Chapter 436: Substitute Death
Within Fengdu City, one divine demon after another flew over, gathering around the King of Hell, looking down at the bridge. When they saw the vortex, many divine demons’ expressions changed drastically. Just as they were about to act, the King of Hell raised his hand and said in a deep voice, “No need. Let him go.”
The many divine demons of Fengdu City were all quite puzzled.
“The divine ability beneath the bridge is a Netherworld divine ability. How can we tolerate the Netherworld coming to Fengdu to snatch people?”
One divine demon said, “If we allow the Netherworld to cause chaos like this, soon Fengdu will be lost! King of Hell, let us counterattack the Netherworld!”
The King of Hell shook his head, his voice carrying a strange tone. “That person used a Netherworld divine ability, but he is not a divine demon of the Netherworld. He is a visitor from Carefree Village. I have seen this face before—it is very similar to that person… There is no need to pursue this.”
Beneath his dark cloak, his gaze flickered like candle flames, burning faintly. “People from Carefree Village have appeared. A dream of the former dynasty—I was waiting for the old swallow to return, to build a new nest in the old one. But I did not wait for the old swallow; instead, a new swallow arrived.”
The Village Chief said, “The swallow that returns seems familiar. Old swallow, new swallow—hard to tell them apart.”
The King of Hell looked down at him, his cloak fluttering and churning above Fengdu City, then disappearing into the city as his figure faded into the distance.
The Village Chief looked down at the bridge and sighed. “I thought I would reunite with Medicine Master and the others, but I didn’t expect Mu’er to summon them back. I wonder if their physical bodies are dead. If their bodies are dead, they will most likely have to reunite in Fengdu… Master, what is the river beneath the Bridge of Helplessness?”
“Legend says it is a river of the Netherworld. We call it the River of Forgetfulness.”
The previous generation’s Human Sovereign came to his side, leaned over to look beneath the bridge, and said, “There are many stories about it, too many to explain in a short time. Demonic monsters often lurk in the river, also from the Netherworld, and they are extremely terrifying. The powerful being who just used a Netherworld divine ability to forcibly take people found this place through the River of Forgetfulness and used his ability to snatch them. This person who used the Netherworld divine ability—you should be very familiar with him, right?”
He looked at the Village Chief’s face, his gaze flickering. “You were the closest just now. You heard that person’s voice, and you did not stop him.”
The Village Chief nodded, his voice filled with pride. “He is my disciple, the current Human Sovereign! What do you think, you old wretch? The disciple I chose is stronger than the one you chose, isn’t he?”
“Bah! The disciple I chose is none other than you, you fool!”
“Old wretch, prepare to die!”
…
Within the Divine Severance Mountain Range, inside the Grand Celestial Star Force Field, Medicine Master, Cripple, Kun King, and the others suddenly opened their eyes. Deafy suddenly said, “Damn it! My physical body is already dead—it can no longer hold my primordial spirit!”
Kun King and Grey Immortal also woke up, their expressions turning grim. Their primordial spirits had been away from their physical bodies for too long, causing their bodies to begin dying!
Earlier, when Serpent King God had sensed that they had no breath, it was because their bodies had died and thus had no vital signs.
“Mu’er, how long can you hold on?”
Medicine Master hurriedly got up, taking out various herbs and silver needles, his face tense. “If you can hold on a little longer, I can prolong our lives and revive our bodies!”
Standing before the Celestial Gate, Qin Mu continued borrowing the power of the serpent group and Serpent King God to maintain the Soul-Pulling Art. “Medicine Master, rest assured. I can hold on for a few days and nights!”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Medicine Master took out a beehive and said, “I will first use Soul-Borer Worms to connect the physical bodies and primordial spirits, then use poison to nourish the bodies. The poison will sever the connection between the primordial spirits and Fengdu and the Netherworld. After that, I will raise Substitute Life Worms to die in our place.”
He tossed the beehive into the air. It floated and rapidly expanded, each honeycomb containing various-sized insect eggs and strange seeds. The milky-white eggs held different kinds of larvae.
Medicine Master swiftly concocted poisons and medicines, making everyone swallow one egg after another. His techniques were unpredictable as he struck them, and soon, the sound of heartbeats could be heard from within their bodies.
He then quickly inserted silver needles all over their bodies. Deafy looked at the insect eggs with some dread, but Medicine Master pinched his mouth open and forced one down his throat.
Deafy’s face turned green.
Medicine Master rapidly dug holes, planted a few seeds, and after a moment, the seeds sprouted, growing massive flower buds from the ground. The large flowers spun, their petals unfurling outward.
“Everyone, get into the flowers!”
The group entered the flowers. Cripple said, “Quack doctor, what kind of flower is this? It feels fleshy.”
Medicine Master’s face was tense. “This is not a flower—it’s a Substitute Insect. Don’t move. Let the Substitute Insect swallow you.”
“Substitute Insect?”
The group was momentarily stunned, but then the large flowers suddenly contracted, their petals closing in, wrapping everyone tightly inside the flower chambers.
Indeed, the flowers were not flowers at all, but a bizarre type of insect. After swallowing the group, the flower buds began to twist and change, gradually growing heads, limbs, and bodies that looked exactly like the group.
Qin Mu and the others stared in shock. These insect-formed beings were indistinguishable from Medicine Master, Kun King, and the rest. But what was even stranger was that these insects actually possessed the auras of Medicine Master and the others, even simulating their souls and primordial spirits almost perfectly, leaving no visible difference!
Even more bizarrely, the bodies of these “Medicine Masters” rapidly aged. In an instant, they went from middle age to old age, then from old age to death.
After a moment, “Medicine Master” and the others had exhausted their lifespans, collapsed, and died, leaving only a pile of corpses.
