Chapter 433: Contact with a Foreign Realm
The Dragon King God saw Qin Mu also fall to the ground playing dead, and was at a loss for what to do. He was a deity, the esteemed Dragon King God, a noble dragon deity—how could he shamelessly rely on playing dead like Qin Mu and Hu Ling'er to escape disaster?
Thump.
The Dragon King God fell to the ground, his limbs twisted, his death pose even more miserable than Qin Mu's, clearly not his first time playing dead.
That enormous face leaned down. This stone statue seemed to have poor eyesight; its huge face almost brushed against their bodies as it passed. Everyone held their breath, not moving a muscle.
"Eeee-shooo—"
The stone statue let out a long sound from its mouth, then slowly straightened up and walked into the darkness, the thumping of its footsteps gradually fading away.
"This stone statue seems to be searching for something."
Qin Mu leaped up, pondering. "Where did they come from? The Great Ruin? Or some other world? What are they searching for?"
Hu Ling'er and the group of flood dragons scrambled to their feet. The Dragon King God also dusted himself off. Hu Ling'er praised, "Dragon King God, among all of us, you played dead the most convincingly. You must have practiced many times! When you have time, you must teach me!"
The Dragon King God's face flushed red, and he stammered, "I haven't! Don't talk nonsense! Playing dead relies on talent..."
Qin Mu walked forward and said, "Let's continue searching. Everyone be careful—we don't know if there are other stone statues here! Dragon King God, what do you think of that stone statue just now?"
The Dragon King God thought for a moment and said, "That stone statue most likely doesn't come from the Great Ruin."
Qin Mu was startled. "Not from the Great Ruin? What makes you say that?"
"The stone statues in the Great Ruin have been weathered by wind and rain, enduring frost and cold. They are all very old. But this stone statue looks brand new, as if it had just turned to stone."
The Dragon King God wasn't certain either. "However, the Great Ruin has the most stone statues and is the most bizarre. It's possible the stone statue also came from the Great Ruin, perhaps having been hidden in some sealed space, so it doesn't appear old."
Qin Mu pondered, thinking to himself. "Could it be that many stone statues were buried beneath the God-Severing Mountain Range, and when the range was destroyed, these stone statues burst out of the ground?"
"That's possible."
The Dragon King God said, "Master, the Dragon Tamer Lord once said that the origin of the God-Severing Mountain Range was very suspicious. This mountain range blocked the Great Ruin, separating it from Yan Kang. Inside the Great Ruin is chaos, while outside it is safe. There must be something wrong within the God-Severing Mountain Range."
They ventured deeper into this strange land. The gray mist grew thicker, the darkness heavier, and the air was filled with a suffocating oppression. From time to time, the rumbling vibrations of the Quake Cauldron echoed from afar, one after another.
Qin Mu followed the vibrations forward. Before long, they encountered a second stone statue. This deity statue was also searching in the darkness and mist, seemingly looking for something as well.
"There's some truth to the Dragon King God's words."
Qin Mu avoided this stone statue, thinking to himself. "These stone statues most likely come from beneath the God-Severing Mountain Range!"
A mountain range that cut off the strangeness of the Great Ruin was itself very strange. How did the God-Severing Mountain Range block the darkness of the Great Ruin?
This time, the Yan Kang National Teacher used the Quake Cauldron to collapse the God-Severing Mountain Range, causing the darkness of the Great Ruin to invade over a hundred miles. From this, it was clear that the God-Severing Mountain Range indeed served to block the darkness.
This mountain range should have appeared after the Kai Huang Kingdom fell and became the Great Ruin. Qin Mu had heard people say that a god created the God-Severing Mountain Range here to separate the Great Ruin from Yan Kang, preventing people inside the Great Ruin from escaping. When building the mountain, they bypassed Sumeru Mountain because there were powerful beings above the Great Thunderclap Monastery.
Perhaps, when the god built the mountain, they buried many stone statues within it.
"Master, could these stone statues be the ones that crawled out of Yan Kang?" Hu Ling'er asked.
Qin Mu was taken aback. Hu Ling'er continued, "Maybe there were deity statues near the God-Severing Mountain Range. Because many Celestial Realm deities and other powerful beings died in battle here, the stone statues used them as blood sacrifices and came to life. But because the sacrifices weren't enough, they couldn't fully revive—they can only barely walk."
"That's also possible."
Qin Mu said doubtfully, "If that's the case, then what are the stone statues searching for?"
"Of course, it's the Quake Cauldron that collapsed the God-Severing Mountain Range!"
Hu Ling'er said matter-of-factly, "The Quake Cauldron is their weapon. They need to find it and fully release the earthquake power within it to destroy the world. The Yan Kang National Teacher collapsed the God-Severing Mountain Range, but he definitely didn't release the full power of the Quake Cauldron."
"Ling'er is very smart!" Qin Mu praised.
The little fox puffed up with pride.
"But, since the stone statues can move, why don't they go look for other celestial phenomenon weapons?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "It would be easier for the stone statues to find other celestial phenomenon weapons. Besides, the ground is still shaking, which means the Quake Cauldron is still unleashing its power. The stone statues should have no trouble finding the cauldron's location by following the vibrations. So, your guess is probably wrong. The Dragon King God's guess is more reasonable."
Hu Ling'er's pride vanished in an instant.
Suddenly, Qin Mu stopped and fell to the ground playing dead again. Heavy footsteps sounded from ahead, and a tall stone statue walked toward them. Qin Mu cracked his eyes open a sliver and saw that this stone statue had flags stuck all over its back. The flags had also turned to stone, but each flag had a huge eye, which was very eerie.
