Chapter 394: Heavenly Prison Cage
Ling Yuxiu and the others were stunned with shock as they watched more and more Herdsmen of the Sun approach, kneeling on one knee, and the cries of "Your Highness" ringing out one after another.
At this moment, nearly all the Herdsmen of the Sun had gathered here. Looking down, there were nearly a hundred thousand Herdsmen of the Sun, all kneeling on one knee with their heads bowed.
There was no emperor among the Herdsmen of the Sun, so Qin Mu naturally couldn't be one of them. Then what kind of "Your Highness" were they referring to?
"Is the cowherd the Your Highness of the Great Ruins? Or the Your Highness of Carefree Village? Is the cowherd the crown prince of the Great Ruins?"
Ling Yuxiu was a bit confused. Did the cowherd boy have such a background?
And how could he control this sun ship and harness its power?
Fox Ling'er was a bit disappointed: "So the young master isn't a fox spirit who became a demon?"
Qin Mu released his palm, his body gradually returning to normal, and the two arms that had sprouted retracted back into his body. He quickly helped the old chieftain to his feet and said, "Chieftain, please tell the clansmen to rise."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
The old chieftain stood up and said solemnly, "I didn't know Your Highness's identity earlier. If there was any offense, please forgive me, Your Highness."
He turned around, raised his arm, and shouted loudly to the Herdsmen of the Sun below: "People of the Herdsmen of the Sun who guard the Sun Well, the Your Highness of Carefree Village has arrived! Carefree Village has not forgotten us! After twenty thousand years of waiting, twenty thousand years of hardship, we have finally made it! The Sun Well will not fall! The Herdsmen of the Sun will not be exterminated!"
The simple and honest Herdsmen of the Sun showed ecstatic joy on their faces. They cheered and laughed, and the oppression from the recent days of suffering and the cruelty of war vanished without a trace.
The invasion of foreign demons had cast a shadow of extinction over the Herdsmen of the Sun near the Sun Well. All the clansmen were fighting and struggling for the future of their race, but they had no confidence in surviving this calamity. The pressure grew heavier, and the atmosphere within the clan became more and more oppressive.
But now, with Qin Mu's arrival, their lost hope had returned!
It was a carnival. Giants were running and cheering everywhere. Some wept with joy, others danced and sang. Some went to inform the wounded warriors and the dying elders, and others offered incense and prayed to the spirit tablets of their ancestors.
"Chieftain, could there be a misunderstanding?"
Qin Mu looked at the celebrating crowd below, somewhat puzzled, and said to the old chieftain, "I am not your Your Highness..."
The old chieftain shook his head and said, "Anyone who is not a Herdsman of the Sun but can control the sun ship can only be one thing: the royal family! Back then, Ziqing was ordered by the emperor to forge the sun ship. Besides being controlled by the Sun Guardian with a pure yang body, the sun ship can also be controlled by the royal family. Your Highness is not a Herdsman of the Sun, so naturally you are from the royal family of Carefree Village!"
Qin Mu shook his head: "I am a Dominator Body. Maybe the Dominator Body is also a pure yang body."
"Dominator Body? What Dominator Body?"
The chieftain was confused. The carnival below grew louder and more lively. He probed, "Your Highness, is the Dominator Body a term for the bloodline of the royal family?"
Qin Mu became suspicious. Could the Dominator Body really be a term for the royal family? Something seemed off.
If the Dominator Body was a term for the royal family, then was Xu Shenghua also a member of the royal family?
If Xu Shenghua was also a member of the royal family, then what about what the village chief said about true and false Dominator Bodies? Was there such a thing as a false royal bloodline?
If the Dominator Body wasn't the royal family, then was the Dominator Body a pure yang body?
If it was a pure yang body, then how could Qin Mu control the moon ship?
Doubts arose in his heart, and he really wanted to find the village chief and ask him clearly.
He had always believed that he was a Dominator Body, unique and unparalleled, and because of this, he possessed an invincible conviction. He had never doubted this.
But now, the words of the Herdsmen of the Sun chieftain made him feel confused and shaken.
After the carnival, the old chieftain ordered the selection of the Sun Guardian to continue. The Herdsmen of the Sun were quite puzzled but still obeyed and returned to the Sun God Temple. Qin Mu also brought Ling Yuxiu and the others along, and as the Your Highness, they were treated as honored guests.
Qin Mu looked down and saw many Herdsmen of the Sun stepping forward to try to ignite the Sun Furnace, but most could only barely light it before it went out. No one could sustain it for long.
However, strangely enough, when some Herdsmen of the Sun ignited the Sun Furnace, wonderful visions would appear inside it. There were patterns of fire dragons, fire phoenixes, fire flood dragons, fire qilins, and other exotic creatures, accompanied by strange sounds.
Ling Yuxiu and the others also found it very strange. Si Yunxiang whispered, "The images appearing in the furnace look like spirit bodies, but these spirit bodies here are a bit different."
Everyone nodded. There were four major spirit bodies: Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger. The four major spirit bodies were a general term, and each spirit body was a broad category. They weren't necessarily in the form of Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, or White Tiger; they could have other forms. For example, in the Wolf Residence Kingdom, many spirit bodies were dragon-wolf spirit bodies.
And dragon-wolf spirit bodies belonged to the Azure Dragon spirit body category.
But from the visions appearing in the Sun Furnace, the spirit bodies of the Herdsmen of the Sun manifested as fire dragons, fire phoenixes, and other phenomena, which seemed like branches of the Vermilion Bird spirit body.
However, the Vermilion Bird spirit body didn't seem to be the so-called pure yang body; it was a fire-attribute spirit body. The test of the Sun Furnace should be for the pure yang body.
