Chapter 373: Heavenly Artifice Creations
Mu Qingdai asked, "Has this place been invaded by the Great Ruins? Otherwise, why must we leave before dark?"
Qin Mu shook his head and did not elaborate.
Everyone waited outside the hall for a moment when suddenly the sky darkened, and faint thunder could be heard. Qin Mu looked up and saw that it had been a clear day just moments ago, but now thick, dense clouds had inexplicably appeared from nowhere.
It was already winter, the weather was cold, and thunder was rare, let alone lightning. Yet this sudden mass of dark clouds was accompanied by thunder.
The clouds grew thicker and heavier, blotting out the sky, and then a torrential downpour fell from the heavens. Everyone hurriedly took shelter under the eaves of the hall. The rain poured down in sheets, icy cold.
Even if rain fell in this season, it wouldn't be heavy, but now it was a violent storm.
A dozen or so blood dragons also crowded in, coiling around the bronze pillars to escape the rain. The dragon qilin, on the other hand, dozed at the entrance of the hall, where he could avoid the rain.
The great deer ran over to the dragon qilin, lowered its head, used its antlers to flip the dragon qilin up and toss him out of the hall, then lay down itself.
The dragon qilin was furious. Soaked by the rain, he stomped over angrily, opening his bloody maw. The stag leaped up, shook its massive antlers, ready to fight at any moment.
Suddenly, steam rose from the ground. Long Yu reached out and caught a handful of rainwater, exclaiming in surprise, "The rain is hot!"
Qin Mu's heart stirred. He reached out his hand, and the rain falling from the sky was indeed hot, as scalding as boiling water!
He quickly stepped out from under the eaves, his primordial energy blooming, forcing the rainwater to part to either side so it wouldn't fall on him.
He looked up and saw that the sky had become very dark. In the pitch-black sky, lightning occasionally rolled through the dark clouds, and the rumbling sound came from a thousand miles away, rolling at an incredible speed toward them, passing overhead, and then to the other side, covering over two thousand miles in an instant!
This didn't sound like the thunderclap of lightning!
Wang Muran and the others also stepped out from under the eaves, looking up. They saw more and more lightning in the dark clouds, crisscrossing streaks of lightning cutting through the black clouds, a terrifying sight.
And the rain falling from the sky grew hotter and hotter.
"Something seems to be happening in the sky... Fatty Long, put down that deer!"
Qin Mu turned and shouted. The dragon qilin opened his mouth, releasing the stag's neck he had been biting. The stag was furious and was about to counterattack, but the dragon qilin sat down on top of it, pressing it down like a mountain, unable to move.
The thunder in the sky grew more intense, like a giant beating a war drum, while the lightning coalesced into balls, rolling back and forth, illuminating the darkness.
Qin Mu's eyes opened layer after layer of heavens, looking into the clouds. Suddenly, he vaguely saw rapidly flashing figures, leaping and fighting each other above the clouds!
On the other side, Wang Muran, Long Yu, and Mu Qingdai, who were from Little Jade Capital, had also learned techniques like the Heavenly Eye and Spirit Eye. They activated their spells to look at the sky and let out cries of surprise.
Suddenly, the thick, heavy clouds were torn apart. A tall, majestic figure appeared in the dark clouds, wielding two large blades in his hands. For an instant, his face was illuminated by lightning, making him look even more ferocious, excited, and zhengning (ferocious)!
"Grandpa Butcher!"
Qin Mu exclaimed in shock. He had seen the Butcher in his manic state. In the Village of Broken Elders, the Butcher often went mad, and when he did, he would even try to cut down the Village Chief. Only when facing Qin Mu would the Butcher show a hint of gentleness.
As his cry rang out, several more figures appeared in the rift in the dark clouds, attacking the Butcher!
"That rift in the clouds was cut by Grandpa Butcher's blades!"
As he thought this, the clouds closed, and the thunder continued. The rolling thunder wasn't thunder at all, but the deafening sound of those figures moving at incredible speeds!
The Butcher's blades cut through the sky, the blades incredibly hot, boiling the rainwater in the clouds. That's why the rain falling from the sky was getting hotter and hotter!
At that moment, Qin Mu suddenly saw a vast continent descending from the sky, passing through the clouds. That continent had mountains and rivers, layered peaks and lush greenery, but it was directly opposite the ground they were on, looking as if it was about to collide with Yan'kang Country, a terrifying sight.
"Ah bah!" the Mute said seriously.
"That's right, it's the Village Chief!"
Qin Mu nodded repeatedly. "The Village Chief is up there too. Who are they fighting?"
The continent in the sky seemed to encounter its nemesis. It roared as it flew back into the clouds, and then the mountains and rivers suddenly collapsed and disintegrated.
Qin Mu was stunned. The Village Chief's sword technique had been broken!
Boom—
The sky shook violently. A massive pillar, dozens of zhang in diameter, fell from the sky, piercing through the clouds, like a giant pillar descending from heaven.
But it wasn't a pillar. It was a wildly spinning column of water, like several huge water dragons coiled together to form a spear shaft. Someone was gathering water to form a spear!
"Grandpa Blind's spear technique!"
Qin Mu's mind reeled. That enormous water dragon spear was Blind's spear. Blind rarely used weapons. Even against sect master-level opponents, he would just use a bamboo staff.
A bamboo staff was enough for him to break any spell or divine ability.
But now, he was gathering water to form a spear, which meant he was facing a formidable enemy that was difficult to handle!
