Chapter 972: The Bellyband Celestial Venerable (Second Update!)
That "bellyband creator" stopped, turned around, and laughed, "The esteemed Mu Celestial Venerable, aren't you also wearing a child's garment? Isn't that a red bellyband underneath?"
He was none other than the "Qin Kai" that Qin Mu had encountered in the early years of the Dragon Han Era, also known as the later Kai Emperor Qin Ye, the great emperor who founded the Kai Emperor Era, and the Qin Celestial Venerable of the Heavenly Alliance!
Back then, the Qin Celestial Venerable was still a young man, tall and sturdy, handsome and cheerful, with a temperament that seemed unchanging even as heaven and earth shifted.
Now, he had become a middle-aged man, but that unique temperament remained unchanged.
Earlier, when Qin Mu saw the "bellyband creator," he recognized him at a glance precisely because of his temperament, not his appearance.
Of course, a middle-aged man wearing a red bellyband, with a clean-shaven face but still showing some stubble, was also what drew Qin Mu's attention.
The other creators had enormous physiques, making it hard to notice the appearance of the small "infant," but for Qin Mu, it was easy to spot something off.
A warmth surged in Qin Mu's chest, and he couldn't help but want to step forward, but Kai Emperor's attire was too revealing, so he dared not embrace him.
"Although this robe of mine is a child's garment, at least it covers my backside."
Qin Mu laughed heartily, "What I'm wearing underneath is the bellyband! Kai Emperor, your bellyband doesn't even cover your butt."
The two drew closer.
Kai Emperor pulled off the bellyband, revealing that he wasn't wearing nothing underneath. The reason it looked like his butt was exposed was that the color of his clothes matched his skin tone.
His clothes began to change color, shifting like a chameleon, quickly transforming into a purple-blue robe.
"Clothes of the Tianyu Tribe?" Qin Mu asked in surprise.
Kai Emperor said, "You know the Tianyu Tribe too? After I became Kai Emperor, they made me a few sets of clothes."
Under Qin Mu's bellyband, he was also wearing clothes made by the Tianyu Tribe, tailored personally by Yu Zhaoging, very fitting.
Currently, the Tianyu Realm was occupied by a demon tribe under the Heavenly Court, and the Tianyu Tribe had defected to Yankang. Yu Zhaoging had always wanted to reclaim the Tianyu World, but Yankang's strength was insufficient to take it back.
Qin Mu approached Kai Emperor, opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.
For a long time, he had dreamed of meeting this ancestor, with countless questions he wanted to ask and endless words he wanted to share.
Qin Mu had complex feelings toward this ancestor—from admiration and reverence upon learning he was Kai Emperor's descendant, to pain and disdain when he learned Kai Emperor had abandoned the masses and retreated to Carefree Village, to frustration during their meeting in the early Dragon Han Era, wanting to prove himself and gain recognition.
Later, when the Yankang Calamity erupted and Kai Emperor ordered the Four Heavenly Masters and Four Heavenly Kings to withdraw and shrink their forces, Qin Mu felt deep disappointment.
By the time he reached the Heavenly Court, Qin Mu began to understand Kai Emperor's decision.
Now, seeing Kai Emperor again, all these emotions surged up at once, so that all the words on the tip of his tongue suddenly seemed unimportant.
Whether blame or admiration, reverence or disappointment, pain and disdain or understanding and sympathy—none of it mattered anymore.
Qin Mu's gaze was warm, his expression calm, and he asked with a smile, "A million years apart, how have you been?"
Kai Emperor's eyes dropped slightly, as if moved by him, then lifted again to meet his gaze: "Alright. Sometimes it's been hard, sometimes joyful. Sometimes making decisions has been painful, but sometimes hearing news from the outside world has been comforting."
Qin Mu understood what he meant. The hard times were the early days of the Kai Emperor Era; the joyful times were when they were growing, expanding territory, and making life better for the masses.
The painful decisions were when they chose to migrate to Carefree Village, abandoning the people they were meant to protect.
Hearing news from the outside world was comforting because news of Qin Mu had reached his ears, bringing him great relief.
