Chapter 655: United as One (Big Chapter!)
The Red Ming Divine Son looked at the cultivator from the Floating Void Realm who had landed before him, then slowly raised his gaze to Qin Mu's face. His gaze then passed over Qin Mu, looking into the distance, and he saw large pits everywhere across the square, each pit planted with a cultivator from the Floating Void Realm.
Many who had not been planted into pits were also there, but most had been severely wounded by Qin Mu—either with broken bones or fractured arms and legs.
There were also some who hadn't suffered serious injuries, but had been transformed into sheep by the power of Creation, wandering aimlessly around the square, bleating in confusion.
If this were a battlefield, the younger generation of the Floating Void Realm would have been completely slaughtered, and a civilization that had endured through the ages would have been struck with a devastating gap in its continuity!
The Red Ming Divine Son rose, walked past Qin Mu, and came to the steps. He paid Qin Mu no attention, instead looking down below.
"The Red Ming Divine Dynasty spanned two generations. Emperor Red rose from the wilderness, building his empire from nothing. Emperor Bright received his mandate during times of chaos and crisis, saving the dynasty from the brink of collapse. The people of my Red Ming era fought with the valor of a hundred generations, struggling and battling to create a brilliant age!"
His voice was not particularly loud, but it was heavy, penetrating into everyone's ears: "But ever since we hid in this Floating Void Realm, everything has changed. The people who hid here have gradually forgotten the external enemies who destroyed our homes, our nation, and our people. They have gradually forgotten the courageous and tenacious spirit of the two Red Ming Emperors. They have forgotten that they were once war gods, forgotten that their race is a race of war gods! Hiding away in a small tower, ignoring the changing seasons—wrong! If you hide away, then you deserve this defeat! You deserve this humiliation!"
His voice grew louder and louder, and the crowd below in the square was filled with shame, not daring to look up at him. Even the Red Ming era deities like Red Creek lowered their heads in shame.
"I deliberately used this outsider's hand to humiliate you, to disgrace you, to wake you up!"
The Red Ming Divine Son's voice carried anger: "I used his hand to warn you, to tell you that you have forgotten your traditions, forgotten your hatred, forgotten the spirit of the Red Ming era! Without this spirit, the Red Ming era is truly dead! Not destroyed by the Heavenly Court's hands, not destroyed by the gods and demons who died fighting for you, but destroyed by your own hands—by you, the survivors!"
His voice then slowed, heavy with some melancholy: "Do you know why I only dare to call myself Divine Son? Do you know why I insisted on sending people out of the Floating Void Realm to gather information about the outside world? Do you know why, three thousand years ago, I insisted on contacting Emperor Kai Huang, even willing to pledge fealty to him? It's because I couldn't bear it..."
"I couldn't bear to see you continue sinking into degeneracy. I couldn't bear to see the Red Ming era completely destroyed by your hands. I couldn't bear to see you become sinners..."
"I wanted to bring you back to the real world. I wanted you to revive the spirit of the Red Ming era, to restore your fighting will, to regroup and rally. I didn't want to watch you sink further day by day."
He paced slowly before the steps: "I don't dare to claim the title of Emperor, only Divine Son or Your Highness. Not because I am inferior to the emperor of a small nation like Yan Kang, but because my subjects don't deserve it! You don't deserve it, and I don't deserve it either!"
"Is the envoy from Yan Kang strong? Yes! He can defeat six of you by himself! But think about it—was he fighting like that the whole time? From beginning to end, among your ten thousand people, only six could actually attack him?"
His voice stopped, giving people time to think.
The defeated cultivators of the Floating Void Realm below showed confused expressions, then someone said in a low voice: "That's true. After he charged into the crowd, only six people could attack him."
More and more people nodded, murmuring among themselves. Just now, their confidence and faith had been shattered along with their defeat. The pride of an entire era had been beaten into nothing by Qin Mu, giving rise to a mentality that Qin Mu was invincible.
But now, they were slowly beginning to feel a glimmer of hope.
Qin Mu could only defeat six people at once—he wasn't absolutely invincible!
The Red Ming Divine Son's voice sounded again, coldly: "But during the Red Ming Divine Dynasty era, a single warrior of our Red Ming era could fight six opponents from the Heavenly Court! One against six—that was why we earned our unmatched reputation, why we were called war gods! Yet now, you have been defeated by a newly rising nation. Where have you placed your ancestors? Where have you placed the name of war gods? Have you simply handed it over? You make me feel ashamed, but you can turn shame into courage!"
