Chapter 769: The Secret of the Great Sun Star Lord

Qin Mu, like a demon king soaring through the night sky, searched and scanned everywhere for a long time, but couldn't find any trace of Lu Li and the other three. Youdu was simply too vast; a thorough search would take a year or two, and Lu Li's group certainly wouldn't stay put and wait for him to find them.

"Brother, I'm tired. I'm going back." Qin Fengqing lost interest, said this, and then suddenly became still.

Qin Mu was astonished. He immediately felt his strength rapidly fading. Qin Fengqing had actually returned to the Qinzi Continent, voluntarily entering the seal!

When Qin Fengqing returned to the seal, the Cauldron of Life Slaughter also drilled into Qin Mu's glabella with him, surprisingly following Qin Fengqing to the Qinzi Continent!

Qin Mu immediately stopped searching for Lu Li and the others. Without Qin Fengqing's power, he was merely a divine arts practitioner at the Celestial Being realm. Searching for Lu Li would be suicidal.

What he found strange was that Qin Fengqing clearly detested being sealed, yet this time he had voluntarily entered the seal, and appeared quite willing.

He didn't use the willow leaf to seal the third eye on his glabella. A wisp of his indestructible divine consciousness flew into the Qinzi Continent, where he saw the large-headed doll excitedly counting the arms and legs of the strong souls hidden within the continent, muttering "one, two, three..." as he did so.

Qin Mu was caught between laughter and tears. Clearly, Qin Fengqing was fine with being sealed because he had food; it was a minor matter. He certainly wouldn't find "nutritious provisions" outside.

"Glutton." Qin Mu couldn't help but shake his head. This time, he was returning to Youdu's Jade Lock Pass to retrieve his paper boat. Without Qin Fengqing's help, flying back to Earth Count's Eye alone would likely take him over a decade. Therefore, retrieving the paper boat and returning by it would save him more than ten years.

He saw Earth Count's Cauldron of Life Slaughter. The great cauldron was still following Qin Fengqing, but Qin Fengqing was excitedly counting his "food" and completely ignored the cauldron.

"This cauldron swallowed half of the Nether Sea, which is composed of black soul sand. The Yin Emperor must have expended an immeasurable amount of effort to refine the Nether Sea to such a scale. Now, all that effort has gone to waste."

Qin Mu then recalled the half-strand of shadowy light swallowed by the Cauldron of Life Slaughter. The shadowy light was a treasure refined by the Yin Emperor and should also be extraordinary. However, now that the cauldron was with Qin Fengqing, it seemed to recognize Qin Fengqing as Earth Count, not Qin Mu.

"So, the faces in the cauldron aren't calling me 'Ah Chou,' but rather 'Brother Ah Chou'..."

As soon as he thought this, he saw demonic energy surging and overflowing from the great cauldron. The demonic energy, like darkness, enveloped Qin Fengqing.

A face floated out of the demonic energy, staring intently at the large-headed doll, and said in a strange tone, "Ah Chou."

Qin Fengqing glanced at the face and shook his head, saying, "Little brother isn't here. Where was I in my counting?"

"Ah Chou," the face persisted.

"Little brother isn't here! Annoying!" Qin Fengqing huffed angrily.

More faces emerged from the demonic energy within the cauldron, calling out to him, "Ah Chou."

Qin Fengqing became furious and shouted, "I already said little brother isn't... Wait a minute, are you calling *me*?"

The faces smiled and slowly nodded, "Ah Chou."

"I'm not ugly, little brother is ugly," Qin Fengqing said.

Hearing this, Qin Mu sneered, "My elder brother truly lacks self-awareness. I knew those faces weren't calling me."

The white-bearded old man, who was a manifestation of Heaven Duke, appeared from nowhere and said, "Those faces are calling you. Little one, your divine consciousness is here too."

He pointed a finger, and Qin Mu's wisp of consciousness involuntarily descended, transforming into his main body.

