Chapter 358: Su Mu Is Pride?

An incomparably blinding golden flame erupted from the Thirteenth Highness—the Nirvana Holy Flame hidden within the royal bloodline!

"Ah!" the Thirteenth Highness shrieked in agony. The sheer pain of the Nirvana Holy Flame shattered Su Mu's Illusion Technique.

In an instant, the flames incinerated him. Not even ashes remained.

Clink!

The Supreme Heaven dropped to the ground with a crisp chime.

A burst of dark gold light spewed from the artifact, spitting back out the mountain of treasures it had swallowed earlier.

Su Mu slowly picked up the Supreme Heaven, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips. "A pleasant surprise."

Just as the restrictions were about to be lifted, the Thirteenth Highness had spontaneously combusted, burned to death by the Nirvana Holy Flame within his own bloodline. The implications of this were worth pondering.

He stepped out of the dreamscape and returned to the Chiyan Imperial Palace, only to find...

The entire imperial palace had devolved into utter chaos. Countless guards and maids scurried about in panic, their cries and screams echoing endlessly.

He ignored the panicked crowds and strolled through the palace to investigate the source of the commotion.

"Someone come quickly! The Eighth Highness... he's on fire!"

"Ninth Highness! No... please hold on just a little longer..."

A moment later, Su Mu halted amid the chaos, a pleasantly surprised smile on his face. "Hahaha... Interesting!

"As expected of the Red King! To actually go this far. For the sake of the Supreme Heaven, she didn't hesitate to slaughter every last member of her own royal bloodline, wiping out her own clan. There aren't many in this world capable of such decisiveness and ruthlessness."

He never expected the Red King to deliver such a surprise. To ignite the Nirvana Holy Flame within the bloodline of every royal family member—only she could possibly achieve such a feat.

"Shangguan Mingyue, just how many more surprises are you hiding?" Su Mu smiled.

Through his contact with Su Qing, he believed he had a decent understanding of the Red King. In his mind, she was a carefree, simple-hearted girl who despised being bound by rules.

But now, it seemed she also possessed the decisiveness and ruthlessness fitting for a ruler. Beneath that carefree, naive exterior lay an innate, chilling disregard for human life.

Human lives meant nothing to her. He could already tell from their past interactions that she felt little about killing. She would kill or save purely on a whim, acting entirely on her own mood and preferences.

'It is a given that the Red King cannot detect my Dreamwalking Mode. Yet, the moment I returned carrying the Supreme Heaven—even with the Red King currently out of the country—I was immediately discovered. It seems there must be some kind of tracking mark on the Supreme Heaven. Perhaps this same tracking is how they managed to precisely deploy the Nightmare Squad to the Middle Prison where the Supreme Heaven was hidden.'

Su Mu pondered silently, analyzing the reason for his exposure. In a matter of seconds, he had pieced together the entire sequence of events.

'The restrictions on the Supreme Heaven haven't been lifted, and the royal family members are all dead. Now, the Red King is the only person left in this world who can unlock the Supreme Heaven. However, knowing her personality, she wouldn't unlock it even if she died. Therefore... the breakthrough point lies with Su Qing!'

As the Red King's flesh-and-blood avatar, Su Qing possessed the same royal bloodline. Moreover, her strength had not yet reached the Gold Tier. She was absolutely the perfect breakthrough point. The only problem was that Su Qing was currently still in the hands of the First Red King.

Su Mu liked a challenge.

Swish!

Su Mu abruptly vanished from his spot. He returned to the bottom of the Abyss, hovering just above the Seven Kings Barrier.

With a casual wave of his hand, a white hole materialized before his eyes.

He slipped the Supreme Heaven off and tossed it into the white hole.

The white hole was a miniature spatial pocket opened within the Seven Kings Barrier. It was where the remnant souls of the six first-generation kings had hidden previously. The Supreme Heaven would be completely safe stored here. Unless the Seven Kings Barrier shattered, there was virtually zero possibility of anyone else taking it.

