Chapter 581: Emperor Throne Mysterious Skill

Qin Mu watched Granny Si's divine arts with keen interest. Each of the nine elders of Disabled Elderly Village had their own unique strengths, and Granny Si, besides her beauty, was renowned for her exquisite magical arts and divine powers.

However, back then, Granny Si had worried that her cultivation path was demonic, so she had been reluctant to teach Qin Mu many magical or divine abilities, instead letting the Village Chief, Butcher, Grandpa Ma, and others instruct him.

Later, when Qin Mu became the Young Sect Master of the Heavenly Devil Cult, Granny Si passed the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture to him. Yet, she only allowed Qin Mu to comprehend it on his own, never personally teaching him the cultivation methods and divine arts within.

This was primarily because her own demonic path led to a somewhat biased understanding of the Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture. She believed that Qin Mu, having cultivated with Deaf, Grandpa Ma, and others, and being well-versed in classics, would develop a more accurate understanding of the scripture.

Qin Mu had originally viewed the so-called righteous and devilish paths lightly. Later, he realized that both stemmed from one's intentions: if one's intentions were evil, even righteous magic was demonic; if one's intentions were righteous, even evil magic was righteous. Thus, the divide between righteous and devilish ceased to exist for him.

Even later, Qin Mu discovered that the struggle between righteous and devilish was a clash of intentions, whereas the conflict between gods and devils was a battle for ideology and survival. Consequently, he regarded the righteous-devilish dispute even more lightly.

In the past, he had battled fiercely with sects like Great Thunderclap Temple and the Dao Sect. Now, he had long shed all prejudices and paid no mind to the trivial matter of righteous-devilish conflict.

Currently, he had even cultivated a demonic divine trove, with half his being embracing the demonic path, which broadened his horizons and expanded his perspective even further.

This was growth. A person often grows without realizing it, only discovering their unconscious maturity and a more seasoned mindset when looking back at the past.

Although Venerable God Sangye was an exalted deity, his understanding and vision might not necessarily surpass Qin Mu's.

Beyond individual talent and comprehension, it also depended on one's experiences. Qin Mu, having received the tutelage of the nine elders of Disabled Elderly Village since childhood, coupled with leaving the Great Ruins just as the Eternal Peace Reform was underway, his unique background, and his trials in Youdu and Fengdu, had unknowingly elevated his insight to an extraordinary level.

Granny Si finally extracted the primordial spirit of Tianfeng Hou from her body. Feng Hou's primordial spirit was imprisoned by her, preventing escape. If a deity's primordial spirit escaped, it could still possess other individuals or nature spirits.

—Possessing others is called "possession," while possessing nature spirits is "unorthodox cultivation."

"Who will question her?"

Granny Si turned, asking the group, "She undoubtedly knows many secrets of the demon race. Interrogating her might greatly benefit High Emperor Heaven. My methods are rather cruel, so questioning her might be unsuitable, especially since she's a beautiful woman."

Venerable God Sangye was in the midst of introducing himself to Deaf and the others. Hearing this, he shivered involuntarily, glancing at Tianfeng Hou's physical body, and thought, "Indeed cruel. This woman first flattened Venerable God Feng Hou's chest, and then flattened her face as well..."

His gaze settled on Granny Si's face, unable to move away. He suddenly had the idea of taking another wife and finding a stepmother for Sanghua. He quickly regained his composure, averted his gaze, and suppressed any inappropriate thoughts, saying, "As for questioning Feng Hou, let's leave it to True God Pang Yu. After all, Feng Hou is a god of our High Emperor Heaven, and also a highly ranked and influential leader. Our private interrogation would be inappropriate."

Cripple chuckled, "Why bother with so much trouble? Let Apothecary feed her some worms; she's guaranteed to spill everything within an hour."

Fox Ling'er excitedly added, "We can also have Grandpa Deaf use the Black Dragon Spear to separate her primordial spirit's spiritual embryo from her soul, reducing her to a mortal!"

Deaf stroked her head, smiling, "My spear is called Long Tuo, not Black Dragon Spear."

