Chapter 699: Imperial Que Divine Saber
Qi Jiuyi slid down from the wall, the shock on his face still lingering as he stared blankly at the large head emerging from the doorway.
It was a strange head with a human face but two goat horns, a small goatee on its chin, and breath reeking of alcohol as it hiccupped, looking at them with curiosity.
Qin Mu spoke politely, "Senior, we are from Yan Kang. We stumbled into this place by accident and disturbed you. May I ask, senior, how do we leave here?"
The goat-horned man straightened his clothes and stepped out of the doorway. He was much taller than Qin Mu and Qi Jiuyi, even taller than the Dragon Qilin. His expression was stern as he looked down at them, his gaze then falling on the Dragon Qilin. He swallowed hard, muttering, "It's been so long since I've had meat. Too bad you're all primordial spirits, no flesh... You're from Yan Kang? Where is Yan Kang?"
Judging by his attire, he was not a figure of the present but wore ancient garments.
His lean, sinewy frame, though not as robust as the Azure Ox, gave off an impression of efficiency and a terrifying sense of threat.
Moreover, he was not a goat spirit. From the swirling patterns of various sizes on his body, he should be the primordial spirit of a deity, but his primordial spirit had been refined into a physical form. Whether he was the spirit guarding this saber remained uncertain.
Refining a primordial spirit into a physical form was no small feat, clearly indicating his cultivation was extremely high.
Qin Mu asked doubtfully, "Senior, are you from the Era of the Emperor of Opening Heavens? Then do you know the Great Ruins?"
"The Great Ruins? Of course I do. The Emperor of Opening Heavens ordered me to use the Divine Saber Imperial Que to sever a corner of the Netherworld to forge Fengdu. He said we needed to cut out a Fengdu world about the size of the Great Ruins."
The goat-horned man reeked of alcohol as he said, "Where is Yan Kang? What era is it now?"
"Senior, are you the creator of Fengdu?"
Qin Mu's heart trembled violently, and he quickly asked, "Yan Kang is east of the Great Ruins. The Era of the Emperor of Opening Heavens ended twenty thousand years ago. Eight hundred years ago, Yan Kang was founded, and now we are in an era of reform. Senior, you were under the Emperor of Opening Heavens..."
The goat-horned man, his drunkenness clouding his thoughts, murmured, "The Era of the Emperor of Opening Heavens ended twenty thousand years ago? That long, huh? Heh, no wonder. It feels like I've been here for seven or eight million years... I was the Left Junior Aide of the Heavenly Emperor Star Constellation under the Emperor of Opening Heavens, named Tian Shu, styled Tian Shu. But you wouldn't know me anyway."
He turned back into the room, dragged out a large wine jar, and tilted his head back to drink.
Qin Mu then noticed his legs were not human but curved goat legs with a pair of goat hooves. Because he was so tall, his hooves were also quite large.
"The Heavenly Court of the Emperor of Opening Heavens? Left Junior Aide of the Heavenly Emperor Star Constellation?"
Qi Jiuyi's expression shifted slightly, thinking to himself, "A remnant of the false dynasty!"
Qin Mu asked, puzzled, "Senior, you're in a primordial spirit state, right? Do you live here? Where is your physical body?"
Tian Shu drained the entire large jar of fine wine in one gulp and casually smashed the bottle. Qin Mu immediately noticed that after the jar shattered, it quickly restored itself, and the jar was still full of fragrant wine.
The jar flew through the air and returned to the room.
"It's a long story."
Tian Shu's face darkened, and he crawled back into the room to get more wine, saying drunkenly, "You're a descendant of the Emperor of Opening Heavens, aren't you? I can sense the aura of his lineage from you. Your appearance is somewhat similar to his. And the little chick beside you should be from the Nine Phoenix lineage of that so-called Heavenly Court. Heh, the Southern Heavenly Red Emperor Qi Xiayu of the Nine Phoenix lineage is quite remarkable, but she fell for that bastard Li Youran..."
