Chapter 684: Raising a Little Hell
The closer one gets to the truth, the greater the danger.
This Kaihuang divine being might have already uncovered the truth of the darkness, but he failed to bring the message out. Instead, he died before the Tianyin Boundary Stele, only to be awakened by Qin Mu’s arrival.
Qin Mu followed him onward. The lake beneath the bridge was increasingly resembling a vast ocean, with no land in sight.
Looking down from the bridge, Qin Mu could faintly make out large fish in the sea—pitch-black fish swimming through the waters. These fish were tearing at each other, madly devouring one another, yet they seemed perpetually unsatisfied, as if they could never eat their fill.
“These sea beasts are also starving spirits, endlessly eating but never consuming anything.”
At last, Qin Mu saw the end of this reclining wave bridge. Though the bridge ended, the sea stretched on without boundary. Suspended above the gray-black ocean was a massive, transparent hourglass, as if crafted from thin, fragile glass.
Inside the hourglass was black sand. The upper chamber was flowing downward, more than half already spent. The black sand was nearly gone, while the lower chamber was almost full.
From a distance, Qin Mu saw a small complex of palaces beside the hourglass. He called it small only in comparison to the hourglass itself. Estimating the distance and calculating the size, he realized this palace complex was over ten li in length and width—far from small. It resembled an island floating on the sea.
This palace complex was connected to the long bridge. Looking beyond the complex, Qin Mu spotted another reclining wave bridge, its destination unknown.
The Kaihuang divine being stopped and pointed toward the palace.
He was sealed by the Creation Demon Art, unable to speak or use his cultivation.
Qin Mu thought for a moment, then took out paper and brush. “Senior, if you have any insights, feel free to write them down.”
The Kaihuang divine being dipped the brush in ink and wrote rapidly on the paper. Qin Mu watched—the characters were vigorous and upright, like sturdy pine trees, full of strength.
“Is that a stronghold of the Nether Capital disciples in the Tianyin Realm?”
Qin Mu looked at the writing on the paper, surprised. “How many are there? What are their cultivations… There are Nether Capital deities? That complicates things… Are they dead or alive? They’re alive, huh…”
Qin Mu narrowed his eyes, pondering for a moment. “Whether dead or alive, they’re not hard to deal with. But the real problem is where they came from and how they entered the Tianyin Realm. Even if I kill all the Nether Capital experts in those palaces, more will flood in. I need to cut off the path from Nether Capital to the Tianyin Realm at its source…”
The Kaihuang divine being continued writing.
Qin Mu was startled. “Tianyin Empress? Why are you writing her name? Wasn’t she already devoured by the starving spirits… Wait! I understand what you mean!”
He looked up, continuing to study the palace complex beneath the hourglass from afar, and murmured, “You’re right. To solve this, we need Tianyin Empress. Senior, your idea is brilliant! Why couldn’t I come up with such a perfect plan? Senior, you must have been an exceptionally clever person in the Kaihuang Era!”
The Kaihuang divine being looked bewildered, holding the brush motionless, unsure what Qin Mu was talking about.
Qin Mu grew excited. “Even though Tianyin Empress was eaten, her skin should still remain, hidden somewhere. I’ve never done this before, and I don’t know if it will succeed…”
The Kaihuang divine being remained utterly confused. Clearly, what he intended to write had nothing to do with what Qin Mu was saying—Qin Mu had misunderstood.
Qin Mu patted him on the shoulder, smiling. “Senior, rest assured. I’ve fought with Nether Capital’s disciples before. Their divine arts are formidable but not invincible. I suspect that among the Nether Capital disciples here, few are true disciples of Nether King. I’m not afraid of Nether King’s disciples, let alone these. Your idea is excellent. This time, we might not only uncover the truth of the darkness but also eliminate the problem once and for all!”
The Kaihuang divine being grew even more confused, holding the brush, unsure whether to continue writing.
Qin Mu was full of confidence. He took out his sword pellet. The pellet floated before his chest. Qin Mu spread his five fingers wide, and the eight thousand swords within the pellet suddenly shot outward with a clang, like countless fine needles, each pointing toward the center, perfectly aligned.
One by one, the flying swords descended beneath the bridge and plunged into the sea.
Qin Mu walked forward, his voice low. “Senior, ahead lies the clash of blades. Though you have a divine skin, you have no cultivation or power to use. Leave this to me. Stay here and await good news. I’m going to raise a little hell before these Nether Capital gods and demons!”
The Kaihuang divine being grew even more bewildered. Suddenly, he snapped to awareness and quickly wrote a passage, intending to show it to Qin Mu. But Qin Mu had already walked far away.
The Kaihuang divine being stood there, holding the paper in confusion, at a loss. On the paper were the words “Lure Tianyin Empress to attack them,” which was a far cry from the brilliant plan Qin Mu had praised so highly.
Qin Mu peeled back the willow leaf on his brow and walked forward unhurriedly. Beneath the bridge, countless flying swords sped through the sea, advancing with him.
From his third eye, Qin Fengqing’s big eye peeked out, curiously looking around, fascinated by this dim world.
“So many tasty things…”
Qin Mu took the Divine Soul-Slaying Blade from his glutton sack, holding the box. His eyes flickered as he arrived at the main gate of the palace complex.
