The night mist hung heavy, like spilled ink dyeing heaven and earth.
With every breath, Qin Ming felt as though he were swallowing daggers, sending searing agony through his mouth, nose, and lungs. Was this the astral wind above the ninth heaven? It could tear mortal flesh apart and disperse a cultivator's essence, energy, and spirit.
Moreover, the higher he went, the worse it grew. Qin Ming felt as though his chest were on the verge of being punctured. He suspected that past a certain threshold, even a grandmaster would not be able to withstand it.
Fortunately, he had the yellow imperial parasol helping him stave off the wind calamity.
Suddenly, the canopy jolted violently as falling otherworldly fire slammed into it. It was like an underground surge of magma erupting in fury. Brilliant flames cascaded down the hanging fringes at the parasol's edge, resembling tens of thousands of fiery ribbons stretching outward and pouring downward.
A fleeting moment of dazzling splendor drove away the boundless darkness, creating the illusion of stumbling into a land of great radiance.
Soon, however, the dense fog surged back with immense force. Endless darkness encroached upon the high reaches of the sky, sealing heaven and earth once more inside an airtight box devoid of light.
Qin Ming's body tensed, the fine hairs standing on end as goosebumps broke across his skin. High above the Sea of Night Mist, the danger grew ever more intense. The stray otherworldly fire just now carried strange, harmful impurities; drawing in just a single wisp of it had lacerated his fingertip, turning his freshly spilled red blood black in an instant.
He dared not act recklessly anymore. First, he circulated the Scripture of Harmonizing Body and Dao, then activated the Extreme Dao Golden Body, purging the mysterious extraterrestrial heterogeneous substances from his system.
Beyond the ninth heaven lay far too many unknowns and perils!
Just like that, Qin Ming was carried into the outer realm against his will.
Pitch-black, freezing, desolate—such were his truest impressions and feelings about this domain.
Once he arrived here, the wind calamity subsided rapidly, likely because Yujing hung inverted in the distance, casting a mysterious domain around itself.
Naturally, Qin Ming had already guessed what the rag had come for.
He had experienced something similar before. When he discovered the Earth-Moon in the outer realm back then, the rag had acted with this exact same impulsiveness, rushing over at the first opportunity to reunite with it.
In all probability, another torn piece of cloth lay near Yujing.
Then, to his astonishment, Qin Ming discovered that this so-called flight toward Yujing seemed separated by an eternal, vast distance. One could only gaze at it from afar, never truly drawing near.
*Flowers in a mirror, the moon in water?* he once wondered.
Yet Old Rag was stubborn, determined to close in on that enigmatic city that shimmered vaguely like curling smoke.
It flew in complete silence, advancing through the special domain radiating from Yujing.
In the distance, an earth-shattering battle erupted. Qin Ming was thoroughly stunned. Towers of sword light rose into the sky, each as thick as a towering mountain, standing side by side as if intent on cleaving the outer realm in two.
Even across such an immense distance, he felt a bone-chilling cold and instinctively pulled the hem and fringes of the draped yellow imperial parasol tighter around himself.
Far away, the violent shockwaves seemed ready to shatter heaven and earth. Floating clusters of meteorites exploded under the onslaught of sword qi with resounding booms!
Qin Ming's heart trembled. A battle of this caliber was simply terrifying.
Without a doubt, if an Earth Immortal struck with full power on the ground, a single slash would be enough to obliterate a colossal city.
Old Rag did not steer toward the battlefield. On the contrary, it moved away. Driven by its own clear objective, it had no wish to invite complications by meddling in the clash of Earth Immortals.
Within the special domain encircling Yujing, every direction felt strangely calm and still, save for where the great battle raged.
Even out here, the night mist still lingered.
Qin Ming looked around in bewilderment. What lay before his eyes looked like layers of civilizations piled atop one another, stratum upon stratum, each belonging to a different historical era with abundant relics scattered about.
The space outside Yujing was by no means empty. Vast clouds of dust drifted alongside shattered wooden vessels, fractured weapon fragments, and the skeletal remains of ancient creatures.
Different areas held layered remains of different civilizations, each bearing its own distinct hallmarks.
Upon reaching this area, Old Rag's speed slowed noticeably. There were too many obstacles, and it seemed to be on guard against something, displaying unusual vigilance.
This made Qin Ming's skin prickle with apprehension. Could there truly be some horrific, ominous entity lurking here?
The dust-laden supreme treasure, the yellow imperial parasol, fell completely quiet without giving off a single ripple.
