Chapter 638: Completely Subdued
Qin Mu devoted himself entirely to transcribing the runes on the Creation Divine Wheel. The faintest ink is better than the best memory. As he transcribed, countless insights suddenly flooded his own mind. Some runes, after being copied once, naturally revealed their meaning, and along with them, he comprehended several forms of physical creation divine abilities.
However, there were still many more runic imprints that required deduction and calculation before their mysteries could be understood.
"I really should have brought several hundred or even several thousand Yan Kang scholars to study and transcribe together. The speed would be unimaginably fast. With many people, wisdom is broad. With so many scholars transcribing together, all kinds of brilliant ideas would surely burst forth!"
This was the function of a dynasty. Talents from all fields could be gathered in large numbers for large-scale research, the speed far surpassing solitary effort by an unknown margin.
"Unfortunately, Chi Xi is the type who only yields after a beating. He needs a thorough thrashing before he becomes completely docile and willing to cooperate with us."
Qin Mu tried using his own primal energy to light up the runes on the Creation Divine Wheel, activating the runic changes to continue transcribing, thinking to himself: "The First Ancestor's skills aren't bad. I just wonder if he can subdue him."
Inside the Chiming Town Celestial Tower, the First Ancestor Human Sovereign was exceptionally valiant, fighting his way up from the three hundredth floor.
This tower was a supreme treasure used to suppress the Celestial Palace, possessing immense power. The divine weapons enshrined on each floor were the most famous divine weapons of the Chiming Era, and these weapons came in sets of six.
The Chixi deity used his own divine power to activate them, unleashing the weapons' might, directly elevating his strength by a major tier. Additionally, each floor had a thousand treasures hanging outside, combined into a formation. The power of this thousand-treasure formation was immense, attacking the First Ancestor Human Sovereign alongside him.
A thousand divine weapons shook, and waves of divine might bombarded the First Ancestor Human Sovereign inside the tower. The six heavy treasures in Chi Xi's hands flew up and down, their divine might overwhelming. Then they were crushed by the First Ancestor Human Sovereign, shattering the thousand-treasure formation outside the tower and sending Chi Xi flying, forcing him to retreat to the next floor.
The higher the floor, the greater the power of the treasures enshrined within, and the stronger the divine weapon formations hanging outside. By the time the First Ancestor Human Sovereign reached the eight hundredth floor, he too felt the immense strain.
In truth, after the three hundredth floor, it was no longer Chi Xi controlling and driving these heavy treasures, but the treasures controlling Chi Xi. Chi Xi's own cultivation and strength had become negligible compared to the power of the treasures and the might of the formations!
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign was contending against the heavy treasures and formations within the Chiming Town Celestial Tower, forcing his way upward all the way to the eight hundredth floor!
"If I keep fighting, I might get injured myself."
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign's eyes flickered, thinking to himself: "It seems Chi Xi can't hold on much longer either. His Leakless Battle Divine Art isn't truly flawless; it only works by drawing on the blood and qi of others to keep himself at his peak. But there's a prerequisite: he needs to injure his opponent first. If his opponent is unharmed, then he has no choice but to consume his own primal energy and cultivation, growing weaker and weaker."
Chi Xi's three-headed, six-armed form was indeed an incredibly powerful battle form, but it was still far weaker than him. He had long since beaten Chi Xi black and blue, making it hard for him to continue.
The reason Chi Xi could still hold on was mainly because the First Ancestor Human Sovereign wanted to impress Qin Mu, to let Qin Mu see how formidable his Celestial Earth Seal Technique was, so that Qin Mu would willingly learn his techniques.
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign fought all the way to the eight hundredth floor, his purpose being to demonstrate his seal techniques to Qin Mu. As long as Qin Mu saw their subtlety and developed a desire to learn, the First Ancestor could then go with the flow, Qin Mu could take the hint, and all would be well.