Qin Mu knew that Kai Emperor had always controlled the hidden Kai Emperor divine beings in the Great Ruins. Even though he was in Carefree Village, he kept a close eye on external events.
Kai Emperor's voice resonated from his chest, deep and low, full of power: "I never guessed that the Mu Celestial Venerable who broke into the early Dragon Han Era with Niu Sanduo was my descendant."
He couldn't help but laugh: "Back then, I kept calling you Brother Mu, and I remember you blushed, stammering, and scolded me, saying not to call you Brother Mu."
Qin Mu also couldn't help laughing: "You thought I was too arrogant, but you didn't realize that calling me that would mess up the generational hierarchy."
Kai Emperor was silent for a moment, then said, "I came to take you back, back to Carefree Village. I can hide from anyone entering here, but not from King Langwan. She'll notice soon. Come with me, or it'll be too late."
Qin Mu looked at him with a complex gaze, then after a moment, shook his head.
Kai Emperor frowned and said patiently, "Your parents are very worried about you and begged me to come rescue you. If you come back with me, they'll be at ease."
Qin Mu shook his head again.
Kai Emperor raised an eyebrow: "You're still as stubborn as ever, as reckless, as arrogant, and as careless about consequences. You haven't matured!"
"You haven't changed either."
Qin Mu sneered, "You're still as cautious as ever, weighing everything, wanting absolute certainty before acting, and missing opportunity after opportunity. But you don't realize that your enemies never give you a hundred percent chance of victory."
Their gazes met, clashing, and both felt a sense of discomfort, finding each other as annoying as they had a million years ago.
They looked away, glancing behind each other.
This aversion wasn't the hatred between enemies, but the subtle emotion between close kin.
Qin Mu and Kai Emperor were family, bound by blood, yet both were highly intelligent and firm in their Dao hearts. No matter how persuasively the other spoke, they wouldn't change their minds.
They both recognized this in each other, which made them loathe each other, thinking the other was obstinate, wanting to beat the other up and knock some sense into them.
This was also why they had come to blows at the Jade Pool Gathering in the early Dragon Han Era over a disagreement.
"Back then at the Jade Pool, our fight ended in a draw."
Kai Emperor sighed, "You're so stubborn, it makes me want to beat you up. A million years have passed, and I've improved a lot. You're no match for me now. You're only thirty-five or thirty-six, right? And I'm nearly forty thousand years old. I've grown far too much."
Qin Mu stretched out his hand, spreading five fingers, and looked at him with disdain: "At the same cultivation level, I could take this many of you!"
Kai Emperor clenched his fist, staring at his five fingers.
After a moment, he relaxed his fist and laughed, "I won't argue with you. You're my one hundred and seventh-generation descendant; I won't be provoked by you. Staying here is dangerous. King Langwan may be a woman, but she's very formidable. If she discovers your true identity, she'll definitely use you to threaten me."
His smile gradually faded: "If that day comes, I won't be threatened by her. I'll watch her kill you."
Qin Mu stretched out his other hand, both hands with five fingers spread, and said, "Maybe I could take this many of you too."
Kai Emperor's forehead veins bulged, and his fist clenched again.
Qin Mu withdrew his hands, no longer trying to provoke him, and laughed, "I'm now the Holy Infant of the creator race. No need to worry about my safety. You should go back."
Kai Emperor turned and walked away, fuming, "I really want to pin you down and give you a good thrashing!"
Qin Mu laughed heartily: "I've already fought quite a few of the Heavenly Court's Ten Celestial Venerables. One more of you won't make a difference!"
Kai Emperor soared into the sky, leaping into the starry void.
Inside the Qingyu Hall, King Langwan's expression shifted slightly, and her figure vanished instantly. The next moment, she appeared in the vast starry sky of the other shore, standing silently, looking ahead.
Ahead, a middle-aged emperor stood in the starry sky, his chest heaving violently, turning to look at her.
"Qin Ye."
King Langwan said coldly, "A faithless traitor. You sneaked here, and now that I've found you, why don't you run?"