Qin Mu looked around, seeing Red Emperor's consciousness and a bird-headed, human-bodied deity hidden within the Qinzi Continent, both looking his way.

"That bird god looks familiar..." Qin Mu paused, feeling a little confused: "I think I saw him in the Dragon Han Celestial Court. He's the Great Solar Star Lord who was brutally beaten by Senior Brother Niu Sanduo..."

Heaven Duke's avatar said, "Indeed, he is the Great Solar Star Lord, long dead. Little bird, fellow Daoist Red Emperor, come over here. Don't worry, he has food now, he won't eat you!"

Red Emperor's consciousness walked over, but the Great Solar Star Lord still didn't dare to emerge. Qin Mu smiled, "Star Lord, don't worry, your flying speed is unparalleled in the world; my brother can't catch you."

The large-headed doll glanced at the Great Solar Star Lord and said, "I can catch him. Just grab his wings, and he can't run."

The Great Solar Star Lord hesitated, then cautiously stepped out, poised for immediate escape, saying, "I was caught off guard when you grabbed my wings. If I were prepared, no one could catch me."

Qin Mu asked, "How did Star Lord die?"

Heaven Duke sneered, "He died of stupidity. He knew too much and couldn't keep his mouth shut. He stupidly killed himself."

Qin Mu immediately became interested, curiously asking, "What did the Great Solar Star Lord know? Why would he die from knowing too much? Star Lord, could you tell us?"

The Great Solar Star Lord grunted, "I died because I talked too much. If I tell you again, won't my soul be scattered?"

Qin Mu kindly advised, "Star Lord, if you don't tell us, your soul will soon be scattered and eaten by my brother."

The Great Solar Star Lord hesitated, then looked at Heaven Duke and Red Emperor. The white-bearded old man coughed repeatedly, and Red Emperor looked up at the sky.

"Heaven Duke..."

"Don't look at me, I'm also very curious how you died." Heaven Duke shook his head, "As early as the mid-Dragon Han era, the Celestial Court was enveloped by a vast net of traps, and I couldn't see anything there. You were the head of all the stars and constellations, overseeing the celestial net of traps and the gods of the Celestial Court. You know more about the Celestial Court than I do; even now, I cannot perceive its state."

The Great Solar Star Lord hesitated repeatedly, glancing at the large-headed doll who was still counting, then braced himself and said, "I don't know which secret led to my death. I was killed by a hidden arrow from behind during the outbreak of war, while attacking the Celestial Court built by Venerable Yun. I was charging forward, and I don't know who shot me from behind, and then I died."

Everyone fell silent.

Qin Mu coughed, "So, Star Lord, which incident do you think you knew about that led to you being killed by a hidden arrow?"

The Great Solar Star Lord thought for a moment and said, "It wasn't the Venerable Yu's death incident; although that caused a huge stir, there were many rumors, and while I said a few things, everyone was talking about it. Nor was it the Eastern Palace Crown Prince incident, where Crown Prince Wuqi rebelled. Although I knew a lot of internal details, I didn't tell many people. Could it be the Empress's ambush? Or the Jade Pool upheaval? Or the Earth Count's Slaughter of Heaven incident? It might be the Earth Count's Slaughter of Heaven incident, I knew a lot of inside information about that. But it could also be the Imperial Forest Army's transversal event, and oh, there's also the Heaven Duke's reincarnation incident. There were many shady dealings in the Heaven Duke's reincarnation incident..."

Qin Mu was dumbfounded. So many things had happened in the Dragon Han Celestial Court?

He had traveled back to the early Dragon Han era and hadn't stayed long, never expecting so many interesting events to occur later!

He was eager to hear about every single event the Great Solar Star Lord mentioned, and to understand the full story behind them!

"Great Solar Star Lord, why not explain them one by one clearly?" His eyes gleamed, "Tell us one by one! Also, you must know who the current Celestial Emperor of the Celestial Court is, right?"

The Great Solar Star Lord hesitated, glancing at Heaven Duke, and said, "This involves the Heaven Duke's reincarnation incident, which I'm a bit afraid to talk about. Besides, I died early, so I don't know which side won..."

