Chapter 290: The Celestial Above
The cyan face in the sky was enormous, appearing as if formed from smoke—very light and faint—but as it descended from the heavens, it gradually became clearer.
The Witch Venerable’s forehead beaded with fine cold sweat. He lowered his head even further, not daring to look up.
“The Celestial Above…”
A ethereal voice came from the sky: “Understood.”
The Witch Venerable stood there with his body bent, motionless. The golden summit of this divine mountain was bitterly cold, but the sweat on his forehead began to drip down, drop after drop.
After a long while, he secretly glanced upward. The azure sky was as clear as if washed clean, and that face had vanished without a trace.
The Witch Venerable breathed a sigh of relief and quickly hurried down the mountain, fleeing far from this place.
A long time passed.
On the golden summit, faint flames rippled like water waves. When the flames ceased their undulations, two golden-eyed Suanni beasts pulled a precious carriage out from within the flames.
At the center of this carriage stood a canopy, from which hung curtains strung with tassels and precious pearls. The top of the canopy had three layers of golden peaks, round and smooth, each layer smaller than the one below.
The canopy was supported by four golden pillars, as thick as an arm and seven feet tall. Beside each pillar stood a beautiful maiden, with halos of primal energy behind their heads and flowing sashes. Their robes were of different colors: green, red, yellow, and white. The green-robed girl held a jade bottle, the red-robed girl carried a seven-stringed zither, the yellow-robed girl held a sword in both hands, and the white-robed girl cradled a pipa.
Beneath the canopy, through the tassels and pearls, one could see a man in purple robes sitting upright, his bearing extraordinary.
The two Suanni beasts shimmered with flowing light, their feet treading on auspicious clouds as they pulled the carriage at lightning speed toward the Central Lands.
This carriage was not as cautious as the Witch Venerable. The Witch Venerable had avoided the vast Great Wasteland, but this carriage drove straight into it, streaking across the sky like a shooting star toward Yancheng Nation. The person inside seemed utterly unconcerned about the dangers of the Great Wasteland.
As night fell, darkness enveloped the Great Wasteland. The two Suanni beasts radiated overwhelming auras, dazzling even in the darkness as they pulled the carriage through the blackness.
In the dark, surges of demonic energy stirred, suddenly coalescing into a pitch-black hand that lunged toward the light emitted by the carriage and the Suanni. Wherever it passed, light was devoured, leaving only darkness.
By the time this black hand reached the carriage, no light could shine forth. Just then, the pearl curtains of the carriage swayed, and the red-robed girl plucked the strings of her zither. The notes chimed twice, crisp and clear.
Hearing the music, the black hand paused slightly, then retreated.
“The Celestial Above?” A hoarse voice came from the darkness.
The red-robed girl nodded. “The Celestial Above, Star Lord Qiao.”
The demon in the darkness withdrew, vanishing without a trace. From then on, no more monsters disturbed the carriage in the night.
Though the Great Wasteland seemed perilous at night, it was quite lively. All kinds of terrifying things moved about in the darkness, and strange occurrences were frequent.
The carriage proceeded unhurriedly eastward. Star Lord Qiao, beneath the canopy, looked out at the current state of the Great Wasteland and shook his head. “Remnants not yet cleansed, residual poison still lingers.”
The carriage flew through the sky, cutting through the darkness. From below in the Great Wasteland, it looked like a slowly moving star.
The nights of the Great Wasteland were shrouded in darkness, with no stars or moon in the sky. Many people hiding in ruins or villages of strange beasts looked up, mesmerized by this unprecedented spectacle.
Suddenly, this star plummeted sharply, streaking down into the Great Wasteland, making those who had witnessed the wonder sigh in regret.
Boom!
The carriage lost control, slanting down from the sky. Below was the source of the Yong River. In the darkness, two peaks stood like a gate, and the carriage plunged diagonally between them.
The two Suanni beasts struggled desperately to control the carriage but failed, roaring in panic.
The four girls on the carriage were also panicked. Just then, they realized to their horror that they had somehow turned into skeletons!
The four girls looked ahead and saw that even the Suanni pulling the carriage had become two running skeletons!
They looked into the carriage, where a skeleton sat.
The skeleton remained calm, snorting coldly. “Dragging my carriage down here—could it be that Fengdu still harbors treacherous intentions?”
The gray haze and mist ahead were vast and indistinct, with vague giant shadows standing within the fog. Red lights flickered in the mist, like lanterns following the carriage’s movement.
Those were not lanterns, but eyes.
The shadows in the mist faded one by one, and the red lights vanished as well.
Flesh and blood regrew on the Suanni beasts, and the carriage no longer felt heavy. They exerted force with their legs and pulled the carriage back into the air. The four girls on the carriage saw their flesh restored and breathed sighs of relief.
Star Lord Qiao’s body also returned to normal. He said calmly, “Fengdu, disobeying the governance of the Netherworld, dares to offend even the Celestial Above. It must be eliminated sooner or later.”
The carriage continued along the Yong River. When dawn broke, they finally saw the edge of the Great Wasteland, only a thousand miles away.
