Chapter 667: The Netherworld Book of Life and Death (Third Update!)
In the sky, darkness shrouded dozens of miles in all directions, with faint figures flickering within. Suddenly, three sword beams pierced through the darkness, shooting off in different directions!
The three sword beams illuminated the darkness in an instant, allowing everyone to see the scene within.
Lin Xu, Wang Muran, and the others had just arrived at this spot, while Qi Jiuyi had already reached the vicinity of the darkness ahead of them. As for Zhe Huali, he was still on his way.
Everyone looked up and saw that under the sword light, the darkness was like gauze, hazy and indistinct, as if countless tiny black specks floated in the air.
Within the darkness illuminated by the sword light, Lou Qianchong charged toward Qin Mu against the glow, only to have a sword beam pierce straight through his chest!
When Xu Shenghua had fought Lou Qianchong, he had also used earth-shattering divine abilities, and his Void World was astonishingly brilliant. Yet Lou Qianchong had passed straight through the Void World’s divine abilities, and none of Xu Shenghua’s techniques had managed to harm him. Instead, Xu Shenghua had been wounded by him.
Lou Qianchong seemed capable of being immune to all techniques, invulnerable to all damage.
However, this single sword beam directly pierced Lou Qianchong, and blood burst forth, spraying from the back of his heart.
Lou Qianchong was momentarily stunned, while another sword beam slashed toward his head.
At that moment, everyone saw behind Qin Mu that his third sword beam was blocking a steel trident. But the trident had three prongs, and the one shattered by the Calamity-Opening Sword was the central prong. The other two prongs pierced through Qin Mu’s body with two dull thuds, then suddenly withdrew, pulling Qin Mu into the Netherworld Dark Gate!
“This is bad!” Everyone’s faces changed drastically.
Inside the dark gate, just as Qin Mu was being pulled through, the immensely powerful demon god revealed a ferocious grin, looking extremely terrifying.
Suddenly, a sword beam came out of nowhere, flying in from beyond the heavens. At the very moment Qin Mu’s second sword beam was severing Lou Qianchong’s head, this sword beam also cut off the demon god’s head. The two events happened with unexpected synchronicity, occurring in the same instant.
Lin Xu, Qi Jiuyi, and the others had never anticipated such a turn of events. That demon god behind the gate seemed overwhelmingly powerful, yet it had been decapitated by Qin Mu’s sword beam!
But what puzzled them even more was that Qin Mu had clearly only used three strikes of the Calamity-Opening Sword simultaneously, producing three sword beams. So where did the fourth sword beam that severed the demon god’s head come from?
At the same time, the demon god’s chest exploded, revealing a bloody hole, and another sword beam emerged from behind the demon god, bringing with it a spray of blood.
The gate slowly closed, preventing everyone from seeing what was inside, leaving them with even more confusion.
Before they could find an answer to where the fourth sword beam came from, a fifth sword beam suddenly appeared. What was the logic behind this?
Suddenly, a pitch-black gate materialized in the air, towering within the darkness—it was Qin Mu’s Heaven-Bearing Gate.
The gate opened, and Qin Mu walked out from his own Heaven-Bearing Gate, leaving the Netherworld, holding a head in his hand.
Behind him, the darkness gradually dissipated, revealing Lou Qianchong’s body. The head of this body had vanished without a trace!
No one had seen when Lou Qianchong’s head had fallen. Qin Mu’s three sword strikes—the first had severely wounded Lou Qianchong, the second had severed his head, and the third had been to defend against his attack from within the Netherworld. But since those three sword techniques had been unleashed in a flash of lightning, no one had seen Lou Qianchong’s head fall from the sky.
Yet Lou Qianchong’s head had inexplicably disappeared.
“The demon god inside the Heaven-Bearing Gate was actually your true body, not a real demon god—just something that looked formidable.”
Qin Mu took out a bottle of dragon saliva, poured it over the wound on his chest, and said calmly to the head in his hand: “You were hiding in the Netherworld, attacking me from there, so to those in Grand Supreme Heaven, you appeared as a dark shadow, impossible to strike at your true body. That’s why Xu Shenghua was defeated by you—he doesn’t have a deep understanding of the Great Ruins or much knowledge of Netherworld techniques and divine abilities. Your strength isn’t even as great as Qi Jiuyi’s; you were merely relying on the wondrous powers of the Netherworld. But when you run into someone like me, who was born in the Netherworld and grew up in the Great Ruins, I can make you die in even more creative ways.”
This head belonged to that demon god, but now it began to change. The ferocious bone spurs retracted into the body, and the disheveled hair gradually smoothed out.
His features reverted to those of Lou Qianchong, his eyes still wide open, still staring at Qin Mu, as if he could still hear his words.
Qin Mu tossed Lou Qianchong’s head aside, letting it fall, while Lou Qianchong’s headless body also tumbled from the sky.
“But I’m in a hurry, so I chose the simplest method.”
