Chapter 1471: Imperial Heaven and Blue Imperial Field (Third Update)
Wei Suifeng and the others didn’t know what he had encountered in the Fragrant Incense Hall, but Qin Mu was gnashing his teeth, clearly having suffered a great loss.
Qin Mu told them the location of Jade Capital City, then checked on Cripple’s injuries as he spoke. “You go on ahead. Send the Fragrant Incense Hall into Jade Capital City. Once it triggers the seals there, leave immediately. Don’t linger.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been there before. Even though I couldn’t reach the deepest parts, I know a bit about the layout inside.”
Shu Jun said quickly, “With me leading the way, there shouldn’t be any mishaps.”
Wei Suifeng put away the Fragrant Incense Hall and left swiftly with him.
Qin Mu took out medicinal herbs, refined pills, and gave them to Cripple. Cripple’s aura was weak and listless. Carrying Qin Mu through the seals of the Fragrant Incense Hall had damaged his life force and injured his origin. Only after Qin Mu’s treatment did he improve slightly.
But returning to his peak state would still require a period of recuperation.
Qin Mu refined more pills, sorted them, and handed them to Granny Si, telling her when to administer them to Cripple.
Granny Si was puzzled, but then she saw Qin Mu take out the Glazed Azure Sky Canopy and give it to Yan’er. He also summoned the souls of Southern Emperor, Ming Emperor, and others from his vertical eye and entrusted them to Blue Imperial Field and Xu Shenghua for care.
Granny Si was startled. She quickly pulled Qin Mu aside, worried. “Mu’er, don’t scare me. Did you suffer an incurable injury inside the hall?”
Qin Mu shook his head. “I was set up. Grandmother, I need to stay in a dream state for the next few days, using Buddhist techniques to resist the invasion of the Primordial Spirit of the Miluo Palace. You all need to protect me. If you see that every version of me in my dream is chanting sutras…”
He hesitated, then took out the divine bow and handed it to Granny Si, gritting his teeth. “Then shoot my primordial spirit!”
Granny Si’s face changed drastically, and she tossed the divine bow aside.
Qin Mu quickly said, “Even if my primordial spirit is shot, I won’t die. I can reincarnate my soul. At worst, I’ll lose my primordial spirit cultivation and start over. If that Primordial Spirit of the Miluo Palace uses my power to escape the Fragrant Incense Hall, even the Ten Celestial Venerables working together might not be able to stop him! Grandmother, when the time comes, you must shoot my primordial spirit without hesitation!”
Granny Si’s expression was complicated. She silently picked up the divine bow and handed it to Blind. Blind took the bow, pondered for a moment, then shook his head. “I can’t do it.”
He wanted to hand the bow to Mute, but Mute also shook his head. “I can’t bring myself to harm the child I raised…”
“I’ll do it.”
Granny Si snatched the bow back, took a deep breath, and said decisively, “I picked Mu’er up back then. It’s better if I do it myself. I have a hard heart!”
She panted heavily a few times, clearly not as hard-hearted as she claimed.
Qin Mu said to Blue Imperial Field, “Whether to merge with your own remnant soul is a decision only you can make. No one else can decide for you.”
Blue Imperial Field hesitated, then nodded.
Yan’er took away the soul of Southern Emperor Zhuque. Mother and daughter were finally reunited, and naturally had much to say.
Only Ming Emperor’s soul drifted in this unfamiliar land, somewhat confused. “Where is this? Wasn’t I dead?”
He looked up and down at this world, so strange that he didn’t even know how long he had been dead or how he had ended up here.
“Don’t leave this place!”
A little girl stopped him, looking up at him with a crisp, pleasant voice. “This is the Ten Thousand Sacred Mountains, a place the Netherworld can’t reach. You’re a ghost. If you leave here, Lord Tu Bo will take you to the Netherworld! You were locked in the Fragrant Incense Hall, so you must have done a lot of bad things in life, right? Lord Tu Bo will whip your bottom hard!”
Ming Emperor was caught between laughter and tears. He stopped and asked, “Who are you? Why are you blocking me?”
“My name is Hua Xuanxiu, and this is Wen Yuan, my senior brother.”
The girl pulled over a handsome young man and smiled. “He’s the young cult leader of our Heavenly Saint Cult. After a few years of assessment, he can inherit the position of cult leader. Of course, the old cult leader is still alive. According to our cult’s rules, the young cult leader should ideally kill the old cult leader to take the throne legitimately. I’m afraid Wen Yuan won’t have that chance. Our old cult leader is strong and healthy…”
Wen Yuan Patriarch said helplessly, “That’s a bad tradition passed down from past cult leaders’ misinterpretation of Patriarch Wei’s teachings. Now that Patriarch Wei has returned, this rule no longer applies. Ming Emperor, since you have no physical body and are in a ghost state, it’s best to stay here. When the cult leader wakes up and finds fragments of your former body, he can rebuild a physical body for you and bring you back to life.”
Ming Emperor found the two children endearing and couldn’t help feeling a sense of closeness. He said, “I’m just a lonely ghost now, with nothing to offer. How about I teach you two my ultimate technique as compensation…”
Hua Xuanxiu and Wen Yuan Patriarch exchanged glances and said in unison, “Is it the Flawless Creation Mystic Art?”
Ming Emperor was stunned for a moment, then nodded, puzzled. “Even children know my Flawless Creation Mystic Art? What era is this? Has even my secret technique become common knowledge?”
“We’ve both practiced it.”
