Chapter 1061: The Great Emperor's Past

Luo Xiao was puzzled. He followed them, saying, "We really can't go in casually. It's extremely dangerous here; I should lead the way!"

Qin Mu blocked him and chuckled, "Dangerous? What danger?"

Luo Xiao was slightly taken aback. It was strange indeed; as they entered the Primordial Divine Stone Mine, they hadn't encountered any of the rumored dangers. Instead, it was unusually calm. "Could it be that the Clan Leader and others were just saying that casually, and there's actually no danger in this mine?" he wondered.

Gu Xiao and Da Hong walked side by side, with the Heavenly Dragon Treasure Chariot trailing behind. Yan'er stood on the chariot, holding a lantern, casting light forward.

Da Hong looked back and smiled, "Brother Mu, Brother Luo, stay a bit closer."

Qin Mu reluctantly stepped forward. Luo Xiao hesitated, "I still want to check if there are ancestral spirits deep in the void..."

Gu Xiao looked back and chuckled, "The nineteenth void is guarded by the Void Mother Beast. Your divine sense cannot penetrate beyond the nineteenth void, so there's no need to rush, Brother Luo."

Luo Xiao thought about it; that was indeed true. The Void Mother Beast was so powerful that if his divine sense reached the nineteenth void, it would certainly be detected and devoured by the beast.

Amidst the swirling mists among the flora, Luo Xiao looked around, muttering, "Strange. This place matches the descriptions from the Clan Leader and the others, but why is there no danger? This is a Primordial Divine Stone mine. The divine consciousness within the mine turns people's thoughts into one realistic illusion after another. Even the most powerful Creator could fall prey to it..."

Qin Mu's gaze fell upon the backs of the two people ahead. He reminded Luo Xiao, "Perhaps a powerful entity is suppressing this mine."

Luo Xiao's heart tightened. His eyes fixed on the golden coffin ahead, and he said solemnly, "Are you saying that the person buried in this golden coffin is so powerful they've suppressed the entire mine? Who could possess such cultivation? Could it be..."

His eyes lit up, and he clapped his hands sharply, "I know! It's the Great Emperor! The golden coffin must contain the Great Emperor's corpse!" He exclaimed excitedly, "I heard from the Clan Leader and the others that the Great Emperor died in the Bloody Rust Battle. The ancient god Heavenly Emperor must have feared his resurrection, so he ordered his body to be suppressed here! The Great Emperor is finally dead!"

Gu Xiao's voice drifted from ahead, soft and distant, "The Great Emperor, with the most powerful divine sense in history, how could he die? I heard that in the Bloody Rust Battle, his Primordial Stone of Genesis was merely shattered from his brow, but he didn't die. Since then, he has been like a stray dog, constantly hiding and living in fear."

Da Hong chuckled, "I also heard that the Heavenly Emperor's method of defeating the Great Emperor was dishonorable. It wasn't the Heavenly Emperor who shattered the Primordial Stone of Genesis, but the Great Emperor's wife, God-King Gong Jun. Moreover, after defeating the Great Emperor, the Heavenly Emperor betrayed Gong Jun and killed her to maintain his glorious and magnificent image."

Luo Xiao blinked his large eyes and smiled, "Brothers, where did you both hear these stories? Even I, a Creator, don't know these things. Our clan elders and clan leader have never mentioned them."

The two didn't answer and continued forward. Luo Xiao grew suspicious.

After a long while, they finally arrived beside the eight ancient god corpses. They floated up and stood beside the golden coffin. Gu Xiao and Da Hong each gazed at the golden coffin, their eyes deep and unblinking, saying nothing. Qin Mu and Luo Xiao approached, with Dragon Qilin following behind, while Yan'er still stood on the chariot, holding the lantern.

Da Hong smiled faintly, "The ancient god Heavenly Emperor, who prided himself on being glorious and just, exploited the Great Emperor's wife, Gong Jun. He must have promised Gong Jun many things, perhaps even allowing her kin to survive. Yet, to maintain his image, he had no choice but to kill Gong Jun. Not only Gong Jun, but also the eight ancient gods who escorted her corpse here had to be eliminated."

He looked up, his gaze falling on Gu Xiao's face with a hint of sarcasm. "And the best way to get rid of these eight ancient gods was undoubtedly the Primordial Mine. The Heavenly Emperor himself was originally an egg within this very mine; he knew its horrors intimately. Ordering these eight ancient gods to bring Gong Jun's corpse here for burial was a way to use the mine's power to eliminate these eight witnesses!"

Gu Xiao simply uttered, "Oh," and said indifferently, "What I heard, however, was that the Great Emperor was tyrannical. Fearing that the Creator race might cultivate another Great Emperor, he eradicated all the Ju Yu clansmen in one swift move, killed God-King Gong Jun's kin, and even planned to annihilate all Creators. His wife, Gong Jun, was heartbroken by this, had an affair with the Heavenly Emperor, and even bore him a son."

Da Hong's pupils constricted. "But even after being betrayed by Gong Jun, even after she shattered the Primordial Stone of Genesis from his brow, the Great Emperor never harmed a single hair on her head. Yet, the Heavenly Emperor betrayed Gong Jun and murdered her!"