Qin Mu said calmly: “I appeared to be attacking you in the darkness, but I was actually attacking your true body, which had already entered the Netherworld. With the first strike, I severed your heart meridian and shattered your blood energy. With the second, I cut off your head. With the third, I merely blocked your attack. Still, you are indeed skilled—you managed to wound me.”
Qi Jiuyi was nearby and saw Qin Mu injured. He was about to make a move, but upon hearing this, he paused and revealed a faint smile: “He still values me. He knows I’m stronger than Senior Brother Lou Qianchong!”
He did not take the opportunity to attack Qin Mu. With his strength, he could have easily detained the injured Qin Mu, but he refrained.
Lou Qianchong was his fellow disciple. He had originally trained under Southern Heavenly Red Emperor Qi Xiayu and later went to the Netherworld to study under the Black Emperor, but he had spent little time there and had no deep bond with his Netherworld fellow disciples.
Qin Mu suppressed his injuries, dispelled his three-headed six-armed form, pressed the willow leaf back to his brow, and headed straight for the Spirit Energy Transfer Bridge.
The others did not follow him but stood in place, lost in thought.
“So that’s it. There were indeed only three sword strikes.”
Lin Xu, the Dao Lord, said dejectedly: “But those three strikes were so divine that they appeared to be five. When did Qin Mu’s sword technique reach such a level…”
The other young people shared the same thought. Qin Mu’s three sword strikes looked simple, but they had moved from complexity to simplicity. Those three simple strikes left a lingering and profound shock.
Not many could see the subtlety behind the three strikes appearing as five. Yet the more one could perceive that subtlety, the greater the shock in one’s heart.
At that moment, Zhe Huali finally arrived, his steps still incredibly steady, each stride covering an equal distance.
“It’s over?”
Zhe Huali looked around and saw everyone standing there, but Qin Mu and Lou Qianchong were not present. He quickly asked Qi Jiuyi: “Brother Qi, who won?”
Qi Jiuyi said helplessly: “Senior Brother Lou Qianchong has fallen in battle.”
Zhe Huali’s heart tightened: “What technique did Qin Mu use to kill him? How did he die?”
Qi Jiuyi grew even more exasperated: “It’s a long story. Qin Mu seemed to have cultivated some extraordinary technique, turning into a three-headed six-armed form, and his strength was even greater than before. He used three strikes of the Calamity-Opening Sword.”
Zhe Huali’s tiger eyes widened, and he said solemnly: “Three-headed six-armed? It seems his power has reached another level. I must train hard too, so that I can make him taste defeat under my demon blade!”
Lou Yunqu frowned slightly, looking at the First Ancestor Human Sovereign ahead. He had wanted to intervene to save Lou Qianchong, but the overwhelming aura this powerhouse had suddenly unleashed had suppressed him, preventing him from acting directly.
“Prince Qin Wu’s combat power is extremely high…”
He thought to himself: “But relying on him alone, it’s impossible to stop the surging tide. He will inevitably be crushed to dust by the momentum!”
Wei Qingpei whispered: “Senior Brother Lou, Junior Brother…”
Lou Yunqu said quietly: “Qin Wu suppressed the three of us, leaving us no chance to save him. Junior Brother had to die this once. But this Netherworld Divine Son is different from what I imagined… Do you have the confidence to capture him?”
Fu Yanqi’s eyes flickered, and he said: “Senior Brother can rest assured. Junior Brother Qi miscalculated and failed to capture him, even losing the master’s treasure, but capturing him will be easy for us.”
Lou Yunqu smiled and said: “Then our observation of Grand Supreme Heaven’s techniques and divine abilities ends here. Bound Sun Arhat King, Governor Lu, we can return now.”
Fu Riluo said in surprise: “The three of you are leaving just like that? Lou Qianchong is dead—aren’t you going to avenge him? You three senior brothers are truly magnanimous.”
Lou Yunqu said: “Lou Qianchong’s soul will return to the Netherworld and be reincarnated. The master won’t let him die like this. We’re just returning to the demon territory, not going back to the Netherworld. Once the remnants of Red Ming reach Eternal Peace, that will be the day Grand Supreme Heaven falls.”
Fu Riluo was stunned. Only four guests had come from the Netherworld this time, and one had been killed by Qin Mu. Why was Lou Yunqu so confident that with just the three of them, they could unify Grand Supreme Heaven under the demons?
He had to remember that Fu Riluo, bound by the Earth Lord Pact made with the Woodcutter Sage, could not mobilize the demon army to assist. And Lu Li, as the Netherworld Governor, only obeyed the Heavenly Court’s orders, not the Netherworld’s, so Lou Yunqu could not command her either.
Thus, the only force Lou Yunqu could use was the three of them as fellow disciples.
Qi Jiuyi saw Lou Yunqu and the others leave, his heart tightening. He said quietly: “Zhe Huali, if you trust me, come with me immediately through the Spirit Energy Transfer Bridge into the Great Ruins!”
Zhe Huali was startled and was about to ask why when Qi Jiuyi had already rushed ahead toward the Spirit Energy Transfer Bridge.
