ATAVID CH96

Slay a god?

Jiang Qunyu frowned. After memorizing what Qin Shiyue had said, he followed suit and leaped down from the Lock-Up Palace. The crimson scythe blade broke through the air, transforming into a long, sword-like form that steadily supported him, allowing him to trail closely behind Qin Shiyue.

Qin Shiyue noticed the movement behind him and glanced back to see the person pursuing him. A flash of complexity crossed his eyes, and he glared at him coldly and gloomily. With a light flick of his broad sleeves, his figure vanished into the black mist in an instant.

Jiang Qunyu had never expected to actually keep up with him. Leaving aside the fact that Qin Shiyue was at the Refining Void stage, the Nine Nethers was his home turf; it was obvious he was familiar with the terrain, making it effortless for him to shake him off.

Thinking of Qin Shiyue’s claim that Wei Xun had gone to that ruin, Jiang Qunyu changed course, speeding toward the direction where the light pillars had ignited.

He took out his voice-transmission jade pendant and told Wei Xun about Qin Shiyue’s seal being broken, then tucked the pendant back into his robes.

He was feeling incredibly irritable right now.

His mind was filled with everything Qin Shiyue had said: Godly bones, slaying a god. What exactly was Wei Xun trying to do? What had Wei Xun experienced during the hundred-plus years he hadn’t been around? And what was Qin Shiyue’s ultimate goal?

With his mind a tangled mess, Jiang Qunyu’s journey was heavy with thought. He didn’t know how much time had passed before he finally reached the ruin Qin Shiyue had spoken of.

He leaped off his red scythe, and upon seeing the scene before him, he couldn’t help but be slightly startled.

Outside the ruins, aside from demon cultivators and ghost cultivators, there was an unexpected gathering of cultivators from various sects of the cultivation world. Everyone stood in their own camps, clear lines drawn between them, eyeing each other with cold, hostile gazes. The atmosphere was extremely tense; no one liked the look of anyone else.

In the center of the wilderness stood five sky-piercing white pillars, standing straight as they shot into the clouds, emanating a faint, shimmering glow. Within each pillar of light was an ancient stone gate that separated the heavens from the earth.

He gazed at the various factions lining up beneath the five pillars. Thinking of his status as a member of the demon race, he paused. After a moment of hesitation, he eventually walked toward the gathering of demon cultivators.

The surrounding demon cultivators sensed an unfamiliar aura approaching but merely lifted their eyes languidly, casting a nonchalant glance at him.

Everyone’s expression was indifferent; no one stepped forward to converse or inquire, nor did anyone make things difficult or exclude him. They immediately withdrew their gazes and continued their own chatter, as if he were just an ordinary member of their kin.

Jiang Qunyu stood quietly on the edge of the crowd, silently listening to the chatter of the demon cultivators beside him.

“I truly didn’t expect this ‘Place of God’s Fall’ to appear in the Nine Nethers. All the realms had speculated that it would descend upon the cultivation world once again,” a somewhat lean demon cultivator said, staring at the sky-piercing pillars.

A demon cultivator nearby with a sinister face let out a scoff and chimed in: “The last time the Place of God’s Fall appeared was over a thousand years ago. It was indeed in the cultivation world then, and everyone assumed as a matter of course that it would appear in the same spot next time. But these ancient secret realms are unpredictable; the location of each appearance has never been fixed. It’s nothing to be surprised about that it landed in the Nine Nethers this time.”

“That’s true,” the lean demon cultivator echoed.

Jiang Qunyu stood on the sidelines, listening without fully understanding. The doubts accumulating in his mind grew, and in the end, he couldn’t help but take a step forward and speak softly: “Senior, if this junior may be so bold as to ask: is there truly a god in this Place of God’s Fall?”

His tone was humble, and his brows carried a touch of curiosity—totally unlike the malevolent demon cultivators around him; he seemed, by contrast, quite gentle.

Only then did the lean demon cultivator turn to look at him, scanning him up and down before laughing gently: “I see the young friend looks only about twenty; you are still young, so it is normal that you do not know the ancient secrets of the Place of God’s Fall.”

He paused for a moment before continuing slowly: “Legend has it that this place is the site where the ancient Heavenly Dao ascended and transformed into a god tens of thousands of years ago.”

“Back then, the Heavenly Dao shed its mortal form to transcend and become a god, leaving behind a physical skeleton that scattered across the world.”

“It was these Godly Bones, scattered in five directions, that slowly nourished and evolved into the mountains and rivers of the five realms, giving rise to the current framework of the Human, Immortal, Demon, Ghost, and Spirit realms.”

“This Place of God’s Fall slowly hid itself between the gaps of the five realms. In ten thousand years, it has appeared only a handful of times. But the creation hidden here is beyond what outsiders can imagine.”

