Chapter 782: The Nine Sovereigns of the Upper Emperor Era
Qin Mu pressed the teleportation rune and looked toward the depths of the Blood Sea. There, a chasm split the sea, and a woman dressed in emerald green rose from the blood waters. The sea closed behind her as she ascended.
She wore a green dress embroidered with various leaves, her hair coiled up with withered branches resembling deer antlers. Behind her head was a halo of light, and within that halo was a tender green sprout, like a seed just breaking through moist soil, with two delicate young leaves.
"Sister," Qin Mu said. The teleportation array symbols around him moved slowly but were not activated. He smiled and asked, "How should I address you, sister? What business does the Earth Mother Primordial have with me?"
The woman in the green dress stopped before him. "My name is Gongsun Yan, a maidservant to the Earth Mother Primordial. She instructed me to invite the honored guest to her presence, but did not explain the reason. Please, honored guest, follow me."
Qin Mu jumped down from the Dragon Qilin's head and gestured for Imperial Heaven to remain on the Water Qilin's back. He smiled and said, "Sister Yan, your dress is truly beautiful."
Gongsun Yan beamed with delight. "Really? I painstakingly tailored this garment myself, putting a great deal of effort into it."
Qin Mu followed her forward. "I have long heard of the Earth Mother Primordial, but have never had the chance to meet her. Sister Yan, how did the Earth Mother come to know of me?"
Gongsun Yan led them across the Blood Sea. "That, I am not sure of. Perhaps it was when the Netherworld Empress visited the Earth Mother not long ago and mentioned you. The Netherworld Empress was ambushed in the late Dragon Han Era, and the Earth Mother, feeling a kinship in her plight, was quite unsettled. However, the Netherworld Empress came back to life and sought out the Earth Mother on her own. At the time, I was guarding the palace and could not enter to hear what they discussed."
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief.
After the Netherworld Empress was resurrected, she had indeed been absent from the Netherworld Realm for a time. When Qin Mu went to seek her there, the practitioners of the Netherworld Realm said she had gone to visit old friends. It seemed she had indeed visited the Earth Mother Primordial.
"The Netherworld Empress must have told the Earth Mother that I resurrected her. Now, summoning me through Gongsun Yan likely means she has some purpose in mind."
With this thought, Qin Mu smiled and asked, "Sister Yan, on my way here, I saw many divine and demonic races rushing toward this place, along with countless demigods. The road was quite perilous. What is happening?"
Gongsun Yan led them to the opposite shore of the Blood Sea and onto the land, but instead of heading toward Jade Capital City, she took a detour. "The forces within the Earth Mother's Primordial Realm are complex. Now that the Primordial Realm has reappeared, many factions are stirring, hoping to fish in troubled waters. These divine and demonic races were originally vassal realms under the Earth Mother's command, but they have infiltrated with ill intentions. The Earth Mother is quite angered by this. As for the demigods, they were not summoned by the Earth Mother herself, but by someone impersonating her."
Qin Mu's heart skipped a beat. "Someone is impersonating the Earth Mother to summon the demigods?"
The Water Qilin was also startled and quickly said, "Impossible! After I awakened, I clearly felt that the one calling us was the Earth Mother Primordial! She is the World Master of the Primordial Realm. That kind of resonance could not be mistaken! Brother Dragon Qilin, did you feel the Earth Mother's call?"
The Dragon Qilin replied, "I did. But I was plowing the fields at the time and ignored it."
Qin Mu pondered. "If it wasn't the Earth Mother Primordial summoning the demigods, then who could impersonate her and call them here? What method could they use to reach all the demigods in the Primordial Realm, making them unable to distinguish truth from falsehood? That must not be simple, right?"
Gongsun Yan shook her head. "That is beyond my knowledge. Since the Earth Mother's death, I have been guarding the underground palace, quietly awaiting her revival. I know little of the outside world."
Jade Capital City was vast, covering a wide area, and the Celestial Tower was located within it. From there, waves of terrifying energy emanated, and powerful divine abilities erupted from time to time, expanding outward from the Celestial Tower as the epicenter.
