Chapter 854: Corpse Demon

Qin Mu's body stiffened. "Is the Emperor of Heaven of the Outer Celestial Heavens the Heavenly Alliance?" Did the blind elder mean the Emperor of Heaven was one person from the Heavenly Alliance, or the entire alliance itself? He had never considered this question before. Could it be that the Emperor of Heaven of the Outer Celestial Heavens was not a single individual, but a group of people with intertwined interests? If this hypothesis held true, he could begin to sketch out some outlines of the High Emperor Era.

The High Emperor Era was initiated by Earth Mother Yuanjun. Earth Mother Yuanjun cultivated her own descendants, supporting them in founding the High Emperor Era and establishing the High Emperor Celestial Heavens, which became known as the Northern High Emperor. The Heavenly Alliance, on the other hand, supported another group of people to establish the Southern High Emperor and its Celestial Heavens, creating a confrontation with the Northern High Emperor. The conflict and battles between the two Celestial Heavens lasted for nearly 300,000 years.

During this time, the Outer Celestial Heavens was more of an observer, watching the tigers fight from the mountain. At this point, the Outer Celestial Heavens was still the Dragon Han Celestial Heavens. The Dragon Han Celestial Heavens had absorbed the Xiao Han Celestial Heavens and the Dragon Xiao Celestial Heavens, becoming a bloated behemoth. This Celestial Heavens contained ancient gods, as well as demigods and deities cultivated by post-natal beings.

During this period, the Heavenly Alliance grew increasingly powerful, gradually replacing the core forces within the Outer Celestial Heavens through a series of tactics and seizing control of it. The ancient gods felt insecure, and even Heavenly Duke and Earth Mother sensed their own interests being harmed and the danger of being replaced. The Heavenly Alliance itself also splintered due to power struggles and conflicting interests. Irreconcilable contradictions also emerged between the Heavenly Alliance, which controlled the Outer Celestial Heavens, and the Southern High Emperor Celestial Heavens. The Southern High Emperor's philosophy was that human lives were paramount, and gods served humanity. However, the Heavenly Alliance, having seized unparalleled power and influence in the Outer Celestial Heavens, now saw the Southern High Emperor Celestial Heavens, which they had originally supported, as a thorn in their side and a massive threat to their rule.

The conflict erupted after Earth Mother was eliminated by the Heavenly Alliance. With Earth Mother dead and the Northern High Emperor Celestial Heavens annihilated, eradicating the Southern High Emperor became the Heavenly Alliance's top priority. The war broke out precisely when Ling Tianzun was severing the Heavenly River and experimenting with her divine art in its most perfect state. As long as Ling Tianzun remained alive, the Southern High Emperor Celestial Heavens would not fall. A terrifying entity infiltrated the mist to assassinate Ling Tianzun. Simultaneously, the divine armies of the Outer Celestial Heavens attacked the Southern High Emperor Celestial Heavens, leading to its complete destruction!

This was Qin Mu's hypothesis. Although many questions remained, he felt this hypothesis was likely very close to the truth.

He followed the blind elder back to the Heavenly River. The blind elder continued to prepare the "corpse" of Ling Tianzun that floated by. Just as before, Ling Tianzun's "corpse" transformed back into clear water. Qin Mu couldn't help but say, "Elder, Ling Tianzun's divine art prevents matter from changing, increasing, decreasing, or altering. Even if she dies, her body will vanish and re-form as her, coming back to life. Because her divine art is the immutability of matter. What you are collecting will never be her; it will only be the river water. The real her has already transformed into that eternal matter on the Heavenly River. She has become the mist on the river. She doesn't care what you do! She doesn't care if you erect a monument for her or build a tomb for her!"

If someone were to be chosen as understanding Ling Tianzun, it would undoubtedly be Qin Mu. He knew the most about Ling Tianzun's divine art. It was he and Kaihuang who, together, taught Ling Tianzun the nascent art of creation. The prototype of Ling Tianzun's divine art was also completed with the help of Qin Mu and Kaihuang. Later, when Qin Mu entered the ghost ship, it was also he who, with the help of the Four Emperors, broke Ling Tianzun's divine art, though at that time her divine art was still imperfect. Nevertheless, he was indeed the foremost authority on understanding Ling Tianzun's divine art.