He tilted his head back to drink again, then smashed the empty jar before continuing, "Back then, the Emperor of Opening Heavens forged the Divine Saber Imperial Que and appointed me as its guardian deity. I could freely enter and leave the Netherworld, so he ordered me to sever a section of the Netherworld to forge Fengdu. So I cut off a small piece of Tu Bo's horn. The Emperor of Opening Heavens went to Carefree Village and ordered me to guard Imperial Que, preventing the darkness of the Great Ruins from invading other places, like that Yan Kang you mentioned."
Qin Mu blinked and glanced at Qi Jiuyi.
Qi Jiuyi was startled and uncertain, clearly unaware of this secret history.
"Should I kill Brother Qi to silence him?" Qin Mu thought with a smile on his face.
The Left Junior Aide Tian Shu sighed, "But I have a flaw: I love drinking. I can't be happy without it. Guarding here, I craved alcohol every day but couldn't leave to find any. One day, an old rival of mine, the Heavenly Court's Left Junior Aide, a scoundrel named Yan Shaoqing, found me and proposed a bet, with the stakes being endless wine. That guy was always troublesome, but he lost to me. He was a real bastard, somehow hiding all that fine wine inside the Divine Saber Imperial Que, then laughing and leaving. I knew it was a trap, but I couldn't control my mouth, and when I couldn't control my mouth, my head couldn't control it either."
Qin Mu glanced at the Dragon Qilin and said, "Senior, I deeply understand that feeling."
"You're also a drunkard?"
Tian Shu shook his head, "You shouldn't be. You show no desire when you see wine. I was restless, always wanting to enter the Divine Saber Imperial Que to get that wine, have a good drink, and get thoroughly drunk. But I also knew the Divine Saber Imperial Que was incredibly powerful, capable of devouring primordial spirits. I was just the guardian, not the forger. If I wasn't careful, my primordial spirit would get trapped inside and never escape. But I couldn't resist anymore. I thought, since I've controlled this saber for so long, maybe I could take the wine out and return to my physical body..."
The Dragon Qilin couldn't help asking, "And then?"
Tian Shu sighed, "And then I never went back. That bastard Yan Shaoqing wasn't lying—this wine never runs out..."
The broken jars on the ground restored themselves, still full of wine.
"I've been drinking here for tens of millions of years, and the wine never ends, and I can never leave."
Tian Shu said, "It's perfect that you three are here. Let's drink together."
Qin Mu and Qi Jiuyi felt despair. If Tian Shu had been trapped in the Divine Saber Imperial Que for tens of millions of years without escape, they would never get out either!
Would they all be trapped in this divine saber forever, never to leave?
Qi Jiuyi trembled as he opened a door, revealing a room piled high with wine jars. He opened another, still wine jars. Door after door he opened, and every room was filled to the brim with wine!
Qi Jiuyi ran madly forward, running for who knows how long, but this long corridor seemed endless!
On both sides of the corridor, countless rooms were all stacked with wine jars!
After a long time, he slumped against the wall, sat down in despair, and after a moment of silence, he got up, silently opened a door, pulled out a jar of fine wine, and drank deeply. Soon, he was completely drunk.
Yet no matter how much he drank, the wine in his jar never diminished.
"Senior, someone once had their primordial spirit mistakenly enter the Divine Saber Imperial Que but managed to escape."
Qin Mu's eyes flickered as he said, "Do you know about this?"
"You mean two thousand years ago."
Tian Shu tilted his head back to drink, wiping the wine beads from his goatee, and said, "At that time, I felt the Divine Saber Imperial Que connect with the outside world. Unfortunately, I was too drunk, and by the time I realized it and tried to escape, it was too late."
Qin Mu was stunned. "Two thousand years ago? Granny Si and the others had their primordial spirits trapped in the saber about five years ago. That means one day outside is a year here. So, Qin Mu and Qi Jiuyi's primordial spirits have only been in the Divine Saber Imperial Que for about two days. Their physical bodies haven't died yet."
His spirits lifted. He and Qi Jiuyi had been running through the saber's space for two and a half years, and even Qin Mu had thought their physical bodies were dead, but it had only been two and a half days.
"As long as our physical bodies aren't dead, there's still hope!"