Wen Yuan Patriarch thought for a moment and said, “Oh, right. When the cult leader mentioned you before, he said the reason you were killed was that your Flawless Creation Mystic Art couldn’t be cultivated to the primordial spirit level, preventing your primordial spirit from transforming into a three-headed, six-armed form along with your body. Since you can’t leave now, we’ll teach you the Red Emperor’s Three Primordial Spirit Indestructible Divine Sense.”
Ming Emperor’s eyes widened, his mind in a daze. He nodded as if possessed, then suddenly came to his senses and asked, “Little friends, what era is this?”
“Yankang!” Hua Xuanxiu and Wen Yuan Patriarch said in unison.
Blue Imperial Field, meanwhile, looked at the other version of himself—Imperial Heaven. At this moment, Imperial Heaven was a cluster of remnant souls carrying memories from a million years ago. Whether to merge with his own remnant soul and become Imperial Heaven made him hesitate.
Imperial Heaven was also looking at him. The two youths looked almost identical, though Blue Imperial Field was slightly plumper. With Yan’er around, it was hard for him to stay thin.
There was still a trace of childishness on his face, while Imperial Heaven appeared much more mature. However, his form was illusory, without a physical body, and his soul was severely fragmented.
Blue Imperial Field looked blankly at this former version of himself. Although their souls were the same, and he himself was the consciousness born from this body, he felt that he was not Imperial Heaven.
Imperial Heaven seemed to see his confusion and smiled gently. “Can you tell me about your experiences over the years?”
Blue Imperial Field hesitated, then nodded.
One person and one remnant soul sat by a cliff. Blue Imperial Field slowly recounted his experiences over the years.
From his rebirth with no memories, to Netherworld Celestial Venerable bringing him back to the Netherworld, then sending him out and entrusting him to Qin Mu. From Qin Mu taking him to various academies and schools to learn basic runes.
From Qin Mu entrusting him to the elders of the Crippled Village, learning from them, to the outbreak of the Yankang Calamity, his return to the Netherworld, and then Cripple sneaking him out of the Netherworld after the calamity.
It was only then that he realized how colorful and unique his experiences had been.
He talked about wandering and comprehending the Dao, taking on many disciples, making many friends. He couldn’t help but smile as he stammeringly explained his various bizarre techniques and ideas to his remnant soul.
He also spoke fondly of his many disciples and his friendships, like how Big Head Shu Jun was captured by Medicine Master and soaked in a medicine vat with him for research;
Like the expressionless Xu Shenghua, who nevertheless had a warm heart;
Like the mature yet cunning Lin Xuan Dao Master, the stubborn Little Jade Capital King Mu Ran Wang Xianren, the always eager-to-serve Southern Emperor Princess Yan’er, the sword-obsessed Kai Emperor Qin Ye, and the perpetually hungry Qin Fengqing, who only talked about how to eat deliciously…
He had met so many interesting people that he couldn’t help but laugh as he spoke.
He didn’t know why he had so much to say. Although Imperial Heaven was his remnant soul, he felt like a beloved older brother.
Imperial Heaven listened with a smile. Blue Imperial Field talked until sunset without finishing his story, then continued from sunset until dawn was about to break.
The east was turning pale.
Imperial Heaven asked, “Did you never encounter danger?”
“Big brother took it all on for me.”
Blue Imperial Field turned to look at Qin Mu, who was entering a dream state, and murmured, “He bore it all. No matter how great the danger, he carried it alone. He wanted me to focus on comprehending the Dao, not to let those conflicts disturb me, not to let me get involved. I know his intentions…”
“Do you know?”
Imperial Heaven propped himself up with his hands on the ground, leaning back slightly, looking at the brightening sky. He turned his head to look at the other version of himself beside him and smiled. “My experiences are different from yours. Before the Long Han Era, humanity suffered too much, struggled to survive. I once wished someone would bear all of humanity’s suffering, that a hero would rise. Later, I realized no one would be that hero. So I stood up. Since no one would be the hero, I would be.”
His gaze was full of spirit. Though it was a time of hardship, he spoke of it with incredible lightness. “I had to exhaust my mind, had to improve my own strength while also thinking about how to make humanity strong and powerful, how to find a way out of countless dead ends. I always felt tired, both physically and mentally. For this ideal, I had to give up my own path of seeking the Dao, had to wait for more human powerhouses to rise.”
He stood up, facing the rising sun, and spread his arms. “You are luckier than me. In this era, more people have risen. They are heroes, champions. They have taken the burden for you, carrying the weight so you can move forward. Seeker of the Dao, Blue Imperial Field, you are the true Blue Imperial Field!”
His form slowly became transparent, memories fading like fleeting smoke.
He turned back, looked at Blue Imperial Field, and showed a pure smile.
“I am not the true Blue Imperial Field. I am just Blue Imperial Field, suppressed and changed by the era. Imperial Heaven, in the end, is just a fragment of Blue Imperial Field’s memory.”
He waved at Blue Imperial Field, bidding farewell to this version of himself from this era.
Blue Imperial Field quickly stood up, but saw Imperial Heaven rapidly disappearing, leaving only a gentle, warm voice.
“This memory will hold you back, turn you into the me of the past. Let the memories of the past be buried with history…”
Blue Imperial Field reached out but didn’t catch him, only grasping a few strands of his own remnant soul.
The strands of remnant soul sensed his own soul, drilled into his body, and merged with him.
Blue Imperial Field looked at the rising sun and, without realizing it, tears streamed down his face.
He felt as if he had lost something, yet also gained something.
He walked toward the sun. The sunlight grew blinding, and he raised his hand to shield his eyes, seeing Qin Mu sitting cross-legged on the ground, layers of dreams expanding outward.
— There will only be one chapter tonight, because this chapter is over 3,200 words, and I couldn’t bear to split it…