Suddenly, a sword light rose from below, exploding in midair. The dazzling brilliance burst forth, so bright it overshadowed the sun.
The Suanni and the four girls quickly closed their eyes. When they opened them again, they gasped in surprise. The earth-shattering sword light had vanished, but before the carriage stood a magnificent landscape of mountains and rivers, stretching endlessly.
Strangely, this landscape had not been there before, and it floated in a sea of clouds, as if growing out of them. The rivers rushing from the lofty peaks rumbled loudly, and they could see waterfalls cascading down cliffs, splashing like jade.
This green landscape floating among the clouds showed no signs of abnormality, not like a mirage.
“Stop,” Star Lord Qiao said slowly from within the carriage.
The two Suanni quickly halted. Star Lord Qiao stood up and looked toward the edge of this landscape. It was still expanding, as if growing on its own. The vast mountains in the clouds were magnificent, with peaks and rivers constantly emerging from beneath the cloud layer.
At the edge of this landscape, flashes of sword light flickered, hard to catch, but not escaping his eyes.
This scene seemed as if someone had used a sword as a brush to paint a grand landscape in the clouds!
“That old cripple is still alive.”
Star Lord Qiao smiled faintly and said softly, “Descend. An old acquaintance lives here.”
The two Suanni quickly pulled the carriage down. As they sank below the clouds, the landscape above also descended. No matter how low the carriage went, the landscape followed, always blocking their path.
Finally, the carriage landed. The landscape in the sky shrank and withdrew until it vanished, revealing a small mountain village by the river before them.
Star Lord Qiao looked through the pearl curtains. At the entrance of this desolate village was a reclining chair, in which lay an old man with no limbs. The chair rocked back and forth, creaking. The limbless old man basked in the spring sun, carefree and content.
“You’re crippled.”
Star Lord Qiao did not leave the carriage, speaking through the curtains. “You have no hands, no legs, and you still want to block my path? You overestimate yourself.”
The village chief squinted, the chair rocking on its own. He seemed very comfortable lying there and said leisurely, “If that’s the case, why don’t you try? I have no limbs and only a few years left to live. You must be confident you can kill me, right?”
Star Lord Qiao snorted coldly. “You don’t have many years left, and you can’t protect the new Human Sovereign. But I won’t waste my life fighting your crippled one.”
“If you don’t dare to fight me to the death, then go back.”
Suddenly, the village chief’s primal energy formed legs and arms, and he stood up from the chair, walking toward the carriage. The two Suanni beasts bristled with terror, and the four girls on the carriage showed expressions of sheer horror. In their eyes, this thin, withered old man grew larger and more imposing with each step. In just a few paces, his small body seemed to fill heaven and earth, blocking their entire view!
“You can’t protect the new Human Sovereign!”
Star Lord Qiao stood up. The canopy of the carriage suddenly spun with a whoosh, and the pillars beneath it grew larger, thicker, and taller. The canopy expanded with the wind, and the tassels and pearls enlarged, like stars surrounding this Star Lord.
The four girls seemed tiny before him, and the two pure-blooded Suanni, originally massive, now appeared pitifully small.
Clang—
The sword from the yellow-robed girl’s hands leaped out, landing in Star Lord Qiao’s grasp.
Star Lord Qiao swung his sword, and the old man opposite swung his as well. The two sword lights clashed in an instant. The Yong River suddenly stopped flowing, its waters frozen. The sword light was brilliant but vanished in a flash.
Where the sword light disappeared, the village chief was back in his reclining chair, creaking as it rocked. Star Lord Qiao also sat down, and the carriage returned to its normal size. The giant and the starry sky from moments ago seemed like nothing but an illusion.
“I won’t go to kill the Human Sovereign, but others will.”
Star Lord Qiao looked through the pearl curtains at the old man in the chair and said calmly, “Some young ones from the Celestial Above will go to find him.”
The village chief said lazily, “As long as it’s not you old immortals, let them come.”
Star Lord Qiao gave him a deep look and suddenly said, “Return to the Celestial Above.”
The two Suanni quickly turned the carriage around, soared into the sky, and headed west.
On the carriage, the green-robed girl asked, “Star Lord, why are we going back like this…”
Star Lord Qiao did not speak. Suddenly, he let out a muffled groan, and drops of blood dripped from the carriage into the forests of the Great Wasteland below. Where the blood fell, flowers burst into bloom, and plants grew wildly, covering the mountains with greenery and blossoms.
Whoosh—
The canopy was blown backward by the wind, falling into the Great Wasteland, with tassels and jade pearls scattering across the wilderness.
“No need to pick them up. Return to the Celestial Above as quickly as possible!” Star Lord Qiao said, his face pale, his voice heavy.
The four girls were startled, and the two Suanni beasts immediately accelerated westward.
At the entrance of the Crippled Elderly Village, the reclining chair rocked back and forth. Suddenly, it shattered into pieces, and the village chief fell to the ground. His voice hoarse, he called out, “Medicine Master! Medicine Master!”
Medicine Master rushed out, grumbling, “No limbs and still showing off—serves you right… Don’t move! Let me check your injuries first!”