Chapter 966: Upright Gentleman

Qin Mu turned his head and saw Lian Huahun approaching. She must have followed his and Luo Wushuang's footprints to find this place. However, the weather in the Golden Sands Desert is constantly changing, and many strange occurrences happen there. She likely encountered numerous bizarre events in the desert, which is why it took her a few more days to locate the creators' final gathering place.

"Yes."

Qin Mu, without modesty, shifted his gaze from Lian Huahun to the Void Bridge and said calmly, "There's no one in the Great Void who can threaten me anymore, not even the Empress or Madam Yuanmu."

The reason he didn't continue to scrutinize Lian Huahun was that her appearance somewhat resembled the Empress and Madam Yuanmu: a slender waist, prominent chest, and a light, panther-like gait that indicated strong waist and gluteal muscles, which he found very attractive.

"Does the Empress know my preferences?"

Qin Mu felt a chill in his heart. "She has studied me deeply, targeting my weaknesses, but I know very little about her." He was unaware that the Empress had transformed into Lian Huahun not to deal with him, but to provoke Haotianzun's Oedipal affection. It was merely a coincidence that her appearance aligned with Qin Mu's aesthetic taste.

Qin Mu suppressed his unusual thoughts, his gaze still fixed on the Void Bridge. There, Void Heavenly Venerate was indeed trapped. Though incredibly powerful, she was in a perilous situation at the end of the Void Bridge. The Void Bridge was intermittent, with longer gaps towards the end. If it were merely the collapse of the void, Void Heavenly Venerate wouldn't be trapped. But the void there also collapsed, and upon reaching its extreme point of contraction, there would be terrifyingly abnormal explosions!

This collapsing and expanding motion was like the void breathing. Yet, with each inhale and exhale, tiny universes outside the Void Bridge were born and destroyed, their existence as fleeting as a glimmer, but their power immense. Even an almost invincible being like Void Heavenly Venerate found it difficult to move, caught in a predicament where she could neither advance nor retreat. Her celestial palaces swayed precariously, riddled with holes by the apocalyptic scenes of the Void Bridge, causing her cultivation to be much weaker than before.

"Her celestial palaces were physically opened, not conjured through contemplation. If they had been conjured, they could reform instantly after being broken, and she might have had a chance to reach the other side of the Great Void."

Qin Mu withdrew his gaze, thinking, "Void Heavenly Venerate doesn't know the art of contemplation, so she might not be the creator hidden within the Celestial Heavens." Qin Mu had a conjecture that a creator was hidden within the Celestial Heavens. There were many suspicious points surrounding Yun Heavenly Venerate's death. He was killed by a creator and afflicted with a formidable bloodline curse. When Qin Mu broke the bloodline curse for Yun Jianli, he even encountered that creator's divine consciousness. He once speculated that this creator was the Grand Emperor, who died in the Great Void. However, for a creator, the death of the physical body and soul is not true death; only the extinction of divine consciousness is. It was unknown whether the Grand Emperor had changed his identity and was living in the Celestial Heavens.

However, based on Void Heavenly Venerate's performance on the Void Bridge, she should not be the Grand Emperor. If she were the Grand Emperor, with her powerful divine consciousness, she should have been able to cross the Void Bridge. Of course, it was also possible that Void Heavenly Venerate did not want to reveal her identity and thus did not use her full power.

Lian Huahun walked over, glanced at Luo Wushuang, then shifted her gaze to Void Heavenly Venerate, who was trapped on the Void Bridge, and sneered, "Hypocritical."

Qin Mu was slightly taken aback and asked the woman, "My dear sister, why do you say Void Heavenly Venerate is hypocritical?"

"My dear sister?" Lian Huahun snorted coldly and said indifferently, "How dare you call me sister? I will take your head, and no one can save you." She paused, then continued, "Void Heavenly Venerate's power is not limited to what she's shown. She has consistently held back her full strength, afraid that her true abilities might be exposed. Isn't it hypocritical to put herself in danger just to preserve her power?"

Qin Mu laughed heartily. "Isn't the Empress the same? If the Empress truly wanted to deal with me, she'd only need to use her real abilities, and I would certainly be dead. Yet, the Empress chose to apprentice under Haotianzun to learn the methods of 'slaughtering Mu.' This shows the Empress is also a hypocritical person. All of you so-called Ten Heavenly Venerates are hypocritical; not one of you is a true gentleman."

"In the Celestial Heavens, true gentlemen are long dead." Lian Huahun rarely smiled, but now she did, with an amused expression. "Then, is Heavenly Venerate Mu a true gentleman?"

Qin Mu's gaze shifted from her chest, and he said solemnly, "I am precisely one of the few true gentlemen in the Celestial Heavens." After speaking, he couldn't resist glancing again.

Lian Huahun adjusted her collar to prevent him from seeing too much, and said, "Heavenly Venerate Mu, there are many flaws in your cultivation techniques and divine arts. I learned the Eighteen Slaughtering Mu Methods from Haotianzun, and each one targets a specific weakness in your techniques. It will be very difficult for you to survive. However, if you hand over the corpse of that hussy, my sister, I can spare your life." She then whispered, "Your continued existence is very useful to me. However, I want to gouge out your eyes; they are too shifty."

Qin Mu's thoughts stirred slightly, and Madam Yuanmu's crystal coffin flew out from between his eyebrows, landing on the ground with a thud. He said, "It's not some precious item, Empress, feel free to take it. As for my eyes, you can gouge them out if you wish; my Primal Chaos Creation technique can even recreate my physical body."

