Chapter 808: The Milky Way Ghost Ship

"The Dragon King of the Celestial River?"

The Dragon Herder's heart stirred slightly, and he probed, "What are the perks of being the Dragon King of the Celestial River?"

Qin Mu replied, "The previous benefits remain the same, but the aquatic resources of the Celestial River won't belong to you."

The Dragon Herder cautiously continued to probe, "How wide and long is this so-called Celestial River? My lord, it's not that I don't trust you, but the Hundred-Year Mountain of the God of White Crevice serves as a cautionary tale. This humble dragon's body is quite large; an ordinary river a few miles wide simply won't hold me."

Qin Mu chuckled, "The Celestial River is, of course, vast. It's no smaller than the current Surging River, and it's teeming with fish and shrimp, so you absolutely don't need to worry about your food supply."

The Dragon Herder was overjoyed, but still uneasy. He said, "It would naturally be good to become the Dragon King of the Celestial River, but I'm always worried you're tricking me. The Hundred-Year Mountain of the God of White Crevice..."

Qin Mu replied unhappily, "Are you doing it or not?"

"I'll do it! I'll do it!"

The Dragon Herder made an immediate decision, chuckling, "Staying here and being constantly bullied by the demigods of the Surging River is worse than simply becoming the Dragon King of the Celestial River! At least then I can exercise some authority! But my lord, how can we erase the Pact of Tu Bo?"

"There's no need to erase the Pact of Tu Bo; we just need to sign a supplementary Lesser Pact of Tu Bo."

Qin Mu instructed him on how to make the agreement. Following his words, the Dragon Herder established the Lesser Pact of Tu Bo. Qin Mu then paid him no further attention, letting Human Emperors Qi Kang and Yi Shan begin to comprehend the power of the Celestial River and reshape their seventh divine treasures.

The Dragon Herder's large head remained above the Surging River. After waiting for a moment, he saw Qin Mu bustling about without telling him the location of the Celestial River. Finally growing impatient, he chuckled, "My lord, where is the Celestial River?"

Qin Mu still ignored him. The Dragon Qilin, being kind after all, said, "Dragon King, the Surging River *is* the Celestial River. You are currently within the Celestial River."

The Dragon Herder stared blankly, still not understanding.

The Dragon Qilin shook his head and sighed, "You, for all your accomplishments as the founder of the Dragon Herding Scripture and a master dragon breeder, are as innocent as a blank sheet of paper when it comes to people. The Surging River *is* the Celestial River. The Celestial River *is* the unsealed Surging River. The Cult Master saw that the Surging River had become the Celestial River and felt it was a loss to appoint you as the Dragon King of the Surging River, considering all the aquatic resources of the Celestial River would be yours. This river contains countless treasures, various dragon palaces and mansions, an endless number of aquatic demigods, and artifacts from all dynasties that have sunk into its waters. The Cult Master has been feeling the sting for over a year, but was unable to reclaim them due to the Pact of Tu Bo."

The Dragon Herder was dazed, his mind a blank.

The Water Qilin beside him also looked sympathetic. He said to the Dragon King, "How cunning... I mean, how wise and mighty is Master Pi? The reason he didn't cancel the Pact of Tu Bo with you is because the Surging River *is* the Celestial River; there was no need to cancel it. As for the supplementary Lesser Pact of Tu Bo, that's precisely for reclaiming the Celestial River's treasures. Heh heh, Lesser Tu Bo is quite ferocious..."

The Dragon Herder still looked utterly bewildered.

Meanwhile, Qin Mu was busy checking the progress of the two Human Emperors, seeing if they could sense the power of the Celestial River, which was crucial.

The Human Emperors were all exceptional individuals, powerful figures who had dominated for centuries. If they couldn't sense the power of the Celestial River, it would certainly be even harder for other divine arts practitioners.

Fortunately, Human Emperors Qi Kang and Yi Shan quickly sensed the power of the Celestial River, which allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.

"It's only a matter of time before Grandmaster and Great Grandmaster can sense the power of the Celestial River and open the Celestial River Divine Treasure. However, it will still be difficult for other divine arts practitioners to cultivate to their level, so the number of people capable of opening the Celestial River Divine Treasure might not be very high."

