Chapter 607: Red Bright Mummy

Inside the Universal Stars Slaughter Array, Qi Jiuyi and Zhe Huali heard Qin Mu's voice and simultaneously spat blood. It wasn't that Qin Mu angered them to this extent; instead, the Universal Stars Slaughter Array had suddenly transformed into a dazzling river of stars.

Starlight mutually attracted, connecting beam after beam. The starlight chains, formed by countless intricate divine ability runes, activated the killer array, instantly inflicting severe injuries on both of them!

From their perspective, the small jade box in the center of the river of stars had become a massive, perfectly square box, suspended in the middle of the stellar river and bobbing up and down in the star-sea. Beams of radiant light also became incredibly thick, intertwining with the myriad stars.

This killer array was simply beyond their ability to withstand or resist!

"Thirty-five thousand years, is that number real or fake?"

Both men coughed up mouthfuls of blood. Each desperately employed their own methods to resist, gritting their teeth as they said, "Never mind him! Let's just treat a dead horse as if it's alive!"

Their brains worked at full capacity, calculating the trajectories of stars and starlight to avoid the starlight chains. Their bodies moved with incredible speed. Sure enough, the killer array gradually ceased. The surrounding stars returned to their normal size, turning into slowly rotating grains of star-sand.

Cold sweat poured down Qi Jiuyi and Zhe Huali's foreheads. They exchanged a glance. Just as they were about to rush into the center of the array to retrieve the small box, they saw Qin Mu was already there, standing in front of it.

Qi Jiuyi's heart pounded with urgency. Just as he was about to step forward, his qi and blood suddenly surged, startling him.

He had been injured just now; a starlight chain had grazed his shoulder, leaving a large gash. However, the wound didn't heal on its own. Instead, blood continuously flowed out, and blood globules were rising, floating towards the mummified corpse on the steel throne.

He quickly looked at Zhe Huali. Zhe Huali was also injured. Like him, he couldn't control his qi and blood; his blood was flying towards the mummified corpse!

The first drop of blood fell into the mummified corpse's mouth.

A sudden silence fell, eerie in its completeness.

"Errgh—"

A long roar suddenly emanated from the mummified corpse's mouth, followed by creaking and groaning sounds. Both men felt their hair stand on end. They hurriedly sealed their wounds but still felt their vital energy draining away.

"Something's wrong!"

Zhe Huali made an immediate decision. He instantly flew backward, rushing out of the hall. Qi Jiuyi hesitated for a moment, looking at Qin Mu in the array, then gritted his teeth fiercely and also retreated from the divine hall.

The moment Qi Jiuyi burst out of the divine hall, he waved his sleeve. Immediately, a Firmiana tree enveloped in golden-yellow flames sealed the hall's entrance.

Zhe Huali turned around, raised his demonic blade high, and slashed down. Instantly, the blade light split, shrouding the Firmiana tree.

The two men flew down the mountain one after another, like two raging dragons in a frenzy, leaving a trail of afterimages.

Qin Mu's hair also stood on end. He hastily grabbed the small box and rushed out of the killer array.

The qi and blood that had flown out from Zhe Huali and Qi Jiuyi's bodies flew straight to the mummified corpse and fell into the mouths of its other two heads. Creaking sounds also came from the mouths of the corpse's two heads. The three heads slowly turned, looking towards him.

In the eye sockets of its three heads, the shriveled eyes were slowly filling with blood, gradually bulging.

Qin Mu had already rushed out of the Universal Stars Slaughter Array and arrived at the grand hall's entrance. There, he was met by the sweeping descent of the Firmiana tree.

"Qi!"

Qin Mu tucked the small box under one arm. With his other hand, he grabbed his sword pellet. As his palm trembled, countless tiny flying swords shot out, forming the 'Sword Strides Over Mountains and Rivers' technique. It slammed with a roar into the Firmiana tree!

Qi Jiuyi had hastily unleashed this grand divine ability. The power of the Firmiana tree was not particularly strong; it was only meant to momentarily obstruct him. If it had been a fully unleashed grand divine ability, even Qin Mu would have had to employ his Calamity Sword to counter it.

Qin Mu's 'Sword Strides Over Mountains and Rivers' struck, severing the Firmiana tree and breaking Qi Jiuyi's divine technique. However, blade light rushed at him, shattering his 'Sword Strides Over Mountains and Rivers'.