Qin Mu's eyes brightened, and he said firmly, "Senior, you've controlled Imperial Que for so long. You must know how to activate it, right? And you must be clear about its internal formation and rune structures. If we know the internal formation structure, we might be able to try to unravel..."
"No!"
Tian Shu shook his head, "You're wrong. I can control this saber, but I know nothing about its rune and formation structures. The reason I became its guardian is because of my special constitution, allowing me to enter the Netherworld. This saber was personally designed by the Emperor of Opening Heavens to cut off Tu Bo's horn. Tu Bo's horn is enormous and incredibly powerful. The Emperor of Opening Heavens designed it specifically for that purpose, so the formations and runes inside are extremely profound."
Qin Mu frowned.
Tian Shu continued, "And the forger of this saber was the most skilled artisan in the Imperial Court of the Emperor of Opening Heavens, the Li Youran I mentioned earlier who had an affair with the Red Emperor Qi Xiayu. That guy was handsome, loved by all..."
"You mean the forger of the Divine Saber Imperial Que is the Imperial Sakra Heavenly King Buddha?" Qin Mu asked, both surprised and delighted.
"It's Li Youran. Who is the Imperial Sakra Heavenly King Buddha?" Tian Shu asked, puzzled.
Qin Mu was overjoyed, pacing back and forth in the corridor, laughing, "The Imperial Sakra Heavenly King Buddha is Li Youran! Li Youran was his secular name. Later, to escape a love debt, he became a monk! Since he forged the Divine Saber Imperial Que, there might still be hope. I've studied his techniques..."
Tian Shu initially showed anticipation, but then grew despondent, "So that's your idea. I advise you to save your effort. Here, even if you have the greatest divine abilities, you can't use them. The runes here were designed by the Emperor of Opening Heavens. No one can escape, or how could it have cut off Tu Bo's horn?"
He grew excited, "Of course, I was the one who held this saber, charged into the Netherworld, and cut off a piece of Tu Bo's horn in one stroke! You should have seen the shocked and angry look in Tu Bo's eyes, tsk tsk... I've lived a life worth living, truly worth it!"
Qin Mu paced back and forth, recalling the Imperial Sakra Heavenly King Sutra that the Imperial Sakra Heavenly King Buddha had taught him. This technique contained many elements not belonging to Buddhism. Previously, Qin Mu had only learned the combat methods, without much understanding of the rest. Now, as he carefully reviewed it, he realized the Imperial Sakra Heavenly King Buddha's techniques held many secrets of forging.
He immersed himself in contemplation, and unknowingly, another half year passed.
Tian Shu found Qi Jiuyi, dragging the drunken boy back by the leg. The two sat on the ground, drinking together until they were completely drunk. The Dragon Qilin also joined the drinking party, laughing and crying, shouting that he wanted to swear brotherhood with Qi Jiuyi and Tian Shu.
When Qin Mu had figured out what he needed, he heard the thumping sounds of kowtowing. The Dragon Qilin, Qi Jiuyi, and Tian Shu were kneeling there, seriously kowtowing to the wine jars, swearing to become brothers of different species.
"We don't seek to be born on the same day, in the same month, or the same year, but we seek to die on the same day, in the same month, and the same year!" the three said in unison.
Qin Mu shook his head, coughed, and said, "I've figured out a way to leave."
The three turned to look at him.
Qin Mu said, "I found a flaw in the Imperial Sakra Heavenly King Buddha's techniques, and from that flaw, I can find a flaw in the divine weapon he forged. This Divine Saber Imperial Que isn't perfect. If we find the right spot, I can activate the Gate of Bearing Heaven, and we can escape into the Netherworld, then return from the Netherworld to the mortal world and back to our physical bodies!"
Tian Shu tugged at his goatee, exclaiming, "Escape into the Netherworld? That means facing Tu Bo! I'm not going! Tu Bo will eat me! I'm not going!"
Qin Mu said patiently, "Senior Tian, I have some standing with Tu Bo. If I step in, I can surely resolve the conflict. Rest assured, put your heart at ease..."