Chapter 1368: Spirit Imprisonment Cage

Dragon Qiao’s nine heads lifted, searching for Qin Mu’s trace. However, they could not find Qin Mu’s divine consciousness, only a tiny remnant remained.

Dragon Qiao captured this trace of divine consciousness, which immediately transformed into a booming voice: “Dragon Qiao, I don’t want to completely turn against you. Please don’t burn all your bridges; leave yourself an escape route. Please release my people, and I will surely repay you in the future!”

Dragon Qiao snorted and annihilated that wisp of Qin Mu’s divine consciousness.

“A mere mount dares to bargain with me, asking me to release my spoils of war.”

He retracted his divine consciousness. One of his heads opened its massive eyes, revealing Shu Jun, Lan Yu Tian, Xu Sheng Hua, and the First Ancestor, among others, trapped within a giant divine consciousness cage.

Everyone looked weary, some sitting, some standing, gazing around. Surrounding them were exceptionally powerful ancient beasts, standing like stone statues, guarding Dragon Qiao.

They had followed Shu Jun to the back of the Ancestral Court, originally intending to subdue Dragon Qiao, or at least some rare giant beasts if Dragon Qiao proved too difficult.

Everyone was full of confidence for this expedition. After all, they were among Yan Kang’s top figures, including the First Ancestor, a grand master who had cultivated to the Numinous Sky realm, as well as Shu Jun, a local expert, and the seasoned veterans of the successive Human Emperors.

With the addition of erudite and talented individuals like Lan Yu Tian and Xu Sheng Hua, they believed they could sweep through the back of the Ancestral Court, conquering all before them.

Ever since Qin Mu introduced the Creation Master's divine consciousness cultivation method to Yan Kang, divine consciousness cultivation had become a mandatory course for Yan Kang’s divine arts practitioners and deities.

Yan Kang had many cultivation methods, and integrating divine consciousness with their cultivation system allowed their divine consciousness attainments to advance by leaps and bounds, making subduing giant beasts an easy task.

However, shortly after arriving at the back of the Ancestral Court, they were besieged by a group of giant beasts and found themselves in a sorry state.

They tried to subdue these beasts but were horrified to discover the immense power of their divine consciousness. Not only could they resist the cultivators’ divine consciousness, but even powerful beings like Shu Jun encountered formidable opponents.

It was then that they realized the gravity of their situation. Fortunately, the successive Human Emperors were all cunning and experienced veterans who had once dominated the world, possessing top-tier cunning and strategies.

They led the group, moving and engaging in guerrilla tactics in the back of the Ancestral Court, evading repeated encirclements by the giant beasts. With Shu Jun, the local expert, possessing the most powerful divine consciousness among them, they managed to survive in this perilous land.

However, not long ago, their entire group was annihilated because Dragon Qiao himself intervened!

Although Shu Jun’s divine consciousness was powerful, it was worlds apart from Dragon Qiao’s, crumbling at the slightest touch.

The First Ancestor’s strength was great, but as Dragon Qiao’s vast divine consciousness surged forth, he was completely unable to exert his power and collapsed to the ground.

The extensive experience of the successive Human Emperors proved useless. With a sweep of Dragon Qiao’s divine consciousness, everyone fell into a coma.

Only Xu Sheng Hua and Lan Yu Tian, with their unique divine arts, managed to resist for a moment before also losing their ability to fight back.

Because they resisted Dragon Qiao’s divine consciousness for a brief period, Dragon Qiao regarded them differently, deeming them exceptionally capable despite their low cultivation, and worthy of nurturing.

Once they matured, they could become his two magnificent mounts, surely an impressive sight.

“That little Creation Master said the back of the Ancestral Court would soon be sealed, and the Ten Celestials would surely invade. He truly underestimates me,” Dragon Qiao mused.

Dragon Qiao slowly closed his eyes, thinking, “If the Ancestral Court’s seal is broken, then the backs of other worlds will also be unsealed! In those worlds, my descendants are limitless. The Primordial Realm, Xuan Du, You Du, the myriad heavens and worlds — all have my people on their reverse sides. It’s hard to say who will be the true orthodox rulers of heaven and earth then! Perhaps those gods, devils, and other beings will all become mounts and slaves for my people!”

“As for me, I only need to cultivate these two youngsters and patiently wait for them to grow into Celestials. That way, I will have two Celestial-level mounts. What can the Ten Celestials contend with me with?”

His snores gradually began. “Shu Jun would be a bit low-grade as a mount, but he does have potential. Still, riding him would be a bit embarrassing. I used to ride God King Boyang…”

Inside the divine consciousness cage, Shu Jun said gravely, “Celestial Venerable Mu was not captured by him. Please rest assured, everyone, Celestial Venerable Mu will surely save us!”

The First Ancestor gently touched the divine consciousness cage. Unexpectedly, as soon as his palm made contact, the divine consciousness forming the cage rapidly materialized, causing his hand to sink into it, on the verge of being solidified by the cage!

The First Ancestor hastily pulled his hand back, his heart pounding with lingering fear.

