Chương 1372

Qin Mu walked back and forth, forcefully suppressing the curiosity in his heart, deciding not to think about the matter of Zuting Yujing anymore.

The Great Emperor smiled, knowing that the more he suppressed it, the stronger the curiosity would become. Sooner or later, Qin Mu would not be able to hold back and would surely rush headlong to Zuting Yujing to seek his own death!

In history, those who achieved great things all shared a common trait: they had a strong sense of curiosity, full of curiosity about the unknown, and as a result, they often overlooked the dangers that might lie ahead.

Many survived and achieved fame and success, but countless others died because of it!

The Great Emperor chuckled and said, “Muyuanzun, I have given you the geographical map of the holy city of Yujing. You can now go to my territory and pass the tests of the Zhan Shen Platform!”

Qin Mu shook his head and said, “My current realm is not high enough; I am not yet able to ascend the Zhan Shen Platform.”

The Great Emperor was taken aback and asked, “What realm are you in now?”

Qin Mu, feeling a bit guilty, replied, “Lingtai…”

“Pah!”

From the center of the great seal, the head of the Great Emperor spewed out a surge of divine consciousness and said angrily, “Lingtai realm? Why don’t you say you’re at the warrior’s realm? Speak clearly!”

After hesitating for a moment, Qin Mu honestly stated, “I am at the Tian Gong realm within the Lingtai realm. The Tian Gong is a smaller realm within my Lingtai realm, and it is further divided into seven smaller realms: Zun Shen, Zhen Shen, Yao Tai, Zhan Shen Tai, Yujing, Ling Xiao, and Di Zuo. Currently, I have reached the pinnacle of the Zhen Shen realm and am about to cross over to the Yao Tai realm…”

The Great Emperor fell silent for a while, seemingly digesting the information contained in Qin Mu’s words. After a long time, he shook his head and asked tentatively, “If we classify by the Dao realm, what level of the Dao realm are you at?”

“Twenty-four levels of the Dao realm.”

Qin Mu said, “However, my Dao realm seems a bit different from others; it seems to be even stronger…”

The corners of the Great Emperor’s eyes trembled. Twenty-four levels of the Dao realm should correspond to the Yujing realm within the Tian Gong realm. But in this battle with Qin Mu, although that person did not possess a Yuan Shen (the divine soul), their realm was actually at the Di Zuo level!

With such combat power, even without a Yuan Shen, their actual fighting strength was not much weaker than that of someone at the Di Zuo realm. Yet, they were defeated by Qin Mu, who even broke through their most powerful divine abilities!

It should be noted that from ancient times to the present, no one had been able to break through his divine ability, the Great Luo Tian divine power!

This divine ability was one that contained the essence of Dao fruits and flowers, and Qin Mu was the first person to break through it!

Even Haotianzun had not been able to break through his divine ability!

“Your realm is somewhat peculiar…”

The Great Emperor thought carefully but still couldn’t figure out exactly where Qin Mu’s strength lay. He could only attribute Qin Mu’s power to the fact that he cultivated both the Tian Gong and the Dao realms simultaneously.

“Since we have reached an agreement, then Muyuanzun, you may now unlock the seal and let me out.”

The Great Emperor smiled and said, “Don’t worry. As an emperor from ancient times, I would not break my word over such a trivial matter.”

Qin Mu hesitated for a moment.

The Great Emperor, suspicious, sneered and said, “Do you really intend to break your word? Don’t forget, Mu Tianzun, I have another identity as well—namely, Consort Qiang Tianfei! Moreover, I am also capable of invoking the ultimate divine power of the Void, the Great Luo Heavenly Seal, to annihilate you! Don’t force me to reach a point where there’s no turning back.”

Qin Mu quickly replied with a smile, “Brother, you’re overthinking it! Have you forgotten? We are brothers after all! We once vowed to die on the same year, month, and day! How could I possibly go back on that promise?”

The Great Emperor’s face turned as black as iron; mentioning that matter only fueled his anger. He sneered again, “Back then, when we became sworn brothers under the name of Da Hong, that vow doesn’t count.”

“By the way, elder brother, do you know? Third brother Luo Xiao has already passed away. I’ve been pondering for a long time about how to send elder brother and second brother to join him in death.”

Qin Mu clasped his wrists in sorrow, his face turning red with emotion as he choked with sobs, “To let our two elder brothers die to accompany third brother has always been my lifelong wish… Third brother has been gone for eight hundred thousand years already…”

“Stop talking nonsense!”

The Great Emperor flew into a rage and shouted, “Will you release me or not?”

Qin Mu spoke seriously, “Elder brother, calm down. You say you won’t break your word, and I say I won’t break my word too; even the Heavenly Emperor Taichu said he wouldn’t break his word. However, all three of us have ended up being those who do break their vows. We swore to die on the same year, month, and day back then. Yet, even after three hundred thousand years since third brother’s death, none of us have died with him. Therefore, I can’t trust you.”

Just as the Great Emperor was about to lose control again, Qin Mu quickly said, “What I mean is, once I reach the Divine Slaying Platform, then I will release you. We’ll settle our accounts as true brothers…”

“Don’t call me ‘elder brother’!” the Great Emperor snapped viciously.

Qin Mu changed his tone and smiled, “Elder brother…”

“Pah!”

