Chapter 1132: I Can Eat You?

The Northern Heavens are the territory of the Yama Emperor. The Yama Emperor resides in Mingdu, a continent formed from a horn of Earth Count, similar to Qin Mu's Qin character continent. However, besides Earth Count's horn, there is also the Nether Sea, a treasure refined by the Yama Emperor. This vast sea is no smaller than the Mingdu continent itself.

Beyond Mingdu lies a starfield formed by the Forty-Eight Constellations, with numerous heavens floating in the vast cosmos. Currently, the Yama Emperor is also leading Mingdu's army towards the Celestial Heavens, preparing to attack the Primordial Realm.

The four great sects of the Primordial Realm suffered a major defeat, enraging the Ten Celestial Venerables. This time, they mobilized the forces of the Yama Emperor and the other Four Emperors, intending to flatten the Primordial Realm in one fell swoop.

As Qin Mu traveled through Mingdu, he observed that the architecture of its Celestial Palace was dark and eerie. The murals and sculptures on the palace walls depicted either ghost kings and imps from Youdu, or various demon gods, even featuring totems of Great Black Heaven. However, the most numerous were the sculptures and totems of Earth Count, along with various bas-relief murals depicting him.

"Huh?" Little Earth Count poked his head out of the Dragon Qilin's ear, suspiciously examining the bas-reliefs and murals, not understanding why the Yama Emperor worshipped him so much. Yan'er picked him up, placed him on the Dragon Qilin's head, and gave him a spirit pill as a reward. After all, he was the one who discovered Crown Prince Qingzong, so he deserved a reward.

Qin Mu looked around. The Yama Emperor had taken away most of Mingdu's military forces, leaving little that could pose a threat to Qin Mu. "The Yama Emperor is definitely a fanatical worshipper of Earth Count!" Qin Mu thought to himself as he looked at the statues of Earth Count.

He traveled from Mingdu to the Shangli Palace Constellation, entering one of the heavens. While observing the people's livelihood there, he also studied Ling Tianzun's notes. As he looked around, he saw that the lives of the beings here were not much better than in the Western Heavens.

Although the Yama Emperor is a Great Emperor among humans, controlling souls and on par with Earth Count, in his territory, humans still live at the very bottom, becoming sacrifices for ancient gods and demigods. These people struggled to survive, constantly facing floods and fierce beasts, the exploitation by divine arts practitioners among the demigods, and the temperamental demon gods. If sacrifices were not offered regularly, the demon gods would bring down calamities.

Qin Mu saw temples where "incense" burned profusely. Or rather, it wasn't incense, but people from nearby towns preparing cattle, sheep, or young boys and girls to sacrifice to the exalted demon gods. When the "incense" was lit, demon gods would descend, riding on demonic energy, to partake in the sacrifices.

As he passed by the great river in this heaven, he also saw villagers placing young girls on rafts, letting them float downstream with the current. These were offerings to the River God; if he consumed the girls on the rafts, he would not unleash great floods to inundate the villages on both banks. He also saw villagers throwing young boys and girls into volcanoes, where Mountain Gods resided. If tribute was not paid, the Mountain Gods would become enraged, and volcanoes would erupt, with fiery flames spanning a thousand li, burning countless people to death.

Qin Mu traveled to the most prosperous area of this heaven, where he saw countless divine arts practitioners enslaved, mining in the mountains. Their primordial spirits were pierced by soul-based spells. Exalted deities stood on high, holding divine whips, supervising these slaves as they mined. At the slightest mistake, the whips would lash down, causing their souls to scream in agony.

The Yama Emperor belongs to the lineage of Heavenly Venerable Hao. Although Heavenly Venerable Hao is half-human by blood, he has never regarded himself as human. Similarly, despite being human, the Yama Emperor also does not regard himself as human. Qin Mu was filled with emotion. Sometimes, those who are most cruel to humanity are not necessarily demigods, but can also be humans themselves.

Qin Mu could not bear to watch further. He had originally wanted to see the outside world, not limited to the Celestial Heavens and the Primordial Realm. However, the more he saw, the harder it was to bear. He wanted to go on a killing spree, but with his power alone, it would be difficult to change anything.

