Chapter 792: Mysterious Black Jade
In the world of the Heavenly Poison Pearl, Mo Li stood with her back to him, her face cold. On the small bed beside her, Hong'er, having eaten her fill, was sleeping soundly.
A flash of purple light stood out conspicuously in this emerald-green world.
The four Netherworld Brahma Flower petals were intact, wrapped in a thin layer of green light, floating quietly. Even so, the purple light still shone brightly, but it did not stir Yun Che's soul in the slightest.
"It seems its soul-severing power is sealed by the Heavenly Poison Pearl," Yun Che said as he cautiously approached.
"Hmph, what does that have to do with the Heavenly Poison Pearl? Once the Netherworld Brahma Flower is plucked, its Netherworld power seals itself and will no longer leak out." Mo Li turned around but averted her face, refusing to look at him.
"Hmm?" Yun Che stared at Mo Li's small face, his expression full of suspicion. "Mo Li, your eyes seem a little strange. It's almost like you've been crying..."
"N-nonsense!" Mo Li reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Me, cry? That's a joke!"
"..." Mo Li's obviously unusual reaction made Yun Che's gaze full of doubt. He turned his attention back to the Netherworld Brahma Flower petals and said seriously, "Two Lord Xuan Beast's Xuan Dans, over seventy catties of Purple Vein Divine Crystals, and now the Netherworld Brahma Flower... Mo Li, everything you need is now gathered. Does that mean you can begin reshaping your body directly? Or are there still other conditions needed, like an environment, some external force...?"
"No need. With these things gathered, we can start directly." Mo Li shook her head, then gave Yun Che a deep, exasperated look. "Getting these four Netherworld Brahma Flower petals is far beyond my expectations, but you absolutely must not do the same thing again. Whatever, I know you won't listen anyway..."
"I'll start reshaping my body now." Mo Li's gaze became firm. "I can't go outside now, and the Heavenly Poison Pearl can contain soul bodies but cannot hold living beings. If I do it in here, there's a risk of some mutation. So the best choice—one could say the only choice—is the Primordial Mystic Ark."
"I thought the same thing." Yun Che nodded immediately.
"After I regain my body, the demonic qi of the Slay Moon Demon Cave won't harm me at all. As for that sealing barrier..." Mo Li showed contempt. "I can tear it open with a wave of my hand."
She glanced sideways. "You stayed behind despite the barrier's seal earlier because you thought that after I reshape my body, I could easily break the seal, right?"
"Exactly." Yun Che stared at the Netherworld Brahma Flower petals, touching his chin as if pondering something. "But before that... by the way, Mo Li, how long will the entire process of reshaping your body take?"
Mo Li sank into brief thought, then answered, "I know the method, but I've never tried it. According to records, combined with my power level, it shouldn't take too long. About a dozen hours or so. It might be longer or shorter, but it shouldn't deviate much."
"I see." This time was much shorter than Yun Che had expected. Indeed, things at Mo Li's level were beyond his understanding and measurement.
He silently calculated the time he had spent in the Slay Moon Demon Cave, then suddenly said, "Mo Li, your soul body state can't stay away from me for long. What about being in the Primordial Mystic Ark? After all, I can keep it inside my body."
Mo Li instantly understood what Yun Che meant and shook her head decisively. "Of course not. The Primordial Mystic Ark is a world of its own. If I'm in the Primordial Mystic Ark and you're not, even if the Primordial Mystic Ark is inside your body, it's still like a separation between two worlds. If too much time passes, before I can reshape my body, I'll have already scattered my soul."
"Could it be that you can't wait for me to reshape my body and want to leave the Slay Moon Demon Cave early?"
"Sort of." Yun Che nodded. "I've been here for three days. If my time calculation isn't too off, in about six or seven hours, the Demon Sword Assembly will begin. If I can get out now, I can still make it to the Demon Sword Assembly."
"Without a body, I can't appear in the Slay Moon Demon Cave. How will you get out?" As soon as she finished, Mo Li thought of something. "Are you trying to..."
"At least, I can try." Yun Che rubbed his hands together, looking quite expectant. "If it succeeds, great. If not, it doesn't matter much. My main purpose for coming to the Supreme Sea Palace has already been achieved. The Demon Sword Assembly isn't something I absolutely must attend."
Yun Che's consciousness left the Heavenly Poison Pearl. He opened his eyes, ignited the Golden Crow Flame, and walked slowly forward by the scorching firelight.
Bang.
A sound suddenly came from behind, like a stone or something falling. It was very faint, but in this absolutely quiet dark world, it was clear and distinct, causing Yun Che to stop instantly. His completely relaxed nerves tensed up like an electric shock.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang...
The sound of hard objects hitting the ground continued, growing faster and faster. Just as Yun Che turned around, a huge crashing sound suddenly rang out.
Boom!
"Don't be nervous," Mo Li said calmly. "It's the stone wall at the deepest part collapsing. When you killed Shiyue Mojun earlier, more than half of your power struck that stone wall. Although it didn't collapse at the time, it already had many cracks. I didn't expect it to collapse now."
"I see." Yun Che breathed a sigh of relief.
"Go take a look," Mo Li suddenly said. "That's the deepest stone wall in the Slay Moon Demon Cave. For it to collapse like this... it's very likely there's another space behind the stone wall!"
Yun Che followed her instructions and walked forward, his steps unusually careful and slow, while making the Golden Crow Flame burn more intensely, slightly enlarging his field of vision.
Crunch.
With a light sound, his foot stepped on a pile of loose, hard objects. Yun Che quickly looked down and found that he had stepped on a pile of black ash.
The remains of Shiyue Mojun's body burned by the Golden Crow Flame.