Qin Ming hoped that Old Rag was merely stalking its prey—stepping lightly to hunt down and capture its kindred brother—and that no other unexpected catastrophe would arise.
Along the way, he spotted a skull the size of a hill. It had belonged to an unknown colossal beast, its crown bristling with vicious spikes and horns, exuding sheer brutality.
Moreover, within the dust, he saw what appeared to be the mechanical men recorded in ancient texts, along with the remnants of immense flying vessels.
Even farther away, the remains of gods and demons lay scattered. Their flesh had long perished, and even the bones had rotted and cracked, with only select portions still bearing lustrous divine and demonic talismans.
"History is a cycle. Just how many eras have passed?" Qin Ming felt a heavy weight in his heart. The deeper he explored this expanse, the more shocking it became.
Stone apes, bizarre metallic insects, faces formed of mist that refused to disperse... The sheer diversity of life from bygone eras was fully on display here.
Yet all of them had reached their end, fading into drifting wisps of smoke in the winds of time, eventually scattered into nothingness.
"Everything has become the past," Qin Ming murmured to himself, continuing forward behind Old Rag.
His expression was solemn. Just how many eons had Yujing existed for?
Qin Ming felt that the era he lived in was rather unusual: night had become eternal, and once the sun vanished, it never reappeared.
As for the star-studded skies recorded in ancient books, no one had seen them since, gone along with that lost past.
The rag twisted and turned, still a great distance from Yujing. Yet when Qin Ming opened his Eye of the Newborn, he could already make out the blurred city gate tower and the tower that pierced the heavens.
"Why is the entire city hanging upside down?"
Yujing was grand and imposing, its aura magnificent, but hanging inverted amidst the night mist was truly baffling.
Qin Ming then flipped himself over, hanging upside down as well. Viewed this way, the mysterious giant city looked much more natural, standing upright before him.
However, it was ethereal, like smoke and mist, shifting and rippling as if swaying to some unseen tide, bearing little resemblance to a solid structure.
Qin Ming righted his body once more and looked toward the higher reaches of the outer realm.
At that moment, a disorienting sensation seized him, as though he had plunged into an abyss and was heading toward an unknown, unfathomable source of dread.
The location where Yujing sat seemed to mark the final safe haven.
He then flipped upside down again to observe the hazy sights inside Yujing more comfortably.
The rag suddenly accelerated, attempting to breach some special domain to enter the ancient, mystical city. Yet an insurmountable barrier seemed to stand between them like a boundary between worlds, making the passage extraordinarily arduous.
A moment later, Qin Ming noticed that the distance had indeed closed somewhat. He could roughly make out parts of the city's scenery. Beyond the landmark Heaven-Connecting Tower, jade pavilions, palaces of bronze and gold, and grand Dao arenas wreathed in chaotic mist were visible.
At the city's center sat an iceberg, swirling with rising plumes of black and white yin-yang qi, drifting mists of the five elements, and radiant ten-colored immortal lights. It was an exceptionally marvelous sight.
Across the massive iceberg were hazy ice caves, one after another.
"Why would there be an iceberg?" Prior to this, Qin Ming had heard many rumors about Yujing, but none had ever mentioned a kaleidoscope of colors atop an iceberg.
*What's inside those ice caves?* he wondered. The distance was simply too great; he could only faintly discern what looked like silk threads woven across the mouth of one of the larger caverns.
In the central area, adjacent to the brilliant iceberg, also stood a towering sacrificial altar. Something seemed to be consecrated atop it.
Qin Ming believed that the magnificent altar was the true core.
He stared intently at it, yet the distance remained too vast. Though talismans formed in his eyes and the power of rebirth surged, he still could not see it clearly.
However, as he focused on the altar, an increasingly strange impression took hold. Apart from the indistinct object resting on the altar, all other surroundings wavered unsteadily, thoroughly unreal, like flowers in a mirror or the moon in water.
*That iceberg is real, too.*
Qin Ming drew in a sharp breath of the night mist. Could the entire inverted Yujing not be a physical construct, but a reflection cast here? Perhaps only very few things were actual matter.
Or could it be that after Yujing's rebirth, it was still undergoing its continuous nirvana and had not yet fully reformed?
As he looked toward the altar, various thoughts raced through his mind.
Qin Ming felt more and more that the surrounding sights were like duckweed floating on water, while the object on the altar was real and paramount. Though he could not clearly see it, it sat there as firm as a monolith, acting as the root of the duckweed, with everything centered around it.
Meanwhile, the physical iceberg seemed tethered to it.