The Mute's expression was grave. He turned and walked back into the hall, carrying out a wooden box. He pointed at Qin Mu and said, "Ah ah, ah ah ah!"
Qin Mu nodded solemnly. "Grandpa Mute, rest assured, I won't run around. But I can also help. I have many powerful blood dragons under my command."
The Mute raised an eyebrow, a faint, almost-smile on his face.
Qin Mu looked embarrassed and lowered his voice, "They're pretty strong, at least..."
The Mute was about to leap into the air when he suddenly stopped three zhang above the ground, his body motionless, floating quietly there.
In the pouring rain, blood dragons emerged from all directions, walking through the rain, surrounding this divine, sacred land.
Thud!
The Mute landed on the ground, leaving two deep footprints. The ground around the footprints crackled and popped as stone slabs shattered, creating cracks.
The Mute placed the box on the ground. The lid opened automatically, revealing the box filled with silver pellets the size of fingers.
On his back was a large furnace, his blacksmith's forge. Even though he had put down the box, he still carried this cylindrical furnace on his back.
The furnace had long been extinguished, pitch black.
The Mute clenched his fists, his primordial energy exploding. Suddenly, the furnace on his back blazed with fiery light, igniting.
The blood dragons stopped in their tracks. Some clung to the railings, some crouched on the heads of stone lions, some stopped on the stone steps, and others appeared on the roof of the hall behind Qin Mu and the others.
The surroundings were dim. A heavy, oppressive footstep could be heard, along with rough, heavy breathing, calm yet filled with violence.
The box at the Mute's feet rattled and shook. Suddenly, the Imperial Disc flew out from within and landed with a swish in Qin Mu's hand. The Mute didn't turn his head. He raised his hand, his five fingers dancing, making a few gestures.
Qin Mu hung the Imperial Disc around his chest and said in a deep voice, "Grandpa Mute tells us to retreat into the hall! Fatty Long, get up quickly, don't crush that deer to death!"
The dragon qilin quickly got up. The great deer lay flat on the ground, panting heavily, its tongue hanging out long.
"Ptooey!" The dragon qilin spat a mouthful of dragon saliva at the great deer.
"This idiot is so wasteful, spitting out several bottles' worth of dragon saliva!" Qin Mu was furious, feeling a pang of heartache.
The footsteps in the darkness grew closer. Two enormous dragons were the first to enter their line of sight, from their hill-sized dragon heads, to their long necks, sharp dragon claws, and then a pair of feet gripping the backs of the two dragons appeared in the darkness.
The rain was heavy, the scalding water falling like a waterfall from the sky, drenching the majestic figure emerging from the darkness. The rain washed the scales on his body until they shone brightly, reflecting the flashes of lightning.
The two dragons stopped. A bolt of lightning tore through the darkness, illuminating that majestic figure.
Dragon Lord Huan.
Dragon Lord Huan, with only a few strands of hair left on his head, his face as black as charcoal!
"You want to stop me?"
His gaze, like lightning, tore through the darkness, like two beams of light shining on the Mute, whose furnace was blazing behind him, as if illuminating his body completely. His voice boomed like thunder: "You think you can stop me? Hand over that simple-faced brat who burned off my hair, and I'll grant you a whole corpse!"
The Mute was stunned, scratching his head.
"Grandpa Mute, he's talking about me!"
Qin Mu poked his head out from inside the hall, looking very honest and sincere, and said earnestly, "Dragon Lord, it was I who burned off your hair. The boy didn't mean to. You told me to feed the dragons, and I fed them well, so they followed me. Then I saw your hair chasing after us, so ugly, damaging the Dragon Lord's image. So the boy took the liberty of burning off your three thousand worldly worries for you."
Dragon Lord Huan's eyelid twitched, but his gaze didn't move from the Mute. He wanted to look away, but he found that the moment he averted his gaze, he would likely suffer a fatal blow from his opponent.
"So, you're a remnant from the Kaiji Era."
His gaze fell on the furnace fire behind the Mute, and he sneered, "You must be a descendant of the Heavenly Artifice Creations from the false heaven of the Kaiji Era, right? The false heaven enfeoffed gods, and they enfeoffed your ancestor as a Heavenly Artifice Creation. You Heavenly Artifice Creations built Carefree Realm and then built the Ark of the Other Shore to go to Carefree Realm, but you never reached it. Heh. The heavenly gods sealed you away. We thought you remnants would die in that seal, but I didn't expect some to escape! Why aren't you talking?"
The Mute was expressionless and made a gesture.
Qin Mu poked his head out from the hall and shouted loudly, "Dragon Lord, he's calling you a scumbag. It was him who insulted you, not me!"
Dragon Lord Huan's face suddenly darkened. The two dragons on his ears quietly stretched their bodies, jumped onto his shoulders, and slid down his arms. Gradually, the two dragons grew larger and larger, their scales sliding over each other like intricate, precise mechanisms, covering his arms.
Meanwhile, three more dragons slowly grew from within his clothes, coiling around his waist and legs.
Thud.
Dragon Lord Huan jumped down from the dragon's back, his two thick dragon claws gripping the ground tightly. The two dragons that had been under his feet suddenly shrank, transforming into two dragon maces, which he grabbed in his hands.
"Remnant of the false heaven's Heavenly Artifice Department!"
Dragon Lord Huan roared, his physical body ferocious, his monstrous dragon strength exploding. His mouth full of sharp dragon teeth clenched tightly together as he swung his dragon maces down at the Mute: "Accept your death!"