Those threads were dense and intricate, like a spider's web, wrapping his consciousness tight.
Each thread shimmered with the light of Qing Lu, carrying a heavy weight of death qi and resentment.
Someone was controlling him.
Chen Zhou raised an eyebrow.
Mind control?
He had played right into Chen Zhou's hands.
As if an Evil God wouldn't be a master of such things.
Chen Zhou fully activated the Seed of Resentment, sending death qi surging into Jiao Mu Jiao's sea of consciousness.
The seed instantly took root and sprouted, growing countless grayish-white roots that pierced toward the black threads like needles.
The black threads immediately counterattacked, twisting and coiling in an attempt to crush the roots.
Two forces clashed fiercely within Jiao Mu Jiao's sea of consciousness.
Death qi eroded the black threads, while the black threads tried to consume the death qi in return.
They entangled, contested, devoured, and counter-devoured.
Jiao Mu Jiao's brow furrowed tightly, veins bulging on his forehead as large beads of sweat rolled down his face.
He suddenly raised his hands and clutched his head tightly.
“Ah—!”
Ghostly blue light surged from Jiao Mu Jiao's body, flickering wildly—sometimes strong, sometimes weak, sometimes rapid, sometimes slow.
His entire being began to distort. His hands were clenched so hard his nails dug into his flesh. The ghostly blue light flashed frantically, though it was unclear if it was repairing his body or resisting something.
The Wing-Fire Snake watched him warily, transparent flames flickering in her eye sockets, ready to strike at any moment.
Chen Zhou continued to drive the Seed of Resentment. Death qi poured incessantly into Jiao Mu Jiao's sea of consciousness as the roots grew thicker and denser, piercing through the black threads one by one.
Jiao Mu Jiao's sea of consciousness began to vibrate, becoming a chaotic blur.
Sealed memories, suppressed consciousness, and erased emotions all began to loosen amidst the tremors.
Then, he lost control.
Jiao Mu Jiao suddenly threw his head back and roared.
Ghostly blue light erupted from his body, instantly swallowing the entire underground space.
His eyes were blood-red and his body trembled. The vine sword in his hand swung wildly, slashing at everything in sight.
Stone pillars shattered, stone walls collapsed, and debris flew everywhere.
His body began to warp; the rotting half of his body regenerated frantically while the intact half began to disintegrate.
Sensing something was wrong, the Wing-Fire Snake spewed transparent flames onto Jiao Mu Jiao, scorching him black.
But Jiao Mu Jiao ignored it entirely. He swung his vine sword with mad abandon, slashing at the Wing-Fire Snake.
The vine sword struck the Bone Snake's body, carving deep gouges into her frame.
The Wing-Fire Snake hissed, her giant tail sweeping across the room to send him flying.
Jiao Mu Jiao slammed into the stone wall, but he scrambled back up and continued his charge.
The two became locked in combat once more, even more frenzied than before.
Jiao Mu Jiao abandoned all defense, focusing solely on offense with every strike. Even as the Wing-Fire Snake scorched him and wounds opened deep enough to show bone, he charged forward with bloodshot eyes, heedless of his own safety.
The Wing-Fire Snake was pushed back slightly by this suicidal fighting style, but she did not retreat. She blasted transparent flames directly into his face before coiling her massive tail around his body, constricting him tightly.
Jiao Mu Jiao struggled, but he could not break free.
He writhed wildly within the Wing-Fire Snake's coils, swinging his vine sword blindly and leaving deep marks on her skeletal frame.
The Wing-Fire Snake did not let go, constricting even tighter.
Transparent flames burned Jiao Mu Jiao's body until he was scorched black all over.
The underground space shook violently. Rubble fell from the ceiling, and the ground began to crack.
The entire underground city was trembling as if on the verge of collapse. Only the stone walls near the stone door remained stable; the characters carved into the stone flickered, barely holding that small section of space together.
