Chapter 807: Heavenly River Dragon King

"Celestial Venerable Mu is surprisingly aloof."

The Celestial Emperor's obscure divine sense fluctuations arrived, and he said faintly, "How many years has it been since I bestowed upon you the title of Celestial Venerable? Celestial Venerable Mu has endured until now to open my decree; such patience is truly admirable. You've met Yan Qiling, haven't you? She reported your affairs to me, and I was genuinely surprised, yet also greatly relieved. Celestial Venerable Mu is indeed the person I valued. Your appearance has helped me understand many things."

"Oink!"

The black pig panicked, immediately scrambling and rushing wildly, plunging into the mountains, rooting and bumping through the dense forest.

"Oink?"

The Celestial Emperor's divine sense showed some surprise, and he chuckled, "Is 'oink' the only word Celestial Venerable Mu has for me? Your vengeance for Celestial Venerable Yu has made me quite admire you. I bestowed upon you the title of Celestial Venerable Mu because your divine arts surpass those of the Dragon Han era, embodying a pioneering spirit. Even today, Celestial Venerable Mu can still be called a Celestial Venerable, with no lack of ingenious ideas in your divine arts. I have been waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity to purge rebellious officials and traitors. Celestial Empress Tianyin was revived by Celestial Venerable Mu, wasn't she? And Earth Mother Yuanjun sought you out to have you revive her, correct?"

The black wild boar ran and crashed about frantically, its nose and tusks bumping into things, but it could not shake off the strange voice in its head.

Soon after, the pig demon found its lair and hid among many piglets and sows inside. Only then did the voice return: "...You cannot escape me. I need you to perform a great resurrection ritual for me. I died in Yuandu, and my three souls are scattered throughout Yuandu. Performing a great resurrection ritual for me will not be troublesome for you."

"Oink, oink, oink, oink..."

"Celestial Venerable Mu, you are asking for trouble! You probably don't know what fear is yet. I can show you true terror!"

"Do you feel the terror now? Do you still dare to maintain that aloof demeanor?"

"Oink, oink..."

"You refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit! Cooperate with me, and I will elevate you to the highest position among my subjects, granting you endless glory and wealth, making you a unique Celestial Venerable! Yet you are so arrogant and conceited. I will make you regret it immensely!"

"Oink..."

Qin Mu sat atop the Dragon Qilin's head, continuing to explain to the Human Emperors how to sense the power of the Heavenly River. Human Emperor Qi Kang and Human Emperor Yi Shan were listless, drinking medicine while listening.

The other Human Emperors had already decided and, without any psychological burden, had betrayed the two, allowing First Ancestor to destroy their Divine Bridge Divine蔵.

First Ancestor's intervention was much gentler than Martial Arts Heavenly Teacher's, but even so, their injuries were quite severe. After all, they were not as physically robust as Qin Mu, and with their Divine Bridge Divine蔵 destroyed, they suffered a great loss of vitality.

Fortunately, Qin Mu was nearby and could treat their injuries at any time.

Although the Dragon Qilin was incredibly fast, it would still take several months to reach Surging River. Qin Mu looked towards a towering mountain ahead. This immense mountain spanned three thousand miles around its base, its peak piercing directly into the sea of clouds, which lay halfway up, as did the thunderous layer.

The mountain surprisingly exhibited four distinct seasons, with white snow and scorching sun. Flying rivers cascaded down its slopes, and lakes and seas shimmered like sapphires adorning its peaks.

Looking further up, it was faintly visible that this majestic mountain had pierced through the sky of Eternal Peace, propping it up to an extraordinary height.

The sky of Eternal Peace was an artificial sky, merely a formation diagram. The sky was a hundred thousand miles high and three hundred zhang thick, with the sun, moon, and stars all being formations within the diagram.

The mountain was so tall that it propped up the sky, causing the sun, moon, and stars to become distorted and strange as they passed by it.

Especially when the sun reached this point, the sky distorted, and the sun itself appeared wrinkled and crumpled.

Seeing the wrinkled sun in the sky, Qin Mu couldn't help but frown deeply. He withdrew his gaze and sighed inwardly, "They can't even make a convincing fake. The deities maintaining the artificial celestial phenomena in the Heavenly Diagram have completely given up. Before, they at least tried to keep the sun and moon running properly. Now, they've just thrown caution to the wind."

He looked at the sudden appearance of vast mountains and rivers in Eternal Peace and felt a flood of emotions.

He had once been very familiar with the geography of Eternal Peace, but now it was utterly foreign to him.

Present-day Eternal Peace was fragmented, divided into numerous scattered territories amidst towering, magnificent mountain ranges.

In addition, he saw many ancient ruins, radiating an aura of danger, as if terrifying demonic creatures lurked within them.

Among these mountains and rivers were also numerous cave dwellings, and on the mountains themselves, there were even magnificent palaces arranged in continuous rows, and in some areas, vast architectural complexes.

As they passed through some large marshes and rivers, they encountered extremely powerful demigods emerging from unknown places, their overwhelming aura distorting the sky and creating magnificent phenomena. Some controlled floods, others controlled raging fires, but they did not attack, merely watched them from a distance.

First Ancestor Human Emperor also accompanied them on this journey. Each time they encountered such a situation, a celestial palace would manifest behind him, with his primordial spirit standing atop the city walls of Jade Capital.

Each time this happened, the demigods would quietly disappear.

Half a month later, Qin Mu and his companions arrived at Bazhou City.

With the economic development of Eternal Peace, Bazhou City had undergone several expansions and was now very vast. However, after seeing the grandeur of Yuandu, Qin Mu felt that Bazhou City was too small, a mere drop in the ocean, insignificant in the present-day Eternal Peace.