Two young attendants were chatting by the gate. One said, “This Tianyin Realm is so dark and dreary. Staying here for hundreds or thousands of years before a rotation is enough to bore a bird to death.”
The other laughed. “If you’re bored, you can go to the Pleasure Realm. There are all kinds of beauties there, letting you vent as you please, with excellent skills. Where in Nether Capital can you find such a place? If you’re still bored, you can kill some of these starving ghosts in the Tianyin Realm. There’s always a way to amuse yourself.”
“Senior brother speaks sense. Nether Capital doesn’t have such a colorful world. But staying in the Tianyin Realm too long, you never see a living person. Huh?”
The two gate attendants suddenly spotted Qin Mu. Their eyes widened in confusion.
At that moment, two flying swords rose from the sea, one on each side, piercing through their temples.
Before the two attendants could react, their primordial spirits were slain with a single strike.
Eight thousand flying swords slowly rose from the sea, silent, skimming the ground, surrounding Qin Mu as he entered the palace complex.
Behind him, a primordial spirit over ten zhang tall appeared silently, standing behind him, drifting forward as he moved.
Countless strands of energy flew from the primordial spirit, connecting to the eight thousand flying swords, controlling them with the spirit.
“Dong, dong, dong—”
The resonant sound of a bell rang out, and someone shouted, “Day has passed, the sun has set! Time to change the celestial hourglass!”
The last grain of black sand in the giant hourglass suspended above the palace complex fell. A host of gods and demons rose from the palaces, each exerting their power to rotate the hourglass.
Qin Mu looked up and opened the box. The Emperor’s Head inside excitedly vibrated its membranes, rustling.
Hum—
Two beams of blood light shot into the sky. Before the Nether Capital deities in midair could react, the blood light had already swept across their necks!
The blood light returned to the box, draining the life force from those Nether Capital deities. Not a single drop of blood splattered in the sky—only the corpses of gods and demons fell.
Before the corpses hit the ground, a clamor arose. Many Nether Capital disciples swarmed out from the palaces, shouting, “Who goes there?”
“Enemy attack!”
“Who dares to act recklessly on Nether Capital’s territory?”
Shua shua shua—
Countless sword lights erupted from the ground, forming an ocean of sword light. The Nether Capital disciples who rushed out stumbled and fell by the dozens, their legs severed at the ankles.
Those who fell had their brows pierced by streaks of sword light before their heads even hit the ground!
Even powerful opponents who saw the danger and dodged the sword light soon fell under the relentless, storm-like assault!
The air and ground were filled with flying swords like tiny silver fish. Each sword followed a different trajectory, executing a myriad of strange and varied techniques. The eighteen basic sword forms, under Qin Mu’s sword control, combined in countless ways.
Moreover, the eight thousand swords could grow or shrink, lengthen or shorten. Some swords even bent and deformed. Different swords could combine into other spirit weapon forms—tripods, furnaces, bells, pagodas, towers, blades, spears, axes, halberds—or even take the shapes of dragons and phoenixes!
These eight thousand swords gave the illusion of countless blades!
Even when opponents used the most outstanding Nether Capital divine arts, vanishing into the Nether Capital in an instant, they were still slain by Qin Mu’s sword light, which pursued them into that realm!
Qin Mu had already reached the Heavenly Man realm. At this stage, any cultivator undergoes a tremendous leap—a leap brought by the primordial spirit leaving the body.
Qin Mu’s primordial spirit had long been capable of leaving his body. His current mastery was beginning to approach the state of “form and spirit united.”
Form and spirit united required the primordial spirit to become tangible, solidifying like reality. Though he hadn’t achieved this, the strength and control of his primordial spirit far surpassed that of other Heavenly Man realm cultivators.
Qin Mu continued forward. The ten-zhang primordial spirit followed silently behind, controlling the eight thousand flying swords, cutting down enemies like grass.
“How dare you!”
A great hall exploded with a bang. A Nether Capital deity leaped out, only to have the small box in Qin Mu’s hand open as he jumped into the air. Two beams of blood light instantly reached the deity’s neck, gently snipping, severing head from body.
Qin Mu strode toward the central hall. Wherever he passed, gods, demons, and cultivators alike met their end. Those he could defeat, he killed with flying swords. Those he couldn’t, fell to the Divine Soul-Slaying Blade.
The Nether Capital disciples, chilled to the bone, retreated. Before the great hall, a hundred or so disciples had gathered, taking down a large bell hanging from the eaves.
“Use the Heaven’s Mourning Bell to blast him!”
The hundred or so disciples roared in unison. The great bell rose, its mouth facing Qin Mu. The bell was composed of eighteen rings linked together, each ring covered in complex patterns and textures, carved with Nether Capital runes.
As the Heaven’s Mourning Bell was activated, each ring rotated in different directions. The carved runes lit up. When the rings turned to different positions, fragments of runes between two rings combined to form new runes, each with different powers and might.
The rotating bell’s power was unleashed. The bell’s mouth trembled violently, and an invisible force surged toward Qin Mu!
—Wishing alliance leader Xiao Wu 945 a happy alliance leader day! Double monthly tickets are down to the last day and night. Calling for monthly tickets!