His tone turned mysterious: “The secret realm is filled with opportunities everywhere, and it is even rumored that the last complete Godly Bone is hidden here. It is this very Godly Bone that nourishes the entire Place of God’s Fall day and night, allowing it to persist in the world.”

“It is only a pity that countless mighty beings have come one after another to search for it, yet no one has ever found the whereabouts of the Godly Bone, nor has anyone figured out the laws behind the appearance and opening of this place.”

Having traveled through a book for so many years, this was the first time Jiang Qunyu had heard a history lesson on this world. He exclaimed: “It’s basically Pangu creating the world, then.”

The lean demon cultivator: “What is that?”

Jiang Qunyu: “Ancient folklore.”

The lean demon cultivator: “?”

Jiang Qunyu asked again: “Then, in these past tens of thousands of years, has anyone in the cultivation world successfully ascended?”

“It is nothing but a mirage, a fantasy. For tens of thousands of years, no one in the cultivation world has truly shattered the void and ascended to the heavens. Nowadays, the highest cultivation anyone reaches in this world is only the Unity Realm.”

Jiang Qunyu had an epiphany. No wonder he had never heard of any ascension events in all these years—it turned out that all cultivators’ cultivation stagnated at the Unity Realm.

After thanking the lean demon cultivator, he thought of Wei Xun and Qin Shiyue. If Wei Xun wanted those Godly Bones to slay a god, then what did Qin Shiyue want them for?

Thinking of this, he raised his hand to touch the voice-transmission jade pendant in his robes. Just as his fingertip touched the surface, he happened to receive a message from Wei Xun.

Jiang Qunyu focused, about to listen closely, when the demon cultivator beside him suddenly opened his mouth to warn: “Better transmit some messages now. Once you enter the secret realm, the voice-transmission jade pendant will become completely useless.”

Jiang Qunyu was startled and looked sideways at the person.

The demon cultivator, seeing his confusion, explained bluntly: “The interior of this Godly Fall secret realm isolates spiritual power and techniques; the signals from communication artifacts are useless. Once you go inside, you are completely cut off from the outside world. Moreover, the secret realm stays open for one month. If you want to contact anyone again, I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until a month later.”

Hearing this, Jiang Qunyu instantly dismissed the idea of going in alone.

He figured he should stay outside and wait for Wei Xun to come over so they could enter the secret realm together.

But the crowd around him was already restless and surging. Cultivators from all sides were competing to push forward, and the pressure of the demon cultivators meant he had no room to retreat.

Caught off guard, a massive force surged toward him. He had no control over his own body and was shoved directly into the open stone gate of the sky-piercing pillar by the crowded mass of people.

Jiang Qunyu: “…”

It wasn’t until he hit the ground that Jiang Qunyu finally reacted.

“…………”

After a long silence, he finally couldn’t help but curse with a dark face: “Damn it! Who pushed your daddy?!”

Unfortunately, the moment he stepped into the Place of God’s Fall, the spatial energy became chaotic, and he was directly teleported to an unknown corner of the secret realm.

The surroundings were dead silent. Never mind the crowding demon cultivators, he couldn’t even see a ghost shadow; there was only one person standing in the middle of nowhere, looking utterly pathetic.

Jiang Qunyu could only retrieve the voice-transmission pendant with a deadpan face, wanting to hear what Wei Xun had said, only to discover that the pendant had cracked.

Heh.

It never rains, but it pours.

“Just go ahead and sabotage me like this!” Jiang Qunyu gritted his teeth.

He had been too busy cultivating a few days ago and forgot the time, and Wei Xun had been able to hunt him down with a grim, ghostly aura. Now, he was going to be stuck in this godforsaken place for a month. Would he even be able to get out of bed alive after he returned?

Jiang Qunyu was so angry he almost vomited blood. He walked the whole way grumbling and complaining, and in the end, he could only hope that Wei Xun would be able to find him once he entered.

At worst, I’ll just coax him a bit more then.

Having forced himself to see the bright side, Jiang Qunyu began to look around the secret realm.

The mountains were green and the water was clear; he could even see a few rabbits running on the ground. Mm, the environment is quite beautiful.

Jiang Qunyu had no mood to search for fortune in this realm for the time being. He found a place with a wide field of vision and sprawled out to sunbathe, hoping that the next time he opened his eyes, he would see Wei Xun.

He stayed there for ten whole days.

The spiritual herbs around him were almost picked bald, and the few rabbits he had caught out of boredom had been roasted and eaten—the flavor was tender, but he still hadn’t waited for Wei Xun.

Jiang Qunyu silently looked up at the sky and gave up hope.

Finally deciding to move, he picked up a pile of pretty-looking stones along the way, intending to choose a few nice ones to give to Wei Xun after he got out. Out of boredom, he also killed a few low-level demonic beasts, just to pass the time.

