Chapter 680: The Source of Darkness
Qin Mu gave him half a bucket of spirit pills, filling a washbasin to the brim, and said to Yan Jingjing, "He's timid, but when it comes to food, he fears nothing in heaven or on earth."
Yan Jingjing suddenly understood and laughed, "Fatty Dragon has quite a bit of strength. I used all my power just now and couldn't pull him out of the ground. What were you looking at just now? It was quite frightening!"
Qin Mu handed her the Book of Life and Death and said, "It's a Netherworld divine ability left for me by the Prefect. I was so absorbed in it I lost track of everything."
Yan Jingjing sat down and carefully examined the runes on the book, only to find them far too complex for her to understand at all.
Qin Mu sat beside her and guided her, saying, "These are Netherworld characters. Netherworld script is different from the script of the mortal world. To mortals, Netherworld writing is what's commonly called ghostly scrawls. However, Netherworld script is extremely ancient, hiding unfathomable divine abilities and Dao techniques within its characters. It is the vessel of the Netherworld's Great Dao."
Yan Jingjing listened in a daze, but since he was sitting beside her, she was quite happy, and she couldn't care less about what the characters on the book actually said.
Qin Mu continued, "Writing is information, carrying Dao techniques. If you understand the script of any civilization, it's not hard to grasp that civilization's Dao techniques. The Prefect didn't want to teach me this divine ability, afraid I'd spread it everywhere. But if he thought he could hide it from me, he underestimated me far too much."
Yan Jingjing placed the Book of Life and Death on her lap, smoothed the hair at her temples with both hands, and asked in confusion, "This divine ability is so complex. How can one possibly learn its principles from it?"
Qin Mu smiled and said, "I understand the Netherworld language. The secrets of the runes on this book are no challenge for me. The difficulty lies in the changes in texture and the overlapping structural transformations. The things involved there are beyond my knowledge. I haven't studied Netherworld divine abilities deeply. Fortunately, I know many talented people. I can invite them to study it together, and we'll surely unlock the secrets of this divine ability!"
The Old Fisherman stood up, packed away his little stool, and walked over, saying, "Let me have a look."
Yan Jingjing quickly rose and handed him the Book of Life and Death. The Old Fisherman flipped through it, felt dizzy and confused, shook his head, and said, "I can't understand it. Maybe the Woodcutter could understand it. He knows a lot of things."
Qin Mu looked toward the Moon Well and saw many small moons tied beside it, emitting a bright, pure light. The Old Fisherman had managed to fish out so many moons in such a short time—his skill was truly extraordinary.
The Old Fisherman packed away his fishing rod and line, and the two little red fish jumped back into his creel.
The Old Fisherman waved his hand and said, "The sun and moon have been fished out. I should be leaving now. Will you return with me on the Red Kun, or take the path through the Moon Well?"
Qin Mu discussed it with Yan Jingjing and said, "The Fisherman Heavenly Master is staring at the eye on my forehead. I'm worried he might not be able to resist opening it and fishing out my brother. So, we'll enter the Starry Sea through the Moon Well and return that way. It's a shorter route."
The Old Fisherman waved his hand, turned around, and walked away with his creel on his back.
"Make sure you two get along harmoniously!" The two little red fish poked their heads out and waved their fins at them.
Qin Mu and Yan Jingjing's faces flushed slightly, and the atmosphere grew a bit awkward. Dragon Qilin was licking the basin, making a scraping sound that broke the brief silence.
Dragon Qilin finished licking the basin clean, rolled his tongue, and the washbasin disappeared somewhere he had hidden it.
He always valued his food bowl more than anything else.
"Jumping into the Moon Well will bring us to the Starry Sea. The Starry Sea is very peculiar and can quickly take us to the Sun Well."
Yan Jingjing said, "This way, we can save half a month's journey."
Qin Mu was very curious about the Starry Sea and asked, "Do you know the origin of the Starry Sea?"
Yan Jingjing said, "The clan elder doesn't know much about it either. He only heard that the Starry Sea is an unfinished treasure, forged by the experts of the Kaihuang Era. They hadn't finished forging it when they moved to Carefree Village."
They stood on Dragon Qilin's back, and Dragon Qilin dove into the Moon Well. The light grew increasingly intense, and soon they arrived at a vast underground world.
