# 1700
Chapter 1693: Heavenly Court and the Dead Star
The surging spiritual power gradually subsided as Huo Qubing slowly opened his eyes.
"Marquis! You're awake?" Zhan Yuwu exclaimed joyfully. "How do you feel?"
Huo Qubing rose from the ground, gently brushing dust from his robes with a flick of his sleeve. The hem of his marquis attire settled as he stood tall and straight like a pine tree in the mountains.
"Much better." Huo Qubing lowered his gaze to his palm, his eyes bright and brilliant.
"Where's Lin Qiye?"
"He went to find the Queen Mother of the West... Oh, isn't that him coming back?"
Everyone turned to look. Lin Qiye was walking toward them from a distance, a hardwood bow strapped across his back.
"The Marquis is awake?" Lin Qiye raised an eyebrow. "Good. It's time for us to move."
"Going to find Heavenly Court?"
"We can't find Heavenly Court, but Kusuen's true form must be killed. It took that thing's offspring several days to reach the outskirts of Chang'an City, which means the true form moves slowly. It shouldn't have left the Kunlun Mountains yet."
Everyone nodded and immediately headed toward the exit of the Jade Pool.
"Jialan, Her Majesty asked me to give this to you." Lin Qiye removed the hardwood bow from his back and handed it to Jialan.
Jialan, who had好不容易止住眼泪, seeing this bow, immediately reddened again. She embraced the hardwood bow, her fingertips gently stroking its surface.
"This was the bow Her Majesty made for me from an evergreen branch when I was newly born... It never rots or decays." Jialan said softly. "Though this bow doesn't decay, it's not very sturdy, so later when we practiced archery, we never used this bow. I didn't expect Her Majesty to have kept it all this time."
"You've taken the Pill of Immortality, your lifespan is endless. Her Majesty giving you this bow that also never decays over a thousand years is perhaps her way of hoping to always be by your side."
Lin Qiye naturally recognized this bow. When he first released Jialan from the Netherworld, this bow had been by her side... Unfortunately, it had finally broken during battle.
Jialan held the bow as if it were a priceless treasure, then turned to take one last look at the lifeless Jade Pool before turning and walking out.
Just as Lin Qiye was about to leave, he seemed to think of something, casually picked up a willow branch corpse, and followed behind.
Through the endless snow, several figures flickered out of the void one after another.
"Where should we go next?" Chloe asked.
Lin Qiye raised the willow branch in his hand. In his vision, a thread of causality extended from the willow branch corpse, pointing toward a certain direction and disappearing into the void.
This willow branch was something left behind by the true form. The causal connection was extremely strong. As long as Lin Qiye held this branch, he could follow the trail to locate Kusuen's true form.
"This way." Lin Qiye pointed in one direction.
Huo Qubing raised his hand, and two carriages that had been buried by the wind and snow immediately surged out, stopping before everyone.
"Get in the carriages. This Marquis will take you to pursue them."
...
Outer Space.
In the endless darkness and silence, a grand and ancient Heavenly Court silently moved among the stars.
Between the stars, a crimson star drew closer and closer to them... It was a massive sphere rusted to a brownish-red color, roughly half the size of Earth. Yet even so, Heavenly Court appeared minuscule before it, like an ant.
This iron-rust star floated lifelessly through space, slowly drifting toward Earth. A giant eyeball, its surface flowing like viscous slime, floated on this star's surface. Faintly, bizarre beastly shadows could be seen flickering within it. Muffled thunder rumbled from within, and a oppressive sense of death rolled forth!
"What the hell is that..."
Inside Heavenly Court, the Daode Tianzun frowned deeply as he gazed at the bizarre colossus before him.
"It looks like some kind of extraplanar creature, but the aura it emanates is very strange—simultaneously divine and demonic. I've never seen anything like it before." Yuanshi Tianzun said gravely.
"An invasion by an extraplanar deity... Could this be related to the great celestial cataclysm that this贫道 prophesied?"
Lingbao Tianzun's fingers moved gently, as if calculating something.
"This thing is getting closer to the mortal realm. We must deal with it quickly."
"We've only just entered the Supreme God realm, our power is still unstable. And this thing is extremely peculiar. We must be careful with our attacks." Yuanshi Tianzun reminded.
The other two Tianzuns nodded. Three streaks of rainbow light instantly shot out from Heavenly Court, followed by numerous ancient divine silhouettes rushing after them like raindrops pelting toward that crimson dead star!
...
Faint glimmers flickered across the surface of that crimson star. From the ground looking up, they were almost invisible to the naked eye.
The two carriages swept across the vast snowy mountains, advancing into the howling wind and snow. Scorching flames blazed from Chloe's hands, barely dispelling the cold around them. Yet even so, the violent jolting of the carriages left everyone's face ashen.
Lin Qiye seemed to sense something. He frowned slightly, lifted the carriage curtain, and looked up toward that crimson star.
"The Tianzuns have made their move?" Lin Qiye murmured to himself.
"No more... no more..." Yan Zhong weakly raised his hand, patting the carriage wall, his voice hoarse. "Let's rest... rest a moment before continuing!"
"Uuugh—!" Chloe, without a word, vomited directly onto the carriage floor. The smell instantly broke the resolve of the other suffering passengers, who couldn't help but retch in succession.
Lin Qiye's lips twitched slightly. He immediately began searching for a suitable landing spot. His gaze swept across below and finally settled on a dilapidated temple nestled in the mountains.
"This area actually has a temple?" Lin Qiye said in surprise.
Guided by Lin Qiye, the two carriages began descending toward that broken temple. The moment the wheels touched ground, several figures rushed out at lightning speed, embarking on their "relief" journey.
Lin Qiye lightly leaped down from the carriage. His peripheral vision immediately caught sight of several corpses arranged on the temple's open ground, with a few willow branches mixed among them.
"On Kusuen's movement path, they were also caught in the crossfire..." Lin Qiye's gaze swept over the corpses, and he sighed helplessly.
He strode into the temple, wanting to see if any survivors remained. Unfortunately, besides the silent Buddha statue, there was not a trace of life within.
"In this era, hasn't Buddhism not yet spread here?"
Lin Qiye looked at the clay Buddha statue in the center of the temple,疑惑地挑眉.
"Cough cough... This is the border between the Great Han and the Magadha Kingdom. Some Buddhist beliefs have already begun crossing the border, spreading into the Great Han." Yan Zhong weakly entered the temple, searching around.
"What are you looking for?"
"Food." Yan Zhong rubbed his flat stomach,苦涩道, "I've been on so many flying carriages today, I've vomited everything out. Since monks originally lived here, there should be some dried provisions left."
Yan Zhong hurried toward the temple's backyard. Lin Qiye glanced at the Buddha statue and followed him into the courtyard. His gaze fell on a corner of the yard, and his eyes suddenly narrowed.
On a stone platform swept immaculately clean, a chessboard quietly rested.