In his view, the blind elder guarding the riverbank and collecting Ling Tianzun's body was completely unnecessary, because Ling Tianzun had already merged with her divine art. It could even be said that Ling Tianzun had become her divine art. She would live forever within her divine art, dying and resurrecting, resurrecting and dying, in an endless cycle. Qin Mu even speculated that the mist he encountered at the source of the Surging River was Ling Tianzun's divine art, and that Ling Tianzun had used it to take him back to ancient times, to the end of the High Emperor Era. Only, Qin Mu hadn't realized it at the time.

When the blind elder ran out of stone coffins, he dragged another coffin to erect a monument and bury it, muttering in a muffled voice, "No one cares about her, not even she herself. Teacher was a person born only for the Way, a pure person. She was so simple-minded that her heart held nothing but the Way! She didn't have your schemes, your intrigues. She didn't care about power or status. She was no threat to anyone. Why did she have to die? Why couldn't she be allowed to live?" The blind elder was consumed by rage, tilting his head back and howling like a wounded beast.

"Why must a pure person die? Why didn't you two Heavenly Venerates take responsibility? Why did you return to the day you met her and cast the burden upon her?" His hair bristled with fury as he roared, "Couldn't you bear it yourselves? Why did you leave? Couldn't you have stayed with her? Why did you leave her alone to face the wickedness of the world?"

"She didn't understand, Heavenly Venerate Mu! She truly didn't understand—"

Two lines of blood-red tears streamed down his old face. He lowered his head and continued dragging the stone coffins forward, his voice gradually fading. "Why do I bury her? Why do I guard this place, burying her again and again? Heavenly Venerate Mu, don't you understand? Because she died. Because within her divine art, she died again and again. Don't you understand the pain of death?"

"She has experienced countless deaths, and I must bury her countless times. Because every time she dies, it is agonizing, a true death. She needs to repeat this death endlessly…"

Qin Mu paused, watching him walk away. Yan'er flew up from his shoulder, transforming into a beautiful maiden. She took out a veil and wiped the tear stains from his cheeks. Qin Mu forced a smile, his voice hoarse, "I'm fine, thank you, Elder Sister Yan'er."

In Yu Jing City, violent crashes resounded. Suddenly, the Heavenly Dragon King burst into laughter, pushing past everyone and soaring out. With a loud thud, he leaped into a black coffin by the dock, exclaiming, "Ling Tianzun's treasure is mine! Earth Mother Yuanjun might be revived!" The old dragon, with another coffin on his shoulder, joyfully sealed himself and the coffin within the hanging coffin.

"Ling Tianzun's treasure is inside this coffin…" The Heavenly Dragon King's laughter echoed from within the hanging coffin. Qin Mu heard the laughter suddenly turn into agonizing screams, followed by the hanging coffin shaking violently, swaying erratically on the Heavenly River and generating colossal waves! Soon, blood flowed out from the hanging coffin, but the coffin on the river surface gradually grew calm. Qin Mu's eyelids twitched. He vigilantly gazed at the hanging coffin floating on the river.

The High Heavens Hall in Yu Jing City was a mess, completely leveled. All the demigods brought by the Heavenly Dragon King were dead. The maids brought by Yan Qiling and Mu Qiubai were also severely wounded by the Heavenly Dragon King and lay incapacitated on the ground. Several figures swiftly arrived at the ruins of the collapsed High Heavens Hall, only to see the Heavenly River's surface transform into a sea of blood, with crimson plasma gushing from the hanging coffin, dyeing the river red.

Everyone's hearts pounded. Suddenly, the hanging coffin opened with a click. Inside the coffin was another coffin; the one that the Heavenly Dragon King had carried away and placed inside the hanging coffin now stood upright within it! This inner coffin was already open, revealing pitch blackness within. Even more terrifying was the sound of chewing emanating from it, as if something were being gnawed inside! Suddenly, plasma gushed out from this coffin like a monstrous flood, spilling out in waves in all directions. The Heavenly River, already stained red, now became even more crimson! A massive dragon head flew out from the upright coffin, slammed onto the river surface, and slowly sank into the water. It was the Heavenly Dragon King's head.

Star Sovereign, on the riverbank, watched, his eyelids twitching violently. He quietly retreated, holding his box. "Heavenly Venerate Yu," Yan Qiling, and Mu Qiubai also quietly retreated. During the previous struggle, their strength was far inferior to that of the Heavenly Dragon King and his companions, so they weren't 'taken care of' by him and thus survived. However, the coffin they had been fighting over now gave them a chilling sensation.