Qin Mu calculated that, given Yankang's current educational standards, there should be tens of thousands of divine arts practitioners with sufficiently solid foundations and high enough aptitude to open the Celestial River Divine Treasure.

Tens of thousands was already a significant number, yet it was still too few compared to Yankang's total population.

Completely replacing the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure with the Celestial River Divine Treasure would likely take hundreds, or even thousands, of years!

This would require the descendants of the powerful individuals who opened the Celestial River Divine Treasure to multiply, and more divine arts practitioners in the future to open it.

Furthermore, Yankang's cultivation techniques would all need reform and improvement. Previous techniques followed the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure for cultivation, but the future path would require cultivation through the Celestial River Divine Treasure.

"Modifying cultivation techniques is an immensely colossal undertaking," Qin Mu mused. Yankang had far too many techniques, and changing them would require individuals of exceptional talent.

The Celestial River Divine Treasure links the Celestial Palace cultivation system and the Divine Treasure cultivation system into a unified whole. Since divine arts practitioners knew little about the Celestial Palace, while gods possessed experience in Celestial Palace cultivation, modifications to techniques would also require their assistance.

"In the coming years, decades, and centuries, grandmasters who will astound both ancient and modern times are sure to emerge."

As dusk approached, Qin Mu's gaze flickered in the darkness, watching the surging river. His eyes seemed profound. "But how many years can Yankang endure? Time waits for no one..."

Suddenly, a light emanated from beneath the river, growing steadily stronger, illuminating the riverbed as if it were daylight.

Like a startled bird, the Dragon Herder quickly flew up, transforming into a divine being with a dragon's head and a human body. He hovered nervously above the river, watching the light beneath the surface.

Qin Mu called him over and asked, "What is that in the river?"

"A ghost ship!"

The Dragon Herder's scales bristled, each one incredibly sharp. He foamed at the mouth, exclaiming, "It's a ghost ship! Those ships have appeared again!"

Qin Mu was momentarily stunned. "A ghost ship?"

Everyone quickly moved to the riverbank and looked down. Beneath the surface, an ancient and massive warship was slowly rising from the depths, enveloped by dense black mist like chains.

The ship was enormous, comparable to colossal vessels like the Sun Ship and Moon Ship. It moved slowly through the water, and the light it emitted came from lanterns on its deck.

The entire ancient warship was submerged, yet its lanterns remained lit, which was truly astonishing.

The ship passed by an underwater dragon palace, illuminating it. Everyone vaguely saw several demigods swimming out of the palace, looking up at the strange vessel.

Yu Yuan Chuyu said, "I, along with Grand Libationer Su and others, have seen this ship a few times, always after dark, but we never went to investigate. Since the Surging River widened, many demigods have appeared, causing the people of Lizhou Prefecture to be displaced and suffer. Handling government affairs has already overwhelmed me."

The Dragon Herder's face showed fear. He stammered, "The Prefect didn't have time to investigate, but I live here and have encountered this ghost ship far more often than he has. After the Surging River widened, this ship appeared. I was afraid to go, but many demigods in the water went to investigate. Their power was many times greater than mine, yet they never returned once they boarded the ship. I heard that some saw them turn into skeletons on board... My lord, ever since the Surging River became the Celestial River, strange occurrences have been endless. This Dragon King of the Celestial River..."

Qin Mu gazed at the riverbed, seeing the ancient warship moving underwater. Shadows flickered on board, as if thousands of soldiers were guarding the ship, though their faces were indiscernible.

"The Celestial River connects to the Great Ruins; its history is too ancient, burying too many things."

He had no intention of investigating further. After all, this ghost ship was just one of many strange phenomena in the Celestial River, and he didn't need to put himself at risk.

Just then, he saw the ship's mast and tattered flag break the surface of the river. Water cascaded down the dilapidated flag. Once the water had drained, the river wind caught it, and the blood-stained flag began to flutter.

In the sky, the moon resembled a shriveled, dried flower, yet moonlight still shone down. Qin Mu looked up at the strange moon, frowning. Using the moonlight to see, he noticed the faint characters 'Yulin' on the ship's flag.

"This ship is called Yulin," Qin Mu said with a smile. "A named ship should have a significant origin..."

Suddenly, he froze, quickly scrutinizing the 'Yulin' characters. The more he looked, the more puzzled he became.

