Sky Light

"We're all on the same side here! Can't we talk this out? By the way, when was the last time any of you took a bath? Bathing regularly is great for your physical and mental health— "Stay away! Don't come any closer!" The Demonic Blade's shrieks echoed through the hall. With every scream, more figures emerged from the darkness. Aside from a few along the outermost perimeter that stepped toward Wei Yuan, the rest swarmed toward the Demonic Blade. A dense, rustling scuttle suddenly rose from the ground. Countless ant-sized Dao soldiers surged forth, scurrying in all directions and attacking everything within reach. Faced with such an onslaught, the dark figures seemed at a loss, instinctively stomping about. A single stomp could crush over a dozen Dao soldiers, yet these minuscule soldiers numbered in the tens of thousands; as soon as a handful were crushed, another vast wave surged forward. Suddenly, a throng of Dao soldiers hoisted the Demonic Blade and bolted for the exit. One tiny Dao soldier snapped viciously, "If you dare let out another peep, we'll steep you in a cesspit for a month!" The Demonic Blade shut up instantly. Standing outside, Wei Yuan scooped up the Demonic Blade and recalled the Dao soldiers from the hall. Deprived of their target, the numerous dark figures faded back into the gloom. Through the vision of his Dao soldiers, Wei Yuan had already counted their numbers—over a hundred in all! Regrettably, though Wei Yuan had clearly severed the arms and legs of the figure behind the counter, the sudden turn of events had forced him to retreat before he could retrieve the severed hand clutching the handgun. Wei Yuan tapped the Demonic Blade lightly with Dao power and asked, "Can't you fly? Why didn't you flee on your own just now?" Lingering fear trembled in the Demonic Blade's voice. "It seems my original true spirit was born here... and in this world, I can't fly." Wei Yuan tested it several times and found that not only had the Demonic Blade lost its ability to fly, it could not even budge. Aside from having a loud mouth, it was presently no different from an ordinary blade. Yet through Wei Yuan's extraordinary vision, he could naturally see that under the suppression of this world's heaven and earth, all of the blade's spiritual radiance was locked deep inside, unable to leak out in the slightest. Deprived of any interaction with the outside world, it had naturally been reduced to a mere cleaver. "What else do you remember about this world?" Wei Yuan pressed. "Nothing else." Wei Yuan frowned. "Then it seems keeping you around isn't of much use. In the upcoming battles, if you scream recklessly and draw enemies again, I will immerse you in a cesspit for a month for every shriek you let out." "You can't treat me like this—" Wei Yuan cast a frigid glare its way, and the Demonic Blade finally fell sullenly silent. The number of enemies inside the supermarket was beyond expectation. Besieged by over a hundred dharma idols, even Wei Yuan could not hold out. Fortunately, they seemed unable to step out of the supermarket and remained utterly oblivious to what transpired outside, which was somewhat peculiar. Wei Yuan decided to pull back for the time being, hauling a few wrecked car chassis along with him on the retreat. Upon returning to camp, Wei Yuan assembled everyone and convened their first meeting since entering the otherworldly realm, with the primary objective of conducting an in-depth study of this world. Xu Wenwu also attended. Upon hearing the agenda, Xu Wenwu instantly overflowed with confidence, preparing to deliver an impressive speech and thoroughly show off using his familiarity with this world. Birds of a feather flocked together; having spent so much time among the Palace of Grand Beginning cohort, an impulse to bask in the limelight was apt to flare up at any moment. Yet this gathering proved to be a major affair. The Palace of Grand Beginning cultivators who had remained in Qingming had also crossed over to the otherworldly realm. Though they had not taken part in the fighting here, they had been continuously analyzing data and had already formed their own insights. Bao Yun pointed a finger, conjuring a projection of the supermarket's interior that froze at the precise moment those figures materialized out of thin air. Pointing to the shadowy figures, she said, "The heaven and earth of this realm are broken, and many of its fundamental Great Daos are missing, leaving time and space thoroughly chaotic. The figures you saw may have been humans in the past, but with the Great Dao of Reincarnation absent here, and for whatever underlying reason, their true spirit imprints remained unaltered after death and lingered in this place forever. "They are not actually living people, nor are they corpses. Rather, whenever heaven and earth are disturbed, the surrounding residual spiritual qi converges upon those true spirit imprints, temporarily manifesting physical forms. Bodies formed in such a transient manner exist essentially between the real and the illusory. "My dharma idol is capable of discerning the passage of time. While these figures appear to manifest here simultaneously, many of them actually belong to entirely different eras, separated by perhaps several centuries. They emerged all at once only because heaven and earth were disturbed by the Demonic Blade. "Hence, the interior has effectively been partitioned into over a hundred distinct zones, each situated in a different era. Charging in rashly is equivalent to traversing multiple zones of disparate time, which could easily invite unforeseen disaster. Falling back first was the right choice." At that point, Bao Yun shot Wei Yuan a glare. "Consider yourself lucky!" Yu Zhizhuo waved his hand, bringing forth another projection—the scene Wei Yuan had observed of the young boy entering the supermarket. Under Yu Zhizhuo's control, the same scene continuously shifted in color. Under different hues, the boy flickered in and out of view, at times manifesting only partial limbs. The scenery around him fractured and fragmented, yet novel, unseen sights occasionally surfaced. Yu Zhizhuo said, "Nephew's divine sense is formidable, and the environmental details he recorded are extraordinarily rich, many times greater than what an ordinary dharma idol could capture. From this