Chapter 706: The Heavenly Duke Plays with Fire
Qin Mu’s heart sank. He channeled all his power into the Soul-Pulling Art, striving to summon the primordial spirits of the Woodcutter, the First Ancestor, and the others from the Netherworld before those three figures descended.
The figures descending from the bright moon were none other than Lou Yunqu and his two fellow disciples. Clearly, they had not entered Lizhou as Qin Mu had guessed.
Qin Mu had always assumed they would cast their spell above Lizhou. He never expected them to take the opposite approach—Lou Yunqu and his companions had entered the celestial phenomena themselves, a full hundred thousand li above the ground of Yankang!
The sky was a hundred thousand li high and three hundred zhang thick. There, the formation diagrams of the sun, moon, and stars were gathered, guarded by many heavenly court deities who maintained the celestial phenomena above Yankang, using them to deceive the world.
Lou Yunqu and his group had pasted the Book of Life and Death onto the formation diagram of the moon’s celestial phenomena, using the moon’s power to shine down on Lizhou!
Tonight was the first day of the lunar month. On the first day, there is no moon. One could imagine that elsewhere in Yankang, no one would see the moon in the sky—only stars twinkling in the void. But in Lizhou alone, a full moon would hang in the sky.
The people of Lizhou, the cultivators, and even deities like Su Yunzhi all suffered the same fate.
Not only Su Yunzhi, but even the Woodcutter Sage had not anticipated that Lou Yunqu would start with the moon. By the time the moonlight fell upon them and they realized what was happening, it was already too late.
Their cultivation and strength were immensely powerful, but having lost the initiative, facing a treasure like the Book of Life and Death, forged by the Black Emperor of the Nether Capital, losing the first move meant losing their lives.
This single misstep led to the death of everyone in all of Lizhou, leaving only Qin Mu alive!
Because of his status as the Netherworld God-Child, Qin Mu was the only one not controlled by the Book of Life and Death.
“The only chance to turn this around is to snatch back their primordial spirits! Otherwise, I alone cannot stand against Lou Yunqu and his group!”
Qin Mu activated his technique. The Gate of Bearing Heaven manifested behind him, and from his mouth came the deep, rhythmic language of the Netherworld. The gate swung open, and streams of wandering souls flew out, scattering in all directions.
“Why aren’t the Woodcutter’s souls among them?” Qin Mu’s heart gradually sank.
He had used the Soul-Pulling Art. As long as someone still had a corpse, he could sense their soul and pull it to him.
Yet, as he searched the Netherworld with his technique, he sensed nothing of the Woodcutter Sage, the First Ancestor of the Human Sovereign, or the others.
The bright moon still shone overhead, and the three figures descending from it moved swiftly, growing from tiny specks into visible forms.
Qin Mu focused on his ritual, cold sweat streaming down his forehead. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth, tore off the willow leaf from his brow, and shouted sternly, “Heavenly Duke, Crimson Emperor! In this critical moment of life and death, I need to borrow my brother’s power to fight the Nether Capital gods and demons!”
Inside the Qin Continent on his brow, the giant baby was chewing on his own toes. Hearing this, he looked around curiously: “Is my bad little brother trying to eat me? But he did give me good food—that little box from before was quite tasty…”
He held a grudge, still remembering how Qin Mu had once seized his power and nearly devoured him.
But just now, Qin Mu had fed him a blood-red blade of light from the Divine Execution Blade, a light refined from blood and slaughter. He had eaten his fill, and his hostility toward Qin Mu had lessened—just a tiny bit.
He was still very unwilling to help Qin Mu.
The Crimson Emperor and the Heavenly Duke exchanged glances and discussed, “What do we do now? If we let him gain the power of the Netherworld God-Child, he will turn evil. If we don’t lend it, and the younger brother dies, the older brother will take charge. He’ll start devouring everything without needing the Nether Capital disciples to act. Yankang will soon become another Netherworld under his appetite.”
“Becoming a Netherworld would be a good thing, but I’m afraid he’ll eat it into barren land, leaving not even a ghost. The only plan now is to lend the younger brother power, but not give him all of the Netherworld God-Child’s strength.”
The Heavenly Duke said, “If we give him everything, only an Emperor Seat powerhouse descending personally could subdue him. But if we give him just a little, he won’t be controlled by demonic nature, leaving room for maneuver.”
The Crimson Emperor hesitated, “Aren’t you playing with fire?”
The Heavenly Duke chuckled, confident: “Don’t worry. I never play with fire. You cooperate with me. We’ll open a small crack in the seal without fully releasing it, so the older brother doesn’t escape. The older brother may not be as cunning as the younger, but he’s still tricky. We also can’t let the younger brother gain too much Netherworld power, so we need to work closely together without mistakes. The only problem now is how to convince the older brother to lend out part of his power.”
