Chapter 1149: Escaping into the Void

Qin Mu smiled and said, "I suddenly remembered that the Heavenly Lord and I are like brothers, and he calls me 'Daoist friend.' So, it's perfectly reasonable for me to address you as 'virtuous nephew.'"

The Ancestral God King was enraged. The other Celestial Venerables quickly intervened, advising, "Let's just address each other as 'Daoist friends.' We are all Celestial Venerables; there's no need to create such tension. Calm down, please."

Celestial Venerable Hong also advised, "Celestial Venerable Mu, say less and don't push your luck. His temper is volatile; if he genuinely gets angry and tries to kill you, none of us can stop him."

Qin Mu retorted angrily, "That day in the Jade Pool, he was the first one to attack me! What's wrong with me taking a little advantage and making him call me 'uncle'?"

The Ancestral God King, who had just calmed down, heard this and erupted in fury once more, shouting, "Don't you dare stop me! I'll hack this scoundrel to death!"

Qin Mu was livid, pointing and cursing, "If you've got the guts, come at me and chop my head off! If I even blink, I'll take your surname!"

Everyone scrambled to intervene. Celestial Venerable Hong held back Qin Mu, while Emperor Lang Xuan restrained the Ancestral God King, both urging, "Calm down, please calm down!"

Muttering curses, the two men turned their faces away from each other.

Qin Mu took this opportunity to scan his surroundings, puzzled. Besides themselves, no one else had arrived, not even the Heavenly Lord or Earth Count.

"Where is Lady Yuanmu? This isn't right!"

Qin Mu frowned, thinking, "Logically, Lady Yuanmu would never miss this opportunity; she would surely be here. Why hasn't she appeared?"

He looked around, knowing for sure that Celestial Venerable Qiang was the Grand Emperor. So, who could Lady Yuanmu be?

Could it possibly be Celestial Venerable Hong?

Qin Mu glanced at Celestial Venerable Hong with suspicion. Lady Yuanmu was known for her promiscuous nature, a stark contrast to the image of an enlightened master like Celestial Venerable Hong.

"Besides us, the only others present are these celestial dragons pulling the treasure carriages. Lady Yuanmu couldn't possibly have transformed into a celestial dragon."

Suddenly, Qin Mu's gaze fell upon the white cat in Celestial Venerable Yan's arms. The Dragon Qilin cleared his throat, and though Qin Mu understood his unspoken meaning, he pretended not to hear. He mused, "Lady Yuanmu wouldn't have transformed into the white cat in Celestial Concubine Yan's arms, would she? This white cat is male, and Celestial Concubine Yan is suspected to be the empress, very proper. The white cat seems more like her paramour than Lady Yuanmu..."

He couldn't help but feel a headache; he found it more plausible that Celestial Venerable Hong was Lady Yuanmu than the white cat.

The other Celestial Venerables gathered to deliberate and finally reached a decision: "Dividing the benefits equally is still feasible. However, we must also include Celestial Venerable Huo and Celestial Venerable Xu, which means the Ancestral Court will be divided into eleven portions. Including Celestial Venerable Mu, each of us will receive one share."

"As for ancient gods like the Heavenly Lord and Earth Count, their ambitions are lofty, so we'll leave them out."

"Once we arrive in the Ancestral Court, each of you should find a valuable location and establish a foothold. The Ancestral Court is overrun with void beasts, so a thorough clearing will be necessary."

After their discussion, they turned to Qin Mu and asked, "Celestial Venerable Mu, what are your thoughts?"

Qin Mu, with a half-smile, asked, "Can't we simply divide the Ancestral Court into eleven equal portions, and each of us takes one?"

Celestial Venerable Hao replied, "With so many unusually ferocious void beasts in the Ancestral Court, if we divide it directly into eleven portions, who will defend them? Everyone should rely on their own abilities, occupy a piece of land, and clear their territory for their disciples to manage and explore."

Emperor Lang Xuan chuckled, "If Celestial Venerable Mu lacks the ability, simply hand it over to me, and I'll manage it for you."

Celestial Concubine Qiang said, "This is a good idea. After all, we are Celestial Venerables and cannot remain in the Ancestral Court indefinitely; the Heavenly Court is our primary concern. We'll first clear out some territory, and then ask Celestial Venerable Mu to send our disciples in. As for mining treasures, collecting rare items, and eliminating other void beasts, our disciples can handle that."

Qin Mu was deeply displeased. These Celestial Venerables were clearly exploiting his lack of established forces; even if he could claim a territory, he wouldn't be able to defend it.