Qin Ming had heard the legends of the earthen city, where an exotic metal cloth had once been enshrined upon an altar.
Could it be that another piece had appeared there now?
*Could the Yujing before my eyes be a projection cast from an unknown realm, manifested here because of that sacrificial offering and finally anchored to this world?* Doubts multiplied in his mind.
Once it reached a certain stage, this city as ethereal as smoke would surely stabilize and become real. After all, Heavenly Gods had once inhabited this place and subsequently fled from it.
Qin Ming pondered, *Did the clash of the Earth Immortals disturb part of the domain outside Yujing, alerting Old Rag so that it rushed straight here at the very first moment?*
The rag soared like a dragon across the void, pressing onward, refusing to stop until it entered Yujing.
***
Out in the depths of the void, the Earth Immortal battle was terrifying. Boundless sword qi blanketed the expanse, looking like the ancient starry skies restored to life as endless rays of sword light ignited the pitch-black firmament.
Xiang Hong, the seven-day stacker from Star Mountain, possessed an immense aura. He considered himself standing at the pinnacle of strength in this era.
He truly had the right to be proud. Reaching such heights without altering his lifeform was an extraordinary achievement, even above the ninth heaven.
Yet he was struggling severely in this battle. Even with the assistance of four Earth Immortals and partially undoing the seals on the slaughter array diagram, they still could not sever those massive divine stakes.
The thirty-six Heaven-Anchoring Divine Stakes were like metallic pillars propping up the sky, their might boundless. Every time they descended, the void warped and collapsed, creating a horrifying spectacle. Even sweeping swathes of sword light could not cut through them, producing only loud metallic clangs and scattering bursts of radiant light.
What Xiang Hong found hardest to accept was that on the opposing side, there seemed to be a fierce figure of the seventh realm who likewise had not altered their lifeform.
Furthermore, there were other powerhouses who had not completely altered theirs either!
Xiang Hong was shaken to the core. No wonder he could not bring down this group even when performing beyond his normal limits. The wild immortals of the mortal realm were truly capable of attaining the Dao just the same.
With a booming crash, the thirty-six Heaven-Anchoring Divine Stakes blazed with dazzling radiance. Like towering mountains crushing down, their blooming talismans produced a deafening roar, as if bent on grinding heaven and earth to dust.
Even as the slaughter array diagram unleashed tens of thousands of sword beams, it still could not withstand such overwhelming, pervasive pressure, shaking violently under the suppression.
An elderly Earth Immortal coughed up a large mouthful of blood and cried, "The mysterious relic from the ground is no weaker than our slaughter array diagram, and they have more high-level masters! We can't hold them off!"
Even as he spoke, several figures nearby blew apart.
They were drudges who had accompanied them, acting under their orders.
Blood mist billowed beneath the slaughter array diagram. When even Earth Immortals could barely endure it, how could their followers survive? One after another, they burst into pieces, until every last drudge was obliterated in body and soul.
Blood trickled from the corner of Xiang Hong's mouth as he said, "Even if we retreat, they will pursue us relentlessly. We have no choice. We fight them to the death and break more of the slaughter array diagram's seals!"
A female Earth Immortal objected, "No! If we do that, we won't be able to bear the backlash either! We'll either be drained dry by the array diagram or have our foundations damaged by the escaping killing intent. That's going too far!"
Xiang Hong said coldly, "Listen to me! We must cow them right now, or we're doomed. Those thirty-six divine stakes would be considered a major lethal weapon even in the heavens, yet they've fallen into the hands of a band of wild immortals on the ground. We have to face them at our absolute strongest!"
In the end, the four Earth Immortals braced themselves and cooperated with him, undoing more of the seals on Star Mountain's sect-guarding treasure. Instantly, an overwhelming tide of killing intent erupted. The four Earth Immortals coughed up blood one after another; piercing sword light struck directly at their foundations, injuring them before they could even hurt the enemy.
Evidently, this slaughter array diagram was a truly ominous artifact.
At this moment, it expanded and began spinning, projecting dense arrays of sword beams like an ocean of stars, adorning the firmament with countless stellar bodies.
Moreover, around the eight cardinal directions of the array diagram hung eight immortal swords. Killing intent spread without bound, churning the entire outer realm.
The nearby remnants of civilization layers—such as the skeletons of gods and demons, the mountainous beast skull, and the ruined flying ships—were caught in the fallout and exploded one after another, completely pulverized.
Beneath the array diagram, Xiang Hong wiped the blood from his lips and broke into a grin. "Activate the array!"
