puzzled. "Jing sister, what's wrong?"
Seeing he was fine, she relaxed. "The big dog won't come out."
Qin Mu glanced over. Dragon Qilin had his head buried in the dirt, his rear end pointing at the sky, still trembling.
"Fat Dragon, time to eat," Qin Mu said.
Dragon Qilin immediately yanked his head out and pounced over like lightning, dropping a washbasin in front of Qin Mu before obediently squatting down, staring fixedly at the basin.
After a moment, seeing no elixirs placed in the basin, he looked up at Qin Mu in confusion and wagged his thick dragon tail.
—Today, I want to rack up a thousand furious praises! Brothers and sisters, if you're asking for praises, help others click the praise button too. Mutual aid brings more!