"That's right." The Black Dragon Spear behind him suddenly came to life, swimming with a rattling sound around the little fox. The Black Dragon, now reduced to mere bones, slowly said, "My name is Long Tuo, a dragon king from the demon race. But you weren't wrong about one thing: my master and I can indeed separate her soul from her primordial spirit, though it would be excruciatingly painful."

Fox Ling'er curiously observed the divine spear Long Tuo, then suddenly thought of another idea, quickly raising her hand, eyes sparkling: "Oh, and! I thought of another one! We can also have Grandpa Mute refine her primordial spirit into liquid with his furnace, and pour molten iron over her, to see if she'll talk!"

"This little fox spirit is no ordinary individual!"

Venerable God Sangye shivered a few more times, quickly saying, "I'll take her for interrogation. Gentlemen, I'll go ahead. Please help guard the Wuwang City outpost for the next two days!" With that, he seized both Tianfeng Hou's physical body and primordial spirit before hastily departing.

Qin Mu quickly asked, "Granny, Grandpa Apothecary, why have you all come to High Emperor Heaven?"

Granny Si raised her hand, wanting to pat his head. Qin Mu quickly lowered his head. Granny Si patted it, smiling, "You've grown taller again; you're as tall as Apothecary now. Grow a bit more, and Deaf will only reach your waist."

Deaf was very displeased: "Granny, I'm still growing. Look at Venerable God Sangye just now, over 20,000 years old and terrifyingly tall. It shows that the longer one lives, the taller one grows!"

Granny Si shot him a dismissive glance: "Deaf, that's about the limit of your intelligence. Mu'er, we came here to see you and also to look at the cultivation methods here, to see if we can find a path to breakthrough. We've all reached a bottleneck. The High Emperor Heaven divine arts practitioners you sent to Heavenly Saint Academy are indeed very capable; we've seen and learned some, but for systemic cultivation, we need to come to High Emperor Heaven to find more advanced techniques."

Qin Mu had indeed discussed with Imperial Preceptor Yan Kang, True God Pang Yu, and others about sending some young divine arts practitioners to Eternal Peace to learn Daoist magic and divine arts. At the same time, High Emperor Heaven cultivation methods could be introduced into Eternal Peace to address the shortcomings in Eternal Peace's cultivation.

The mutual supplementation of divine arts practitioners from both sides could indeed lead to astonishing progress in their strength.

However, that was only for divine arts practitioners. For powerful individuals like Granny Si, who had already completed their divine bridges and entered the Celestial Palace, or were about to enter it, it was somewhat insufficient.

After all, the High Emperor Heaven divine arts practitioners who went to Eternal Peace to study often had relatively lower cultivation realms, while Granny Si and the others needed a divine-level cultivation system.

Qin Mu thought for a moment, then asked, "So, who is in charge of Heavenly Saint Academy now?"

"Heavenly King Shi, Heavenly King Yu, and other elders are currently in charge," Granny Si replied. "Those scholars from High Emperor Heaven are quite foolish, pitiably slow-witted; they struggle to grasp arithmetic at all. Let the elders and heavenly kings of the Heavenly Saint Cult deal with them. Venerable God Sangye just asked us to help him guard the Wuwang City outpost, let's go."

Qin Mu nodded. The group talked and laughed, and Qin Mu quickly forgot about his bleeding backside, joking around with Deaf, Mute, and Cripple.

Green Ox saw Dragon Qilin's four short legs start moving, his eyes lit up, and he quickly trotted near Dragon Qilin, reared up and began circling him.

Dragon Qilin's face was gloomy; he remained silent and continued walking forward.

The divine spear Long Tuo transformed into a black dragon skeleton, swimming with a rattling sound in the air. It came to Fox Ling'er's side, gently nudged her, raising the little fox onto its head, and curiously asked, "Do those two have a feud?"

Fox Ling'er whispered, "More than a feud? It's a feud over a 'stolen' wife!"

She then explained what she knew. The feud between Dragon Qilin and Green Ox began when Qin Mu entered the Imperial College. Green Ox was an inherently flirtatious fellow, but also rather naive. At the Imperial College, he thought Dragon Qilin was female, and would bother him every day when passing the mountain gate, even giving Dragon Qilin flowers and plants.

