Chapter 698: Endless Void (Please Subscribe!)
"Brother Qi, I said I would spare your life, so I won't truly kill you."
Both Qin Mus lowered their heads simultaneously, looking at Qi Jiuyi, who was struggling to get up and fight again, and said seriously, "The information you revealed is very useful to me, worth your life."
Qi Jiuyi still couldn't stand up. He struggled to sit upright, panting heavily, and said, "I originally used that news to try to shake your resolve, but I didn't expect it would save my own life instead..."
He felt a mix of amusement and frustration. Steadying himself, he continued, "After this battle, I will return to the Heavenly Court, train diligently, and seek guidance from the Throne Existence. Brother Qin, don't let me surpass you."
Qin Mu raised his head, his gaze distant, looking around with a puzzled expression, and said with a strange look, "Brother Qi, you probably won't be able to leave Yan Kang anytime soon. I might even be trapped here myself..."
Qi Jiuyi was momentarily stunned. When the ground had melted and they had fallen into the depths, he had noticed the strange nature of the underground space in the Divine Severing Mountain Range. But at the time, he was in the heat of battle with Qin Mu and had no time to examine it closely or divert his attention.
Only now, when Qin Mu indicated that he would keep his promise and not kill him, did he finally relax and look around.
The temple below was actually an altar, likely built by the demon race. It was covered in many demonic sacrificial runes, which had not been destroyed. There had once been a blood sacrifice here, but it seemed to have been interrupted by someone, leaving the altar stained with mottled bloodstains.
They were currently on the surface of a blade. This knife appeared to have no thickness at all, with a blade edge so long that the handle and tip were completely invisible.
What was even stranger was that the primordial spirits of both of them, including that of the Dragon Qilin who had just arrived, had now entered the seemingly thicknessless blade.
Yet inside the blade, there was a vast space, like another world!
Qi Jiuyi tried to retract his primordial spirit but found it separated from him by an entire world. Although he could sense it, he couldn't pull it back.
Cold sweat dripped from his forehead, and he said hoarsely, "Brother Qin, what is going on?"
Qin Mu didn't answer, his expression turning grave.
He had already witnessed the strangeness of this blade before. During the battle to block the Upper Firmament, the Divine Severing Mountain Range had been leveled, and the fighting was extremely brutal. The Village Chief had "died," the Willow Immortal, White Immortal, and Yellow Immortal among the Five Immortals of the Demon Clan had fallen, along with the Old Dao Master, the Old Tathagata, Lingjing Daoist, the Young Patriarch, Earth Traveler Peak, and Xuan Shengwu. Others were severely injured, and Medicine Master and the rest had also "died" on the battlefield, only to be revived later when Qin Mu retrieved their souls.
In that battle, the Upper Firmament was utterly defeated and could no longer contend with Yan Kang.
At that time, Butcher and the others had discovered this blade beneath the Divine Severing Mountain Range, along with the demon god stone statue under it. That statue was an incredibly fearsome demon god, an ancestor from a demon world. When descending to Yan Kang, it had carelessly slipped under the blade and ended up in a life-threatening situation.
The Yan Kang National Teacher had used the Zhen Tripod to collapse the barrier between Yan Kang and another world. That world was precisely the demon world of this demon ancestor. Many demon gods had descended as stone statues to the Divine Severing Mountain Range, searching for this blade to rescue their ancestor.
In the end, the demon race's blood sacrifice in that world was interrupted by Qin Mu using his Mirror Image, and the demon god statues failed to revive, burrowing into the ground and disappearing.
Qin Mu had once suspected that world was Luofu Heaven, but after seeing Luofu Heaven later, he realized his guess was wrong.
The world of the demon god statues was far more advanced than Luofu Heaven. It should have been a demon world under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Court. Luofu Heaven's strength was nowhere near that of that demon world.
As for this long blade, none of them had enough power to move it at the time. Moreover, it seemed more like a relic from the Kaihuang Era, used to block the darkness of the Great Ruins from invading Yan Kang, so no one had touched it.
