Chapter 688: Grand Mage
"Qin Monster Baby?"
The infant Qin Fengqing crouched behind a large mountain, peeking out and watching the scene, waiting for the Old Buddha to descend. He muttered angrily to himself, "That three-headed one dared to badmouth me. When he comes down, I'll tear off his arms and legs one by one."
He was like a cat poised to pounce, nervously rubbing his hands and feet together, planning to catch the Old Buddha the moment he descended.
However, the Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha did not come down. He said, "Thank you for the reminder, Emperor Red Emperor. I, this old monk, beg your pardon, but I will not descend. May I ask, Brother Heavenly Lord and Emperor Red Emperor, why have you come here?"
The Heavenly Lord's avatar sighed. "It's a long story. Let's not speak of it."
The Old Buddha looked at them, understanding implicitly, and did not press further. He asked, "What about the subtle changes in the Heavenly Dao? It seems a disturbance has occurred here."
Emperor Red said, "It's something that child of the Qin family created. He is resurrecting the Yin-Yang Empress."
"Is it the commotion caused by Qin Mu, or the one caused by his brother?" the Old Buddha asked.
"The bad younger brother did it!"
Qin Fengqing, hiding behind the mountain, couldn't help but retort, "Are you coming down or not?"
"I am not coming down."
The Old Buddha said matter-of-factly, "If I come down, I'll be trapped here too. Qin Fengqing, you can't do anything to me. Have you forgotten that the last time you tried to eat me, it led to you being suppressed by me?"
The Heavenly Lord's avatar said, "He won't eat us anymore, but he will tear off our arms and legs to play with. If you come down, you'll suffer the same fate."
The Old Buddha laughed. "Innocent, pure brutality is the greatest evil."
The Heavenly Lord's avatar sighed. "But it's not as terrifying as true evil. The Red Emperor and I once helped his younger brother, Qin Mu, steal away all his cultivation. As a result, his younger brother Qin Mu became evil itself—that was true terror, true lawlessness! If I hadn't been one step ahead and thought of a countermeasure beforehand, by now we would probably..."
The Old Buddha shuddered. "You really dare to play dangerous games. Turning Qin Mu into evil? That would be disastrous! His younger brother, Qin Mu, seems to have caused earth-shattering disturbances more than once. In the last few centuries, the changes in the Heavenly Dao have become increasingly frequent. The Yongkang Reformation, from reforming the laws to reforming the Dao itself—the self-initiated changes in the Heavenly Dao over these few hundred years have been greater than in the previous twenty thousand years. No wonder the Heavenly Court is so nervous about Yongkang, fearing it might evolve into another Heavenly Court."
The Heavenly Lord said, "The changes in the Heavenly Dao were not significant a few years ago, but in recent years, with the emergence of that child of the Qin family, the frequency of changes has increased dramatically. For us ancient gods, every change is a weakening, and it may not be a good thing. Once an ancient god is born, they can no longer flow with the Dao. The Dao changes while we remain unchanged, so every reformation or change in the Dao weakens us."
The Old Buddha asked, "The Yin-Yang Empress's soul was shattered into the finest black sand. How is he resurrecting her?"
The Heavenly Lord said, "His divine abilities span too many systems—the Netherworld system, the Dark Capital's spells, the Celestial Capital's divine abilities, the Creation divine abilities, the divine path, the demonic path, the Buddhist path, the Daoist path—all mixed together with many elements. It's hard to explain clearly. He has many crooked ideas, but whether he can resurrect the Yin-Yang Empress remains unknown."
The Old Buddha very much wanted to go out and see the scene of Qin Mu performing his techniques, but if he left, Qin Fengqing would likely break the seal. He could only endure.
Outside, the starving ghosts within the Yin-Yang Empress were still madly surging out, turning into streams of black smoke and flying away. Most of these starving ghosts had already been expelled, with only a few remaining.
Thus, the Yin-Yang Empress quieted down and stopped attacking Qin Mu and the Kai Emperor Divine Being.
The Kai Emperor Divine Being continued to shine the Book of Life and Death on the Yin-Yang Empress's face, tense and not daring to relax. But as Qin Mu summoned the fragments of her soul, her withered features gradually became clearer and fuller.
