Chapter 844: Interesting Tales of the Southern Frontier
Qin Mu, his face dark, walked into the Dao Sect Academy while eating a peach. He turned to look back; the ten-thousand-mile peach forest still stood, and deep within the blossoms, laughter teased the spring breeze.
The woman in the peach forest was still there, living in seclusion, avoiding the world.
But Qin Mu knew that the Moon Venerable would not remain in the peach forest forever. When the time was right, she would surely emerge again.
The peach forest was a peculiar celestial realm. Its appearance within the Primordial Realm meant that the Moon Venerable still harbored reluctance, a desire to re-enter the world, and had not completely severed her emotional ties to it.
Her teaching of Qi Xiayu was clear proof.
Qi Xiayu was her disciple, acting on her behalf in the world, representing her intention to re-engage with it.
What was even more intriguing was that Qi Xiayu had been recommended to the Moon Venerable by the Southern Emperor, Vermilion Bird. She had countless connections to the Southern Emperor and could also be considered her disciple.
The implications behind this were quite thought-provoking.
"Qi Xiayu is the disciple of both the Southern Emperor and the Moon Venerable. They cultivated her, making her a Throne-level powerhouse. After several betrayals, she rose from being the leader of the Phoenix Clan under the Earth Mother to become the Southern Heavenly Vermilion Emperor of the Outer Heaven."
Qin Mu gnawed the peach down to its pit, his eyes flickering with an amused smile. He thought to himself, "And the Heavenly Court has Vermilion Bird's runic jade slips in the Archive Pavilion, clearly intending to replace her long ago. During the Sovereign Era, the Southern Emperor cultivated a replacement for herself, eliminated the previous Crimson Emperor, and groomed her into the new one. When the Heavenly Court tried to kill her, she could fake her death and escape, letting Crimson Emperor Qi Xiayu inherit her power. She lost nothing and simply moved from the light to the shadows."
Qin Mu blinked. The Vermilion Bird sister, standing at the bow of the ship on the Heavenly River in her bright red robes, was unexpectedly cunning—a surprise to him.
Blind had not returned to the Dao Sect Academy, likely afraid of the girl Yan'er, and had fled.
Qin Mu wasn't worried about his safety. Although Blind was intensely curious, his Divine Eye and Heart-Mind Eye were already rare in the world, and his formation skills were unmatched in Yancheng. As long as he didn't deliberately court death, he was safe.
The Imperial Heaven Venerable wasn't very interested in numerology, but over these days, he had learned most of the Dao Sect's numerological arts. The Dragon Qilin was even more skilled, while the Water Qilin had been sleeping through the lessons.
Qin Mu took his leave from Academy Master Lin Xuan, saying, "Academy Master also needs to find an expert to break through the Divine Bridge Divine Reservoir and open the Heavenly River Divine Reservoir. If you can't find such an expert, go to the Yongjiang Academy and seek out the First Ancestor Human Sovereign. He has the strength."
Lin Xuan thanked him, saying, "Rest assured, Sect Leader. The Azure Cloud Heavenly Sect Leader should also have that ability. Where does Sect Leader Qin plan to go after leaving the Dao Academy?"
"I plan to visit the Lijiang Academy, the Jade Capital Academy, then the Jiangling Academy, the Grand Academy, and other academies to learn the results of the reforms over these years."
Qin Mu looked around and whispered, "The Primordial Realm has broken its seal, and the true and false Earth Mothers have both appeared. The two strong contenders have clashed and both suffered severe injuries, so they've been inactive. However, one Earth Mother has the support of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor, and the other is an Ancient God herself. Neither will stay idle; they're both waiting for an opportunity. When these two Earth Mothers make their move, the Dao Sect won't be able to withstand it, and neither will Yancheng. If the Dao Sect is in danger, Academy Master should lead the scholars into the peach forest for safety."
Lin Xuan's heart tightened. He asked, "Sect Leader, when you entered the peach forest a few days ago, did you discover anything?"
