Chapter 303: The Colossus of the Overlord Body
Before them, the underground space was vast, with a mountain peak blocking their path. It looked like the upper-body sculpture of a giant. This sculpture was immensely huge, made of pitch-black stone, yet it was carved with a nose, eyes, a mouth, and ears.
The sculpture only revealed the upper body down to the chest; the lower part was presumably buried underground or had never been carved out.
Behind this sculpture, an ancient tower ship hovered in midair, completely motionless. One side of the ship was underground, while the other side passed through a massive portal. Inside the portal was a seal resembling a honeycomb. The ship’s bow had pierced through the seal, entering another world.
That seal should be the Netherworld Seal that the White Bat had mentioned.
An ancient god had opened a passage between the real world and the Netherworld here, which led to an invasion by Netherworld beings, forcing the seal to be placed. The White Bat God Clan was ordered to guard this place, and all was peaceful until this ship arrived and broke through the seal.
Now, the seal had become somewhat loose, especially where the ship connected to it, with many cracks appearing.
Not only that, but there was another problem: Netherworld beings could now enter the Great Wasteland through this ship!
From time to time, strange creatures crawled down from the ship. Some spread their wings and flew, while others jumped off. But before they could run far, the honeycomb seal would flash with light, and those creatures would have their heads silently severed.
The giant divine statue, the portal, the great ship, the honeycomb seal, the Netherworld beings—this underground world was a bizarre and surreal sight.
“This portal looks familiar…”
Qin Mu examined the massive portal, feeling as though he had seen it somewhere before, though he couldn’t recall where.
“How did these two eminent monks die?”
He frowned slightly. These two old monks were far more powerful than the two white bats. They had been ordered by the Tathagata to guard this place and had always maintained stability. How had they suddenly died?
The two white bats said they had died from exhaustion. But from the current situation, even after death, their physical bodies could still use their Buddhist teachings to resist the invasion of Netherworld demonic energy. This clearly showed that their strength had reached an extremely high level, not far from that of a Bridge of Divine Souls realm sect master.
For beings like that, facing an invasion of demonic energy, it would be hard to die from exhaustion.
Could it be that some terrifying Netherworld creature had already entered the real world through this ship and killed the two old monks? Or had something fiercely attacked the seal, and the two old monks exhausted themselves to death while desperately holding it back?
Regardless of the possibility, this place was no safe ground. Approaching this ship recklessly would surely be fraught with danger.
“The Netherworld, the world of the Earth Lord, the place where souls return. The Earth Lord’s messengers guide the souls of the dead from the mortal world into the Netherworld. These messengers are the Yin Cha. I have seen a Yin Cha before—it was the strange old man in the dark Great Wasteland who folded paper boats. Though somewhat eerie, he was still amiable. As long as you didn’t interfere with the Yin Cha’s actions, they wouldn’t trouble the living.”
Qin Mu looked around. The Netherworld world of the Earth Lord clearly had its own unique rules and regulations. If one followed those rules, the Earth Lord would not interfere with the real world.
So, what was the deal with these Netherworld beings in the Nether Valley?
These beings were powerful, strange, sinister, and evil—even more so than the Heavenly Demon Host he had encountered before!
Compared to these Netherworld beings, the Heavenly Demon Host seemed almost benevolent.
These Netherworld beings were the complete opposite of the Netherworld Yin Cha!
He looked up at the ship suspended in midair, neither touching the sky nor the ground. The honeycomb seal held the ship in place, with layers of equilateral hexagonal pillars embedded in the space, semi-transparent like glass. That was the seal left by the ancient gods.
From within the ship, waves of demonic energy and other eerie auras emanated, and faint sounds could be heard from within the demonic energy—sounds that were deeply unsettling, like the twisted screams of countless vengeful souls suffering in the Netherworld.
Qin Mu steadied his mind. Suddenly, he shook his body, transforming into a form with a human head and a serpent’s tail. He held a scroll of scripture in his hands, and behind him, the Gate of Bearing the Heavens materialized. His tail moved, and he floated into the air, bypassing the divine statue ahead and swimming toward the ship.
The two white bats were startled and quickly flapped their wings to follow, curiously examining Qin Mu. They exclaimed, “He changed again, he changed again! First he was an ox, then a human, and now a snake!”
“This portal is strange. I want to go in and take a look!” Fu Yuqiu said curiously, intending to push open the Gate of Bearing the Heavens to see what was inside.
“Inside is the Netherworld. If you want to die now and have your souls enter the Netherworld, go ahead and try opening the door,” Qin Mu said solemnly.
As he said this, his mind suddenly shook violently. He stopped in midair, staring blankly at the massive portal ahead.
The Gate of Bearing the Heavens.
This portal sealed by the honeycomb was a Gate of Bearing the Heavens!
If this portal was a Gate of Bearing the Heavens, then what was this statue?
Qin Mu turned his head with difficulty to look at the divine statue.
Wasn’t this statue and this portal exactly the same as Qin Mu’s current form?
