Chapter 794: Dragon Han's Dark Clouds, Kun Carries His Daughter

Dragon Qilin looked at him suspiciously, a wave of bitterness suddenly surging into his heart, as sorrow welled up from within. "Cult Master, you tricked me! I thought you were sacrificing yourself to protect us and let us escape. But instead, you used us as bait to lure these young ladies away..."

Qin Mu made a decisive decision. "Extra meal for you."

Dragon Qilin immediately stopped his sorrow and said to the bewildered Yu Tianzun and Gongsun Yan, "The Cult Master is wise and mighty; he used a clever strategy to lure away the tiger, capturing this girl to exchange for us. His methods are truly brilliant."

Water Qilin rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, "This fellow's shamelessness far surpasses mine. With just a few words, he's secured himself the benefit of an extra meal. Truly a peak of shamelessness. By the way, what was the name of that scripture he has? I ought to flatter him a bit, borrow it for study. Then perhaps I too can get an extra meal in the future..."

He was injured protecting Yu Tianzun, but Gongsun Yan's injuries were the most severe.

The girl was badly beaten, and her whisk had also been snatched by Yan Qiling's maidservants.

Yan Qiling's maidservants possessed formidable cultivation and power; one was at the Numinous Sky Realm, and the others were at the Jade Capital Realm. Although Gongsun Yan was a true god, a demigod born from the core of the Earthly Dao Fruit, and wielded the Primordial Sword, the power she could unleash was not strong.

After a bitter struggle, she was still injured and captured. The small sapling in the halo behind her head was also battered and withered, looking dispirited.

Qin Mu was relieved to see that everyone was unharmed. He smiled and said, "Sister Yan, the situation is now clear. You are in my hands, so what should we do now?"

Yan Qiling desperately suppressed her injuries, her breath barely perceptible, and spoke with extreme difficulty, "Release them."

Those women hesitated for a moment, but still released Yu Tianzun and the others as instructed.

Yan Qiling's eyes were swollen into slits, her former beauty completely obscured. She whispered, "What now, Heavenly Venerate Mu?"

Qin Mu placed a few spirit pills into her mouth and said, "These are healing medicines. Don't worry, they're not poisoned."

Yan Qiling held the spirit pills in her mouth, but dared not swallow them.

Qin Mu smiled faintly and said, "Eat them. I still have some things to ask you."

Yan Qiling remained silent.

Suddenly, Qin Mu pressed a spot on her throat. Yan Qiling swallowed the spirit pills with a gulp, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead and back.

However, as these spirit pills entered her stomach, she immediately felt thousands of wounds all over her body begin to itch, and the wounds were slowly closing.

"These are spirit pills I refined using Fatty Dragon's saliva combined with several other medicinal ingredients. Ordinarily, one pill would cost ten thousand Da Feng coins," Qin Mu said with a smile.

Dragon Qilin was extremely nervous and whispered, "Cult Master, it's dragon's saliva! Dragon's saliva! If you say it's my spit, no one will buy it."

Yan Qiling snorted coldly, her wounds no longer bleeding, which allowed her to free up some of her cultivation. She said faintly, "What do you want to ask?"

"First, return the Primordial Sword," Qin Mu said.

Yan Qiling looked at the women and said, "Return the whisk to him!"

One of the women came forward holding the whisk. Yu Tianzun quickly said, "Give me the whisk!"

The woman hesitated for a moment, then handed the whisk to Yu Tianzun. Yu Tianzun took the whisk, stepped forward, handed it to Qin Mu, and whispered, "Brother, these women are very strong. I'm worried she might take the opportunity to ambush you."

Qin Mu accepted the whisk and praised, "You did very well, little brother."

"Are you from the Outer Heavens?"

He turned to Yan Qiling and asked with concern, "Is the Heavenly Emperor well?"

Yan Qiling said coldly, "The Outer Heavens is merely a celestial court established by rebellious traitors. Do they deserve my loyalty? You guessed wrong. I have no connection whatsoever with the Outer Heavens. I never imagined that Heavenly Venerate Mu, who was famous in the Heavenly Court a million years ago, would be a person from this era. If the Heavenly Emperor knew this, he would surely be extremely startled. I am very curious: how did Heavenly Venerate Mu travel a million years into the past? Is Heavenly Venerate Qin, who traveled with you, the young Emperor Kai back then?"

