Chapter 568: Heaven's Gate Slays the Divine Dragon
The divine dragon stared at the Heaven-Supporting Gate behind him, a look of confusion on his face. Jiang Miao whispered, "Cult Leader, can you really kill him?"
Qin Mu said quietly, "I don't know."
Jiang Miao's eyes widened, and he blurted out, "You don't know?"
"I've never tried to see if this gate can kill a god. At most, I've only killed demon experts at the Heavenly Being realm before. I was just bluffing him earlier. He's already fallen to such a state, yet he still puts on airs of superiority. So no matter what, we have to be tougher than him..."
After finishing his explanation, Qin Mu apologized to the divine dragon, saying, "Senior, if I can't kill you later, please don't laugh at me."
Just as he was about to activate the Heaven-Supporting Gate, the divine dragon seemed to recall something, his expression shifting dramatically. "Wait!"
Qin Mu stopped, and the Heaven-Supporting Gate immediately halted. He said patiently, "Senior, please speak."
The divine dragon stared at the gate, fear in his eyes, and hissed, "I've seen this gate before! What is your relationship with the Nether Capital Heavenly King? He also has a gate like this!"
"This Nether Capital Heavenly King also has a Heaven-Supporting Gate?"
Qin Mu was surprised and asked doubtfully, "I once saw someone open a Heaven-Supporting Gate in the Nether Valley. Could that person be the Nether Capital Heavenly King you speak of?"
The divine dragon's voice trembled. "You are a descendant of the Nether Capital Heavenly King? No wonder, no wonder you can also open this gate..."
Qin Mu shook his head and laughed. "My surname is Qin, from the Carefree Village. Who is the Nether Capital Heavenly King? Is his surname also Qin?"
The divine dragon seemed not to hear him at all, instead sinking into a deep, terrifying memory, muttering to himself, "The Nether Capital Heavenly King wielded a gate, a gate that could connect to the Nether Realm. Countless powerful enemies died by his hand. The Opening Emperor appointed him as Heavenly King and ordered him to open the Nether Realm. The Opening Emperor had grand ambitions; he wanted to incorporate the Nether Realm into his territory, to master the mysteries of life and death. But he angered the Earth Lord, who refused to submit to him. So the Opening Emperor had the Heavenly Craftsman God Clan forge a divine blade. The Nether Capital Heavenly King wielded the blade and cut off a large piece of the Nether Realm. The Opening Emperor then ordered the construction of the Fengdu City..."
Qin Mu was stunned. "The Nether Capital Heavenly King cut open the Nether Realm, and part of it became Fengdu City? That powerful?"
The divine dragon murmured, "The Nether Capital Heavenly King angered the Earth Lord by stealing territory from the Nether Realm, but the Nether Capital was clever. He turned into stone, and his primordial spirit escaped into Fengdu City. In those days, countless gods and demons died under his gate, which is why the Opening Emperor appointed him as the Heavenly King in charge of souls... Your gate cannot possibly be the same as his!"
Qin Mu's eyes lit up, and he quickly said, "Senior, I saw a stone statue in the Nether Valley. Behind that statue was also a gate connecting to the Nether Realm, but it was sealed by gods and demons with a honeycomb seal. Could that person be the Nether Capital Heavenly King?"
The divine dragon was distraught, muttering, "Your gate cannot be the same as his. You don't have the power to harm me. You're just a weak native human, as insignificant as a chicken-dragon..."
Qin Mu's face flushed red. "Senior, that's a bit insulting! I should have met this Nether Capital Heavenly King. From what I gather, he's just a fake Overlord Body; he never cultivated to my level!"
The divine dragon snapped back to reality and sneered, "You call this gate the Heaven-Supporting Gate? How absurd! In the Opening Emperor era, it was called the God-Slaying Mystic Gate. From the gods above the nine heavens to the demons below the nine abysses, none could escape being slain! When the gate opens and closes, gods and demons return their souls to the Nether Realm—that's why it's called God-Slaying! You don't even know that, which shows your cultivation is not orthodox. Go ahead and try to slay me! Let's see what you've got!"
Qin Mu spun around, and the Heaven-Supporting Gate emitted Nether Realm demonic energy, filling the hall with dense darkness.
The gate opened and moved sideways toward the divine dragon.
"Hold on!" The divine dragon broke out in a cold sweat, staring fixedly at the gate about to engulf him, and suddenly spoke.
Qin Mu stopped, very patient, and said, "Senior, what else do you want to say?"
"What is your cultivation level?" the divine dragon asked hoarsely, his eyes locked on the Heaven-Supporting Gate.
Qin Mu replied, "I have cultivated to the Six Harmonies realm, but I have also opened the Seven Stars divine storehouse."
The divine dragon was taken aback. "The Six Harmonies realm, and you've opened the Seven Stars divine storehouse? What kind of logic is that... Regardless, you're at the Seven Stars realm. A Seven Stars realm trying to kill me? Hahaha! Truly a newborn chicken-dragon unafraid of a real dragon!"
He relaxed, looking proud. "Let's see how you slay me!"
Qin Mu continued to activate the Heaven-Supporting Gate, and the Nether Realm demonic energy spread. Suddenly, the divine dragon shouted, "Hold on!"
Qin Mu's patience wore thin, and he couldn't help urging, "Senior, if you have something to say, please say it all at once."
The divine dragon sneered, "Kid, if you slay me now, once I break free, I'll annihilate your entire clan! Have you thought about that? The cause you plant today will bear the fruit of your clan's destruction tomorrow!"
Qin Mu nodded and continued to activate the Heaven-Supporting Gate. "I've thought it through. If you don't die, go ahead and annihilate my clan."