“This isn’t a sculpture. This is a person who, like me, has cultivated the perfect form of the Town Star Lord!”
Qin Mu’s mind roared. Although the Town Star Lord form always had a human head and a serpent’s tail, not everyone could cultivate the Gate of Bearing the Heavens and the scroll in hand. Even the Yan Kang National Teacher, hailed as a sage once in five hundred years, had not cultivated this form.
This was the most perfect form.
Once, Qin Mu believed this was the hallmark of the Overlord Body, and it was also the reason he was confident that, at the same cultivation level, the Yan Kang National Teacher could not surpass him.
Now, he had encountered another being who had cultivated the Gate of Bearing the Heavens.
“Was this an ancient Overlord Body? How did he turn to stone? How did he end up like this?”
Qin Mu stood silently in the air, gazing at the divine statue. This was not a sculpture but a divine being in the Town Star Lord form—human head, serpent’s tail—who had been petrified. Most of his body was likely still buried underground.
His Gate of Bearing the Heavens had become the portal connecting the Netherworld and the real world. But for some reason, the portal had gone out of control, causing Netherworld beings to pour out and wreak havoc in the real world. Thus, the ancient gods had to seal it.
“So, how was he petrified? And by whom?”
Qin Mu was puzzled. What had happened to this ancient Overlord Body to bring him to such a state?
After his death, why hadn’t the Gate of Bearing the Heavens closed or disappeared? Why had it become a portal between the Netherworld and the real world?
The white bats had said that an ancient god had opened a passage between the Netherworld and the real world. What did that mean?
Did these two white bats know about that history?
Qin Mu calmed his mind, setting aside the chaotic thoughts. He turned and swam toward the ship. In the years before the Great Wasteland Cataclysm, many strange things had happened that seemed bizarre to later generations. Those events had become buried history, secrets waiting to be uncovered by future generations.
He was still weak now, lacking the ability to unravel the truths of history.
Qin Mu flew toward the ship that had come from beyond the heavens, approaching cautiously. The closer he got, the more he felt the ship’s immense size.
Of course, compared to the Sun Ship or the Moon Ship, this ship was nothing. But compared to the tower ships of the Yan Kang Kingdom, this one was enormous.
This ship didn’t seem like something from the mortal world. Its hull was imprinted with all kinds of strange runes. Though many were damaged, some still flickered on and off. As they flickered, the forms of the runes changed. Upon closer inspection, one could deduce many mysteries from the changes in the runes.
Qin Mu had no time to study these runic imprints. He quietly boarded the ship’s stern. Many parts of the ship were damaged, but the main structure remained intact.
The honeycomb seal left by the ancient gods did not target them. These seals were only meant for the Netherworld beings and posed no threat to the living.
Qin Mu landed, followed by the Dragon Qilin and the two white bats. The deck was covered in green slime, emitting a faint fluorescent glow. Qin Mu accidentally swam onto a patch of slime and quickly moved away, only to find that the slime stretched into thread-like strands.
“This should be the slime left behind by the death of a viper insect,” Fu Yuqiu said, picking up a handful of slime and sniffing it.
The Dragon Qilin shook its body, and clusters of true fire flew out, burning the slime off the deck.
Suddenly, a wave of demonic energy blew from the direction of the ship’s bow. The Dragon Qilin’s true fire was extinguished instantly. Fu Yuqiu and Fu Yuchun, the two white bats, quickly flashed in front of Qin Mu, opening their mouths to emit a silent screech that collided with the demonic energy.
Boom!
An unimaginable force struck, sending the two white bats flying, along with Qin Mu and the Dragon Qilin behind them, hurtling through the air.
They all landed, staring ahead with caution.
There, the darkness seemed alive, surging toward them, drawing closer and closer. The Dragon Qilin roared angrily, shaking its body. Its flesh crackled and expanded, scales clattering loudly. In moments, it revealed its true form—a massive half-dragon, half-qilin beast, radiating thunder and fire as it charged into the ship’s depths.
The Dragon Qilin opened its mouth and spat out a beam of light that shot into the thunder and fire.
Its strength was formidable. This attack would likely force even a Heavenly Being realm expert to dodge. But when it struck the advancing darkness, it was like a mud oxen entering the sea—not a single ripple.
The two white bats flapped their wings and rose into the air, spinning rapidly. Their white fur flew off like rain, shooting into the darkness like countless white needles.
All the fur on their bodies was shot off, but they couldn’t retrieve it. They ended up looking like two hairless giant rats, shivering where they stood.
The darkness continued to advance unhurriedly. A faint laugh came from within, followed by a sentence in an unknown language.
It wasn’t divine language, nor demonic language, nor Buddhist mantra.
Suddenly, Qin Mu’s expression shifted. He spoke the only Netherworld phrase he knew.
The darkness stopped abruptly, no longer surging toward them. Instead, it rapidly retreated. Then, countless strands of fur flew back, piercing into the two white bats’ bodies, turning them into porcupines.
The two white bats were startled and confused. They quickly shook themselves, retracting the fur back into their pores.