At this moment, the two clearly paid no attention to Luo Xiao, Qin Mu, or the others. It was obvious that upon reaching this point, they had both determined each other's true identities and were on the verge of a showdown.

Luo Xiao, bewildered, shook his head and asked Qin Mu, "Are your human and demon races so ancient? You even know about events that happened in the primordial era."

Qin Mu's eyelid twitched. He suppressed the urge to beat some sense into him.

Da Hong and Gu Xiao each reached out and grasped the coffin, preparing to open the golden coffin. Qin Mu stepped back. The golden coffin was opened by the two, but their eyes remained fixed on each other's faces, unwilling to miss any subtle expression.

Qin Mu gritted his teeth. Unable to suppress his curiosity, he reluctantly stepped forward and peered into the golden coffin.

The golden coffin was immense, and the woman within was also a giant. She lay there quietly, eyes closed, as if asleep. The vertical eye on her brow had been gouged out, and there was a crimson stain on her chest. The fatal wound must have been to her chest; her vertical eye was removed merely to severely diminish the power of her divine sense abilities.

She died at the hands of someone close to her; the killer was intimately connected to her, which allowed them to gouge out her vertical eye while she was off guard, causing her great loss of power. This person treated her well, even tidying her appearance after her death, dressing her in the most magnificent robes, and adorning her head with a phoenix coronet, like a majestic empress. In her hand, she still clutched a flower, which had not withered, still held against her chest, precisely covering the fatal wound.

Da Hong chuckled sinisterly, "My three brothers, the Heavenly Emperor truly deserves to die, doesn't he?"

Qin Mu felt a shiver down his spine. He retreated, coughed, and said, "Brother Luo, let's go find your ancestors' spirits!"

Luo Xiao intended to move closer, saying, "I haven't seen God-King Gong Jun before, let me just have a look..."

"Stop looking!" Qin Mu was furious. He grabbed Luo Xiao and began pulling him away.

Luo Xiao was startled and laughed, "Brother Mu, you're the fourth one, but you scold me as if I were your son. If we're not looking, we're not looking. Why so fierce?"

Just then, Da Hong's voice echoed, "Heavenly Emperor, heh heh, or perhaps I should call you Primordial Beginning. When I first unearthed you and the Primordial Stone of Genesis together, I sensed an incredibly powerful life within the egg, a life even more ancient than ours, the Creators."

Luo Xiao froze, then suddenly shivered several times, an expression of disbelief on his face.

"I perceived your power, but it wasn't yet time for your birth. If you had continued to remain in the Primordial Mine, you would have eventually absorbed its power and become immeasurably mighty," Da Hong continued. "At that time, I even considered taking over your body, but I held back. I obtained the Primordial Stone, and in my arrogance, I believed I had no reason to fear you. I would only grow stronger than you! So, I raised you like a son, and even had my clansmen offer sacrifices to you to hasten your birth."

He chuckled, "Alas, I still underestimated you."

Gu Xiao said blandly, "You had your clansmen sacrifice to me, trying to 'help the shoots grow by pulling them up' with malicious intent, wishing to use the power of sacrifice to limit me and cultivate me into your weapon. How could I not understand your intentions? Even while incubating in the egg, I had already comprehended various Dao rules and absorbed the power of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, being born inherently sagacious. However, you took the Primordial Stone and interrupted my growth, so I simply used the power of the Creators to hasten my development and absorb sustenance."

Luo Xiao felt a chill down his spine and involuntarily quickened his pace, heading out of the mining area.

Gu Xiao continued, "Great Emperor, you haven't come with your true body this time. How much magical power can you wield? You've merely used a borrowed life to become a low-grade demon. Even if you know the past history, even if you see Gong Jun, what can you do?"

"Killing you is enough," Da Hong said calmly. "Aren't you also using a reincarnated body? You reincarnated as a human and often used this body to meet Lady Yuan Mu in secret, arranging yourself to become the Celestial Master of the Nanluo Sect. How much combat power can this human body of yours possess?"

Gu Xiao said indifferently, "Then, what are you waiting for?"

Qin Mu immediately felt two incredibly terrifying tremors emanating from the mine, causing him to shiver with dread. He hastily shouted, "I can't die! If I die here, who the hell..."

"We know!" The voices of Da Hong and Gu Xiao came almost simultaneously, both roaring in anger.

Behind them, the two terrifying tremors slightly subsided. Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief and hastily said, "Dragon Fatty, Yan'er, get on the chariot! Brother Luo, you too!"

Everyone boarded the treasure chariot. Dragon Qilin cracked his whip, and the Heavenly Dragon Treasure Chariot sped out of the mine.

The moment the Heavenly Dragon Treasure Chariot burst out of the mine, an extraordinarily violent surge of divine power erupted from within. Qin Mu looked back and saw Da Hong's hands emerge from his sleeves! What he drew from his sleeves was a large spear. Oddly enough, the spear was very long, but his sleeves were just over a foot in length. When the spear was drawn, it already extended more than three *zhang*. This great spear was not uniform; ordinary divine spears have straight shafts, but the shaft of his great spear was curved and winding, like a dragon vein. The great spear was refined from the ancestral dragon vein of the Ancestral Court. He wielded it, thrusting it forward, and an incomparably resonant dragon roar immediately echoed in the minds of everyone outside the mine!

