Chapter 651: The Suspended Realm
In the following five or six months, Chi Xi and Banguo Cuo left them alone. Chi Xi took the initiative to appear and pay his respects to the First Ancestor Human Sovereign. Although the First Ancestor Human Sovereign was very weak, he did not avoid the meeting. Chi Xi could not discern his true strength, so he had no choice but to restrain himself and focus entirely on piloting the green boat toward the Suspended Realm.
The tower ship was severely damaged, with all six wings broken, greatly reducing its speed. Chi Xi replaced the original wings with the crow wings of the Fire Crow Deity, but the speed was still far from what it had been. Although they took a shortcut, the time spent was much longer than expected.
During these months, aside from cultivating their primordial spirits with Ling Yuxiu, Qin Mu also practiced sparring with Banguo Cuo, studying the combat techniques of the Three Heads and Six Arms.
Banguo Cuo cultivated the Invincible Battle God Technique passed down by Chi Xi, which was extremely formidable. Previously, Qin Mu had severely wounded Banguo Cuo with a single palm strike, so he had somewhat underestimated the techniques and divine abilities of the Chi Ming era. However, after witnessing Chi Xi’s battle with the Great Sun Star Lord, he became interested in the Three Heads and Six Arms.
Banguo Cuo was terrified and deeply feared him, so when Qin Mu proposed sparring, he refused without a second thought. Only after being beaten by Qin Mu did he reluctantly agree.
As the two sparred, Banguo Cuo’s understanding of the Invincible Battle God Technique deepened. One day, a mad thought suddenly arose in his heart: “My cultivation and strength are advancing so rapidly. If I suddenly launch a lethal strike, I can definitely take down that brat Qin!”
During their sparring, he suddenly unleashed a killing move, attempting to eliminate Qin Mu. Then he lay in bed for over ten days before recovering.
After his injuries healed, Banguo Cuo refused to spar with Qin Mu again, even when Qin Mu swore he would not strike heavily.
Qin Mu had no choice but to let Ling Yuxiu spar with Banguo Cuo while he watched from the side.
Ling Yuxiu cultivated the Ancestral Dragon Supreme Technique, a divine ability at the Imperial Throne level. Although she was not a dragon, she had cultivated the Nine Dragons Imperial Technique since childhood, so her progress was rapid.
Moreover, Ba Shan’s Sacrificial Wine had pointed her toward the path of merging combat and techniques. Ling Yuxiu advanced boldly on this path, surging forward like a dragon, cultivating a body of brute dragon-like strength.
Her strength was on par with Banguo Cuo’s, surpassing him in power and divine ability potency, but she could not match the physical transformations of the Invincible Battle God Technique’s Three Heads and Six Arms.
One day, Banguo Cuo suddenly broke through, unlocking the Life and Death Divine Treasury. Ling Yuxiu was immediately outmatched and defeated.
Banguo Cuo was smug, glancing at Qin Mu, and a surge of overwhelming confidence welled up in his heart: “I’ve broken through the Life and Death Divine Treasury, and he’s still at the Seven Stars level. Killing him will be a piece of cake! I’ll arrange his corpse into a big ‘submit’ character… But the First Ancestor is protecting him, so it’s not easy to make a move…”
Just then, Chi Xi suddenly said nervously, “The Suspended Realm is almost here!”
Qin Mu and Ling Yuxiu immediately went to the forest at the bow of the ship and looked out, but they saw nothing. The First Ancestor Human Sovereign also came over, but he saw nothing either.
During these days, Qin Mu had been treating his injuries, and his complexion had improved somewhat. However, the Heaven Topple Three Styles had taken a heavy toll, leaving him still pale and sickly.
Suddenly, the broken ship shook violently, jolting harshly. Chi Xi channeled all his power to steer the ship desperately, preventing it from falling apart.
Qin Mu looked outside. The surroundings were still dark, with nothing visible. He had no idea what was causing the ship’s turbulence. Just as he was wondering, the tower ship began to stretch longer and thinner.