The characters on the flag were very familiar. He quickly took out his senior disciple Wei Suifeng's military token; it also bore the 'Yulin' characters!

The characters on the flag were embroidered, while those on the military token were incised, yet the handwriting was identical!

Qin Mu examined the flag, then the military token, his confusion deepening.

"First Ancestor, Village Chief, stay here. I'll go have a look at the ship!"

He suddenly soared into the air, stepping on the river surface, and sped towards the ghost ship, shouting, "Dragon Herder, you're good in the water, come with me!"

The Village Chief hesitated, then said to the First Ancestor, "First Ancestor, you watch over these Human Emperors and make sure they don't cause trouble. I'll go keep an eye on that boy, Mu'er!"

The First Ancestor frowned, grumbling, "Why am I always the one being ordered around...?"

The Dragon Herder hesitated, unwilling to go, but the Village Chief glanced at him. The Dragon Herder had no choice but to brace himself and follow along, thinking, "If my lord dies on the ghost ship, will my Pact of Tu Bo and Lesser Pact of Tu Bo then be nullified?"

Just as he thought this, his vision suddenly went dark, and a large-headed devil god appeared before him.

"No licking," a deep voice came from the darkness, seemingly Tu Bo's voice.

"I won't lick, I'll just check the food first." The large-headed devil god gave a sinister chuckle and slowly vanished into the darkness.

The Dragon Herder's vision returned to normal, and he couldn't help but shiver repeatedly, lamenting inwardly, "Is that Lesser Tu Bo? And the other voice was Great Tu Bo? Even more unsettling than the ghost ship..."

Qin Mu approached the ghost ship. The ship moved underwater, with only its mast and flag visible above the surface. The flag sliced through the river like large white blades, cutting through the water.

Qin Mu stopped at a distance and suddenly thrust out his sword. A red sun immediately appeared on the river surface, like a setting sun half-submerged in the water. The sword light transformed into a red glow, illuminating the river.

"My Yu Yuan family's Sunset Sword Art!"

On the riverbank, Yu Yuan Chuyu exclaimed with delight, "Brother Qin still hasn't forgotten the Sunset Sword Art!"

The sword light from the Sunset Sword Art reached the edge of the ghost ship in the river, then suddenly dimmed and was negated by the black chains wrapped around the ship, utterly devoid of power.

Qin Mu frowned. Figures flickered as the Village Chief and the Dragon Herder arrived.

"Grandpa Village Chief, why are you here?" Qin Mu frowned, shaking his head. "I can't look after you."

The Village Chief was furious. He slammed a fist hard onto Qin Mu's head. "Look after us? I'm here to look after *you*. You brat, you've been messing around for a few years and gotten quite arrogant!"

Qin Mu clutched his head, nearly knocked into the river by the punch.

The Village Chief looked at the ghost ship in the river, pondering, "The chains outside the ship are formed from black mist and are extremely formidable. Follow me closely; don't rush in haphazardly!"

Qin Mu patted the Dragon Herder, who transformed into a giant dragon. Qin Mu stood on its head, and the Dragon Herder plunged into the water first.

The Village Chief quickly followed, swimming swiftly to the dragon's head. He shouted, "Mu'er, I told you to follow me, not for me to follow you. You brat, your audacity is growing..."

Suddenly, he landed on Qin Mu's hand, where a jade pendant was gradually brightening, its light dispelling the chains of black mist surrounding the ghost ship.

"It truly is the Yulin Army of the former Heavenly Court!" Qin Mu whispered, "Could this ship be the Yulin Army cross-over event that Great Sun Star Lord spoke of? Strange, how did the Yulin Army's warship get here? Weren't they the Yulin Army of the Dragon Han Heavenly Court from a million years ago? Why does Senior Disciple have a military token from the Dragon Han Heavenly Court's Yulin Army? Could Senior Disciple be on this ghost ship...?"

As he spoke, he suddenly received another knock on the head. The Village Chief's eyes were fixed on him, shining brightly.

"Mu'er, what all do you know?" The Village Chief's expression was serious, but then he quickly changed his demeanor, unable to hide his curiosity. He chuckled, "What's that jade pendant in your hand? And what's this 'Yulin Army cross-over event' all about?"

Just as Qin Mu was about to speak, strong undercurrents surged in the water. A massive Kun swam into view, with many strangely shaped demigods standing on its back.