Chapter 551: Dragon Fatty, Black Tiger, and Fox (Second Update!)
Not long after, Qin Mu defeated a demonic cultivator, stripped off his clothes, and changed into a new set of gear. He then swaggered through the demon city.
Around him, a tide of demonic beings surged, all rushing toward the Heavenly Moat Abyss.
A sudden, massive upheaval had just occurred there, its commotion so great that it alarmed the entire city. Though the upheaval ended quickly, the power unleashed in that instant was utterly terrifying.
Whoosh—
Two demon gods flew through the air, charging toward the abyss. Countless winged demons followed, flapping their wings and soaring into the depths.
Qin Mu pushed against the crowd, squeezing his way forward until he finally broke free and headed toward the city gate.
He dared not fly. After all, this was a demon city. Who knew how many demon gods were hidden here, or how many experts at the Divine Bridge or Life and Death realms lurked within? Even the deities of the Grand Emperor Heaven wouldn’t dare act recklessly in such a place. So, he could only walk forward at a measured pace, though anxiety gnawed at his heart.
The two demon gods would soon reach the bottom of the Heavenly Moat Abyss and discover the unconscious Fu Ri Luo. Reviving him wouldn’t be difficult. Once awake, Fu Ri Luo would surely order the city sealed and a search for him launched.
If he couldn’t leave the city before the lockdown order was issued, escape would become impossible!
This city had once been a divine city of the Grand Emperor Heaven, vast and unimaginably large. Getting out would take time.
Qin Mu hurried as fast as he could and finally reached the city gate. Suddenly, shouts erupted from the abyss: “The Honored King commands an immediate lockdown of the entire city! No demon is permitted to leave!”
“Activate the formations! Seal the city!”
“Block the earth and sky! Not even a mosquito shall fly out!”
Qin Mu’s expression shifted. He looked toward the gate, where many demonic strongmen were straining to push the massive doors shut. On the towers and high pagodas, array patterns and runes began to glow, their shimmering symbols flowing like water from the rooftops and spires down to the city walls.
The patterns on the walls lit up, sending dazzling beams of light into the air. Lines of energy connected, forming a vast spatial barrier.
At the base of the walls, more runes and patterns seeped into the ground!
Even in the capital of Yankang, there were no defenses this formidable. If the sky-bound patterns and ground patterns fully merged, he would have no chance of leaving this city!
Suddenly, Qin Mu seemed to melt, transforming into a shadow that hugged the ground along the wall’s base, racing toward the gate!
The gate was enormous and heavy. Even with dozens of demonic strongmen pushing together, they could only move it slowly.
These strongmen specialized in physical cultivation, honing their bodies for immense strength. They didn’t practice spells or refine spiritual weapons—only their muscles, bones, and raw power! Similar strongmen existed in the Heavenly Saint Cult and the Yankang army. A few at the peak of their cultivation could even lift stone statues formed from the bodies of deities!
The gate of this divine city required dozens of strongmen to move, a testament to its terrifying weight!
Qin Mu’s shadow form darted like a ghost, leaping from one building’s shadow to another, moving like a specter. He reached the gate, determined to leave before it closed—otherwise, there would be no escape!
Under the strongmen’s efforts, the two massive doors had narrowed to a single gap, about to shut.
Suddenly, a gleaming bead rolled in, wedging itself between the doors and preventing them from closing.
A strongman near the edge kicked the bead hard, sending it flying out of the city. He cursed under his breath, and the doors slammed shut with a thunderous boom.
But he didn’t notice that with his kick, his “shadow” rolled out along with the bead, merging with the bead’s shadow.
The bead rolled about ten zhang forward, stopping at the edge of the moat.
From the bead’s round shadow, arms and legs suddenly sprouted. Two pitch-black, shadowy arms stretched out, gripping the moat’s bank as they slowly pulled.
The gleaming bead rolled again, plopping into the water.
A moment later, on the far side of the moat, a dark shadow crawled out from the river and slithered away across the ground.
Soon after, the city gates swung wide open, and countless demons surged out, shouting: “He’s not in the city! Search immediately! Don’t let him escape the demon territory!”
Qin Mu dodged and hid, avoiding watchtowers. His Demonic Shadow Illusion Art had reached its limit, so he had to reveal his true form. Climbing to a high vantage point, he scanned the horizon but still couldn’t see where Li City was.
“Fu Ri Luo dragged me into demon territory. Where exactly is this? How far is it from human lands?”
The land stretched vast and desolate under a dim sky. The sun in the east hung cold and pale, gradually turning red—a sign that night was approaching.
Qin Mu steadied himself, concealed his form, and thought, “The Grand Emperor Heaven has no stars. In the dark, I can’t read the celestial signs or find my direction. I’ll have to wait until daytime to travel.”
Behind him, demon scouts scoured the area. Qin Mu dodged and weaved, nearly getting caught. In the end, he killed a demon scout, donned his heavy black iron armor and helmet, slung a long black iron spear on his horse’s hook, and rode a demon-flame nightmare horse through the misty demon territory.
By the next day, the ugly, waning sun in the sky rose as promised. Qin Mu pushed up his helmet’s visor, oriented himself, and urged the nightmare horse eastward in demonic tongue.
By afternoon, Qin Mu looked up and his face turned ashen. The eastern sun had suddenly gone dark!