Part of it had turned to ash, while another part could not be burned to ashes even by the Golden Crow Flame, remaining as hard as rock.
Yun Che ignored it and continued forward. Soon, in the firelight, he saw a ground covered in black rubble.
Yun Che swung his arm and hurled the Golden Crow Flame in his hand straight ahead. The flame landed, spreading a larger firelight and revealing the full scene—the black stone wall that had been the end of the Slay Moon Demon Cave had collapsed more than half, with rubble everywhere.
Where it had collapsed, there was a black hole like an abyss!
The Golden Crow Flame he had thrown was right at the edge of the collapse, illuminating the outline of the "black hole" clearly. But inside the hole was a terrifying darkness, not a trace, not a speck, not a shred could be seen. The Golden Crow Flame light was right next to it, yet it could not shine in at all.
It was as if even the strongest light, upon touching the world behind that stone wall, would be instantly swallowed.
"There... there really seems to be another space behind that," Yun Che said in a low voice, then couldn't help holding his breath. He suddenly thought that he had managed to blast this wall open with one sword strike at his limit. With Shiyue Mojun's strength, it might take a bit longer, but he definitely had the power to break it open.
But before Yun Che broke it, this stone wall was clearly intact.
Could it be that for ten thousand years, Shiyue Mojun had never discovered that there was another world behind the stone wall?
Or did he know, but for some reason, he never broke it open?
Or perhaps this stone wall was built by Shiyue Mojun himself?
Great doubts and curiosity arose in Yun Che's heart. He lit another Golden Crow Flame in his hand, then stepped forward, intending to approach the "black hole" to investigate what kind of world lay behind the stone wall.
But before his stepping foot could land, Mo Li suddenly shouted in alarm, "Don't get close! Fall back immediately!"
Yun Che's whole body stiffened. He quickly turned and stepped back, retreating several paces.
"Mo Li, what's wrong? Is there danger inside?" Yun Che asked cautiously.
"Dangerous doesn't even begin to describe it!" Mo Li's voice was extremely heavy. "I finally know where the dark demonic qi here comes from!"
"From in there?" Yun Che's brow also furrowed.
"Exactly! Behind that stone wall! For something to release such high-level dark energy, the thing hidden inside must be terrifying beyond measure!" Mo Li's voice grew deeper. Whether it was an illusion or not, Yun Che felt that Mo Li's tone sounded as if she had been frightened. "And just now, when I probed my divine sense inside..."
Mo Li paused, then after a long while, she let out a faint breath and continued, "I can't describe what that feeling was. In any case, stay far away. Never, ever get close again!"
Yun Che acknowledged and continued to step back, but this time even his retreating steps were much lighter, as if afraid of disturbing the unknown, fearsome existence behind the stone wall.
He had risked his life several times for the Netherworld Brahma Flower, but that by no means meant he would recklessly take risks for mere curiosity that didn't matter.
After retreating seven or eight paces, Yun Che turned around—but just as he was halfway, a faint reflection flashed in the corner of his eye.
Hmm? Light?
How could there be a reflection here?
Yun Che hesitated, then suddenly quickened his pace forward.
"What are you doing?" Mo Li was shocked, thinking he was about to force his way into the world behind the stone wall.
At roughly the spot where the reflection had appeared, Yun Che stopped and slowly crouched down.
Before him was a pile of ash left from Shiyue Mojun's burning, and this pile had scattered due to his unintentional stepping. Beneath the scattered ashes, exposed an unusual pitch-black color, reflecting a strong light under the Golden Crow Flame's illumination.
Yun Che reached out, grabbed the reflective object, and pulled it directly out of the ash pile.
It was a perfectly round black jade disc, about the size of a palm. It was cold and heavy to the touch, completely black and flawless, extremely smooth, and identical on both sides, with no marks or patterns at all.
"What is that thing?" Mo Li asked in surprise.
"I don't know. I was about to ask you." Yun Che examined it repeatedly but found nothing unusual. And Mo Li's words indicated that even she had no idea what this was.
But one thing was certain: this must have belonged to Shiyue Mojun. Shiyue Mojun had been dormant here for ten thousand years and never discarded it, and apparently always carried it on him... Then it absolutely could not be just an ordinary black jade!
Even Shiyue Mojun's skin and flesh had been burned to ash by the Golden Crow Flame, yet it remained completely intact. That alone was enough to prove it was no ordinary object.
However, it had no patterns, no writing, not even a trace of power aura. Judging solely by its aura, it seemed like the most ordinary jade, inferior even to low-grade mystic jade.
"Mo Li, do you notice anything special about it?" Yun Che brought the black jade closer to his eyes, trying to discover something.
"Try infusing your profound energy into it," Mo Li suggested.
"Alright!"
Yun Che gathered his energy slightly and gently infused a stream of profound energy into the black jade. But immediately, his face showed deep astonishment. Then he flipped his palm and infused a stronger stream of profound energy, adding another layer of surprise to his expression.
"What's wrong?" His expression made Mo Li frown, and she quickly asked.
"It disappeared!" Yun Che looked at his palm in disbelief. The two streams of profound energy he had infused into this black jade were like clay oxen entering the sea, vanishing without a trace. Yet the black jade remained utterly devoid of any aura.
Those two streams of profound energy poured into it seemed to be completely devoured by an invisible abyss, forever lost between heaven and earth.
"Disappeared?" Mo Li's face showed the same astonishment as Yun Che's. She pondered briefly and said in a low voice, "Since it came from Shiyue Mojun, it is very likely something on the level of a demon... The mystery within it is not something ordinary power can penetrate."
"Don't bother with it for now. Put it away for the moment; maybe it will be useful in the future. For now, focus your attention on how to get out of here."