Chapter 1062: Open the Tomb!
The tolling of bells could be heard coming from the dao altar in the lands of the eastern Devilbirds. The sound was like a tempest that swept far and wide.
In the east, all clans, all rogue cultivators, and all of the Imperial Sovereign mountains heard the bells and looked up. All of them knew... that the day had come in which Grand Emperor Netherflame’s secluded meditation facilities would be opened.
In the Devilbird holy land, Grand Emperor Netherflame was a name that brought with it both grandeur and terror. He did not become a Grand Emperor in the ordinary way. Many years ago, he had gone missing for a time, only to return with Grand Emperor personhood. At the peak of his glory, he took control of the eastern Devilbirds, using his terrifying strength to unite the east and the west. Even other celestial-level holy lands would defer to him.
Grand Emperor Netherflame had reached the peak of Grand Emperor personhood, making him only half a step away from being a Summer Immortal. Even this generation’s Grand Emperor Devilbird had to bend the knee to him. Although that Grand Emperor was able to accept the legacy of the Devilbird name, he was actually little more than a puppet to Netherflame.
Back then, the Devilbird holy land was at the peak of glory, and was considered number one among the celestial-level holy lands. One would think that a Grand Emperor with personhood like that wouldn’t easily perish. And it seemed like it should be easy for a person such as him to extend his longevity if he wished. But strangely enough, Grand Emperor Netherflame only occupied the peak of glory for a short time. After failing to break through to the Summer Immortal level, he ended his life in a matter of a few thousands of years.
No one knew the details of why that was. Most people speculated that it was related to the manner in which he had achieved his Grand Emperor cultivation base.
That was what led to Grand Emperor Netherflame going into seclusion a thousand years ago. Given how much time had passed, no one was really sure whether he was alive or dead.
Because he had gone into seclusion, the political structure of the Devilbirds had changed. Grand Emperor Devilbird, who had long been a mere puppet, was finally able to rise to prominence.
To the cultivators of the Devilbird holy land, this day was going to bring closure to things. Therefore, there were countless spectators paying attention to what was happening. In fact, the war with humankind wasn’t even important at this point. The Devilbirds retreated and focused completely on defense. They even activated the holy land grand spell formation to make sure there were no accidents.
Right now, everyone was focused on the dao altar of the eastern Devilbirds. That was where Grand Emperor Netherflame’s secluded meditation facilities were located.As the bells tolled, figures teleported to that spot. At the same time, beams of light shot over the horizon from the west.
The tolling of the bells reached the Immortal Skills Halls as well. Though Erniu’s meditation chamber was sealed, the sound of the bells reached the inside. Xu Qing and Erniu opened their eyes and ceased their research into Five Dogs Cleave Immortals.
Erniu sighed. “You finally woke up. I was worried that if you didn’t, I’d have to carry you all the way there.”
In the days that had passed, Xu Qing had done a lot of tests with Five Dogs Cleave Immortals. As a result, he had built up quite an immunity, and had also memorized a lot about the immortal skill. He had faced a few dangerous situations, but had dealt with all of them with the help of Erniu as his dharma protector.
“We just don’t have enough time.” Xu Qing was disappointed. If they had another half a month, he was confident he could make a complete copy of the immortal skill. As of now, the process was only half-complete. Of course, Grand Emperor Netherflame’s secluded meditation facilities were a lot more important to him and Erniu than the immortal skill.
I really hope I can find a destined opportunity there that will help me to achieve a cultivation base breakthrough!
Taking a deep breath, he stood and looked at Erniu. “Should we get going, Eldest Brother?”
Erniu’s eyes shone with anticipation. Licking his lips, he rubbed his hands together and chuckled. “Before we leave, I have a little treasure to give you.”
Erniu pulled out a cracked egg from his bag of holding and handed it to Xu Qing. There was something profound about this egg, as it caused the air in the area to ripple and distort.
Xu Qing recognized it instantly. “What are you doing with that?”
It was a golden rat egg. Each of them had acquired one, but had handed them over to the more experienced Wu Jianwu to deal with. Later, they went with Yu Liuchen to the outer sea, where they met that terrifying old man who said he was from the Fifth Star Ring. They had personally witnessed that old man's golden rat, and could tell just from looking at it that it was like a precious treasure. That was when he and Erniu had realized how valuable those golden rats were.
“Back when we returned to the imperial capital, you spent all your time worrying about Feng Lintao. But not me! I went and found Wu Jianwu.” Erniu suddenly looked very proud. “This golden rat is a real treasure. I was worried that if Wu Jianwu actually hatched it, he would realize how amazing it is and take it as his own pet. So I took them back from him so that we could hatch them. Thanks to my hard work, this one is just about to hatch.”