He couldn't keep the Supreme Heaven on his person anymore; even hiding it in the dreamscape wouldn't work. The Red King clearly possessed some method to track it. If he continued carrying it with him, the consequences would be disastrous.

Wait!

Su Mu frowned. The Supreme Heaven had emerged from the Abyss, only to return to the Abyss. And during this exact timeframe, the Red King knew he was in the Abyss. Once he returned, he would undoubtedly fall under her suspicion, even without concrete evidence.

There were no such conveniences in the world. The Supreme Heaven had been sitting perfectly fine in the Abyss for years; would anyone believe it suddenly surfaced the exact moment he entered the Abyss?

Once suspicion was born, conviction would naturally follow.

He still had his grand plan for world destruction to carry out. He didn't want to be targeted right now. If his true body fell under scrutiny, it would become incredibly inconvenient for Pride to make a move.

How could he wash away the suspicion? The best method was to let the Red King know that the person holding the Supreme Heaven wasn't him, but someone else entirely.

Then who could this person be? In all the world, who possessed the strength to bring the Supreme Heaven back to the Present World, and blatantly kidnap a member of the royal family?

The answer was glaringly obvious—Pride!

However, there was a critical detail he had to mind. One careless move, and not only would the Supreme Heaven be exposed, but his secret identity as Pride would be dragged into the light as well.

Pride's true identity absolutely could not be compromised. The world-destruction plan would inevitably push Pride into the position of public enemy number one. A mysterious, unfathomable Pride inspired terror and dread, but if the world discovered that Pride was merely a Silver-tier Immortal Emperor, then...

With his Divinity protecting him, even a Gold King couldn't kill him. Yet, what he truly feared wasn't a Gold King, but the Royal Power Artifacts!

The Supreme Heaven was an Origin Divine Artifact, and the other Royal Power Artifacts were no different. From the sheer might of the Supreme Heaven alone, one could easily imagine the terrifying power of the other artifacts.

The fact that the Supreme Heaven could sacrifice Divinity proved that the other Royal Power Artifacts were similarly unhindered by it.

Su Mu shook his head, forcing his thoughts to clear. Ever since absorbing the Pope's memories, it had become increasingly difficult to maintain his usual train of thought. He was constantly influenced by the Pope's lingering memories, making him feel as if his intellect had taken a severe hit.

After taking a moment to center his thoughts, a plan formed in his mind.

...

...

"The aura of the Supreme Heaven has vanished from the Present World!" the Red King said, caught by surprise. "It actually returned to the Abyss!"

Gongsun Quan looked thoughtful. "It appears this person possesses the ability to travel freely between the Present World and the Nightmare World. This reminds me of someone."

"You mean... Pride?" The Red King narrowed her eyes, her gaze growing sharp. "Pride indeed has the ability to open the Two Worlds Passage. Since he could summon Nightmare Creatures to descend upon the Blood Moon Imperial Palace, it's only natural that he could travel to the Nightmare World through that very same passage."

"It is highly probable. To travel freely in and out of the Nightmare World, and to effortlessly kidnap the Thirteenth Highness from within our heavily guarded imperial palace... in this day and age, I'm afraid Pride is the only one capable of such a feat. It is just that..."

Gongsun Quan hesitated. "I just find the timing far too coincidental. I recall Your Majesty mentioning earlier that the Primal Pope sent Su Mu, a member of your Nightmare Squad, into the Abyss alone. The Supreme Heaven had remained hidden within the Abyss for years without ever surfacing. Why is it that the very moment Su Mu entered the Abyss, the Supreme Heaven..."

The Red King blinked, taken aback. "Are you suggesting the Supreme Heaven is in Su Mu's hands? How could that be possible? He is only Silver Grade, and he hasn't even returned from the Nightmare World yet."

Gongsun Quan shook his head. "Your Majesty, strength can be concealed, and the Two Worlds Passage can clearly be opened at will. Tell me, is it possible that Su Mu... is actually Pride?"