"A friend of mine is in the peach forest. There's no ill intent."
Qin Mu didn't elaborate. "In these coming days, Academy Master should also send people to relocate the mortals from various regions, preparing early in case the Earth Mother acts. Every life saved is a great merit."
He bid farewell and left.
Lin Xuan looked toward the peach forest, thinking, "An old friend of Sect Leader Qin? The Sect Leader truly has a wide circle of acquaintances."
Qin Mu left the Dao Sect Academy and headed for the Southern Frontier. The Dragon Qilin's head was covered in peach pits. He felt that the girl beside the Sect Leader hadn't stopped—she kept peeling peaches and feeding them to the Sect Leader.
Qin Mu was so stuffed he kept burping. Finally, he finished all of Yan'er's stock and breathed a sigh of relief, thinking, "Now there's nothing left to feed me, right?"
Yan'er quickly said, "I'm fast! I'll fly back to the peach forest and pick some more! Don't wait for me!"
Qin Mu quickly grabbed her hand and pleaded, "Good sister, please stop feeding me. I really can't eat anymore. Let me refine some spirit pills for you, and you can feed those to them instead."
The Dragon Qilin, Water Qilin, and Imperial Heaven Venerable all looked at him with anticipation.
Qin Mu refined over a dozen batches of spirit pills in one go, sorted them by type, and told Yan'er which were for the Dragon Qilin, which for the Water Qilin, and which the Imperial Heaven Venerable could eat. He said, "Don't feed them too much, or they'll get fat."
Yan'er took the pills, excited and hopping with joy. She stored the pills somewhere unknown, but with a flip of her hand, they would appear in her palm.
The girl jumped around on the Dragon Qilin and Water Qilin, feeding the three of them, bustling about with great happiness, living a life more fulfilling than ever before.
Qin Mu watched her busy herself and secretly worried, "Before long, all three of them will be as round as balls... My gluttony pouch's medicinal herbs are also running low. I need to find a city to buy some more."
A few days later, his herbs were completely exhausted. Yancheng was now too vast, and on the road, Qin Mu couldn't find any cities, so he had to keep traveling.
Yan'er couldn't feed anyone and grew restless. Qin Mu quickly comforted her, "In another ten days or so, we'll reach the Lijiang Academy. We can buy more herbs there. Sister Yan'er, please be patient."
Yan'er held out for five or six days but finally couldn't take it anymore. Suddenly, she transformed into a small green sparrow and flew away, calling out, "I'm going to find food! You go on ahead; I'll catch up soon!"
Qin Mu couldn't call her back. He watched the little sparrow quickly disappear into a vast expanse of desolate divine mountains, vanishing within the divine mists among the peaks.
He had no choice but to let the Dragon Qilin continue on.
After a while, the sky suddenly darkened. Everyone looked up to see a huge green-winged bird flying toward them, its wingspan a thousand zhang wide, its claws like forged metal and stone. Beneath its talons, it held a mighty-looking demon god.
That demon god was about one to two hundred zhang tall, likely a demigod, imposing and extraordinary. But caught by the green bird, it couldn't move, its face full of despair, looking like it was waiting to die.
Qin Mu, the Imperial Heaven Venerable, and the others were horrified, their mouths hanging open as they stared at the scene.
From the green bird's beak came Yan'er's voice, clear and chirping, "I found food! Fatty Long, you eat the most—open your mouth, and I'll drop it in!"
The Dragon Qilin opened his mouth but felt he couldn't swallow it. He quickly shook his head and shouted, "Sister Yan'er, I eat spirit pills! I can't eat raw flesh! Besides, this demon god is still raw, not cooked..."
The green bird folded its wings and landed, pinning the demon god to the ground with one claw. "Wait a moment, it'll be cooked soon," she said.
Her beak opened, and divine fire blazed within, ready to roast the demon god.
Everyone shuddered.