Erniu looked very pleased with himself. “Considering we have no idea how long we’ll be in Netherflame’s secluded meditation facilities, I figured you should have yours. My guess is that it’ll hatch in a few days. Although there’s no way to know how strong the golden rat will be when it comes out, it’ll definitely be worth having.”
Xu Qing carefully put the egg away. Then he exchanged a glance with Erniu. Both of them were looking forward very much to what was to come.
Then Erniu suddenly seemed to turn serious. “Little Ah Qing, I have an additional objective in the secluded meditation facilities. It has something to do with one of my past lives.... However, at the moment I'm not totally sure if it’ll work out. Once I'm sure, I’ll need some help from you.” ŗ₳Ŋồ𝔟Ëŝ
Xu Qing didn’t ask for any details. He just nodded.
Erniu grinned, clasped Xu Qing’s shoulder, then took a step forward and vanished from the meditation chamber. When he reappeared, he was outside of the Immortal Skills Hall.
Xu Qing was in midair, high above the Immortal Skills Hall. After looking down briefly at it, he blurred into motion toward the dao altar.
Outside of the Immortal Skills Hall, Erniu, still in the form of Yue Dong, coolly said, “Immortal Skills Hall, heed my command: you will come with your grand immortal adept to the Grand Emperor’s dao altar!”
A horde of immortal adepts flew up into the air to join him.
Young Lord Yun wasn’t around, as he had been summoned back by his patriarch three days ago.
It took only a moment for a host of people to be flying through the air.
Outside of Grand Emperor Netherflame’s huge wing-shaped dao altar, eastern Devilbird cultivators had already locked down all roads and paths in the area. Only designated people were allowed through. There were already three people who had arrived at the dao altar, and were hovering cross-legged in midair as they waited.
When Xu Qing arrived, he saw them and recognized two of them. One of them was Lin Kun, son of the fifth Imperial Sovereign. The other was Young Lord Yun.
Clearly, there had been some secret discussions among the eastern Devilbirds, and those two had been selected to join the Tenth Imperial Sovereign in entering the secluded meditation facilities.
The third person was a young man who didn’t look very special but had a Smoldering God cultivation base. He was from the ninth Imperial Sovereign mountain.
They were the first to arrive, but there were others. After the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the bells tolled for a third time... and a huge rift opened up in the sky. The empress emerged in the form of Lu Lingzi.
Everyone bowed.
The empress nodded, then settled down cross-legged in midair to wait.
The bells tolled a fourth time, and the empress’ eyes opened to look at six figures stepping out of thin air.
In the lead was a man clad in an imperial robe, with an imperial crown on his head. The moment he appeared, wild colors flashed in heaven and earth. Winds screamed. Lin Kun and the other two, along with all the other cultivators in the area, and even the Imperial Sovereigns of the east... were all shaken to the core and bowed their heads.
“Well met, Grand Emperor.”
This was the current Grand Emperor Devilbird. He was flanked by five people. Three were men and two were women. They included: a ruddy-faced middle-aged man; a hunch-backed old man; a young man with a face as fair as jade; a woman wearing palace attire; a woman wearing a simple green garment. These were obviously the people from the western Devilbirds who had been chosen to go into the secluded meditation facilities.
“Is everyone here?” Grand Emperor Devilbird asked coolly.
Everyone present trembled instinctively because of the pressure rolling off the Grand Emperor.
The only exception was the empress, who simply looked back at him calmly and said, “There are two more coming.”
Grand Emperor Devilbird looked deeply at the empress and then smiled faintly. “They’ve already arrived.”
A sound like singing immortals drifted over the horizon as a group of immortal adepts appeared, shouldering a massive palanquin. Inside of the palanquin was a woman. She had a very arrogant look on her face, but then....
“Come here,” the empress said.
Shivering, the woman flew over to the empress and stood obediently by her side. Meanwhile, Xu Qing also flew over, surrounded by a seething blood cloud. He stood at the empress’ other side.
Now there were six people in each group. The empress and Grand Emperor Devilbird were each leading a group of five others.
After glancing at Xu Qing and Erniu, Grand Emperor Devilbird said, “Grand Emperor Netherflame is the paramount entity of our Devilbird holy land. I originally didn’t approve of opening his secluded meditation facilities. But given that Lu Lingzi is his apprentice, and that his other apprentices gave their approval, then I had no reason to reject the proposal.
