Chapter 1369: Before Proud, Then Respectful

On the altar in the Ten Thousand Black Mountains of the Ancestral Court, Qin Mu's divine consciousness returned to his body. He opened his eyes, his expression somewhat solemn.

Granny Si, Wei Suifeng, and the others were relieved to see him return safely.

Granny Si gave him a hard slap on the backside.

Qin Mu rubbed his backside, slightly puzzled but not dwelling on it. He thought, "Long Xiao is powerful and conceited; he definitely won't let Shu Jun, Lan Yutian, and the others go. It seems I need to go to the back of the Ancestral Court myself to rescue them."

He let out a deep breath. Although Long Xiao was incredibly powerful, he still hadn't reached the level of the Ten Celestial Venerables; compared to them, he was far inferior.

Furthermore, with the back of the Ancestral Court being so rich, the Ten Celestial Venerables would surely be tempted.

Wei Suifeng, Dragon Qilin, Prince Youming, and the others felt a brief satisfaction seeing Qin Mu get slapped, but then their hearts were filled with worry for the safety of Ancestral God, Xu Shenghua, Lan Yutian, and the others.

"Don't worry," Qin Mu reassured them, "they are all still alive. Long Xiao has trapped them but hasn't killed them; he merely wants to subdue them as his mounts. There's a significant turn of events in this matter because Shu Jun, that fellow, has entered the back of the Ancestral Court with the head of the Grand Emperor!"

Qin Mu waved his hand, and the nine-layered altar collapsed, transforming into a stream of divine consciousness that returned to his mind. He said in a deep voice, "Long Xiao can deal with Shu Jun and the others, but can he deal with the Grand Emperor? Shu Jun entered the back of the Ancestral Court with the Grand Emperor's head; the Grand Emperor must have discovered the richness of the Ancestral Court's back and the powerful strength of the ancient beasts."

"The Grand Emperor's head?" Everyone felt a shock; none of them knew when the Grand Emperor's head had fallen into Shu Jun's hands.

Wei Suifeng frowned and asked, "Didn't the Grand Emperor's head fall into the hands of Celestial Venerable Hao? Celestial Venerable Hao has already refined the Grand Emperor's head into a treasure to suppress the Primordial Realm!"

"It's another head of the Grand Emperor that I subdued and suppressed."

Qin Mu explained, "The head in Celestial Venerable Hao's hands is the strongest. The one I suppressed is a physical body manifested by the Grand Emperor's contemplation. Although its power isn't strong, it won't be easy for Long Xiao to see through it."

He looked into the distance, in the direction of the Ancestral Court's God-Slaying Platform, which was occupied by Celestial Venerable Qiang.

Consort Qiang is one of the Grand Emperor's identities. Although not much of the Grand Emperor's true body remains—one hand is with Earth Mother, and one head is with Celestial Venerable Hao—Consort Qiang still exists and possesses boundless power.

As Consort Qiang, one of the Ten Celestial Venerables, she certainly wouldn't be able to sit still!

"Consort Qiang won't actively break the Ancestral Court's seal and expose its back, because then she wouldn't be able to monopolize its resources. She must swallow it whole, and the simplest way to do that is to subdue Long Xiao!"

Qin Mu narrowed his eyes. Consort Qiang must have already arrived at the Ancestral Court!

"If she wants to enter the back of the Ancestral Court, there are two paths," he mused. "One is to come to me. The other is to find Earth Mother Empress! Earth Mother Empress is skilled in summoning divine arts; she could deduce reverse summoning divine arts from them, thereby transferring to the back of the Ancestral Court without breaking its seal."

Qin Mu mumbled to himself, "That's a bit difficult, after all, Earth Mother Empress isn't as clever as I am."

"So, coming to me is the simplest path!"

Just then, a woman's voice suddenly called from outside the Ten Thousand Black Mountains, "Celestial Venerable Mu, Consort Qiang has come to visit!"

"Speak of the Grand Emperor, and the Grand Emperor arrives!"

Qin Mu laughed heartily and said loudly, "Your Highness's long journey here honors my humble mountain! Everyone, come with me to greet Her Highness's imperial carriage!"

Wei Suifeng, Prince Youming, and the others exchanged glances, then followed Qin Mu outside.

Facing the Grand Emperor, they couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Qin Mu's sleeves fluttered, appearing very unconstrained. He personally led everyone to greet her with great ceremony. Consort Qiang's imperial carriage arrived, pulled not by phoenixes, but by majestic ancient beasts from the Ancestral Court, moving at extreme speed.

The imperial carriage stopped. A palace maid lifted the beaded curtain, and Consort Qiang stepped out, lowering her head before slowly raising it. Her face was beautiful, possessing a charm that could enchant all beings. She saw Qin Mu leading everyone standing respectfully on both sides.