"In your battle just now, you were scattered like loose sand, trampling each other, crowding, chaotic, without any formation. You couldn't even muster six people to attack him simultaneously. You didn't lose to the Yan Kang envoy—you lost to yourselves, to your own people! Shame! Utter shame!"
He shouted loudly: "The shame of Red Ming—what should we do about it?"
He paused, then shouted sternly: "Fight back! Only by fighting back can we erase this shame, can we hold our heads high! Today the Yan Kang envoy defeated you; in the future, you will defeat him. In the past, the Heavenly Court defeated our Red Ming; in the future, we will crush the Heavenly Court!"
Below, countless cultivators of the Floating Void Realm were stirred by his words, hot blood surging in their chests. Many endured their pain and shouted, voices jumbled and chaotic at first, but gradually all their voices merged into one, becoming a breathtaking torrent—a roar that shook heaven and earth, deafening!
The flood formed by the overlapping shouts of tens of thousands of voices was so stirring, so thunderous, that even Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu's expressions changed.
Qin Mu turned to look down, seeing the cultivators of the Floating Void Realm connected in spirit, like wildfire burning the plains, like the earth meeting spring, like floodwaters spreading everywhere.
"United as one—this is a spirit of unity, the spirit of the Red Ming era, revived..." Qin Mu murmured.
The voice of the First Ancestor Human Emperor came from behind him, saying: "This is the effect of a good leader. Emperor Yan Feng is such a person, and the Divine Son is also such a person. The Yan Kang National Teacher and you are not such people—you cannot speak such stirring words. Only such leaders can unite people's hearts."
Qin Mu nodded, saying: "A true leader can turn bad things into good things, can bind people's hearts together into a single rope. I cannot do that yet."
Ling Yuxiu said in a low voice: "This Divine Son turned your defeat of ten thousand people into a defeat of six people with just a few sentences, then said even those six couldn't fully exert themselves, diminishing your strength by another measure. He's quite scheming."
Qin Mu laughed: "What he said isn't wrong though. Defeating ten thousand cultivators at the Seven Stars realm—I truly couldn't do that. In a proper formation, even a hundred Seven Stars realm cultivators could easily kill me with a single round of techniques. My method was to first disrupt their formation, scatter them, cause chaos, then take the opportunity to land among the chaotic crowd. Indeed, only six could attack me, while everyone else wanted to rush over but were hindered by each other—only three or four actually managed to strike at me. That's how I defeated ten thousand cultivators."
Ling Yuxiu smiled: "But still, he was just trying to diminish your prestige."
"He did it for his own race—there's nothing wrong with that."
Qin Mu said: "And my purpose was to use this battle to secure fifty years of peace between Yan Kang and Red Ming."
He smiled: "The gods, demons, and cultivators of the Red Ming Floating Void Realm are proud and arrogant. Even if they allied with Yan Kang, they would look down on Yan Kang. Arrogance breeds prejudice, and prejudice leads to bullying. Because they look down on us, they will inevitably bully Yan Kang's people and cultivators, which will eventually lead to disaster. Now that I've beaten them, for fifty years, the cultivators of the Floating Void Realm won't dare cause trouble."
Ling Yuxiu was surprised: "I didn't think you had thought so deeply. And after fifty years?"
"Beat them again."
Qin Mu said leisurely: "Then we'll have another fifty years of peace."
The Red Ming Divine Son let the excited cultivators go down to tend to their wounds, then turned and walked back to his seat, smiling: "Yan Kang envoy, please sit."
Qin Mu, Ling Yuxiu, and the First Ancestor Human Emperor each took their seats. The Red Ming Divine Son's eyes were bright as he carefully examined the three, saying to the First Ancestor: "Daoist friend is from the Kai Huang era?"
The First Ancestor said: "A remnant of Kai Huang."
"I sent Red Creek to meet Emperor Kai Huang, intending to pledge fealty to him and join forces with him against the Heavenly Court."
The Red Ming Divine Son sighed: "I didn't expect that times would change so much. Red Creek perished before even reaching the Kai Huang era. The Kai Huang era lasted twenty thousand years, but for my Floating Void Realm, only three thousand years have passed. Regrettable, truly regrettable. Fortunately, there is still Yan Kang."
His gaze then fell on Ling Yuxiu, and he smiled: "Princess Yuxiu coming in person honors my Floating Void Realm. I have read the treaty that Red Creek signed on behalf of the Yan Kang Emperor. If my Floating Void Realm disciples had defeated your envoy just now, I might have negotiated terms and revised some clauses more favorably to me. But since they lost, I will not change a single word of the clauses Red Creek signed."