Dragon Qilin knew he couldn't beat Ba Shan, so he had to tolerate this brute of an ox, even instigating Qin Mu to drug Green Ox so they could eat him. The "Lost Fragrance" Qin Mu refined was later learned by the Imperial Medical Hall, leading to quite a commotion.

Later, Green Ox realized Dragon Qilin was male, was quite disheartened for a time, and then happily sought out other cows. Of course, these two exotic beasts thus developed a rivalry.

"Green Ox thought Fat Dragon was female, but Fat Dragon is male, isn't that a wife-snatching feud?" Fox Ling'er said matter-of-factly.

The black dragon shook its skeleton, surprised, "There's such a complicated history?"

Dragon Qilin appeared calm, eyes lowered, but his ears twitched involuntarily.

Green Ox sneered, "Why are you twitching your ears? Fatso, you used to be slim, even feminine. How did you get so fat now? I can't even tell if you're walking upright or just rolling along on your belly. Look at me!"

He flexed an arm, his muscles bulging, and sneered, "This is called muscular, yours is just flab! Like me, I'm formidable in a fight, every punch landing with powerful thuds!"

Dragon Qilin narrowed his eyes, opened his large mouth, and spit out a Qilin Pearl, two feet square. It burned brightly in mid-air, illuminating the surroundings.

Green Ox shivered, dropped to his knees, and transformed back into a large green ox. With his tail between his legs, he scurried back to Ba Shan's side.

Dragon Qilin opened his mouth to retract the Qilin Pearl, sneering, "Fat? Do you know how much effort I put into this 'fat'? Without this 'fat,' could I have refined such a large Qilin Pearl?"

Fox Ling'er whispered, "Fat Dragon, you've gotten the upper hand, so it's best to know when to stop. If it comes to a real fight, you might not be able to beat that brute ox! Green Ox has fought more battles alongside Ba Shan than you've consumed spiritual pills. Be careful he doesn't see through your pretense of strength."

Dragon Qilin felt a jolt of alarm, knowing that this ox, like Ba Shan, was a maniac for fighting. And its speed was faster than his, its endurance better. If it came to a real fight, he might not be able to contend with him.

"I must intensify my practice of the Ancestral Dragon Grand Profound Art. If this ox discovers I'm not his match, he'll surely try to beat me up!"

He activated the Ancestral Dragon Grand Profound Art, practicing diligently. Seeing this, Qin Mu couldn't help but feel a sense of relief and chuckled, "Fat Dragon finally doesn't need me to worry about him; he's cultivating on his own initiative. By the way, Ox Two!"

Green Ox quickly ran over, with an ingratiating smile, "Your orders, Young Master! Young Master forgot, I'm Ox Three, Ling'er is the head honcho, Fatso is Dragon Two, so I'm ranked third. But I'll soon replace Dragon Two and take second place."

Qin Mu smiled, "You also have Azure Dragon lineage, right? Not long ago, I obtained a profound technique, even more profound and formidable than the Hegemon Body Three Elixirs Art, the most exceptional cultivation method I've ever encountered. Since you have dragon lineage, I'll teach it to you too."

Green Ox was overjoyed, sobbing, "Young Master is so good to this little ox! This little ox has no way to repay you, only by dedicating my very being can I repay your kindness!"

Qin Mu smiled, "You saved my life in the Golden Palace; I haven't even thanked you for that. This is nothing compared to that!"

He then expounded upon the Ancestral Dragon Grand Profound Art. Not only Green Ox listened with rapt attention, but even Butcher, Granny Si, Deaf, and others were enthralled.

"What a good cultivation method!" Butcher exhaled deeply, saying in a deep voice, "An unparalleled divine art! Mu'er, this must be a cultivation method that leads directly to the High Heavens and allows one to ascend to the Imperial Throne, right?"

Dragon Qilin couldn't help but feel a powerful sense of impending doom, muttering inwardly, "Blast! If this infernal ox learns the Ancestral Dragon Grand Profound Art, what's to become of me? He'll surely beat me to a pulp! No, I must cultivate, I must eat water-attribute divine vitality pills!"