Chapter 1002: East Palace Crown Prince

The divine maidens attending to the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's physical body were utterly flustered; they had never witnessed him in such a state of panic and disarray. The Ancient God Heavenly Emperor now seemed to have completely lost control over his physical body. His facial muscles were twisted and distorted in different directions, making his face appear divided into eight parts, each resembling a distinct face with its own expression. His body muscles also seemed to have lost control; his ten fingers were contorted, and his tendons twitched wildly. Under his skin, muscles writhed like countless great dragons coiling and struggling. This scene was so terrifying that the divine maidens were frozen in terror.

Qin Mu stood up and said, "You may withdraw."

The divine maidens promptly retreated, leaving the Yangrong Hall.

Qin Mu bowed and said, "Your Majesty seems unwell. I shall take my leave now."

Just as he was about to leave, waves of fluctuations suddenly appeared. The Eight Heavenly Venerates ceased their struggle, almost simultaneously departing the Heavenly Emperor's physical body. Each withdrew their magic power and divine consciousness, no longer entangled with the other seven Heavenly Venerates! They were all wary of each other. While inside the Heavenly Emperor's body, they attacked each other and simultaneously had to guard against attacks from the other seven Heavenly Venerates. Everyone felt utterly exhausted, even fearing that others might gang up on them, forcing them to reveal their true cultivation methods. Rather than endure this, it was better to simply withdraw. After all, being inside the Heavenly Emperor's physical body was extremely dangerous for each of them. While the matter of Grand Emperor hiding among them could be investigated slowly, exposing their greatest trump cards would be counterproductive.

The Heavenly Emperor's physical body instantly became vacant. Without their control, the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor slowly closed his eyes. The halo behind his head still gently rotated, though not as violently as before. His chest rose and fell; he was still breathing. His breathing returned to normal, and the blood in his body still flowed, like a mighty Celestial River coursing through his veins. His heart contained the most surging power. It was like the energy source of a galaxy, immensely terrifying! Although this was only the Heavenly Emperor's physical body, crafted with arithmetic and creation techniques, it was not the Heavenly Emperor's true body, yet it still possessed boundless power.

Qin Mu was stunned. In the Yangrong Hall, only he and the Heavenly Emperor's physical body remained! He looked at the Heavenly Emperor's physical body, his eyes flickering. Although it was a replica of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor, this body could still be considered the crystallization of the Celestial Heavens' wisdom, the most powerful divine artifact, second only to the divine artifact Divine Venerate Yu! However, the key was not the power of this divine artifact Heavenly Emperor, but the authority and status it represented!

"The Ten Heavenly Venerates can play with it," he mused, "and as Shepherd Heavenly Venerate, whose status is even higher than theirs, why can't I..."

Qin Mu, as if possessed, walked towards the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's physical body. He muttered to himself, "Many secrets are hidden in the Celestial Heavens. Shu Jun said this is also the birthplace of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor. There's also Divine Venerate Yu's remnant soul and the creation artifacts in Zao Fu Palace, places I can't access. But if I take control of the Heavenly Emperor's physical body..."

He suppressed the tremor in his heart and continued walking, quickly arriving at the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's glabella. Although this Heavenly Emperor's physical body was a replica, its physical structure showed no trace of arithmetic techniques. The Dao Sect of the Celestial Heavens had studied the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's physical body and runes not for a day or two, but for hundreds of thousands of years; their research into this ancient god could be said to have reached its peak. Although Qin Mu had obtained the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's Grand Dao runes, he had yet to thoroughly understand this Heavenly Emperor's Grand Dao. In contrast, he had greatly benefited from Heaven Duke's Grand Dao runes, which demonstrated the intricacy and difficulty of the Heavenly Emperor's Grand Dao runes.

His divine consciousness surged forth, pouring into the Heavenly Emperor's glabella. He immediately "saw" a haze of purple light in the Heavenly Emperor's mind. Within the purple light, the Heavenly Emperor's brain appeared to be composed of countless intricate runes, as if countless Grand Daos were interconnected. His divine consciousness entered the Heavenly Emperor's Grand Dao, as if entering an incredibly precise machine. He needed to carefully figure out which brain regions controlled the eyes, the mouth, and the fingers. Even with Qin Mu's current incredibly powerful divine consciousness, completely controlling this physical body was still somewhat strenuous. The Heavenly Emperor's physical body was too vast. Each brain region represented a different Dao and controlled different parts of the body. To mobilize these parts, he needed to precisely control the Heavenly Emperor's brain, making it difficult for him to fully master this body in a short time. Furthermore, controlling the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's physical body constantly consumed divine consciousness, and this rate of consumption also made him feel quite strained.

"Perhaps I can use the 'Borrowing Life' technique to mobilize the body's own power..."

Qin Mu acted on his thought. Having acquired the wisdom of the Creator race, he was very familiar with "Borrowing Life," a unique technique of the Creators. Grand Emperor had once said that he could borrow life into anyone's body he wished, transforming into anyone. Although Qin Mu's mastery was not as profound as Grand Emperor's, he was still capable of performing the Borrowing Life technique.

Before long, he felt his divine consciousness perfectly merge with the Heavenly Emperor's physical body. He seemed to have become the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor, and his control over the body reached an incredibly sensitive level, as if he were controlling his own flesh. Not only that, but he could also precisely locate all the sources of power within the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's body. Although it was a replica, the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's body contained nearly two thousand large and small power sources. Mobilizing these powers caused minimal drain on Qin Mu himself. And mobilizing these power sources of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor made him feel unprecedentedly powerful!