Finally, all the soul particles of the Yin-Yang Empress were summoned by Qin Mu, and the starving ghosts were completely expelled. This innate divine being stood motionless, holding a pagoda in her hand. The Kai Emperor Divine Being stood on top of the pagoda, while Qin Mu stood on the tip of the pagoda, with the inverted Gate of Bearing Heaven behind him.
Qin Mu was still spitting out words one by one, each word like a pearl, each sound like thunder. Light poured out from the Gate of Bearing Heaven, illuminating the Yin-Yang Empress's face.
He was stealing the power of the Heavenly Lord, using the Heavenly Lord's creative force to reshape the Yin-Yang Empress's Heavenly Soul.
Inside the Yin-Yang Empress's body, countless black sands were continuously reassembling, and the Heavenly Soul was gradually taking shape.
Qin Mu's face turned pale. Suddenly, a sweetness rose in his throat, and a mouthful of blood surged up.
Although he was stealing the Heavenly Lord's power to perform his techniques, his own magical power was also being consumed enormously. Not only his magical power, but also his spirit and physical body were all being drained severely, making it hard to bear.
Suddenly, his body shook, and he manifested three heads and six arms. His primordial spirit also transformed into three heads and six arms at the same time.
Qin Mu stabilized his breath. After a long time, he finally succeeded in reshaping the Yin-Yang Empress's Heavenly Soul.
The Gate of Bearing Heaven behind him suddenly clanged loudly, and the heaven and earth reversed again, turning into the normal form of the Gate of Bearing Heaven. Black gas surged out from the gate—that was the demonic energy of the Netherworld—rushing into the Yin-Yang Empress's body, striking at her tailbone, where it reshaped her Earthly Soul.
This time, Qin Mu was stealing the power of Tu Bo, using Tu Bo's strength to reshape the Yin-Yang Empress's Earthly Soul.
"Wah—"
Qin Mu's three heads all opened their mouths and spat blood at the same time. He forcibly suppressed his collapsing spirit and continued to activate his techniques, turning the Gate of Bearing Heaven sideways. He simultaneously stole the power of the Heavenly Lord and Tu Bo, with darkness and white light surging out together, illuminating the Yin-Yang Empress's navel.
That was the location of her Living Soul.
Among the three souls, the Heavenly Soul and Earthly Soul could be restored by stealing the power of the Heavenly Lord and Tu Bo, but the Living Soul belonged to life itself. Qin Mu had not studied this aspect much.
His expertise in this area was far inferior to Granny Si.
However, since the Gate of Bearing Heaven had heaven above and earth below, then the human world was in the middle. The human world was where living beings resided. So, he planned to try using the power of both the Heavenly Lord and Tu Bo simultaneously to see if he could help the Yin-Yang Empress rebuild her Living Soul.
Qin Mu found it increasingly difficult to hold on. Whether it was his physical body, his primordial spirit, or his magical power and spirit, all had reached their limits. But what comforted him was that at the convergence point of the Heavenly Lord's and Tu Bo's power, the Yin-Yang Empress's Living Soul was slowly gathering.
He continued to persevere with difficulty, his mind growing hazy. After all, he was not a deity. Performing such a great divine ability to defy fate and reshape the destiny of an innate divine being was practically staking his own life!
Time passed, bit by bit.
Finally, the Yin-Yang Empress's Living Soul was completely reshaped. Qin Mu mustered his remaining strength, intending to reshape her Seven Souls, when suddenly everything went black before his eyes. He lost control of his physical body and fell from the tip of the pagoda.
"Grand Mage, for reshaping my three souls, Yin-Yang is deeply grateful."
A very pleasant voice sounded in Qin Mu's ears, but his consumption was too great; he could neither see nor feel anything.
The Yin-Yang Empress reached out her hand, caught him, and held him in her palm. She said, "Thank you, Grand Mage, for saving my life. I was born from heaven and earth and have no Seven Souls."
The Kai Emperor Divine Being was still standing on top of the pagoda, shining the Book of Life and Death on her. The Yin-Yang Empress laughed and said, "There's no need for that anymore. Thank you, fellow Daoist."
The Kai Emperor Divine Being quickly put away the Book of Life and Death, took out paper and a brush, and rapidly wrote a passage. The Yin-Yang Empress leaned in to look and laughed, "I have no physical body, only an empty shell. That doesn't count as resurrection."
