Chapter 1248: Old Rulers

The Celestial Venerables of the Heavenly Court created the divine artifact, Heavenly Venerate Yu, with the goal of achieving the current state of Grand Emperor. However, this relied on external objects and wasn't considered their true strength. Yet, Grand Emperor could achieve this level, and even surpass it, purely by relying on himself.

"A truly extraordinary peerless overlord from the primordial era!"

Qin Mu couldn't help but marvel. Grand Emperor's current state was not even his strongest; to reach his peak, he would need the complete Primordial Stone embedded in his brow. Furthermore, he would also need to reclaim Celestial Venerate Qiang's magic power and divine consciousness. Only then would he be the complete Grand Emperor. With the Divine Consciousness Grand Overarching Heaven above, Grand Emperor in this form would undoubtedly be the most terrifying existence under heaven, throughout all of history.

Qin Mu now finally understood that the Creator Race's dominion over and enslavement of the ancient gods was no empty boast. It was the Creator Race of the primordial era that forged a formidable monster like Grand Emperor. They could create one Grand Emperor, or a second, or a third, proving that enslaving the ancient gods was not an idle threat.

"However, the path of divine consciousness, originating from the path of Primordial Beginning, has a significant flaw: Celestial Venerate Ling's Immovable Matter divine art." Qin Mu's expression was odd. Under the influence of the Immovable Matter divine art, Grand Emperor couldn't visualize anything or any great dao; he would be utterly suppressed, without the slightest chance to resist. Under the full power of the Immovable Matter divine art, he wouldn't even have a chance to act before being completely solidified by it. Compared to Primordial Qi, the path of divine consciousness had considerable drawbacks. Primordial Qi also originated from the path of Primordial Beginning, yet it could resist the Immovable Matter divine art, and even kill the master of the divine art.

"This must also be why Grand Emperor's primordial spirit reincarnation, Ming Fangyu, controlled Heavenly Emperor Primordial Beginning's physical body to assassinate Celestial Venerate Ling," he mused inwardly.

Suddenly, he felt an inexplicable dao rhythm emanating from beside him. He quickly turned to look and saw Lan Yutian, while listening to the dao rhythm from the zither music, had unconsciously entered a state of enlightenment! Qin Mu was stunned. Despite possessing the Heavenly Emperor's eggshell, and having extraordinary accomplishments in Primordial Qi and the great dao of divine consciousness—even having received divine consciousness insights from past Creator Race ancestors in the Primordial Void Ancestral Land—he had never fallen into enlightenment merely by hearing zither music. Yet, Lan Yutian, who was likely encountering the paths of divine consciousness and Primordial Qi for the first time, entered enlightenment simply by listening to the zither's rhythm. His talent was simply defying heaven!

Qin Mu pondered for a moment, then suddenly entered dao through dreams. Swathes of dreamscapes unfolded from the glowing strings, and countless diligent little Qin Mus each listened to the zither's dao rhythm, comprehending its profound mysteries. Although his innate talent was far inferior to Lan Yutian's, Lan Yutian's mastery of calculation arts was not as high as his, nor was his understanding of Grand Brahma Heavenly King Buddha's Buddhist heart-mind philosophy. Thus, he could enter dao and comprehend in his dreams, while Lan Yutian could not. This was his shortcut, something others couldn't emulate. While his physical body slept, his primordial spirit remained wide awake, observing Grand Emperor and Heavenly Venerate Hao's battle and scrutinizing the divine arts of these two supreme beings, allowing him to do both without delay.

Bai Yuqiong, meanwhile, looked at the two of them, her small, sandalwood-scented mouth agape, speechless. After a moment, she let out a faint sigh. "It took me nearly two hundred lifetimes of experience to attain my current status, yet Heavenly Venerate Mu and Little Brother Lan's talent and intelligence are innate. One deduces through cultivation techniques and divine arts, while the other directly enters dao. Comparing oneself to others..." She shook her head. Although she could also perceive many wonders of the great dao from the zither's rhythm, thoroughly comprehending them would take an immeasurable amount of time. In comparison, her wisdom and methods were inferior to Qin Mu's, and her innate talent was vastly—a hundred and eight thousand li—inferior to Heavenly Venerate Yu's.

