Chapter 674: Grand Emperor Heaven Falls
Qin Mu and the others stepped onto this bridge woven from willow branches, walking forward along the path. The bridge twisted and turned countless times, while outside the bridge were chaotic spatial fragments, light refracting like mirrors with no thickness, yet within these spatial fragments, various strange scenes could be seen.
Spatial fragments were extremely dangerous, drifting without any pattern, yet this bridge managed to find a path to survival.
Some people stood on the bridge and looked down, only to see more spatial fragments, nothing else.
"Don't look around! Steady every step!"
Pang Yu's divine voice came from ahead: "If you fall, you'll die without a burial place, and your corpse will never be found!"
They walked for a long time before finally seeing the end.
Qin Mu set foot on solid ground, glanced around, and smiled. This was precisely Grand Bright Heaven. When he and the Buddha Emperor Shakra had fled from the pursuit of Southern Heaven Red Emperor Qi Xiayu, they had returned to the Great Ruins through this very place.
Moreover, the Great Ruins had fallen from the Heavenly Court, smashing through Grand Bright Heaven, and that fractured space was not far away!
The group stood on the soil of Grand Bright Heaven, looking around. As far as the eye could see, there was only pitch-black earth and raging winds, along with countless clusters of dry bones blown by the wind, forming large rolling spheres of bone that tumbled along.
Clatter, clatter, clatter—the sight of bone spheres rolling through the wind became a unique spectacle of Grand Bright Heaven.
When the wind stopped, the bone spheres scattered, crashing down in heaps, and then countless skeletons climbed up, searching for their own bones, some even grabbing a leg bone and fighting over it.
Suddenly, these skeletons noticed them and turned their heads to look.
The group tensed up, ready to defend themselves, but Qin Mu quickly said, "No need to worry. They've just never seen humans before and are curious about us. They're actually quite cute and not threatening."
A few bold skeletons stepped forward, touching the clothes of these fleeing cultivators. One even bolder pinched a girl's cheek.
Qin Mu took out several sets of clothes from his gluttonous beast pouch and gave them to a few skeletons. Those skeletons put on the clothes, overjoyed, and ran around wildly, while the others watched enviously and chased after them.
"There's no nutrients in this soil at all." Granny Si tried to plant medicinal herbs in the ground, but they quickly withered, and she shook her head.
God Mulberry Leaf sniffed the air and said, "There's no spiritual energy or vitality in the air either. This place is unfit for any living being. Perhaps only these skeletons can survive here."
"Grand Emperor Heaven is falling!" someone suddenly exclaimed in alarm.
Qin Mu and the others were shaken. They quickly turned around to look back at the path they had come from. Through the layers of chaotic spatial fragments, they occasionally saw firelight coming from somewhere far away on the other side, faintly revealing Grand Emperor Heaven.
Because Grand Bright Heaven was already a dead, darkened world, nothing could be seen from Grand Emperor Heaven's side. But Grand Emperor Heaven was a sea of magma, extremely bright, so it was visible from Grand Bright Heaven.
Grand Emperor Heaven was tilting, its angle gradually increasing.
This Grand Emperor Heaven seemed about to fall into a chasm!
"What's below that chasm?" God Pang Yu asked.
Qin Mu said softly, "Eternal Peace. No, it's the Great Ruins."
The group was stunned.
If Grand Emperor Heaven crashed into the Great Ruins, it would surely cause another catastrophe!
The Village Chief sighed, "The people of the Nether Capital are too ruthless, leaving no room for mercy! We need to move quickly, enter the Great Ruins before Grand Emperor Heaven falls into it, or we'll die without a burial place!"
"Follow me!"
Qin Mu shouted loudly and led the group toward the fractured space. Everyone followed, and along the way, many clever skeletons ran over, reaching out to beg for clothes.
If anyone had spare clothes, they gave them away. Those who received clothes ran around joyfully.
—One tall skeleton, who must have been a man in life, was wearing women's clothing, looking gaudy and eye-catching.