Perhaps the secret realm was indeed suited for cultivation; in only a few days, Jiang Qunyu reached the sixth level of the Great Completion Stage.

It was a pity he still hadn’t reached the God-Transformation Stage, and he didn’t know when he would reach the cultivation level he had before his rebirth. Back then, he had been at the seventh level of the God-Transformation Stage, nearly at the Refining Void stage. If he had his pre-rebirth cultivation, he wouldn’t have let Qin Shiyue escape right under his nose.

Still, it shouldn’t be far off now. Even his red scythe had been reborn with him; his breakthrough was only a matter of time.

On the twentieth day of staying in the secret realm, Jiang Qunyu was already thinking about whether there were any techniques to make the demon cultivator who had pushed him into the secret realm suffer through a curse.

He hadn’t been in this relationship for more than a few days, and he was already forced into a long-distance situation.

It actually makes me miss Wei Xun quite a bit.

With ten days left, Jiang Qunyu simply occupied an entire dense forest. Whenever he encountered manic, aggressive demonic beasts, he killed every one he saw, venting his frustration with clean, decisive strikes.

For the rest of the time, he counted the days left until the secret realm closed, bored out of his mind.

On the twenty-second day of being in the secret realm.

Jiang Qunyu leaned obliquely against a thick tree trunk, one hand pillowed behind his head, a blade of dogtail grass dangling from his mouth. His eyes were closed languidly as he listened to a small spirit he had caught stumbling through the reading of a romance novel.

The small spirit reached a scene in the book where the protagonist and their lover were facing life-and-death parting and bidding farewell. Its round eyes were brimming with tears; it would read a sentence and stop, tears the size of peas dropping down, its voice choked with sobs.

“…May you… may you live a long and healthy life. As the words fell, the youth then…”

The sentence was jumbled, and it couldn’t finish it even after a long while.

Listening to this intermittent voice, Jiang Qunyu couldn’t help but think of Wei Xun again. Whenever Wei Xun read stories to him, whether they were about life-and-death partings or tender affection, he could always finish the entire passage in that cold, deep voice, calm and unruffled. The contrast made it clear which was superior.

He couldn’t help but sigh, the yearning in his heart surging once more.

Lifting his eyelids slightly, Jiang Qunyu reached out and picked up the palm-sized spirit, gently tugging at its little wings with his fingertips, and said bluntly: “You don’t read as well as my cultivation partner.”

The small spirit was furious. It smeared its tears on Jiang Qunyu’s palm and snapped, “Then your partner isn’t here now, is he! Why did you catch me, then?”

Jiang Qunyu picked it up with a look of disdain, wiped the tear droplets it had rubbed onto his hand back onto its furry body, and said slowly: “Didn’t I release you a few days ago? It was you who insisted on sticking to me.”

The small spirit hummed for a bit, lifting its head with a haughty air: “If these stories of yours weren’t actually interesting, I wouldn’t bother with you!”

“Oh—” Jiang Qunyu drew out the sound. “Then that really is a grievance for you.”

“Hmph!” The small spirit turned its head away, but couldn’t help stealing a glance at Jiang Qunyu, who was sitting leaning against the tree.

It thought: If the person before me wasn’t so good-looking, with features as clear and refined as a painting, I wouldn’t have the patience to read to him no matter how interesting his books were!

It would never say such embarrassing thoughts out loud, for fear of being mercilessly mocked by this person.

It cleared its throat, intending to continue reading.

But before a sound could escape, a burst of hurried, chaotic footsteps suddenly echoed from the depths of the forest, breaking the stillness.

Jiang Qunyu’s brows knitted. With lightning speed, he reached out to cover the small spirit’s mouth in his palm, preventing it from making a sound, while his body hid within the dense foliage, quietly focusing his hearing on the movement below.

Following that, the owner of the footsteps seemed to confirm that no one was in the dense forest, and their long-suppressed anger and anxiety erupted completely, their voice sounding desperate and frantic:

“System! Didn’t you say the scent of the Godly Bones was hidden here? The secret realm is about to close and dissipate, and I’ve searched more than half of the realm—why can I still not find a single trace of the Godly Bones?!”

“If I can’t find the Godly Bones, how am I supposed to resurrect Brother Yuanzhou?! I’ve sacrificed so much; I absolutely cannot fail at the final hurdle!”

Brother Yuanzhou?

Lan Yuanzhou?

Jiang Qunyu raised an eyebrow. After masking his aura, he leaned over slightly to look down.

When he clearly saw the appearance of the person under the tree, the smile in his eyes deepened; he felt quite surprised.

Oh, look. An old acquaintance.

How did Su Fuyao end up here?