916 Eventual Reunion Under the Moonlight at the Jade Pool (1/2)
”That person from a million years ago has returned.”
The resplendent celestial heavens was filled with countless gods and countless devils who resided in this unbelievably extravagant world. Originally, the celestial heavens was very peaceful, at least superficially. Even when the celestial heavens' army went down to get rid of Mother Earth and raze the Primordial Realm, no billows were raised in the celestial heavens.
Yet now, in the originally calm celestial heavens, a stone had been dropped into the peaceful surface of the lake, which resulted in ripples.
All kinds of news spread around, spreading not only to the gates of the palace but also into the ears of the Celestial Venerables before becoming the talking point that swept the celestial heavens by storm.
That person had returned.
During the first year of the Dragon Han Era a million years ago, that person was conferred the title of Celestial Venerable by Celestial Emperor. He became one of the Nine Celestial Venerables, using his unique paths, skills, and divine arts to win over an era.
He imparted Celestial Venerable Yu's technique in place of him and established the cultivation system of the celestial palace for the people. He also severely injured Celestial Venerable Hao, causing him to lie in bed for many years without any signs of recovery.
And today, as Celestial Emperor continued to stay detached from worldly affairs, Celestial Venerable Hao was already the Celestial Venerable in charge of the celestial heavens, high above others.
However, the person that severely injured him had disappeared without a trace from the world for a million years.
More news came and stated how, when Celestial Venerable Hao operated the most formidable weapon to pacify the rebellion in the lower bound, that person manipulated Mother Earth to severely injure Celestial Venerable Hao's primordial spirit.
Other news stated that this person was Son of Youdu, who was attacked by the four deities of the celestial heavens and had suffered a serious injury.
Even more news said that this person removed his own soul, becoming a soulless man with little power.
And then the news came that this person had slain many of the celestial heavens' powerful young practitioners, which included an unknown number of disciples of the ancient gods and the four deities.
Furthermore, the devils that returned from the lower bounds claimed that this person was on his dying breath, not long for this world.
Regardless of the number of people discussing the coming of that person or talking about this topic, there was a peculiar atmosphere that blanketed the celestial heavens. Under its calm surface, there was darkness surging.
”Is the arrival of South Deity Zhu Que's ship at the celestial heavens today related to that person?”
”I heard that East Deity has left the East Pole, same goes for West Deity and the West Pole.”
”The water of the celestial river is acting abnormally. Recently, the water level rose greatly, leading people to suspect that North Deity Xuan Wu has secretly arrived at the celestial heavens!”
”I even heard that the celestial heavens' four deities wrote to Celestial Emperor to return to the celestial heavens. Rumors have it that Black Deity arrived a long time ago!”
”I heard that too many of the ancient gods of great desolation came to report on their duties, with even gods like Great Sun Sovereign coming to the celestial heavens! I also heard that Dao Ancestor, who has been missing for many years, has also returned to the celestial heavens' Dao Sect. Even Brahma Buddha, who has slept for countless years, awakened and arrived at the celestial heavens with the intent of seeing Dao Ancestor immediately.”
”The situation in the celestial heavens is currently somewhat peculiar.”
”I heard that this person has reached the Jade Pool and claims that he wishes to pay his respects to Celestial Empress! How daring of him! It was at the Jade Pool that he severely injured Celestial Venerable Hao a million years ago!”
”Celestial Empress allowed him to stay at the Slow Winding Pavilion, the place where Celestial Venerable Yu was assassinated back then!”
”I personally ran to the Jade Pool and saw that person. His breath was shallow, his body was as skinny as a match, and his complexion was pale. He is losing vital qi every moment. I suspect that he's here to reminisce with old friends and use this opportunity to die by provoking people who cannot resist the opportunity, so their names will be cursed for years to come!”
”Who dares to kill him? Are they not afraid of being attacked by political enemies?”
”A lot of people want to kill him, and there are many different ways to do so. After the killing, they can just find a couple of scapegoats anyway.”
”The celestial heavens of today is no longer the celestial heavens that he understood in the past.”
…
The sacred grounds of the Jade Pool, the Slow Winding Pavilion.
Qin Mu arrived in front of the Slow Winding Pavilion's window and gazed at the giant lotuses of the Jade Sea as well as the divine turtle who carried the divine mountains that were swimming in the Jade Sea, as per usual.
His body was very skinny, and his complexion was indeed pale. However, with the revisiting of old haunts, he couldn't help but sigh ruefully.
Although the main body of the celestial heavens remained unchanged since the first year of Dragon Han, there were big changes elsewhere.
Then, the celestial heavens had 36 celestial palaces and 72 throne halls nearby. Today, however, most of those celestial palaces and throne halls had been relocated to every part of the universe to suppress it. Only a couple of the celestial palaces had been left behind.
Despite this, the scale of the celestial heavens was grander. With thousands of stories and even more halls, it was the definition of extravagance.
The Jade Pool was rebuilt too. The Jade Pool then was already extremely vast, but after a million years, the Jade Pool resembled more of a Jade Sea with such beautiful scenery that nothing more beautiful could be imagined.
It was here that he joined the Jade Pool Meeting and experienced an unforeseen event that changed the course of history for a million years.
Qin Mu and Founding Emperor were opportunists who exploited knowledge that exceeded the first year of Dragon Han by a million years to stun an era. If he and Founding Emperor were born in that era, they might have been two plain men during that magnificent era.
This was another reason that many of the celestial heavens' younglings looked down on him. These young talents thought that if they were the ones who returned to the first year of Dragon Han, they would only be able to do better than him, not worse.
Yan'er approached him, holding a plate of fruits as she said, ”Young Master, the palace maids have plucked some fruits. I just let Fatty Dragon and Young Master Qi try them. Neither of them has died yet, so it shouldn't be poisonous.”
After hearing that, Qi Jiuyi and the dragon qilin, who were followed behind her, had their faces turn black uncontrollably before feeling a sharp pain within their heart.
The phoenix ship sent them outside the Southern Heavenly Gate and then immediately returned to the Primordial Realm. Only Qi Jiuyi stayed behind out of concern for the dragon qilin's safety.
The news that Qin Mu had arrived in the celestial heavens soon spread rapidly. He asked to see Celestial Empress, but she didn't show up. Instead, she ordered him to stay in the Jade Pool at the Slow Winding Pavilion, where Celestial Venerable Yu was assassinated.
All of the palace maids there served Celestial Empress, and all of them were gorgeously dressed gods of impeccable beauty.
It was just that Yan'er was worried that someone would poison Qin Mu. Thus, she had Qi Jiuyi and the dragon qilin try every item of food before offering it to Qin Mu.