Both looked at the giant baby. The Crimson Emperor muttered, “That’s a bit difficult.”
The giant baby clumsily stood up, sneering, “White-bearded old man, three-headed one, you’re plotting against me? Are you asking for death?”
On the Observation Platform, Qin Mu was performing his ritual when suddenly a beam of light fell from the sky, shattering the Gate of Bearing Heaven behind him. Lou Yunqu, Wei Qingpei, and Fu Yanqi descended from the sky, stopping above the platform.
“Too late!”
Qin Mu activated his Three Primordial Spirits Indestructible Divine Consciousness, but he still felt no power coming from his brow. Anxiety gnawed at him.
“Qin Fengqing, even if you summoned their souls, you couldn’t turn this around.”
Lou Yunqu walked down from the air, smiling, “Because they aren’t in the Netherworld. I sent them to the Nether Capital. You can use your Soul-Pulling Art to bring the souls of common folk from the Netherworld, but failing to summon theirs is useless.”
Qin Mu narrowed his eyes, forcing a smile, “No wonder I couldn’t sense their primordial spirits just now. They’ve fallen into the Nether Capital. Nether Capital’s spells should be derived from the Netherworld. In theory, my spells could snatch people from the Nether Capital too. I’ve robbed the Netherworld and the Fengdu, but this is my first time with the Nether Capital.”
Wei Qingpei descended from the air, landing to Qin Mu’s right, and said leisurely, “Snatching people from the Nether Capital is harder than from the Netherworld. The Nether Capital may be derived from the Netherworld, but the Black Emperor has developed its techniques far beyond what the Netherworld can match.”
Qin Mu smiled, “Then why don’t you three let me try? Maybe I can snatch people from the Nether Capital and even find a loophole for the Black Emperor to patch up.”
Fu Yanqi approached from behind, saying, “Netherworld God-Child, no need to stall for time. This time, our master personally oversees Yankang’s affairs. My master, the Black Emperor of the Nether Capital, has taken a personal interest, showing how important Yankang is. But it also seals Yankang’s fate.”
Qin Mu’s heart sank further. The Nether Emperor himself was getting involved?
No wonder the Woodcutter Sage and the First Ancestor of the Human Sovereign had fallen into the trap!
The Nether Emperor’s cultivation and strength were unfathomable. If he personally presided over Yankang’s tribulation, then Yankang truly had no hope!
“My master wants to see you. He has no interest in Yankang, only in you. He once sent Junior Brother Qi Jiuying to deal with you, but Qi was incompetent. So he sent us.”
Lou Yunqu said, “You still have that mirror Junior Brother Qi Jiuying used to seal you, don’t you?”
Qin Mu continued to secretly activate his indestructible divine consciousness, trying to seize his brother’s power, but with no success. Just then, he suddenly felt streams of power surging toward him from his brow. Joy flickered in his heart, but he kept his face still.
“The mirror you three mentioned—the one I took from Qi Jiuying?”
Qin Mu rummaged through his Taotie pouch, saying, “Wait a moment, let me find it.”
Lou Yunqu smiled, “This mirror was used to seal you, specially forged by our master for you. Just take it out, look into it, and you’ll freeze yourself, saving us a lot of trouble.”
Qin Mu pulled a mirror from the pouch, looked into it, and shook his head, “Not this one.” He casually tossed it aside and continued searching.
“Not this one either.” He took out another mirror, looked into it, shook his head, and threw it away.
Lou Yunqu and the others waited patiently. In a short while, Qin Mu had pulled out over a dozen mirrors from the pouch, examining each one, but none froze him.
Their patience began to wear thin. Qin Mu threw out more and more mirrors, but still not the one forged by the Black Emperor of the Nether Capital.
“What’s a grown man doing with so many mirrors?” Fu Yanqi, hot-tempered, shouted.
“I’m handsome, what can I do? I need plenty of mirrors.” Qin Mu looked up, embarrassed.
Fu Yanqi snorted angrily, “The human body is just a stinking bag of skin. Die in this life, live in the next. Why cherish it so much? Look at my hand—the Yankang National Master chopped it down to one finger, and I’m not as fussy as you!”
He raised his right hand; only a thumb remained.
Qin Mu didn’t answer. He took out another mirror, looked into it, and suddenly froze, motionless.
Lou Yunqu and the others all sighed in relief. Wei Qingpei said, “This must be the one. The disaster gods from all realms sent to bring tribulation are about to revive. This place is no good. Let’s leave quickly and return to the Nether Capital before we’re dragged into it!”
Near the Yongjiang Academy, a stone statue was slowly shedding its stone exterior, regaining the color of flesh and blood. A terrifying divine might radiated from it, causing ripples in the surrounding space.