The Great Emperor spat a burst of divine energy at him, but Qin Mu didn’t take it to heart. He simply let the energy dry on his face and said, “Brother, calm down. Since neither of us is known for keeping our promises, how can I know if you won’t go back on your word? If I release you and then you suddenly change your mind, wouldn’t that be all in vain?”

The Great Emperor’s face grew even darker. After a moment, he sneered, “I can wait for you to reach the Divine Slaying Platform, but during this time, you must not use me as a weapon to attack others. The dignity of the Great Emperor cannot be lost!”

Qin Mu nodded repeatedly and said with a smile, “I understand what you’re thinking…”

“Another thing: don’t call me ‘elder brother’ anymore, and never refer to me as such!”

Qin Mu smiled and said, “After all, we have sworn brotherhood; we don’t have to die on the same year, month, and day…”

“Don’t mention that again either!”

……

Qin Mu thought for a moment, then transferred all the treasures from the Qin Character Continent into his Spiritual Fetus Treasure Chamber. Only then did he put the precious seal back into the center of his forehead. After all, there were still many treasures hidden on his Qin Character Continent, some of which were not meant to be seen by others—such as the divine bow of a powerful being from a previous era, as well as the physical body of Lady Yuan Mu.

The Spiritual Fetus Treasure Chamber was also located in the center of his forehead, but it had no connection with the Qin Character Continent. In normal times, the Taishi Egg was placed within the Taishi mineral veins of that treasure chamber.

Trong chiếc ấn báu đó, đầu của Thái Đế liếc nhìn xung quanh; bỗng nhiên, ông ta bắt gặp đôi mắt của Tần Mục. Chiếc đá nguyên thủy hình chữ “Thái Cực” được gắn ở trung tâm lục địa chữ “Tần”. Thái Đế vội vàng kích hoạt ý thức thần linh của mình, cố gắng bay về phía chiếc đá đó, thở hổn hển.

Khi vừa đến gần, đúng lúc ông ta muốn quan sát kỹ lưỡng chiếc đá ấy, Tần Mục lập tức cảm thấy có điều gì đó không ổn. Ngay lập tức, Tần Mục kéo Thái Đế ra khỏi lục địa chữ “Tần”, nói một cách ân cần: “Đạo huynh Thái Đế, tôi có một bí mật nhỏ mà không muốn đạo huynh biết đến. Thôi thì để tôi cõng đạo huynh đi.” Nói xong, Tần Mục lấy ra một sợi dây vàng và buộc chiếc ấn báu vào lưng mình.

Đầu của Thái Đế hướng ra ngoài, mặt úp xuống; ông ta chỉ có thể nhìn thấy gót chân sau của mình. Thái Đế cười lạnh và nói: “Mục Thiên Tôn, dù đạo huynh hành động kịp thời, nhưng tôi vẫn nhận ra điểm then chốt. Chiếc đá đó cũng là một loại đá thần linh giống như chiếc đá nguyên thủy “Thái Sơ”; cả hai đều được khai thác từ những mạch khoáng sản cổ xưa!”

Tần Mục đi về phía cây gỗ đen lớn, cười một cách khó hiểu: “Thái Đế quả thực có tầm nhìn đáng kinh ngạc. Nhưng chiếc đá của tôi không giống chiếc đá “Thái Sơ” của đạo huynh đâu. Chiếc đá của tôi được chủ nhân khu mỏ tặng cho tôi, còn đạo huynh thì lại cướp nó từ Thái Sơ. Đạo huynh và Thái Sơ có mối thù sâu đậm; còn tôi và chủ nhân khu mỏ thì lại là bạn bè tri kỷ!”

Thái Đế cười ha hả: “Chiếc đá nguyên thủy quan trọng đến mức nào đối với vị thần cổ đại trong khu mỏ ấy chứ? Làm sao họ lại tặng nó cho đạo huynh được? Chắc chắn là đạo huynh đã tống tiền họ, buộc họ phải đưa nó cho đạo huynh mà thôi. Mục Thiên Tôn, có lẽ đạo huynh hiểu lầm về ý nghĩa của từ ‘bạn bè’ rồi nhỉ? Vị thần cổ đó chẳng hề có tình bạn gì với đạo huynh cả; ngược lại, họ chỉ đang lợi dụng đạo huynh mà thôi!”

Tần Mục do dự một chút, rồi lắc đầu và nói một cách chân thành: “Tôi vẫn tin rằng bản chất con người vốn tốt.”

Thái Đế cười lạnh lùng: “Lời nói như vậy lại xuất phát từ miệng của một kẻ có tấm lòng tốt nhưng thực chất xấu xa như đạo huynh, thật là một sự châm biếm đối với quan điểm rằng bản chất con người vốn tốt! Thôi không nói đến chuyện đó nữa. Tôi đã cảm nhận được hơi thở của Thái Sơ từ đôi mắt đạo huynh… Vậy kẻ đã ăn trộm vỏ trứng của Thái Sơ chính là đạo huynh phải không?”

“Đừng vu khống người khác!”

Mặt Tần Mục đỏ bừng, ông ta lắp bắp nói: “Vu khống người khác… Người quân tử dù nghèo khó cũng giữ được phẩm giá; còn kẻ xấu xa như đạo huynh thì không!”

Thái Đế cười lớn hơn và bỏ đi.