"Fire Celestial Venerable, what exactly have you changed?" He couldn't help but chuckle wryly. Even the current Celestial Heavens has many human elites. As for Celestial Venerable Xiao, he could be ignored for now. However, Fire Celestial Venerable was a genuine human Celestial Venerable! Fire Celestial Venerable, the Yama Emperor, Dao Ancestor, Great Brahma Heavenly King Buddha, and Heavenly Master Bai Yuqiong were not weak in power. Outside, there was also someone like Emperor Kai. Yet, humanity always lived at the very bottom. Fire Celestial Venerable spoke of himself in a very noble manner. Qin Mu really wanted to visit Fire Celestial Venerable's domain to see how the humans under his rule truly lived.

He left the Northern Heavens and headed for the Southern Heavens.

The Southern Heavens are under the jurisdiction of the Red Emperor Qi Xiayu. Nominally, the Red Emperor Qi Xiayu is the ruler of the Southern Heavens, but in reality, it is Fire Celestial Venerable who rules. Every generation of Red Emperor has been a puppet supported by Fire Celestial Venerable. From ancient times until now, countless Red Emperors of the Southern Heavens have changed, but the true controller has always been him. It is precisely because Fire Celestial Venerable is the true ruler of the Southern Heavens that it led to the grievances between him and Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird. Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird rules the Southern Pole Heaven, located at the edge of the cosmos and on the periphery of the Southern Heavens, her territory not being particularly large. Even so, Fire Celestial Venerable spent hundreds of thousands of years infiltrating the Southern Pole Heaven, so much so that when he invaded the Southern Pole Heaven, wielding the divine artifact Royal Celestial Venerable, Southern Emperor Vermilion Bird had no troops to command.

Qin Mu walked out of the Spirit Energy Transfer Bridge of the Red Emperor's Celestial Palace. He looked around and saw the myriad heavens of the South, centered around the Red Emperor's Celestial Palace, hanging in the sky, with red stars of various sizes twinkling brilliantly. Instead of entering the Red Emperor's Celestial Palace directly, Qin Mu traveled around. He saw that the people of the Southern Heavens continent lived in peace and contentment, enjoying harmonious lives, and everything was in perfect order.

A colorful phoenix gracefully flew across the sky, emitting crisp calls, like a melody of the Great Dao. Qin Mu walked to the water's edge, where he saw a divine dragon residing in a mountain stream, coiled at the clear bottom, opening its mouth to spit out a dragon pearl, drawing in the essence of the sun and moon. A rustling sound came from the mountain forest. A Qilin walked out of the woods, came to the mountain stream to drink, glanced at them from a distance, then continued to drink with its head down.

Right next to this mountain stream, there were surprisingly a dozen households, and even a private school, from which clear sounds of reading aloud could be heard! Qin Mu was surprised and listened carefully.

"...The sovereign is the guide for the subjects, the father is the guide for the son, the husband is the guide for the wife; these are the Three Cardinal Guides..."

Qin Mu frowned, thinking to himself, "This is teaching people not to rebel." He was about to leave this small mountain village when he suddenly stopped. He heard mournful music; an elder in the village was being carried out for a funeral. The villagers carried the coffin, which had no lid. An old man sat inside, bowing to the villagers helping him, and laughing, "I am ascending to heaven now, to serve the deities! There's no need to be sad!"

Qin Mu did not understand the customs here and stopped to watch. The villagers beat gongs and drums, carried the coffin out of the village, and walked over ten li to a temple. Daoists guarded the temple entrance, who hastily opened the temple gates and invited the funeral procession inside. The drum and music were deafening. The villagers placed the elder and the coffin in front of the deity statue in the main hall of the temple, lit a few incense sticks, and then simply dispersed.

Qin Mu, the Dragon Qilin, and Yan'er stood outside, observing. After a moment, a ray of light descended from the sky, landing in front of the statue and transforming into a bird-headed, human-bodied deity. The old man in the coffin showed no fear. He bowed and said, "This rustic villager greets Mount Li God!" The bird-headed deity scrutinized him and asked, "How old are you now?"

"To Mount Li God, this old man is sixty this year." Mount Li God said, "Few live to be sixty in ancient times. It's not easy for an old man to live sixty years." The old man's face lit up with a smile, and he said, "Once one reaches sixty, it is customary to come and serve the Mountain God. In these sixty years, I've even held my grandchildren; I have no regrets."

Mount Li God nodded and politely asked, "Then, may I consume you?"

"Please do," the old man said, overjoyed.