Chapter 909: Blood Rust Zone

Qin Mu felt a little uncomfortable, somewhat unwilling to ask Red Emperor Qi Xiayu to borrow a boat. That day, when he was besieged by the Celestial Heavens and the Four Emperors joined forces to corner him, Red Emperor Qi Xiayu had shown no mercy. Although Qin Mu could understand Qi Xiayu's situation, knowing she had significant schemes and had to endure, he still felt somewhat uneasy.

He was not a saint like the Woodcutter. The Woodcutter Saint could discard all emotions and act purely from self-interest, making decisions after a calm and rational analysis of the pros and cons. The Woodcutter had not taught him, so he could not achieve pure rationality. The Woodcutter's teachings were for the Imperial Preceptor of Eternal Peace; he had let Qin Mu and Wei Suifeng develop freely, paying them little attention.

Qin Mu composed himself and said, "In that case, let's depart now to see the Red Emperor."

"My master does not wish to see you."

Qi Jiuyi said, "When you were at the Divine Sect of the Upper Heavens, I already contacted her. My master said she doesn't wish to see you, but the Phoenix Boat can be lent to you for a period. However, once you reach the Celestial Heavens, she will reclaim the Phoenix Boat. It should be arriving soon."

Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. Red Emperor Qi Xiayu probably felt guilty and wanted to avoid any mutual awkwardness upon meeting.

"Young Master, the Phoenix Boat has arrived!" A divine being entered the palace and bowed.

Qi Jiuyi led the way out. Qin Mu followed him, his heart stirring slightly, and he asked, "Brother Qi, is the Red Emperor still in the Primordial Realm? Has she not returned to the Southern Heaven?"

Qi Jiuyi said, "No, she hasn't returned. She said she needs to search for an old enemy, to capture a villain named Li Youran. That Li Youran has committed all sorts of evil deeds. Furthermore, the remnants of Emperor Yiyun haven't been dealt with, so she must stay to search for them..." At this point, he remembered Qin Mu had once said he was a descendant of Emperor Yiyun, and he felt a little apologetic. However, after looking at Qin Mu's expression, it seemed Qin Mu wasn't displeased.

Although he and Qin Mu had fought life-or-death battles many times, their friendship had been forged through these encounters. He greatly admired Qin Mu, and coupled with the relationship through Dragon Qilin, he didn't treat Qin Mu as an outsider.

The Phoenix Boat was one of the few treasures capable of traversing the world barriers between various realms. Its hull was built from an unknown material, and it had phoenix wings on its exterior, allowing for astonishing flight speed. Often, when powerful beings from the Celestial Heavens wished to descend to the lower realms, they would borrow this boat from Red Emperor Qi Xiayu.

Qin Mu followed Qi Jiuyi onto the boat, where he saw thousands of Southern Heaven celestial soldiers and generals operating the vessel.

"This boat is an Emperor's Throne treasure," Qi Jiuyi explained. "Its speed is unmatched in the world, but activating it consumes an immense amount of magical power, requiring over six thousand soldiers to operate."

Qi Jiuyi ordered a course for the Celestial Heavens. The six thousand-plus celestial soldiers and generals activated the Phoenix Boat, which soared into the sky, slowly accelerating. On either side of the hull, magnificent phoenix wings slowly unfurled, shimmering with vibrant colors and enveloping the entire vessel in light.

The phoenix wings displayed a myriad of colors. After unfurling, they slowly vibrated their feathers, and the Phoenix Boat's speed increased rapidly.

Qi Jiuyi continued, "Although my master's boat is not the only treasure capable of traversing world barriers, it is the most comfortable one. On board, there's no need to worry about being disturbed by spatial turbulence."

The Phoenix Boat accelerated further, yet it remained incredibly stable. Once all the phoenix wings vibrated, the Phoenix Boat finally reached its maximum speed, and with a hum, it vanished from the Primordial Realm!

Qin Mu stood at the bow and watched as the Phoenix Boat tore through space. Space appeared as brilliant ribbons of light, and the treasure ship traveled through them at an unfathomable speed. The Phoenix Boat's speed already exceeded his comprehension, making it evident that Red Emperor Qi Xiayu indeed possessed extraordinary abilities.

"Emperor Shi Tian Wang Fo has always wanted to cultivate to the Emperor's Throne realm," Qin Mu mused. "He even borrowed cultivation methods from Grand Brahma. However, the gap between the Emperor's Throne and the Numinous Sky realm is like an insurmountable chasm, with insurmountable obstacles in terms of both knowledge and foundation." Qin Mu couldn't help but marvel at the boat's speed; Qi Xiayu's capabilities were evident from it. Recalling the grievances between Emperor Shi Tian and Qi Xiayu, he thought to himself, "There are many Numinous Sky realm experts in the world, but very few at the Emperor's Throne realm. This is probably the biggest reason. Advancing from Numinous Sky to Emperor's Throne is as difficult as ascending to heaven."

