Chapter 657: The Sealed Red Emperor
(At the end of the chapter, I begged for subscriptions and was mocked by readers, who said readers couldn't possibly see it—it had to be at the beginning of the chapter to be seen. I was dumbfounded at the time. For ten years I've been begging for subscriptions at the end of chapters, and it turns out I've been wrong for ten years, been foolish for ten years... A three-thousand-eight-hundred-character chapter, begging for subscriptions!)
The Red Ming Divine Son stared blankly ahead. The Red Emperor's Brain, which should have been shining with constantly flowing light, housing the Red Emperor's thoughts and consciousness, containing infinite insights and experiences, had now gone dark!
This giant brain, covering several acres of land, no longer flickered with light but had fallen into darkness, with not a single glimmer of light to be found within, indicating that the Red Emperor's consciousness was no longer here!
If the Red Emperor's consciousness was not here, then where could it be?
He suddenly turned his head, immediately flipped up and leaped to his feet, his face dark as he walked toward the exit of the hall.
"Thief..."
He was radiating murderous intent. Before he had even stepped out of the holy hall, the sky outside was already covered in dense clouds, wind and rain raging, lightning and thunder running rampant. Bolt after bolt of lightning crackled down from the oppressive black clouds, streaking across the dark sky.
When the Divine Son was angered, it was no small matter—truly the heavens themselves changed color!
However, by the time he reached the hall's entrance, his chaotic mind gradually calmed, the thunder in the sky grew fewer and fewer, then the wind and rain ceased, and the dark clouds slowly dispersed.
"Even I cannot walk out of the Red Emperor's thought maze, so why didn't he fall into it?"
The Red Ming Divine Son lifted his foot, holding it suspended in the air without stepping down. "How vast are the Red Emperor's thoughts? Even I cannot bear them, yet he could. Moreover, the Red Emperor's consciousness has remained here for fifty thousand years, and no tribesman has ever been acknowledged by it—so why did he receive the Red Emperor's approval? And what was the Red Emperor's purpose in leaving behind his consciousness? Why can't even I obtain the knowledge contained within it?"
His foot still hung in the air, his expression shifting between light and dark. Outside the hall, the sky churned with wind and clouds—now clear, now overcast, now cloudless for ten thousand miles, now flashing with thunder and lightning.
The Red Ming Divine Son's heart struggled incessantly. The Red Emperor's consciousness was left by the Red Emperor himself and absolutely could not fall into the hands of outsiders or other races! But did the disappearance of the Red Emperor's consciousness mean that the Red Emperor had chosen Qin Mu? Did the Red Emperor's action carry some deeper meaning?
"Qin Jijiu represents not the Red Ming!"
His resolve was made. His foot landed, causing the holy mountain and holy hall to tremble slightly twice.
At this moment, Qin Mu was beside the First Ancestor, examining his condition. The First Ancestor Human Emperor had fallen into a coma—likely when he touched the Red Emperor's consciousness, he was struck by the Red Emperor's vast and terrifying thoughts, and his brain could not accept them, so he had passed out.
"This isn't really an injury. He'll be fine after resting. But strangely enough, why wasn't I knocked unconscious by the Red Emperor's thoughts..."
Just as this thought crossed Qin Mu's mind, he suddenly saw the sky change color. Startled, he hurriedly tried to drag the First Ancestor's body, but the First Ancestor was a deity—and a deity at the Execution Platform realm at that. How could Qin Mu possibly drag him?
The sky churned with shifting clouds, and Qin Mu's expression also shifted between light and dark. The clear and stormy weather in the sky reflected the Red Ming Divine Son's mood—clear meant no killing intent, overcast meant murderous aura running rampant. The constant shifting indicated that the Red Ming Divine Son was locked in an internal struggle, weighing whether to kill Qin Mu over the extinguishing of the Red Emperor's consciousness!
"The Red Emperor's consciousness is extremely important to the Red Ming remnants. After weighing the pros and cons, the Red Ming Divine Son will definitely be moved to kill!"
Qin Mu continued dragging the First Ancestor, but still couldn't move him an inch. Just then, the index finger of the First Ancestor's right hand twitched slightly, and Qin Mu was momentarily stunned.
The First Ancestor remained with eyes tightly shut, motionless.
Thud.
The Red Ming Divine Son's footstep landed, and the mountain trembled. Listening to the Divine Son's footsteps approaching one by one, Qin Mu stood up, revealing a smile, and said, "Divine Son, allowing us into the holy hall to touch the Red Emperor's consciousness seems ill-intentioned, causing our First Ancestor Human Emperor to fall unconscious."
The Red Ming Divine Son's face was indifferent. "It is my fault. I did indeed have the intention of making you fall into the thought maze and never find your way out."
Qin Mu's heart tightened. The Red Ming Divine Son saying this out loud showed that his resolve was firm—he would absolutely not let Qin Mu go!
