Chapter 379: Successor
Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
No long later, the god's body was lifted up by several experts and its might filled the air. Yet it was merely a broken thing, split into so many pieces that they could never be put together again.
The head of the god was still complete, though, and his face could still be seen.
"It's the god I met; he said he came from High Heavens," Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor said after taking a look at him. "His abilities were extremely high. When I fought with him, I had to go all in to force him back, yet I was still crippled by him."
The conclusion on that battle was Imperial Preceptor being so damaged that he dejectedly decided to live in seclusion beside the blood lake with his wife. If it wasn't for Qin Mu who had found him, he might have disappeared from the world from then on.
Qin Mu examined the head and was slightly stunned. There was something familiar about it.
It seemed to be made from fine jade, and even though the god was dead, there were still no flaws to be found. The man looked very young, unlike some elder one might expect. However, gods lived as long as the heaven and earth, so it was difficult to guess their true age from their appearance alone.
"The head of this god looks a little like…"
Qin Mu's expression was weird. The god and Xu Shenghua looked slightly similar!
But the similarity wasn't only in their appearance. Xu Shenghua was a perfect person who seemed like he was sculpted from flawless fine jade; he looked very exquisite. And the head was the same. It mirrored that of a human, but it was more like a jade carving than anything real!
'This god that was killed, could it be Jade Sovereign, the master Xu Shenghua had once mentioned?'
Qin Mu stared with his eyes wide open. Xu Shenghua's master, Jade Sovereign, could have very well been killed by Emperor Yanfeng with the cannon!
'Jade Sovereign was the person who sent disaster on Eternal Peace Empire, so he deserved death. I wonder what Xu Shenghua's reaction will be when he finds out.'
Qin Mu pondered about it, but he didn't say anything. He didn't plan on revealing that relationship. If Emperor Yanfeng knew that Jade Sovereign was Xu Shenghua's master, he would definitely get rid of Xu Shenghua to prevent danger in the future.
The emperor never went by the rules of the martial world. So because Qin Mu admired Xu Shenghua very much, he didn't say a word, not wishing for him to die just like that.
"Minister Qin forged this Sunshot Divine Cannon, so his contributions are endless, I haven't rewarded him yet so I shall reward him with the head of this god," Emperor Yanfeng said.
"Don't want!"
Emperor Yanfeng's expression changed slightly, and he grunted as he felt his face was lost.
Qin Mu then immediately smiled and said, "I did not achieve anything in this battle of slaughtering the god so how would I dare to take the trophy? Your Majesty had fired the cannon, and the number of medicinal stones exhausted must be great, so this trophy should be put into the imperial treasury."
Such words were easy on the ears and gave the emperor face in front of his officials.
Emperor Yanfeng was pleased. He smiled and said, "Minister sees the overall picture and I shall not force you. This credit of forging Sunshot Divine Cannon, I shall help you donate it to the imperial treasury."
Qin Mu's face instantly turned black.
Emperor Yanfeng laughed loudly. But he soon remembered how much medicinal stones were exhausted by the Sunshot Divine Cannon and felt a pain in his heart. It felt great firing the cannon, but the money required for it was a terrifying thing.
The battle between gods and devils had made Emperor Yanfeng lead the experts of the imperial court with the battery from the capital to the hills. He had to maintain Sunshot Divine Cannon to fly in the sky, so the amount of medicinal stones used was definitely higher than when just firing the cannon once!
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor and Ling Yushu might have brought numerous treasures back from Barbarian Di Empire and Wolf Store Country, but Sunshot Divine Cannon was like an abyss that couldn't be filled, a gold swallowing beast. If he played with it for any longer than necessary, the empire would go bankrupt.
"This is the first god my Eternal Peace Empire slaughtered!" Emperor Yanfeng raised his head to look at the sky and sneered. "There may be a second and even third one from today onwards! My people are not fish and meat, and I'm not a coward that those gods can just mess around with! Return back to the court!"