Beside the Spirit Energy Transfer Bridge, Qin Mu, Dragon Qilin, and Xu Shenghua were flying rapidly around the massive altar, continuously reinforcing it, correcting the broken runes, and trying to maintain the Spirit Energy Transfer Bridge.
In the sky, the strange star had already hidden more than half of itself, but the Spirit Energy Transfer Bridge could barely hold on. The ground for hundreds of miles around was cracked into countless ravines, like a spiderweb.
The altar was crumbling, and the rocks on it could turn to dust at any moment.
Qin Mu frowned deeply. Lin Xu and the others arrived and quickly joined in reinforcing the altar. Everyone worked nonstop, but the altar kept shaking. The energy surging from Eternal Peace grew more and more immense, filling the sky.
At that moment, the sun went out, and Grand Supreme Heaven entered night. Yet the sky was brighter than ever, illuminated by the spiritual energy transferred from Eternal Peace!
The strange star gradually faded away. Suddenly, the First Ancestor soared into the sky and flew onto the strange star, slowing its movement. Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief and intensified his efforts to reinforce the altar.
Luo Fu Heaven.
A series of majestic altars stood in this already shattered world. On the altars, divine beings from the Great Ruins stood guard. Over the past two years, they had held their ground here, repelling countless waves of demon attacks.
On this day, in front of one of the altars, space suddenly split open, and three demon gods walked out—Lou Yunqu, Fu Yanqi, and Wei Qingpei.
“The land of the demons has given birth to so many heroes and legends, and so many have been buried in this land.”
Lou Yunqu sighed with emotion, took out the Book of Life and Death, gently unrolled it, and said leisurely: “The long years have seen off too many moving and tragic figures. Are you still here?”
His voice suddenly grew loud: “I command you by the decree of the Netherworld Black Emperor: Awaken and fight for me!”
The Book of Life and Death floated in the air, radiating brilliant light like a mirror, shining a bright beam downward from its pages.
Whoosh—
The Book of Life and Death flew through the sky of Luo Fu Heaven. Wherever its light shone, names appeared on the pages, countless names leaping and changing continuously!
The book flew back and forth across Luo Fu Heaven at an invisible speed, illuminating every inch of the land!
The divine beings from the Great Ruins on the altar felt a chill in their hearts and looked toward Lou Yunqu and the others, saying solemnly: “Who are you to stir up trouble here?”
Lou Yunqu and the other two stood with their hands in their sleeves, silent and indifferent to him.
Suddenly, the ground split open, and a white-boned skeleton in tattered armor crawled out from underground, stood up, its eye sockets burning with ghostly flames, motionless.
Clatter, clatter—the sound of bones colliding came from all directions. Every inch of Luo Fu Heaven churned as countless skeletons emerged from the earth and stood up.
A rotting demon god crawled out from underground, suddenly opened its massive mouth, and spewed out thick demonic energy, as if roaring silently at Lou Yunqu and the others. The violent demonic energy blasted against their faces, wrinkling their skin, sending their hair and robes flying backward, coating their faces with filthy, green and purple spittle.
Before long, an army of tens of millions of corpses formed an endless line, their demonic energy seeming to crush the broken sky, dark and terrifying.
The divine being on the altar was greatly alarmed and gripped his divine weapon tightly.
Lou Yunqu raised his hand, and the Book of Life and Death flew back with a whistle. He smiled slightly: “Junior brothers, how long do you think it will take to take down these altars and eliminate the remnants of the Opening Emperor?”
Boom—
A tidal wave of countless corpses surged toward the altars, overwhelming them in just a few breaths!
Wei Qingpei laughed: “Shorter than I expected.”
One by one, the altars fell. The divine beings guarding them could barely resist such an assault and were torn to pieces by the surging demon god corpses!
In the end, all the altars that the Woodcutter Sage and the twenty-four divine beings had built to coerce Fu Riluo into submission were completely overrun. The time Lou Yunqu had taken was no more than the length of an incense stick!
Countless demon corpses stood on the altars, roaring in all directions, as if venting their fury.
Lou Yunqu handed the Book of Life and Death to Wei Qingpei and smiled: “The rest is up to you, Junior Brother Wei.”
Wei Qingpei laughed heartily and activated the Book of Life and Death. The book shone its light along the altars, and the demon corpses caught in the radiance immediately ignited, burned away, and activated the runes on the altars. A blood sacrifice erupted!
The entire Luo Fu Heaven began to disintegrate violently as earth, water, wind, and fire surged forth!
The destruction of Luo Fu Heaven carried cataclysmic energy, smashing through the world barrier of Grand Supreme Heaven and hurtling toward it!
“The Heavenly Master of the false dynasty wasn’t ruthless enough. If he had been, he could have directly blood-sacrificed Luo Fu Heaven and used it to crash into Grand Supreme Heaven.”
Lou Yunqu clasped his hands behind his back and smiled: “But we should still thank him for building these blood sacrifice altars. It saved us a lot of trouble.”
—Third update arrives! A four-thousand-word chapter! Today’s word count has basically reached twelve thousand! Please support with monthly votes!