After this lively scene, they arrived at the fractured space and looked down. The abyss was also filled with spatial fragments, extremely dangerous, but much safer than the path from Grand Emperor Heaven to Grand Bright Heaven.
The spatial fragments here were not dense, and faintly, the scenery of the Great Ruins could be seen.
Qin Mu had come here before, using the God-Slaying Mysterious Blade to cut through those spatial fragments and successfully enter the Great Ruins. But now, looking down, he was surprised to see that a safe passage had already been created in the fractured space. Someone had used an axe to cut through the spatial fragments, leaving a passage a mile wide.
There wasn't a single spatial fragment around this passage!
"It must have been the Woodcutter Sage!"
Qin Mu felt relieved. The Woodcutter Sage had clearly arrived here first, building bridges along the way and opening passages. He must have already reached the Great Ruins. But what puzzled Qin Mu was why the Woodcutter Sage hadn't come to find them but had instead gone ahead.
"With the Woodcutter Sage's strength, he could have crossed the spatial fragments alone. Why did he bother to calculate a path of survival, build bridges, and open passages?"
Qin Mu was a bit confused.
The group rose into the air and leaped down into the fractured space one after another. After passing through the fractured space, below them was the most majestic ancient structure in the Great Ruins.
The Southern Heavenly Gate!
The Southern Heavenly Gate of the Kai Emperor's Heavenly Court!
On this day, tens of thousands of figures descended from the sky above the Southern Heavenly Gate, landing one after another.
Qin Mu looked up at the sky. The entrance to Grand Bright Heaven above was almost imperceptible.
But faintly, a patch of orange-red could be seen in the space above the Southern Heavenly Gate. That was Grand Emperor Heaven!
"Everyone, leave quickly! Don't stay here—head to the nearest city!"
Qin Mu stood on high ground and shouted, "Follow me!"
The group struggled to keep up with him, while the orange-red patch in the sky gradually became clearer. Grand Emperor Heaven was tilting, standing upright, and falling toward the Great Ruins along the chasm!
Although Qin Mu couldn't see the scene of Grand Emperor Heaven falling deep in space, he could imagine it—it would be an incredibly terrifying and spectacular sight!
Falling wasn't just Grand Emperor Heaven, but also the Floating Heaven stuck in the Li City position of Grand Emperor Heaven!
The rolling magma, the two falling heavens, would surely tear the sky above the Great Ruins and crash into it.
They hurried to the nearest city in the Great Ruins. Just as they entered the city, Qin Mu came face to face with a man with three faces, and his hair stood on end.
"Bound Sun!"
Behind him, God Pang Yu suddenly roared, his killing intent shooting straight into the sky!
Clang—
The sound of blades being drawn rang out. Behind Qin Mu, tens of thousands of cultivators and gods activated their spiritual weapons and divine weapons, murderous intent boiling over as they stared nervously at Bound Sun.
This city was one of the few major cities in the Great Ruins, a key node connecting the Great Ruins to Eternal Peace and the Western Lands. But now, the city was filled with countless demon cultivators and many demon gods. Seeing them, these demon cultivators also tensed up, activating their spiritual weapons and demon divine weapons, ready for battle!
Qin Mu reached out and grabbed the small box, his fingers moving rapidly. A series of soft clicks came as the box was unsealed. Qin Mu's eyes flashed with murderous intent, and he sneered, "Bound Sun, you actually led the demons to flee here. But the Great Ruins are my Great Ruins—there's no room for your arrogance here!"
The killing intent between both sides was overwhelming, and a battle was about to erupt.
Just then, the Woodcutter Sage stepped out from behind Bound Sun and said calmly, "Disciple, put down your weapon. Bound Sun and the demons were saved by me from Grand Emperor Heaven. I have already reached an agreement with him. Bound Sun and his demons will be incorporated into Eternal Peace, becoming a tribe under Eternal Peace's rule."
"What?"
The gods, demons, and cultivators of Grand Emperor Heaven were furious, their eyes splitting with rage. God Mulberry Leaf roared, "The demons invaded our Grand Emperor Heaven, killing countless of our children! This blood feud is irreconcilable! The cultivators of Grand Emperor Heaven will never make peace with the demons!"
