The giant baby reached out and grabbed the middle-aged emperor. The emperor struggled but couldn't break free, sneering, "I'm just a thought-form. What can you do to me?"
Crunch.
The baby bit off half his body in one gulp, then swallowed the rest whole.
"Tastes terrible. No human flavor, no ghost flavor... What's going on?"
Another Crimson Emperor head grew from the baby's neck, starting small and swelling larger. The baby flew into a rage, raining blows like a storm until he finally punched the emperor out of his own body again.
Crimson Emperor climbed up and shouted, "I told you, I'm just a thought-form, not the real Crimson Emperor. You can't eat me..."
Smack—
The baby slapped him down, pinning him under his palm. The mountains shook with the impact. Lifting his hand, the Crimson Emperor lay sprawled in a giant palm print. In the distance, Heaven Duke's ray-avatar wanted to warn him but didn't dare raise his voice: "Crimson Emperor, don't struggle, don't talk back. Once he's bored, he'll stop playing."
Crimson Emperor climbed up, furious. "Do you know who I am? You—"
Smack!
Crimson Emperor was slapped down again, the palm print deepening. He struggled out and said, "I..."
Smack! Smack! Smack!
The baby kept hitting him over and over, making Heaven Duke's ray-avatar shudder. At last, this tiger-headed, adorable baby lost interest in Crimson Emperor. Heaven Duke's ray-avatar cautiously approached, pulled Crimson Emperor out from underground, and whispered, "Don't fight back against him in this sealed continent. If you resist, you'll just get beaten. I can't break Tu Bo's seal and Great Brahma King Buddha's suppression alone, but with you here, I have a bit more hope. Don't make a sound, or you'll alert that little demon king. Let's work together."
Crimson Emperor said, "I'm only a thought-form of the Crimson Emperor, I don't have much power. I'm afraid I can't break Tu Bo and Great Brahma Heaven's suppression and seal."
Heaven Duke's ray-avatar smiled, "If it were just Tu Bo's seal, it couldn't trap me. The real problem is Great Brahma King Buddha. That old Buddha used to be respectful, calling me 'Dao Brother,' but now he ignores me—probably off dreaming again. This Buddha is just a dream projection, a thought-form too. You distract him, and I'll break Tu Bo's seal. We don't need a big opening, just a crack—enough for us to escape."
Crimson Emperor's eyes lit up. He bowed and said, "I'll rely on you, Dao Brother..."
"Quiet, don't alert that little demon king."
Both of them looked at Fenix Greenwood Keane—the tiger-headed baby—who was crawling all over the Qin-glyph continent's mountains, trying to escape the seal. But wherever he crawled, the Qin-shaped mountain ranges would shift to block him, keeping him trapped inside.
"Go!" Heaven Duke's ray-avatar shouted.
Crimson Emperor immediately shot into the air, charging at the Buddha overhead. His body twisted, revealing three heads and six arms. The Buddha above the Qin-glyph continent suddenly radiated blinding Buddha-light and thunderous chanting; countless Sanskrit characters whirled around, then surged down to suppress him.
"Great Brahma Heaven Dao Brother, your Not-Thought, Not-Not-Thought can't match my Three-Origin Divine Indestructible Consciousness!"
Both were thought-forms, colliding head-on. Heaven Duke's ray-avatar felt the pressure suddenly lift and instantly began breaking Tu Bo's seal. Heaven Duke's power was boundless; he stomped hard, and the shifting Qin-glyph continent abruptly stopped moving. He waved his hand, splitting the sky open—a crack like parted eyelids.
"Crimson Emperor, forget fighting Great Brahma Heaven—let's escape while we can!" Heaven Duke's ray-avatar shouted.
Crimson Emperor was both startled and delighted. The two ancient beings soared up, turning into streaks of light as they raced toward the crack. But just then, the baby trapped among the Qin-glyph mountains flashed a sly look in his three eyes, a mischievous smile spreading across his face.
Just as Crimson Emperor and Heaven Duke were about to escape, two chubby hands grabbed their streaks of light and yanked them down, slamming them hard into the ground.
Heaven Duke and Crimson Emperor were left dizzy and disoriented. They hurriedly looked up and groaned in unison: the giant baby was clinging to the crack in the sky, half his body already through, his pudgy legs kicking wildly.
Suddenly, the baby's right foot kicked at the crack, and he clambered out.
The seal in the sky slowly began to close. Heaven Duke and Crimson Emperor exchanged glances and immediately soared up again, trying to slip out before it sealed shut.
The crack grew smaller and smaller, about to close. Suddenly, the baby's voice called from outside: "Catch my little brother!"
Someone tumbled down from the crack, flailing and falling from the sky—a youth, by the look of it.
Heaven Duke and Crimson Emperor were about to escape when suddenly, a giant golden willow leaf slapped down from the sky with a loud smack, covering everything.
Buddha-chanting thundered, Buddha-light blazed, and Tu Bo's seal fused with the Buddha's suppression, becoming impenetrable. The sky could no longer be split.
Crimson Emperor, shocked and furious, immediately charged at the Buddha and shouted, "Heaven Duke, Dao Brother, I'll fight the old Buddha—you break the seal!"
Heaven Duke's ray-avatar slumped and shook his head. "It's hopeless now. Once the Golden Willow Leaf seals the third eye, the seal and suppression join as one. When the leaf was loose, we had a chance to break out. Now that it's on, there's no way to escape."
Crimson Emperor slumped in defeat.
The two of them landed, exchanging glances and sighing deeply.
"Just now, I think someone fell from the sky," Crimson Emperor suddenly said.
Heaven Duke remembered—the little demon king had said something about catching his brother. A sense of dread filled him. "Could that person be...?"