Her beautiful eyes swept around, and she couldn't help but chuckle, "Celestial Venerable Mu, why are you so arrogant before but so respectful now?"

Qin Mu looked up and smiled, "It's not arrogance before and respect now. It's because Your Highness is His Majesty's beloved consort, and though I am a Celestial Venerable, I am still His Majesty's subject. Therefore, I must be respectful."

Consort Qiang chuckled, "You certainly didn't say that when you were arrogant before."

Qin Mu extended his hand, inviting her in, but Consort Qiang was unwilling to enter the Ten Thousand Black Mountains. She shook her head and said, "This place of yours is very strange. I don't want to go in. Let's just talk out here."

Qin Mu's heart stirred slightly. Back then, Consort Qiang had mobilized all the void beasts to attack the Ten Thousand Black Mountains, only for Qin Mu to utterly rout them, with most of the void beasts killed or wounded, suffering heavy losses.

However, Consort Qiang likely wasn't unwilling to step into the Great Black Mountain because of that incident. After all, she was the Grand Emperor; void beasts were merely her tools.

"In ancient times," he thought to himself, "the Grand Emperor must have also discovered the strangeness of this place and thus dared not enter."

Consort Qiang went straight to the point and said, "I want to enter the back of the Ancestral Court. Will Celestial Venerable grant my wish?"

Qin Mu smiled, "How dare I refuse Your Highness's request? It's just that the benefits at the back of the Ancestral Court are so vast, I'm concerned Your Highness might not be able to swallow it all in one go."

"You don't need to worry about that."

Consort Qiang said lightly, "To be frank, Divine Emperor Lang Xuan has already arrived at the Ancestral Court and captured that foolish Earth Mother Empress. His goal is to use Earth Mother Empress's divine arts to reverse-engineer your reverse summoning divine art. With his intellect, it won't be that difficult for him to deduce it. His objective is also Long Xiao. Moreover, as the son of my wife Gong Yun and the Grand Beginning, his divine consciousness cultivation is extremely high. If he subdues Long Xiao, you will be in danger."

Qin Mu's heart leaped.

Divine Emperor Lang Xuan has arrived at the Ancestral Court and already captured Earth Mother Empress?

This was indeed a major development!

Qin Mu didn't agree with Consort Qiang's statement that Divine Emperor Lang Xuan could subdue Long Xiao. Divine Emperor Lang Xuan's divine consciousness was certainly no match for Long Xiao's, and subduing Long Xiao wouldn't be easy, but Divine Emperor Lang Xuan's strength was indeed unfathomable!

If he were to deduce the reverse summoning divine art and enter the back of the Ancestral Court, that would indeed be a tricky situation.

Although he couldn't directly subdue Long Xiao with divine consciousness, he could severely wound Long Xiao before subduing him!

Lang Xuan and Qin Mu's relationship was extremely poor; after all, Qin Mu had repeatedly raided Lang Xuan's divine palace and killed countless of his disciples.

If Lang Xuan were to subdue Long Xiao and gain the greatest power in the world, Qin Mu would definitely suffer greatly!

"If I obtain Long Xiao," Consort Qiang added, "your young friends can also survive."

Consort Qiang smiled alluringly, her demeanor captivating, and asked, "What do you think, Celestial Venerable Mu?"

Qin Mu pondered for a moment, then looked up and said, "Alright! Your Highness, please allow me to prepare."

Consort Qiang said lightly, "Are you trying to notify Celestial Venerable Gong to restrain me?"

Qin Mu's eyelid twitched. He had indeed entertained that thought—to "drive a tiger to swallow a wolf" and drag Celestial Venerable Gong into the situation as well.

Consort Qiang chuckled faintly, "If you don't want to die, it's best to abandon that idea."

Qin Mu took out a lantern and handed it to Granny Si, laughing heartily, "I indeed wanted to notify Celestial Venerable Gong, after all, she is Your Highness's natural enemy. It's a pity Your Highness saw through it. Never mind. So, Your Highness, shall we depart now?"

Consort Qiang giggled, "Celestial Venerable is truly amusing; your expression changes so quickly. Let's depart now!"

Qin Mu immediately performed the reverse summoning divine art. The two stood on the altar; Qin Mu glanced at Dragon Qilin, then the divine art erupted, and the two vanished.

Everyone frowned deeply, at a loss.

Suddenly, Granny Si said, "I will go to the Celestial Heavens to pick up Celestial Venerable Gong. Fatty Dragon, immediately prepare the reverse summoning altar, and when Celestial Venerable Gong and I arrive here, send us to the back of the Ancestral Court!"