Chapter 1726: Also Righteous and Evil True Gentleman

Xu Shenghua reinserted the God-slaying Nails all over Qin Mu's body. Qin Mu's wounds stopped bleeding, and he felt slightly more comfortable.

The God-slaying Nails are part of the God-burying Coffin, whose primary function is to restrict the power of those it suppresses, preventing them from escaping. When the God-slaying Nails were inserted into his wounds, the first thing they suppressed were the Dao injuries within them. The Third Young Master, using unparalleled divine abilities, had left fifty wounds on Qin Mu. These Dao injuries were exceptionally peculiar and hard to heal, but it was thanks to the God-slaying Nails that Qin Mu awoke so soon. Xu Shenghua had also realized this, which is why he advised Qin Mu to seal his wounds with the nails.

"The person who hammered in these nails did it completely wrong," Xu Shenghua said, closely examining one of the God-slaying Nails. "If it were me, I would have avoided these wounds. It's odd, who would help you in such a way?"

Qin Mu didn't know the reason. He mused, "Perhaps that person, though in the Celestial Court, has their heart set on Yankang, and is a rare righteous individual."

"That seems likely," Xu Shenghua nodded. "What are your plans for the Ancestral Court?"

Qin Mu frowned. Although his other injuries were gone, his current wounds were still extremely severe and difficult to recover from quickly. He needed to slowly comprehend the divine abilities and Dao principles hidden within the Dao injuries and fathom their mysteries before he could break them. And this required time. With his current strength, he was utterly incapable of dealing with the drastic changes in the Ancestral Court.

The drastic changes in the Ancestral Court were entirely orchestrated by the Spirit Officials of the Miluo Palace, with the aim of releasing the prehistoric powerful beings trapped under the World Tree's roots, unable to escape, and creating chaos. The more these prehistoric powerful beings killed, the stronger the blood sacrifices would become, ultimately causing the Miluo Palace to descend upon this universe! In their bid for power, the stowaways would surely act against the heavens and myriad worlds, inevitably triggering the Third Young Master's blood sacrifice. Furthermore, if any of them achieved Dao and imprinted the ultimate void, it would certainly accelerate the destruction of this universe! Therefore, it was still necessary to eliminate these prehistoric powerful beings.

However, eliminating them would not be easy. Just now, Xu Shenghua had mentioned that prehistoric Dao achievers had already stowed away from the World Tree's roots, intending to conquer the Celestial Court. Current Yankang was already struggling immensely to cope with the Celestial Court's attacks and had no spare capacity to deal with those stowaways.

"Let's return to Yankang first," Xu Shenghua said.

Xu Shenghua then lifted Qin Mu and placed him back in the coffin. Qin Mu was about to struggle when Xu Shenghua said, "This coffin is custom-made for you. It can suppress your Dao injuries and is even more effective than the coffin nails. If you stay inside, you can slowly comprehend how to break the Dao injuries."

Qin Mu quickly said, "Don't nail the coffin shut!"

"Don't worry," Xu Shenghua replied, "it's just lightly closed."

Xu Shenghua closed the coffin lid, leaving a slight gap, then picked up the God-burying Coffin and began travelling. "Sect Master Qin," he asked, "who was that person confronting Grand Emperor and Empress in the void? Their methods were very powerful and clever, using the ultimate void to restrict the Empress's power."

"That was Shang Jun," Qin Mu replied. "My injuries are severe now, so I can't see the ultimate void. Shang Jun fought Grand Emperor and Empress alone; how was the battle?"

"They were still fighting just now," Xu Shenghua said. "But after seeing me save you from the coffin and you awaken, Grand Emperor and Empress left. As for Shang Jun, he's currently in my shadow."

Qin Mu laughed heartily, suddenly triggering his injuries and coughing repeatedly. "My prestige is still strong enough to scare away Grand Emperor and Empress!" he declared.

Xu Shenghua tilted his head and thought for a moment. "They probably retreated because they saw me coming," he said. "You don't have much fighting strength right now."

Qin Mu snorted.

Grand Emperor was filled with doubt and suspicion. Xu Shenghua's act of directly opening the God-burying Coffin had truly stunned him, forcing him to retreat. He already carried some psychological trauma from their previous confrontation with Shang Jun in the ultimate void. Shang Jun was an extremely terrifying individual. In their last battle, Grand Emperor had been wounded by Shang Jun; had Shang Jun understood Grand Emperor's Dao, he would have been doomed. This time, Shang Jun still chose to confront him and Empress, two Dao achievers, in the ultimate void, a decision that made Grand Emperor's heart pound with fear.