“However, I do have one demand. All of you must show respect! The primary objective in going inside is to perform an inspection. We cannot disturb the Grand Emperor’s meditation! If it turns out that the Grand Emperor truly has passed away... then all of you will kowtow three times, then do nothing more to disturb him.”
By the time Grand Emperor Devilbird finished speaking, his voice bordered on being aggressive. Everyone clasped hands and bowed in a respectful show of acknowledgment. Seeing that caused Grand Emperor Devilbird’s expression to soften. Then he turned to the enormous dao altar. Eyes glimmering with reminiscence, he sighed.
“Grand Emperor Netherflame’s secluded meditation facilities might seem like they’re in the dao altar. The reality is that they are a mysterious heaven beyond heaven. They were acquired from the starry sky by Grand Emperor Netherflame.
“If he has truly perished, then because the heaven beyond heaven is sealed, it will contain all of his memories incarnated as worlds.
“It’s also possible that the Grand Emperor’s legacy will be there. Before the Grand Emperor returned, no one had any clue about the details of his cultivation in the starry sky, or what he did out there. Nor does anyone know what else exists in his memories.
“Out of respect for the Grand Emperor, I hope that if any of you see such things, you not spread word about them later.”
Grand Emperor Devilbird shook his head and strode forward. Reaching the apex of the dao altar, he sat down and waved his hand. Instantly, the entire dao altar rumbled and changed from being dim into shining brilliantly.
“You may now do as you see fit. I will stand as dharma protector for all of you going forward.”
The dao altar shone brilliantly as Grand Emperor Devilbird’s words echoed through heaven and earth. The Imperial Sovereigns of the eastern Devilbirds were observing intently. So were the western Devilbirds. The same went for the rogue cultivators and the various clans. Everyone was watching.
Under the focus of countless gazes and streams of divine will, the empress strode toward the dao altar. There was no explosion of light. There was no complicated ceremony. The only thing that happened was that a third eye opened on the empress’ forehead.
One by one, drops of blood flew out. It was the blood of the Lan Clan, which had the same origin as the Grand Emperor’s blood. It pulsed with something mysterious, including natural and magical laws.
The blood converged in front of the empress, then landed on the dao altar. Under the gaze of the third eye, they became a blood-red vortex that rumbled loudly as it revealed a pathway.
Without any hesitation, the empress stepped inside. Xu Qing and Erniu similarly showed no hesitation as they flew after the empress.
Next came Young Lord Yun, Lin Kun, and the young man from the ninth Imperial Sovereign mountain. The group from the western Devilbirds followed. After they were inside, the vortex of blood became a mist that spread out and vanished. The vortex was gone.
Atop the dao altar, Grand Emperor Devilbird closed his eyes. A big show packed with secret agendas....
***
Xu Qing wasn’t sure how everyone else was reacting upon entering Grand Emperor Netherflame’s secluded meditation facilities. But he was frowning.
Upon entering the vortex, his vision swam. When things became clear again, he heard music, smelled rouge, and saw dancing....
He was standing in a luxurious palace constructed from elegantly carved jade. Also inside the palace were no less than a thousand young women wearing flowing gowns that were nearly transparent. The skin beneath the fabric would stir the heart of anyone. The women were either singing, dancing, or conversing intimately, making the entire palace seem like a place of luxury.
The women came from all species, but there was one thing about them that was the same. They were all extremely beautiful. All of them were looking at him with either caution or desire. It was as if fire burned in their eyes.
Xu Qing was already on guard. Looking around, he realized that the palace was surrounded by some unknown land mass. After scanning his surroundings with divine will, he was shocked to realize that... he was the only male present. This seemed to be a nation made up entirely of women.
What was more, his own physical appearance had changed. He was now a young man, and he was seated on a throne at the head of the hall. It was almost as if he was an emperor of some sort. Spread out in front of him was a meal of the finest delicacies, including food and alcohol fit for immortals and spirits.
Is this one of the memories of Grand Emperor Netherflame, transformed into a world?
***
Erniu was thinking the same thing. However, Erniu was currently located on a barren planet a great distance away.
Erniu was visibly taken aback. As he looked around, he saw that this planet was completely empty. It had a gray sky, blackened lands, and no plants whatsoever. He saw rotting flesh and bones. He saw piles of excrement. And there were even huge maggots that were now crawling toward him. The noxious smell that filled the area made him want to vomit.
This place was like hell. As for himself, he was a rotting corpse.
Is this... a world made from the memories of Grand Emperor Netherflame? How could he remember something like this? Did everyone else come here also?
Alarmed, he looked at the maggots, wondering if little Ah Qing was inside one of them.
Deathblade's Thoughts
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