Chapter 610: Opening the Box (Second Update!)
Qin Mu and Zhe Huali's hearts trembled slightly. They quickly followed the sound and saw that the hand had snatched away the small box. The owner of the hand was a man with a large axe strapped to his back, wearing a bamboo hat, with broad arms and a thick waist, and thick eyebrows and big eyes.
He looked like a woodcutter who had just set down the firewood he carried on his back, but there was a deep scholarly air between his brows. His attire and temperament were completely at odds.
The small box rested in his hand, looking quite delicate.
"Woodcutter Holy Teacher!" Qin Mu's heart leaped with joy.
Zhe Huali was greatly shocked: "Heavenly Teacher!"
On the other side, Qi Jiuyi remained kneeling there, secretly lifting his eyes, his heart pounding: "The one who blood-sacrificed Luofu Heaven, forcing Furi Luo to sign the Earth Bo Pact with him!"
He quietly stood up and retreated backward, wanting to leave but not daring to.
Chi Xi, with his three heads and six arms, his body withered and shriveled, barely lifted his head to size up this woodcutter, sneering: "You want it? Do you dare to take it?"
The Woodcutter Saint held this square box in his hand, looking it over from top to bottom, and said: "Why wouldn't I dare? Your cultivation hasn't recovered, and neither has your physical body. If you were at your peak, I'd yield three points to you. Since you're not at your peak, I don't even have the desire to fight you. Here—"
He cut his wrist, and divine blood flowed from the wound.
Chi Xi stared at the flowing divine blood, unable to restrain himself any longer. He immediately opened his mouth, and the divine blood from the Woodcutter's wrist flew toward his three mouths.
Having received the Woodcutter's divine blood, his shriveled, withered body visibly began to swell at a noticeable rate. Blood vessels flowed, his heartbeat grew louder and louder, and the various withered organs inside his body gradually recovered.
His spirit and energy grew stronger and stronger, his face slowly becoming ruddy, gradually restoring his original appearance.
Chi Xi could be considered a rather distinguished-looking middle-aged man. The three faces on his three heads were identical, all with sword-like brows, and the killing aura between his brows was very heavy—perhaps because he had once been the execution overseer of the Chiming Heavenly Court.
His aura also gradually strengthened, and soon Qin Mu, Zhe Huali, and Qi Jiuyi found their bodies swaying, forced to retreat.
By the time he had mostly recovered, the wound on the Woodcutter Saint's wrist slowly healed and stopped bleeding.
"Your primordial spirit has been withered for twenty thousand years. Nurture it back slowly on your own."
The Woodcutter Saint's gaze had been fixed on the small box the entire time, never once looking directly at him. After a moment, he said: "Qin Mu, where did this small box come from?"
Qin Mu said: "Senior Brother found it."
"Him?"
The Woodcutter Saint was surprised and asked: "Where is he?"
"Senior Brother has never appeared. I discovered the evil dragon he had suppressed in a ruin in the Great Ruins, and I slew the dragon. The star sand in Senior Brother's cauldron that suppressed the evil dragon revealed many geographical maps, but he himself never appeared."
Qin Mu quickly recounted the whole story from beginning to end, saying: "The geography near the God-Slaying Platform on this alien star was one of the maps. I followed the map and found this place, locating the small box. Senior Brother used the Zhou Tian Star Dou Killing Formation to trap the small box, leaving behind a series of mathematical puzzles. I solved them and found the answer to be three hundred fifty thousand years."
"Three hundred fifty thousand years..."
The Woodcutter Saint mused, murmuring: "Why did this fool leave behind a riddle? Is he trying to give me some hint? Why did he leave behind so many geographical maps? What does he mean... These maps weren't left for you—they were left for me. He wanted me to follow the maps to find the clues he left behind. Your finding the maps he left is a stroke of coincidence."
Qin Mu said: "Three hundred fifty thousand years ago was the Chiming Era. This Senior Chi Xi comes from three hundred fifty thousand years ago."
