Chapter 525: Snatching Food From the Tiger’s Mouth (part 1)
At the moment, the Captain and Xu Qing were hiding, not moving a muscle.
Other than them, all other cultivators had fled, terrified, into the safety zone in the east district. All of them sat cross-legged with their eyes closed, not even daring to look at what was happening outside. In fact, they didn’t even dare to directly sense what was happening. They stayed in place in the defensive spell formations that had been erected specifically to use in this moment. A fight between gods was something they fundamentally didn’t qualify to even observe. A mere glance could end with them killed in body and soul. Even using alternative methods to watch, such as the Captain was doing, required some boost on a substructural level, or perhaps a special item.
Considering the elite nature of the cultivators who had been part of this expeditionary force, it was a given that some of them had such qualifications or items. Thus, there were a few who were able to use such means to see what was happening.
Outside of Forbidden by the Immortal, in the mouth of the bottle that was the canopy of heaven, there were people waiting at the crumbled spell formation in the depths of the old Corrections Division.
Shockingly, one of them was Seventh Prince. With him were the lieutenant governor and the commanders-in-chief from the palaces. There were also numerous powerful experts from the imperial army. All of them looked very serious. Even the four-clawed golden dragon in the dome of heaven was paying close attention to what was happening. All were looking down at the world that existed beyond the spell formation. Of course, the opening had been sealed tight, but there was now a glowing screen there that showed a projection of Crimson Mother and the god of Forbidden by the Immortal.
Standing next to Seventh Prince was a person in a voluminous black robe, who spoke in a sinister, piercing voice. “Your Majesty, everything is going as planned. As predicted by His Imperial Majesty and the imperial preceptor, the first thing High God Crimson Mother did upon awakening was attempt to devour the god of Forbidden by the Immortal.
“Now we just need to wait and see if the second phase of the plan goes smoothly. It won’t take Crimson Mother long to devour the other god.... After that, if Crimson Mother escapes into the outside world, then I fear that all of Sea-Sealing County....”
Upon hearing those words, the surrounding Sea-Sealing County cultivators bowed their heads to conceal the mixed emotions on their faces.
Seventh Prince kept his gaze fixed on the screen as he softly said, “Before I came here, my father the emperor asked if I was afraid of dying in this place. Do you know what I told him? I said that I was more than willing to give my life for a great cause!
“I’m not strong enough to stop Crimson Mother from escaping. However, not even a god would be able to do much after getting out, and would end up dying along with Sea-Sealing County. Kong Liangxiu could have seen that happen, and I, Guyue Zhang’an, can do the same thing.
“When I told my father the emperor that, he looked at me and said, ‘Gods are just like us, except on a much higher level. Thēir so-called omniscience and omnipotence only apply to life forces weaker than thēir own.’ In other words, gods can also be plotted against. Tricked. Crimson Mother is definitely not going to be satisfied....”
Back in Forbidden by the Immortal, the long, almost rope-like god was still struggling mightily. īts twenty-seven spikes pulsed with the power to destroy the heavens and extinguish the earth, and they shone with brilliant golden light that wrapped around Crimson Mother’s invisible hand and stabbed into it. Every single one of those spikes would have been a precious treasure if it surfaced in the Revered Ancient mainland of ancient times. But now, when unleashed against Crimson Mother, they couldn’t put up a serious force of resistance. Grating sounds echoed out that could shred the souls of ordinary people. At the same time, godly howls echoed out in heaven and earth.
From a distance, the god of Forbidden by the Immortal looked like a snake that had been dragged out of the ground, and was being slowly pulled toward the red moon. īts every twitch shattered the air, and īts every howl caused the surroundings to collapse. Both land and sky in the area around the conflict were being reduced to rubble.
Up in the canopy of heaven, Crimson Mother, whose physical form was that of Zhang Siyun, looked at the other god with mouth open so wide it stretched from ear to ear. The mouth looked completely vicious and horrifying. Within it were countless razor-sharp teeth, as well as a huge tongue made of countless hairs that slowly stretched out. On the tip of the tongue was a blurry face that appeared to be the face of a woman, whose eyes were closed, and yet looked extremely greedy and hungry. Saliva dripped off the tongue, splashing down into the craters below.
The scene could hardly have been more gruish. Taking the image in as a whole, it was almost impossible to describe. This was a level of power that surpassed cultivators by many times over. As the golden light and the blood-red glow neared, they were filled with hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of god magics, all combined into one force.
When they formed, they instantly collapsed, then formed again in the blink of an eye. Apparently, thēy didn’t even need to consciously unleash any god magic; such god magic naturally formed automatically.
In the final analysis though, it was clear that of these two most primordial of beings, one was about to consume the other. There was none of the holiness one would expect of gods. Yet any who saw it would, for a variety of reasons, feel a sense of holiness rising within them. It was as if the meaning of the word ‘holy’ had, many countless years ago when the broken face of the god arrived, been carelessly twisted into something else.
What was more, any observer would be able to sense that the god that had been sleeping in Forbidden by the Immortal, which possessed the power of misfortune, did have godly authority. Yet in the face of Crimson Mother, that godly authority wasn’t doing īt any good. The difference between the two was apparent; it was almost like an encounter between a toddler and an adult. It wasn’t that the god in Forbidden by the Immortal wasn’t strong; rather, Crimson Mother was just a higher-level being!