Back then, Granny Si and the others, along with the Upper Firmament gods, had their primordial spirits fall into the blade's inner space because Fengdu happened to pass by. Then, their primordial spirits had dazedly flown out of the blade's space and returned to their bodies, saving their lives.
Qin Mu looked outward with his primordial spirit and could see his physical body. To rescue his primordial spirit, it would likely require Fengdu to pass by here again.
However, although he had visited the Fengdu world several times, he had only been to its first divine city. There were other divine cities in Fengdu that he had never visited, and the King Yan hadn't opened them either.
Fengdu still held many unresolved secrets.
The key now was how to leave the inner space of this blade.
The world inside the blade was vast and hazy, like two extremely bright mirrors suspended in the void, sandwiching them between two thicknessless mirrors with no end in sight.
Their physical bodies and primordial spirits faced each other across a mirror-like barrier. Although it seemed their primordial spirits were stepping on the soles of their physical bodies' feet, right next to them, they simply couldn't return.
"When will Fengdu pass by here again? Crystal Sister told me that last time, the Netherworld invaded, and King Yan led the Fengdu gods and demons to resist it, which brought them to the Divine Severing Mountain Range. But now, King Yan probably has no idea I'm trapped here..."
Qin Mu frowned. With his primordial spirit trapped here, he couldn't even use the Triple Primordial Spirit Convergence Technique to contact Si Yunxiang or Ling Yuxiu. Since they didn't know about this, they couldn't ask King Yan of Fengdu for help.
"No one would even know if we died in this blade's space..."
He steadied himself, took a step, and walked deeper into the blade's inner space.
Qi Jiuyi had recovered somewhat. His primordial spirit struggled to its feet and followed Qin Mu, with the Dragon Qilin quickly catching up.
Qin Mu carefully examined the mirror surfaces above and below him but couldn't detect any signs of forging. He, a master of forging, couldn't tell what material this blade was made from or what technique was used to craft it.
It was worth noting that the art of forging was dominated by Mute, and Qin Mu had studied under him, making him the second-best forger in the world. If even he couldn't see any traces, no one else could hope to figure it out.
Qi Jiuyi widened his eyes, suddenly manifesting nine heads to look around, then spat out phoenix fire to burn the mirror surfaces on both sides. But even the mirrors didn't turn red, let alone show signs of melting!
"Is this still the lower realm?"
Qi Jiuyi laughed in frustration: "Does the lower realm have something this powerful? Can the lower realm's... people have such forging skills?"
"Heavenly Court bumpkin, no experience." The Dragon Qilin shot him a glare.
Qi Jiuyi was furious. As the pride of the Heavenly Court and a disciple of two Throne Existences, he was being looked down upon by this creature.
Qin Mu also tried using his Heavenly Fire divine ability to melt the mirror surfaces, but like Qi Jiuyi, he got nowhere.
"Surely this world must have an end, right?"
They continued forward, but to their disappointment, no matter how far they walked, the two parallel mirrors stretched on endlessly, as if infinite.
They walked for what felt like an eternity, until despair crept into their hearts, and the Dragon Qilin refused to move anymore, just lying on the ground.
Qin Mu grabbed its tail and dragged it along as he continued. The mirror surface was slippery, so it didn't take much effort.
Qi Jiuyi followed behind the Dragon Qilin with a blank stare, watching the creature's big head and entire body pressed against the mirror, its eyes lifeless as Qin Mu dragged it by the tail.
"There can't be an end..."
Qi Jiuyi let out a bitter laugh and said, "We've been walking for two years, haven't we? And still no end! Even if this place were as small as a knife, two years should be enough to reach the end of the Heavenly Court, right?"
Qin Mu didn't answer, just kept walking in one direction.
"Two years... our physical bodies must be dead by now, right?"
Qi Jiuyi showed signs of breaking down, chuckling darkly: "By now, our bodies outside the blade must have rotted away. Flies are buzzing around us, maggots are gnawing at our flesh, and our bodies stink..."
"Shut up!" Qin Mu barked, his face dark.
The Dragon Qilin groggily opened its eyes and said weakly, "Shut up, nine-headed birdman..."