The Kai Emperor Divine Being changed the paper and wrote another passage. The Yin-Yang Empress said, "He is not seriously injured, just depleted of vitality and energy. I am using the Yin-Yang Water and Yin-Yang Qi to preserve his life. There's no need to worry."
The Kai Emperor Divine Being changed the paper again, wrote rapidly, and then held it up high.
The Yin-Yang Empress said, "How to solve the problem of having no physical body? I have no solution either. I was born from heaven and earth; perhaps I can use the Yin-Yang Earth and Yin-Yang Water to reshape my own body. But as for you, without flesh and blood, I am helpless. Although I can help you reshape your body, I cannot help you rebuild your divine altars."
The Kai Emperor Divine Being's expression darkened.
The Yin-Yang Empress, holding the pagoda, walked toward the sea. In a few steps, she was in the middle of the ocean. She gently set Qin Mu down, letting him float on the surface of the water.
She lightly raised her hand, gathered the wind and clouds, refined a wisp of Yin-Yang Qi, and released it. The wisp of Yin-Yang Qi rapidly drilled into Qin Mu's brow, quickly flowing through his entire body.
The Yin-Yang Empress then scooped up seawater. The water fell from her palm, leaving behind a single crystal-clear droplet.
The Yin-Yang Empress carefully placed the droplet on Qin Mu's lips. The droplet seeped into his mouth and quickly dissolved, causing his entire body to become shrouded in a misty aura, as if wrapped in auspicious clouds.
The Yin-Yang Empress laughed and said, "Grand Mage, wake up."
Qin Mu felt completely refreshed and slowly regained consciousness. Opening his eyes, he saw himself lying on the sea surface, with the Yin-Yang Empress's face nearly covering half the sky.
He quickly stood up, feeling that all his fatigue and exhaustion had vanished without a trace. His vitality was full, his spirit was radiant, and his physical body seemed to possess boundless strength. Surprised and delighted, he stood on the sea surface and bowed to the Yin-Yang Empress, saying in a deep voice, "This latecomer, Qin Mu of the Qin family, pays respects to the Yin-Yang Empress."
"Grand Mage, you are too polite."
The Yin-Yang Empress bent down, letting him jump into her palm. She laughed and said, "Grand Mage, you were able to gather my three souls for me, giving me a second chance at life. Yin-Yang is deeply grateful. The Dark Emperor has turned my domain into a mess. Once I restore my physical body, I will set things right."
Seawater surged into her body, and the earth flowed to rebuild her bones. The Yin-Yang Empress's physical form became increasingly real, and her strength was skyrocketing. She asked, "What does the Grand Mage seek in return?"
Qin Mu's face flushed slightly. "Empress, you don't need to call me Grand Mage. I am not even a deity. I only did my best; I don't deserve such a grand title. My research on the three souls is far inferior to Granny's..."
"You deserve it."
The Yin-Yang Empress laughed. "'Grand' means second only to heaven, lacking one stroke compared to 'heaven.' Your divine abilities and Daoist techniques are things even the Heavenly Lord doesn't know. Don't you deserve the title 'Grand'?"
Qin Mu felt deeply ashamed. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I come from Yongkang in the outside world. May I ask if Yongkang can form an alliance with the Empress?"
The Yin-Yang Empress laughed. "That is only proper."
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "The Dark Capital has set up a stronghold here, controlling the black sand and disrupting the human world. Can the Empress control the flow of the black sand?"
The Yin-Yang Empress shook her head. "I have just been reborn and cannot yet control the entire Yin-Yang Realm. For now, I am powerless to control the soul black sand here."
Her gaze turned somewhat cold. "The ghosts were crushed into the finest particle state, becoming black sand, but the black sand is still ghosts; their essence hasn't changed. Do you know what this means?"
Qin Mu's eyelid twitched. Countless ghosts had been ground up and mixed together. In this state, they formed an incredibly massive soul entity!
The entire Yin-Yang Realm was shrouded in darkness. That meant the Yin-Yang Realm itself was an enormous starving ghost!
"We are all inside the belly of this starving ghost."
The Yin-Yang Empress said, "This is the Dark Emperor's doing. Now that I have been reborn, the Dark Emperor will soon learn of this. This massive starving ghost of the Yin-Yang Realm will awaken, attack me, and try to kill me again. But this time, he won't succeed. I will fight him again and make him understand that the Yin of Heaven is not a place he can tread!"