The Woodcutter Saint nodded: "I know. The moment I saw his three-headed, six-armed form, I knew he was from the Chi Xi Era. I've explored some ruins from that era before and discovered that the people of that time regarded the three-headed, six-armed form as the strongest physical body—with vast supernatural powers, capable of moving mountains and filling seas, chasing stars and catching the moon. This small box also comes from that era, and its form is similar to the so-called Heavenly Court's God-Slaying Mystic Blade. I wonder who imitated whom."
Qi Jiuyi didn't dare speak, sneering inwardly: "It must be that the Chiming Heavenly Court imitated our Heavenly Court's creation of the God-Slaying Mystic Blade!"
Qin Mu thought for a moment, then took out the military tally that Elder Qinghuang had given him, saying: "Holy Teacher, Senior Brother left this item with Elder Qinghuang. Elder Qinghuang also doesn't know which era this military tally is from."
The Woodcutter Saint took the military tally, examined it, and laughed: "Elder Qinghuang? That's Qing Huang, isn't it? That old fellow has a bad temper and ignores everyone, but his heart is good—very warm. Did he say bad things about me behind my back?"
Qin Mu quickly shook his head, saying seriously: "No! Absolutely not! Elder Qinghuang spoke very kindly, with a gentle brow and kind eyes. He treated me with great hospitality, saw me off with reluctance, and didn't curse anyone!"
"Of course he did! He definitely said something. Not only did he curse me, he would have cursed Kai Huang too. He absolutely drove you away!"
The Woodcutter Saint tossed the military tally back to him, laughing: "I've long since figured out his temper. I can't tell the origin of this military tally either—I don't know from what year or month it was left behind. You keep it for now."
"Wait!"
Chi Xi's gaze fell on the military tally in Qin Mu's hand, and he said in a deep voice: "Let me see that military tally. I might recognize it!"
Qin Mu looked at the Woodcutter, who gave a slight nod.
Qin Mu stepped forward and handed the military tally to Chi Xi. Chi Xi examined it carefully, then said: "This is a military tally from the Longhan Era. There were still many ruins from the Longhan Era in the Chiming Era, and I've seen things like this before. Boy, return the military tally to him."
Qin Mu took back the military tally, puzzled: "Senior Brother left a Longhan Era military tally with Elder Qinghuang for safekeeping—what was his intention? Elder Qinghuang is the Eastern Lord of the Kai Huang Era. Senior Brother asking him to keep it safe shows that Senior Brother must have placed great importance on this item. What secret is hidden in this Longhan Era military tally?"
The Woodcutter Saint laughed: "Since he left behind so many geographical maps, then just follow the maps and search. That boy will eventually have the day he unravels the secret."
Qin Mu acknowledged.
Chi Xi said coolly: "Daoist friend, this small box is an item of my Chiming Heavenly Court. Please return it to me. Since you've gifted me your blood, the conflict between me and this child is settled."
The Woodcutter Saint finally turned his head to look at him, and said seriously: "Old Daoist friend, this small box was left to me by my eldest disciple, so it's mine. It's impossible for me to give it to you. I gifted you my blood because I was afraid that if you tore off all pretense of cordiality, I wouldn't be able to bring myself to hit you. So I let you recover some of your cultivation. If you tear off all pretense, then I'll hit you. I had just forced Venerable Furi Luo to retreat in defeat, and then I came here and found you bullying my disciple and these two juniors. That's unbefitting of a senior's bearing, and I'm somewhat displeased with you."
Chi Xi sneered. His physical body and primordial spirit had not fully recovered, and he was quite wary of this woodcutter. He said: "Even if you get my small box, it's useless. Without the rune arrays of my Chiming Heavenly Court, you can't open the lock."
The Woodcutter Saint smiled. The small box floated up from his rough, calloused hands. His ten fingers danced, and strange rune symbols burst from his fingertips, one after another sinking into the small box. He said leisurely: "I've dabbled in too many things, which delayed my cultivation. I've visited the ruins of the Chiming Era a few times, so I have some understanding of the runes of your era."
From inside the small box came the clicking sounds of locks opening. The sounds grew denser and denser, as if layers of locks were being released inside, and lock cores were retreating one by one.
Chi Xi's face changed drastically. He stepped forward, his aura surging violently, about to make a move—but then he held himself back!