From this perspective, the spirit bodies of the Herdsmen of the Sun couldn't be simply classified under the Vermilion Bird spirit body.
Qin Mu asked doubtfully, "Chieftain, are there not only four major spirit bodies in the world?"
"The four major spirit bodies? You mean the four types: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise?"
The old chieftain shook his head and said, "The pure yang body is not among the four major spirit bodies."
"So that's it!"
Everyone's hearts shook violently. So there were indeed more than four major spirit bodies in this world!
"The four major spirit bodies should be a term used by people outside the Great Ruins, right?"
The old chieftain said, "There are not only four major spirit bodies in this world. There are also pure yang bodies, pure yin bodies, and other, stronger spirit bodies. The theory of four major spirit bodies is just a saying from the End Times period. There are some legends in my clan that many spirit bodies coexisted in the world back then, with as many as several hundred types. But after the great calamity, many spirit bodies disappeared. The people outside the Great Ruins were sealed and imprisoned, leaving only the four major spirit bodies."
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang exchanged glances, their faces showing confusion and fear. This was completely different from what they had heard!
What they had heard was that the abandoned people inside the Great Ruins were the ones who were sealed and cursed, never to leave the Great Ruins!
If the abandoned people left the Great Ruins, they would be killed without mercy!
How could it be, according to the old chieftain of the Herdsmen of the Sun, that the people outside the Great Ruins were the ones who were sealed?
"People outside only have the four major spirit bodies."
The old chieftain said, "But in the Great Ruins, you can find many more types of spirit bodies. Therefore, the ones who are sealed are the people outside the Great Ruins. They live in a cage without knowing it, under a false starry sky, raised by the gods. They are just a bunch of pitiful creatures."
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang groaned. The people of Yan Kingdom looked at the abandoned people of the Great Ruins as pitiful creatures, but unexpectedly, in the eyes of the people of the Great Ruins, the people outside were the pitiful ones. The Great Ruins were free; it was the true sky!
The old chieftain's words dealt a devastating blow to their minds!
However, Qin Mu recalled that deduction by the Heavenly Alliance, which found that the sun, moon, and stars were all illusions. He felt that the Herdsmen of the Sun chieftain's words made a lot of sense.
The ones sealed might not be the Great Ruins, but the outside world!
"Chieftain, there should also be a Dominator Body in this world, right?" Qin Mu asked confidently.
The old chieftain shook his head and said, "Your Highness, I have never heard of a Dominator Body. There are no records of a Dominator Body in the clan's archives either."
Qin Mu waved his hand and laughed, "Just because you don't know doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Your knowledge is too shallow, not as broad as our village chief's. Chieftain, if I am your Your Highness, a member of the royal family, then can I ignite the Sun Furnace?"
The old chieftain smiled and said, "Although Your Highness is a member of the royal family, it is impossible to ignite the Sun Furnace. This Sun Furnace can only be ignited using the blood of a pure yang body as a guide, with true fire. If you are not a pure yang body, it is impossible to ignite it. Our Herdsmen of the Sun were famous in ancient times for our pure yang bodies. Only we Herdsmen of the Sun could ignite the Sun Furnace. Even the royal family couldn't do it."
Qin Mu leaped down and walked toward the Sun Furnace, saying, "But the blood of a Dominator Body can ignite the Sun Furnace!"
He arrived in front of the Sun Furnace, cut his wrist, and let his blood fall into the Sun Furnace. Qin Mu concentrated his mind, activated his true fire, and surged it into the Sun Furnace.
Boom—
The Sun Furnace instantly blazed into flames, rising like a sun, emitting rolling waves of heat and firepower. The sunlight illuminated the entire Sun God Temple in an instant!
And inside the Sun Furnace, instead of visions of fire dragons or fire qilins, a human figure appeared. The figure grew larger and larger, filling the entire Sun Furnace, then walked out of it, clasping the Sun Furnace with both hands as if holding a sun against his chest!
Qin Mu dispersed his true fire, and the Sun Furnace immediately went out. The figure also disappeared, and the Sun Furnace fell back onto the backs of the three divine statues.
Qin Mu's confidence was restored. He returned to the platform and said to the dumbfounded Herdsmen of the Sun chieftain with a smile, "Now can you prove that I am a Dominator Body?"
The old chieftain's expression was dazed, and he was somewhat confused, muttering, "The royal family can also be a pure yang body... It must be so!"
Qin Mu shook his head and laughed, "This is the effect of the Dominator Body!"
He was full of confidence: "The village chief didn't lie to me after all! There really is a Dominator Body in this world!"
He didn't know that his body was the most ordinary one, just a normal person without any spirit body attribute. It was precisely because he was a blank slate that he could arbitrarily transform his primal energy attributes. He could transform into the four major spirit bodies, mastering the four types of primal energy: Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger. He could also transform into a pure yang body, mastering pure yang primal energy. It wasn't because of the so-called Dominator Body.
Ever since the village chief called him a Dominator Body, Qin Mu had trained with desperate effort. His ordinary physique had undergone incredible transformations. With thousands of times the effort of others, his body had transformed again and again, gradually moving toward an unknown direction, adding many unpredictable possibilities to his future.
Qin Mu attributed this to being a Dominator Body, but he overlooked his own hard work.
"Chieftain, it's almost dark!" Suddenly, a Herdsmen of the Sun elder said with a grave expression.
The old chieftain's heart tightened. He looked at Qin Mu and said, "Your Highness, the foreign demons are invading. Please help us!"
Qin Mu nodded. But at that moment, the sky above the Sun Well was suddenly shrouded in darkness. The area around the Sun Well shone brightly, but outside, there was an extremely dense darkness!