Tales of Herding Gods

Chapter 1000: Crown Prince of the East Palace

Chapter 1000: Crown Prince of the East Palace

The goddesses that were taking care of the ancient Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body were at a loss. They had never seen him flustered like this.

Now the ancient Celestial Emperor looked like he had lost total control of his corporeal body. His face contorted in different directions as though it was eight separate pieces, with each piece being an individual face with its own expression.

He also seemed to have lost control over his body. His ten fingers were twisted as tendons popped out madly. The muscles underneath his skin looked like countless dragons burrowing and fighting.

The scene was indeed shocking, and those goddesses were so frightened that they fell into a daze.

Qin Mu stood up and said, “All of you are dismissed.”

Those goddesses stepped back and left the Hall of Nourishment.

Qin Mu bowed and said, “Your Majesty seems to be unwell. I’ll take my leave now.”

When he was about to leave, waves of tremors suddenly surged forth. The eight Celestial Venerables weren’t fighting anymore and looked as though they left Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body at the same time. They retracted their magic power and consciousness and stopped getting involved with each other.

Every one of them was afraid. When attacking each other in Celestial Emperor’s body, one had to simultaneously defend against the seven other Celestial Venerables. There was even a chance that the other Celestial Venerables would gang up on one Celestial Venerable, hence revealing his real techniques.

If this were the case, it was better to simply retreat.

After all, being together in Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body was very dangerous to all of them. The matter of the Grand Emperor hiding among them wasn’t that pressing, and they could take their time to investigate. But to end up revealing one’s most powerful ability, that would be a heavy price to pay.

Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body was instantly emptied.

Without their control, the ancient Celestial Emperor slowly shut his eyes. The halos behind his head continued to spin gently and weren’t as violent as before. His chest was rising and falling, showing that he was still breathing.

His aura returned to normal while the blood in his body continued to circulate. It was as though the majestic celestial river was flowing through his veins.

The most explosive force was hidden in his heart. It felt like the power source of a galaxy, incomparably terrifying!

Although this body was built by algebra and the art of creation and wasn’t the real body of Celestial Emperor, it contained limitless power.

Qin Mu was dazed. At this moment, in this Hall of Nourishment, he was actually left alone with Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body!

His gaze flickered as he looked at the body. Although this was just an imitation, it could still be considered the manifestation of the celestial heavens’ wisdom, almost on par with the strongest divine weapon, Celestial Venerable Yu!

However, what was crucial wasn’t the power of this Celestial Emperor divine weapon, it was the authority and status it represented!

‘If the ten Celestial Venerables could have their fun, why can’t I? I’m Celestial Venerable Mu, whose status is even higher than theirs...’

Qin Mu seemed like he fell into a trance as he walked towards the corporeal body of the ancient Celestial Emperor, muttering to himself, “There are many secrets hidden in the celestial heavens. Shu Jun even said that this was the birthplace of the ancient Celestial Emperor. Also, there’s Celestial Venerable Yu’s broken soul and the Patriarch Creation Palace’s creation divine weapon. These are places I’m unable to get close to. However, if I entered Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body...”

He suppressed the throbbing of his heart. Without missing a step, he soon arrived at the heart of the ancient Celestial Emperor’s brows.

Although this Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body was an imitation, from its structure, one was unable to see any traces of algebra.

The research of the ancient Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body and runes conducted by the celestial heavens’ Dao Sect wasn’t a matter of days but something that lasted over tens of thousands of years. One could say that their study of this ancient god had reached its peak.

Although Qin Mu had received the ancient Celestial Emperor’s runes of Great Dao, his research on Celestial Emperor’s Great Dao was still superficial. On the contrary, it was Heaven Duke’s runes of Great Dao that benefited him immensely. This showed the intricacy and sophistication of Celestial Emperor’s runes of Great Dao.

His consciousness surged forth, gushing into the heart of Celestial Emperor’s brows.