The four Earth Immortals beside him were in far worse shape, their faces pale as death. Hearing his command, they gritted their teeth and channeled the array diagram with him.
With a thunderous rumble, the slaughter array diagram spun even faster. The eight hanging immortal swords swirled along with it, sweeping out vast, boundless torrents of sword qi.
In an instant, array patterns intertwined, as if ancient stars had returned to the mortal world. Then, resplendent sword light flowed like a stellar river, sweeping across the Sea of Night Mist to crush all opposition.
Qin Ming had hidden himself far enough away, having slipped entirely to the opposite side—almost putting Yujing itself between them—yet he still felt a tremor of horror and wrapped the yellow imperial parasol tightly around himself.
When a calamity of Earth Immortals erupted, heaven and earth seemed on the verge of overturning. He was deeply shaken. What would it look like if a Heavenly Immortal intervened?
Behind the thirty-six Heaven-Anchoring Divine Stakes, the group of ruthless masters showed no fear. Combat had proven that this supreme lethal weapon possessed unfathomable depth.
They channeled it with everything they had. For a moment, earth-shattering roars echoed out, accompanied by the wails of gods and demons. The sun, moon, and stars shone in unison, and countless great stars materialized, revolving around the thirty-six divine stakes.
With a booming crash, the Sea of Night Mist blew apart. One divine stake after another slammed downward, breaking through the barrage of endless sword light and forcing their way into the array diagram's domain.
"We can't hold out! The slaughter array diagram is not weaker than their stakes, but we're about to be drained dry! We can't keep fueling it!" Blue veins bulged on an Earth Immortal's forehead, his blood vessels standing out starkly.
"Retreat!" Without waiting for Xiang Hong to speak, the four Earth Immortals steered the slaughter array diagram and turned into streaks of light to flee.
Yet whether attacking or fleeing, they remained trapped in peril. The divine stakes had locked onto them, maintaining their offensive and bombarding them relentlessly.
Amidst the world-shaking brilliance of slaughter, the two sides clashed several times with devastating force. The Sea of Night Mist, the otherworldly fires, and all else were thoroughly wiped away.
"Ah..." Finally, an Earth Immortal beneath the diagram screamed as his physical body shattered into pieces, followed by the detonation of his mental field.
Pure Yang consciousness was difficult to extinguish. He had not truly perished, and his conscious spiritual light materialized once more.
Yet this was merely the beginning. In the void, the thick divine stakes pressed downward like primordial sacred peaks, inspiring despair and defying all resistance.
Next, the physical bodies of all four Earth Immortals crumbled. Even the array diagram could no longer protect them; the crushing pressure suffocated them completely.
Only Xiang Hong held on, because beyond the slaughter array diagram, he possessed a special liquefying weapon. It had now formed a suit of armor around him, guarding him from head to toe.
"Xiang Hong, save me!" the female Earth Immortal's Pure Yang conscious spirit cried, lunging forward.
With a deafening boom, the divine stakes descended once more. The eight immortal swords hanging from the array diagram dispersed, and at the same time, the consciousness of the four Earth Immortals beneath the diagram shattered.
Even as a seven-day stacker, Xiang Hong felt terrified. He had never imagined that in an era where he could look down upon immortals, having brought two supreme treasures, he would suffer such a crushing defeat.
The four Earth Immortals' faint, weakened spiritual lights manifested again, clinging desperately to Xiang Hong in hopes of rescue.
With a whoosh, Xiang Hong retracted the array diagram and wrapped it around himself like battle armor, fleeing for his life.
"Why do I suddenly feel that the heavens aren't all that impressive after all? Maybe we really can breach them!" the Old Barbarian God said. His colossal frame rose like a towering mountain, radiating pale-golden blood qi, standing between heaven and earth with immense, oppressive presence.
"Steady!" the Black and White Bear called out. He thought of Old Liu. If even his old master was wary, the hidden foundations of the heavens definitely exceeded their imagination.
Even so, they still pursued the fleeing enemy. After all, not a single Earth Immortal had been completely wiped out yet.
In an instant, the thirty-six Heaven-Anchoring Divine Stakes were brandished like massive clubs, crashing down one after another toward the fleeing figure ahead.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Talismanic light blazing like scorching suns shook the array diagram violently. Inside, Xiang Hong coughed up mouthfuls of blood. Even with double protection from his special weapon, his body cracked open.
As for the four clusters of spiritual light outside his body, they were blown apart completely. When they reformed again, they flickered as faintly as candlelight in the wind.