Qin Mu said, "An unfinished treasure? But I clearly saw many divine weapons flying among the stars. How can it be a treasure?"
He had once seen a terrifying sword pellet in the underground Starry Sea, bursting forth with multicolored flying swords that could be released and retrieved at will, incredibly powerful.
Suddenly, both of them stared in shock. A heavenly chasm ran north-south, cutting across the underground Starry Sea, standing right between the Sun Well and the Moon Well!
Countless stars in the Starry Sea formed a river of stars, crashing into each other, bombarding the underground heavenly chasm until it constantly shattered. The star river had even punched holes through the chasm!
The star river was still revolving around the two wells, but the stars in the river were no longer stars—they were treasures radiating divine might, flying at insane speeds, with the sound of whooshing air constantly ringing out.
That heavenly chasm should be the part of the Grand Emperor Heaven that had crashed into the depths of the Great Ruins. It had been pierced through by the "stars" of the Starry Sea, which were not real stars but fully formed treasures.
These treasures flew at astonishing speeds on their own, occasionally unleashing their divine might with terrifying force. The giant sword pellet Qin Mu had seen here last time was among them.
That sword pellet flew at an incredible speed, constantly emitting multicolored flying swords around it, like a rapidly moving star with glowing edges!
The power of other treasures also erupted from time to time, their forces colliding with each other, as if using each other's power to temper themselves!
"My heavens..."
Qin Mu stared blankly at this horrifying scene before him and murmured, "This really is treasure forging. I just don't know what kind of treasure is being made. If it's completed, it will probably be many times more terrifying than the Crimson Bright Town Heaven Tower..."
Yan Jingjing said, "We can't get through anymore. Walking through here, one wrong move and we'll die without a burial place."
Qin Mu nodded. This scene was too terrifying. Even the Grand Emperor Heaven had been easily pierced through. If they barged in, they would likely be shattered into nothing by these treasures!
"Who forged these treasures? They look like they're almost mature..."
He was puzzled and instructed Dragon Qilin to exit the Moon Well, thinking to himself, "Strange. There seem to be many strange treasures buried deep beneath the Great Ruins. Under the Divine Severance Mountain Range, there's a massive divine blade buried, spanning no less than a hundred thousand miles north to south. And here, there's this terrifying star river, full of divine weapons..."
The Starry Sea should have been left by the experts of the Kaihuang Era. Otherwise, the Ziqing Deity wouldn't have planted the Sun Well and Moon Well here. But if the treasures in the Starry Sea were almost mature, why hadn't anyone come to collect them?
"If we go around the Grand Emperor Heaven and the Luofu Heaven, it will take nearly a month to reach the Sun Well."
Dragon Qilin carried them out of the Moon Well and flew toward a distant cliff.
It was still daytime, and no light came from the cliff. Light would only appear at night.
This cliff originally had two paths for passage—flying bridges that sloped from the top of the cliff all the way down to the bottom, allowing people and horses to cross. But when the Great Red Kun brought Qin Mu here, both bridges had been broken by the Grand Emperor Heaven. Now, however, both bridges had been repaired!
Qin Mu was surprised and had Dragon Qilin slow down. He saw a large hole on the back side of the Grand Emperor Heaven, with many girls busy outside repairing the bridge foundations.
Inside the hole, countless square boulders had grown legs and were walking out in an orderly manner.
Yan Jingjing had never seen such a strange thing and was amazed. Qin Mu laughed and said, "This is a Western Earth divine ability. I know who's trying to dig a tunnel through the Grand Emperor Heaven."
He had Dragon Qilin land. The female divine ability practitioners saw him coming and were both surprised and delighted. They called into the cave, "Head of the house, the son-in-law is here!"
Qin Mu's face flushed, and he explained to Yan Jingjing, "The person inside must be Formation Master He Yiyi, one of the Three Masters of Western Earth. She's an incredibly powerful woman, unmatched in formations... well, third best in formations in the world. They're just joking. I'm not the He family's son-in-law. It's a custom of visiting relatives. I didn't go to visit relatives; I went to Western Earth to help Nai Kui reclaim her position..."
Just then, a fragrant breeze swept over, and a woman flew like the wind and threw herself into Qin Mu's arms, laughing, "My sweetheart is here!"
Qin Mu was at a loss, cold sweat dripping from his forehead.