The Red Ming Divine Son was a man of supreme wisdom, but he also had a habit: when he was moved to evil thoughts, he would reveal some secrets.
When they entered the holy hall, he had revealed to Qin Mu and the First Ancestor the secret of his identity and origins as the Divine Son. Then the First Ancestor fell into a coma, and Qin Mu nearly fell into the Red Emperor's thought maze.
And now, he was revealing his thoughts from just moments ago—also a secret within him. This was the precursor to him killing!
"If Qin Jijiu can hand over the Red Emperor's consciousness, I can let bygones be bygones in this matter." The Red Ming Divine Son said coldly.
Qin Mu was momentarily taken aback, then laughed. "The Divine Son is being quite reasonable? To be honest, I don't know why the Red Emperor's Brain went dark, and handing over the Red Emperor's consciousness is out of the question. If the Divine Son knows something, by all means speak plainly."
The Red Ming Divine Son said softly, "The Red Emperor's Brain is the vessel for the Red Emperor's consciousness. When the Red Emperor's consciousness leaves the Red Emperor's Brain, its light goes out. Now, the Red Emperor's consciousness has entered your brain."
Qin Mu turned his mind over. There were indeed many strange images and sounds in his mind, but although they were numerous, there was no way they could contain the Red Emperor's consciousness. He laughed. "There are indeed some strange images and sounds in my mind, but how am I supposed to return the Red Emperor's consciousness? Extracting consciousness from the brain—I've never seen such a divine ability, nor have I ever heard of it. Please enlighten me, Divine Son."
The Red Ming Divine Son's stiff face barely squeezed out a smile. "Very simple. The Red Emperor's consciousness is eternally indestructible. His thoughts are too powerful—even if the host is destroyed, his consciousness will not be destroyed. Therefore, the simplest method is to cut off the host's head, then carefully smash that head to pieces, and the Red Emperor's consciousness will reveal itself."
He said solemnly, "Then, I will cup the Red Emperor's consciousness in my hands and return it to the Red Emperor's Brain. Qin Jijiu, how would you like to be buried? I can give you a grand funeral with the rites of a prince or general. I can also use the finest divine metal to forge a head for you, guaranteed to be lifelike and true to your appearance."
Qin Mu's face turned ashen. He stepped back step by step, forcing a smile. "The Divine Son must be joking, right? I don't think the Red Emperor's consciousness is in my brain. If it were, I would already be another Red Emperor. Divine Son, think twice..."
The hem of the Red Ming Divine Son's purple robe slowly lifted, and he said seriously, "This is the most effective method I can think of at present. Qin Jijiu can also try to flee—run as far as you like. But do you think you can escape this Floating Void Realm? Why not stand still, cut off your own head, and let me examine it properly?"
Qin Mu turned around and sprinted, racing down the mountain in a flash.
The Red Ming Divine Son's expression was stern. The eyelid of the third eye on his forehead slowly parted to both sides, and he sighed. "Such a clever man—why would he do something so unwise? It seems that in the face of life and death, everyone has their moment of foolishness."
Divine light swirled within his third eye and shot forth. At the very instant the divine light was emitted, the First Ancestor Human Emperor leaped up, thrusting the Yuming Sword straight into his third eye!
The Red Ming Divine Son cried out in pain, a crystalline eyeball mixed with blood sliding down from his forehead. Suddenly, two more heads burst forth from beneath his purple-red robes, and four arms emerged from his armpits. Six arms, carrying terrifying power, slammed toward the First Ancestor Human Emperor!
The First Ancestor Human Emperor did not dodge or evade. The moment he stabbed the third eye, he immediately abandoned the sword, crossed his hands, and unleashed the Heaven and Earth Seal Technique. He let the Red Ming Divine Son's attacks land on his body while the first form of the Heaven Toppling Three Styles within the Heaven and Earth Seal Technique—Heaven Topples, Earth's Pillars Sever—exploded with full force, striking the Red Ming Divine Son without any reservation!
The two struck each other almost simultaneously. From within the First Ancestor Human Emperor's body came the sound of bones breaking, one rib after another bursting through his back, piercing through his body and tearing through his clothes. His face was also hit, features twisted, jawbone shattered. His entire body flew backward, faster than Qin Mu had been running down the mountain, and crashed to the ground a step ahead of Qin Mu, smashing a huge crater into the earth.
Around them, palaces and temples collapsed with thunderous roars, tumbling continuously into the great pit.
On the other side, at the summit of the holy mountain, the Red Ming Divine Son's physical body twisted in a bizarre posture. His waist folded like a paper figure bent at the middle, and the central neck among his three necks snapped, his head falling backward.
Boom—
His body crashed into the holy hall, and within came a deafening explosion. The rear wall of the hall suddenly burst open, and in the instant that countless rocks flew in all directions, the Red Ming Divine Son's twisted body flew out, carving a straight streak of light through the air.
