Chapter 912: The Third Eye Mutation
The nine-headed phoenix rose from the ship, its wings spanning the sky, shielding the entire vessel and forcibly withstanding that blow. It was Qi Xiayu's power transmitted from the Primordial Realm that saved them.
Everyone who had flown up from the ship crashed into the nine-phoenix's wings, which were very soft, and none were injured.
The shockwaves from the Heavenly Bell grew increasingly fierce, causing the Phoenix Ship to fly unsteadily, careening wildly through the Blood Rust Zone.
The ship brushed past those continents, even colliding with broken stars and crashing into landmasses. Within the Blood Rust Zone, on ancient, shattered continents, prehistoric ruins suddenly blazed with light. Beams of brilliance flashed, and a horrifying scene unfolded.
On continent after continent, within countless ruins, light erupted as terrifying phantom figures of ancient gods rose from those lands!
The Blood Rust Zone was astonishingly vast, a stretch of dark red celestial bodies and broken continents, now illuminated by countless points of light.
The nine-phoenix phantom struggled to steer the Phoenix Ship through the zone, dodging one terrifying attack after another. From the mouth of one phoenix head came Qi Xiayu's furious voice: "How dangerous is the Blood Rust Zone? Even in the Heavenly Court, it's considered a forbidden zone! Which one of you stirred up this hornet's nest?"
The six thousand-plus divine beings on the ship all turned in unison to look at Qin Mu. Arms raised, they pointed at him.
Yan'er also lifted her wing and pointed at Qin Mu.
Dragon Qilin hesitated for a moment but did not point at Qin Mu.
However, from inside his ear, the little Earth Lord stepped out of the ear canal and raised a hand, pointing at Qin Mu with a solemn expression. "Moo——"
Dragon Qilin quickly whispered, "You can't just say things carelessly. The elixirs were all refined by the Sect Leader. If you point recklessly, the Sect Leader won't give you food."
The little Earth Lord lowered his hand, hung his head, and walked back into the ear canal, looking as if he had done something wrong.
Qin Mu suddenly felt isolated. He stood there, his expression unchanged, but inwardly he was uneasy, afraid that the enraged crowd would throw him off the ship.
"Celestial Venerable Mu, I'll help you this once, but don't expect me to save you again!"
The nine-phoenix phantom pushed the Phoenix Ship to its limits. The Blood Rust Zone was like a pot of chaotic porridge. Amid countless beams of light spanning heaven and earth, bizarre divine beings and demons, somewhat resembling ancient gods, all struck out, causing the Rust Zone to nearly boil as they reached for the Phoenix Ship!
Everyone on board grabbed whatever they could to avoid being flung off by the tumbling ship.
The nine-phoenix phantom piloted the vessel, weaving through at high speed. But the Blood Rust Zone stretched endlessly, an unbroken expanse of stars, and they couldn't escape it in a short time.
Moreover, the figures above the altars on those continents disrupted the Blood Rust Zone, awakening more altars in the ruins ahead, and the number of ancient god spirits flying out from the front grew.
These ancient god spirits possessed immense divine powers, their techniques clearly being the great Dao techniques of ancient gods, with formidable might.
If it were one-on-one, Qi Xiayu, even controlling the Phoenix Ship from the Primordial Realm, would fear no one. But here, there were simply too many ancient god spirits.
She could only focus on piloting the Phoenix Ship, narrowly dodging attacks from the giant spirit bodies, doing her utmost to protect everyone on board and escape this place.
The Phoenix Ship dove and rose. When dodging was impossible, it shrank and charged straight through the spirit bodies, passing through them with remarkable bravery.
But each collision drained Qi Xiayu. She wasn't here in person; controlling the Phoenix Ship from the Primordial Realm made her responses sluggish, and her power was waning. The nine-headed phoenix phantom grew dimmer and dimmer.
Finally, just as her power was nearly exhausted, the Phoenix Ship flew out of that terrifying Blood Rust Zone. Everyone on board breathed a sigh of relief.
The nine-headed phoenix phantom had almost vanished, showing that Qi Xiayu's consumption was immense. Saving them all had left her utterly exhausted.
