Chapter 944: Cold Night, Blood Rain
In the darkness outside the city, deafening roars grew louder and louder, and massive monsters emerged from the shadows.
The people within the city tensed up. These monsters seemed like demons born from nightmares, the ugliest and most vicious things imaginable. Some were humanoid figures covered in tentacles, others had bodies crawling with eyes, some resembled flowers made of flesh, and others were grotesque hybrids of plants and humans.
But emerging from behind them were ancient gods with bird heads and human bodies, ox heads and human bodies, beast heads and human bodies, along with massive evil dragons, multi-headed serpents, and bloated giants.
There were also bizarrely modified creatures—giants with arms shaped like sharp drills, others with blades and swords sprouting from various parts of their bodies, walking siege engines.
Toot toot—
A massive ship made of flesh belched thick smoke, its deck covered in long arms, its hull lined with countless legs. The ship was also filled with half-bodied humans beating drums, clanging gongs, and playing instruments.
The flesh ship danced and swayed to the music, its bow opening into a gaping maw lined with rows of steel-like teeth, opening and closing joyfully as it advanced toward this city of the Creator.
The moon emerged in the sky, casting down its light.
Strange laughter came from above. Qin Mu looked up and saw that the moon actually bore a human face, emitting eerie laughter.
Not only that, but the moon had also grown arms, pulling out a flute from somewhere—a flute carved from the leg bone of a Creator. The face in the moon placed it to its lips and played a cheerful tune!
Qin Mu averted his gaze. This night in the Land of Illusory Void felt like a bizarre dream, giving everything a sense of absurdity and strangeness.
Whoosh—
A massive creature descended from the sky, landing on the city wall. It was a giant bird covered in human faces, its wings made of white bones, collapsing half the watchtower.
The faces on the bird stared excitedly at the few people left in the city, making strange, eerie sounds.
The bones forming the bird's wings were hollow. Suddenly, all the bones expelled streams of air and flames, producing sharp, piercing whistles. The air and fire launched the strange bird into the air!
Amid the whistling, the nightmare monsters outside the city began to move, rumbling as they charged toward the city of the Creator!
"Heavens…"
A female True God trembled, staring blankly at the scene. "What kind of world is this?"
This was a world created by the Creators of the Illusory Void.
This world was formed from divine consciousness. The Creators used their consciousness to envision the entire world, creating all things and building civilization. But because of an invasion by external enemies, one of the worlds was damaged, giving rise to the Illusory Void's inner demons.
Although the Land of Illusory Void remained intact, it had no Netherworld, no place for the dead to go. This led to another consequence.
The dead had nowhere to go, so they wandered the Illusory Void, merging with the divine consciousness of the Creators, giving birth to lifeforms unlike anything in the mortal world.
These Illusory Void monsters were formed not only from dead Creators but also from the gods and demons of the Heavenly Court who had died in the Illusory Void.
Boom!
A violent tremor shook the ground as the Illusory Void monsters outside slammed into the city walls. The seemingly indestructible walls of the Creator's city shuddered, cracks appearing like shocking wounds.
But since the city was a creation of the Creators' divine consciousness, the cracks quickly repaired themselves, allowing the people inside to breathe a sigh of relief.
Boom! Another impact followed, dull yet immense, one after another. The mirror-like walls couldn't repair themselves fast enough. Suddenly, the southern gate collapsed, and the Illusory Void monsters outside poured into the city like a tidal wave!
"Prepare to fight!" someone shouted.
At that moment, the northern gate also collapsed, followed by the eastern and western gates. All were flattened by the Illusory Void monsters. The massive creatures rampaged through the city, which now belonged only to them, toppling buildings wherever they went!
Thousands of Illusory Void monsters surged like a flood. The people stood on high ground, their hearts turning cold.
On an arrow tower, a woman screamed, leaped into the air, and tried to escape the nightmare city from above.
But as she flew into the sky, the human-faced moon let out a piercing shriek, and a white-boned, human-faced strange bird flapped its wings and charged at her.
Countless more strange birds flew out of the human-faced moon, forming a dark, oppressive cloud. The moonlight itself turned eerie, blood-red, like a bleeding human face.
The tune played by the human-faced moon became exceptionally cheerful, almost playful.
The melody descended from the sky, and the Illusory Void monsters below grew wildly excited.
Soon, the woman who had flown into the sky was torn apart by the flock of birds. Blood fell from above, first as a light drizzle, then as a torrential downpour.
Blood rain poured from the sky—the moon was bleeding. The heavens looked like a painting stained red, with blood flooding everywhere!
The strange birds in the sky dove downward, while the crowded horde of monsters quickly reached Qin Mu and the others, engulfing them!
At that moment, no one cared about past grudges or obeying their masters' orders to kill the Heavenly Venerable Mu. Their only thought was to survive!
Qin Mu immediately activated the Gate of Bearing Heaven, but his heart sank as he realized it wouldn't open.
Since these monsters were formed from the vengeful souls of those who died in the Illusory Void, techniques targeting souls would be most effective. But the Illusory Void and the Netherworld existed in different time-spaces, so the gate couldn't be opened.
"If I could open the Gate of Bearing Heaven, breaking out would be easy. What a pity."
He activated his Netherworld techniques, combining his vital energy with divine consciousness to envision a white banner. He swung it forcefully at an ancient god-shaped monster charging at him!
"But even though I'm not my brother, in this world, fewer than five people surpass me in Netherworld techniques!"