Emperor Shi Tian Li Youran had created his own Emperor Shi Tian Wang Fo Scripture. However, compared to Grand Brahma Wang Fo's Immeasurable Calamity Scripture, the gap in knowledge and foundation could not be compensated by mere cultivation. Although Qi Xiayu was inferior to Grand Brahma Wang Fo, Emperor Shi Tian Li Youran was likely far more inferior when compared to her.

The Phoenix Boat traversed through space. After an unknown period of time, it finally paused gently, emerging from the depths of space into a vast expanse of starlight.

Qin Mu stood at the bow and looked out, seeing each star in the cosmos exceptionally bright and dazzling. Between the stars were brilliant ribbons of light, resembling chains that connected the stars in the vast expanse. This was the true cosmos, not a celestial map.

"Those are the Heavenly Dipper constellations, part of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Dippers," Qi Jiuyi explained. "In the center is Heavenly Dipper City, also known as the Jade Qilin Constellation."

Qi Jiuyi continued, "If you change your perspective, you can see that the Heavenly Dipper constellation forms the shape of an ancient Jade Qilin god. The Heavenly Dipper Star Lord, one of the True Gods of the Circumpolar Stars, was born from Heavenly Dipper City."

Dragon Qilin became excited. He leaned over the bow, peering out, and asked, "Is that the birthplace of the Qilin divine race's ancestors? Was the Heavenly Dipper Star Lord born there?"

The Phoenix Boat moved at extreme speed, soon arriving at the front of the Heavenly Dipper Constellations. From a distance, the star-chains of the constellation group connected, precisely forming the shape of a Qilin. At the center of the interwoven starlight chains, there was a colossal jade divine city.

Qi Jiuyi hesitated for a moment and said, "There are many types of Qilin. The Heavenly Dipper Star Lord is a Jade Qilin, the most noble kind. Besides that, within the Primordial Realm continent, there are essences of water, fire, metal, wood, and earth, which gave birth to the Five Great Ancient Qilin Gods. As for whether Second Brother is a descendant of the Heavenly Dipper Star Lord, that's beyond my knowledge."

Dragon Qilin's face darkened. He could control Qilin Holy Flame from birth, clearly belonging to the Fire Qilin lineage of the Primordial Realm, unrelated to the Heavenly Dipper Star Lord's bloodline.

The Phoenix Boat flew into the constellation cluster formed by the Thirty-Six Heavenly Dipper Stars. They saw magnificent divine cities located within each star, such as Tiankui City, Tianji City, Tianxian City, Tianyong City, Tianxiong City, Tianmeng City, and so on. The form of each constellation was also different, with the star-chains of the cluster forming various ancient god shapes that were ancient, fierce, and indescribably terrifying. The forms of the constellations were also those of ancient gods, making it conceivable that those ancient god Star Lords would appear similarly.

"Those divine cities are garrison points," Qi Jiuyi explained. "During this attack on the Primordial Realm, most of the celestial soldiers and generals deployed came from the major divine cities within the Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend constellations. The forces from the Celestial Heavens' headquarters, as well as the Thirty-Six Heavenly Palaces and Seventy-Two Treasure Halls, were not deployed at all."

Qin Mu's heart tightened. Merely the celestial soldiers and generals from the Heavenly Dipper and Earthly Fiend constellations had already utterly defeated the Primordial Realm; the sheer power of the Celestial Heavens was unimaginable!

The Phoenix Boat then flew over the Earthly Fiend constellation cluster, passing through it. The cosmos stretched endlessly, a boundless journey.

Suddenly, they sailed into a shattered cosmos where broken continents and stars floated. The Phoenix Boat passed through these cosmic remains.

Qin Mu looked at Qi Jiuyi and asked, "Brother Qi, where is this place? Why is the cosmos shattered here?"

Qi Jiuyi said, "This is the Celestial Heavens' Blood Rust Zone."

"The Blood Rust Zone?"

"The Blood Rust Zone is a prehistoric ruin that existed long ago," Qi Jiuyi explained. "Even earlier than the Dragon Han Celestial Heavens, I've heard it was before the rise of civilization."