"I've reached the eight hundredth floor and shown everything I need to show. Now it's time to end this!"
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign suddenly erupted with full power, executing the Eternal Stability Celestial Seal. As the seal came down, the space within the tower nearly solidified. The Chixi deity was frozen in midair, his body violently trembling as if struck by countless invisible blows!
His body shuddered a hundred times, as if subjected to over a hundred terrifying impacts!
The heavy treasures in his hands suddenly went out of control, their power erupting and blasting toward the First Ancestor Human Sovereign!
These six great treasures no longer needed his command; they attacked the First Ancestor Human Sovereign on their own.
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign drew his sword. The sword at his waist left its sheath, and he swung it, tapping six times. With a series of crisp *clangs*, the six heavy treasures snapped, their power completely lost, directly destroyed by this divine sword!
The First Ancestor's skill in swordsmanship was not particularly high; what was truly formidable was the sword in his hand. The divine might contained in this sword could actually contend with the entire Chiming Town Celestial Tower, clearly not an ordinary treasure!
The Human Sovereign Palace was built within the Jade Bright Celestial Palace, one of the thirty-six celestial palaces, and this sword of his was the Jade Bright Sword, the supreme treasure that suppressed the Jade Bright Palace during the Kaicheng Celestial Court. A prince's sword was naturally extraordinary!
As this sword appeared, all the divine weapons hanging outside the tower trembled violently, their power sweeping wildly in all directions. Beams of divine light hundreds of miles long swept through the air, causing the surrounding space to tremble continuously.
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign dispersed the seal technique. Chi Xi crashed to the ground with a *thump*, and the divine weapons hanging outside the tower clattered down. From a thousand floors, all the divine weapons fell, a truly spectacular sight.
This was the result of the clash between the Chiming Town Celestial Tower and the Jade Bright Sword. The tower was outmatched, its treasures all cut down by the sword's light!
Although the sword's power was immense, the First Ancestor's skill in swordsmanship was lacking, so he rarely used it.
Banggongcuo witnessed this scene and shuddered several times. After a moment's hesitation, his figure slowly faded and vanished.
Chi Xi's three heads were covered in blood. He struggled to crawl toward the eight hundred and first floor, climbing up the stairs only to slide back down.
"Fellow Daoist, there's no need to fight to the death."
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign sheathed his sword, stepped forward, and helped him up, saying, "I truly have no ill intentions, and you can see that. If I had used my full strength from the start, you wouldn't have survived. Your Chiming Era and my Kaicheng Era share the same plight. You've been in seclusion for so long; why must we make a mess of things over a moment's pride?"
Chi Xi's three heads panted heavily. Struggling, he said, "You want the deities and demons of my Chiming Era to fall under Yan Kang's control. Yan Kang is nothing but a tiny state; any deity or demon from the Chiming Era could destroy it! How can I accept submitting to Yan Kang? If I surrender, how can I face the Divine Son and report back?"
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign said solemnly, "You misunderstand. My original intention is an alliance, not to make the Chiming Era submit. The strong of the Chiming Era have refused to submit to the Celestial Court for hundreds of thousands of years; how could they submit to Yan Kang? I deeply admire the integrity of the Chiming Era's predecessors and would never humiliate you. I ask Fellow Daoist Chi Xi to consider this."
Chi Xi sat up, stopping the bleeding from his wounds, and sneered, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign shook his head, "I did say it, but you were determined to kill me and search my soul."
Chi Xi staggered to his feet and finally relented, apologizing, "It was my fault. I apologize to you."
The First Ancestor quickly supported him, saying, "I was also a bit too heavy-handed."
Chi Xi rested for a while to heal his wounds, then hobbled down the stairs, saying, "My Chiming Divine Dynasty can join forces with you, but we will not submit to anyone. Also, I cannot make this decision alone. I must contact the Divine Son before I can decide."