The stone steps beneath Qin Mu's feet kept collapsing, falling into the great pit. The youth leaped and bounded like flying, stepping on the shattering stone steps as he rapidly descended to the bottom of the pit.
The First Ancestor Human Emperor lay sprawled there, intense pain causing the muscles of his face to twist uncontrollably. He hissed, "His strength is greater than mine, his realm higher than mine, and he has three heads—I only destroyed one of them. Go quickly!"
Qin Mu tried to lift him, but the First Ancestor Human Emperor roared angrily, "All twelve of my ribs are broken, only my spine remains. I can't fight anymore. Get out of here!"
"Where can I go?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "The Red Ming era's cultivation methods excel at physical creation. Not only can broken bones regenerate, even heads can grow back—two of them—and arms can grow four more. With your injuries, as long as you cultivate the Creation Divine Ability, you can refine your ribs back. See, this is the benefit of my research into the Creation Divine Wheel. You were all sulky about it back then—didn't say it out loud, but in your heart you resented me for not learning your seal techniques..."
The First Ancestor Human Emperor flew into a rage, lying there motionless. "At this critical moment, you're still rambling! Get lost, get lost right now!"
Qin Mu laughed. "I can't escape the Floating Void Realm anyway. Where am I supposed to get lost to?"
He truly couldn't drag the First Ancestor Human Emperor, so he had to give up on that idea. He took out the God-Slaying Mystic Blade, secured the small box to it, and fixed his gaze on the summit of the holy mountain.
Whoosh—
A streak of light flew back, and the Red Ming Divine Son returned to the front of the holy hall on the mountain. His central head was still tilted backward, blood pouring from his mouth along with fragments of bone—the cervical vertebrae that had been snapped.
After spitting out the bone fragments, his central neck slowly straightened, and his central head gradually righted itself, the wound on his neck healing at astonishing speed.
The Red Ming era truly possessed extraordinary mastery in the art of physical creation—something to be admired!
The reason Qin Mu had been captivated by the Creation Divine Wheel, aside from its power being so great as to be nearly invincible, was precisely because he had seen the strength of the physical creation arts.
The bone fragments in the Red Ming Divine Son's waist were also being pushed out of the wound one by one. His injuries were severe—the First Ancestor Human Emperor had caught him off guard and struck him at a disadvantage of an entire realm, gravely wounding him. Had it been any other deity, they would have been crippled if not killed. But for him, the injuries were within controllable range.
As for the wounds to his primordial spirit and divine treasury, though also serious, compared to the First Ancestor Human Emperor, he had already won.
"The God-Slaying Mystic Blade in your hands poses no threat to a deity at my level—the Jade Capital realm."
The Red Ming Divine Son raised his palm from afar, and the earth rose up, lifting Qin Mu and the First Ancestor Human Emperor onto a stone pillar. The pillar began to rotate, turning Qin Mu's back to him.
Qin Mu hurriedly turned around, but no matter how he turned, no matter how fast he spun, he was always facing away from the Red Ming Divine Son!
He simply could not lock onto the Red Ming Divine Son with the God-Slaying Mystic Blade!
Cold sweat broke out on Qin Mu's forehead. The God-Slaying Mystic Blade could be said to be his greatest reliance, and now that reliance was completely useless!
The Red Ming Divine Son had used the simplest method to directly neutralize the God-Slaying Mystic Blade!
Around them, many deities of the Floating Void Realm flew over. Seeing this scene, they all hesitated and did not dare approach.
Suddenly, Qin Mu threw down the God-Slaying Mystic Blade, pressed his finger to the center of his brow, and shouted, "Other me, come out!"
His vertical brow eye showed no reaction at all—instead, his finger poking it hurt quite a bit.
Qin Mu shouted, "Unseal!"
Still no reaction from his brow.
"Qin Fengqing?" Qin Mu tried.
Still no reaction.
Qin Mu blinked, then roared in anger, "When I don't need you, you always love jumping out and causing trouble. Now that I actually need you, you ignore me! What good are you?"
Deep within his third eye, within the seal of the Qin Character Continent, the three-eyed giant infant Qin Fengqing revealed a look of horror. A new head had grown from the infant's neck—a head completely different from the young Qin Mu's appearance!
The Red Emperor's head.
The giant infant stood up, and the white-robed, white-haired old man beneath his buttocks immediately fled for his life. The infant raised his chubby fists and began furiously hammering the head on his own neck.
Thump thump thump thump—after a storm of blows, a middle-aged emperor of distinguished bearing was beaten out from within his body, though he was now bruised and swollen in the face, lying prostrate on the ground.
That middle-aged emperor was both shocked and furious. He immediately rose to his feet and was about to counterattack when he suddenly saw his surroundings and was startled.
"Heavenly Duke, Great Brahma Heaven, and the Earth Lord's seal! Where is this? How did I get here?"