"To think that before I could witness the reopening of heaven, I would perish here... How tragic, how utterly worthless!"
As the thirty-six divine stakes smashed down one by one, there was no way for the four Earth Immortals to survive. Their Pure Yang consciousness was snuffed out for good.
Xiang Hong groaned as his body shattered into pieces. Even bolstered by two wondrous treasures, facing such a terrifying onslaught, he could not maintain his defense for long.
Behind him, the allied cultivators stood atop the massive stakes, riding the pillars like clubs, shattering Xiang Hong with every impact.
The battlefield in the outer realm was not very far from the pure land bound by Dao Chains, where endless blessings flowed. Xiang Hong could already see his way home and catch sight of his homeland, yet he was terrified he would not make it in time.
"No!" he screamed in desperation. His flesh had been reduced to a paste of blood and gore, and in the middle of fleeing, he had no way to fully regenerate.
"My immortal body!" Terror gripped him. This was his true form; if it was destroyed, the brilliant halo of being a seven-day stacker would be stripped away entirely.
One could only say that the special weapon was beyond imagination in defensive capability; otherwise, he would have been obliterated in body and soul long ago.
His flesh shattered repeatedly into blood and gore, and in the end, it was ruined beyond repair, losing all vitality and slowly turning into black ash.
"Burn! Detonate!" Xiang Hong roared in despair. His true body was gone, and his Pure Yang consciousness had been torn apart numerous times. He burned his essence, energy, and spirit regardless of the cost.
His Pure Yang consciousness fractured as he pushed the array diagram with reckless abandon, barely withstanding the brunt of the stakes' impact.
With a sharp whistle, the slaughter array diagram wrapped around him and vanished into the tranquil realm woven with Dao Chains, fleeing back into the pure land of the heavens.
"A pity!" Helian Chengyun sighed softly, feeling somewhat regretful that they had not finished the job.
The sage of Pugong remarked, "Even if he survived, he is crippled. From this day forward, the world has lost a terrifying seven-day stacker. He can only tread the Earth Immortal path now."
They stopped in the distance, remaining cautious rather than letting hotheaded impulses drive them into that mysterious pure land.
Meanwhile, utter chaos swept through that tranquil realm. The bloodstained slaughter array diagram flew back, sending shockwaves through the upper echelons of every ancient peak.
"Xiang Hong!" The mountain lord of Star Mountain felt his eyes nearly tear from their sockets in rage. That was his most cherished disciple! After waiting so long to finally nurture a seven-day stacker, to see him reduced to such a wretched state—with only a dim wisp of Pure Yang consciousness fleeing back, ruined—was unbearable.
"What happened out there?!" The experts engaged in patching this patch of heaven and earth were alarmed.
"That is the sect-guarding array diagram of Star Mountain, carried by a seven-day stacker, yet he returned in such disastrous defeat? This..."
In the heavens, all the powerhouses of the ancient peaks felt a massive tremor in their hearts.
Someone cried out, "Old Ancestor Zhuo Kun, we beg you to emerge! Our prestige has suffered! If we continue to show such weakness, the outside world will believe there is no one left in our heavens! Today, we must descend with thunderous wrath!"
On his sickbed, the emaciated Zhuo Kun said with a dark expression, "This old man has long since withered, and my lifespan is nearly spent. You can't even wait a single moment and wish to send me off to my grave immediately, is that it?"
***
Outside Yujing, within the special domain, Qin Ming realized that the rag remained relentless, determined to enter Yujing.
"Old Rag, my eyes have been opened plenty. Let's part ways for now; I'll wait for you here," he said, quickly releasing his grip.
Yet after shifting directions multiple times, the rag shuddered violently. It released a brilliant glow, enveloped Qin Ming, and vanished from the spot.
Qin Ming's vision went dark as he briefly lost all sensation. It felt as though he had traversed a world, walking for an immense duration, leaving him somewhat drained.
When a faint light returned to his vision and he could see once more, his mouth fell open in disbelief.
"Are these... the city walls of Yujing?" Qin Ming's pupils contracted. Before him, towering city walls stood as vast and magnificent as a prehistoric mountain range.
He had actually arrived right in front of Yujing. The legendary supreme city was just inches away.
Qin Ming's heart hammered against his ribs. Back in the day, even Old Liu had to keep his head down and tread lightly here. He had no desire to go inside.
At that moment, the yellow imperial parasol shuddered, giving off an urgent warning. Even it held dread for this place and refused to enter the city.
Chapter 472