Chapter 852: Corpse Demon
Qin Mu's body stiffened. The Heavenly Emperor of the Outer Realm Heavenly Court—was he part of the Heavenly Alliance?
Did the blind old man mean the Heavenly Emperor was a single person within the Heavenly Alliance, or the entire alliance itself?
He had never considered this question before.
Was it possible that the Heavenly Emperor of the Outer Realm Heavenly Court was not a single individual, but a group, a collective with various conflicting interests?
If this speculation held true, he could sketch out some contours of the Imperial Era.
The Imperial Era was initiated by Mother Earth Primogenitor.
Mother Earth Primogenitor nurtured her own offspring, supporting them in establishing the Imperial Era and founding the Imperial Heavenly Court, which was called the Northern Imperial Court.
The Heavenly Alliance, in turn, supported another group to establish the Southern Imperial Court, creating a Northern and Southern Imperial Court in opposition.
The two courts fought and slaughtered each other for nearly three hundred thousand years.
During this time, the Outer Realm Heavenly Court was more of an observer, watching from the sidelines as the tigers fought.
At that time, the Outer Realm Heavenly Court was still the Dragon Han Heavenly Court.
The Dragon Han Heavenly Court had absorbed the Xiao Han Heavenly Court and the Long Xiao Heavenly Court, becoming a bloated behemoth. Within this court were ancient gods, as well as demigods and deities cultivated from post-natal beings.
During this period, the Heavenly Alliance grew stronger and stronger, using a series of methods to gradually replace the core strength of the Outer Realm Heavenly Court, seizing control of it.
The ancient gods felt endangered, with Heaven Duke and Earth Lord both sensing their interests were harmed and facing the danger of being replaced.
The Heavenly Alliance itself also split due to power and interests.
Irreconcilable contradictions arose between the Heavenly Alliance, which controlled the Outer Realm Heavenly Court, and the Southern Imperial Court. The Southern Imperial Court's philosophy was that human life was greater than heaven, and gods served humanity.
But the Heavenly Alliance, which had seized control of the Outer Realm Heavenly Court, had already grasped unparalleled power and authority. The Southern Imperial Court they had supported had instead become a thorn in their side, a behemoth threatening their rule.
The breaking point came after Mother Earth was eliminated by the Heavenly Alliance. With Mother Earth dead and the Northern Imperial Court destroyed, eradicating the Southern Imperial Court became the Heavenly Alliance's top priority.
The war erupted precisely when Ling Tianzun intercepted the Heavenly River to test her most perfect divine ability. If Ling Tianzun did not die, the Southern Imperial Court would not be defeated.
That terrifying existence charged into the mist to assassinate Ling Tianzun. At the same time, the divine armies of the Outer Realm Heavenly Court attacked the Southern Imperial Court, leading to the complete annihilation of the Imperial Heavenly Court!
This was Qin Mu's speculation.
Although there were still many questions, he felt this guess was likely close to the truth.
He followed the blind old man back to the banks of the Heavenly River. The blind old man continued to enshroud the drifting "corpse" of Ling Tianzun, and the same situation occurred—Ling Tianzun's "corpse" turned back into clear water.
Qin Mu couldn't help but say, "Elder, Ling Tianzun's divine ability is that matter is immutable, neither increasing, decreasing, nor changing. Even if she dies, her corpse will disappear and reform into her, reviving again. Because her divine ability is the constancy of matter. What you collect will never be her, only the river water. The real her has already become that eternal substance on the Heavenly River. She has become the mist over the river. She doesn't care what you do! She doesn't care that you erect monuments or build tombs for her!"
If there was one person who understood Ling Tianzun, it was Qin Mu.
He understood her divine ability the most. It was he and the Kai Emperor who had first taught Ling Tianzun the incomplete art of creation. The prototype of Ling Tianzun's divine ability was also completed with the help of Qin Mu and the Kai Emperor.
Later, when Qin Mu entered the ghost ship, it was also he who used the power of the Four Emperors to break Ling Tianzun's divine ability, though at that time, her divine ability was still imperfect.
However, when it came to understanding Ling Tianzun's divine ability, he was indeed the foremost.
In his view, the blind old man's vigil by the river, collecting Ling Tianzun's remains, was completely unnecessary. Because Ling Tianzun had already merged with her divine ability. It could be said that Ling Tianzun had become her divine ability.