Qin Mu smiled. "I'm asking you a question, but you're trying to trick information out of me. Sister, you're quite mischievous. Earlier, you mentioned Dao One, Dao Twenty-two. How are these categorized?"

Yan Qiling's complexion improved slightly, and she said, "All the Great Daos in the world are divided according to their respective affiliations. Yuan Du has thirty-six Daos: the first Dao is Dao One, the second is Dao Two, and so on. Youdu has sixty-four Great Daos, Xuandu has seventy-two Great Daos, and the Heavenly Constellations have three hundred and sixty Great Daos. Each of these Daos has its own number. A divine art that embodies the principles of a certain Great Dao belongs to that Great Dao. For example, if you cast Heavenly Flame, it belongs to Xuandu Dao Two."

Qin Mu pondered and mused, "This method of classification reminds me of the Dao Sect... Do you recognize a dishevelled Daoist?"

"You mean the Dao Ancestor of the Dao Sect?"

Yan Qiling shook her head and said, "I've heard of him, but never met him."

Qin Mu carefully observed her expression and demeanor, and continued to ask, "Have you met the Dao Ancestor of the Dao Sect?"

Yan Qiling said, "I haven't... I have met the Dao Ancestor of the Dao Sect! What did you give me to eat?"

She showed a look of horror. Her thoughts and consciousness were almost beyond her control. She clearly wanted to say she hadn't met the Dao Ancestor, yet under Qin Mu's second inquiry, she involuntarily spoke the truth.

"Fatty Dragon's saliva."

Qin Mu said gently and pleasantly, "I added a few other medicinal ingredients. It's a miraculous healing medicine. However, this spirit pill has a slight drawback: it affects one's consciousness and thoughts, making the consumer's mind involuntarily follow others. If further supplemented with certain devilish divine arts from Youdu that affect the consumer's soul, it's quite effective for questioning. Is the Dao Ancestor of the Dao Sect the one who helped you establish these Dao numbers?"

Dragon Qilin was triumphant and said to Water Qilin, "This is the use of dragon's saliva."

Water Qilin was filled with admiration and said, "Brother, you must teach me sometime!"

"This is a talent, you can't learn it!" Dragon Qilin became even more smug.

The cold sweat on Yan Qiling's forehead turned into large beads, mixing with golden blood and running down her cheeks, but she clamped her mouth shut, refusing to speak.

"Even if you don't say it, I know it's him. The Dao Ancestor loves numerology and believes that the essence of all things in heaven and earth is mathematics. If the Heavenly Emperor invited him to rank the Great Daos of various realms, he would certainly go happily."

Qin Mu's voice became even softer, and he pressed on, "Did the Dao Ancestor compile the various Great Daos for the Heavenly Emperor? You've seen all the Dao methods he compiled, haven't you? So, where is the Dao Ancestor of the Dao Sect now?"

Yan Qiling gritted her teeth, her face flushed, her body trembling, clearly resisting his soul-influencing demonic sounds.

Qin Mu frowned slightly. Yan Qiling refused to speak no matter what, and he had no way to force her.

This woman's spirit was strong, and she was proficient in the Dao methods and divine arts of the three realms: Yuan Du, Youdu, and Xuandu; it was not easy to control her soul.

"Earlier, you mentioned Sword Dao Dao One, and Martial Dao Dao One. What's that about?" Qin Mu asked.

Yan Qiling seemed relieved and said hoarsely, "Originally, there was no Sword Dao or Martial Dao in this world. These Great Daos were formed later, created by future generations, and are not among the naturally occurring Great Daos. The Dao Ancestor said that if a technique could directly enter the Dao, it would belong to Dao One, the Dao Ancestor..."

"Where is the Dao Ancestor?" Qin Mu quickly said.

Yan Qiling's body trembled violently, and she suddenly opened her mouth, intending to bite off her tongue.

Qin Mu frowned, immediately inserted the whisk's handle into her mouth to prevent her from actually biting off her tongue, and coughed once, saying, "Don't worry, I won't press this question again."

Yan Qiling spat out the whisk handle and said coldly, "You are too cunning, I don't trust you! A dignified Heavenly Venerate Mu, resorting to such despicable and underhanded tactics, even poisoning me!"

Qin Mu burst into laughter, not without a hint of triumph.

Yan Qiling sneered, "Heavenly Venerate Yu is still missing some soul fragments, isn't he? I know where his residual soul is hidden. You and I have a common enemy; we should cooperate."

"The enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend."