At the same time, the file in Gu Xiao's hand also transformed. The file's shape resembled a sword, yet it was covered in countless tiny dots. When the file revealed its true form, it had become an Emperor's Sword, symbolizing the Heavenly Emperor's dominion over the four quarters! The small dots on both sides of the sword also transformed into seals formed by bird-and-insect script. The sword's sides were covered with countless imprints – these were the Grand Dao Steel Seals! There were nearly two thousand types of steel seals on the sword, representing the blessings of nearly two thousand ancient gods from prehistoric times to the Heavenly Emperor, and their submission to this Emperor of Ancient Gods!

When Gu Xiao used the file to trim his nails, no one could discern the true form of this sword, nor did anyone know that the neatly arranged small dots were actually Grand Dao Steel Seals! The precious sword met the Ancestral Dragon Divine Spear. Sword and spear collided, and the sound of the Dao resonated instantly, as if tens of thousands of ancient gods were chanting in unison, blessing their mightiest Emperor with the Great Dao!

The eight ancient god skeletons carried the golden coffin. Above the coffin, the two terrifying figures clashed for the first time. The tremors quickly reached Qin Mu and the others. Yan'er swiftly moved to the back of the chariot, her primordial spirit merging with her physical body to transform into the Dragon Sparrow Holding Heaven form, protecting the treasure chariot.

Boom—

She let out a muffled groan, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. Her physical body and primordial spirit instantly became riddled with holes, forcing her back to her original form as a plump girl. The terrifying fluctuations pressed this three to five hundred *jin* plump girl against the back of the chariot, pushing both her and the chariot forward. The six Heavenly Dragons desperately tried to resist, but they too were compressed by the immense force, continuously retreating. Because they strained too hard, their skin tore where their muscles tensed, and dragon blood flowed freely.

Qin Mu waved his hand, and a teleportation divine ability erupted, forming a large ring behind the chariot, dissipating the residual power of Da Hong and Gu Xiao's abilities. However, his teleportation ability immediately shattered. Qin Mu's fingers spun continuously, drawing large circles. Countless teleportation runes flew out from within the circles, forming one teleportation ability after another. As one shattered, another connected, helping Yan'er withstand the aftershocks of the divine power.

Luo Xiao immediately commanded a Void Beast to block behind the chariot, but it too was compressed and forced backward.

Finally, after the first wave of impact, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. They looked into the distance, seeing that the chariot had been pushed back several hundred *li*.

"Da Hong is no match for Gu Xiao."

Qin Mu, with his unparalleled divine eyes, immediately saw the scene within the mine. Da Hong was already injured; compared to Gu Xiao, he was still weaker. He had come this time using the body of a demon race member. Although he was the first demon to appear since the creation of heaven and earth, facing Gu Xiao and the Emperor's Sword, both empowered by the Great Dao, he suffered a significant loss in the very first move.

Gu Xiao's "sword" couldn't truly be called a sword; it was a Great Dao weapon. The moment the sword moved, nearly two thousand ancient god phantoms, varying in size and artfully arranged, appeared behind him. Among them were even the majestic phantoms of existences like Tu Bo, Heavenly Duke, and Earth Mother!

"All these years, I've been searching for your whereabouts. As long as the Great Emperor lives, my heart cannot be at ease." Gu Xiao spoke with a calm demeanor, yet his sword light was truly terrifying, forcing Da Hong to unfurl his wings behind him and soar into the air. Gu Xiao said indifferently, "To draw you out, I could expose the location of the Ancestral Court, I could chat and laugh with Heavenly Venerate Mu, and I could even suppress the urge to search for the whereabouts of other Creators! My goal is right here, to humiliate you in front of Gong Jun and eliminate you!"

"Do you truly believe you can defeat me?" Da Hong burst into laughter. The sky suddenly became incredibly bright as an enormous Void Mother Beast squeezed out from layers of void, its eyes shining as brightly as ten thousand suns.

"In later eras, the Dao became supreme, and visualization fell into decline, becoming outdated. Heavenly Emperor, I know this body of mine may not be your match; even if you manifest just a wisp of your cultivation from your true form, I wouldn't be able to contend with you. However, now that we are in the Ancestral Court, you are no longer my match."

Heavenly Venerate Hong's voice came from within the mine, and the Void Mother Beast in the sky also squeezed out of the void, descending lower and lower, heading straight for the mine! That incomparably powerful Mother Beast was shrinking its body. Void Beasts can be large or small; they can swallow suns and moons, or shrink to the size of a mustard seed. It was so powerful that it actually disregarded the might and power of the Primordial Mine, descending directly into it!

"The most powerful Void Mother Beast submits to the mightiest Creator! The giant Void Beasts here are all its descendants." Da Hong's voice carried both joy and mockery. "Primordial Beginning, this is precisely why I chose to confront you here!"