Meanwhile, Zhe Huali and Qi Jiuyi on the other side had faces like ash, thinking to themselves: "This is bad." The Woodcutter Saint was an enemy of the Heavenly Court and the demon race. If he opened the God-Slaying Mystic Blade, he would surely want to offer a sacrifice to the blade!
Every time the Heavenly Court's God-Slaying Mystic Blade was opened, a sacrifice was required—using human blood to moisten the blade's edge!
"Judging by this woodcutter's bearing, let's hope he's not sacrificing us, but rather that three-headed, six-armed fellow."
They felt both fear and a hint of anticipation. They very much wanted to see this fierce weapon hidden in the box that had intimidated gods and demons alike!
Suddenly, the small box let out a soft *da* sound, opening a crack.
Instantly, a flood of blood-red light burst from the box, casting everyone around in crimson—their brows and beards turning red, their hair also turning red.
In the sky, blood-red clouds churned, spinning like a vortex of blood plasma. At the very center of this crimson cloud vortex, directly corresponding to it, was this small box!
Although the light emanating from the box was blood-red and seemed warm, everyone felt as if they had fallen into an ice cavern.
The murderous aura emanating from the box froze their primordial spirits, rendering them unable to move. Their souls were completely frozen solid, as if the slightest movement would bring a blade of light slashing down to kill them!
"What a fierce weapon!"
The Woodcutter Saint's expression turned grave. He held up the small box, grabbed the lid with his other hand, and said in a deep voice: "You've all been fighting over this small box for a long time, haven't you? Today, I'll open it and let you see!"
Chi Xi showed a look of terror, retreating at lightning speed, fleeing far away.
Qi Jiuyi and Zhe Huali wanted to leave, but they couldn't. They could only watch helplessly as the Woodcutter Saint opened the box!
The box opened slowly, and the Woodcutter Saint's expression grew increasingly solemn. His hands trembled slightly, clearly straining with great effort.
He was suppressing the murderous might within the small box. Suddenly, he let out a thunderous shout, exploding with full force to suppress the murderous aura, and flung the box open!
Qin Mu, Zhe Huali, and Qi Jiuyi involuntarily looked toward the box. They saw that inside this small box there really was a human head!
This head had no skin—as if someone had peeled off its face and scalp—yet no blood was revealed. The flesh beneath the skin was crystalline white, as if composed of light.
Behind the head, tentacles that looked like blood vessels or flesh connected to the inner walls of the box, as if they had grown together with it.
The Chiming Heavenly Court had used some kind of sorcery to fuse the head of a Throne-realm powerhouse with the box.
That crystal-like head was still alive. It opened its eyes, and within them was a hazy white light, contained but not released. There were no black pupils—only white, as if not made of substance.
Light extended from the eyes about a foot in length, now long, now short.
The tentacles behind the head vibrated continuously, making a rustling sound like insects vibrating their membranous wings. It seemed the head was very excited, eager to kill and drink blood!
Qin Mu noticed that where the tentacles touched the head, there were indeed extremely thin membranous wings.
*Bang!*
The Woodcutter Saint slammed the lid shut, gasping for breath. Opening the box and controlling the bloodthirsty murderous might of the box had exhausted him more than his fierce battle with Furi Luo!
"Holy Teacher, aren't you going to sacrifice to the blade?" Qin Mu glanced at Qi Jiuyi and Zhe Huali, asking.
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Thank you everyone for voting so many monthly tickets on the very first day. Zhai Zhu is deeply moved! Wearing women's clothing was something Zhai Zhu promised the month before last in the book club group. Many readers said that if The Annals of the Shepherd God could reach the top three in monthly tickets, Zhai Zhu would wear women's clothing. I said fine—if we reach the top three, I'll wear women's clothing. So this isn't an April Fool's Day activity. Not today though—Guoguo is still at home, and Zhai Zhu doesn't dare try it, afraid Guoguo will think Daddy is a pervert. After she goes to school, I'll try to see if I can fit into my wife's clothes. If not, I'll go buy the appropriate size. After all, if you say you'll do something, you have to do it.