Ling Yuxiu slightly bowed, smiling: "The Divine Son is most generous. I apologize for any offense just now; please forgive us, Your Highness."
"The Princess is too kind. I had originally planned to give you a show of force, but instead I was kicked off the horse."
The Red Ming Divine Son laughed heartily, appearing very open and cheerful, but did not look at Qin Mu, saying: "I have agreed to the terms of this treaty. Please wait a few days, Princess and envoy. I need to prepare some matters, and then I will send a portion of my people to depart for Yan Kang."
This negotiation concluded in an atmosphere of harmony.
Ling Yuxiu returned to their residence with the First Ancestor and Qin Mu, and immediately said: "This Divine Son gives me a very troublesome and frightening feeling. What kind of person is he really? I can't see through him at all! Would he really make concessions just because the cowherd gave him a show of force? I don't quite believe it."
Qin Mu stretched lazily, laughing: "He is naturally an ambitious man, but his current goal is to let his people leave this isolated place and return to a world full of competition. However, he won't put all his eggs in one basket, so he will only send a portion of his people out of the Floating Void Realm to Yan Kang. With only a portion of his people, there's no danger to Yan Kang—rather, it's an opportunity for Yan Kang to gain a powerful ally."
Ling Yuxiu pondered: "When he truly establishes a foothold in Yan Kang, that's when he'll become a threat to Yan Kang."
Qin Mu said: "By that time, Yan Kang should have grown strong too, right? We don't need to worry about these things. These matters should be a game between him and the Emperor—let the Emperor have the headache. While we have these few days, I plan to walk around and see the sights of the Floating Void Realm. Sister Xiu, would you like to come with me?"
Ling Yuxiu shook her head: "I need to think about some things."
She racked her brain, thinking about what she would do if she were Emperor Yan Feng, how she could win in this game.
"The Red Ming Divine Son is a very formidable opponent. His learning, boldness, breadth of mind, and methods are in no way inferior to my father's. To defeat him in future games, I must be more learned, more bold, broader in mind, and more skilled in methods!" She thought to herself.
Qin Mu wandered around the city, using his own eyes to observe the customs, culture, and architectural styles of the Floating Void Realm. The First Ancestor followed behind him, silent.
The Floating Void Realm was actually not smaller than Yan Kang, but its population was not very large—far fewer than Yan Kang. Probably because of their prosperity, they had no interest in reproducing.
This was a strange phenomenon. People in times of danger would try every means to reproduce, but once life became prosperous and carefree, they lost interest in having children, and the population would actually decrease. This was especially true in a place like the Floating Void Realm—no external enemies, no war, no worries about food and clothing.
"The Red Ming Divine Son is right. If the Floating Void Realm continues hiding here, it will likely exterminate itself." Qin Mu said in a low voice.
This divine city was built upon a vast and majestic mountain, even larger than Yan Kang's Mount Sumeru. Standing on the city walls, one could gaze far into the scenery of the Floating Void Realm, and the light rippling through the sky seemed within reach.
Qin Mu looked around, his heart filled with joy. He turned back and suddenly paused slightly—the tallest place in this divine city was not the imperial palace, but a magnificent and splendid palace behind it.
From within the city, one couldn't even notice this place.
"What is that place?"
Qin Mu was intrigued and immediately descended from the city walls, circled around the imperial palace, and walked toward that palace. The First Ancestor followed unhurriedly behind him, looking as though his heart had died.
They arrived before the palace behind the imperial city, where stone steps layered upon each other, extending upward endlessly—so many steps it was frightening, with no end in sight.
Qin Mu climbed upward. Just as he was about to reach the top, several three-headed, six-armed gods and demons poked their heads out from above. Their faces were enormous, each the size of a mu of land, and they shouted: "Yan Kang envoy, this is the holy land's forbidden area. Please turn back!"
Qin Mu stopped, and suddenly a familiar voice came from above: "Imperial Guards, let them come up."
"The Red Ming Divine Son is here too?" Qin Mu was slightly startled, then walked forward.
The Red Ming Divine Son, dressed in a fitted purple-red robe, stood before him, facing this grand and magnificent palace, saying leisurely: "Yan Kang envoy, this is where Emperor Red's brow center lies. Inside the hall is hidden the divine light of his brain."
Qin Mu hesitated: "Since it is Emperor Red's holy land, then I should not enter."
—Still a four-thousand-character chapter, wishing Night Owl moderator a happy birthday!