She would live forever within that divine ability, dying and reviving, reviving and dying, in an endless cycle.
Qin Mu even speculated that the mist he encountered at the source of the Yong River was Ling Tianzun's divine ability, taking him back to ancient times, to the end of the Imperial Era.
But he hadn't known it then.
The blind old man's stone coffins were used up, and he dragged another coffin to erect a monument and bury it, grumbling, "No one cares about her. She doesn't care about herself either. The teacher was a person born for the Dao, a pure person. She was so simple that her heart only contained the Dao! She didn't have your schemes, your conspiracies. She didn't care about power or status. She was a threat to no one. Why did she have to die? Why couldn't she be allowed to live?"
This blind old man was burning with rage, tilting his head back and howling like a wounded beast.
"Why must a pure person die? Why couldn't you two Heavenly Venerates take responsibility yourselves? Why did you have to go back to the day you met her and dump the burden on her?"
His hair stood on end in fury, and he shouted harshly, "Couldn't you have shouldered it yourselves? Why did you have to leave? Couldn't you have walked with her? Why did you have to let her face the dangers of the world alone?"
"She didn't understand, Heavenly Venerate Mu! She really didn't understand—"
Two streaks of bloody tears flowed down his aged face. He lowered his head, dragging stone coffins forward, but his voice gradually grew quieter.
"Why do I bury her? Why do I stay here, burying her over and over again? Heavenly Venerate Mu, don't you understand? Because she died. Because within her divine ability, she dies again and again. Don't you understand the pain of death?"
"She has experienced countless deaths, and I must bury her countless times. Because every time she dies, it is painful, it is a true death. She has to repeat this death endlessly..."
Qin Mu was stunned, watching him walk away.
Yan'er flew up from his shoulder, transforming into a beautiful young woman. She took out a silk scarf and wiped the tear stains from his face.
Qin Mu forced a smile and said hoarsely, "I'm fine, thank you, Sister Yan'er."
From within Jade Capital City came violent collisions. Suddenly, Heavenly Dragon King laughed loudly, brushed aside the others, and flew out with a whoosh. With a loud bang, he jumped into a black coffin by the dock and shouted, "Ling Tianzun's treasure belongs to me! Mother Earth Primogenitor's revival is within reach!"
This old dragon had another coffin on his shoulder. Joyfully, he sealed himself and that coffin inside a hanging coffin.
"Ling Tianzun's treasure is inside this coffin..."
Laughter came from within the hanging coffin. Qin Mu heard the laughter suddenly turn into screams. Then the hanging coffin shook violently, swaying unsteadily on the surface of the Heavenly River, churning up massive waves!
Soon, blood flowed from the hanging coffin, while the coffin on the river gradually calmed down.
Qin Mu's eyelids twitched. He warily looked at the hanging coffin floating on the river.
The Lingxiao Hall in Jade Capital City was in shambles, razed to the ground. The demigods brought by Heavenly Dragon King were all dead. The maids brought by Yan Qiling and Mu Qiubai were also severely wounded by Heavenly Dragon King, lying on the ground.
On the ruins of the collapsed Lingxiao Hall, several figures rushed over quickly. They saw that the surface of the Heavenly River had turned into a sea of blood, with red plasma rolling out of the hanging coffin, dyeing the river red.
Everyone's hearts pounded. Suddenly, the hanging coffin opened with a clatter. There was a coffin within a coffin. The coffin that Heavenly Dragon King had carried and placed inside the hanging coffin suddenly stood upright, straight up in the hanging coffin!
This coffin had already opened, pitch black inside. Even more terrifying, chewing sounds came from within, as if something was gnawing!
Suddenly, blood plasma gushed out of this upright coffin like a flood, pouring out in all directions.
The Heavenly River, already stained red, became even more crimson!
Thump.
A huge dragon head flew out of the upright coffin, landed on the river surface, and slowly sank into the water. It was Heavenly Dragon King's head.
On the riverbank, Star Venerate Kuang's eyelids twitched violently. He carried his box and quietly retreated.
"Imperial Heavenly Venerate," Yan Qiling, and Mu Qiubai also retreated quietly.
In the earlier battle, because their strength was far inferior to Heavenly Dragon King and the others, they hadn't been targeted by him and had survived.