data, several facts can be deduced. "First, this young boy is actually an obsession left behind by someone in the past. The effect of that obsession upon the surrounding space is the very 'sky light' we observe. This influence is itself a form of light; it illuminates the surroundings, yet the scenes it reveals belong not to the present, but to the era of that obsession. "Everyone is well acquainted with obsessions, so I won't belabor the point. However, through our study of the sky light generated by obsessions, I managed to identify several light sources with similar physical properties. When we illuminated the area with them, the information left by the obsession indeed shifted, resulting in the scene we just saw. "As for how this obsession was activated, I cannot say for certain, but it must have existed all along, and it certainly won't be the only one. By illuminating this world with different kinds of sky light, we may uncover those concealed obsessions. Observing them will allow us to gaze upon their respective eras in the past, thereby granting us an understanding of this realm's history. Perhaps we might even uncover the secret behind its destruction." Sitting nearby, Zhang Sheng spoke up at last: "Senior Brother Yu's discovery is of immense significance. Just now, I noticed that illuminating with sky light of similar physical properties not only affects the obsessions, but also impacts the Great Daos of this realm. "As Yun'er mentioned, those figures hail from the past, manifesting in the present. While they may possess formidable power, the foundation upon which they stand must be exceedingly fragile. "If we craft a weapon capable of emitting large amounts of calibrated sky light to perturb heaven and earth, those who manifested in the supermarket will very likely lose the anchor that permits them to exist in the present, casting them back into their original eras. That way, the number of foes we must confront simultaneously will be drastically reduced." Yu Zhizhuo slapped his forehead and exclaimed, "Of course! How did I not think of that? However, if we want the sky light to influence time, it still requires fine adjustments. That won't be difficult, though it will require Martial Niece Bao's assistance." Bao Yun replied, "I shall do my utmost." The three of them, together with Wei Yuan, immediately began discussing the physical properties of various forms of sky light. A moment later, Jun Weizhi and Han Li joined in, the discussion growing increasingly intricate and obscure. Xu Wenwu listened in complete bewilderment. He vaguely recalled learning similar concepts back in school—that light seemed to have physical properties too. But as to what those specifics were, he had skipped all those classes back then, so he didn't even qualify to say he had forgotten them. Listening to their debate, Xu Wenwu felt as if he had been transported back to his school days, sitting in class listening to the top student discuss exam problems with the teacher. It was just like a foreign language class, surrounded by unintelligible gibberish, entirely beyond his grasp. After who knew how long, he suddenly heard Wei Yuan ask, "Wenwu, you're familiar with this realm. Do you have anything to add?" Xu Wenwu shook his head vigorously. "No! Nothing at all!" Once the meeting concluded, Wei Yuan sent the cultivators back, keeping only Bao Yun behind. Bao Yun's Heavenly Demon Wondrous Idol could even repel the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, so it stood a strong chance of suppressing the localized space inherent to those figures. Wei Yuan then set out with his team once more, bringing along a dozen people, including the Five Elements Dao Soldiers. Along the way, Wei Yuan nagged Bao Yun incessantly, instructing her that if anything felt amiss or if an enemy approached, she must not engage under any circumstances and had to flee immediately, getting through the portal first. He droned on and on like an overprotective mother, rambling the entire way. Bao Yun agreed time and again, yet Wei Yuan still felt there was something left unsaid. A moment later, they arrived at the battlefield. Wei Yuan deployed his subordinates to surround the supermarket. Then, unsheathing Demonic Blade Qiyue, he hurled it directly into the building before it could even react, planting it right in the center of the floor! The Demonic Blade let out a shrill shriek, casting its promise of silence to the winds as it cursed, "Wei Yuan, you aren't human!" Qiyue's wails rippled through space, and sure enough, countless figures began to emerge once more. Had anyone else screamed like that, it likely would not have produced such an effect; perhaps it truly owed to its original true spirit hailing from this world. Once the figures materialized, they drifted slowly toward the Demonic Blade. The nearest woman bent forward and reached out to grasp the hilt. The Demonic Blade's pitch shot up an octave as it shrieked, "Get your filthy hands off me!" At that moment, blinding lights flared from three directions! Three beams of differing hues intersected, illuminating the entire abandoned supermarket! The beams originated from the hands of Han Li, Jun Weizhi, and Longying. Naturally, Longying's beam was the thickest and brightest, while those from Han Li and Jun Weizhi bore different colors to provide supplementary coverage. Jun Weizhi's beam flickered continuously, cycling rapidly through various physical properties. Beneath the intersecting beams, the woman gripping the Demonic Blade melted away like snow, vanishing into nothingness. Most of the other figures met the same fate. In the blink of an eye, barely a dozen remained. At that point, the atmospheric fabric within the supermarket abruptly shifted, and the three beams turned dim and bizarre, warping distinctly. The figures originating from the past twisted as well, many screaming soundlessly before dissipating. Just then, Bao Yun unleashed her Heavenly Demon Wondrous Idol, repelling the supermarket's Great Daos with unexpected efficacy. Now, only three figures remained inside. Wei Yuan charged in immediately. A moment later, he collected three piles of calamity ash and a strand of Dao profound qi. Seeing that no further figures emerged, he made straight for the counter and rummaged beneath it. Sure enough, his fingers brushed against a handgun!