Chapter 693: Crimson Mother Comes; Imperial Sovereign Awakens!
Somewhere in the depths of the Revered Ancient mainland was a secret location that wasn’t the Nine Serenities, yet was just as full of darkness and gloom. No one knew exactly where it was. In fact, not even the heavenly daos could find it.
That was because many years ago, after Emperor Ancient Spirit conquered Revered Ancient, the ancient heavenly daos cursed him. Afterward, he took his people into hiding.
The name of that location was Spirit Abyss. It was located atop the head of a gargantuan, rotting snake, which carried it along while traversing the void. Interred in that world of death were innumerable corpses, making the place like a Yellow Springs hell. It was full of deceased souls and zombies, and it had a dusky sky and dark lands. Sound had no meaning there. The entire world was like a painting.
Inside of that painting were numerous imperial palaces, within each of which were mountains of flesh and blood. And above each of those mountains floated a huge eye. Thēy were closed tightly, as if nothing could possibly happen that would disturb thēir peaceful rest. However, thēy were surrounded by undulating golden dragons, which were magical symbols that formed dreams. If those eyes went undisturbed, then thēy would never awaken.
A vortex popped into being, and one of the eyes stirred. Then īt seemed to sense something extremely detestable. The eye suddenly opened. A surge of divine will rippled out that was capable of encompassing the entire Ancient Spirit world. Spreading out from the eye, it locked onto the vortex.
Xu Qing materialized in the vortex. Stepping out, he looked around at the familiar world, and then the furious eye. Looking very calm, he clasped hands and bowed.
“Long time no see, Your Majesty.”
“It hasn’t been that long! I barely had time for a nap!”
A cold harrumph echoed from within the eye. The eye was very bloodshot as īt stared at Xu Qing, surrounded by the sound of the rushing waters of the Yellow Springs. Emperor Ancient Spirit was salivating.
“I told you that the next time you came to visit you would have to pay interest in the form of a crippled god! If you don’t have one, then I’ll eat you instead!”
Inside of Xu Qing, the god’s finger shivered and pretended to be asleep....
Xu Qing wasn’t paying attention to the finger’s terror. Looking up at the eye, he made sure to seem very amiable as he said, “It’s a given that I remember that, Your Majesty. I actually came here to tell you something. There’s a huge feast coming up, and I thought you might be interested.”
The eye above the mountain of flesh focused more intently on Xu Qing.
“Feast? What’s on the menu?”
“The sleeping Crimson Mother!”
In response to Xu Qing’s words the entire Ancient Spirit world trembled. All of the imperial palaces vibrated, and all of the eyes hovering above the mountains of flesh and blood opened and focused on Xu Qing.
“What did you just say??”
Years ago, Xu Qing wouldn’t have been able to withstand such a display of godly might. But his cultivation base was as different from then as the sky was from the land. Although he felt slightly uncomfortable, he definitely was not as weak as before.
Maintaining the same calm facial expression, he said, “I teleported here from the Moonrite Region, Senior. Over there, Imperial Sovereign Li Zihua is waking up. We also have two gods of the Firemoon Darkheaven people, as well as some Smoldering Gods.... Before coming here, I pointed out to everyone that Your Majesty should really join the big feast. Therefore, sir, they asked me to come here and ask... would you like to join?
“You might be wondering if I’m telling the truth, Your Majesty. Given your mightiness, you can just check my aura for the details.”
As Xu Qing spoke, the huge eye blinked anxiously, and rumbling sounds filled the lands, like a thudding heartbeat.
Xu Qing’s words really were profoundly impactful to Emperor Ancient Spirit. Hē really could never have guessed that Xu Qing would pay his interest in such a dramatic way. After all, hē had previously just asked for a crippled god. Yet Xu Qing was offering him Crimson Mother.
Hē knew Crimson Mother, and knew the High Gods of the Firemoon Darkheaven people. And thus, hē had already confirmed from Xu Qing’s aura... that he was telling the truth. Yet at that moment, hē didn’t say anything in response.
Xu Qing didn’t seem anxious. He just waited patiently.
In that manner, a day passed.
“Your Majesty, if you’re not interested in an interest payment like this, then I’ll take my leave. It’s almost time to start eating.”
Xu Qing slowly backed away toward the vortex. But then the vortex suddenly locked in place. Xu Qing didn’t get alarmed. He just looked at the eye representing Emperor Ancient Spirit.
“I’m the chef, so if I don’t get back soon, they’ll come looking for me.”
The eyes remained fixed on Xu Qing, as if measuring him up. A moment later, the vortex started spinning again.
Just as Xu Qing was about to step inside and disappear, a drop of black blood flew out from Emperor Ancient Spirit’s eye toward Xu Qing. Along the way, it transformed into a black cloak that settled onto his shoulders. In the middle of the cloak was an extremely vicious-looking eye.
Next, Emperor Ancient Spirit’s voice echoed in Xu Qing’s mind.
“If this feast of yours is real, then I’ll show up when it starts.”
Xu Qing nodded. “Your Majesty, after the feast is over, I need one of those Ancient Spirit destiny aura dragons.”
“Very well!”