As the snake-like god from Forbidden by the Immortal was pulled inexorably closer to being devoured, īt suddenly let loose a powerful roar. As a result, the god’s entire body exploded.
A massive boom ripped through heaven and earth. That god’s body, which was more than 10,000 kilometers in length, shattered into a river of flesh, a stream of golden light that swept across the canopy of heaven. In that manner, the god slipped out of Crimson Mother’s grip.
The river of flesh then converged in another spot, where it quickly stitched back together. This time, it didn’t resemble a snake, but rather, something else.
It looked vaguely like a fish.
And the twenty-seven spikes that had been on its back were now inside of it, and resembled the skeleton of a fish. Meanwhile, the shockwaves sweeping through Forbidden by the Immortal caused the magenta flesh covering the various palaces and buildings to vibrate. Then they peeled off in strips, flew up, and fused with the fish-shaped body.
From a distance, it was possible to see countless strips of flesh rising up and building into the shape of a fish. That included the spot where Xu Qing and the Captain were hiding, and as the flesh lifted away, their hiding spot was revealed.
Xu Qing sat there stock still, focusing completely on staying concealed. The Captain did the same.
The aura coming off that fish was profoundly important to Crimson Mother. Just like the sun would ignore the stars, Crimson Mother ignored everything else and focused fully on the fish. That was only truer as the strips of flesh filled in the colossally monstrous creature, until the appearance of the thing was that of an enormous, magenta fish. The fish was scaleless, with a huge mouth full of incredibly vicious razor-sharp teeth that emanated godly might. The fish also had two whiskers that undulated on either side, and they were the color of gold.
Most strange was the fish’s tail, which was not smooth and flat. It spread like a peacock’s tail, with the feathers like sharp thorns that gradually assumed the shape of a face. It was not the face of a male or female. In fact, it wasn’t even human. īts face had four eyes, no nose, and a closed mouth beneath the eyes.
There were also complex designs that covered everything, making the face difficult to see clearly. That said, there was godly might on display that caused a sense of holiness to again rise in the hearts of any observers.
Beyond that, boundless information streamed from the god’s body and into the minds of anyone looking on. Those who did would feel madness rising within them, as well as a sense of impending amnesia. Any who looked for too long would find their memories disappearing, and ultimately replaced. This was the true form of the god sleeping in Forbidden by the Immortal.
Crimson Mother’s saliva flowed as shē stared at the fish and strode forward, surrounded by glowing red light that deepened the rifts in the sky.
All of a sudden, golden light erupted from the eyes on the fish’s tail, and the face’s mouth opened wide. Golden bubbles spewed from the mouth that contained major worlds. Countless lives proliferated within them, creating generation after generation of life force. Little did they know that the world they lived in were mere bubbles spat out of the mouth of a god. When the bubbles reached the end of their flight path, they popped, releasing boundless force which smashed into Crimson Mother. The fish god took advantage of that moment to suddenly turn transparent. The air around the fish then sank in on itself, as if it were turning into a black hole. īt was hoping to flee this place.
Crimson Mother’s eyes shone with greed. Clearly, shē had no intention of letting this fish flee, and thus blurred into motion, sending out fluctuations that turned everything bright red. As for the popping bubbles, they became sealing marks that landed on Crimson Mother’s clothing and formed a design.
Crimson Mother’s right hand waved through the air, and the air sank, turning into a sea of blood that swept over everything. The transparent fish god had no choice but to appear in the open, īts facial expression one of terror. The fish god clearly wanted to flee, but then Crimson Mother arrived, ready for food.
Red beams of light swept out from the red moon, filling the canopy of heaven as they swept endlessly toward the fish god.
The fish god had no opportunity to flee. The red beams of light swept forth from every direction, creating an inescapable prison. The fish god struggled mightily, even roaring, yet none of that did any good.
The moment Crimson Mother arrived, īt was truly nothing more than a fish.
Crimson Mother closed in on the fish god, pulsing with a sensation of intense hunger. Hēr eyes glittered with joy as shē opened her mouth unnaturally wide. Hēr tongue then stretched forth like a snake toward the trembling fish god. The woman’s face on the tip of the tongue opened her eyes, and they glowed bright red. At the same time, a godly voice echoed out into heaven and earth.
“Open the entrance.”
The echoing words provoked an unprecedentedly shrill howl from the fish. The fish’s flesh and bones ignited, burning with golden flames that rose into the sky and took the shape of a well. In the blink of an eye, the well went from illusory to corporeal.
The pitch black interior led to the Land of Cruelmurk!
How could a single fish make Crimson Mother so happy? After all, the fish’s paltry body could only be an appetizer to hēr.
The reality was that the true feast was to be found beyond the entrance to the Land of Cruelmurk. All along, Crimson Mother had been planning to take advantage of the fish’s relationship with Flawless Hell, Celestial Manager and Fifth Star of Cruelty, to open that entrance.
Crimson Mother’s true form was about to enter the Land of Cruelmurk... to devour the godfire of High God Flawless Hell! This was the second phase of the emperor’s scheme, which Seventh Prince had discussed earlier! The subsequent length of slumber would be determined by the food devoured.