Chapter 671 — This Is Not My Fat Dragon

Shen Mu, with a genial expression, helped him to his feet—though in truth he could hardly lift the man at all, it was merely a gesture of peace. Crimson Brightness Divine Son panicked and cried, "Don't touch me! My bones are broken!"

Shen Mu promptly let go and said with a solemn face, "What happened between us was merely a misunderstanding. I misunderstood that Your Highness meant to kill me, and Your Highness misunderstood that I intended harm to the Suspended Void Realm—hence this conflict. Heaven be thanked, the misunderstanding is now resolved, and mercifully there were no casualties."

Crimson Brightness Divine Son's eye twitched. No casualties? Are you blind? I'm lying on the ground—can you not see me? So many Crimson Brightness warriors dead and wounded—can you not see them? Even the Holy Mountain has lost a peak, and the Holy Hall has been torn apart!

Shen Mu glanced this way and that, addressing both the Crimson Brightness gods and demons hovering in the air—those who wished to approach yet dared not—and Crimson Brightness Divine Son alike: "I recently encountered the Crimson Emperor. He saw that my aptitude and comprehension were extraordinary, took a liking to my talent, and therefore transmitted to me the Three Primal Gods' Indestructible Divine Consciousness Sutra."

At these words, an uproar swept through the air, and Crimson Brightness Divine Son was struck with astonishment and doubt.

The Three Primal Gods' Indestructible Divine Consciousness Sutra was created by the Crimson Emperor. Since the Crimson Emperor's disappearance, it had been lost to the world. Even what the Bright Emperor cultivated was not this doctrine, but a new path he had blazed himself—the Flawless Creation Mystic Sutra.

—The Flawless Battle Divine Art that Ban Gongcuo cultivated was derived from the Flawless Creation Mystic Sutra.

The Bright Emperor had once attempted to complete the Three Primal Gods' Indestructible Divine Consciousness, yet he remained powerless to do so to the end. This was because the two Emperors of the Crimson Brightness Era each excelled in different domains: the Crimson Emperor excelled in primal spirit creation but was not highly accomplished in physical body creation, while the Bright Emperor excelled in physical body creation but was not highly accomplished in primal spirit creation. Thus in the Crimson Emperor's era, divine beings were renowned for their three-headed, six-armed primal spirits; in the Bright Emperor's era, they were renowned for their three-headed, six-armed physical bodies. One was strong in primal spirit, the other strong in physical body—each had their extraordinary qualities, yet each had glaring flaws.

The Bright Emperor had once said that if he could obtain the Crimson Emperor's Three Primal Gods' Indestructible Divine Consciousness, the doctrines of the Crimson Brightness Era could advance a great step forward and reach unprecedented heights. Yet alas, the Crimson Emperor had vanished without a trace.

The reason Crimson Brightness Divine Son frequently visited the Holy Hall was not only to offer sacrifices to the Crimson Emperor and honor his ancestors, but also to obtain the Three Primal Gods' Indestructible Divine Consciousness through the Crimson Emperor's brain. But how could the Crimson Emperor transmit this doctrine—which he had sought in vain for fifty thousand years—to an outsider? Could the Crimson Emperor's breadth of mind truly be so vast that he had cast aside all prejudice of kind?

"The Crimson Emperor instructed me that the Three Primal Gods' Indestructible Divine Consciousness is a doctrine of the Crimson Brightness Era and must be returned to the people of the Crimson Brightness Era."

Shen Mu, his face wreathed in smiles, declared loudly: "The Crimson Emperor also instructed that the descendants of the Suspended Void Realm have become an embarrassment to him—they have degenerated into bleating little sheep with no fighting spirit left. Therefore the Crimson Emperor said pressure must be applied to you. He said: let the Divine Son transmit the Bright Emperor's doctrine to me, and I shall be the pressure upon you. Only when the Divine Son can defeat me at the same cultivation realm and surpass me will he acknowledge you."

Within his third eye, on the Shen Character Continent, the giant infant, Heaven Lord, and Crimson Emperor cocked their ears to listen to voices from beyond the heavens. The Crimson Emperor gave a muffled hum and said in a rumbling voice, "I did not. I never said that... I clearly told you that you must transmit this doctrine to my people. Ah yes, he did indeed say to transmit it—but he never said not to extort..."

Crimson Brightness Divine Son knew full well that these words came from Shen Mu's mouth, and no one could prove whether they had truly issued from the Crimson Emperor's lips. He calculated for a moment. The Crimson Emperor's doctrine—he was determined to have it. Force would certainly not work. The only option now was to exchange it for the Bright Emperor's doctrine. Though this would strengthen Shen Mu's power, for the people of the Suspended Void Realm it meant obtaining a flawless doctrine that would allow primal spirit and physical body to advance in tandem. On the whole, the advantages outweighed the disadvantages.

"Agreed!" Crimson Brightness Divine Son broke into a smile.

More than ten days later, the tower ships of Crimson Brightness's Suspended Void Realm finally set forth. Over a dozen colossal tower ships formed a majestic fleet and sailed out of the Suspended Void Realm. This migration took half the population of the Suspended Void Realm; the remaining half stayed behind as seeds. One must not put all one's eggs in a single basket—those were Crimson Brightness Divine Son's own words.

Shen Mu, Ling Yuxiu, and the others lived aboard one of the tower ships. The tower ship was like a moving miniature continent, with mountains, rivers, and fertile fields, capable of housing hundreds of thousands of people. A dozen colossal tower ships meant millions of people—that was already half the population of the Suspended Void Realm! The Suspended Void Realm was not populous, unlike Jingping, whose population numbered in the hundreds of millions.

Shen Mu walked about the tower ship, observing its layout, measuring the heights of mountains and the flow of rivers, calculating the luminous output of the god-made sun. He also took out paper and brush, sketched the arrangement of the fertile fields aboard the ship, and made his calculations. The layout of the tower ship was exceedingly rational, capable of ensuring the survival and reproduction of hundreds of thousands of people. Clearly, in the Crimson Brightness Era there had been profound mastery of numerology and highly skilled artisan-craftsmen.

"Could it be that Daoist sects existed even in that era?" Shen Mu wondered aloud. He surveyed and mapped every part of the tower ship, completed his drawings, and then returned—only to find Ling Yuxiu tending to the Primordial Ancestor Human Emperor, with the two great eyeballs beside them pouring tea and brewing medicinal decoctions. The Primordial Ancestor Human Emperor lay on a reclining chair basking in the sun, diligently cultivating the Flawless Creation Mystic Sutra that Shen Mu had transmitted to him, attempting to regenerate his broken bones. Catching sight of Shen Mu's return, his face darkened again and he gave a cold snort.

Shen Mu hastily put on a placating smile: "Primordial Ancestor, it truly was not I who struck you—it was my brother who struck you. I have explained this many times. I do not hold grudges; I could not possibly have deliberately sent you flying."

The Primordial Ancestor snorted again and turned his head away, refusing to look at him.