Suddenly, a claw covered in green fur reached out from the coffin. Beneath the green fur, the claw appeared to be made of golden bronze. Everyone's expressions drastically changed. At that moment, a figure flew out from the coffin, its tattered cape instantly spreading across the sky above the Heavenly River. It was an incredibly powerful Emperor Corpse, which had cultivated into a Corpse Demon inside the coffin. It had sharp fangs in its mouth, and the Heavenly Dragon King's flesh still clung to the corners of its lips. Overwhelming corpse energy instantly permeated this silent celestial heavens. The Corpse Demon flew through the sky like light and electricity, heading straight for them.

Yan Qiling screamed. The maids beside her immediately shot into the sky to confront the Emperor Corpse. These maids had been able to contend directly with the Heavenly Dragon King. Although severely injured, they had survived, indicating their high level of skill. Yet, the Corpse Demon, transformed from the Emperor Corpse, seized them one by one and stuffed them into its mouth! Everyone scattered and fled in a hurry. The Corpse Demon cackled, its scarlet cape fluttering. It suddenly plunged from the sky, its tattered cape covering a large section of the palace, seizing a fleeing maid. Screams emanated from beneath the cape, then silence. The cape flew up again, obscuring the sky. The Corpse Demon searched the air, looking for signs of life.

"Senior Brother!" The blind elder put down his axe and chisel, looked up, and shouted loudly, "Senior Brother! You are already dead, go back to where you belong!" The Corpse Demon, transformed from that High Emperor of Heaven, immediately pounced on him, its aura overwhelming. It was indeed worthy of its former status as a High Emperor of Heaven at the Emperor's Throne realm!

The blind elder held the axe in one hand and the chisel in the other. With a resounding clang, the great axe struck the chisel! A flash of light passed, and the tip of the chisel emitted a beam that pierced the Corpse Demon's glabella. The Corpse Demon reeled as if struck by a heavy blow, flying backward with a crash and falling into the Emperor's Coffin on the Heavenly River. The lid of the Emperor's Coffin closed.

The blind elder put away his axe and chisel, then swung a chain. The chain grew longer and longer, wrapping around the Emperor's Coffin. The blind elder swung the Emperor's Coffin, gave a forceful shake, and sent it flying into the ruins of the High Heavens Hall. As the Emperor's Coffin landed, countless broken bricks and tiles flew up with a clatter. Carved beams and painted rafters reassembled themselves, forming a High Heavens Treasure Hall that stood amidst Yu Jing City, now covered in stone coffins and steles. Those who had been fleeing were now startled but still felt lingering fear.

Qin Mu looked at the blind elder, his heart filled with shock. The elder was unassuming in appearance, but his cultivation and strength were unfathomable, not far from an Emperor's Throne realm existence!

"Heavenly Venerate Yu" walked towards the blind elder, his gaze flickering. "You are... Ling Tianzun's disciple, Yi Shisheng. You're still alive, guarding this place all this time?" The blind elder ignored him, continuing his work with the axe and chisel. "Heavenly Venerate Yu" smiled, "With all your abilities, why do you insist on guarding this barren land? Ling Tianzun severed the Heavenly River, replacing that section with herself, transforming into the matter of the Heavenly River. Her divine art is truly exquisite; it fills even me with admiration. As her disciple, you must have learned some of her divine art. The Celestial Heavens greatly needs your talent."

The blind elder stopped hammering, turned his head to "look" at him, and said numbly, "Which of my senior or junior uncles are you? Since you know my teacher has become the matter of the Heavenly River, why did you come?"

"Heavenly Venerate Yu" smiled, "I merely came to see if she truly died."

"Are you relieved now?" the blind elder asked.

"Heavenly Venerate Yu" replied, "Yes, I am."

The blind elder tightened his grip on the axe, then suddenly relaxed, saying flatly, "Uncle, get lost. Don't disturb our peace." "Heavenly Venerate Yu" laughed heartily.

The blind elder "looked" at Qin Mu and said coldly, "Heavenly Venerate Mu, you too, get out. Take them with you. You are not needed here!"

Qin Mu exhaled a turbid breath and said gravely, "Rest assured, I will rescue Ling Tianzun in the future. I always keep my word!" He turned and walked towards the hanging coffin floating in the Heavenly River. Behind him, the sound of hammering resumed. He wondered if the blind elder had heard his words.