Chapter 666 — The Crimson Emperor's Brain
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 2 of 4
"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.