Lian Huahun was startled. She had considered countless possibilities along the way, including various methods to kill Qin Mu, and his incredulous expression and dying words. Yet, she had never imagined that Qin Mu would so readily produce Madam Yuanmu's crystal coffin. She walked forward, extending her hand towards the crystal coffin, but remained on high alert, guarding against any surprise attack from Qin Mu. Qin Mu, however, was unfazed and took a few steps back. Lian Huahun's hand slowly moved towards the crystal coffin, her eyes never leaving him.

Qin Mu smiled faintly. "Be careful, Empress."

Before he finished speaking, the void behind Lian Huahun split open, revealing an abyss. From within the abyss, a pale arm emerged, its long fingers like white jade scallions, forming a peculiar hand seal. It silently moved to strike the back of Lian Huahun's head. Lian Huahun, however, seemed completely unaware. The moment the tender white hand reached the back of her head, her figure suddenly vanished. The pale hand struck empty air and immediately retracted. But it was too late; Lian Huahun had already appeared beside the abyss. With a wave of her hand, she unleashed a powerful strike into the chasm. "You little hussy, you ambushed me once, did you really think you could do it again?"

A muffled sound echoed from the abyss, and Yun Chuxiu tumbled out, laughing, "Sister, you learn from your mistakes! I must say, I've trained you to be quite clever!" Though her smile was radiant, her attacks were exceptionally ruthless. Various celestial palaces floated behind her, a magnificent sight. With a single move, she mobilized all her magical power. Lian Huahun also used all her magical power. The two young women appeared and disappeared around the altar, clashing and colliding with terrifying force.

Boom—

A creator's grand hall was instantly vaporized by their divine arts, yet the next moment, the hall reappeared. Although Lian Huahun's and Yun Chuxiu's divine arts were immensely powerful and could easily destroy the area, everything here was formed by divine consciousness and would restore itself no matter how much they broke it.

Qin Mu watched the battle between the two women. After a moment, he couldn't help but shake his head. Although Lian Huahun and Yun Chuxiu fought fiercely, the power they displayed was only on par with Imperial Heavenly Venerate's weapons. They hadn't used their true ultimate techniques, nor had they even fully activated their genuine cultivation methods, clearly fearing exposure of their skills.

"It seems the Empress and her sister won't fight to the death, so feigning civility with them is pointless."

As this thought crossed Qin Mu's mind, he waved his hand. The crystal coffin rose upright with a thud, opened, and Madam Yuanmu's corpse appeared. He closed his eyes and entered a dream state. Instantly, the dream world enveloped the crystal coffin, and thousands of tiny Qin Mus quickly ran out from his mind. They leaped onto Madam Yuanmu's physical body, covering every part, with some even burrowing into her sleeves, wandering around to study the patterns on her flesh.

Yun Chuxiu was startled, her movements faltered, and Lian Huahun immediately seized the opening. She struck Yun Chuxiu, making her vomit blood, and sent her tumbling through several creator's grand halls.

As Lian Huahun prepared to press her attack, Yun Chuxiu quickly said, "Our bodies contain the secrets of the Ruins of End Grand Dao. If he researches them, we'll have no secrets left! I can't deal with him; only you, Sister, can kill him and retrieve my body from him."

Lian Huahun sneered, "If I kill him, won't you seize the opportunity to kill me and reclaim your body?"

"Sister, we are of the same origin. If the secrets of my physical body's Grand Dao are exposed, you won't be able to escape either!" Yun Chuxiu's eyes welled up with tears, and she spoke pitifully, "Sister, both of us will die without a burial place! If we faced each other directly, how could I, your younger sister, be your match? The only reason I was able to kill you before was by sneak attack. Now that you're on guard, how could I succeed again?" She couldn't help but cry as she said, "Sister, since you possess my body and hold my fatal weakness, I will naturally serve you like an ox or horse, as a slave and maid, daring not to have any second thoughts!"

Lian Huahun glanced at her, then immediately flew up and attacked Qin Mu, unleashing a divine art from the Eighteen Slaughtering Mu Methods with her first move! Qin Mu, though deep in his dream with his three eyes still closed, stood up and thrust a sword forward. Lian Huahun immediately seized the flaw in his swordsmanship, driving straight in to attack Qin Mu's vital points. However, as her killing blow neared Qin Mu, it was as if it encountered an invisible barrier, preventing the full power of her divine art from reaching his body.

Lian Huahun was startled and immediately switched tactics, employing another of the Slaughtering Mu Methods. The result of this move was the same as the last; it was blocked before it could reach Qin Mu. Lian Huahun repeatedly changed her attacks but couldn't get close. Panicked, she quickly called out, "You little hussy, he's occupied with me, why aren't you helping?"

Yun Chuxiu swiftly advanced, and the two sisters joined forces, fluttering around Qin Mu like colorful butterflies. Their divine arts were immensely powerful, yet they could never reach him. In the distance, Luo Wushuang witnessed this scene and was inwardly stunned. "Qin Batian, now a Venerable God, is actually this powerful! Even the Empress and her sister cannot break through such magical power!" Qin Mu was now at the Venerable God realm. Although the Empress and her sister were only one realm below him, the gap between them felt like an entire heaven.

"He cannot be fought head-on. Let's go!"

Yun Chuxiu and Lian Huahun instantly retreated, each opening an abyss behind them, preparing to escape. At that moment, Qin Mu's eye in the center of his forehead opened, shooting out two beams of light, one after another. Yun Chuxiu and Lian Huahun each flashed into their respective abysses. The instant the abysses closed, the two beams of light plunged into them. The sky suddenly bled, and the two women vanished.

The eye in Qin Mu's forehead gleamed. He suddenly reached his hands towards the bloody streaks in the sky, seized Lian Huahun and Yun Chuxiu by their necks, pulled them out of the void, and slammed them hard onto the ground!