Heaven Duke's avatar coughed, "Little Qin boy, the Great Solar Star Lord knew so much, and thus he died. If you know too much, you'll also die quickly. You can leave now; Earth Count still wants to see you."

He flicked his sleeve, sending Qin Mu's wisp of divine consciousness out. Below, Heaven Duke's voice faintly drifted up: "From now on, if he asks you about my reincarnation, and you dare to speak, I won't kill you. I'll just refine you, refine you until you can neither live nor die. Now, tell me the full story of the Eastern Palace Crown Prince incident..."

Qin Mu snorted, feeling quite annoyed, "So what if I don't listen to the Heaven Duke's reincarnation incident? Why kick me out?"

He arrived outside Jade Lock Pass. At that moment, two demon gods stood before the gate. Seeing him approach, they both shivered and turned to flee.

Qin Mu hastily said, "Fellow Daoists, halt! I'm not here to eat anyone; I'm here to retrieve my paper boat! My paper boat is inside the pass, so don't close the gate yet."

"You really won't eat us?" The two demon gods pulled open the city gate, hiding behind it, trembling with fear.

Qin Mu smiled, "When have I ever eaten anyone? I'll take the boat and leave."

The two demon gods scurried away in a flash. Qin Mu approached the fortress gate and saw that it was left ajar.

He entered the pass, retrieved his paper boat moored by the gate, and looked towards the divine-demon army camp. There, numerous gods and demons stood in neat formations, fully prepared, fearing he would go on a rampage.

However, these gods and demons were trembling, their legs shaking, and their morale was not high.

Qin Mu gazed at the camp from afar but didn't see his father Qin Hanzhen, who had transformed into a treant. A sense of loss welled up in his heart.

"Farewell!" He bowed deeply to the camp, staying in that position for a long time before rising.

The divine-demon army was stunned. Countless gods and demons hastily returned his bow, thinking to themselves, "The Son of Youdu bows to us? Is the sun going to rise in Youdu?"

Qin Mu stood up, looked at the stele forest again, then turned and left.

With his father and mother both here, he suddenly felt at ease, his long-wandering heart finally able to rest.

He went outside the pass, sat on the bow of the small boat, and the boat floated up, heading towards Earth Count's Eye.

After a long time, the small boat arrived at Earth Count's Eye, sailed into the giant eye of light, and landed before the sacred temple.

The old Yin Officer, without waiting for him to disembark, sternly shouted, "Heavenly Venerable Mu, your deeds are exposed! You stole my paper boat, trespassed into Jade Lock Pass, and killed so many gods and demons..."

Qin Mu said, "I know I was wrong. I'm taking Venerable Yu with me."

The old Yin Officer was dumbfounded, his well-prepared speech now irrelevant, like punching the air and feeling suffocated.

Karmic Fire Earth Count walked out of the sacred temple and stood at its entrance, saying, "He is a clever man; he understands the situation."

Qin Mu said seriously, "Though I am slow-witted, I understand the subtle implications. Earth Count allowed me to see my mother, then used me to purge Youdu and eliminate Celestial Court's forces, and now, because of my transgressions, he wants me to take Venerable Yu. Black marks are being placed on my head one after another. Earth Count can rest assured, I will absolutely not decline!"

Karmic Fire Earth Count looked at him, karmic flames flickering in his three eyes, and said, "You have been wronged. Your parents will both live well here."

Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly.

Earth Count pushed Venerable Yu towards him and said, "You may go. You've slain so many Celestial Court magnates; it's not wise to linger here. Prefect, escort him out."

Qin Mu blinked, then suddenly smiled, "Earth Count, aren't you curious who is suppressed within the Qinzi Continent in my glabella?"

Within the Qinzi Continent, Heaven Duke's avatar's face suddenly changed dramatically, and he became furious: "You little rascal, you're ruining my reputation! This is terrible, I'm going to be humiliated in front of Earth Count!"