"King, I'm in a bad mood. I seek a battle. I hope you'll grant it!"
"Qin the Traitor, do you think I'm afraid of you?"
...
Qin Mu arrived beside Shu Jun's large head, opened his vertical eye on his forehead, and a beam of light shot out, illuminating Shu Jun and pulling him into the Primal Chaos Primordial Stone within his third eye. He said, "I'll use my divine consciousness and blood energy to help you restore your brain. Once you have a brain, can you restore your physical body yourself?"
"It's a bit difficult, but not impossible. I just need to seal the blood vessels in my head, form a self-circulating system to ensure survival, slowly cultivate to accumulate divine consciousness, and then gradually visualize the physical body."
Shu Jun's divine consciousness turned into a voice in his mind, asking, "Who was that baby creator with stubble just now? I saw you chase after him."
Qin Mu didn't answer, instead activating the Tyrant Body Three Dan Technique, channeling divine consciousness and blood energy to him.
Shu Jun stopped asking and quickly absorbed the divine consciousness and blood energy, using the altar in the Primordial Stone to continuously transform and construct his brain.
Just then, a violent tremor came from beyond the heavens. Qin Mu looked up and saw the void outside the sky turning scorching hot and bright. Two terrifying pulses of power surged, like two great emperors clashing, fighting with devastating force.
"Could it be Kai Emperor and King Langwan?"
Qin Mu's heart stirred. With Kai Emperor's skill, if he wanted to leave, King Langwan couldn't catch him. Why didn't he leave directly, instead fighting King Langwan?
"Is he really that angry?"
Qin Mu shook his head: "If we were somewhere else, he'd definitely beat me up. But letting him vent a little is fine."
The creators on this continent were alarmed. Xiu Zhong, Can Nu, and other creator chieftains led their elders into the sky, preparing to join King Langwan to eliminate "Qin the Traitor" together.
The scene beyond the heavens was lively, and Qin Mu was eager to go watch the battle, but he was currently providing blood energy and divine consciousness to Shu Jun, leaving him somewhat drained.
"Kai Emperor's sword technique—thirty-three heavens in one strike—is said to be the greatest swordsmanship in history. And I have the greatest sword technique in history. I really want to duel him!" An inexplicable excitement stirred within him.
The battle beyond the heavens lasted two or three hours, then beams of light fell from the sky one after another. One of the beams circled in midair before landing in the Qingyu Hall.
"I wonder how the battle went?"
Qin Mu was about to head to the Qingyu Hall to ask when Can Nu, the creator chieftain of the Zili Tribe, saw him and exclaimed, "Is the Holy Infant ill? Why have you become so thin?"
Qin Mu was about to explain when Can Nu hurriedly raised the Zili Tribe's sacred artifact, the Seven Soul Grass, and said, "Our tribe's sacred artifact, the Seven Soul Grass, can heal the wounded and dying. Just bite off a root, and you'll recover. Seven Soul Grass, quickly heal the Holy Infant."
The Seven Soul Grass was very unhappy, slowly extending a root, reluctant to willingly give up a piece of its root.
Qin Mu quickly said, "I'm actively providing blood energy and divine consciousness to King Shu Jun to help him restore his physical body. I'm not sick. Besides, I have Primal Chaos Primordial Liquid here, which can quickly replenish blood energy. No need to trouble the sacred artifact."
The Seven Soul Grass swished back its root, curling into a ball, its few tender leaves trembling slightly.
Can Nu asked doubtfully, "Primal Chaos Primordial Liquid? What is that?"
Qin Mu took out a jade bottle and unsealed it. Can Nu sniffed the scent and laughed, "So this water is called Primal Chaos Primordial Liquid. The Holy Infant is truly knowledgeable!"
Qin Mu was stunned and tested the waters: "Chieftain, have you seen this liquid before?"
"We use this kind of water to water the sacred artifact. There used to be a lot, but not much now. King has stored it all away."
—Second update is here! The third update should be after ten o'clock. Zhai Zhu's cough hasn't fully healed yet, but I'll do my best!