Chapter 713: The Good-Natured Old Gentleman and the World-Destroying Demon King
Qin Mu calculated how to design an accurate creation divine ability to heal Emperor Yi Yue’s injuries without damaging her brain, while the Woodcutter ascended to the Observation Platform of the Surging River Academy, preparing to perform a ritual to guide the souls of the people of Li Prefecture. He said, “Keeping the souls of Li Prefecture’s people separated from their bodies for too long will harm their physical forms. It’s better to pull their souls or primordial spirits back.”
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign showed a worried expression and said, “Snatching souls from the Netherworld to bring the dead back to life will deduct one’s lifespan. Although the Celestial Master is a deity with an endless life, if he angers the Underworld Emissaries, they will come for him and seize his soul. If he cannot escape this calamity, he will descend to the Netherworld to suffer, and perhaps, if his sins are grave enough, he will even be devoured by the Earth Lord. Even if he escapes this disaster, if he dies in the future, he will still have to go to the Netherworld to suffer and be eaten by the Earth Lord. Li Prefecture is so large, with so many people—the punishment will surely be even heavier!”
The Woodcutter shook his head and said, “This time, I devised a plan, using the lives of Li Prefecture’s people as bait to lure Lou Yunqu and the others here, and then using Qin Mu to lure out the Netherworld Emperor, which ultimately cost the lives of Li Prefecture’s people. The root of this matter lies with me. How could I spare myself? Let everything wait until after I die.”
He had also conducted in-depth research on Netherworld language and Netherworld techniques, so performing the Soul-Guiding Art was not difficult.
Netherworld words came from his mouth, and gradually, a gate materialized from the void, slowly taking shape.
He had not cultivated the Gate of Heaven’s Mandate like Qin Mu, nor could he cultivate divine abilities like the Gate of Slaying Gods or the Netherworld Heavenly Gate. However, he took a different path, using spell runes to construct a gate connecting to the Netherworld.
This method was similar to the original Soul-Guiding Art, different from the version Qin Mu had modified. Qin Mu’s modified Soul-Guiding Art was extremely direct—once the divine ability was activated, the Gate of Heaven’s Mandate would appear immediately, making it very easy to summon the souls of the dead from the Netherworld.
The Woodcutter Sage’s Soul-Guiding Art was more time-consuming and consumed more divine power, but the effect was roughly the same.
He stood on the Observation Platform, with Netherworld demonic energy rolling behind him, the darkness growing thicker. It was daytime, and although the sun in the sky was wobbling, its light was still intense. However, under the invasion of the Netherworld demonic energy, the sunlight could not shine through at all.
Within the dark demonic energy, a gate stood tall, and souls continuously flew out, scattering in all directions. They found their own bodies and drilled into them. After a moment, the owners of those bodies slowly woke up.
The Woodcutter Sage performed the ritual, allowing the Netherworld demonic energy to spread further and further. The demonic energy extended from the Surging River Academy, covering the Surging River, spreading to Dijiang County, and from there to several other counties.
More and more souls flew out from that gate, and more and more people woke up. Just then, a faint light flickered in the darkness, and a small boat drifted in from the dark, heading toward the gate.
“The Underworld Emissary has come, probably to seize my soul.”
The Woodcutter Sage’s heart darkened, but his expression remained calm. He thought to himself, “As long as I don’t implicate others, that’s fine. Trading my life for the lives of Li Prefecture’s people—even if I die, it’s worth it. Besides, I severely wounded the Netherworld Emperor and rescued Emperor Yi Yue the Heavenly King, preventing the disaster from descending. That’s worth it. I have three disciples. They… are all good. Without me, they can still move forward.”
The darkness in his heart disappeared as he awaited his final fate.
The small boat sailed to the side of the gate in the darkness. The old man at the bow stood up, took down the lantern, and shone it at the Woodcutter Sage.
The Woodcutter Sage’s primordial spirit wavered under the light, but he continued chanting Netherworld words without daring to slack off, hoping only to summon the souls of all the wrongfully dead people of Li Prefecture before the Underworld Emissary made his move.
The small boat sailed out of the gate. The old Underworld Emissary, carrying the lantern, was about to step from the Netherworld into the mortal realm. The Woodcutter Sage’s heart tightened. He paused his ritual and said, “Lord Prefect of the Netherworld, could you grant me a moment to fulfill my wish?”
The old Underworld Emissary was about to speak when suddenly, Qin Mu poked his head through the gate to look around. Seeing him, he was overjoyed and laughed, “So it’s the Prefect!”
The old Underworld Emissary’s face darkened. “I originally thought it was you performing the soul-summoning, so I planned to come and check. But it turned out not to be you, so I thought, ‘Whoever dares to summon souls has quite the nerve.’ These past two days, quite a few people have been summoning souls, causing a mess. The Earth Lord is very displeased!”
Qin Mu laughed and said, “Prefect, please forgive me. I told them to summon the souls. You didn’t do anything to them, did you?”
The old Underworld Emissary’s face was gloomy as he snorted.
Qin Mu quickly said, “This time, the one summoning souls is my teacher. I was busy and had no time, so I asked him to handle it. He doesn’t understand and was just messing around. If he disturbed you, Prefect, please forgive him. How about I do the soul-summoning myself?”
The old Underworld Emissary was silent for a moment, then said stiffly, “No need. Although the seal is very secure, you must still be careful, lest the souls you summon all end up feeding your brother.”
Qin Mu smiled and said, “Prefect, rest assured. The willow leaf on my forehead is stuck on well, and I never take it off. My brother can’t escape.”