"Zhe Huali!"

Qin Mu was furious. Avoiding the sharp edge of Zhe Huali's attack, he turned and swung his sword. The second form of Dao Sword, 'Five Qi Three Origin Convergence,' erupted. The sword light transformed into five qi and three origins, with intertwined clouds and chariots, finally breaking Zhe Huali's attack.

The grand hall's entrance was no longer blocked by any divine abilities.

Qin Mu squatted down on both feet, suddenly exerting force. His body shot forward. With a thunderous boom, the air in front of him compressed into a wall, which then burst.

Qin Mu's body soared into the air, bursting out of the divine hall's entrance. A faint smile slowly bloomed on his face.

However, his body suddenly froze in mid-air.

The smile on Qin Mu's face hadn't fully bloomed; then it slowly vanished, gradually morphing into terror.

He was floating backward, his feet not touching the ground. No matter how he activated his divine abilities, it was useless.

In mid-air, Qin Mu tidied his clothes, holding the small box reverently in both hands.

Finally, his feet touched the ground. Qin Mu immediately turned around, raising the jade box high above his head in offering. He said in a deep voice, "Senior, please spare my life!"

His hands lightened; the small box flew up from his grasp. Qin Mu secretly raised his eyes and saw the jade box land in front of the three-headed, six-armed mummified corpse.

"Errgh—"

That 'mummified corpse' was likely not a true corpse. Rather, its qi and blood were exhausted, its essence blood dried up, leaving it in a state between life and death. The arrival of Qin Mu and the others, along with Qi Jiuyi and Zhe Huali's injuries with blood flying into its mouth, had barely ignited a spark of life within it.

Horrifying sounds emanated from its throat, as if it were mobilizing its physical functions. Creaking and groaning sounds also came from within its body, like the sound of bones colliding.

"Errgh—Water... or blood!"

Qin Mu quickly took out a water skin from his Taotie Pouch and respectfully offered it. Ever since his experience in the Flaming Desert of the Western Lands, he always kept several water skins filled with purified water in his Taotie Pouch.

The mummified corpse raised its hand with extreme difficulty, moving very slowly.

"Senior, allow me."

Qin Mu stepped forward, diligently opened the water skin, and placed it at the mummified corpse's mouth. After the mummified corpse finished one water skin, the head on its right side produced a dry, rasping sound: "Water—"

Qin Mu took out another water skin and brought it to its right mouth. After it finished drinking, he then took out a third and placed it at the mouth of its left head.

The mummified corpse's left head drank with difficulty. Qin Mu secretly glanced, and his heart gave a jolt. He saw the shriveled flesh of the two heads that had already drunk water slowly bulging, and qi and blood seemed to flow again within its body.

"This 'mummified corpse'... no, not a corpse. This must be a powerful expert from 350,000 years ago! He cultivated a wondrous method, allowing himself to enter a state of suspended animation, so as not to be devoured by this divine mountain. This cultivation method is truly profound," Qin Mu thought to himself.

The 'mummified corpse's' face slowly swelled, and gradually, some facial contours became discernible. It was no longer just skin and bones.

However, his physical body must have been too severely depleted; drinking water alone couldn't restore him to his original appearance. Nevertheless, it was still vaguely discernible that he was a middle-aged man.

"Senior..."

Just as Qin Mu was about to speak, he saw the three-headed, six-armed man slowly raise his eyelids. The dried eyes in his sockets were slowly expanding; his pupils and the whites of his eyes gradually became distinct.

"What year is it now?" The man raised one hand, grasped the small box, and placed it on his lap. He spoke weakly.

Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then replied, "It is now the Yan Kang Era, but I'm not entirely sure of the exact year."

"Yan Kang?"

The three-headed, six-armed man tried to get up but couldn't. He said breathlessly, "Shouldn't it be the Kai Huang Era? Has the Kai Huang Era also perished?"

Qin Mu honestly replied, "It perished twenty thousand years ago. Senior, you must have fallen into dormancy twenty thousand years ago and woken up twenty thousand years later. Why did you come to the demon tribe's territory? This is the demon tribe's Luofu Heaven; the demon tribe was nearly annihilated because of this, which led them to invade Taihuang Heaven. And your planet, Senior..."

