Chapter 910: Three-Eyed Crisis

"How could I lie to you?" Qin Mu rolled up the map and said, "I have an elder brother who enjoys wandering around, searching for historical mysteries and uncovering historical truths. He left me many maps, and this is one of them."

Qi Jiuyi ordered the gods on the ship to approach the desolate continent. He said, "Your elder brother is even more reckless than you. To be able to jump out of the Primordial Realm, come here, and return unscathed, his cultivation must be quite formidable. He's clearly not an unknown figure. What's his name?"

"Wei Suifeng."

"Wei Suifeng?" Qi Jiuyi thought for a moment, then shook his head, "Never heard of him."

A deity serving under the Crimson Emperor on the ship heard the name Wei Suifeng, and his expression subtly changed. He whispered, "Young Master, Wei Suifeng is not an unknown figure; he is the Emperor of Yunluo Heavenly Palace."

Qi Jiuyi was startled. He turned his head and whispered, "The Emperor of Yunluo Heavenly Palace? This Wei Suifeng is the ruler of Yunluo Heavenly Palace, one of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Palaces? How high-ranking and powerful is that? His status in the Heavenly Court is only slightly inferior to my master's. How can he be a sworn brother to the rebel Qin Mu?"

The deity lowered his voice, "This Emperor Yunluo is also a rebel! He betrayed the Heavenly Court thousands of years ago. I heard he was exposed by a Celestial Venerable, captured, suppressed, and suffered a fate worse than death."

Qi Jiuyi suddenly understood and chuckled, "Proximity to cinnabar makes one red; proximity to ink makes one black. It seems Cult Master Qin's entire family truly are rebels."

Qin Mu coughed, reminding him, "Brother Qi, I can hear you."

Qi Jiuyi pretended not to hear. The Phoenix Boat gradually slowed down. Qin Mu opened the map, located the spot marked by Wei Suifeng, matched it to the continent, and found the site where Wei Suifeng had hidden his treasure.

The Phoenix Boat flew over the continent, slowly descending. Suddenly, the boat violently shook, was lifted by a wild force, and began to tumble uncontrollably!

Over six thousand deities on the boat roared in unison, channeling all their magical power. Immediately, various heavenly palaces manifested on the treasure ship, with countless primordial spirits standing within them, unleashing all their might to activate the Phoenix Boat's full power! The Phoenix Boat's numerous phoenix wings spun and sliced, emitting blade light that instantly cut the strange force into countless pieces, allowing the ship to regain its stability!

Just then, a grand sound echoed from the ruins on the continent below. The sound had a peculiar rhythm, like countless people were performing a sacrifice. Light burst forth from the source of the sound, growing brighter and brighter, so dense it seemed to coalesce into substance, rushing towards the newly stabilized Phoenix Boat!

To the utter astonishment of everyone on board, the light condensed, transforming into an immensely colossal god. It appeared to be a spirit body, without a physical form, with flickering light forming various strange patterns on its surface. Its body was far larger than the Phoenix Boat; its head rose from the boat's left side, with multiple halos spinning wildly behind its head. It extended a hand, striking down towards the Phoenix Boat!

Qin Mu's mind reeled as he stared blankly at the immensely colossal god. "Heavenly Duke..."

This colossal god was almost identical to the Heavenly Duke, with his white eyebrows, white beard, and white eyes, except for the patterns on its skin surface, which differed, and the true Heavenly Duke did not have such complex halos behind his head.

The more than six thousand deities on the ship roared in unison, pushing their powers to the absolute limit. However, as the "Heavenly Duke's" palm descended, everyone felt their vital energy churn, and they coughed up mouthfuls of blood.

Just then, a mighty force erupted from within the ship, as if an Emperor's Throne expert had personally arrived. Qin Mu looked back and saw the figure of a nine-headed phoenix appear above the Phoenix Boat.

The nine-headed phoenix soared, like light and electricity. The Phoenix Boat moved at an incredibly terrifying speed, dodging the "Heavenly Duke's" second attack. The next instant, it pierced through the "Heavenly Duke's" forehead and emerged from behind its head!

The "Heavenly Duke" collapsed with a crash, streams of light falling like flowing water.

The people on the boat, still shaken, scrambled back to their feet.

Qin Mu's eyelids twitched as he watched. The Phoenix Boat's sudden burst of power hadn't been activated by the six thousand-plus deities on board. Instead, it was the Crimson Emperor Qi Xiayu's magical power that had amplified the ship's strength to its maximum, defeating the "Heavenly Duke"!

