Chapter 943: Deeply Affectionate Sisters
Luo Wushuang's face turned pale, feeling that he had heard something he shouldn't have.
Even though he had always been cold-faced and expressionless, almost never smiling, with a look of deep grievance, the information revealed in the words of Yun Chu Xiu and Lian Hua Hun was truly astonishing, stunning him into a daze.
"Behind these two women are two Heavenly Venerables? And who are Hao and Qi? Could Hao be Hao Tianzun? And Yu Tianzun—that woman actually dared to call him a pretty boy..."
Luo Wushuang made a prompt decision, ducking into the shadows of the building below, and waved at Qin Mu, signaling him to hide quickly as well, lest the two women discover them.
Qin Mu was also stunned by what he had heard. Luo Wushuang hurriedly rushed out, dragged him into the shadows, and lowered his voice: "Do you have a death wish? If we're discovered after hearing these secrets, we're dead! I've heard that in the heavenly court, there was once an ancient god who knew too many secrets and was shot from behind while charging into battle!"
Qin Mu followed him into the shadows, his heart filled with shock.
He knew that in the early Longhan era, the Empress had supported Yu Tianzun.
The Empress was enraged because her younger sister, Madam Yuanmu, had secretly had an affair with the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor, giving birth to Hao Tianzun. Yet Hao Tianzun was exceptionally intelligent, opening the Five Radiance Divine Treasures and becoming a Heavenly Venerable, while her own son had no such glory.
To secure her position, she supported Yu Tianzun to suppress Hao Tianzun.
However, what Qin Mu hadn't expected was that he had assumed it was Lian Hua Hun who said the words about keeping a pretty boy, Yu Tianzun, but in reality, it was Yun Chu Xiu who had spoken!
All along, he had believed Yun Chu Xiu was the Empress, but the truth was the complete opposite!
Yun Chu Xiu was Madam Yuanmu, and Lian Hua Hun was the Empress!
Qin Mu had been flirting and bantering with Hao Tianzun's biological mother, Madam Yuanmu!
"That day at the Jade Pool, when I fought Yun Chu Xiu, she was forced to use her ultimate technique. Since she was impersonating the Empress, the technique she used certainly wasn't real either."
Cold sweat dripped from Qin Mu's forehead. This was also a trap, a huge scheme!
Anyone who believed that was her ultimate technique would surely die miserably.
"As for her seeing Madam Yuanmu's corpse in the crystal coffin and immediately helping me, it wasn't out of concern that Madam Yuanmu would revive, but out of fear that her identity would be exposed!"
Sweat poured down Qin Mu like rain. If he had tried to summon Madam Yuanmu's soul at that moment, he would have immediately drawn Yun Chu Xiu over, exposing her on the spot!
Moreover, the fact that Madam Yuanmu wasn't dead would have been revealed as well.
"This little vixen..." Qin Mu gritted his teeth in anger.
The two quietly moved through the shadows. The Creator's city had enormous buildings, making it easy for them to navigate without being discovered by the two women fighting above.
Above, Yun Chu Xiu and Lian Hua Hun's combat power was astonishing. One towering building after another was severed by their divine techniques, and boulders the size of small hills fell from the sky. Qin Mu and Luo Wushuang's scalps tingled—if these building fragments landed on the Fire Heavenly Venerable's imprint or that drop of divine blood, the entire city, including them inside it, would be destroyed!
Strangely, however, these building fragments disintegrated in mid-air before they could fall, vanishing and transforming into a strange torrent of divine consciousness that surged upward.
The destroyed buildings were restored again, as if rebuilt by an invisible divine force!
This was the wonder of the Creator's City!
The destroyed buildings couldn't crash down, but the residual waves of the two women's techniques could still strike the ground. Although both were at the Divine Bridge realm, Qin Mu knew their true abilities well.
On the ship, Lian Hua Hun had ambushed him, breaking his four arms, while Yun Chu Xiu had also fought Qin Mu to a mutual injury.
Their strength was in no way inferior to those True Gods, and even stronger.
Even so, they hadn't revealed their true ultimate techniques, instead trying to force the other to use their real techniques to guess which Heavenly Venerable they were.
Whoever's identity was exposed would die first!
After all, the Empress and Madam Yuanmu were both ancient gods, as infamous in the Heavenly Alliance as the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor, and would surely be eliminated by the other Heavenly Venerables of the Alliance.