Qi Jiuyi said, "As for how it came to be, I've only heard a few rumors. One rumor says that a civilization existed here during the Primordial Chaos era, which was later eradicated by the Ancient God Heavenly Emperor and his followers. The Ancient God Era began after that, which is why it's called prehistoric."

The Phoenix Boat passed by a colossal planet. The planet was incredibly quiet, slowly rotating. Only when it rotated from its back to its front did Qin Mu realize it was a skull. An unbelievably large skull! Many similar colossal heads floated in this Blood Rust Zone, drifting alongside shattered stars in the cosmos, dim and lightless. One could easily collide with them if not careful.

The Phoenix Boat slowed down as it traveled here. Qin Mu stood at the side of the boat, peering out as a massive landmass, bearing remnants of prehistoric civilization, drifted overhead. Qin Mu looked up. The palaces on the landmass were grand and magnificent; tall pillars swept past the ship's roof, and there were mighty divine statues with gigantic circular wheels behind them.

"These wheels," Qin Mu murmured, "resemble the halos that form behind heads after ancient gods bestow blessings."

Qin Mu was surprised; these various halos behind heads must have been a tradition in the Ancient God Era. When he returned to the early Dragon Han era, he had seen many ancient gods and demigods with such halos behind their heads. The most striking examples were the Seven Celestial Venerables. The Seven Celestial Venerables received blessings from ancient gods, resulting in the most halos and auras behind their heads. Celestial Venerable Yu, in particular, was blessed by all ancient gods, causing the halos behind his head to be extraordinarily complex and layered.

Of course, not all those with halos and auras behind their heads were Celestial Venerables; ancient gods would also bestow blessings upon their own descendants. In the early Dragon Han era, not only ancient gods but also powerful demigods could bestow blessings. After Qin Mu studied the ancient god grand dao runes and ancient god blessings, he could also bestow blessings upon others. For him, blessings held few secrets anymore. However, the divine statues in this Primordial Chaos ruin indicated that the tradition of ancient god blessings was not invented by ancient gods, but rather a product of prehistoric civilization.

Qin Mu asked Qi Jiuyi, "Can the prehistoric civilization of the Blood Rust Zone cultivate? How did they cultivate?"

Qi Jiuyi laughed, "Sect Master Qin, I told you this is just a rumor, a rumor that such a prehistoric civilization existed. Rumors are just rumors; they shouldn't be taken seriously. How can you pursue it so seriously?"

Qin Mu became even more serious and said, "In this world, seriousness is key. Since the Blood Rust Zone existed during the Primordial Chaos era and once held a civilization, then its civilization structure must have aspects that can be learned from, making it worth exploring. We can stop and research it for a bit."

Qi Jiuyi was torn between laughter and tears. "Sect Master Qin," he said, "my master lent you this boat so you could reach the Celestial Heavens as quickly as possible, not for you to stroll around."

Qin Mu smiled. "We'll just take a look; it won't delay us for long. Brother Qi, aren't you curious about prehistoric ruins like the Blood Rust Zone?"

"Not curious!" Qi Jiuyi retorted emphatically.

Despite his words, he still ordered the soldiers under the Red Emperor to slow down the Phoenix Boat. His expression was serious as he said, "Sect Master Qin, we can take our time to look around the Blood Rust Zone, but we absolutely cannot stay here for long! After all, this is a prehistoric ruin; who knows what dangers might be present! Many reckless individuals from the Celestial Heavens die here every year!"

Qin Mu nodded and smiled. "Don't worry, I just want to take a look..."

Suddenly, his expression changed slightly. He stared intently at a drifting, broken continent, then hastily took out a geographical map from his Taotie pouch. He checked the map, then looked up at the approaching continent.

"Brother Qi..." Qin Mu chuckled, "Can we land the boat on that continent? Someone left something for me there."

Qi Jiuyi was furious. "You just said you'd only take a look, and now you're going back on your word! Qin, don't think I'll indulge you just because you have a good relationship with my second brother. When I descended to the lower realms, it was under the Black Emperor's orders to capture you! To tell you the truth, I've tolerated you for a long time!"

Qin Mu looked at Dragon Qilin. Dragon Qilin cleared his throat and said, "Third Brother, the Sect Master wants to take a look there; just let him."

Qi Jiuyi's stomach churned with anger, almost unable to suppress it, but he still forcibly suppressed it. He said coldly, "Don't blame me if you die in there! Your map... eh?" He widened his eyes, looking at the geographical map in Qin Mu's hand. He also looked up at the increasingly close continent ahead, a bewildered expression appearing on his face. "How do you have a geographical map of the Blood Rust Zone? Did a senior brother really leave something for you here?"