Chapter 1100 — The God-Emperor's Theft of a False Name

Yan'er let out another low cheer, trembling with excitement. "We'll become legends of the Longhan era! Shadow thieves revered through all ages—even sixty thousand years from now, tales of us will still be told!"

The Dragon Qilin shot her a glance. "Look at you, so easily impressed. Carry on like that and you'll be thrown into the Heavenly Prison before we even reach the Black Tortoise Celestial Palace. The most important thing in this sort of business is to stay calm."

Yan'er nuzzled against his shoulder, giggling. "I've followed the Moon Heavenly Venerable all this time and never done anything this thrilling. Fatty Long, you really know so much—even about things like this."

"Naturally!"

The Dragon Qilin tried to raise his tail, only then remembering he had taken human form and had no tail to raise. He was rather vexed at heart.

"The Sect Master always brings me along whenever he returns to the village. There's a lame old man in the village, the finest physician under heaven. When he was teaching the Sect Master..."

His gaze grew distant, and he spoke unhurriedly: "I picked up a few things myself along the way."

Yan'er was filled with admiration, staring at him with little stars in her eyes.

The Dragon Qilin felt immensely satisfied, though one thing still nagged at him: "What a pity I have no tail. Otherwise I'd raise it and wag it a couple of times—that would surely look imposing."

Throughout the Heavenly Court, countless Howling Celestial Hounds sniffed about in every direction, searching for the Divine King Gong Yun and her accomplices. The voice of the Great Sun Star Lord rang out from time to time: "That female thief is a prehistoric Divine King, well-versed in divine sense. So long as her divine sense is not extinguished, she cannot die. She must be found!"

Yan'er and the Dragon Qilin traveled on with that palace maid. The Divine King Gong Yun had possessed the maid's flesh, and her divine sense had been grievously wounded—she had no choice but to rely on the two of them.

Still, looking at the Dragon Qilin and Yan'er, she could not help feeling they were somewhat unreliable.

Fortunately, the Dragon Qilin and Yan'er had six Heavenly Dragons with them. These six Heavenly Dragons carried within them the bloodline of the East Emperor Azure Dragon, and when the Howling Celestial Hounds caught the scent of the East Emperor's aura, they dared not draw near.

Though the Howling Celestial Hounds were an exotic breed, compared to the East Emperor Azure Dragon they were immeasurably inferior. The six Heavenly Dragons transformed into dragon-headed human forms, and walking together as six, their aura was so potent it was enough to overawe those Howling Celestial Hounds.

Their group took advantage of the chaos to cross more than half of the Heavenly Court, and at last arrived at the Celestial Palace of the North Emperor Black Tortoise. The Dragon Qilin stepped forward and roused the Black Tortoise Spirit-Men guarding the palace gate.

That pair of Black Tortoise Spirit-Men had turned to stone from sheer laziness, and being woken up put them in a foul mood. They asked indolently: "What business brings you here?"

"We are of the lineage of the East Emperor and the South Emperor, come to pay our respects to Crown Prince Youming," the Dragon Qilin said.

The pair of Black Tortoise Spirit-Men saw that each of them had remarkable bone structure—some were Heavenly Dragons, some Dragon Sparrows, and one a Dragon Qilin—truly resembling descendants of the East Emperor. Not daring to be negligent, they said hurriedly: "So you are of the lineage of two Imperial Emperors! Wait a moment, allow us to go and announce you."

With that, one of the Black Tortoise Spirit-Men turned and entered the Black Tortoise Celestial Palace.

When Crown Prince Youming heard the news, he said in surprise: "The East Emperor Azure Dragon was licentious beyond measure—how could his offspring number fewer than a million? Even the Plumed Fire Pheasant Dragon is rumored to carry his blood, though heaven knows with which chicken he sired it. His descendants—there's no need to meet them. But the South Emperor was chaste and self-disciplined; I've never heard of him having any offspring. It's rare for a princess to come—I suppose I must receive her."

The Black Tortoise Spirit-Man said: "Your Highness, in recent years those who've come running to befriend you have all been fellows looking to hoodwink you and swindle our family treasures. This bunch is most likely using friendship as a pretext to scheme after our treasures too."

Crown Prince Youming laughed. "Nonsense! There are indeed those who've tried to swindle our family treasures—none other than the Hao Heavenly Venerable, the Langxuan Divine Emperor, and Yin Tianzi and their sort. I've already heeded my parents' words and no longer keep close company with them. But a princess of the South Emperor's house could never be so base."

The Black Tortoise Spirit-Man hesitated: "Shall we first inform the two Lords?"

"I'm not a child anymore. Must I report to them just to make a friend?"

Crown Prince Youming said carelessly: "Besides, the North Emperor isn't home—he's gone to seek the West Emperor, South Emperor, and East Emperor, and who knows when he'll return. Are we to leave honored guests waiting outside the gate? If word got out, wouldn't people laugh at me for lacking manners? Go and invite them in."

Helpless, the Black Tortoise Spirit-Man could only return outside the palace and say to the Dragon Qilin and Yan'er: "The Crown Prince invites you in."

The Dragon Qilin and Yan'er and the others walked into the Black Tortoise Celestial Palace. It was indeed resplendent with pearls and jewels, luxurious and magnificent, with every kind of treasure imaginable.

"The North Emperor's household is truly extravagant," the Dragon Qilin could not help praising.

The Black Tortoise led the way ahead, smiling: "My Lord is a sacred being born from the Heavenly River, revered and worshipped by all peoples. The entire Heavenly River belongs to my Lord, and all the treasures within the Heavenly River are my Lord's as well. Naturally, he's somewhat wealthy."

Gong Yun sneered: "Thieving a false name to deceive the world!"

The Black Tortoise glanced at her. Seeing that this palace maid seemed somewhat dull-witted, he paid it no mind, taking her for a maid of the South Emperor's palace.

The world all believed that the Four Imperial Emperors of the ancient gods were gods born of heaven and earth, and the Four Imperial Emperors proclaimed this to the outside world as well. Yet Gong Yun knew their true origins like the back of her hand.

The West Emperor White Tiger was born of Gong Yun's own Nüxin clan—an ancient god born from the sacrificial worship of all the clan's people combined.

The other three Imperial Emperors each had their own origins. Among them, the North Emperor Black Tortoise was an ancient god born from the sacrificial worship of the Juyu clan—a husband and wife pair, and the Martial Emperor among them even had a certain connection to Gong Yun.

The "Yu" in Juyu clan meant the waters of Shuofang; the Juyu clan meant the race of Creators who dwelt by the waters of Shuofang.

Shuofang meant the northern direction.

The Juyu clan originally dwelt beside the Heavenly River in the north, offering sacrifices to the Black Tortoise ancient god within the Heavenly River.

And the Black Tortoise ancient god split into two—one being the Black Emperor, the other the Martial Emperor—because Gong Yun was the wife of the Great Emperor and also the matriarch of the Nüxin clan.

Among the Nüxin clan, women were held in highest esteem. After Gong Yun married the Great Emperor, her standing in the Juyu clan was also very high, equal to the Great Emperor himself. Therefore the Juyu clan sacrificed to two ancient gods, and thus came the Black Emperor and the Martial Emperor.