Qi Xiayu was not on the boat; she was in the Primordial Realm, an unknown distance away. Her ability to activate the Phoenix Boat's power was because she sensed the danger the ship faced, thus controlling it remotely from the Primordial Realm.

This was the true terror of the Crimson Emperor.

Qin Mu had met Qi Xiayu a few times before. When she pursued him and Emperor Shi Tian King Buddha, she was in the Buddha Realm, yet her zither music pursued them across multiple dimensions and layers of space, demonstrating astonishing skill.

In the Primordial Realm, Qin Mu had also seen Qi Xiayu engage in a zither battle with Scholar Zi Xi. When the two Earth Mother Primordial Sovereigns clashed fiercely, Qi Xiayu didn't participate but instead simply disengaged.

Later, they met several more times. Qi Xiayu had personally confronted Qin Mu and Qin Fengqing during the Primordial Realm Catastrophe, repelling them repeatedly.

This woman didn't give the impression of being overly powerful; it seemed the path of music was her true forte.

However, only after Qin Mu entered the Peach Blossom Grove did he learn that Qi Xiayu was a disciple of Celestial Venerable Yue. Celestial Venerable Yue possessed astonishing mastery in spatial techniques; her Ten Thousand Li Peach Blossom Grove folded countless spaces and connected numerous heavens!

Qi Xiayu had learned spatial techniques from her, which was why she could transmit her magical power over such vast distances to control the Phoenix Boat and help them overcome their difficulties.

"For Emperor Shi Tian to catch up to her, it would probably be incredibly difficult," Qin Mu mused.

The Phoenix Boat stabilized, and the nine-headed phoenix phantom above it slowly vanished.

Qi Jiuyi's face was pale. Suddenly, he shouted sharply, "Turn back! Leave this place!"

Qin Mu quickly said, "Wait!"

Qi Jiuyi glared at him fiercely and snapped, "Turn back!"

Qin Mu reached out, grabbed the Dragon Qilin, and leaped out of the Phoenix Boat. Qi Jiuyi quickly said, "Wait! Cult Master Qin, this place is so dangerous, and you still insist on pressing forward? The Heavenly Duke just attacked us; it's clear he doesn't want us to explore this area! If my master hadn't activated the Phoenix Boat, we would all be dead without a burial place!"

Qin Mu put down the Dragon Qilin and smiled, "That wasn't the Heavenly Duke just now, but some peculiar spirit body from these ruins, similar to a spirit embryo. That spirit body was shattered by the Crimson Emperor, and in my opinion, it won't recover anytime soon. Entering now would actually pose little danger. Since we've already come this far, we might as well go in and explore."

"If you want to die, no one will join you!"

Qi Jiuyi snorted coldly and said to the Dragon Qilin, "Second Brother, get on the boat. You don't need to join him in his nonsense!"

The Dragon Qilin hesitated, then whispered, "Cult Master, will that Heavenly Duke spirit embryo really not recover?"

Qin Mu nodded.

The Dragon Qilin breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "Third Brother, you stay on the boat. I'll accompany the Cult Master."

Qi Jiuyi's face turned ashen. He leaped off the Phoenix Boat and looked back, saying, "A few of the highest-cultivated among you, come down with me. The rest stay on the boat and wait for me, ready to provide support at any time!"

Qin Mu shook his head, "Sister Yan'er is an expert at the Numinous Sky Realm. Having her by our side is enough; there's no need to trouble others."

Qi Jiuyi's expression darkened. Ignoring Qin Mu, he addressed the nine deities who had descended, "Once we are in the ruins, even if I encounter danger, you are not to rescue me. You are only to protect my Second Brother, ensuring he comes to no harm, no matter what! Understand?"

The nine deities affirmed, praising, "Young Master, your righteousness reaches the heavens!"

Qi Jiuyi gritted his teeth, thinking, "How is this 'righteousness reaching the heavens'? I'm just worried that if Second Brother dies, I'll have to be buried with him!"

Qin Mu laughed heartily, "Brother Qi, your nobility is truly admirable. In that case, let's go down."

Yan'er landed on his shoulder. The others followed behind him, while the nine deities spread out around the Dragon Qilin, maintaining strict vigilance.

Qin Mu descended from the sky. Before he even landed, he opened the map again, comparing it. The marked location on the map was slightly to the right of the center of this continent.

They were not far from the marked spot.

"Don't fly over!" Qi Jiuyi quickly came to his side, saying coldly, "We don't know if there are other dangers here. It's better to be on solid ground than to be a target in the air; it's easier to dodge and exert force."

