Chapter 512: The Dark Girl
Qin Mu retracted his head and looked around. If he hadn't broken the rules of the Great Ruins and been forced by the beasts in the ruins, he wouldn't have rashly charged into the darkness.
He had never imagined that he would one day step into the darkness himself. Entering the darkness personally was completely different from being sheltered by stone statues or boxes.
He felt as if he had merged into the darkness, like a fish in water, blending seamlessly, as if he himself were a part of the darkness.
In his eyes, the darkness was no longer pure darkness but something like mist, hazy and indistinct.
"This isn't true darkness. It's a peculiar kind of substance."
Qin Mu was astonished. He had always been intensely curious about the darkness of the Great Ruins, but his cultivation level had been too low to enter it. Moreover, even if he had enough strength to enter the darkness, he probably wouldn't have been able to discover its secrets. Because powerful beings like the Village Chief or Xing Han, who were like gods, repelled the darkness, preventing it from getting close.
Repelling the darkness makes it hard to discover its true nature.
But Qin Mu had merged with the darkness, making it easier to understand what it really was.
The Village Chief had once speculated that the darkness of the Great Ruins wasn't true darkness but another world overlapping with the Great Ruins. He called it the Dark Realm.
Later, the Village Chief discovered that there wasn't just one Dark Realm in the Great Ruins but multiple.
He also referred to Fengdu as a Dark Realm.
However, as Qin Mu learned more about Fengdu, he uncovered another secret. Fengdu could indeed be called a Dark Realm, but it was likely just a corner of the Dark Realm it belonged to. The world where Fengdu existed was the Nether Realm.
The Nether Realm was one of the Dark Realms within the Great Ruins.
Both the Nether Realm and Fengdu were in motion, constantly shifting positions, never fully covering the Great Ruins. The one that completely covered the Great Ruins should be another Dark Realm.
Now, having stepped into the darkness, Qin Mu discovered another truth about the Great Ruins' darkness: it was a strange and wondrous substance.
"I entered another world from the cliff of the Great Ruins and found that its day and night were exactly opposite to those of the Great Ruins. That gave me a bold guess."
Qin Mu's eyes flickered as he recalled what he had seen and guessed in the golden desert.
That world was the Great Ruins of the Upper Emperor Era, where he had fled to escape Xing Han. It was a golden desert. The desert also had day and night, but they were exactly opposite to those of the Great Ruins.
Thus, Qin Mu guessed that the darkness flowed from the Great Ruins of the Upper Emperor Era. When the sun set, the darkness flowed through the cracks from the Upper Emperor Great Ruins to the Kai Emperor Great Ruins. The Upper Emperor Great Ruins became day, and the Kai Emperor Great Ruins became night. When the sun rose, the darkness flowed back through the cracks to the Upper Emperor Great Ruins.
The two Great Ruins formed an hourglass, with the darkness as the sand flowing back and forth.
That was his guess.
But at the time, he was being hunted by Xing Han, and only Banguo Cuo was nearby, so he didn't share this guess.
Now, immersed in the darkness, he found that it resembled some kind of peculiar substance, confirming his guess.
"If I could seal the cracks in the cliff that divides north and south, could I trap the darkness in the Upper Emperor Great Ruins, so that the Kai Emperor Great Ruins would never again be invaded by darkness?"
Qin Mu blinked, thinking this method might be feasible, but whether it would succeed was unknown.
Moreover, the cliff was so long, with countless cracks leading to more than one world. How to seal them was the biggest problem.
"Sealing isn't the best way to solve the problem. The best way is to understand the nature of the darkness and eliminate this darkness that devours other life."
Qin Mu carefully observed the dark substance. It was like mist, tangible yet formless. He could see particles within the darkness—black particles that had shape but no substance, able to pass through his skin.
"Strange substance!"
Qin Mu was amazed. He channeled a trace of his primal energy, using it to fix a portion of the dark substance in the air. His hand passed through the fixed dark substance without any resistance, and he didn't feel like he had touched anything.
"What kind of substance is this? What are its properties?"
As Qin Mu pondered, a nervous voice came from the ruins: "Cult Leader, are you still alive?"
The sound seemed very far away, as if coming through thick walls. Qin Mu shouted back, "Don't worry, I'm still alive. I'll feed you in the morning."
"Oh."
Dragon Qilin responded, then defended himself: "I wasn't worried about breakfast. I was worried about the Cult Leader's safety. Since you're fine, I'll go to sleep. Play for a while and come back. We need to feed and travel tomorrow."
Qin Mu continued his research but couldn't figure out what this dark substance was. Just then, he saw the monsters in the darkness.
All around him came whispers. Countless monsters hid in the darkness, lurking in the shadows of rocks and trees, quietly observing him. Rustling sounds came from all directions. These shadowy monsters moved like ghosts, leaping from one shadow to another at incredible speed. Even with his divine eyes, Qin Mu could barely track their movements.
Suddenly, he vaguely saw figures that seemed both real and illusory moving in the darkness.
These figures existed between reality and illusion, coming and going swiftly. They weren't monsters—they were people!
Human figures!
"How can there be people in the darkness?"
Qin Mu's heart trembled. He quickly gave chase. Apart from himself, only beings with god-like strength could walk in the darkness, like the Village Chief or Xing Han, or those who could emit divine light, like Xing Han's box, which was made from the divine bones and skin of a Taotie.
When they entered the darkness, they emitted divine light, repelling the darkness.
But the figures in the darkness didn't repel it. They seemed to merge with the darkness like Qin Mu, but even stranger, they appeared to be made of darkness itself!
Qin Mu followed one figure. The figure ahead seemed curious about him, stopping as if waiting for him to catch up.