Sunshot Divine Cannon gradually changed direction, and Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. He said, "Your Majesty, I still have some minor stuff I have to attend to, so I have to stay here for some time…"
Emperor Yanfeng looked at him and said, "Minister Qin, could you know those strong practitioners that were fighting against the gods? You want to stay to meet them?"
Qin Mu nodded and said, "They are my elders."
Emperor Yanfeng seemed to have a smile that yet not a smile. "There are quite a number of elders in your family. Can you introduce them to me? The empire is currently in need of talented people and I would like to meet these experts with peerless talents."
Qin Mu immediately pointed at Wang Muran and said, "There should be a few that were his elders. My elders don't really like to meet outsiders so Your Majesty should ask their elders."
Wang Muran shook his head and said, "Your Majesty, my elders also don't like to meet outsiders."
Emperor Yanfeng's face turned black.
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor coughed and took a step to stand beside him. His body slanted nonchalantly and he whispered in Emperor Yanfeng's ear, "Their elders are all remarkable people. On one side, there's Old Human Emperor who is living in seclusion in Great Ruins and mysterious experts like Heaven Knife. On the other side, it's Little Jade Capital. Your Majesty can't pull in any one of them."
Emperor Yanfeng jumped in shock, astonished. He also knew about Little Jade Capital. Even though they were hidden in seclusion, its position was above the three big sacred grounds, and some mysterious old immortals stayed there. Yet Imperial Preceptor placed Qin Mu's family even above Little Jade Capital. Could it be a sacred ground that was hidden in Great Ruins?
"Imperial Preceptor, since there's the old human emperor, the human emperor of this generation…"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shook his head and said, "The pavilion closest to the water enjoys moonlight first; the human emperor of this generation won't be Your Majesty."
Emperor Yanfeng's heart trembled and he looked at Qin Mu, slightly dizzy.
Qin Mu asked to be excused again, and Emperor Yanfeng hesitated for a moment. Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor knew the thoughts of this ruler, aware that he had put his guard up against the new human emperor.
"Your Majesty?" Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor coughed.
Emperor Yanfeng came back to his senses and waved his hand. "Minister Qin, handling your matters is more important, you may withdraw first."
Qin Mu jumped down from the battery. Wang Muran and the rest also went after him.
Emperor Yanfeng looked at their figures moving away while Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor stood silently behind him. He suddenly said, "Your Majesty had the intent to kill?"
"There was that moment." Emperor Yanfeng didn't hide anything from him and admitted without a moment's hesitation. "Him being the Heavenly Devil Cult Master already made me put my guard up. Even though Heavenly Devil Cult has a devil in their name, they are the number one cult. They may be a sect in name, but they are actually a country, a country in our country. I always felt uneasy by putting him in an important position. Now that he has also become the current human emperor, it makes me even more worried."
He sighed and said, "Heavenly Devil Cult Master is so outstanding and such a person is hard to control. My sons and daughters won't be able to be a match for him. My life will come to an end in time, and then, hehe, Eternal Peace Empire will be in his pockets, so my intent to kill had indeed awoken."
He stood there and looked at Qin Mu and the rest leaving into the distance. "But it's gone now," he said with a calm expression.
Emperor Yanfeng raised his head to look at the sky, and his tone became calmer and calmer, "Imperial Preceptor, even though you and I are minister and ruler, we are actually brothers and our hearts are connected. We are both outstanding and rare in this world. With you and I working together to reform the country, it is still so difficult. We seem to be piloting a small boat that could be flipped over anytime by the strong gales and big waves. I was thinking, what if we failed? What if we died? Who shall succeed our mission in life?"
He turned around with a fervent expression. He raised his hands and grabbed the shoulders of Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, his eyes incomparably bright. "I have to think about my Ling family, about Eternal Peace Empire, our cause, the reform! So I can't have any intent to kill him! Our cause needs to have a successor, someone to follow in our footsteps after we fail! My sons and daughters don't have the ability, but he has! Isn't that right, my Dao friend?"
Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor heard the phrase Dao friend and his heart moved. He nodded gently, "He has the ability."
Everyone knew he was the advocate for the reform, his thoughts, and efforts concentrated solely on it. He wanted to be a saint that established his virtue, his merit, and his ideas in writing. However, no one knew that he had also faced a moment of weakness, of being at a loss, that he had also thought about giving up.
The person that gave him the biggest support and made him persevere was his close friend.
Emperor Yanfeng was his best friend, his most reliable comrade-in-arms!
This kind of friendship was something others wouldn't understand.
Dao friend.
To have met such a Dao friend in this lifetime was enough for him.
"I will stand by your side." Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor looked into the distance, his heart calm. "Always."
Qin Mu and the rest returned to the palace that was nearly soaked with spiritual qi and energy. When they landed on the ground, they saw that there were quite a few people waiting in the palace for them.
"Mu'er, return to Great Ruins with us." Blind stood up by propping himself on his cane. He walked toward Qin Mu and pulled onto his hand. He said resolutely, "Butcher, Village Chief, there's no need for further discussion, let's go back to Great Ruins, immediately!"
Butcher quickly rose and sheathed his knives behind his back. He said coldly, "Blind, are you scared?"
Blind sneered at him. "I'm scared? Half of my body is almost in the grave so what am I scared of? On the other hand, it's you who is afraid, isn't it?"
Butcher was furious and looked like an angry lion. "When have I ever been afraid?"
"When you barely existed back then, weren't you scared?" Blind said with scorn. "You were sprawled in the mud and had to crawl over with your arms! I may be blind, but it doesn't mean that I can't see, I know the fear in your heart!"
"Damned Blind, you weren't any better than me back then!"
Butcher pulled out his knives and Blind threw away Qin Mu's hand to grip his cane tighter. Both of them overflowed with murderous aura.
Qin Mu hurriedly squeezed himself between them to prevent them from really fighting. Lying on a recliner, Village Chief said with his head hurting, "Alright, stop squabbling! You two are usually on the best of terms, so do you think it's worth falling out over this matter? Old Butcher, Blind's foresight is usually the best, and he wants Mu'er to return for the child's good. Mute, you usually talk the least, but what you say holds weight. What's your opinion?"
Hermit Qing You waved his hand and signaled for Wang Muran and the rest to come over. They immediately went to his side and asked in a low voice, "Senior Uncle, what happened?"
"Emperor Yanfeng killed Jade Sovereign of High Heavens," Wander Qing You said in a low voice.
"We know about this. However, why did these grandpas started squabbling?" Mu Qingdai asked in bewilderment.
Hermit Qing You sighed and said, "If Jade Sovereign of High Heavens had died under the hands of our Little Jade Capital or Old Human Emperor, it would be nothing, at most we would have a grudge with High Heavens. However since he died under Emperor Yanfeng's hand, Eternal Peace Empire will be in grave trouble. Blind wants Human Emperor to return to Great Ruins so he wouldn't be standing near a collapsing wall. Heaven Knife, on the other hand, wants to stay in Eternal Peace and scolds him as a coward. They have been fighting for quite a while regarding this matter."
In the hall, Mute sat on the wooden chest. He took out a bag of shredded tobacco and lighted it up. He let out a puff of white smoke and squinted his eyes. "Ah, ah ah."
"What Mute said is logical." Village Chief nodded/ "The younger generations will do all right on their own, we are all old farts so there's no need to worry. For how much longer will we live? Can we protect Mu'er for his whole life?
Blind hardened his resolve and said, "I want him to go back to the village no matter what. I'll find him a woman to make a baby so he can live his life honestly! Why should we make him do what you couldn't do? Your limbs were severed, and this oaf even got his lower body chopped off! If Mu'er does what all of you did, everything under his neck will be chopped off! Mu'er, let's go home!"