The three-headed, six-armed man gasped roughly. "I am a remnant of the Scarlet Light Era. I've been hiding for countless millennia. I wished to return home, so I journeyed from my hiding place, intending to return to the ancestral land of Scarlet Light. On the way, we learned it was the Kai Huang Era. Then we encountered enemies and were forced to flee into this place."

"Enemies?" Qin Mu was stunned.

The three-headed, six-armed man said calmly, "The enemies who destroyed my Scarlet Light Era. The Kai Huang Era has also perished; it must have been the same group of enemies. Heh heh, I heard there was a Supreme Emperor Era even before the Kai Huang Era..."

He shook his head. "I am a Scarlet Light Divine Race from the Scarlet Light Era, named Chi Xi. I was originally the Execution Censor of the Heavenly Court in the Scarlet Light Era, holding the power of life and death. Any god or demon who committed an offense could not escape death on the God-Slaying Platform."

Qin Mu exclaimed, "Then this divine mountain..."

"This isn't a mountain at all. It's the God-Slaying Platform."

The three-headed, six-armed man, Chi Xi, paused for a moment and regulated his breathing. He said, "Gods and demons are slain on the God-Slaying Platform. This God-Slaying Platform has absorbed the blood of countless offending gods and demons. Over time, it has become tremendously ominous. Even I would suffer its backlash. I was injured during a war with the demon tribe and suffered a backlash from the God-Slaying Platform. That's why I had to seal myself and enter dormancy. Help me up."

Qin Mu stepped forward and supported him. Chi Xi's palm pressed on his shoulder, near his neck, as he shakily stood up.

Qin Mu endured the pain and said, "Senior, you're hurting me."

Chi Xi seemed not to have heard. He kept pressing on Qin Mu's shoulder and neck as he walked to the mural. He gazed at the starry sky on the mural, murmuring, "Ancestral land, the ancestral land is right here... I'm not dead yet, I can still go back to the ancestral land. They must still be waiting for me to return with news... Do you know? The reason this God-Slaying Platform is so malevolent is that it was actually built from a God-Slaying Platform found within the Heavenly Palace's divine treasury—it was an Emperor Throne expert's God-Slaying Platform."

Qin Mu was horrified, murmuring, "An Emperor Throne expert..."

His shoulder throbbed with pain. Chi Xi's fingernails had already dug into his skin. Qin Mu felt his blood flowing out, his own vital energy and blood flowing into Chi Xi's body.

One of Chi Xi's faces slowly swelled, flesh growing. He smiled, "You are indeed bleeding, but it's not the God-Slaying Platform absorbing your blood. The water I just drank couldn't replenish my qi and blood; I'm too depleted. I need human blood more. Cough, cough, cough!"

He suddenly began to cough loudly.

"Senior, what's wrong?"

Qin Mu asked with concern, "Senior, are you alright? Do you feel a bit dizzy? Is your throat a little itchy?"

Chi Xi unconsciously let go of him. He raised his four arms and forcefully patted his head. His body swayed unsteadily. His other two hands, meanwhile, were cradling the small box.

Qin Mu looked concerned, nervously saying, "Senior, are you dehydrated? I still have some water here; would you like to drink? Oh dear, I forgot! Some of these water skins have... *extra ingredients*!"

Qin Mu stamped his foot, exclaiming, "What ever shall I do?"

He turned and paced back and forth. Chi Xi reached out to grab him, missing him from behind, and Chi Xi himself plopped to his knees on the ground.

"Some of those water skins, I added blood-dissolving powder to them!"

Qin Mu slammed his fist into his palm and sighed deeply with regret. "This kind of poison, when it encounters blood, dissolves it. I use it for destroying corpses and erasing traces! How could I possibly have forgotten that detail?! Senior, are you alright?"

Chi Xi knelt there, motionless, his pupils slowly turning to face him.

Qin Mu avoided his gaze and snatched the small box Chi Xi was cradling. "Senior, with your powerful cultivation, you can surely refine this poison, can't you? Since that's the case, this junior will take his leave. Farewell!" With that, he darted away.

Chi Xi's eyeballs shifted, and his eyes shot out divine light, piercing two large holes through the divine hall!