Clusters of black qi flew over and quickly sank into the flags on the statue's back. On one of the flags, the eye gradually transformed from stone, then turned into flesh and blood. The pupil and the white of the eye slowly became a real eye.
This eye rolled around in the flag, looking very stiff. Clearly, there wasn't enough energy to fully free this eye from its petrification.
"A demon eye! The stone statue is a demon!"
Qin Mu's scalp tingled, and he nearly jumped up. If it was a demon, then these stone statues absolutely couldn't be from beneath the God-Severing Mountain Range. In the darkness of the Great Ruin, what ran rampant were demon monsters. They weren't afraid of the strangeness in the Great Ruin's darkness because they themselves were the strangeness!
Qin Mu had even encountered a demon god in the darkness before. That demon god had lured him, making him mistakenly think that the outskirts of Fengdu were the Land of No Worries. The Village Chief had even clashed with that demon god!
"No, no. If these stone statues are demon gods, why did they turn to stone? The demon gods I've seen before were all lively and vigorous!"
Various thoughts surged in his mind. Suddenly, a possibility occurred to him: the world these stone statues came from didn't overlap with the Great Ruin or Yan Kang. They weren't demon gods from the Great Ruin but came from another world. Therefore, when they crossed into this world, they had to turn their bodies to stone—their power couldn't come through!
"What the hell is going on with this place?"
Qin Mu's mind was in a fog. During the night in the Great Ruin, three or five different worlds had appeared. Now that the God-Severing Mountain Range had collapsed, a new world was invading!
"Could it be that another world is about to overlap with Yan Kang? Why is this kind of impossible thing happening?"
Just as he thought this, the demon eye on that flag rolled around, surveying its surroundings. Suddenly, its gaze fell on them, lying on the ground playing dead. A look of mockery appeared in the demon eye.
Qin Mu's heart tightened.
That flag suddenly fell from behind the stone statue and stuck into the ground in front of them. Qin Mu stopped playing dead and immediately leaped up, shouting, "Dragon King God!"
Upon hearing this, the Dragon King God immediately transformed into his true form. Qin Mu picked up Hu Ling'er and jumped onto the dragon's back. The Dragon Qilin, along with the other flood dragons, scrambled onto the back with "Maha Maha" sounds. The Dragon King God roared and charged forward!
Behind them, the stone statue turned around and reached down with a huge hand, incredibly fast!
The Dragon King God bellowed, his primordial qi exploding, turning into a vast flood. The flood water formed a long river that rapidly coiled up the stone statue's arm, intending to crush it.
The stone statue's arm bent, then straightened. With one bend and one stretch, it shattered the Dragon King God's divine ability into pieces.
The Dragon King God's hair stood on end. He screamed, "Master, it's a true god!"
"It's a true demon, you mean!" Qin Mu corrected him.
The stone statue lifted its foot and took a step, catching up to the Dragon King God in a few strides. Its other huge hand came down. The Dragon King God hurriedly dodged, while that flag floated in the air and stuck into the ground again with a "thud." The demon eye on the flag was still fixed on them.
When the Dragon King God escaped a certain distance, the petrified flag flew up again and stuck into the ground not far from them, like a bouncing flag.
"This stone statue relies on that eye to see! Without that eye, the stone statue can't see us!"
Qin Mu suddenly understood. He immediately took out the Sun Jade Eye from his gluttony bag, placed the jade eye on the dragon's back, and activated it without hesitation.
Whoosh—
A beam of solar divine light tore through the darkness and mist, slicing into the demon eye on the flag. A black light shot out from the demon eye, blocking the solar divine light.
Qin Mu grabbed the Moon Jade Eye with his other hand, adjusted its direction. A thin blade of light shot out from the Moon Jade Eye as well, and wherever it passed, space almost solidified into substance!
The light from the two jade eyes, one yin and one yang, instantly tore through the demon eye's black light, blasted the demon eye in the flag to pieces, leaving only a hole in the center of the petrified flag!
"Activating the Moon Jade Eye and the Sun Jade Eye together seems to make them more powerful!"
Qin Mu suppressed his surprise and looked up. The demon eye had vanished. The stone statue's movements suddenly froze. It tilted its head, as if listening for something.
"Don't move," Qin Mu said softly.
The Dragon King God quickly stopped. Qin Mu whispered, "Walk slowly. Don't rush..."
The Dragon King God tiptoed forward, afraid of making any sound. Qin Mu stared intently at the stone statue. The statue seemed to be looking around, punching here and kicking there, but it still didn't detect them.
Suddenly, the Dragon King God stopped in his tracks and said in a trembling voice, "Master..."
"Keep going!" Qin Mu said without turning his head.
"Master, look ahead!" the Dragon King God said hoarsely.
Hu Ling'er also trembled, "Master, look ahead..."
"Ahead?"
Qin Mu was startled. He turned around to look and was stunned. It took him a long time to come back to his senses. Behind them, that stone statue was pounding the ground everywhere, causing heaven and earth to crack, drawing closer to them.
But Qin Mu seemed oblivious. After a long while, he murmured, "National Teacher, what have you done..."
No update at noon, two chapters together in the evening!
Zhai Zhu's chapter breaks are too satisfying, stuck on the plot. I couldn't finish this chapter by noon, so I'll have to update both together in the evening. Please don't hate me, please don't send me razor blades.