Qin Mu approached and curiously examined the dark figure opposite him. The figure tilted its head, also studying him. The shadow had two long braids hanging down.
It was a girl. Though only her outline was visible, she seemed young.
She reached out her hand, as if wanting to touch Qin Mu. He also extended his hand. Their palms met but passed through each other without touching.
The girl in the shadow seemed surprised and said something, but Qin Mu only heard whispers, unable to make out her words.
"How strange!"
Qin Mu scratched his head in confusion. "Can you hear what I'm saying?"
The girl probably couldn't understand him either. Their voices were distorted by some strange force. Suddenly, she crouched down, her two braids hanging, and wrote something on the ground with her finger.
Qin Mu looked down but only saw twisted black light flowing on the ground, no recognizable words.
He also wrote a line on the ground, but the shadow girl shook her head, indicating she couldn't read what he had written.
Inspiration struck Qin Mu. He used a divine technique, drawing his sword to perform "Sword Moves Mountains and Rivers." The girl shook her head again, showing she couldn't see what he was doing.
Qin Mu was completely stumped.
Suddenly, the shadow girl ran forward, stopped after a few steps, and waved at him.
Qin Mu followed her. They ran and stopped, ran and stopped. After a long time, the shadow girl halted. Qin Mu collided with her, passing through her body, and barely stopped himself from falling into a bottomless cliff ahead.
The girl tried to grab his hand but couldn't. Fortunately, Qin Mu steadied himself in time and didn't fall.
She pointed ahead. Qin Mu's mind shook. Below the cliff lay a magnificent array of dark cities—tall, majestic buildings with an exotic flair. Such a grand urban complex was something he had never seen before in the Great Ruins!
"How strange. There's no such city in the Great Ruins. Could it really be that the Dark Realm has flowed in and covered the Great Ruins?"
Qin Mu frowned. If the dark substance could flow between the Kai Emperor Great Ruins and the Upper Emperor Great Ruins, then sealing it in the Upper Emperor Great Ruins would also trap this Dark Realm there.
Could sealing the cracks in the cliff really seal off an entire world?
"The darkness of the Great Ruins is more complex than I imagined. It probably can't be sealed..."
Just as he thought this, the shadow girl leaped from the thousand-foot cliff, running diagonally down through the air as if on flat ground, heading straight for the city below.
Qin Mu also leaped nimbly, following her. After a while, they arrived in the city. Qin Mu looked around. The city was bustling with people coming and going, but to his eyes, they were all clusters of shadows.
If these shadows were replaced by real humans, this would be an incredibly prosperous metropolis.
He also saw tall divine beings and demons in the darkness, standing atop high towers and buildings, warily watching their surroundings.
Qin Mu was stunned, feeling something was off.
He had seen a scene like this before.
When he traveled back in time forty thousand years to Bailong City, the divine beings and demons there had been on alert like this, but they were guarding against the darkness outside the city!
So, what was this dark city guarding against?
The shadow girl led him through the city. The dark figures all turned to look at them. In their eyes, Qin Mu's form was probably just as strange, drawing their attention.
They crossed streets and arrived before an imposing mansion. Suddenly, a towering figure rose from within the mansion, spreading four arms to protect it. It seemed that Qin Mu's arrival had prompted this deity to guard its home from his invasion.
The shadow girl leaped up, landing on the dark deity's palm, then nimbly climbed to its shoulder, speaking to it.
The deity tilted its head, studying Qin Mu, and spoke. But to Qin Mu's ears, it was just whispers, unintelligible.
After a moment, the dark deity lowered its palm, gesturing for Qin Mu to stand on it. Qin Mu hesitated, stepped onto it, but found nothing solid beneath his feet. He nearly fell through the palm, quickly using a technique to float above it.
The dark deity was surprised. It raised another hand and poked Qin Mu with a finger, but the finger passed through his body without touching him.
The dark deity scratched its head, also puzzled by what was happening.
"How bizarre!"
Qin Mu's heart pounded. "Even an all-powerful divine being can't touch me!"
Suddenly, chaos erupted in the city. The dark deity set down the shadow girl and soared into the air, heading for the city gates.
Qin Mu quickly followed the shadow girl. They climbed to a high place and saw the space outside the city rippling. Black holes appeared, and massive, grotesque demon gods crawled out, leading countless demonic creatures surging toward the magnificent cities.
A great battle erupted.
Before long, the city was breached. Countless demonic creatures flooded in like a tide, fighting and killing in the streets and alleys.
Qin Mu followed the shadow girl, dodging and hiding. The city was in utter chaos, with divine techniques and spirit weapons exploding everywhere, buildings and palaces collapsing.
The night seemed endless. Suddenly, the crowing of a rooster rang out. Qin Mu's heart stirred. Then he saw the darkness surge, the city surge, and the demon gods and their minions frantically retreat, diving back into the spatial holes and vanishing.
Qin Mu's body was jostled by the surging darkness. He tried to grab the shadow girl, but she and the city turned into streams of black qi, fading away with the darkness!
A ray of sunlight spilled down, illuminating his surroundings. Qin Mu looked around. He was in a rugged mountain range, with no sign that a city had ever existed here.
"Cult Leader! Cult Leader!"
Dragon Qilin's voice called out. Qin Mu followed the sound and found the ruins where they had spent the night. Seeing him, Dragon Qilin quickly trotted over with a washbasin, set it down, wagged his tail, and said with a flattering smile, "Cult Leader, time for breakfast. It's already a bit late..."
Qin Mu turned and looked around. Everything he had seen and heard last night felt like a dream.
"This Great Ruins is too strange. Did I really enter another world last night?"
————This chapter is nearly four thousand words. Zhai Zhu, who has survived a disaster, begs for everyone's support!