The original purpose of the Heavenly Alliance's founding was to give people the right to survive, but by the mid-Longhan era, after Yun Tianzun absorbed Hao Tianzun and others into the Alliance, its goal became to eliminate the ancient gods and seize control.
Therefore, ancient gods hiding in the Heavenly Alliance absolutely could not reveal their identities.
Qin Mu and Luo Wushuang sped through the empty city, their hearts pounding with fear. The divine techniques of Yun Chu Xiu and Lian Hua Hun were too powerful; no one knew when their residual waves might trigger the Fire Heavenly Venerable's imprint or that drop of divine blood.
It gave them the feeling of having a blade at their throats, never knowing when death would come.
Moreover, they couldn't expose themselves either. If the two women discovered them, they would die.
These two women would never tolerate anyone else knowing their secrets!
Even Qin Mu would have to die, no matter how useful he was to them—no amount of usefulness was worth more than their own lives.
Qin Mu now finally understood what it meant to know too much and die too fast.
"Maha—"
Suddenly, a huge dragon head appeared right in front of them. The divine dragon grinned widely, opened its massive mouth, and used its crimson tongue to wash the face of the stunned Qin Mu, excitedly barking: "Maha! Maha!"
Qin Mu's face turned ashen, and Luo Wushuang's hands and feet went cold.
This divine dragon was the one Qin Mu had created at the mountain peak for transportation, but due to his lack of skill, although the dragon was visualized, it couldn't fly, so he had abandoned it.
He never expected the dragon to track them all the way here by scent!
Above, the sounds of technique collisions suddenly ceased, and the fluctuations of divine power abruptly stopped. The city fell into utter silence.
Qin Mu and Luo Wushuang both had cold sweat on their foreheads. Qin Mu made a shushing gesture to the divine dragon, which, though dim-witted, understood his meaning.
The two of them, along with the dragon, tiptoed forward, trying to sneak out of this deadly city.
"So it's Mu Tianzun and Divine Blade Luo."
Suddenly, a woman's laughter came from a palace ahead. The two and the dragon looked up to see Yun Chu Xiu sitting on the eaves of the hall, her hands propping up the edge, her two slender calves dangling and swinging leisurely.
Her calves were very fair, with beautiful curves, quite alluring.
Yun Chu Xiu giggled: "The Heavenly Venerable and the Divine Blade are sneaking around so furtively—where are you off to?"
Qin Mu coughed, but before he could speak, Lian Hua Hun's voice came coldly from behind: "How long have Mu Tianzun and Luo Divine Blade been here?"
Yun Chu Xiu said cheerfully: "Does it matter how long they've been here?"
Qin Mu coughed again and said: "We just arrived and were planning to pay respects to Fire Heavenly Venerable. Fire Heavenly Venerable is also in the city..."
Yun Chu Xiu and Lian Hua Hun's expressions changed drastically. Lian Hua Hun immediately flew up to survey the surroundings. Just then, streaks of divine light flew in from afar and landed in the city.
"Disciple of Zu Tianzun, Xue Yuqing, pays respects to Mu Tianzun!"
"Disciple of Lang Tianzun, Huai Yu, pays respects to Mu Tianzun!"
"Disciple of Hao Tianzun, Pan Chunjin, pays respects to Mu Tianzun!"
"Disciple of Eastern Heavenly Azure Emperor, Luo Fengqing, pays respects to Mu Tianzun!"
...
One resonant voice after another rang out. Light descended, transforming into True Gods, who surrounded the ancient, grand buildings around Qin Mu, looking down at him from above with excited expressions.
"Mu Tianzun nearly got us killed—you never expected we could actually make it here alive, did you?"
Xiu Youfang giggled: "After Mu Tianzun dies, we can return to the heavenly court and declare to the world that Mu Tianzun sacrificed himself to save us in the Tai Xu, perfecting the Heavenly Venerable's reputation. A posthumous reputation, of course."
Huai Yu, as warm and smooth as jade, wore a gentle smile and said leisurely: "Heavenly Venerable took advantage of my master Lang Tianzun's absence to massacre the disciples of the Langxuan Divine Palace. I was away at the time, otherwise those fellow disciples wouldn't have died so tragically. Today is the day the Heavenly Venerable meets his end, the time to avenge my fellow disciples. Does the Heavenly Venerable have any last words?"