It should be noted that the Second Young Master's clone had died in a battle in the ultimate void, killed by Celestial Venerable Yun, and even Heavenly Emperor Hao suffered severe injuries as a result. Empress, like the Second Young Master, also pursued the path of achieving Dao through the Great Ruins. In the ultimate void, she felt constrained and had to be extremely cautious, as constant winds of cold stillness countered her Great Ruins' heat death winds, weakening her power. The battle against Shang Jun was truly arduous for the two of them. Furthermore, Xu Shenghua had deciphered the God-burying Coffin far too easily, causing Grand Emperor to misjudge Xu Shenghua's strength. Fearing Xu Shenghua would ascend to the ultimate void to attack, he retreated without fighting.

"Who was that, exactly?" Grand Emperor frowned deeply. "How could even the God-burying Coffin, taught by the Third Young Master Lingxiao, be broken so easily?"

Empress replied, "That was Young Master Xu Shenghua from the High Heavens. I once thought of inviting him to be my close confidant, even a male consort. But his talent and demeanor are unparalleled in this era, and before I knew it, I was captivated, so I regarded him as a fellow Daoist."

Grand Emperor raised his eyebrows and sneered, "You were obsessed with pretty boys like Celestial Venerable Yu back then, and now you're obsessed with Xu Shenghua. So, Zitong, you like men like this."

Empress said indifferently, "There was nothing improper between Celestial Venerable Yu and me, and the same goes for Young Master Xu. I have no need to hide anything from you. Ever since you had an affair with that despicable woman, I have had countless male consorts to get revenge on you, and there's no need to hide that from you. Those two are true gentlemen; I only hold respect and admiration for them in my heart."

Grand Emperor's face darkened, but he laughed heartily. "Have you forgotten that Lan Yutian plotted against you?"

"Lan Yutian is Lan Yutian, not Celestial Venerable Yu," Empress retorted.

Empress sneered, "Grand Emperor, in my heart, you can never compare to the noble Celestial Venerable Yu, nor to the humble and refined Young Master Xu!"

Grand Emperor flew into a rage and vanished, shouting, "Harlot!"

Empress watched him disappear and smiled. "With Young Master Xu's strength, he certainly couldn't have deciphered the God-burying Coffin. There must be something fishy about that God-burying Coffin! Most likely, Celestial Venerable Xing An tampered with it!"

Grand Emperor departed in a fit of rage, his figure disappearing from sight. Empress slowed her pace. After a short while, she saw Xu Shenghua approaching, carrying Qin Mu's coffin. Xu Shenghua stopped and greeted the Empress respectfully. "Empress, it's been a long time."

Empress returned the greeting, her gaze falling on the shadow behind him. "Shang Jun," she said indifferently, "in the ultimate void, I was not your match, but outside, you are not mine. Do not try again. I came to see Young Master Xu with no ill intent."

Xu Shenghua's shadow remained motionless.

"Empress has seen me," Xu Shenghua stated.

Empress looked at his face, sighed, and whispered, "Though there are many remarkable men in this world, few compare to Young Master Xu. Alas, we are adversaries. If we could turn our weapons into jade and enjoy drinks and conversation with Young Master Xu, what a wonderful thing that would be."

Xu Shenghua replied, "If Empress were to abandon the Celestial Court and join Yankang, then we could turn our weapons into jade."

Empress shook her head. "That's impossible. The Celestial Court and I share a common fate: we prosper together, we decline together. How could I abandon the Celestial Court for a mere confidant?"

Inside the coffin, Qin Mu couldn't help but say, "If Empress would agree to abandon the Celestial Court, I could arrange a match and betroth Brother Xu to you. And if Empress wouldn't mind, I think I could also..."

"You scoundrel, shut up!" Empress flared up in anger.

Xu Shenghua calmly closed the coffin lid, and Qin Mu's voice was immediately cut off.

"Empress, you and I each have our own paths, though they diverge," Xu Shenghua said, bowing deeply to the ground. "After we part today, if we meet on the battlefield in the future, I hope Empress will not hold back."

Empress returned the bow, tears falling, and departed, covering her face. "I also hope Young Master Xu will not hold back. It's regrettable that I did not meet Young Master Xu sooner. If it had been a hundred years earlier, or if Young Master had been born a million years earlier, you and I might have had a different outcome..."

Xu Shenghua watched her depart, then continued carrying the coffin and hurried on.