Qiao Yiyi let him go and laughed, "Look how scared you are. Young lady, he's not my sweetheart. Don't worry."
Yan Jingjing looked serious and said nothing, just stared at her.
Qin Mu smiled and said, "You startled me. Sister Yiyi, is your He family under orders to dig the tunnel through the Grand Emperor Heaven?"
"The emperor issued a decree for our Western Earth He family to first repair the roads and dig the tunnel, connecting the Eastern and Western Earths."
He Yiyi smoothed her hair, wiped away her sweat, and said, "The emperor bestowed upon us the Black Tortoise Pearl. Our He family's experts have all been mobilized. Using the power of the Black Tortoise Pearl, we enter the Grand Emperor Heaven, cut the mountain stones, make them walk out on their own, and then have them repair the bridges. Look at those bridge piers over there. Without the Black Tortoise Pearl, I wouldn't have such immense power and perception."
Qin Mu looked back and couldn't help but admire it. The piers beneath the two flying bridges were actually giant mountain beings, supporting the bridges on their shoulders.
The mountain beings varied in height, holding up the flying bridges with their shoulders so that the bridge surface could be laid smoothly. The tallest mountain being was probably several thousand zhang tall!
Qin Mu praised, "Compared to the clan-guarding treasures of the Western Earth aristocratic families, this is no less impressive."
Suddenly, a woman called out loudly, "Formation Master, it's getting dark. Let's go to the nearest village to take shelter!"
Yan Jingjing suddenly said, "No need. With me here, you don't have to worry about the darkness invading."
He Yiyi was startled and gave her a deep look. Not long after, the sun set. Qin Mu immediately looked toward the cliff wall and saw darkness gushing out from the cracks in the cliff, like a torrential flood, engulfing them in an instant!
The darkness invaded. This darkness, upon encountering the Grand Emperor Heaven, seemed as if the Grand Emperor Heaven didn't exist, passing right through it and quickly sweeping across the Great Ruins.
Everyone gathered around Yan Jingjing. The girl was now like a small sun, emitting a rich divine light that blocked the darkness. No matter how the darkness surged, she stood firm and unmoved.
Yan Jingjing shot a defiant look at He Yiyi. He Yiyi smiled slightly but felt a chill inside: "This woman is a deity and so possessive. It won't be easy to get close to him anymore."
Qin Mu stared intently at the cliff wall. The darkness from the wall had completely poured out, and suddenly, streaks of light came through, shining on the back of the Grand Emperor Heaven.
This light came from the various cracks in the cliff wall!
"Just as I guessed. The darkness comes from these hidden heavens! When it's night in the Great Ruins, those heavens are in daytime. When it's daytime in the Great Ruins, the heavens in the cliffs are at night. It's like an hourglass."
Qin Mu narrowed his eyes. At the source of the Yong River, on the cliff wall, many cracks were emitting light. This showed that the number of hidden heavens inside this cliff was definitely not small!
"That Lou Qianchong who died at my hands said that the darkness of the Great Ruins was arranged by his master, the Netherworld Black Emperor. Although the darkness alternates at the cliff, what exactly is the darkness?"
He hesitated. To this day, he still didn't know what the darkness of the Great Ruins really was. It certainly wasn't ordinary darkness; it had to be some kind of strange substance.
Moreover, when the darkness invaded, strange demons and monsters would wander within it, devouring any life that dared to step into the darkness.
And when day came, the monsters and darkness would disappear together.
So where did these monsters come from?
Furthermore, after the darkness fell, extremely terrifying demon gods would roam in the darkness. When Qin Mu rescued Yu Zhaoging and the others of the Tianyu Clan at the Sun Well, he saw monsters crawling out from another time-space. This showed that there were many such entrances in the Great Ruins!
The place with the most entrances was here, at the cliff at the source of the Yong River.
"Among these lights, there should be one that is the true source of the darkness! That source of darkness must not emit light; it must be dark inside. The simplest way to find this source..."
Qin Mu quickly took out paper, drew the outline of the cliff from memory, and marked the position of every glowing point, thinking to himself, "After dawn, I'll compare my drawing of the glowing points with the cracks on the cliff. The cracks that didn't glow tonight will be the source of the darkness!"
——The previous chapter already has 981 likes, not yet a thousand likes!