Chapter 667 — The Crimson Emperor Beneath the Seal

The Divine Son Chiming stared blankly ahead. The Crimson Emperor's Brain should have been blazing with ceaseless, flowing radiance, harboring the Crimson Emperor's thought and consciousness, his boundless insights and visions. And now—the Crimson Emperor's Brain had gone dark!

That giant brain, spanning several acres, no longer gleamed; it had sunk into blackness, without a single spark of light within. It meant the Crimson Emperor's thought was no longer here! If the Crimson Emperor's thought was not here, then where could it be?

He jerked his head around, sprang to his feet in one motion, and walked toward the hall doors with a dark face.

"Thief.

.

. " Killing intent rolled off him, and before he had even left the holy hall, the sky beyond was choked with dark clouds. Wind and rain, thunder and lightning raged; bolt after bolt crashed down from the black mass of cloud, tearing across the darkened heavens.

The wrath of a Divine Son was no small thing—truly, the heavens themselves changed color!

Yet when he reached the hall doors, his disordered mind slowly grew calm again. The thunder dwindled, then the wind and rain ceased, and the dark clouds thinned away. "Even I cannot walk free of the Crimson Emperor's thought labyrinth—so why was he not lost in it?

" The Divine Son Chiming lifted his foot and held it there, suspended, not letting it fall. "The Crimson Emperor's thought is immense beyond measure.

Even I could not bear it—and yet he could. Moreover, the Crimson Emperor's thought has remained here for fifty thousand years, and never once has any kin of mine earned its acknowledgment. Why did it acknowledge him? And what did the Crimson Emperor leave his thought here for? Why is even I unable to obtain the knowledge hidden within it? " His foot still hung in the air; his face shifted between light and shadow. Outside the hall the skies churned, now clear, now thick with cloud, now cloudless for ten thousand li, now flashing with lightning and cracking with thunder.

The Divine Son Chiming struggled without cease within himself. The Crimson Emperor's thought was the Crimson Emperor's own legacy, and it must never fall into the hands of an outsider or a foreign race! Yet if the thought had vanished, did that mean the Crimson Emperor had chosen Shen Mu?

Did that act hold some deeper meaning? "Libationer Shen does not represent Chiming! " His resolve hardened. His foot came down, and the holy mountain and the holy hall trembled faintly twice.

At that moment, Shen Mu was at the First Ancestor's side, examining his condition.

The First Ancestor, the Human Sovereign, had fallen into a coma.

He must have been struck by the Crimson Emperor's vast and terrifying consciousness when he touched the Crimson Emperor's thought, and his mind, unable to bear it, had fainted away. "This doesn't count as an injury. A little rest and he'll be fine. But what's strange is—why wasn't I struck unconscious by the Crimson Emperor's thought.

. .

" No sooner had Shen Mu thought this than he saw the sky change color. Startled, he hurried to drag the First Ancestor's body away—but the First Ancestor was a god, a god of the God-Slaying Platform realm. How could he possibly move him?

The wind and clouds shifted in the sky, and Shen Mu's expression shifted with them. The weather in the heavens was the Divine Son Chiming's mood: clear meant no killing intent, overcast meant murderous intent flooding the heavens. Those changes meant the Divine Son Chiming was locked in inner war, weighing whether to kill Shen Mu because the Crimson Emperor's thought had gone dark! "The Crimson Emperor's thought is of the utmost importance to the remnants of Chiming.

Once the Divine Son Chiming has weighed the gains and losses, he will surely be moved to kill! " Shen Mu kept dragging at the First Ancestor, but still could not shift him an inch.

Just then, the First Ancestor's right forefinger twitched. Shen Mu froze for an instant.

The First Ancestor's eyes remained shut; he did not move.

Thud.

The Divine Son Chiming's footfall landed, and the mountain range shuddered. Hearing his steps draw nearer, one by one, Shen Mu rose to his feet and smiled. "You let us into the holy hall to touch the Crimson Emperor's thought, Divine Son—and it seems your intentions were not kind. You've left my First Ancestor, the Human Sovereign, in a dead faint.

" The Divine Son Chiming's face was indifferent. "It was my fault.

I did indeed mean for you to fall into the thought labyrinth and never find your way out. " Shen Mu's heart tightened.

For the Divine Son Chiming to say such a thing meant his resolve was set—he would never let Shen Mu go! The Divine Son Chiming was a man of transcendent wisdom, but he had one habit: when an evil thought stirred in him, he would let slip certain secrets.

When they entered the holy hall, he had let slip the secret of his identity and origins to Shen Mu and the First Ancestor—and then the First Ancestor fell unconscious, and Shen Mu narrowly escaped falling into the Crimson Emperor's thought labyrinth. Now he had let slip the thought he had just held, a secret of his own body as well.

This was the omen of his intent to kill! "If Libationer Shen can hand over the Crimson Emperor's thought, I can let this matter go as if it never happened," the Divine Son Chiming said indifferently.

Shen Mu was briefly taken aback, then smiled. "The Divine Son is so accommodating?

To tell the truth, I don't know why the Crimson Emperor's Brain went dark, and as for handing over the Crimson Emperor's thought—I wouldn't even know where to begin. If the Divine Son knows, why not speak plainly? " The Divine Son Chiming said softly, "The Crimson Emperor's Brain is the vessel of the Crimson Emperor's thought.

When the thought leaves the brain, the brain's light goes out. And now the Crimson Emperor's thought has entered your mind. " Shen Mu turned his mind inward.

There were indeed many strange images and sounds in his head—but many as they were, they could never contain the Crimson Emperor's thought. He smiled. "There are indeed some strange images and sounds in my mind. But how am I to return the Crimson Emperor's thought? Extracting thought from a brain—I have never seen such an art, nor even heard of it. I beg the Divine Son to enlighten me.

" The Divine Son Chiming's stiff face managed to squeeze out a sliver of a smile. "Very simple. The Crimson Emperor's thought is eternal and indestructible. His thought is too strong; even if the host is destroyed, his thought cannot be. Therefore the simplest method is to cut off the host's head and pound that head to pieces, bit by bit.

Then the Crimson Emperor's thought will reveal itself. " He said gravely, "Afterward, I will lift up the Crimson Emperor's thought and return it to the Crimson Emperor's Brain. Libationer Shen, how would you like to be buried? I can grant you a grand funeral, with the rites of kings and nobles, generals and ministers. I can even cast you a head of the finest divine gold, so lifelike it will be utterly without flaw.

" Shen Mu's face went ashen. He retreated a step at a time, forcing a smile. "The Divine Son must be joking, surely? I don't feel the Crimson Emperor's thought in my mind.

If I had it, I would already be another Crimson Emperor. Divine Son, think twice. . . " The hem of the Divine Son Chiming's slim purple robe drifted slowly upward.

He said in all seriousness, "This is the most effective method I can think of at present.

Libationer Shen may also try to flee—as far as you like. But do you think you can escape the Void Realm? You had best stand still, cut off your own head, and let me examine it properly.

" Shen Mu turned and bolted, tearing down the mountain in a single streak. The Divine Son Chiming's face was cold. The lid of the third eye at the center of his brow parted slowly to either side.