Not only the ship, but they themselves also became elongated and slender, as fine as a hair, stretching for thousands of miles!
The bow of the ship accelerated rapidly, but the stern had not yet picked up speed. Only then did Qin Mu notice that they and the ship were being sucked into an opening in the starry sky!
That opening blended perfectly with the surrounding darkness, completely invisible!
Whoosh—
The tower ship, along with Qin Mu and the others, was swallowed by the opening. Suddenly, the dark space trembled twice like cooled fish soup turning into fish jelly, then returned to calm. The broken ship, covered in trees, had vanished without a trace.
After passing through this invisible opening, the tower ship returned to normal.
On the ship, the scene before everyone’s eyes suddenly became bizarre and dazzling. A kaleidoscope of colors flashed past like a revolving lantern. They seemed to be traveling through a maze composed of various lights. Chi Xi was nervously controlling the ship’s course, not daring to make any mistakes.
“What place is this?”
Qin Mu was startled and uncertain. The surrounding lights gave him an extremely dangerous feeling, as if the slightest touch would lead to death and the dissipation of his soul.
“This is the place discovered by the first Chi Emperor. After entering here, he did not reappear for thousands of years. None of the deities and demons who entered to search for him returned alive. The Chi Ming era then fell into chaos. It is said that heroes from all over competed for supremacy, with deities and demons usurping the imperial throne and establishing false dynasties, while various deities and demons carved up territories, plunging the mortal world into turmoil.”
Chi Xi continued, “Finally, among the descendants of the Chi Emperor, a peerless genius emerged, crushed the false dynasty, and reestablished the Chi Ming Divine Dynasty, known as the Ming Emperor. The era of the Chi Emperor is called the Western Emperor, while the Ming Emperor’s reign is called the Eastern Emperor era. The Eastern Chi Ming and Western Chi Ming both belong to the Chi Ming era. The Ming Emperor performed a grand sacrifice to his ancestors and obtained a wisp of the Chi Emperor’s consciousness drifting through the cosmos, thus learning the path to this place. Only the Ming Emperor knew this path. After the Ming Emperor fell in battle, he passed the path to the Chi Ming Divine Son, who led the remnants of our Chi Ming era to take refuge here. That was 350,000 years ago.”
Qin Mu, Ling Yuxiu, and the others listened intently. During the transition between the Eastern and Western Chi Ming, heroes must have risen and contended for supremacy, a time surely brilliant and dazzling.
“It’s a pity I wasn’t born in that era to see the heroes and champions of that time,” Qin Mu said with emotion.
Chi Xi glanced at him with his six eyes and sneered, “Even if you were born in that era, it would be useless. The Ming Emperor was a Son of Heaven’s Mandate. If you went there, you would only be crushed by him!”
“Son of Heaven’s Mandate? A person destined by heaven?”
Qin Mu’s heart stirred and asked, “Then is the Chi Ming Divine Son also a person destined by heaven?”
Chi Xi did not answer. Suddenly, the maze of light came to an end, and a vast continent appeared ahead, floating amidst the multicolored lights. Above the continent, suns and moons moved, along with a few scattered stars.
Qin Mu looked around and saw that the continent was completely surrounded by light, with no view of the outside world or any other stars.
This place was completely isolated from the outside world, truly worthy of being called the Suspended Realm!
The green boat, covered in forests, sailed toward the center of the continent. The First Ancestor Human Sovereign said weakly, “Mu’er, look at the sun.”
Qin Mu’s heart stirred: “He called me ‘Mu’er’—is he trying to close the distance between us? Hmph, I haven’t forgiven you yet…” Despite his thoughts, he couldn’t bring himself to hate the First Ancestor.
He looked toward the sun of the Suspended Realm and was slightly startled. The Suspended Realm had three suns, very large, but the light they emitted was somewhat strange, like divine radiance. Moreover, the suns had layered patterns, like pupils.