Qin Mu praised, "Brother Qi, you're very experienced."

Qi Jiuyi snorted, saying indifferently, "I trained under the Crimson Emperor and the Black Emperor, so of course I'm experienced, unlike you, who's just a rogue practitioner. Once we're in the ruins, you'll listen to my commands!"

Qin Mu burst into laughter and landed on an extremely ancient structure within the ruins below.

Qi Jiuyi followed closely behind him, descending cautiously and looking around nervously.

Suddenly, Yan'er popped a spiritual pellet into his mouth.

Qi Jiuyi was about to spit it out, but the taste was surprisingly good, so he swallowed it.

Yan'er was about to feed him again, but Qi Jiuyi quickly said, "Sister Yan'er, I don't eat this."

Yan'er chuckled, "I've also fed your master, Qi Xiayu. When she was little, she loved it when I fed her, always chirping and calling me 'Sister' as she followed me around."

"You've fed my master?" Qi Jiuyi's face darkened. He thought to himself, "So should I call her Sister Yan'er or Grand-Aunt?"

Qin Mu surveyed his surroundings, then suddenly leaped down from the magnificent structure, landing on the ground.

Qi Jiuyi quickly stopped the Dragon Qilin: "Second Brother, don't go down yet. Let's wait until Qin isn't dead... Alright, let's go down."

Qin Mu closed his eyes, attempting to enter a dream state. Then he opened his eyes again, showing surprise.

He couldn't activate the Boundless Calamity Sutra to transform it into a dream world.

He had originally intended to let countless versions of himself in a dream state explore this world, to avoid danger. However, an invisible force in the Blood Rust Zone could precisely disrupt the Boundless Calamity Sutra, preventing the dream world from forming.

Just as he was trying to enter the dream state, an incredibly loud sacrificial sound suddenly surged into his mind. The sound contained power, creating terrifying interference, making it impossible for the Boundless Calamity Sutra to form a dream world.

"Can I still use divine abilities in the Blood Rust Zone then?" Qin Mu attempted to cast a divine ability. It still held its power, but he couldn't help but fall into thought, as the sacrificial power continued to interfere with his thoughts and consciousness while he channeled the ability.

"Grand Emperor Brahma King Buddha's Boundless Calamity Sutra is a study of the mind, and this sacrificial sound also seems to be related to the mind. However, I can hear the sacrificial sound when I enter a dream state, but not when I'm awake. This suggests that this sacrificial sound has transformed into an invisible force. I wonder if the sacrificial power permeating the Blood Rust Zone is related to the Heavenly Duke that just appeared?"

He walked forward. Ahead was the spot where the light had just erupted and formed the "Heavenly Duke."

Qi Jiuyi followed him, saying, "Second Brother, let Qin go ahead and explore. We'll follow him if there's no danger."

Qin Mu stopped. He saw that the place where the "Heavenly Duke" had burst forth with light was a magnificent altar. Surrounding the altar were massive skeletons, encircling it in multiple layers, numbering a great many.

In the center of the altar was a funnel-shaped depression, where faint, almost imperceptible liquid light was condensing.

Qin Mu approached a set of withered bones. These bones were similar to human skeletons but many times larger. Embedded in the center of the withered bones' forehead was a rhomboid crystal, emitting a faint glow.

He soared into the air, inspecting the colossal skeleton.

"There are no rune-marks or Dao imprints on the bones. They weren't practitioners of divine abilities, nor were they gods or ancient gods. However, the fact that their bones haven't decayed for millions of years suggests they were inherently very powerful."

Qin Mu recalled the Core of the Primordial Tree. Its annual rings indicated that the Earth Mother had faced ten great calamities in prehistoric times, almost dying each time. Could those ten great calamities of the Earth Mother be related to these giants?

Qin Mu arrived at the center of the giant skeleton's forehead. The rhomboid crystal was about as tall as he was, reflecting his image.

"This crystal is definitely useful, worth studying!"

Qin Mu used his magical power to pry off the crystal. Suddenly, the skeleton disintegrated with a clatter, turning into dust!

Qi Jiuyi and the others below were startled, but fortunately, the skeleton merely shattered and didn't trigger any danger.

Qin Mu put the rhomboid crystal into his Taotie Bag. He then went to another set of withered bones, which also had a rhomboid crystal embedded in its forehead.

He looked around and saw that all the prehistoric giant skeletons had a crystal embedded in their foreheads. "Could these giants have used these crystals as their third eye? What could their third eye do?"