And the section of the cage that had just materialized immediately reverted to transparency.

The divine consciousness cage appeared to have no physical form, merely a space enveloped by transparent divine consciousness. Yet, this cage held them firmly, preventing any escape.

“If we move at our fastest speed, can we escape from the cage?” Jiang Yun Jian suddenly asked.

The First Ancestor’s heart stirred. He looked at Shu Jun, who shook his head, saying, “There’s no escape. Dragon Qiao’s divine consciousness is too powerful, even stronger than mine was at my peak! His divine consciousness cage is ever-changing; it can instantly solidify into the most robust physical form or expand into the most boundless void. No matter how fast you are, you can’t escape.”

Jiang Yun Jian’s eyes gleamed. “My master studied with the God Thief for a long time, and his skill in ‘stealing from heaven and changing the sun’ makes even the God Thief feel inferior. If his speed is so great that the divine consciousness cage cannot transform quickly enough to match it, he might be able to break through and escape this place.”

The First Ancestor and Shu Jun both looked at Lan Yu Tian. Lan Yu Tian said, “I don’t know the limits of this divine consciousness cage’s transformation. First, we need to ascertain its transformation limits to calculate its speed and pattern of change. Also…”

He seemed a little shy, blushing as he admitted, “My mathematical attainments aren’t very high…”

“My mathematical attainments are passable,” Xu Sheng Hua said.

Xu Sheng Hua smiled. “Dao Master Lin Xuan’s mathematical attainments are on par with mine.”

The First Ancestor said gravely, “Good! Then I will test the limits of this divine consciousness cage’s transformation!”

He drew his Jade Brilliance Sword, stepped back a few paces, then surged forward with all his might towards the divine consciousness cage. His speed rapidly reached its peak, and he crashed into the divine consciousness barrier.

His speed was like a fleeting shadow, racing through the divine consciousness barrier. However, the moment his body moved, the divine consciousness cage instantly began to transform at an incredible pace!

The cage appeared thin, but as he entered its barrier, he immediately saw boundless void rapidly spreading, with space extending infinitely!

Moreover, as the space formed, it began to materialize, making him feel as though he was entering an increasingly dense substance!

His speed slowed more and more. He even felt the cage assimilating his physical body and primordial spirit, merging him with the cage!

The First Ancestor roared in fury, channeling all his magic power into the Jade Brilliance Sword. The sword flew from his hand, carving through the “waves” at an even greater speed, shooting forward, attempting to break the limits of the divine consciousness cage’s transformation!

In a mere instant, the Jade Brilliance Sword’s speed even reached a spatial-transcending level, as if ignoring space, almost breaking through the cage.

However, the next moment, the divine consciousness cage’s transformation speed caught up with the Jade Brilliance Sword, causing the sword to slow down more and more.

At that moment, countless dazzling mathematical runes swirled around Xu Sheng Hua, performing calculations at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye. The multitude of runes acted like countless computational spiritual soldiers activated simultaneously, and he, as the processing center for all this mathematical data, was able to grasp and compile all the information at once.

“Found it!”

Xu Sheng Hua’s divine consciousness fluctuated, transmitting his calculation results directly into Lan Yu Tian’s mind.

Lan Yu Tian’s eyes widened, and he immediately stepped out, surging into the divine consciousness cage. His speed at that moment reached an incredible level!

The Cripple had imparted all his lifelong skills to him, including the entire art of the Heaven-Stealing Palace, and Lan Yu Tian had surpassed his master.

His figure flashed through, ignoring the changes in matter and the transformations of the divine consciousness cage. In an instant, he caught up with the First Ancestor.

The First Ancestor’s body had almost completely fused with the divine consciousness cage, but he then felt his physical body and primordial spirit violently vibrate, separating from the fusion at an astonishing speed!

He looked around in surprise. Everything around them seemed to slow down, including the painfully slow transformations of Dragon Qiao’s divine consciousness.

He watched Lan Yu Tian supporting his back and catching up to the Jade Brilliance Sword.

The First Ancestor grabbed the Jade Brilliance Sword, and countless dazzling lights rushed towards them. The next moment, they burst out of the divine consciousness cage.

The First Ancestor saw the colossal, statue-like beasts open their eyes in surprise, slowly turning their heads to look at them. He then saw Dragon Qiao’s eyes slowly opening.

His heart was filled with inexplicable excitement. Just then, a dragon scale appeared in front of them — one of Dragon Qiao’s scales. Both men collided with the scale, their figures passing through it.

Lan Yu Tian stopped, carrying the First Ancestor, only to see Shu Jun, the successive Human Emperors, and the others right beside them.

The people inside the cage fell silent.

Lan Yu Tian could indeed break through the divine consciousness cage, but Dragon Qiao was too powerful; they simply couldn’t escape.

“Can Celestial Venerable Mu really save us?” Shu Jun murmured.

At that moment, in the center of the precious seal on his back, the Grand Emperor’s head revealed a strange smile.

“Dragon Qiao, a naive big baby. Subdue him, and you subdue one of the most powerful forces in this world…”