Heaven and earth rippled. Rumbling sounds echoed out. And Xu Qing disappeared into the vortex to reappear in the Moonrite Region in front of the statue of Li Zihua. The moment he stepped out, the Captain looked over at him. The Heir Apparent and his siblings opened their eyes and did the same. All of them noticed the black cloak.
Emperor Ancient Spirit’s eye was rapidly shrinking down.
The first thing hē saw was the statue of Li Zihua. Hē could sense the terrifying power in the statue, as well as the increasing sensation of awakening. Next, hē looked up into the dome of heaven at the red moon, which was growing increasingly larger, and was almost completely over the horizon. Hē trembled inwardly. Finally, hē looked at the Heir Apparent and his siblings. His gaze lingered on Ninth Sib.
Turning to the Heir Apparent, Xu Qing respectfully said, “Senior, this is my honored guest.”
The Heir Apparent simply nodded. During the day that had passed, the Captain had apparently explained the situation to them. Meanwhile, Ninth Sib looked at the black cloak and suddenly surged with a frigid will.
“This child has shown us great favor.”
Emperor Ancient Spirit’s eye constricted. Hē could sense a consummate baleful aura coming from Ninth Sib. In fact, it was so strong that it probably ranked in the top three hē had encountered in hīs entire life.
What a chosen.... And his sword can threaten gods!
Emperor Ancient Spirit knew full well that the words just spoken by Ninth Sib were both a threat and a warning. In hīs prime, hē could have looked down on such words. But things were different now. What was more, everything hē was seeing conformed to what Xu Qing had said earlier. In terms of the High Gods, hē could sense a very strong aura on the person standing next to Xu Qing.
That shifty fellow has a door that can lock onto the position of a god.
Feeling borderline flustered, Emperor Ancient Spirit spoke via divine will.
“He is a believer of mine, so of course I won’t harm him.”
Hearing that, Ninth Sib looked away. However, his baleful aura continued to pulse.
Emperor Ancient Spirit’s eye narrowed and looked over at the awakening Imperial Sovereign.
Xu Qing remained calm the entire time. He had not gone to invite Emperor Ancient Spirit to the feast without a backup plan ready to go. That included measures to ensure Emperor Ancient Spirit didn’t cause any trouble.
In that matter, time slipped by slowly but surely.
The living beings in the Moonrite Region continued to call out, and the red moon grew brighter on the horizon.
To Xu Qing, the red moon seemed huge, to the point where it seemed to occupy more than half the sky. The canopy of heaven was being overtaken by the moon, to the point where its craters and terrain features were visible to the naked eye. As the red moon’s aura covered the lands, rivers evaporated, mountains collapsed, and storm winds blew as the aura of a god filled everything.
Mutagen flourished. The world rippled and distorted. And it was all focused on the statue of Li Zihua.
The lake of blood filled in again. Everything was red as far as the eye could see, as if the entire world were being covered by the sea of blood. All living beings trembled as a feeling of uncontrollable despair filled them.
Li Zihua’s aura of awakening grew even more intense, causing heaven and earth to tremble, and filling the air with thunderous rumbling. However, it didn’t matter how loud those sounds were. They couldn’t do anything to stop the red moon from coming.
The red moon continued to fill the sky. It cast sinister shadows on the ground and sent mutagen levels soaring.
The Heir Apparent and his siblings had extremely grave expressions on their faces, and their eyes glimmered with hatred. The Captain looked nervous.
All of the preparations. All of the years of work. Everything was coming to a head!
Emperor Ancient Spirit’s eye on the cloak narrowed.
Xu Qing couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy. The red moon authority within him was unprecedentedly active, as if it were being tugged at by the red moon.
Everyone was feeling different things, but everyone’s emotions were at their peak. And then, as heaven and earth wallowed in darkness, the immeasurably large red moon, pulsing with infinite tideflow power and terrifying godly might... appeared in the sky directly above the statue of Li Zihua!
It was in the middle of the sky! Crimson Mother was coming!
The intense aura of a god spread out like ink from the sky.
The Heir Apparent and his siblings coughed up blood. As their bodies withered, black energy seeped out of them, the manifestation of the curse. The Captain couldn’t stand up to the power without surrounding himself with the light of suns. Xu Qing had the cloak of Emperor Ancient Spirit, which allowed him to stand up to the powerful energy. And yet, it was clear that none of them could hold out for very long.
The Moonrite Region trembled. The earth quaked. All living beings cried out in anguish. Doomsday had arrived!
If the scene were a painting, then the Moonrite Region would be depicted in pure misery. The statue of Li Zihua knelt in penitence, just like the name of the surrounding plains, the Penitence Steppes. Going far into the past, every epoch was like this in the Moonrite Region.
However, this time... there was a difference!
As all living beings felt the weight of suffering, white flames suddenly erupted around the statue. They were the flames of awakening, and they had been stimulated by the spreading aura of Crimson Mother’s godly might.
The flames grew stronger, rising high into the sky. And then, a pair of arms, which had been dead for aeons, suddenly reached up into the sky, accompanied by a deafening roar of defiance. Two enormous hands seemed to fill the sky as they reached up... and latched onto the red moon!
RUMBLE!
Imperial Sovereign Li Zihua was awake!