“Array structures?”
Qin Mu exclaimed in surprise, “Are these suns man-made?”
The First Ancestor shook his head. “They are eyes.”
Qin Mu’s heart leaped, and he blurted out, “The Chi Emperor’s eyes? Do you mean the Chi Emperor died here, and his eyes turned into suns?”
“And the moons.”
The First Ancestor, looking sickly, raised his hand and pointed at the moons in the sky. There were also three moons. He said, “The moons should also be formed from the Chi Emperor’s eyes. The scattered stars in the sky are likely his Five Elements Divine Treasury. This Chi Emperor probably died here, his body transforming into this continent, becoming fertile soil, his blood turning into rivers, and his energy sea becoming the vast ocean.”
Qin Mu was horrified and murmured, “The Chi Emperor used his own flesh to create the Suspended Realm, giving his descendants a place to stand. This Chi Emperor is truly admirable…”
Soon, a six-armed, three-headed divine general flew over to inspect them. Upon seeing Chi Xi, he quickly bowed and said, “Sir, you left the Suspended Realm to explore for news and didn’t return for thousands of years. The Divine Son was extremely worried. Now that you’ve returned, the Divine Son will surely be overjoyed!”
Chi Xi was deeply moved and said, “This old minister has gone through many hardships and barely returned alive, but the clansmen who went with me all met with misfortune. I must go to the Divine Son and beg for forgiveness!”
Qin Mu was surprised. Chi Xi’s words did not seem feigned. This executioner of the Chi Ming era was cold toward everyone, but he held genuine respect for this Chi Ming Divine Son.
“Could the Chi Ming Divine Son also be a figure as captivating as the Chi Emperor and the Ming Emperor?” he thought to himself, looking forward to meeting the Chi Ming Divine Son.
The green boat landed outside a magnificent divine city. Chi Xi quickly disembarked and was about to head to the imperial city to report his experiences to the Chi Ming Divine Son when he suddenly remembered something and said to the three-headed, six-armed divine general, “These are envoys from the Yan Kang, here to meet the Divine Son to discuss an alliance. Arrange accommodations for them first and let them wait for the Divine Son’s summons. This is Banguo Cuo, the disciple I’ve taken in. Arrange for him to stay in my palace.”
The six-armed divine general acknowledged and said, “Envoys, please follow me.”
Qin Mu, Ling Yuxiu, the First Ancestor, and Banguo Cuo followed this divine general into the divine city, looking around in amazement. The people here all had three heads and six arms, with three heads and six eyes. Some even had nine eyes, and others had cultivated a vertical eye in the center of their foreheads, likely due to different cultivation techniques.
Additionally, Qin Mu noticed many strange beasts, all of which also had three heads and eight legs. High-status cultivators rode these beasts through the streets!
“Even the cultivation techniques of these beasts are somewhat similar to the Invincible Battle God Technique of the Great Venerable!”
Ling Yuxiu looked at a cat crouching on a roof eave, as large as a tiger with three heads side by side, and exclaimed in surprise, “The civilization of the Chi Ming era seems to be built entirely on the foundation of Three Heads and Six Arms! Incredible!”
They arrived at the center of the imperial city, where there was a city within a city, with walls made of purple gold. Inside were thousands of palaces and halls, majestic and magnificent. Outside this city should be the residences of deities and demons, also filled with layers of palaces.
The three-headed divine general led them to a palace estate and said, “The Yan Kang envoys will stay here for now. The Divine Son will summon you soon.”
Qin Mu heard the sound of reading coming from next door. He walked over, looked up, and peered inside. The hall was extremely luxurious, likely a private school for noble deities and demons. Some children with three heads and six arms sat inside, reading along with their teacher.
They had three mouths, and their voices were crisp, clearly reaching Qin Mu’s ears:
“Three parts of the sky, the Dragon Han; Chi Ming split in two! North and South, the Sovereigns established; Kai Huang passed down in one generation!”