"The Borrowing Life technique of the Creator race is truly formidable," he thought. "I can now mobilize all the power in this body! I wonder how strong the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's power is?"

Qin Mu was overjoyed. The Ancient God Heavenly Emperor abruptly rose. He drew a hand across his glabella, and it split open. Qin Mu flew up and settled into the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's glabella. Then the glabella closed, and the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor walked out of the Yangrong Hall.

Outside the Yangrong Hall, a group of palace maids knelt in obeisance, not daring to look up.

Qin Mu waved a hand and said calmly, "You may rise."

The palace maids assented but only rose after he had walked far away.

Qin Mu steered the Heavenly Emperor's physical body as he walked around. However, this was the inner city, and he was unfamiliar with the area, so he could only wander aimlessly. Fortunately, he was now the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor, so no one dared question him even as he wandered. Instead, wherever he passed, palace officials, eunuchs, and even the divine generals guarding the Imperial City of Jade Capital all knelt on the ground.

"Shu Jun sensed the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's birthplace in the imperial harem," he thought. "So that place must be in the imperial harem."

Qin Mu excitedly walked towards the imperial harem. A curious thought crossed his mind: "I've heard the Heavenly Emperor's harem is filled with countless beauties, many of them unparalleled from various races. If I enter the harem, what if those concubines beg to serve me?" He blinked, feeling somewhat awkward.

"Your son greets Imperial Father!"

Suddenly, a burly, tall young deity knelt before Qin Mu. He looked up, overjoyed, and said, "Imperial Father has always been reclusive. Your son hasn't seen you for quite some time."

Qin Mu's heart tightened. He didn't recognize this young prince and didn't know his name. He could only raise a hand and say, "Rise. I have been very busy lately, which caused me to neglect you."

The young deity was overjoyed and quickly rose. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he suppressed them. He said, "Imperial Father has not paid attention to your son for over forty thousand years. Although your son is the Crown Prince, the number of times I have seen Imperial Father is even less than that of the palace maids. I haven't been able to fully express my filial devotion before you."

Qin Mu's heart skipped a beat: "The Crown Prince? Could he be the Crown Prince from the end of the Emperor's Era who captured Emperor Chi Qi Xiayu, forcing him to surrender? Oh no, this prince is a grand master of the Emperor's Throne realm!" Back then, Qi Xiayu, as a master of the Southern Emperor's Celestial Heavens, proudly killed the previous Emperor Chi and erected a monument to commemorate it. Afterwards, he was captured by this Crown Prince and forced to surrender to the Celestial Heavens. This Crown Prince was also an extremely formidable figure. After capturing Qi Xiayu, he also erected a monument to commemorate it. Qin Mu had seen both stone tablets when the Origin World was unsealed, and they left a deep impression on him.

"I wonder if this Crown Prince can see through me..." he thought. He felt uneasy. Historically, the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor had appointed many Crown Princes, but none had met a good end. This Crown Prince was likely born of the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor's true body, possessing an extremely high bloodline and thus immensely powerful. If he saw through him, would this Heavenly Emperor's physical body be able to contend with him? Even more critically, he didn't even know this Crown Prince's name!

"If only Qi Xiayu or that little hussy Yun Chuxiu were here..." he thought. "Phooey, that little hussy is Madam Yuanmu. If she knew I had taken control of the Heavenly Emperor's body, she'd skin me alive even if she didn't kill me!"

Qin Mu looked down at the Crown Prince and said gently, "You have suffered these past days. Although I seldom see you, I know your cultivation and divine arts have progressed rapidly. However, there is little father-son affection in imperial families. The stronger you become, the more uneasy I feel, so I try not to see you. Your elder brothers, after achieving some success, rebelled against me, leading to father and sons becoming strangers. This is why I neglected you; I do not wish for you to suffer the same fate as your brothers."

The Crown Prince hastily kowtowed again, choking out, "Imperial Father, my loyalty to you is witnessed by heaven and earth; I would never dare to have ulterior motives! In recent years, your son has seen the Ten Heavenly Venerates grow stronger, seizing control of the Celestial Heavens' court and undermining Imperial Father's authority. My heart aches with worry for Imperial Father's safety!"

Qin Mu's expression subtly shifted, and he said coldly, "How dare you speak ill of the Ten Heavenly Venerates? Do you know what a capital offense is?"

The Crown Prince prostrated himself deeply, not daring to rise, and choked out, "Which of the ancient gods in court nowadays does not bow and scrape to the Ten Heavenly Venerates, fearing a terrible fate should they displease them even slightly? Your son worries that if this continues, Imperial Father will have no one to rely on!"

Qin Mu looked at him coldly. After a moment, he said, "Rise. How could I not know what you speak of? I know your loyalty, and I have my own ways of dealing with things."

The Crown Prince rose, wiping tears from his eyes.

Qin Mu sighed with emotion, saying, "Good child, truly a good child. You are not like Hao..." He seemed reluctant to mention Heavenly Venerate Hao, and changed the subject, saying, "Within these Celestial Heavens lies my birthplace. Do you know where this sacred place is?"

The Crown Prince's heart trembled, and he bowed, saying, "Although your son dares not inquire about that sacred place, I have heard people in the palace mention that forbidden area. However, your son has never entered it!"

Qin Mu smiled and said, "Today, I... I, your father, will take you to see this ancestral land. Come, lead the way."

The Crown Prince was overjoyed to hear him change his self-address and led the way.

Qin Mu followed him, secretly worrying. "What is this Crown Prince's name, exactly? If I don't know his name, I'll surely be exposed sooner or later... Also, which concubine is his mother? It can't be Empress Dowager, can it?"