The First Ancestor frowned slightly, thinking to himself: "Do I have to fight this Chiming Divine Son too? Are all the people of the Chiming Era such stubborn mules? How troublesome!"
For the past twenty thousand years, he had been sunk in guilt and self-blame over the destruction of the Kaicheng Era and his failure to personally fight on the battlefield. He had always been detached from worldly affairs. Now, he just wanted to dump the mess of the Chiming Era onto someone else, thinking: "Let the Human Sovereign Qin handle this troublesome matter."
He didn't know that Qin Mu was always a hands-off manager, often coming up with ideas and leaving the specifics to the Celestial Saint Church, the Yan Kang National Teacher, or Emperor Yan Feng.
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign and Chi Xi descended the Chiming Town Celestial Tower and arrived beside the Creation Divine Wheel. They saw Qin Mu still continuously activating the divine wheel, intently studying the runic changes on it.
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign smiled slightly, thinking to himself: "After all, he's still young and a bit reserved, too embarrassed to learn my seal techniques. I'll give him an opening later, and he'll come to learn my techniques."
"Are you two done fighting?"
Qin Mu looked up in surprise, turning around, and said, "That fast? I haven't had time to finish transcribing these runes."
"Keep pretending."
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign sneered inwardly, but said amiably, "I've already come to an agreement with Fellow Daoist Chi Xi. At least we haven't harmed the harmony between our two sides."
Qin Mu looked at the Chiming Town Celestial Tower. The once jewel-bedecked, radiant tower was now bare, its light dimmed. He then looked at the Chixi deity, whose bones seemed broken in countless places, his body a bloody mess, with one head drooping as if his neck were snapped.
"Truly, no harm done to the harmony," he thought to himself.
The Chixi deity's expression was also ugly. He said, "Young friend Qin, you obtained my Divine Execution Blade. Please return it."
Qin Mu shook his head, "That small box was given to me by the Saint Master. I can't return it. Our rules in the Great Ruins are: what you take by skill, what you find, and what others steal and give you, you never return."
He said seriously, "I was picked up by Granny myself. She said no matter who asks, I'm not to be returned! My lame Grandpa, he steals things everywhere and gives them away, and he never returns them either."
Chi Xi was choked with anger, his whole body trembling. The First Ancestor Human Sovereign quickly interjected, "Fellow Daoist, he's still a child."
Chi Xi couldn't vent his anger and said coldly, "The Divine Execution Blade needs to drink blood every time it's opened, using blood to moisten the blade, or else it will backfire on its master. You've used it once already, haven't you? I can see blood light winding around you. The next time you open the box, the Divine Execution Blade will kill you to drink your blood!"
Qin Mu was startled, feeling uneasy.
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign said, "What blade? Let me have a look."
Qin Mu took out the small box. The First Ancestor Human Sovereign examined it carefully, studied it for a moment, but couldn't open it. His expression changed slightly, and he said, "A Divine Execution Blade from the Chiming Era, a great evil object. It contains the resentment of a Throne Seat deity, extremely terrifying!"
He wanted to return it to Chi Xi, but Qin Mu quickly said, "Be careful, he might use the blade to kill you!"
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign shuddered and returned the small box to Qin Mu, saying, "If you can avoid using it, never use it. I can feel the resentment and killing intent of a Throne Seat powerhouse coming from the box. You've used it once already, haven't you? Last time it didn't drink blood, so its resentment has already coiled around you. It's best to let it drink blood to appease its resentment toward you."
Qin Mu nodded, pressing down on the box, and said to the Chixi deity, "Senior, can you call out that scrapped disciple of yours, the one with the two deer legs?"
Banggongcuo, hiding in the shadows, heard this and was about to come out, but suddenly realized the truth and flew into a rage: "This bastard wants to use me as a sacrifice to the blade!"
—Xing Han's box opened and closed: snap, snap, snap... (Translator Long Pangzi's note: The box is asking for monthly votes for the Annals of the Shepherd God!)