"Diligence can compensate for lack of talent!" She looked at the diligent little Qin Mus in Qin Mu's dream, who were as busy as little bees, and huffed, "But I'm not as diligent as them... What if I awaken the Southern Emperor's divine soul? What if I become the Southern Emperor...?" She suddenly shivered, quickly dismissing the terrifying thought.

In the distance, Heavenly Venerate Hao also pushed the divine artifact Heavenly Venerate Yu's power to its extreme. This massive divine artifact, like Grand Emperor, seemed to house ancient deities within its various orifices, controlling all daos under heaven, and unleashing monstrous combat power. However, compared to Grand Emperor, the divine artifact Heavenly Venerate Yu was still slightly inferior. Physically, the divine artifact Heavenly Venerate Yu couldn't match Grand Emperor. Its physical body was manifested through the path of creation; even with dao blessings, Grand Emperor also had dao blessings and had been continuously nurtured and refined by the Creator Race of the primordial era. In terms of vital qi, the divine artifact Heavenly Venerate Yu's vital qi far surpassed Grand Emperor's. However, Grand Emperor's divine consciousness was so formidable that it could imprint itself upon the ultimate void! If judged by vital qi alone, the divine artifact Heavenly Venerate Yu had not yet reached that level.

Under Grand Emperor's attacks, the divine artifact Heavenly Venerate Yu retreated repeatedly, its skin torn and flesh lacerated. The great dao patterns on its body shattered, and the ancient god dao lights within its various orifices extinguished one by one. The divine artifact Heavenly Venerate Yu was a world-destroying giant, capable of suppressing myriad realms, yet before Grand Emperor, it was like a younger brother, only capable of taking a beating.

Just then, Heavenly Palaces suddenly leaped out from behind Heavenly Venerate Hao. Simultaneously, Heavenly Palaces also emerged from behind the divine artifact Heavenly Venerate Yu, causing their magic power to surge! Two Heavenly Courts appeared, each with a different structure. Different combinations of Heavenly Palaces could form different Grand Heavenly Court cultivation techniques, and each Grand Heavenly Court cultivation technique possessed unique power. With the appearance of the two Heavenly Courts, the power of their divine abilities and dao arts immediately increased exponentially!

Heavenly Venerate Hao had been enduring, like a venomous snake eyeing its prey, waiting for the opportune moment to strike a fatal blow. Now, he no longer had to hold back and directly unleashed his true abilities!

Grand Emperor burst into laughter. "Heavenly Venerate Hao, I've been waiting for this move from you!" His divine consciousness erupted, manifesting as sprawling Heavenly Palaces behind him, forming a complete Heavenly Court.

Bai Yuqiong's eyes widened as she watched this scene, her heart pounding wildly. A possibility suddenly occurred to her: one of the Ten Celestial Venerables was Grand Emperor! Grand Emperor, who had been killed by Celestial Venerate Yun and Celestial Venerate Ling back then, naturally couldn't have comprehended his own Grand Heavenly Court cultivation technique. Nor could he have done so in such a short time after his revival. The only possibility for him to display his Grand Heavenly Court cultivation technique was... "That Grand Emperor is hidden among the Ten Celestial Venerables, and this Celestial Venerable is currently nearby!" She couldn't help but feel a chill run down her spine. Although she knew there were many sordid secrets and tricks among the Ten Celestial Venerables, she hadn't imagined them to be so numerous and profound! The Ten Celestial Venerables were high and mighty. Although a Heavenly Master like herself was also considered lofty by many, before the Ten Celestial Venerables, she was utterly insignificant, and crushing her would be like crushing an ant. Now that she knew this secret, how much longer could she live?

Just then, she suddenly noticed Qin Mu's primordial spirit had left his body at some point and was now looking at her with great interest. Bai Yuqiong composed herself and decided to tell him about her discovery. "Heavenly Venerate Mu, one of the Ten Celestial Venerables of the Heavenly Court is Grand Emperor, and he is currently nearby!"

Qin Mu's primordial spirit smiled at her, and calmly said, "I already knew that. And I also know that this Celestial Venerable is Celestial Consort Qiang. Furthermore, I know that the ancient god Heavenly Emperor is also among them, as Celestial Venerable Xiao. Would you like to know the identities of the Empress, Yuanmu, Heavenly Duke, and the ancient God Kings among the Ten Celestial Venerables?"