God Pang Yu gritted his teeth and said, "Heavenly Master, although you are a heavenly master, you didn't save our people but instead saved the demons. I sever ties with you!"
"The soldiers of Grand Emperor Heaven will never share the same sky with the demons!"
The Woodcutter Sage frowned slightly and said, "I am thinking of the future. I knew you could escape, since both my disciples were with you, so I chose to save the demons. King Bound Sun has already turned from darkness to light..."
Qin Mu also frowned. He understood the Woodcutter Sage's thinking and knew it was a good idea, but the Woodcutter Sage hadn't considered the feelings of the people of Grand Emperor Heaven.
The humans of Grand Emperor Heaven had been fighting the demon invaders for nearly twenty thousand years. The hatred between them was beyond resolution. Even though the Woodcutter Sage had done much for Grand Emperor Heaven and was a heavenly master from the Kai Emperor era, he couldn't resolve this hatred.
Saving the demons was a betrayal of Grand Emperor Heaven!
Boom—
The sky above the Great Ruins suddenly shook violently, and an extremely bright light came from above. Qin Mu looked up and saw Grand Emperor Heaven falling.
The city was in chaos, with panicked people everywhere, crying and shouting. The Woodcutter Sage shouted, "Everyone, don't panic! This is the Kai Emperor's Heavenly Court—the fall of Grand Emperor Heaven won't cause any damage here!"
Qin Mu, the Village Chief, and the others also tried their best to calm the fleeing crowd. Grand Emperor Heaven grew larger and brighter until finally, this magnificent magma world descended from the sky and crashed into the Great Ruins.
In the Great Ruins, ancient statues suddenly emitted beams of light shooting straight into the sky. Ancient ruins radiated a tremor that made even gods and demons tremble. Divine light, like mist or rainbows, burst forth from every corner of the Great Ruins.
These ruins exuded unimaginable power and force. The closest to them was the Southern Heavenly Gate, from which came the faint murmurs of countless gods and demons. Though the sound was low, it seemed to contain incomprehensible energy, surging outward in waves.
The falling Grand Emperor Heaven met the various phenomena of the Great Ruins, slowing down more and more until finally, this magma world landed gently, wedged near the chasm at the source of the Surging River, running north-south along the Great Ruins.
In the sky, another heaven appeared—Floating Heaven—stuck in the center of Grand Emperor Heaven. The two heavens and the Great Ruins formed an irregular "earth" character.
The magnetic fields in the Great Ruins were chaotic. Many people and beasts were caught by the magnetic fields of Grand Emperor Heaven and Floating Heaven, flailing as they were pulled toward them. But then, from thousands of ruins in the Great Ruins, beams of light swept across, and the chaotic magnetic fields instantly returned to normal. Many people and beasts floated gently down from the sky.
The dazzling light swept over the scorching Grand Emperor Heaven and Floating Heaven, and the two heavens visibly cooled down. The unbearable heat in the air of the Great Ruins disappeared.
The Woodcutter Sage said to the crowd, "This is the Heavenly Court. The fall of Grand Emperor Heaven and Floating Heaven won't harm us! I predicted this long ago."
The people of Grand Emperor Heaven ignored him.
The Woodcutter Sage opened his mouth but didn't continue. He stood there silently.
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign came to his side and said calmly, "Heavenly Master, sometimes absolute rationality is beyond people's understanding."
The Woodcutter Sage's expression was complicated but quickly returned to normal. He looked the First Ancestor up and down and smiled, "Prince Qin Wu, you've finally grown up. I'm glad to see you've emerged from the shadow of being a deserter."
The First Ancestor Human Sovereign still carried a melancholic air and some illness, but his spirit was strong, a far cry from his former dejection. He said, "And what about you, Heavenly Master? Will being unforgiven by your people leave a shadow on you?"
The Woodcutter Sage said calmly, "Your cultivation may have reached the Heart Sage, but you will never reach the height of my state of mind. No one else's opinions can affect me."
—There were so many chapter comments that I, the pig, got tired from liking them all.