Chapter 310: The Mysterious Corridor
They burst into that room. The old man in the painting still hadn't stopped, moving on to another room. Qin Mu quickly gave chase, but as he rushed forward, someone came charging straight at him. The two nearly collided, hastily sidestepping each other.
In the instant their bodies crossed, they caught sight of each other's faces, and both were startled.
"Demonic Lord of the Heavenly Demon Sect!"
"Warrior of the Man-Di Kingdom!"
Qin Mu reacted faster. In the moment they passed each other, his palm had already risen. Instantly breaking the sound barrier, it erupted with a thunderous roar as he slammed a seal onto the man's back.
Nine Dragons Riding the Wind and Thunder!
His palm landed on the man's back. Just as his power was about to be unleashed, the man finally reacted, his blade orb beginning to float. But then Qin Mu's strike exploded with force. The dragon-shaped energy surged: the first wave shattered his protective vital energy, the second wave of twin dragons tore through the muscles of his back, the third wave crushed his bones, the fourth wave pulverized his heart, and the fifth wave of dragon-shaped energy burst through his chest, manifesting as a blood dragon with claws bared, breaking out of his body!
The Man-Di warrior's blade orb floated, and the curved blades within it clanged sharply. Tiny scimitars split from the orb, but at that moment, Qin Mu drew his other hand, and the Carefree Sword's blade struck the orb, cleaving it apart.
The blade orb instantly collapsed, scattering into a hundred or more broken scimitars that clattered to the ground.
Meanwhile, the Man-Di warrior's vital energy dissipated, and he fell dead.
Bancuocuo was a step behind, unable to save that warrior before Qin Mu had closed in and killed him. Enraged, he shouted, "Sect Leader Qin, that was my man!"
Qin Mu sheathed the Carefree Sword, shaking his head. "When your man encountered me, his first instinct was to kill me. I was merely defending myself. If I hadn't seized the advantage, I'd be the one lying here now. If the Great Venerable is displeased, why not walk ahead? If your men see you, they won't attack."
Bancuocuo hesitated. Letting Qin Mu walk ahead meant exposing his back to him. That brat had just killed a Man-Di warrior with such efficiency—if he had the chance to kill him, he'd be even quicker.
He dared not turn his back to Qin Mu.
Moreover, Qin Mu had only mentioned one scenario. If the next encounter wasn't one of Bancuocuo's men but rather Qin Mu's two white bats and the dragon qilin, with himself caught in the middle, Bancuocuo could already imagine his fate.
But blindly following Qin Mu was no solution either. Qin Mu was charging around without any pattern, clearly lacking the method to decipher the ship's spatial alignment. If they kept darting through rooms like this, even he would lose his bearings, and he'd have to recalculate to figure out the ship's room structure.
"I can't let this brat lead."
With that thought, Bancuocuo pushed open a door and said, "This way!"
Behind him, he heard another door open. Qin Mu had run into a different room. Furious, Bancuocuo had no choice but to chase after him—after all, the silver helmet that controlled the ship was still with Qin Mu.
The two entered this room and suddenly stopped. Qin Mu lifted his foot; the sole of his shoe was sticky with some slime.
The room was covered in green slime, coating the floor and walls, even the table was smeared with disgusting mucus.
Qin Mu looked around and saw the old man from the painting also in this room, carefully avoiding the slime, moving only where there was none.
He was a man within a painting, and this slime was lethal to him—it could trap him, so he had to avoid it.
Bancuocuo also spotted the old man in the painting. Startled, he quickly swung his Ten Thousand Locust Banner. A sharp clang rang out as Qin Mu activated his flying sword, blocking his locust swarm.
Bancuocuo glared at Qin Mu, his voice low. "Sect Leader Qin, don't you owe me an explanation?"
Qin Mu said calmly, "My surname is Qin. That's the best explanation."
Bancuocuo's heart jolted, and he immediately grasped the key point.
That terrifying existence with eyes spaced over two hundred sixty zhang apart was waiting for someone surnamed Qin. And both he and Qin Mu had been targeted by that horror because they both "bore the surname Qin"!
He was incredibly sharp-witted—that was how he'd survived this long. "Could it be that the owner of this ship is surnamed Qin? Is this brat from the same clan as the ship's master? If so, then he's also from Carefree Village! No wonder he ended up here... Wait! Sixteen years old—that terrifying being is waiting for a sixteen-year-old surnamed Qin! And this brat is also sixteen! Sixteen years ago, this ship crashed here. What's the connection?"
He suppressed his shock, shook the Ten Thousand Locust Banner, and recalled his locusts. Qin Mu also withdrew his flying sword.
The old man in the painting found a path and slipped through another doorway.
The two quickly followed, pushing the door open to reveal a long corridor. Bancuocuo was taken aback. He had deduced the spatial alignment method used in these rooms and could thus locate the bridge, but he had never seen this corridor before.
"Logically, the total number of rooms here should match my calculations. Why is there a place I don't know about?" he wondered.
If he hadn't seen through the spatial alignment here, how could he find the bridge?
If he had seen through it, why hadn't he calculated this corridor?
In his calculations, this corridor simply shouldn't exist!
That left only one possibility: the spatial alignment method he had deduced was merely an outer structure to mislead, making those who found this place think they had explored the entire ship, thus overlooking its true secrets!
It was even possible that the silver helmet Qin Mu had obtained was also a decoy, not truly capable of controlling the ship!