But now, the coffin they had been fighting over gave them a feeling of hair-raising terror.
Suddenly, a claw covered in green fur reached out from the coffin. The fur beneath the claw seemed to be cast from gold and bronze. Everyone's faces changed drastically. At that moment, a figure flew out of the coffin. A tattered cape instantly spread across the sky above the Heavenly River.
It was an incredibly powerful imperial corpse, which had cultivated into a corpse demon inside the coffin. Its mouth was filled with sharp fangs, and the flesh and blood of Heavenly Dragon King still hung from the corners of its mouth.
A monstrous corpse aura instantly filled the dead Heavenly Court. The corpse demon flew through the sky, as fast as light and lightning, charging straight toward them.
Yan Qiling screamed. The few maids beside her immediately soared into the sky to meet the imperial corpse.
These maids had been able to clash head-on with Heavenly Dragon King. Though severely injured, they had survived and were highly skilled. But the corpse demon, transformed from the imperial corpse, grabbed them one by one and stuffed them into its mouth!
Everyone scattered and fled.
The corpse demon cackled, its blood-red cape fluttering. Suddenly, it dropped from the sky, its tattered cape covering a large area of the palace, catching a fleeing maid.
Screams came from the area covered by the cape, then fell silent.
The cape flew up again, covering the sky. The corpse demon searched the air, looking for signs of life.
"Senior Brother!"
The blind old man put down his axe and chisel, looked up, and shouted loudly, "Senior Brother! You are dead! Go back to where you belong!"
The imperial corpse, now the corpse demon of the Imperial Heavenly Emperor, immediately pounced on him upon hearing this, its aura overwhelming. It was indeed an Imperial Seat realm Imperial Heavenly Emperor in life!
The blind old man held an axe in one hand and a chisel in the other. With a deafening clang, the axe struck the chisel!
A flash of light shot out from the chisel's tip, striking the corpse demon between the eyebrows.
The corpse demon was struck hard, flying backward with a whoosh, and landed with a thud into the imperial coffin on the surface of the Heavenly River.
The coffin lid closed.
The blind old man put away his axe and chisel, swung a chain, which grew longer and longer, wrapping around the imperial coffin. He swung the coffin, shook it hard, and sent it to the ruins of Lingxiao Hall.
The imperial coffin landed. Countless broken tiles and debris flew up, and the carved beams and painted rafters reassembled into a Lingxiao Hall, standing tall in Jade Capital City, which was filled with stone coffins and steles.
The fleeing survivors were still shaken, their hearts pounding.
Qin Mu looked at the blind old man, deeply shocked. This blind old man was unremarkable in appearance, but his cultivation and strength were unfathomable. He was either at the Imperial Seat realm or very close to it!
"Imperial Heavenly Venerate" walked toward the blind old man, his eyes flickering. "You are... Ling Tianzun's disciple, Yi Shisheng. You're still alive, always guarding this place?"
The blind old man ignored him and continued with his axe and chisel.
"Imperial Heavenly Venerate" smiled. "With your skills, why suffer in this barren land? Ling Tianzun intercepted the Heavenly River, using herself to replace that section of the river, turning into Heavenly River substance. Her divine ability is indeed exquisite, and I admire it. You are her disciple; you must have learned some of her divine abilities. The Heavenly Court greatly needs your talent."
The blind old man stopped his hammering, turned his head to "look" at him, and said numbly, "Which of my uncles or aunts are you? Since you know my teacher has become the substance of the Heavenly River, why have you come?"
"Imperial Heavenly Venerate" smiled. "I just came to see if she was truly dead."
"Are you reassured now?" the blind old man asked.
"Imperial Heavenly Venerate" said, "I am reassured."
The blind old man tightened his grip on the axe, then suddenly relaxed. He said coldly, "Uncle, get lost. Don't disturb our peace."
"Imperial Heavenly Venerate" laughed heartily.
The blind old man "looked" at Qin Mu and said coldly, "Heavenly Venerate Mu, you get lost too. Take them and get lost! We don't need you here!"
Qin Mu exhaled a turbid breath and said solemnly, "Rest assured, in the future, I will rescue Ling Tianzun. When I say something, I always follow through!"
He turned and walked toward the hanging coffin floating on the Heavenly River. Behind him, the sound of hammering resumed. He didn't know if the blind old man had heard his words.