Chapter 666 — The Crimson Emperor's Brain

The Divine Son Chiming turned back, his face breaking into a smile. "My inviting you into the holy hall is no offense.

Please. " Shen Mu hesitated, and looked back at the First Ancestor.

The First Ancestor looked sickly and listless, shuffling forward with no life in him.

"His wounds should be more or less healed by now. Why is he still so spiritless? " Shen Mu was puzzled.

The First Ancestor had always been cold and aloof, caring to speak to no one, yet his bearing was ever restrained and inward. But ever since this journey to the Void Realm began, he had been somewhat dispirited, and clearly it was not his injuries. He and the First Ancestor followed the Divine Son Chiming toward the holy hall.

The Divine Son Chiming said with a smile, "This friend of yours has protected you all along, yet he does not protect Princess Jingping. Clearly, in his heart you are far more important than Princess Jingping.

" Shen Mu was about to speak when the Divine Son Chiming went on: "In truth, in my heart too, you are not only more important than Princess Jingping, but far more important than Emperor Yanfeng.

" Shen Mu was slightly taken aback, then smiled. "Why does Your Highness say such a thing? " The Divine Son Chiming did not answer, but walked into the hall and said, "Since this holy hall was first built, no outsider has ever been able to enter. Outsiders aside, even among my own people there are few qualified to come in and pay homage to the Crimson Emperor's Brain.

" Shen Mu said, "That the Divine Son should let us enter leaves me overwhelmed by the honor.

" The Divine Son Chiming turned back and studied his face closely, as if to see whether he truly was overwhelmed by the honor. Shen Mu was overwhelmed by the honor.

The Divine Son Chiming shook his head.

"Your expression is exquisitely done, but it is only pretense, not from the heart. You are merely curious; there is not the least trace of feeling overwhelmed. If you could feign it to the point of sincerity, you would be able to deceive me. " Shen Mu flushed with embarrassment.

"Still false.

" The Divine Son Chiming walked on.

"You may not know this, but I am in fact not a descendant of the Crimson Emperor or Emperor Ming. I have not the slightest blood relation to either. " Shen Mu was astonished, and even the First Ancestor, the Human Sovereign, could not help his curiosity; he asked of his own accord, "Brother of the Dao, if you are not their descendant, why are you honored as the Divine Son Chiming?

" The Divine Son Chiming seemed to sink into memory. "Before the Cataclysm, Emperor Ming had already had a premonition. He gathered the young talents of the world and held a Grand Martial Convocation.

After round upon round of selection, a thousand were finally chosen to come before Emperor Ming, and I was among them. Emperor Ming expounded the Dao and preached the dharma, and it greatly enlightened us thousand youths. I was not the most outstanding among them; in aptitude, in comprehension, in divine powers and dharma arts, I could not rank in the top ten. Yet in the end Emperor Ming chose me. He told me that what the Chiming era needed was not the one with the highest and finest aptitude and comprehension, but the one who could bind the people together, who could let the people walk out from failure. He told me the path to the Void Realm, and then the Cataclysm came. " The Divine Son Chiming's expression darkened. After a moment it returned to what it had been. "For a long time I did not understand why he had chosen me, until the Cataclysm broke out and I understood. Emperor Ming proclaimed to the world that I was the heaven-ordained Divine Son of the Chiming era, so that when the end came I had many followers; they believed deeply that I was the heaven-ordained Divine Son, that I could bring them hope. And so I led the remnant of our people, the last hope of the Chiming era, into the starry void, seeking the Void Realm, and settled there. " His face was calm.

"I understood why Emperor Ming chose me: because I could bear failure, could gather hearts, could give my people hope. I am not the heaven-ordained Divine Son of the Chiming era, but I can lead my people out of death, out of failure. I can also lead them out of their nest of ease, give them the will to fight, awaken in them the wild spirit of the Chiming era! " The First Ancestor, the Human Sovereign, was silent. The Divine Son Chiming's experience was very like his own. Yet the two men's choices were utterly different. The Divine Son Chiming had endured in silence and pressed forward; he was an outstanding leader, who knew when to endure and when to strike. But he himself, after leading the remnant of his people to Jingping, had sunk into despondency, and for twenty thousand years had made no move at all, had brought his people no hope whatsoever.

These past days he had been so dispirited, his heart dead as ash, precisely because the Void Realm made him think of the Land of No Sorrow. The Void Realm's present state was nothing other than the Land of No Sorrow's present state! The Divine Son Chiming was trying to walk out of the Void Realm, but who could lead Kaihuang's old followers out of the Land of No Sorrow? The Land of No Sorrow, too, needed a Divine Son of Kaihuang! Now he understood the Divine Son Chiming's past, and remembered his own. "I am not the Divine Son of Kaihuang. .

.

" Bitterness rose in his heart again.

"The Celestial Master was right.

I am a deserter, and a deserter I will always be. .

. " Shen Mu said suddenly, "The Divine Son has told us all these secrets without reserve.

Is it that you mean to kill us to silence us? " The Divine Son Chiming laughed heartily and shook his head. "No.

This friend beside you is very strong, and there is a fearsome power hidden within your body as well. Though it is suppressed and sealed, it still makes my heart pound.

I do not wish to kill you two; I wish to win you over, to draw us closer.

" He said with great seriousness, "Emperor Yanfeng has the spirit of a Heavenly Emperor; it is only that he was born at the wrong time.

A pity. He is certain to die, and if you support him, you will surely gain nothing.

If Libationer Shen would support me, I can continue the fortunes of Jingping and Chiming, rally our forces, and contend with Heaven once more! I beg Libationer Shen to aid me!

" Shen Mu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing, the sound echoing and rolling through the holy hall. After a long while his laughter gradually ceased, and the smile on his face slowly faded. He shook his head. "The Divine Son is mistaken. I am not the pillar of the Jingping state, nor am I the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping who carried out the reforms.

I am only a Grand Libationer of Jingping who happened to be present and took part in the reform. If you wish to win someone over, you should win over the Imperial Preceptor of Jingping. His learning and insight surpass mine a hundred. . .

mm, two times!

About two times, perhaps not even that, but passable. . . " The Divine Son Chiming smiled. "The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping? In the future I will meet him myself and see whether he deserves the Libationer's praise. There is no need for the Libationer to decline in haste; who can say for certain what the future holds? Think it over first.

Ahead lies the Crimson Emperor's Brain. " Shen Mu and the First Ancestor looked ahead. A brilliant radiance came from before them, interwoven and interlaced, shaped like a brain occupying several acres of ground. Standing here, one felt at once one's own smallness and the lowliness of one's wisdom.

Though it was called the Crimson Emperor's Brain, this mass of light was not a true brain. The Crimson Emperor had already transformed into the Void Realm; his brain no longer existed. These lights were the still-flowing light of his thought.