"Even I was fooled. The deities of Carefree Village are indeed extraordinary. Lucky that brat surnamed Qin is here, or I'd never have discovered this secret."
Bancuocuo's eyes flickered. The last room had been full of green slime, indicating that the entity pursuing this ship had also found this place and broken in.
The old man in the painting ran along the corridor walls, darting up and down, as if avoiding something.
Qin Mu and Bancuocuo looked around. The walls bore many traces of battle—deep palm prints, along with marks from strange weapons, terrifyingly powerful. Even a slight touch might trigger the destructive energy within, sweeping away and annihilating everything!
These were traces left by divine weapons!
Besides the weapon marks, there were also imprints of divine abilities. These marks were small but still contained terrifying power, held in check but not released, emitting a heart-pounding tremor and light from the walls.
The light within the marks was composed of runes, flickering and fading, complex and profound, difficult to decipher.
At first glance, they seemed meaningless, but if one's mind sank into them, a vast array of mysteries would flood in, intoxicating the observer.
"Similar to the Dao Sword Stone Wall of the Dao Sect!"
Qin Mu and Bancuocuo couldn't help but marvel. The divine abilities and divine weapon imprints left here were like a massive treasure trove of techniques. Though not as profound as the Dao Sect's Fourteen Dao Sword Chapters, if one could comprehend all the mysteries hidden in the imprints along this corridor, the techniques and abilities gained would be enough to establish a sacred ground!
Both were deeply tempted but had to pull their minds back. With an enemy beside them, if they sank into contemplation, the treacherous bastard next to them would surely seize the chance to kill them.
Though they both wanted to eliminate their mortal enemy and claim this place for themselves, the imprints on the walls were unstable. If accidentally triggered, the power within would erupt, killing them a thousand times over!
The old man in the painting continued leading the way. This corridor stretched deep, seemingly endless. From the path they had taken, they had already left the ship, yet the corridor still had no end.
This was an even more advanced spatial alignment method, using immense power to warp space, folding or extending it, rather than using gluttonous skin and bones to expand space.
Such a narrow corridor, with so many divine ability and divine weapon imprints on the walls, showed how fierce the battle had been. But the most crucial point was that sixteen years ago, when these powerful beings fought here, their divine powers were all concentrated, only exploding upon hitting an enemy. If they missed, not a shred of power leaked out!
That was terrifying.
It indicated that their control over power was incredibly fine and precise, minimizing waste while maximizing damage. Achieving this was extremely difficult.
Even a cultivator at the Six Harmonies realm could unleash a divine ability that swept several zhang in all directions, but few could confine the damage to the span of a palm.
Yet compressing power that could destroy several zhang into the size of a palm would increase its destructive force a hundredfold!
And if a deity compressed their power to this extent, how terrifying would that be?
Qin Mu and Bancuocuo's eyes lit up, immediately recognizing the immense advantage. If two cultivators had the same cultivation and the same power in their abilities, but one could compress that power to this degree, then in a clash, the opponent would be killed in a single blow!
Moreover, with no power leaking, the drain on their energy was minimal, allowing them to fight at full strength for longer.
But neither of their techniques had such fine control over power. Achieving such precision required exceptional mathematical skill.
The Dao Sect had high mathematical proficiency, but even they seemed unable to reach this level—otherwise, they would have long been invincible in the world.
"Only those skilled in divine calculation could control power to this degree, I suppose?"
Suddenly, a gentle breeze swept through the corridor. Qin Mu and Bancuocuo each grunted, their bones cracking and popping. It wasn't the breeze pressing on their bodies, but the aura of a deity carried in the wind, crushing them until they could barely breathe.
Qin Mu immediately turned into a black shadow, merging into the wall and moving along it. Bancuocuo, seeing this, thought it clever and also turned into a shadow, merging into the wall. They carefully avoided the imprints on the walls and hadn't gone far before they saw the source of the divine aura.
It was a divine corpse—the body of a deity. Its head was pierced open, half of its body already petrified, the other half still flesh. It hadn't fully turned to stone before being killed.
The battle in this corridor had been more brutal than they had anticipated.
They moved along the walls, following the old man in the painting. After another few dozen zhang, they encountered a second divine corpse, then a third, a fourth...
Qin Mu and Bancuocuo's hearts pounded as they crept forward, trembling. Finally, they reached the end of the corridor, where a doorway stood.
The door suddenly opened on its own, creaking and groaning.
Qin Mu hesitated for a moment, then stepped down from the wall and entered the doorway.
Bancuocuo hung back half a step, wanting Qin Mu to test if there was danger inside. After Qin Mu entered without incident, he stepped down from the wall and was about to follow when the door creaked shut, blocking him out.
Bancuocuo hurriedly pushed against the door, but it wouldn't budge. Then he remembered it should be pulled open. He yanked it open and rushed inside, looking up. His heart turned cold, and cold sweat poured down his forehead.
Outside was a dark underworld realm, with faint lights drifting in the distance like stars in the sky.
He was now standing on the deck of the treasure ship. Both Qin Mu and the old man in the painting had vanished!
Clearly, after the door closed and reopened, the spatial alignment method had shifted the space, no longer leading to the room Qin Mu had entered!
"Damn it!"
Bancuocuo roared in fury, turned, and opened the door. Inside was no longer that mysterious corridor, but a new room.
—This chapter is three thousand five hundred words. Zhai Zhu is writing the third chapter. Whether it can be finished tonight is uncertain. If it's not up by eleven, brothers, don't wait.