The old Underworld Emissary’s expression softened slightly, and he instructed, “It’s best if you never take it off. If you release your brother and cause trouble, the Earth Lord will have to clean up your mess. I won’t pursue this soul-summoning matter. There’s a rule in the Netherworld: the dead are not considered truly dead until the seventh day after death, so they can still return to the living. This isn’t because the Netherworld fears you, nor because I’m giving you face—it’s because this rule truly exists. Be careful.”
Qin Mu repeatedly agreed and said, “Farewell.”
The old Underworld Emissary took his small boat back into the Netherworld and disappeared into the darkness.
Qin Mu then trotted back, leaving the dumbfounded Woodcutter Sage standing on the Observation Platform, unable to recover for a long time.
“Brother, I truly envy you for having such an outstanding disciple who can even get along so well in the Netherworld.”
Fu Riluo was filled with emotion and envy. “How did you cultivate him to be so exceptional? Can you teach me too?”
Chi Xi the Divine Being quickly leaned in to listen, not daring to miss a single word.
The Woodcutter Sage opened his mouth. “I…” But he couldn’t continue.
“This guy is unworthy of the title of Sage! He’s hiding his secrets from us!” Chi Xi thought indignantly.
His impression of the Woodcutter had already been poor, and now it was even worse.
The Woodcutter couldn’t explain, so he had to continue the soul-summoning, feeling gloomy inside. “What have I taught him? I don’t even know…”
Qin Mu ran back to Emperor Yi Yue’s side. Emperor Yi Yue looked at him curiously and whispered, “Do you know the Heavenly Equal Sage King?”
Qin Mu was focused on calculating and designing creation runes, not looking up as he said, “I know him. I’ve dealt with him a few times. He’s a very easygoing old gentleman.”
Emperor Yi Yue’s eyes widened, and she was both amused and exasperated. “Easygoing? Don’t you know that the Heavenly Equal Sage King is the second most powerful figure in the Netherworld, second only to the Earth Lord? If he were easygoing, wouldn’t the gods and demons he’s killed and whose souls he’s seized be crying themselves back to life? As long as the rules of the Netherworld are violated, even if it means destroying an entire world, this Sage King will not hesitate!”
Qin Mu finished designing the creation runes, tested them, shook his head, and said, “That must be a rumor. The Prefect is a good-natured old gentleman who never loses his temper. Sister, don’t move. I’m going to perform the ritual to heal your injuries.”
Emperor Yi Yue quickly stood still, not moving.
Qin Mu was about to start but found it a bit inconvenient, so he had to say, “Sister, you’re too tall. Lie down so I can work more easily.”
Emperor Yi Yue lay flat in the air, floating about five feet above the ground.
Her hair flowed down like tassels, and her black clothes hung like smooth silk. Qin Mu glanced at her chest, which was still prominent even when she was lying down, and thought to himself, “Sister is really beautiful.”
Although the innocent young man also looked at faces, due to the teachings of the elders of the Village of the Crippled and the Elderly in his childhood, he stubbornly believed that one couldn’t just look at the face—one also had to look at the chest.
Girls with big chests were beautiful.
He calmed his mind and began to perform the ritual. The creation runes needed to repair Emperor Yi Yue’s wounds were not many. He only needed to select specific runes from the Three Primordial Spirit Indestructible Divine Awareness and the Flawless Creation Mystic Scripture, targeting the forehead and brain area. However, how to reorganize them and prevent other brain tissues from overgrowing was the key.
This was why Qin Mu had spent so long calculating and deducing.
Additionally, he needed to trim some creation runes and reorganize the rune structure. This was his first time doing this, so he had to be very careful.
After all, the brain was very fragile. Too little was bad, and too much was also bad.
Moreover, Emperor Yi Yue’s injury was not only to her physical body but also to her primordial spirit, which had the same hole. Qin Mu’s redesign of the creation runes this time aimed to heal the wound on her primordial spirit as well.
He carefully performed the ritual, and the brain tissue inside Emperor Yi Yue’s head slowly began to grow. The missing parts gradually grew back, filling the blood hole.
Every movement Qin Mu made was extremely cautious. Layers of formation patterns appeared in his pupils as he stared at the blood hole on Emperor Yi Yue’s forehead, meticulously observing the growth of the brain tissue.
He controlled his divine power, making the changes in the runes more subtle. Only after the brain tissue had fully grown did he carefully change the runes to allow the bone at her forehead to grow.
Once the bone had grown, Qin Mu changed the runes again, this time to repair the skin on her forehead.
“Mu’er, we pharmacists might be out of a job,” the Pharmacist’s voice came.
The last rune flickered and then faded. Emperor Yi Yue raised her hand and touched her forehead, surprised. She laughed and said, “Great Sorcerer, your creation techniques are truly miraculous!”
Qin Mu smiled and said, “Sister, turn over. There’s still a hole in the back of your head that hasn’t been repaired… Slowly, be careful not to let your brain matter leak out. Grandpa Pharmacist, creation techniques cannot replace medicine, nor can they replace pharmacists.”
As he treated the back of her head, he said, “First, creation techniques are very difficult to master. It’s not impossible to cultivate to my level, but one would need to be as exceptionally talented as I am and spend tens of thousands of years diligently practicing. Then it might be possible.”
Although others didn’t know the difficulty of creation techniques, he understood them very well. His proficiency in creation techniques came mainly from the Red Emperor’s thoughts. Without the Red Emperor’s thoughts, he wouldn’t know how many years it would take him to reach his current level.
“Moreover, the human body is a large system. The physical body of a god or demon is a small world. Creation techniques can repair the body, but maintaining the balance of the body’s systems and the equilibrium of the god or demon’s physical world requires a pharmacist.”
Qin Mu dispersed the runes, took out a small mirror, and handed it to Emperor Yi Yue. “Sister, take a look. Is it the same as before?”
—Tomorrow, Zhai Zhu will be going home!