Chapter 1223: Forehead Incense Offering

Xue Lingren laughed. "Inform the two Celestial Venerables? If we tell them, won't Celestial Empress beat us to death when we return? Her Majesty ordered us to infiltrate this place for a significant undertaking. We are her personal attendants; she teaches us cultivation daily and treats us like disciples, imparting divine arts and spells. We must serve her with all our hearts."

Their bodies gradually blurred, transforming into peculiar figures composed of cubes.

Xue Lingren continued, "The Celestial Venerables do not get along well; each has their own agenda. Informing them would sabotage Her Majesty's grand plan. We carry a supreme treasure refined by Her Majesty for this mission; we must succeed, failure is not an option!"

Following the Void Beast, they reached the second layer of the Supreme Consciousness Domain, their bodies shifting from cubes to paper-thin humanoid figures. Soon after, they became flying specks of light.

Finally, they followed the Void Beast to the inner sanctum of the Supreme Consciousness Domain, where they each restored their true forms, gazing at the lotus-shaped continent in the distance.

There, majestic Creators floated in the air, their white robes flowing gracefully yet utterly still.

The Grand Emperor's physical body was the most colossal, unparalleled in its might, yet it was pierced by countless thick roots, pinning it immovably to the lotus continent.

Each of the hundred-odd women retrieved a small pouch, opened it, and from within pulled out a colossal divine weapon.

The divine weapons they drew out varied, resembling individual components. These weapon parts were forged from the divine gold of the Ancestral Court, glowing with a rustic sheen, and inscribed with extremely ancient runes.

Just as the palace maids were about to assemble the divine weapon components, Xue Lingren's expression subtly changed, and she whispered, "Someone's here!"

The women hastily shed their garments, unfurled them, and they transformed into large flags that adhered to the ground, blending seamlessly with it.

The Void Beast also immediately vanished into the void.

The women were puzzled, and Xue Lingren thought to herself, "Both Celestial Venerables know this place is dangerous, and few ever venture here. Why would anyone arrive now?"

As they pondered, the void suddenly vibrated violently. An immensely colossal, strange ship sailed forth from the depths of the void. The Void Beast, having just concealed itself, was struck by the enormous vessel, its bones broken and muscles torn. Its six limbs clutched the edge of the massive ship, struggling in vain.

Boom—

The colossal vessel slammed violently into the ground of the Supreme Consciousness Domain, skidding for hundreds of miles before finally coming to a halt.

Over two hundred tiny eyes nervously popped up from the ground, peering at the suddenly appeared colossal ship. These were the women under Celestial Empress Qiang.

Their large flags were highly peculiar, enabling them to merge with the ground, yet they could separate themselves with a mere thought.

Their eyes detached from the ground, appearing as if they had sprouted directly from it, a signature technique of Celestial Empress Qiang.

The colossal ship was incredibly vast, far exceeding the lotus continent that ensnared the Grand Emperor's body. Even the Supreme Consciousness Domain struggled to assimilate this immense vessel within a short time.

The enormous vessel was diagonally embedded in the ground. Even more astonishingly, it carried a continent on its deck, which was also immensely vast!

The Void Beast met an extremely unfortunate end, crushed into two by the colossal ship.

The women felt a tremor of apprehension: "What kind of weapon is this?"

Just then, a booming voice bellowed in anger, "Monk, I told you it would be difficult to pinpoint the exact location, but you stubbornly swore it would be fine! Now look, we've ended up in some godforsaken place!"

"This place is just right."

Another voice, gentle and refined, like a scholarly old man, spoke unhurriedly: "Zhuo Cha, you needn't always be so loud. The War Celestial King chose this location out of concern for crushing our comrades in the Great Void, especially since this is currently a battlefield."

Another female voice inquired, "Couldn't we enter the Great Void Nether Capital? It's vast and sparsely populated."

"My craving for alcohol has returned. Do you have any wine? I'm itching to slice people!"

"Does anyone know where we are?"

"Huh, this is odd. Some inexplicable force has invaded my body, turning me into a paper figure! You've all become paper figures too!"

"The power of this place bears a surprising resemblance to the realm of the living and the dead in our Fengdu."

"Moo."

"Everyone, stop squabbling and listen to me! This is the Supreme Consciousness Domain; I've been here before. That area over there is where the Grand Emperor is buried!"

The colossal ship was filled with peculiar individuals. The hundred-odd palace maids felt a chill in their hearts and quietly closed their eyes, merging with the ground.