Lou Yunqu and the others all sensed the statue’s fluctuations and grew alert.
These statues had a special name in the Heavenly Court: Disaster Gods.
They were deities sent by the Heavenly Court to bring calamity to unruly lower realms. When a Disaster God descended, chaos reigned. In ordinary lower realms, one or two Disaster Gods descending was enough to destroy the world. But Yankang was different—over thirty Disaster Gods were descending simultaneously!
Not only that, but accompanying the Disaster Gods were over a dozen Celestial Phenomenon Divine Weapons.
These weapons, called Tribulation-Bringing Divine Weapons in the Heavenly Court, were tools specifically used to punish the world, built by ancient gods born from heaven and earth. One or two such weapons could deliver a comprehensive, devastating blow to an entire world!
Yankang had over a dozen of these Celestial Phenomenon Divine Weapons.
Disaster Gods plus Tribulation-Bringing Divine Weapons—this was the setup for world annihilation!
Disaster Gods showed no mercy, and neither did the weapons. So Lou Yunqu and his group had to ignite this catastrophe and then leave immediately to avoid being caught in it.
Wei Qingpei walked over, reaching for the mirror in Qin Mu’s hand, and laughed, “Our master spent four or five years forging this Nether Capital Jade Mirror. It was specifically designed for the Netherworld God-Child. Who would have thought Junior Brother Qi Jiuying would let it fall into this kid’s hands? He seems clever, but he still fell for our trick. Capturing him was as easy as reaching into a bag…”
Just as his hand touched the Nether Capital Jade Mirror, Qin Mu’s hand suddenly grabbed his.
“Is that so?” Qin Mu’s voice came from beside him, dark and sinister, sending chills down the spine.
Wei Qingpei looked up and saw Qin Mu’s three eyes blazing with butterfly-wing-like light.
Wei Qingpei’s hair stood on end: “Netherworld God-Child, you weren’t sealed…”
“What was sealed was my brother.”
Qin Mu’s other hand clamped onto Wei Qingpei’s head and twisted hard. Wei Qingpei saw his own butt and heels.
Woom—
Qin Mu’s three eyes blazed with light, three beams piercing through the back of Wei Qingpei’s head and out his forehead.
“Didn’t Qi Jiuying tell you? He tried to freeze me with this mirror before and failed, and I defeated him instead!”
Qin Mu opened his mouth and took a long, deep breath. Wei Qingpei’s primordial spirit, just escaping his body to flee into the Nether Capital, was pulled irresistibly toward Qin Mu’s mouth!
“You’re so stupid, don’t bother reincarnating. Let me taste your primordial spirit!”
Lou Yunqu and Fu Yanqi’s faces changed drastically. They rushed to save him, but with a thunderous boom, Fu Yanqi was sent flying. Lou Yunqu, the highest in cultivation among them—a deity of the Execution Platform—was a step ahead and knocked Qin Mu tumbling several times.
Wei Qingpei’s physical body was dead. His primordial spirit, freed, tried to flee into the Nether Capital. Qin Mu landed and reached out, freezing it in midair, preventing its return.
“The taste of a Nether Capital disciple must be far more delicious than those Netherworld ghosts!” Qin Mu opened his mouth eagerly.
Lou Yunqu and Fu Yanqi attacked again, desperate to save Wei Qingpei before Qin Mu devoured him.
Meanwhile, inside the Qin Continent on Qin Mu’s brow, the Crimson Emperor blinked and said, “Did we give him too much Netherworld power?”
The Heavenly Duke, bruised and battered, replied, “Not too much. Don’t worry, I know my limits! When have I ever done anything without being sure?”
Beside them, the giant baby sat stiff and motionless, streams of Netherworld demonic energy surging wildly out of his body.
Earlier, they had tried to subdue Qin Fengqing and make him lend power to Qin Mu, but Qin Fengqing was fierce and had beaten them both badly. They had used all their strength and every trick, yet still couldn’t suppress him.
Fortunately, Qin Mu had found the Nether Capital Jade Mirror forged by the Nether Emperor. When Qin Mu looked into the mirror, a mirror surface suddenly appeared in the Qin Continent before the baby. The curious baby examined it, and from the mirror came seductive sounds that froze the mighty, boundless, ferocious infant in place.
The Crimson Emperor said suspiciously, “If we didn’t give him too much power, why is he trying to eat the Nether Capital kid’s primordial spirit? Has Qin Mu always been this savage?”
The Heavenly Duke blinked, and the Crimson Emperor blinked too. They stared at each other.
The Heavenly Duke stammered, “Is there a way to fix this?”
————Lalala, a four-thousand-word chapter! Please subscribe~
Friends who haven’t received their fan team titles and rewards can click the author’s note below to enter the claim page! Thank you all for your support during the fan team event!