The soul of the monster was immediately pulled out and trapped in the white banner. The banner, which had been blank, now bore the image of a man.
The man was dazed, his face twisted, struggling to escape the banner. Though the banner was made of vital energy and divine consciousness and was very thin, it seemed to contain an inner space.
The man's twisted face stretched out from the banner, deforming the space inside.
Qin Mu thrust the banner into the ground, a low growl rumbling from his throat: "Where my body stands, there is the Netherworld!"
Boom—
His vital energy exploded, turning into rolling Netherworld demonic energy that swept across the surrounding hundred acres, transforming it into a dark world.
In his Spiritual Embryo Divine Treasury, his Spiritual Embryo Primordial Spirit stomped heavily, causing the Tai Chi beneath its feet to churn. Heaven and earth spun, the sky below and the earth above, while the ground became the Netherworld!
Qin Mu merged his body with his Primordial Spirit, transforming into the three-eyed Earth Lord form. His body swelled to about a hundred zhang, towering like a mountain, not much smaller than the monsters.
He wielded a flaming whip, cracking it out to coil around the neck of a charging monster. With a flick, the monster's soul flew out, caught by the whip.
The whip retracted and struck the white banner, adding another twisted-faced soul to it.
Qin Mu's third eye opened, shooting a pillar of fire that struck another Illusory Void monster, burning its soul to ashes.
A monster charged at him from behind. Qin Mu kicked out with his hoof, striking the monster's forehead. Netherworld demonic fire blazed from his sole, incinerating the monster's soul.
Another monster rushed at his back, but Qin Mu's tail coiled around its throat, lifting it into the air, flipping it upside down, and slamming it hard into the ground.
The monster, dazed, tried to get up, but Qin Mu's other hoof came down on its head.
The monster's head burst with a crack.
Strange birds swooped down from the sky, claws extended. Before they could land, Qin Mu's two Earth Lord horns blazed with light, forming two winding Yellow Springs that locked onto the birds, burning them into flaming birds that shrieked in agony.
Suddenly, a monster slammed into him hard. Qin Mu's chest crackled as countless bones broke. He tumbled and rolled, crashing through a palace, then another Creator's palace, knocking down massive pillars before finally stopping.
His Earth Lord form shattered, and he immediately reverted to his true body, rapidly activating the Flawless Creation Mysterious Sutra to repair his injuries.
A thunderous roar came from ahead. The monster that had knocked him away crushed two more halls as it followed his trail, about to ram him again. But Qin Mu suddenly melted into the ground, turning into a black shadow that slithered away swiftly.
The monster paused, then chased after his shadow madly.
Luo Wushuang was using his vital energy as a blade to kill monsters, but he was struggling. Glancing around, he saw that everyone in the city was in danger, with some dead and others injured.
Even the disciples of Heavenly Venerables, True Gods who had comprehended the Lesser Heavenly Court technique, couldn't withstand this assault.
Another scream rang out as a True God was torn to pieces!
After the True God died, his soul drifted. In the next moment, flesh rapidly grew around the soul, quickly forming another Illusory Void monster that attacked others without mercy!
Luo Wushuang also noticed that even when they shattered or burned the monsters to ashes, they would immediately regenerate their bodies and continue fighting.
Only by destroying their souls completely could they be killed for good.
But with such a dense swarm of monsters, it was nearly impossible to shatter their souls. There were too many monsters and too many attacks—there was no opportunity!
"It seems I have no choice but to pull out the Wooden Core, even if it means destroying my Heavenly Palace and scattering my soul!"
Luo Wushuang gritted his teeth, about to pull the Wooden Core from his brow. Suddenly, a black shadow slithered to his feet.
The shadow stood upright, shook itself, and took the form of Qin Mu. He reached out and pulled the Wooden Core from Luo Wushuang's brow, shaking it. The Wooden Core instantly expanded.
A staff about a zhang long appeared in Qin Mu's hand. He blew on it: "Grow!"
The staff hit the ground and swelled!
Boom!
Luo Wushuang heard a thunderous roar as Qin Mu grabbed him and leaped. Looking down, he saw a horrifying sight.
The Wooden Core had become an enormous pillar, stretching from one end of the Creator's city to the other, eight hundred li long.
The pillar lay across the city center, a thousand zhang in diameter, crushing countless monsters into pulp!
The Creator's palaces and buildings in its path were also flattened!
As they descended, countless strange birds swooped down again, their hollow bones spewing flames at high speed.
Qin Mu led Luo Wushuang down. The Wooden Core shrank rapidly, turning into a wooden needle in Qin Mu's hand.
Qin Mu casually inserted the Wooden Core back into Luo Wushuang's brow. The needle pierced through his Heavenly Palace, continuing to channel medicinal power to heal its damage.
Luo Wushuang grunted. He hadn't been afraid when the Wooden Core was in his brow before, but now, seeing its power as a tiny needle, he felt a chill of fear: "Aren't you worried that a slip might crush my Heavenly Palace…"
The two ran along the path cleared by the Wooden Core, trying to escape the city. But the monsters that had been crushed were already regenerating their flesh and getting back up.
Not only that, but the palaces and buildings flattened by the Wooden Core also rapidly restored themselves, blocking their way.
Qin Mu frowned, reached out, and pulled the Wooden Core from Luo Wushuang's brow again.
Luo Wushuang was numb by now. He followed Qin Mu as they leaped.
Boom.
The Wooden Core struck again, crushing the resurrected monsters once more.
They landed, and Qin Mu put the Wooden Core back into Luo Wushuang's brow.