In the mind of Celestial Emperor, he saw a sea of dense purple light. The brain of Celestial Emperor was in it, meticulously formed by countless runes. It was as though innumerable Great Daos had been chained together.

When his consciousness entered Celestial Emperor’s Great Dao, it was like entering an extremely intricate machine. He had to ponder which part of the brain controlled the eyes, mouth, and fingers.

Even though Qin Mu’s consciousness was far stronger than before, it would still require some effort to completely control this corporeal body.

It was simply too big. The various parts of the brain represented different Dao, controlling different parts of the body. To mobilize all of these parts would require precise control of Celestial Emperor’s brain. It was difficult to master controlling this corporeal body within a short span of time.

Also, consciousness was needed to control this body. The speed that it was being consumed was too tough for him.

‘Maybe I can use the method of ‘borrowing bodies’ to utilize the power inside this corporeal body...’

Qin Mu put it into action immediately. He had the wisdom of the masters of creation and was very familiar with the “borrowing bodies” method that was unique to them. The Grand Emperor once said that he could borrow the body of anyone he wished, hence turning himself into anybody.

Although Qin Mu’s attainments were beneath the Grand Emperor, nevertheless, it was sufficient to execute this method.

After some time, he felt that his consciousness had been perfectly merged with Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body, as though he had become the ancient Celestial Emperor. His control of the corporeal body had reached a high degree of precision, just like he was controlling his own body.

Not just that, he could accurately determine the location of all of the power sources in this body.

Despite it being an imitation, there were about 2,000 power sources of different sizes in the ancient Celestial Emperor’s body. The toil on Qin Mu’s body would be minimal when mobilizing power from these.

Moreover, when mobilizing these power sources of the ancient Celestial Emperor, he had never felt stronger!

‘This method of borrowing bodies of the masters of creation race is indeed tyrannical. Now, I can mobilize all of the power of this body! I wonder how strong the ancient Celestial Emperor is?’

Qin Mu was delighted. The ancient Celestial Emperor got up, his hand making a stroke at the heart of his brow, thereby creating a slit. Qin Mu then flew up and entered that slit. After that, the heart of Celestial Emperor’s brows closed up, and he flew out of the Hall of Nourishment.

Outside the hall, a crowd of palace girls knelt down, not daring to raise their heads.

Qin Mu waved his hand and said indifferently, “Get up.”

Those palace girls acknowledged his words but only got up after he was far away.

Qin Mu brought Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body to roam around. As he wasn’t familiar with the inner city, he could only wander around aimlessly. It was good that he was now the ancient Celestial Emperor and could move around without people checking his identity. On the contrary, wherever he went, be it the palace girls, eunuchs, or the god generals guarding the Jade Capital Imperial City, they all knelt in front of him.

‘Shu Jun detected the ancient Celestial Emperor’s birthplace at the chambers of concubines, so it should be over there.’

Qin Mu excitedly headed towards the chambers of concubines. An enchanting thought arose in his heart. ‘I heard there are countless beauties in Celestial Emperor’s chambers of concubines and that most of them are top beauties of their respective races. If I enter the chambers, what do I do if these concubines want to sleep with me?”

He blinked his eyes and seemed slightly troubled.

“Son pays my respects to Father!”

Suddenly, a big and tall young god bowed at Qin Mu. He raised his head and said delightfully, “Father always dwells in deep seclusion. I haven’t seen you for quite a while.”

Qin Mu’s heart tightened. He didn’t recognize this young prince and didn’t know his name. He could only raise his hand and say, “Rise. I have been busy lately and have neglected you.”

That young god was ecstatic and hurriedly got up. His eyes looked moist with tears as he forcefully held them back. “Father hasn’t responded to me for 40,000 years. Although I’m the Crown Prince of the East Palace, the number of times I have seen you is less than a palace girl. I have been unable to make the most out of our relationship.”