Qin Mu looked in that direction and thought, "The one impersonating the Earth Mother should be inside the Celestial Tower. I wonder who it is. Who would be so bold as to impersonate the Earth Mother and use the demigods for their own purposes? Zixi Heavenly Master is heading there—will she encounter danger?"
He then shook his head. Although the scholar was not the strongest among the Four Heavenly Masters, she had the highest overall combat power. Even Martial Heavenly Master had suffered a few defeats at her hands and acknowledged her superiority with genuine respect.
Martial Heavenly Master was at the Emperor Throne Realm and still admitted to being inferior to her. It seemed Zixi Heavenly Master would not be in danger.
They took a long detour until they reached a small earthen mound.
On the mound stood a dilapidated temple, with a plaque half-buried in the dirt bearing a few characters.
Qin Mu pulled the plaque out of the ground and brushed off the dust. The script was extremely ancient.
He looked at Imperial Heaven, who said, "Brother, it says 'Earth Mother Primordial Temple.'"
Gongsun Yan walked into the ruined temple and urged, "Hurry, come in!"
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then stored the plaque in his Taotie pouch. "I'll keep it for now. It might come in handy."
They entered the temple. Though small, it was clean, clearly swept regularly. There were a few side rooms with their doors closed.
"Is that where you live, sister?" Qin Mu asked.
Gongsun Yan nodded. "I usually live here. Behind the temple, there are a few acres of land where I grow vegetables and fruits. My fruits are quite delicious, but unfortunately, we are in a hurry and I don't have time to offer you any. After you meet the Earth Mother, I'll pick some for you."
Qin Mu thanked her.
This woman had a certain naive charm, with little cunning, making her easy to get along with.
Gongsun Yan entered the main hall of the temple. Qin Mu looked up and saw a statue of a woman with a full forehead and a rounded chin, a smile on her lips.
Behind the statue was an ancient tree carved from bronze, with the statue standing beneath it.
Gongsun Yan bowed to the statue, and suddenly the temple floor split open, revealing a path leading deep underground, with faint light flickering in the darkness.
Qin Mu examined the seal on the ground and thought, "This seal is a bit crude."
Gongsun Yan laughed. "You're so absent-minded! What's so interesting about the ground? Let's go down!"
Qin Mu followed her, with the Dragon Qilin quickly pressing close behind him, nervously glancing around. The Water Qilin was bolder, carrying Imperial Heaven with steady steps.
Qin Mu felt that the ground beneath his feet was not made of steps. Looking down, he saw it was an enormous tree root.
This root was thicker than the road from Yan Kang to the Western Lands, covered in moss. As they walked, each step left a glowing footprint on the soft moss, like phosphorescence. After they had taken a dozen steps, the footprints behind them gradually faded.
The Dragon Qilin and Water Qilin were amazed, hopping around on the root, leaving a trail of hoof prints.
Imperial Heaven also jumped down and played happily with them, but suddenly slipped and fell off the root, letting out a shrill scream.
Qin Mu shook his head. A strand of his hair grew in the wind, coiled down, wrapped tightly around Imperial Heaven, and hauled him back up.
Imperial Heaven, still shaken, became much more subdued.
The tree roots branched out in all directions, and the underground space was not like a cave but rather an immense expanse, though the surroundings were dim, and Qin Mu could not make out the layout.
He followed Gongsun Yan deeper underground until the roots reached the edge of the underground space. There, he saw ancient marble walls with very old patterns.
But as they went deeper, the height of these walls left him astonished.
They moved from one root to another, still not reaching the bottom.
Suddenly, the Dragon Qilin cried out in alarm and hid behind Qin Mu, trembling.
Qin Mu looked and saw many ancient tree roots intertwining and knotting together in the distance.
At the center of that knot lay a huge black stone coffin, silent and still, from which a faint, terrifying divine might emanated.
In front of the coffin stood twelve stone statues—a pair each of qilin, lions, camels, horses, white elephants, and xiezhi—all standing on the roots before the coffin.
"A mausoleum of imperial specifications?"
Qin Mu's heart stirred. "Could the Earth Mother Primordial be lying in that coffin?"