Pan Chunjin laughed: "Any last words are useless. In the Tai Xu, there is no Youdu, no Mingdu, the Heavenly Duke has no jurisdiction here, and the Nether Lady cannot reach this place. Dying here means true annihilation of the soul, death beyond death!"
Qin Mu looked around. More than a dozen True Gods had arrived. Disciples of the Imperial Thrones were nothing to him, but disciples of the Heavenly Venerables were a different matter entirely.
These dozen or so True Gods could beat him into nothing but dust!
Here in the Tai Xu, they no longer needed to hide their purpose. The dagger was revealed; killing Qin Mu would allow them to report back and complete their mission.
Of course, the prerequisite was that they had to survive crossing the Tai Xu.
Qin Mu glanced at Luo Wushuang and said in a low voice: "How is Divine Blade Luo's recovery?"
Luo Wushuang hesitated. Qin Mu's intention was clearly to drag him into this, to eliminate these disciples of the Heavenly Venerables and Imperial Thrones.
Now that he knew the secrets of the Empress and Madam Yuanmu, he truly couldn't survive, so he had no choice but to fight back.
However, his injuries were too severe. His Heavenly Palace had not yet been repaired. If he pulled out the Wood Essence Core and fought with all his might, his Heavenly Palace would likely collapse and be destroyed.
His divine blade was also destroyed. Facing these True Gods, he was powerless.
Lian Hua Hun flew back and landed on the eaves of the palace ahead, saying: "What's in the city is not Fire Heavenly Venerable himself, but his imprint. He encountered a fearsome enemy here, fought with that person, and his own great path was imprinted into the space."
Yun Chu Xiu was shocked that there existed someone in the Tai Xu who could match Fire Heavenly Venerable. She giggled: "Then Mu Tianzun truly has no way to heaven and no door to earth. Since Fire Heavenly Venerable isn't here, I'm afraid no one can stop you from killing Mu Tianzun."
She sighed, her tone melancholy: "Heavenly Venerable, please forgive me, but in this situation, I am powerless to help."
At that moment, the sun was setting, sinking into the western mountains. The sky gradually darkened, and suddenly, lamps lit up in the towers, casting bright light throughout the city.
Distant roars came from afar.
Qin Mu's heart stirred, and he blurted out: "I understand!"
The crowd was unmoved, each offering up their divine weapons and activating their techniques, ready to kill him.
Yun Chu Xiu said with a smile: "What does the Heavenly Venerable understand?"
Qin Mu steadied himself: "I finally understand why the Tai Xu Creators built such high city walls—what they were guarding against."
The crowd was momentarily stunned. Someone looked around. Lian Hua Hun frowned, flew up, and landed on an arrow tower, gazing at the surroundings of the city.
Roars came from the darkness outside the city, growing closer and closer.
"Pan Chunjin, you said earlier that there is no Youdu, no Mingdu here, that the Earth Lord and Heavenly Duke have no jurisdiction, and that souls dying here are not under the Nether Lady's control. So then, where do the souls of those who die here go?"
Qin Mu's eyes were bright, and he said solemnly: "These deceased spirits naturally remain in the Tai Xu!"
Yun Chu Xiu couldn't help but say: "Mu Tianzun, do you think saying these things can save you from death?"
Qin Mu shook his head: "I'm not begging you to spare my life, but trying to save yours. This is the Tai Xu!"
The crowd was puzzled.
Qin Mu said coldly: "The Tai Xu is filled with the powerful divine consciousness of the Creators. Those who die here, their souls wander the Tai Xu. After death, their resentment erupts—what will their souls become under the influence of the Creators' divine consciousness? In Youdu, the resentment of the dead forms demonic monsters, even giving birth to demon gods and heavenly demons! These demon gods and heavenly demons are filled with the most negative emotions, burning, killing, looting, and committing every evil. However, Youdu is governed by the Earth Lord, so the demon race's harm is limited."
The crowd's hearts jumped. Yun Chu Xiu also quickly flew up and landed on an arrow tower, looking around the city, her delicate body freezing.
"Here, there is no Earth Lord. What is born will only be more powerful and more evil than demon gods! The Tai Xu Creators were guarding against them!"
Qin Mu sighed and said: "I wanted to save you, but unfortunately, you are determined to take my life. I estimate that now, none of us can escape."
Pan Chunjin, Huai Yu, and the others were skeptical. Each flew up to the arrow towers, and when they saw the huge, ferocious figures emerging from the darkness, their faces turned deathly pale.