In the city, two deities stood atop a tall bell tower, one on the left and one on the right, radiating brilliant divine light as they surveyed all directions, guarding against demigod incursions.

Qin Mu looked up and recognized one of the deities as Duke Weiguo, so he called out to him.

Duke Weiguo remained on the bell tower, but his primordial spirit flew down to greet them. He lowered his voice and asked, "Are you from the capital, Cult Master? How is the capital now?"

"The capital is fine," Qin Mu replied.

Qin Mu asked in surprise, "Does Heavenly King Wei not know the news from the capital? Didn't the Imperial Preceptor build dozens of teleportation gates?"

Duke Weiguo sighed and said, "Activating these teleportation formations consumes a vast amount of medicinal stones. Who would dare use them unless it's an emergency? Trade between cities has largely ceased. Sending someone to the capital, even a divine arts practitioner, would take one or two years of travel just to deliver a single message. And deities cannot leave, so news from the capital rarely reaches here. For the past year or two, divine arts practitioners have been searching for scattered common folk, protecting them as they migrate to Bazhou. Many have died or been injured, making it difficult to spare anyone to go to the capital for information."

Qin Mu frowned, looking at the city residents. Their clothes were tattered, and every face was sallow.

"We've opened up many fertile fields outside the city. As long as we get through this period, once the harvest comes in, not too many people will starve to death."

Duke Weiguo continued, "However, lately, demigods have been appearing, demanding tribute from us."

Qin Mu frowned, "Tribute? To whom?"

"To the demigods," Duke Weiguo replied.

Duke Weiguo explained, "Otherwise, they will bring disaster and calamity upon us. Several powerful demigods nearby have established divine kingdoms on the mountains and demand that we pay tribute, surrender, and become their subjects."

Qin Mu said, "Currently, the Emperor lacks the energy and sufficient manpower; his reach probably doesn't extend this far. Heavenly King Wei can temporarily surrender and pay tribute, then make further plans once the Emperor's power reaches here..."

"The tributes are young boys and girls," Duke Weiguo suddenly interjected.

Qin Mu fell silent.

After a moment, he took out a small box, instructed Duke Weiguo on its use, and said, "This is the God-Slaying Profound Blade from the Crimson Light era. Heavenly King, you can use the power of this divine blade to get through this period. This divine blade craves blood the moment it leaves its sheath, so be extremely cautious when using it."

They then left Bazhou City.

Qin Mu looked back at Bazhou in the night and sighed.

He possessed only one God-Slaying Profound Blade, yet there were numerous cities in Eternal Peace. He could lend the blade to protect Bazhou, but he couldn't protect the other cities.

"How should Eternal Peace resolve its current crisis?" He pondered hard but found no solution.

The benevolent and ambitious individuals of Eternal Peace were all worried about the current situation, yet they were helpless to find a solution. Earth Mother had not yet exerted her full power, and merely these scattered demigods throughout the world had plunged Eternal Peace into its greatest crisis.

A few days later, they arrived at Heavenly Saint Academy. Many towns had been built around the academy, and its disciples had gathered residents from various areas, relocating them there.

Things were relatively stable at the academy. The Apothecary had poisoned a demigod to death and was now studying its physical structure with the scholars.

That demigod was extremely powerful; even in death, it retained lingering prestige, its colossal body piled like a mountain.

"Maha! Maha! Maha!" A group of flood dragons cried out nearby, wagging their heads and tails, waiting to eat the flesh.

"It's poisonous!" the scholars shouted, chasing them away.

"Mu'er, you don't need to worry about the safety of Heavenly Saint Academy. The demigods nearby have mostly been eliminated, and those that weren't have moved away."

The Apothecary wiped the blood from his hands and said to everyone, "We've planted many medicinal fields, so we're not short on herbs. The teleportation formations can also be activated, allowing us to connect with the capital. These formations link us to other academies, enabling mutual support, so there's no need to worry. Do you need to use a teleportation formation to get to Surging River?"

"No. Let's save some of the medicinal stones."

Qin Mu bid him farewell and continued their journey with the Human Emperors.

After another six or seven days, they arrived at Surging River Academy in Lizhou Prefecture. After meeting Yu Yuan Chuyu and Su Yunqing, Qin Mu finally reached the bank of the Surging River. Looking out, the river stretched over a thousand miles wide, with divine mountains towering like forests on both banks—a truly magnificent sight!

"This is not the widest part of Surging River. At its widest, Surging River is about five thousand miles across."

Yu Yuan Chuyu, who had now cultivated to the Celestial Palace realm, told Qin Mu, "The river is full of demigods, various dragon palaces, and countless treasures. Some time ago, Dragon Herding Sovereign was injured; he said he was suppressed by demigods and came here for help. It was Ritual Libationer Su who treated his injuries."

Qin Mu was astonished. "Dragon Herding Sovereign isn't having an easy time either... Is that mountain on the opposite bank Mount Longevity?"

"No," Yu Yuan Chuyu replied.

Yu Yuan Chuyu explained, "Mount Longevity is next to Lu County, a small mound, not visible from here. The mountain next to it suddenly appeared, and it has many demigods. Bai Xi is guarding Lu County and even fought a battle with them."

Qin Mu scratched his head. "Bai Xi has been put through a lot. In a while, I'll conquer that majestic mountain, rename it Mount Longevity, and appoint him as its mountain god."

Just then, the river surged with massive waves, and Dragon Herding Sovereign's enormous dragon head broke through the water. Seeing Qin Mu, he choked out, "Cult Master Qin, you've finally arrived! I don't want to be this Dragon King anymore. Can the agreement with Earth Count be changed?"

Qin Mu smiled. "Alright. How about you become the Heavenly River Dragon King instead?"