Standing on the Ark of the Other Shore, Qin Mu explained the origins of the Supreme Consciousness Domain to the group. "It was my suggestion for Battle Bright King to choose this location. The Great Void Nether Capital is also a battlefield. If I were leading, I would certainly concentrate forces to conquer the Nether Capital, and once it's taken, seizing the Great Void would be straightforward. To avoid inadvertently harming our comrades there, we couldn't land in the Nether Capital. Thus, this is the only safe landing spot; there's no need to worry about crushing anyone here..."

Battle Celestial Master Zhuo Cha pointed at the Void Beast's corpse, sneering, "No living beings? Then what about this enormous creature? It suddenly appeared and we crushed it to death."

Qin Mu glanced at the Void Beast's corpse beneath the ship, feeling a touch awkward, and chuckled, "This is a Void Beast, the Grand Emperor's mount, left here to guard his body. Everyone, don't worry, there won't be anyone else here..."

Suddenly, Yama King pushed back his cloak, sniffed, and declared, "I smell living beings here. About one hundred... one hundred and eight of them!"

Qin Mu's expression darkened.

Yama King continued, "It's not the scent of living beings from the ship. There truly are others here."

Emperor Yi Yue activated her divine eye, scanning the surroundings, but found nothing. She shook her head. "I don't see anyone else here."

Underworld Celestial King Tian Shu drew out the Divine Blade of the Emperor's Palace. Its surface shone with incredible brilliance, casting light in all directions. "If there's anyone here, they'll surely be illuminated by my blade's glow... Hmm!"

He let out a soft "hmm" and shook his head. "My Divine Blade of the Emperor's Palace can't illuminate them either."

Yama King extended a finger and lightly traced his brow, which then split open to reveal an eye. "This eye of mine was refined according to the Great Dao of the Nether Capital; it can peer through the void and examine souls. Nothing with a soul can escape my scrutiny."

He scanned the area, then shook his head. "While I can smell living beings, I cannot see anyone here."

Everyone attempted to detect them, but none could discover where the one hundred and eight individuals were hiding.

Qin Mu's heart stirred. He opened the vertical eye on his brow, scanned the surroundings, and chuckled, "Since there's no one here, let's leave this place and rendezvous with Carefree Village. If Fire Celestial Venerable or Void Celestial Venerable detect us, we won't be able to stop them, and we might be completely wiped out... Wait a moment. Since we've come all this way, how can we not offer incense to the Grand Emperor?"

He produced a bundle of about a hundred incense sticks, lit them against the wind, and with a flick of his wrist, the sticks flew out swiftly, embedding themselves into the cliffs of the Supreme Consciousness Domain.

Wherever the incense sticks were inserted, blood immediately gushed forth!

Large flags emerged from the ground, revealing corpses underneath, covered by the flags. Each of these female corpses had an incense stick impaled in her forehead, still smoldering faintly.

On the Ark of the Other Shore, everyone was startled. They had looked at that very spot just moments ago but had seen nothing. They had not expected Qin Mu to discern them.

Qin Mu gazed into the distance and murmured, "Judging by their attire, they appear to be from the Celestial Court's imperial harem. Why would palace maids from the harem come to this place?"

"I'll go take a look!"

Battle Celestial Master Zhuo Cha leaped from the Ark of the Other Shore. Unexpectedly, the moment he left the ark, his physical body began to transform, assimilated by the Supreme Consciousness Domain, becoming a thin paper figure.

The Battle Celestial Master clicked his tongue in wonder, then channeled his cultivation and divine power. With a thunderous roar, he reverted from a paper figure to his original form.

He was a being at the Emperor's Throne realm. Despite being suppressed upon arrival, his cultivation was immensely profound. As the foremost Martial Dao Emperor of this era, how incredibly formidable was his physical body?

Emperor Yi Yue also leaped from the ship, letting out a soft gasp as she saw herself transform into a paper figure.

However, her cultivation was immensely profound, and with a swift circulation of her magic power, she immediately reverted to normal.

The Woodcutter Sage also disembarked, turning into a paper figure with a soft pop. However, he couldn't break through the suppression and floated unsteadily forward. Then, Qin Mu strolled past him with leisurely steps, his physical body showing no change whatsoever.

Qin Mu turned his head and flashed a brilliant smile at him. The Woodcutter Sage, enraged, lifted his paper axe and swung it. The paper axe struck Qin Mu but merely bent, completely devoid of force.