Qin Mu shook his head and said, "I don't know your true intentions, nor whether we can be friends. As for little brother Lan's residual soul, I also know where it is."

Yan Qiling fell silent, then suddenly said, "Do you truly not care about the title of Heavenly Venerate Mu?"

"Heavenly Venerate Mu?"

Qin Mu laughed loudly and shook his head, saying, "The Heavenly Emperor sealed me as Heavenly Venerate Mu, but what did he give me? Just a Heavenly Venerate Mu token and an Imperial Edict. I didn't even look at that token or the Imperial Edict. Other Heavenly Venerates at least received blessings from the gods, but all I got was a token. At worst, he can just take it back."

Yan Qiling was silent. After a moment, she said, "The Heavenly Emperor's blessings were inside the token and the Edict. You didn't know this for a million years?"

Qin Mu was stunned.

Yan Qiling looked at him with a half-smile. Qin Mu suppressed the urge to immediately rummage through his Taotie Pouch, coughed once, and said, "I'm done with my questions. You may leave. Rest well and heal your injuries. Don't worry about Heavenly Venerate Yu; he's with me, and I will take good care of him. If you truly wish to ally with me, bring his residual soul to me."

Yan Qiling moved her feet with extreme difficulty, passed by him, then suddenly stopped and whispered, "Do not trust Earth Mother. Beware of Heavenly Duke and Earth Count. And the Heavenly Alliance; they are not good people either."

Qin Mu was slightly startled, then his expression suddenly changed drastically, and he immediately took out a willow leaf, about to place it on his glabella.

Suddenly, he stopped again. Instead of placing the willow leaf directly on his glabella, he silently put it away and smiled, "What a clever woman."

Yan Qiling moved her steps, walking more than ten steps. The women quickly went to meet her, supported her, and whispered, "Miss, should we..."

Yan Qiling shook her head. "He didn't try to kill me and even treated my injuries. We should show some courtesy. Let's let today's matter go. I'll reclaim what's mine in the future myself; you don't need to help me! Let's go!"

One of the women's bodies swayed, and she suddenly transformed into a giant Kun. The other women helped her onto the Kun's back.

The giant Kun shook its head and wagged its tail, just about to fly away, when Qin Mu's voice came from behind, "Sister Ling, is the Heavenly Emperor dead?"

On the Kun's back, Yan Qiling's delicate body trembled violently. She gritted her teeth, and her voice burst from between them as she croaked hoarsely, "Go—"

The giant Kun flapped its fins like wings and flew away into the air.

Qin Mu watched them depart and fell into deep thought.

Gongsun Yan and Yu Tianzun quickly came before him. Qin Mu regained his senses and smiled gently, "Sister Yan, you're injured. Let me treat you to prevent scars."

Gongsun Yan hummed in acknowledgment, stood obediently, and allowed him to untie her clothes, revealing her wounds.

Qin Mu carefully applied ointment to her wounds, squeezed out the blood from the injured areas; his finger work was very delicate.

The girl's skin was very fair.

"The Heavenly Emperor is dead."

He suddenly stopped and said distractedly, "The ancient god Heavenly Emperor of the Dragon Han Heavenly Court is dead."

Gongsun Yan was a little bewildered, not knowing why he was distracted or why he suddenly uttered such an irrelevant remark.

Qin Mu regained his focus, continued to apply ointment to her wounds, and said softly, "I always thought that the Heavenly Emperor of the Outer Heavens was the ancient god Heavenly Emperor of the Dragon Han Heavenly Court. However, based on the information Yan Qiling inadvertently revealed, the Heavenly Emperor must be dead. The Heavenly Emperor of the Outer Heavens is not him, but someone else."

He stood before Gongsun Yan, his hands very light, dressing the girl and carefully tidying her clothes. However, Gongsun Yan could see that the young man was somewhat distracted at that moment, his mind preoccupied with other matters.

Her clothes were already quite neat, yet Qin Mu continued to adjust them.

After a moment, Qin Mu suddenly sighed deeply and whispered, "Heavenly Duke, Earth Count, we should have a serious talk. Don't you agree?"

Gongsun Yan was somewhat puzzled, not knowing why he suddenly said that.

Meanwhile, in Qin's continent, the white-bearded old man and the magma Earth Count exchanged glances and remained silent.

Whoosh—

In the sky above Qin's continent, an undying divine consciousness descended from the heavens, manifesting as Qin Mu's form upon landing, looking at the avatars of these two ancient gods.