The Dragon Qilin looked at Qin Mu, who was getting a headache. He quickly said, "Sister Yan'er, we don't eat this."
The green bird was puzzled. She released the demon god and said, "It's delicious. I ate it often when I was young. Want to try?"
The demon god trembled, lying prostrate on the ground, not daring to move.
Qin Mu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Divine beings and demons aren't on our menu, Sister Yan'er. Don't worry about our food."
The demon god's eyes flickered as he quietly tried to crawl away, but the green bird immediately pinned him down again with her claw.
The green bird asked doubtfully, "You really won't eat it?"
Qin Mu, the Imperial Heaven Venerable, and the Dragon Qilin all shook their heads. The Water Qilin hesitated, wanting to eat, but since even his master was shaking his head, he didn't dare to be different and reluctantly shook his head too, thinking, "What a waste... I've never eaten a demon god before..."
The green bird pecked down, picked up the demon god, and in everyone's horrified gaze, swallowed it whole. Then she transformed back into the delicate, clinging green-clad girl, jumped onto the Dragon Qilin's head, and looked dejected.
Cold sweat dripped from the Dragon Qilin's forehead. He muttered to himself, "Where did the Sect Leader pick up this girl? So strong, so ferocious..."
Soon, the green-clad girl flew out again, gathered many fruits, and fed them to everyone. The Dragon Qilin and Water Qilin didn't like the fruits but had to force them down.
Finally, they arrived at the Lijiang Academy. It was close to the Southern Sea, and beyond a few divine mountains lay the territory of the Crimson Ming Remnant Clan. The Crimson Ming Remnant Clan was extremely powerful, so this area was relatively peaceful.
Qin Mu went to see Sacrificial Wine Master Ba Shan. As soon as he stated his purpose, he heard the Dragon Qilin beating Ba Shan's green ox until it howled in pain.
Qin Mu pretended not to hear. Then he heard the Water Qilin also beating the green ox until it howled. The Imperial Heaven Venerable sat obediently before Sacrificial Wine Master Ba Shan, also pretending not to hear.
Ba Shan rushed out and saw the Dragon Qilin and Water Qilin pinning the green ox to the ground, beating it. His face darkened, and he turned back to glare, saying, "Junior Brother, aren't you going to separate them?"
Qin Mu and the Imperial Heaven Venerable quickly shouted and separated them.
The green ox got up and yelled, "Just wait! I'm going to call my godfather! Don't you dare leave!" With that, he stormed off angrily.
The Dragon Qilin and Water Qilin stood upright, hands on their hips, and said smugly, "Calling your godfather won't help! Even if you call your grandfather, we'll still beat you!"
"We've had it with that ox for a long time, strutting around with a peony in his mouth, his nose in the air!"
Ba Shan breathed a sigh of relief and said to Qin Mu, "You don't know this, but my Lijiang Academy is different from others. It's divided into many schools of Dao techniques, very lively. There's my combat school, Yu Qing's natural school, and the Crimson Ming Divine Son often comes to teach—they're the creation school. These past few days, Grandpa Tian Dao and Martial Heavenly Master Zhuo Cha came together to help build the city defenses and teach martial arts and blade techniques."
"Grandpa Tu and Martial Heavenly Master Zhuo Cha are here too?"
Qin Mu was overjoyed. Then he suddenly remembered something and asked tentatively, "So, the green ox's godfather is..."
From outside came the howls of the Dragon Qilin and Water Qilin. The Dragon Qilin shouted, "Brother San Duo, I didn't know he was your adopted son! Stop hitting! Brother San Duo, remember when we smoked water pipes together... Big Sister, save me!"
As he was listening, a white shadow flashed by. A little girl about eight or nine years old rushed in, heading straight for Qin Mu. Behind her, a white fox tail swayed back and forth. She ran up to Qin Mu, circled him once, transformed into a white fox, climbed onto his shoulder, wrapped her several tails around his neck, then climbed onto his head, her fluffy white tail covering his entire face.