The Heaven-Supporting Gate moved, and Qin Mu chanted obscure, difficult-to-understand Nether Realm demonic language.
The divine dragon quickly said, "Hold on! This gate of yours is different from the one I've seen. What language are you speaking..."
Whoosh—
The Heaven-Supporting Gate grew even more majestic, sweeping past him in an instant. Inside the gate was pitch black, faintly revealing a pair of enormous curved horns, wreathed in flames, standing in the boundless darkness.
The gate suddenly stopped. The divine dragon's body stiffened, then with a loud crash, his head drooped, his body relaxed, and he slumped to the ground like a dead snake, motionless.
Qin Mu dispersed the Heaven-Supporting Gate, but suddenly a sharp pain shot through his brow, and a drop of black blood trickled down from between his eyebrows.
Qin Mu quickly covered his brow, but the pain grew more intense, unbearable. Suddenly, he fell to his knees with a thud, clutching his head tightly!
Meanwhile, Jiang Miao watched as the Heaven-Supporting Gate devoured the divine dragon. Just as the gate swallowed the dragon, a ferocious, gaping mouth suddenly appeared between the pair of Earth Lord horns and the Heaven-Supporting Gate, swallowing the dragon's primordial spirit in one gulp!
Jiang Miao stood frozen, his expression blank. That huge mouth was hideous, terrifying, and utterly evil—it truly frightened him!
When he came to his senses and went to check on the divine dragon, he was horrified to find that the dragon had no breath left!
His primordial spirit had indeed been devoured by that sudden, enormous mouth, never reaching the Nether Realm!
"Cult Leader Qin, there seems to be something sinister inside your gate... Cult Leader Qin!"
Hearing Qin Mu's cries of pain, Jiang Miao quickly walked over and helped him up. Qin Mu was dazed from the agony, but the jade pendant on his chest emitted faint beams of light, pushing back the stabbing pain.
"I'm fine, just a sudden headache."
Qin Mu opened his eyes groggily, pushed away Jiang Miao's hand, and shook his head. "I feel better now. It must be a side effect of activating the Heaven-Supporting Gate. Strange, I've never had this happen before when I used it..."
Jiang Miao stared blankly at Qin Mu's brow. Qin Mu was startled and laughed. "What are you looking at?"
Jiang Miao said in horror, "There's a blood mark on your brow, and it seems like something is inside..."
Qin Mu quickly took out a mirror and looked at himself. Sure enough, there was a blood mark on his brow, about an inch long, pointed at both ends and wider in the middle.
Strangely, the blood mark was slightly raised, as if he had bumped his head and it had swollen.
He reached out and touched the blood mark. Inside, there seemed to be a round object. When he pressed a little harder, he felt no pain.
"Could it be that I hit my head from the pain earlier... That thing is moving!"
Qin Mu was horrified. His finger clearly felt the object under the blood mark shift!
"Have I been possessed by that divine dragon?"
He quickly activated his primordial spirit to inspect his own body. After searching for a while, he found nothing unusual. Even when his primordial spirit came to his brow, it couldn't locate the object under the blood mark.
Jiang Miao carefully examined his brow, then suddenly raised a finger and said, "Cult Leader, look at my finger."
Qin Mu did as he was told. Jiang Miao moved his finger, watching Qin Mu's brow. The object under the blood mark also moved with his finger.
After testing a few times, Jiang Miao breathed a sigh of relief. "Under that blood mark, it should be an eye."
"An eye?"
Qin Mu was baffled. The Great Nurturing Demon Sutra did have some mysterious techniques for growing a third eye, but he hadn't transformed into the form of the Town Star Lord or the Blazing Star Lord, so how could he grow a third eye?
"Cult Leader Qin, I saw something sinister in your gate just now!"
Jiang Miao steadied himself, but recalling what he had seen made him shudder, and he shivered a few times. "When my uncle was swallowed by your gate, his primordial spirit was pulled out and fell toward that two-horned god. Then a huge mouth suddenly appeared and ate my uncle's primordial spirit!"
"A huge mouth suddenly appeared and ate your uncle?"
Qin Mu was stunned. He rubbed his forehead, puzzled. "The Nether Realm has many ferocious demonic creatures, formed from remnant souls and demonic nature. They are hideous and terrifying. Could it be that a Nether Realm demon caused this?"
Jiang Miao shook his head. "I don't know about that. I only saw that big mouth devour my uncle. It even showed a cruel smile, and then it disappeared, and your gate closed."
Qin Mu thought for a moment and sighed. "The Earth Lord's control over the Nether Realm is weakening, allowing all these monsters to run loose... We came here to find the true dragon to decipher the text in the Dragon Nest, and now that's fallen through..."
Suddenly, he noticed that the chains piercing the divine dragon's body had slackened, and the demonic script on them had stopped flowing. His heart skipped a beat.
"Oh no! The Ten Mile Star Sand Calamity Array has stopped!"
Qin Mu quickly ran outside. He saw the yellow sand flowing like a dragon above the canyon, rapidly streaming back toward the large cauldron.
On the cliffs on both sides of the canyon, runes were burning themselves out, turning to ash.
In the swirling sand, Star Madman, covered in blood, was dragging heavy footsteps toward them, his expression very grim.
Qin Mu hurried over and tried to lift the cauldron, but let out a muffled grunt. He couldn't budge it. The star sand inside the cauldron was far too heavy to lift.
He channeled his primal energy, trying to activate the star sand in the cauldron. A dozen grains of sand trembled as they rose into the air, drifting slowly forward.
Qin Mu's face instantly darkened, even darker than Star Madman's approaching expression.