Qin Mu’s heart leaped. ‘The Crown Prince of the East Palace? The one who captured Red Deity Qi Xiayu during the later years of the High Emperor Era and forced her to have no choice but to submit? Oh no, this Crown Prince is an Emperor’s Throne Realm expert!’

That year, Qi Xiayu, being an expert of the South High Emperor Celestial Heavens, killed the previous Red Deity and was pretty full of herself, even building memorials to commemorate this. However, she was captured by this Crown Prince of the East Palace and was forced to submit to the celestial heavens.

This Crown Prince was also an extremely remarkable character. After he captured Qi Xiayu, he also built memorials for himself. Qin Mu had seen two of these when the Primordial Realm broke its seal. It had left a lasting impression on him.

‘I’m not sure if this Crown Prince of the East Palace is able to see through me...’

He felt uneasy. Historically, although the ancient Celestial Emperor had many crown princes, they all came to a terrible end. However, this Crown Prince of the East Palace was born from the true body of the ancient Celestial Emperor and possessed an immensely powerful bloodline. Hence, his abilities were incomparably strong.

If he saw through him, would this corporeal body of Celestial Emperor be able to defeat him?

More crucially, he didn’t know the name of this crown prince!

‘If only Qi Xiayu or Yun Chuxiu, that little vixen, were here... Pah, pah, that little vixen is Mistress Yuanmu. If she knew I entered Celestial Emperor’s corporeal body, she would kill me or, at the very least, rip my skin off!’

Qin Mu lowered his head to look at him as he said warmly, “It must have been hard on you all this while. Although I haven’t seen you much, I know that your techniques and divine arts have been improving extremely fast. However, in the imperial family, there is little affection between father and son. The stronger you are, the more at ease I am, hence I stopped myself from visiting you. In the past, your brothers rebelled after they had some accomplishments, resulting in a great rift between me and them. That’s the reason I neglected you. I don’t want you to have the same fate as your brothers.”

The Crown Prince of the East Palace hurriedly bowed again. He almost choked on his tears as he said, “Father, heaven and earth can vouch for my loyalty. I wouldn’t dare to be disloyal to you! Over the past few years, I have seen the ten Celestial Venerables getting stronger and stronger, taking control of the celestial heavens and treating father like a figurehead. I’m worried for your safety!”

Qin Mu’s expression wavered slightly as he coldly said, “Insolent! How dare you criticize the ten Celestial Venerables. Do you know what a death penalty is?”

The Crown Prince of the East Palace prostrated on the ground and didn’t dare to get up. He choked as he said, “The ancient gods of the present-day court are all subservient to the ten Celestial Venerables, lest they meet a horrible end upon refusing to do their bidding. I worry that, over time, Father has no one to rely on!”

Qin Mu looked at him coldly. After some time, he said, “Rise. Whatever you said, how can I not know? I’m aware of your loyalty. I also have my own methods to cope.”

The Crown Prince of the East Palace got up and wiped his tears.

Qin Mu sighed ruefully and said, “Good child, you are indeed a good child. Unlike Hao...”

He didn’t seem to want to mention Celestial Venerable Hao and hence changed the subject quickly. “My birthplace is hidden in the celestial heavens. Do you know where this treasured land is?”

The Crown Prince of the East Palace felt apprehensive. He bowed and said, “Although I didn’t dare ask around about that piece of treasured land, I did hear the people in the palace talking about that forbidden area. However, I haven’t been there before!”

Qin Mu smiled as he said, “Today, Father shall bring you to visit this piece of ancestral land. Let’s go, lead the way.”

The Crown Prince of the East Palace was delighted when he heard him changing how he referred to himself. He stepped forward to lead the way.

Qin Mu followed behind him, a sense of worry quietly arising in his heart. ‘What’s the name of this Crown Prince of the East Palace? If I don’t know his name, I’ll be exposed by him sooner or later. Also, which concubine is his mother? I hope it’s not Celestial Empress?”