Chapter 690: The Yin Heavenly Emperor's Assault
The Kaihuang Divine Man grew somewhat anxious. He quickly tugged at Qin Mu, trying to pull him away from the Netherworld as fast as possible to avoid unnecessary disaster, but he couldn't budge him.
Qin Mu turned his head. In the distance, he could see the black sand of the Netherworld suddenly growing dense and violent. The air was filled with wildly surging black sand forming massive arcs of black airflow, thick as dragons, darting recklessly between heaven and earth!
However, the Netherworld was filled with such phenomena everywhere, making it impossible for his eyes to see very far.
"Milady, take care!"
Knowing he wasn't even qualified to watch the battle, Qin Mu immediately picked up the two glutton sacks and hugged the heavenly fire prism. Together with the Kaihuang Divine Man, he walked out of the Netherworld and into the long crevice in the mountain wall.
The Kaihuang Divine Man swayed unsteadily, drowsy and lethargic.
Qin Mu frowned. His primordial spirit emerged behind him, taking the glutton sacks and the heavenly fire prism. Meanwhile, he activated the Creation Demon Technique from the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra, using his vital energy as needles to tap rapidly on the Kaihuang Divine Man's body. He said in a deep voice, "The seal your teacher the Woodcutter left on you is too heavy. It suppresses your soul too harshly. He didn't expect you to be this weak. Let me loosen the seal a bit first!"
He worked quickly, and the Kaihuang Divine Man felt some relief. Just then, a very gentle voice came from the Netherworld: "Milady, long time no see."
Hearing this voice, Qin Mu's mind suddenly grew dizzy and hazy. He became alert: "The Yin Heavenly Emperor's voice carries a soul-confusing divine ability!"
He quickly pulled the Kaihuang Divine Man along the mountain crevice toward the exit, using the effort to stay awake. His primordial spirit followed closely behind them.
"Milady, your return from the dead is a cause for celebration. May I ask where the Daoist friend who revived you is?"
The Yin Heavenly Emperor's voice continued, gentle and delicate, carrying not only a soul-confusing divine ability but also a feeling that he was the most intimate and caring lover—though it was ineffective on men.
"This Daoist friend is truly remarkable, able to create a divine ability that can reunite shattered souls. Such a genius, unparalleled in talent, can call me a fellow Daoist. I naturally must personally visit and seek his guidance. Milady, why not introduce him?"
The Netherworld Lady's voice came: "That eminent person has already left. Yin Heavenly Emperor, you needn't waste your thoughts on him. It's been a long time since we last met; we should have a good chat."
Her voice suddenly snapped Qin Mu awake. He looked around and was horrified, breaking out in a cold sweat.
Ahead of him, the Netherworld Stele stood silently!
He thought he had been walking along the crevice toward the exit, but he had somehow returned to the Netherworld Stele!
Clearly, he had unknowingly fallen under the spell of the Yin Heavenly Emperor's voice.
He thought he was leaving, but the divine ability hidden in the Yin Heavenly Emperor's voice had robbed him of his perception of his surroundings, so much so that he didn't even know when he had turned around.
If not for the Netherworld Lady's voice breaking the Yin Heavenly Emperor's ability, he would have already returned to the Netherworld.
"This man's mastery over souls surpasses Lou Qianchong by a hundred thousand miles!"
Seizing the brief moment of clarity, Qin Mu immediately pulled the Kaihuang Divine Man and ran madly forward.
Behind him, the Yin Heavenly Emperor's voice came again: "We should indeed have a good chat. But this eminent person's on-the-spot creation of a soul-condensing divine ability has caused changes in the Dao of heaven and earth. One can't help but be curious."
Qin Mu's mind grew hazy again. He quickly stopped, not daring to take another step, afraid that moving would mean falling into the Yin Heavenly Emperor's trap.
The Netherworld Lady laughed: "Well said, well said. If the opportunity arises, I will naturally introduce him."
As her voice sounded, Qin Mu immediately seized the chance to sprint wildly. With a burst of effort, he dragged the Kaihuang Divine Man out of the mountain crevice. Light appeared ahead. Qin Mu leaped, lightly tapped the stone door at the crevice's entrance, twisted his body, and jumped off the cliff.
Behind him, the Kaihuang Divine Man was struck by the sunlight. Black smoke erupted from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, and he turned into a human skin. Qin Mu still held his hand tightly. One person and one skin drifted and fluttered, falling from the air.
Qin Mu's primordial spirit also rushed out of the crevice and drifted down with them.
Yan Jingjing, He Yiyi, and the others had been anxiously waiting outside the cliff for several days and nights. Taihuang Heaven had already been cleared by Yan Jingjing and He Yiyi, with roads laid out, but Qin Mu had yet to appear, making them somewhat worried.
Yan Jingjing said, "Fatty Dragon, are you sure you didn't see which crevice Brother Cowherd entered?"
Long Qilin shook his head: "I was dozing off. I just heard the Sect Leader's words and was about to open my eyes to see where he was, but I felt someone pressing on my eyelids, so I didn't open them..."
Just then, Qin Mu suddenly flew out of the cliff with someone, surprising and delighting them. Then they saw the person beside Qin Mu open his mouth and scream, black smoke shooting from his seven orifices as he turned into a human skin, startling everyone again.
Qin Mu landed, still holding the Kaihuang Divine Man's hand. He looked back, but saw no unusual movement from the crevice. He could no longer hear the voices of the Netherworld Lady and the Yin Heavenly Emperor, so he breathed a sigh of relief.