Another advantage of not directly dividing the territory was that it would keep Qin Mu confined to the Ancestral Court, effectively exiling him there.

If Qin Mu remained in the Ancestral Court and did not leave, it would be akin to suppressing him, eliminating concerns that he would constantly cause them trouble and headaches.

If Qin Mu were to leave the Ancestral Court, he would effectively abandon his territory, and the Celestial Venerables would naturally be pleased to claim his share.

If the territory were evenly divided into eleven portions, and they seized Qin Mu's share, he would likely raise a fuss, causing them considerable annoyance.

Qin Mu snorted, knowing these old figures were taking advantage of his youth and perceived weakness, and subtly plotting against him. He calmly said, "Then let it be so."

Seeing his exasperation, the Celestial Venerables felt a surge of satisfaction.

Qin Mu immediately began constructing the altar. The eight Celestial Venerables watched from the side, trying to memorize his every move. Qin Mu sneered, building the altar in plain sight, even meticulously etching all the necessary runes with perfect precision before their very eyes.

It was perfectly fine for Celestial Venerable Hao, Celestial Venerable Xiao, and the others to observe this reverse summoning altar. Reverse summoning involves two crucial steps: the first is the precise design of the altar, which allows no room for error.

This step is critically important.

However, the second step is equally vital: activating the divine ability of reverse summoning!

Qin Mu's reverse summoning ability originated from Luo Xiao, a Creator. However, Luo Xiao's version utilized a divine sense technique, which was unique to the Creator race.

Qin Mu's refined reverse summoning ability, however, integrated later runic systems. He had intentionally withheld this method from Luo Xiao, Grand Hong, and Gu Xiao years ago to protect his own life.

Even if the eight Celestial Venerables mastered the runes inscribed on the reverse summoning altar, they would find it exceptionally difficult to deduce the actual reverse summoning ability solely from those runes.

This was Qin Mu's trump card.

"Everyone, please come onto the altar."

Qin Mu constructed two altars, one of which he intended for their eventual return. He ascended the first altar, standing in its center, and said with a smile, "During reverse summoning, we need to establish a divine sense connection with the void beasts in the Ancestral Court. So, if any of you suddenly see eyes appearing above your heads, don't be alarmed; those are void beasts. I'm using them to pinpoint the Ancestral Court's spatial coordinates and pull us there."

"Such an amazing ability exists?" The Celestial Venerables exclaimed in admiration.

Qin Mu smiled, "This is the benefit of reform. It's precisely because of reform that we have spirit energy transfer bridges for easy travel, and it's also because of reform that the reverse summoning ability exists."

Celestial Venerable Xiao cleared his throat, reminding him, "Celestial Venerable Mu, refrain from speaking such rebellious words. Please activate the ability quickly."

Qin Mu chuckled heartily and activated his divine ability.

Last time, entering the Ancestral Court with Luo Xiao, Gu Xiao, and Grand Hong was not particularly difficult. However, bringing eight Celestial Venerables this time was many times harder. Fortunately, Qin Mu was also considerably stronger than he was then. He fully activated the reverse summoning ability, and a massive eyeball promptly appeared in the sky.

The Celestial Venerables all exclaimed in unison, "What an impressive ability!"

No sooner had they spoken than hundreds of large eyes began to pop into existence in the sky above them, a continuous series of sounds filling the air.

These were the eyes of void beasts, not just one, but hundreds!

Fearing that a single void beast might not be enough to pull them into the Void, Qin Mu, in one swift move, took control of hundreds of void beasts, making them perform the reverse summoning simultaneously!

Even when faced with so many void beast eyes, the eight Celestial Venerables remained perfectly composed, showing no hint of panic.

Their power was immense; such a large number of exotic beasts were no match for them.

Boom—

The altar soared, vanishing into the void!

The next moment, the altar materialized within the Ancestral Court, hovering before hundreds of void beasts.

The Celestial Venerables burst into laughter, each ascending into the air and quickly departing to find their respective strongholds in the Ancestral Court. They left Qin Mu stranded on the altar, surrounded by the void beasts.

Hundreds of void beasts stared menacingly at Qin Mu, who remained in the center of the altar.

Qin Mu sighed, then smiled at Celestial Venerable Hong and asked, "Daoist friend Hong, why aren't you leaving?"

"I promised you. We can be neighbors and be interdependent."

Celestial Venerable Hong smiled, "And you can owe me yet another favor. That way, I'll have two promissory notes from you."