As they spoke, a tall, dazed youth walked over and asked, "Elders, where is this place?"
The youth had striking features and a vertical eye on his forehead.
"Oh no!"
Heaven Duke's ray-avatar saw the youth and sighed, "The real one got thrown in and sealed, while Fenix Greenwood Keane—the little demon king—escaped! We're in trouble now..."
Quinn Shepherd, polite and refined, bowed and asked, "May I ask the elders' names? And could you tell me where this is?"
(This chapter isn't finished yet~.~ Please click next page to continue reading the exciting story!)
"This is the place where your brother is sealed. Tu Bo used a fragment of his own horn to forge a jade pendant, hidden inside your third eye. Look, the Buddha in the sky is the muddle-headed Great Brahma King Buddha. The middle-aged emperor before you is Crimson Emperor, the first Heavenly Emperor of the Chiming era. And I..."
Heaven Duke's ray-avatar sighed, "I was just curious about the Netherworld Divine Son and ended up here by accident, only to be sealed and suppressed. You've seen me before—you stared into my eye for two days and nights..."
"You're Heaven Duke!" Quinn Shepherd exclaimed.
Heaven Duke's ray-avatar nodded helplessly. "Now you know, but don't tell anyone—it's undignified. Not that you'll get the chance; you're sealed in here too."
Quinn Shepherd looked around in a daze: Heaven Duke, Crimson Emperor, Great Brahma King Buddha, Tu Bo's horn, all these terrifying presences hidden inside his third eye—when did that happen?
"Brother? I have a brother?"
Suddenly, Quinn Shepherd realized, "When Chiming Divine Son was about to kill me, was it my brother who threw me in here? How did I not know I had a brother? Isn't there just another me inside?"
Crimson Emperor knew nothing about this and couldn't answer. But Heaven Duke seemed to know a lot. "Your brother is also Fenix Greenwood Keane. You are Fenix Greenwood Keane too. I can't really explain it. He was born a sacred demon king, knowing only slaughter. You were born later—after Tu Bo sealed him, you awakened your own consciousness. He represents evil..."
Quinn Shepherd said excitedly, "Then I represent good, right?"
Heaven Duke's ray-avatar hesitated, reluctant to crush his excitement. "Babies aren't born good or evil. It depends on upbringing. Raised in a good family, good outweighs evil. Raised among bad people, evil outweighs good..."
Quinn Shepherd relaxed, smiling. "I knew I stood for justice and kindness. My family raised me well. The elders in my village are all famous for their goodness!"
Heaven Duke's ray-avatar's eyes flashed white light three yards long before he recovered. "It's not your fault. Fenix Greenwood Keane was too cunning—he let us break the seal so he could escape, then threw you in here to take his place. Now, you'll never get your body back, and you'll be trapped here like us. By now, he's probably causing havoc outside. Crimson Emperor, does your Hanging Realm have any defenses left?"
Crimson Emperor hesitated, shaking his head. "My body has fully become the Hanging Realm, and my primordial spirit has dissolved. I was badly wounded when I entered this microcosm..."
Quinn Shepherd suddenly realized, "So you're Crimson Emperor's consciousness? How did you get here? Weren't you in the Crimson Emperor's Brain? How did you get sealed too? If you hadn't vanished, Chiming Divine Son wouldn't have tried to kill us!"
Crimson Emperor's three faces flushed red in embarrassment. "It's a long story."
Quinn Shepherd's eyes sparkled. "We're all stuck here with plenty of time. Your Majesty Crimson Emperor, why not tell us slowly?"
Crimson Emperor hesitated, unwilling to speak.
Heaven Duke's ray-avatar laughed, "I'll tell it for him. When he entered this microcosm, his soul scattered, but he refused to die. He transformed his body into the Hanging Realm and preserved his consciousness as an immortal divine sense. If someone could bear his consciousness, he could live again—not truly live, but another version of him would revive."
Quinn Shepherd suddenly understood, sneering, "So Crimson Emperor's consciousness would erase the host's mind. That person wouldn't have his soul, but would think and act just like Crimson Emperor! He'd be dead, but his consciousness would survive—a twisted kind of possession! Crimson Emperor actually wanted me as a vessel, to wipe out my own mind. But..."
Crimson Emperor sighed, "But I ran into the three-eyed demon baby. I tried to possess him, but found his consciousness was unbelievably strong and filthy, full of vicious thoughts. I couldn't erase his mind—instead, he beat me out. After that humiliation, I ended up trapped here."
"Serves you right!" Quinn Shepherd sneered.
Crimson Emperor was furious. Heaven Duke's ray-avatar said, "Enough bickering. Our biggest problem now is—how long until the Hanging Realm is destroyed?"
Crimson Emperor was silent for a moment. "Just how strong is Fenix Greenwood Keane?"
On the sacred mountain of the Hanging Realm, the ground suddenly cracked with a thunderous boom. Chiming Divine Son was smashed into the earth by a giant fist, shaking the mountain and causing it to sink.
"Quinn is so strong..." The First Human Emperor lay on the ground, astonished yet gratified as he watched the mighty giant baby—then was sent flying by a massive slap.
The First Human Emperor tumbled through the air like a spinning top, flying off into the distance, puzzled: "Why did Quinn attack me? Is he still mad I smashed Second Ancestor's corpse?"
"Turn this place into Little Youdu!"
The giant baby gleefully smashed the sacred hall, shattering it and collapsing half the mountain. "Bring Mother here to live! But it's a problem if she won't let me eat people..."
Chiming Divine Son roared in fury, bursting from underground to attack the giant baby.
Boom.
A fist met him head-on—Chiming Divine Son was plastered against it, sent flying backwards.
The giant baby's eyes lit up, clapping joyfully. "That's it—if I eat everyone here, the problem's solved!"
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