Yan Jingjing stared blankly at the Kaihuang Divine Man, who was limp and dragging on the ground in Qin Mu's grip. She trembled and asked, "Brother Cowherd, what's in your hand...?"
Qin Mu quickly laid the Kaihuang Divine Man flat on the ground, rolled him up swiftly like folding clothes, and said, "This is a divine man from the Kaihuang Era I met in the Netherworld. He was sent by Teacher Woodcutter to explore the source of darkness in the Netherworld. He has no physical body; his soul is sealed in this skin. I'll roll him up for now. He'll revive when night falls."
"The Netherworld? The source of darkness?"
Yan Jingjing and He Yiyi widened their eyes, completely clueless about what he was talking about.
Qin Mu took out a small rope, tied up the rolled Kaihuang Divine Man, and said, "Fatty Dragon, keep him safe. Fatty Dragon?"
Long Qilin had his head buried in a mountain stream, his rear end sticking out, trembling violently.
Qin Mu shook his head, strapped the Kaihuang Divine Man to his back, and asked, "Is the cave cleared?"
He Yiyi said, "With Sister Jingjing's help, Taihuang Heaven has been cleared. The cave is very large, big enough for even the Sun Ship to sail in, but we need to collect the sun first. This human skin..."
She too felt a chill.
Qin Mu laughed: "Don't be afraid. He's actually a very easygoing person, just like Grandpa Mute—they both talk a bit too much."
His primordial spirit stepped forward, set down the heavenly fire prism and the glutton sacks. Qin Mu immediately took out some Netherworld Gold and said, "It's just that his current state is a bit strange. Once I forge a container to store darkness for him, he'll become normal... Well, still very strange."
The two girls exchanged glances, looking confused.
A human skin that talks a bit too much?
Just like Grandpa Mute?
That was indeed very strange.
Qin Mu pulled a medium-sized smelting table from the glutton sack, placed the Netherworld Gold on it, stuffed the heavenly fire prism into the furnace, and carefully controlled his vital energy to activate it. Suddenly, a flash of fire melted the smelting table, evaporating it completely, leaving nothing behind.
Qin Mu stared wide-eyed, at a loss. The space in front of him was empty, and even the Netherworld Gold had been vaporized clean!
"Using this flame to clear a path would be extremely fast!" Yan Jingjing said delightedly.
He Yiyi's eyes filled with fear. She quickly shook her head and whispered, "If we're not careful, this fire could burn us to nothing too!"
Yan Jingjing looked puzzled and said, "Then just control the heat."
She said it as if controlling the heat should be simple.
Qin Mu's mind stirred, and he said, "Sister Jingjing, this is the heavenly fire from Xuan Du. You're better at controlling heat than I am. Give it a try."
Yan Jingjing stepped forward, using her vital energy to activate the heavenly fire prism. The flame seemed to come alive, stretching its body and splitting into various crystalline sparks, very serene.
Qin Mu carefully took out more Netherworld Gold, controlling sand-like divine gold particles and placing them on the flame. The Netherworld Gold slowly melted.
"See? Simple, right?" Yan Jingjing laughed.
Qin Mu was overjoyed and laughed: "Sister Jingjing's fire control is indeed superior. I'm far from your equal. From now on, you can join me in wandering the streets, sharpening knives and scissors for people, forging spoons and ladles, making hoes and shovels—you'd be a great hand at it!"
Using the melted Netherworld Gold, he crafted an exquisite hourglass, complete with time markings on it, and engraved many runic symbols onto it.
This hourglass was somewhat similar to the Yin Heavenly Emperor's celestial dipper, but merely an imitation.
The Yin Heavenly Emperor's cyclical system was quite complex, with soul black sand circulating between the Great Ruins, the Netherworld, and various celestial realms.
Qin Mu planned to use the hourglass made from Netherworld Gold to store some soul black sand, allowing it to flow back and forth between the Kaihuang Divine Man's body and the hourglass.
This would create a small cyclical system. As long as there was no error in the time markings, the Kaihuang Divine Man would switch between human skin and human form with the alternation of day and night.
Netherworld Gold was a divine metal from the Netherworld and one of the few things that could contain black sand, making it the best material for this purpose.
Then Qin Mu forged a small tray, inside which he used many gear components to mark precise time scales. These scales followed the sun's rising and setting, not ordinary time.
Moreover, each gear was engraved with runic symbols that would resonate with the Kaihuang Divine Man, maintaining the cyclical system.
This would form a miniature Netherworld circulation system.
After forging it, he placed the hourglass on the tray and kept refining both items smaller, until they were only two or three fingers high, extremely delicate.
Qin Mu then crafted a ring to hold the hourglass and tray in the middle, like a slightly larger pendant. All that was needed was a chain to hang it around the Kaihuang Divine Man's neck to maintain the system.
Once finished, he breathed a sigh of relief and stretched.
Yan Jingjing took the oddly shaped necklace and examined it. Besides its function, it was also aesthetically pleasing, making it hard to put down.
Qin Mu looked back at the cliff wall and thought to himself, "I wonder how the battle between the Yin Heavenly Emperor and the Netherworld Lady is going? If she can't keep him out of the Netherworld, she might still face death..."
In the Netherworld, above a vast sea, a majestic woman stood at the ocean's center, activating an immeasurably tall pagoda, locked in a cross-world battle with the Yin Heavenly Emperor.