The black stone coffin was sixteen zhang high, eight zhang wide, and forty-nine zhang long, suggesting that the person inside must have been extremely tall and robust!
"That is the Upper Emperor's stone coffin, containing the first Upper Emperor."
Gongsun Yan bowed respectfully to the coffin and whispered, "The First Upper Emperor has a bad temper. Let's not disturb him. We'll pass quietly."
The Dragon Qilin was terrified, tucking his thick dragon tail between his legs and tiptoeing forward, muttering, "Bad temper? He wouldn't jump out of the coffin, would he..."
As they passed by the coffin, the stone statues suddenly turned their heads, their expressions fierce and grim, staring fixedly at them. Their gazes followed the group's movement until they had passed, then the statues slowly turned their heads back to face each other.
They walked a bit further and saw another huge black coffin, wrapped in tree roots, suspended in midair, neither touching the ground nor the ceiling.
In front of this coffin were also twelve stone statues, but these had bird heads on human bodies, with wings on their backs, standing on one leg. Some had heads like vermilion birds, some like phoenixes, some like dragon heads with beaks, and some had multiple heads.
"This is the tomb of the Second Upper Emperor," Gongsun Yan whispered. "He also has a bad temper. Keep your voice down."
The bird-headed statues stared at them. Qin Mu, Imperial Heaven, the Dragon Qilin, and the Water Qilin tiptoed past under their watchful eyes.
Then they saw a third black coffin and two rows of statues.
Qin Mu couldn't help but ask, "Sister Yan, how many Upper Emperors were there in the Upper Emperor Era?"
"Fourteen," Gongsun Yan replied in a low voice. "Nine are buried here. The others died in battle outside, their bodies not recovered—they were taken and refined into treasures."
Qin Mu's expression turned strange. After a moment, he ventured, "Do all these Upper Emperors have bad tempers?"
"Mm," Gongsun Yan nodded. "Not only do they have bad tempers, but the tomb-guarding beasts also have bad tempers. Every time I pass by, they look at me like I'm a thief."
Qin Mu had no choice but to continue tiptoeing forward. Finally, they passed the nine black coffins. The imperial tombs of several Upper Emperors were all located here, their coffins entwined with tree roots—some custom from the Upper Emperor Era, perhaps.
"Aren't gods supposed to be immortal? Why did these Upper Emperors fall and die?" Qin Mu asked.
"They were killed," Gongsun Yan whispered. "Keep your voice down, or they'll hear you. If they do, they'll jump out and hit people! The Earth Mother retrieved their souls from the Netherworld and sealed them in the coffins."
Qin Mu shuddered and lowered his voice. "Who could kill all the successive Upper Emperors?"
"The Earth Mother herself was killed, let alone the Upper Emperors," Gongsun Yan said. "The Upper Emperor Era was chaotic... Ah, the Earth Mother Primordial's palace is here!"
Ahead, a dazzling light shone. A palace was suspended in the air by a network of roots, the source of the light.
When they reached the palace, they could see its immense size and grandeur. The pillars and ornamental columns were carved with stone dragons and some bird-headed divine stone statues. The roof ridge was adorned with various strange divine beast statues, and above the door were water dragon carvings, while the window lattices featured phoenix reliefs.
Qin Mu followed Gongsun Yan to the front of the hall, when suddenly he saw the stone dragons slowly rotating and writhing. Their stone surfaces turned into flesh and blood, and a massive dragon head lowered itself before them!
It was an old dragon, with dim, aged eyes and flowing whiskers. It spoke in a rumbling voice, "I smell the scent of strangers."
"They are the Earth Mother's honored guests," Gongsun Yan quickly said. "Please, Dragon King, step aside."
A fluttering sound came from the window lattice, and a phoenix flew out, landing before Qin Mu and the others. Flames swirled around it, and it stood several zhang tall, folding its wings and staring sternly at them. "Honored guests of the Primordial? Could they be spies of the Heavenly Emperor?"
Just then, a faint, obscure divine consciousness emanated from within the palace: "He is the one I invited... Eh, Imperial Heaven!"
The divine consciousness was filled with astonishment, as if seeing a ghost.
Imperial Heaven looked bewildered.
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