Qin Mu knocked from inside the coffin. Xu Shenghua opened it a sliver, and Qin Mu's voice came from within: "Brother Xu, if Empress were willing to join Yankang's side and fight the Celestial Court, it would undoubtedly give us an overwhelming advantage. Why not endure..."

Xu Shenghua slammed the coffin lid shut. He thought for a moment, then took out other nails and hammered them into the coffin lid.

Meanwhile, Grand Emperor sped away like the wind and lightning, returning to the Primordial Realm a step ahead of Xu Shenghua and Empress. He went directly to the Celestial Court's grand encampment, not stopping to see Heavenly Emperor Hao, but instead bursting into Zhaofu Heavenly Palace, filled with killing intent.

In Zhaofu Heavenly Palace, Celestial Venerable Xing An had brains floating all around him. The number of brains he controlled had increased, and his divine brain matrix was becoming increasingly vast, processing faster and more precisely. The killing intent on Grand Emperor's body suddenly vanished. With a face like a spring breeze, he slowly walked over and smiled, "Celestial Venerable Xing An, you seem quite leisurely. Celestial Venerable, I'm afraid there's something wrong with the God-burying Coffin you created, isn't there?"

Xing An looked up and glanced at him. "What's wrong with it?"

Grand Emperor smiled affably. "On the way to the Ancestral Court, the Imperial Forest Army was escorting the God-burying Coffin when a person named Xu Shenghua waylaid them and stole it. That Xu Shenghua directly opened the divine coffin and released Celestial Venerable Mu. If it were a true God-burying Coffin, how could it be opened so easily?"

Xing An was surprised. He stood up and asked skeptically, "I know Xu Shenghua's abilities. I once visited him in the Western Lands of the Primordial Realm; his strength is indeed formidable, and I, too, was defeated by him back then. But it's absolutely impossible for him to decipher the God-burying Coffin I created; he doesn't have that power!"

A cold glint flashed in Grand Emperor's eyes, and the smile on his face widened as he said leisurely, "I personally saw him effortlessly remove forty-nine God-slaying Nails, without any difficulty. The fifty God-slaying Nails on Celestial Venerable Mu's body were also easily..."

"Wait a moment!" Xing An raised his hand and asked doubtfully, "Forty-nine? Weren't there ninety-nine?"

The killing intent in Grand Emperor's eyes slowly seeped out, and the smile on his face grew wider. "You told me that of the ninety-nine nails, half were to be nailed into the coffin and half into Celestial Venerable Mu's body..."

Xing An nodded. "That's right."

Grand Emperor's smile turned cold. "That's exactly what I did, but it was completely useless!"

Xing An's primordial qi transformed into a long nail. Then, using primordial qi, he created a coffin and Qin Mu's "corpse." He raised his hand and hammered a long nail into the coffin, with half of the nail in the coffin and half inserted into the "Qin Mu corpse." Xing An continued hammering in ninety-nine long nails. "Just like this," he explained, "a severely wounded Celestial Venerable Mu can be trapped. Forget Celestial Venerable Mu, even a Dao achiever would be trapped and unable to escape from this coffin!"

Grand Emperor was dumbfounded. "You said half would be nailed into the coffin..."

The surprise on Xing An's face deepened. He shook his head and said, "Ninety-nine nails, how can they be divided equally? Your Imperial Majesty should have thought of this. I need to continue my work. Your Imperial Majesty may leave."

Grand Emperor walked out in a daze, thoughts clashing in his mind: "Ninety-nine, half... not forty-nine and fifty..."

Once Grand Emperor had left Zhaofu Heavenly Palace, Xing An immediately clapped his hands, and a box scurried over. Xing An quickly packed his valuables into the box. "Grand Emperor is too foolish; he misunderstood my meaning," he said. "But he needs someone to blame, and that person will definitely be me! After he leaves and realizes his mistake, he'll come to kill me! It's not safe to stay here for long; we must leave quickly." The box bounced joyfully.

Xing An then took out some divine and demonic limbs from the box, fiddled with them, and created a person. His primordial spirit then shifted, entering this new body, leaving his original physical body behind. He tucked the box into his divine treasure and flashed away, walking out of Zhaofu Heavenly Palace and disappearing among the Celestial Court's gods and demons.

Suddenly, a loud bang echoed from Zhaofu Heavenly Palace. Grand Emperor's furious voice rang out: "Celestial Venerable Xing An conspired with Celestial Venerable Mu and deserves ten thousand deaths! I have already executed him!"

Xing An walked out of the Celestial Court's grand encampment, smiled faintly, released the box, and, with the little monster, walked into the mountains one after another. "I am now free," he declared.