Qin Mu dispersed the Soul-Pulling Art. A strange aura surged from somewhere unknown, and the darkness in the depths of time and space churned. Then, a light appeared in the darkness—a paper boat drifted over. The old man beneath the horse lantern stood up, raised his lantern, and shone it on the corpses of “Medicine Master” and the others. From the corpses, their respective “souls” floated out, seemingly without any consciousness, following the old man’s lantern light woodenly onto the paper boat.
The paper boat turned around. The Yin Messenger old man hung up the lantern, and the boat sailed into the darkness. The eerie aura vanished.
“Alright, we’ve fooled the Yin Messenger!”
Suddenly, Medicine Master’s voice came from underground. The earth bulged, and several fleshy, plump insect sacs emerged. Medicine Master, Cripple, and the others crawled out of the sacs, covered in sticky liquid.
Medicine Master removed the silver needles from everyone. Their bodies were still very weak, and their primordial spirits remained unstable. After checking, Medicine Master said, “The Soul-Borer Worms are burrowed into both the souls and the physical bodies. We need to first regulate your bodies and revive them to fully bring you back to life. I’ve used up most of my herbs, and I don’t have enough spiritual medicine…”
Qin Mu quickly said, “The Sun Ship has a Pure Yang Pool that can rapidly restore vitality.”
“Then that makes things much easier!”
Medicine Master sighed in relief. “Let’s go soak in the Pure Yang Pool immediately and quickly restore our bodies. Those Substitute Insects won’t fool the Yin Messenger for long.”
The group hurried to the Sun Ship. Qin Mu, familiar with the way, led them to the Pure Yang Pool. As they soaked in it, their physical functions gradually recovered, though the pool’s water level slowly decreased.
Seeing that everyone was no longer in mortal danger, Qin Mu quickly asked, “Everyone, where did your primordial spirits go?”
Grey Immortal breathed a sigh of relief. “During the battle, the Sun Guardian drove the ship to support us, but the Celestial Realm gods were truly formidable. Their divine abilities, techniques, and divine treasures were incredibly powerful. Big Sister, Second Brother, and the others fell in battle one after another. The Sun Guardian was also killed as he boarded the ship, and he was in grave danger. The National Preceptor activated the Zhen Cauldron, intending to die together and injure the gods, but something strange happened…”
Qin Mu looked puzzled, then suddenly realized something and exclaimed, “Did the Zhen Cauldron blast through the barrier between another world and Yan Kang?”
“No.”
Cripple shook his head. “The power of the Zhen Cauldron was absorbed by the Divine Severance Mountain Range.”
Qin Mu was stunned.
Cripple continued, “At the time, I saw that bastard Yan Kang National Preceptor take out the Zhen Cauldron, and I knew things were bad. I immediately carried Medicine Master and fled, keeping my distance. Deafy, you were closer. Tell him.”
Deafy pulled out his two iron ears, washed them in the Pure Yang Pool, and then inserted them back into his ear holes. “When the Zhen Cauldron’s power erupted, I also knew it was bad. I immediately tried to paint a painting to hide in a painting world to escape the disaster. But the Zhen Cauldron’s power was so terrifying that I couldn’t escape in time, and the painting worlds were annihilated one after another. Just then, an unimaginable force came from within the Divine Severance Mountain Range, absorbing the Zhen Cauldron’s power. Then, a massive hole was torn in both the sky and the ground, and on the other side of the hole, another world appeared.”
At the time, they were in the midst of a fierce battle. Yan Kang National Preceptor’s reckless strike terrified everyone, but the sudden change in the Divine Severance Mountain Range allowed them to escape disaster.
They didn’t have time to examine the other world before they were plunged back into the bitter fight. Flower Lord and Yan Star Lord were too powerful, with no one able to match them. Flower Lord attacked the Sun Ship, intending to kill Yan Jingjing, and the situation became critical.
Grandma Si saw the danger, gathered everyone, and set up the Grand Celestial Star Formation. Forcing the formation, she pulled everyone’s primordial spirits out of their bodies, intending to fight with their spirits.
“Then, we entered a strange world.”
Deafy stared blankly into space. “Beneath the Divine Severance Mountain Range, there is a strange world. It should be, it should be…”
Kun King, who had seen much of the world, said, “The internal world of a divine demon’s heavy artifact!”
Deafy nodded. “In that place, we were all trapped, but we kept fighting. In the end, all of us were killed. After we died, we sensed a strange force invading that world. Then we saw a bird-headed deity flying over, leading us to Fengdu, saying we were to meet an old acquaintance. We had just seen the Village Chief when Mu’er pulled us back.”
“The Village Chief is in Fengdu?”
Qin Mu was startled, then felt a pang of pain in his heart. He clenched his fists. “Village Chief, I will definitely go to Fengdu and rescue you!”
Even more shocking was that beneath the Divine Severance Mountain Range, an unknown force had blocked the Zhen Cauldron’s power and even pulled their primordial spirits into it. What kind of heavy artifact was this? Why was it buried here? Who made it, and who buried it?
“So, the demon god stone statues from the other realm are searching for that heavy artifact! Grandma Si and the others, along with the Celestial Realm gods’ primordial spirits, are still inside that artifact!”
Just as this thought crossed his mind, the ground trembled. Rocks flew into the air in the distance, and a stone statue spun as it broke through the earth, slowly rising. That other-realm demon god stone statue had searched from underground and arrived here.
At the same time, vibrations came from the darkness. Qin Mu narrowed his eyes and saw, through the mist, stone statues walking toward this place.
“They’ve found the heavy artifact!” Qin Mu’s expression changed drastically.