"Send him to the Heavenly Court and throw him down at the Southern Heavenly Gate. Then immediately sail the ship back. Don't let me see him again!" The nine-phoenix left these words and then dispersed.
Qin Mu remained silent, looking embarrassed.
Qi Jiuyi glanced at him. "Sect Leader Qin, I told you the Blood Rust Zone was extremely dangerous, but you didn't believe me. This is a forbidden zone, one that even beings at the Imperial Throne level dare not tread lightly, let alone us. Someone! Escort Sect Leader Qin to the cabin to rest!"
Several divine beings stepped forward. Two flanked Qin Mu, lifting him up, while a few others followed behind, escorting him into the cabin.
Qi Jiuyi was still uneasy, worried he might escape, so he ordered heavy seals placed on the cabin. "Sect Leader Qin, there are still a few dangerous ruins ahead. Bear with it for a few days. We'll release you when we reach the Heavenly Court."
Yan'er asked curiously, "Are there dangerous places ahead? How do they compare to the Blood Rust Zone?"
Qi Jiuyi replied, "Not inferior. Two days' journey ahead is the Fallen Ground of Emperor Ming, where Emperor Ming died in battle. It's even more dangerous than this place."
Yan'er said seriously, "Then your divine beings won't be able to hold him. The young master is skilled in breaking all kinds of seals. Although your men have higher cultivation than him, he can easily break their seals. I need to apply the seals myself so he can't break them."
With that, she placed heavy seals on the cabin door to prevent Qin Mu from escaping and causing more trouble.
From inside the cabin came Qin Mu's angry voice: "Sister Yan'er, you've betrayed me!"
Dragon Qilin quickly said, "Sect Leader, Sister Yan'er is doing this for your own good, to keep you from causing more trouble. If the Red Emperor hadn't saved us next time, you'd really be dead!"
Qin Mu roared, "Fat Dragon, you've betrayed me too! When New Year comes, I'll have you butchered for the table!"
The Phoenix Ship sped on.
Inside the cabin, Qin Mu took out the red Creation Divine Stone. He hadn't had a chance to examine it closely since obtaining it.
This Creation Divine Stone was small, likely a fragment of a complete one. Wei Suifeng must have found it while searching the ruins of the Blood Rust Zone.
Wei Suifeng knew many secrets. This senior brother had put great effort into earning merit, and leaving this Creation Divine Stone for Qin Mu must have deep meaning.
Qin Mu placed the Creation Divine Stone against his brow, clearing his mind, and let his divine consciousness flow into it. At that moment, something unexpected happened!
The small bump on his brow suddenly stirred. A terrifying energy surged, drawing all his blood and qi toward his brow!
Qin Mu's heart skipped a beat. His face turned deathly pale in an instant. Blood from every part of his body rushed to his brow, and in that moment, he became as thin as a skeleton, a dried-up corpse!
"Damn it!"
He tried to use his primal energy to control the flow of blood to his brow, but the moment he mobilized his primal energy, it too spiraled out of control and surged toward his brow!
"What the hell is this Creation Divine Stone that Senior Brother gave me?"
Qin Mu's scalp tingled. His withered hand gripped the Creation Divine Stone tightly, resisting the force from his brow. That force seemed desperate to obtain the stone, pulling it closer to his brow.
The pull was so strong that Qin Mu could barely hold onto the stone.
"It's not my brow that wants this stone, but this stone that wants to burrow into my brow!" Qin Mu suddenly realized.
All the power within him was his own, with none from the Prince of Netherworld. Ever since he had created the world and reshaped his soul, achieving rebirth, he had complete control over his own power.
Now, there was absolutely no external force inside him.
Then the power must be coming from the Creation Divine Stone itself!
The stone was using his blood and primal energy, trying to drill into his brow and become his third eye!
Qin Mu resisted with all his might. He opened his mouth to call for Yan'er, but no sound came out.
He stretched out his other hand, trembling, trying to grab something to break and alert Dragon Qilin and Yan'er outside the door, but he couldn't move his body or mobilize any primal energy.
Even his soul was trapped inside his body, unable to be summoned!