“Grand Preceptor, couldn’t you have been a bit less efficient?”
Qin Mu nearly spat blood. He had once told the Yankang Grand Preceptor to have Yankang cultivators help design two suns for the Grand Emperor Heaven. Now, the sun’s extinguishing was surely linked to him!
The Grand Preceptor must have found the sun too glaring, so he immediately summoned Yankang’s cultivators to the Grand Emperor Heaven, removed the sun, and started rebuilding.
With the sun gone, Qin Mu could no longer discern direction!
In Li City, blazing light illuminated the darkness. The radiance of the Spirit Energy Transfer Bridge shot into the sky, connecting with the Great Wasteland. Countless cultivators streamed in from Yankang, setting up a massive construction site near Li City. They forged giant smithing golems, working day and night to craft various components.
True God Pang Yu brought out blueprints that no one could understand—plans for a solar furnace left by the Sun-Creating Deity. That deity had been assassinated by demons before finishing the second sun, but the blueprints survived.
The Yankang Grand Preceptor summoned many cultivators skilled in numerology to recalculate and revise the plans, demanding even greater precision.
Now, the cultivators in Li City were building the solar furnace.
“Master, I lost my junior brother…”
On Li City’s watchtower, the Black Tiger God rolled on the ground, transforming into a small black tiger barely a foot tall, with black and yellow stripes. He lit a stick of incense and prayed reverently.
The incense smoke rose, coalescing into a cloud that formed the face of the Woodcutter Saint. It stared down at him expressionlessly.
The small tiger cowered, not daring to speak.
After a moment, the Woodcutter Saint’s voice came: “What use are you?”
The Black Tiger God shuddered in fear and quickly said, “Master, rest assured! I will find Junior Brother Qin!”
The smoke slowly dispersed, and the Woodcutter Saint’s voice echoed: “I’ve gone to the demon world and can’t return for now. When I come back, if I don’t see my disciple, you’ll stay in this form forever—never change back!”
The Black Tiger God breathed a sigh of relief. Just then, a crisp voice said, “Dragon Fatty, even though the young master is in this world, if you gobble up all the spirit pills at once and we can’t find him, won’t you starve for a long time?”
Another voice, deep and rumbling, chuckled, “Sister Ling’er, you don’t understand! I barely managed to snatch some spirit pills back from that demon general in the box. These days, I only dared to eat one pill a day! I’m already skin and bones! Look, look—I’ve lost so much weight! To make sure the Cult Leader still recognizes me, I ate all the remaining pills in one go. I was worried I wouldn’t get back to my old shape…”
“I heard the young master is lost. If we can’t find him, you’ll starve!”
“How could the Cult Leader get lost? He’s so clever!”
The Black Tiger God looked toward the sound. Clatter, clatter—first, a large chest walked up, followed by a massive, potbellied creature whose belly dragged on the ground. As it climbed the watchtower, its fat jiggled, making it look like a monstrous beast with dragon and qilin bloodlines.
Perched on this fatty’s head sat a cute little girl, about five or six years old, with six snow-white fox tails behind her and two furry ears on her head.
Sang Hua, Yu He, and others followed behind, along with two unfamiliar young women.
The little girl with the fluffy tails and ears spotted the Black Tiger God. Her eyes lit up. She leaped down from the fatty’s head, giggling as she ran toward the Black Tiger God, clapping her hands: “Such a cute little tiger! I’m hugging him first!”
The Black Tiger God caught the scent of fox and scowled. He shook himself, transforming from a foot-tall black tiger into a massive, striped beast over ten zhang tall. He roared to the sky, radiating divine might and ferocity.
The little fox’s face changed. She immediately turned and ran, wailing, toward the girls. She threw herself into one young woman’s arms: “Big tiger!”
The woman shielded the fox behind her. The fatty sat down with a thud, looking up at the colossal beast in awe.
Sang Hua quickly stepped forward and said, “Tiger Lord, these are Cult Leader Qin’s friends.”
The Black Tiger God withdrew his divine might and ferocity, transforming into a black-haired youth. He retracted his sharp claws, his ears twitching, and said, “I was tricked by a fox in my early years. I can’t stand fox demons. Forgive me.”
The little fox peeked out from behind Ling Yuxiu and smiled, “I don’t trick people.”
She bravely came out from behind Ling Yuxiu, studying the Black Tiger God curiously. “Can I touch your ears?”
The Black Tiger God hesitated, then lowered his head. “I scared you earlier. You can touch them once.”
Fox Ling’er stroked them twice and praised, “So soft! You all should feel them too!”
Ling Yuxiu hesitated. “Is that appropriate?” But she bravely stepped forward and touched them, exclaiming in delight, “They really are soft and smooth!”
The other girls reached out and stroked them a few times, making the Black Tiger God feel quite comfortable, though he still found it a bit undignified. After all, he was a demon god—being petted like this seemed shameful.
But it did feel nice.
Dragon Qilin came up, intending to touch as well. The Black Tiger God quickly raised a paw, pinning him to the ground.
After a while, both the group and the Black Tiger God were satisfied. The Black Tiger God asked, “How do you plan to find Junior Brother Qin?”
Si Yunxiang smiled. “Simple! A spirit meeting!”
—Second update arrives!