Chen Zhou stood by the stone door, watching the two high-level entities fight.
Within his sea of consciousness, Jiao Mu Jiao's awareness was still struggling.
The black threads were being eroded by death qi, turning into bone dust bit by bit and dissipating.
With every thread that vanished, Chen Zhou felt a wave of intense hatred surge from the depths of Jiao Mu Jiao's mind.
The hatred was thick, carrying endless fury and resentment—like a mass of grievances built up over thousands of years finally finding an outlet.
Chen Zhou's divinity of hatred immediately sensed this emotion. His divinity pulsed wildly, and the Seed of Resentment greedily absorbed the energy.
Then, that hatred turned into fuel, pouring into the Hatred Fire on the withered wood tail. The flames instantly surged, burning even more intensely.
The giant withered vine tail began to disintegrate rapidly. The charred outer layer peeled off in sheets, revealing the rotting flesh beneath, which was then burned into ash that piled on the ground.
Jiao Mu Jiao suddenly stopped struggling.
Pinned within the Wing-Fire Snake's coils, he stared at the burning withered wood tail, watching it turn to ash bit by bit.
In his amber vertical pupils, something seemed to shatter.
Then, he closed his eyes.
Within his sea of consciousness, the final black thread was eroded by death qi, turning into bone dust and vanishing.
Chen Zhou immediately felt the sense of rejection disappear.
The Seed of Resentment took root and sprouted within Jiao Mu Jiao's sea of consciousness, merging with his awareness. At that moment, Chen Zhou saw Jiao Mu Jiao's long-hidden memories.
The memory fragments flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern.
A scene appeared within the royal city of a capital.
Chen Zhou stood below a sacrificial altar, watching from a bystander's perspective.
The altar was nine zhang tall, built from solid slabs of bluestone. Its surface was covered in a thick layer of yellow earth, which was sprinkled with fluorescent mushroom powder. The powder shimmered under the sun like stars trodden underfoot.
Nine flags were planted around the altar, each embroidered with the character for 'Wood' in a bold, vigorous script. The flags snapped loudly in the wind.
Below the altar, civil and military officials in court robes were knelt in two neat rows. The civil officials held jade slips, while the military officers rested their hands on their sword hilts, their expressions solemn.
Further out were dense crowds of commoners. Chen Zhou took a quick look and estimated there were at least a hundred thousand people.
They were prostrated on the ground, their heads bowed low, not daring even to breathe loudly.
Atop the altar, a man with a straight, tall posture stood with his back to the crowd, facing the offering table.
The man appeared to be in his forties, with a majestic face and a heroic air about his brows. He wore black sacrificial robes embroidered with gold-thread jiao patterns that shimmered brilliantly in the sunlight.
Chen Zhou stared at the face for a few moments; he looked seventy to eighty percent similar to Jiao Mu Jiao.
The offering table was piled with a vast amount of flesh and blood sacrifices. In the center of the table stood a massive bronze tripod. Incense burned within the tripod, its smoke curling upward to form a mass of green clouds that lingered in the air.
Piles of glowing mushrooms also surrounded the offering table—red, green, yellow, and white, in various sizes, stacked like a small mountain.
The fluorescent light they emitted intertwined, bathing the entire altar in a kaleidoscope of colors.
The middle-aged man lit three sticks of incense and respectfully placed them into the incense burner.
Then he knelt and kowtowed.
“I, Mu Jinghe, seventeenth monarch of Jiao Mu Kingdom, respectfully offer these sacrifices of flesh and blood to the gods of Central Province.”
His voice was resonant, carrying across the entire altar.
“I pray for favorable weather and for the peace and prosperity of our nation.”
“May my Jiao Mu Kingdom have bountiful harvests and thriving livestock, and may my people live in peace and happiness.”
“May my Jiao Mu Kingdom possess strong armies and horses, may the national fortune flourish, and may we enjoy eternal peace for a thousand generations.”
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