Suddenly, a tearing pain shot through his brow. The skin there split open with a crack, revealing a bloody wound.
Qin Mu was facing a mirror. He looked into it and saw the wound on his brow gaping open, but no blood flowed out.
The small blood sac on his brow finally revealed its true form: an eye, sitting in the socket of what should have been his third eye. His blood and primal energy surged into it, and the eye absorbed them madly!
Qin Mu's primal energy and blood drained rapidly. His reserves were incredibly deep, comparable to a True God, but this eye was like a bottomless pit, never satisfied!
Terror seized Qin Mu. He had long suspected that the small bump on his brow was a new eye growing back after he had gouged out his third eye. After all, he was skilled in the art of creation, and regrowing a third eye wasn't difficult.
But the bump had never stirred. Whenever he practiced the Tyrant Body Three Dan Art and his primal energy reached his brow, he would faintly feel some of his energy and blood flowing into the bump and disappearing.
Since the consumption was small, and Qin Mu was in a period of explosive growth after his rebirth, with his cultivation skyrocketing, he hadn't paid it much attention.
Who would have thought that this time, the Creation Divine Stone would draw all his blood and primal energy to his brow, and this unformed eye would devour everything!
"Am I going to be killed by my own eye?"
A chill ran down his spine. He gradually lost control of his hand, and the Creation Divine Stone in his palm drew closer and closer to his third eye. The stone seemed sentient, desperate to settle into his brow, crush his third eye, and take its place!
"Wei Suifeng, you bastard... You always screw me over!"
Qin Mu gritted his teeth. His hand trembled, struggling more and more to resist the force from the stone.
Suddenly, his third eye had drained all his blood and primal energy. Unable to take more from his body, a force erupted from the eye, shooting a beam of light at the red divine stone.
His eye was now trying to seize the power of the Creation Divine Stone!
"My eye is a monster too!" Qin Mu cursed inwardly.
The third eye and the Creation Divine Stone fought—one trying to steal the other's power, the other trying to squeeze the eye out and take over.
Qin Mu moved his other hand with difficulty, slowly reaching his chest to pull off the jade pendant hanging around his neck.
That pendant was the Qin-character jade pendant. When Qin Fengqing went to the Carefree Realm, he had given it to the Netherworld Celestial Venerable, who entrusted it to Qin Mu. He had worn it around his neck ever since.
Gripping the pendant, Qin Mu slowly moved it toward his brow. Straining against the forces of his third eye and the Creation Divine Stone, he painstakingly wedged the Qin-character jade pendant between the eye and the stone.
This pendant was forged from the horn of the Earth Lord. Though it looked like jade, it was actually a vast continent, a treasure used by the Earth Lord to suppress Qin Fengqing.
The pendant appeared between the third eye and the Creation Divine Stone, cutting off the two terrifying forces. Qin Mu relaxed his grip on the stone, and the eye and the divine consciousness stopped attracting each other. He breathed a sigh of relief.
At that moment, the Creation Divine Stone suddenly flew out of his hand and struck the pendant with a clang, catching him off guard!
Qin Mu's eyes widened. He tried to grab the stone, but it had already pushed the pendant against his brow, right into his third eye!
Light exploded from his brow. The forces of the Creation Divine Stone, the third eye, and the jade pendant collided. In an instant, Qin Mu's consciousness was blasted into chaos. He fell backward, unconscious.
"Wei Suifeng, you bastard..." he muttered weakly before blacking out.
"We've reached the Fallen Ground of Emperor Ming! Be on high alert!"
Shouts from the divine beings on the deck rang out. Dragon Qilin and Yan'er, who had been guarding the cabin door, rushed out to see the final battlefield of this Emperor of the Chi Ming Era.
By the time the Phoenix Ship had flown past and they returned, Dragon Qilin said with a laugh, "The Sect Leader is being quite well-behaved this time. No excessive curiosity. It's rare. He should be locked up more often to calm his heart."
Yan'er nodded in agreement.
Qin Mu lay stiffly in the cabin, motionless, his breathing faint. The struggle between his third eye, the jade pendant, and the Creation Divine Stone continued.