Qi Jiuyi was enraged and sneered, "You master and servant dare to bully me! Don't forget, you're just as dead as I am after two years! Hah, in this bizarre world, it doesn't matter if you're a noble of the Heavenly Court or a human emperor—everyone gets trapped here until their primordial spirit is ground to nothing! I shouldn't have listened to that old bastard Black Emperor and come to Yan Kang to bring down the tribulation! I shouldn't have come to this crappy place to capture you, you bastard! Damn Netherworld, damn Black Emperor..."
He cursed endlessly, his mind completely shattered.
Qin Mu was affected by his negativity and felt his own sanity slipping. A vicious thought crossed his mind: "I should just kill this blabbering Qi Jiuyi..."
Just then, the two mirror layers ahead suddenly broke off.
Qin Mu froze, then stopped abruptly, staring blankly at the broken mirrors. Where they ended was a dark space, with no sky above or ground below. A series of white jade slabs were laid out neatly in the darkness, stretching far into the depths, with no visible destination.
"A path!"
Qin Mu wept with joy. He swung the Dragon Qilin and slammed it hard against the ground, then picked it up and slammed it again, laughing: "Dragon Fatty, wake up! There's a path!"
The Dragon Qilin was dazed from the beating and quickly said, "I'm awake, I'm awake!"
Qin Mu tossed it aside and looked at Qi Jiuyi, who grew wary: "Happy as you are, don't try to slam me!"
The Dragon Qilin got up, shook itself off, looked at the path paved with white jade slabs, and said joyfully, "Chief, can we finally get out?"
The two of them and the beast were overjoyed. They sprinted wildly, leaped onto the slabs, and bounded forward into the darkness.
Three months later, Qin Mu's eyes were vacant as he dragged the Dragon Qilin, leaping weakly onto the next slab.
Qi Jiuyi jumped after them, then collapsed onto the Dragon Qilin's head, limp.
Qin Mu grabbed the Dragon Qilin's tail and hurled it forward, sending it and Qi Jiuyi together onto the next slab.
He leaped over, grabbed Qi Jiuyi by the collar, and raised his fist to punch him. Qi Jiuyi didn't resist, letting the blows land on his handsome face, and said weakly, "Go ahead, hit me all you want. Just kill me..."
Qin Mu punched him a couple of times but lost interest, tossing him aside. Qi Jiuyi lay sprawled on the slab.
The Dragon Qilin groggily sat up, plopping down on top of him, opened its eyes, and licked its lips: "Red Fire Spirit Pills taste the best. I had a dream where the Chief made me tons of Red Fire Spirit Pills, filling an entire world with them. I ran and ran, but no matter how far I went, there was no end. I rolled around in a sea of pills, frolicked, tiptoed, and swam in that ocean... Chief, there's a door ahead..."
Qin Mu looked and burst into tears of joy, laughing: "Brother Qi, there's a door, there's a door!"
Qi Jiuyi was pinned under the Dragon Qilin, with only half a leg sticking out. He kicked weakly, trying to crawl out but failing, and muttered, "The Dao Sect's door got trapped in here too? They can't get out either... Don't bother me..."
Qin Mu was ecstatic. He sprinted toward that door, and the Dragon Qilin scrambled to its feet, running while crying.
Qi Jiuyi sat up, his neck feathers crushed and crooked, and said weakly, "Is it Lin Xuan, the Dao Sect leader? That little brat... Huh, there really is a door!"
Qi Jiuyi wept with joy, his face blooming like a flower. He danced and hopped toward that door.
He had just reached the last slab in front of the door when Qin Mu charged through first, followed by the Dragon Qilin, which kicked the door shut with a bang, leaving Qi Jiuyi outside.
Qi Jiuyi was furious. He quickly opened the door and rushed in, only to find a long corridor lined with doors on both sides.
Qi Jiuyi collapsed, lying on the ground and grabbing the Dragon Qilin's tail to let it drag him along: "So many doors... How long will this take? By the time we get out, our bodies will have been dead for who knows how long..."
Just then, one of the doors creaked open, and a head poked out: "Who are you? Why are you here?"
The Dragon Qilin kicked its leg, sending Qi Jiuyi slamming into the wall, and curiously looked at the person.
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