Chapter 983: The Candlelight in the Portrait

The Boundary Source Secret Realm, in East Moyu, is famous because of its huge help in shaping new worlds for God-Concealing cultivators.

Its location is north of the Lan family's ancestral grounds, seven thousand miles away in the Boundary Source Desolate River.

Viewed from the outside, this desolate river is full of poor mountains and evil waters, filled with fierce beasts, rising poisonous miasma, and exists with astonishingly powerful seals, blocking all cultivators attempting to break in.

If there really is a powerhouse who can rely on their own strength to forcibly break the seal and break in, it is also useless.

Because without the token personally crafted by the Mingyan Great Emperor for the Lan family, those below the Great Emperor's cultivation base cannot see through the essence here and will only fall into the poor mountains and evil waters, gaining nothing.

But if one holds the Lan family's token, then the moment one walks into this Boundary Source Desolate River, everything one sees will be completely reversed.

What is seen is no longer poor mountains and evil waters, no longer filled with fierce beasts, no longer rising poisonous miasma, but a huge basin.

In the center of the basin, something stands upright!

This object is astonishingly huge, nearly ten thousand feet tall, overall in a long strip shape, and carved with a large number of runes.

Anyone who sees this object for the first time will definitely have their mind roar, with endless ripples emerging.

Because this is a jade slip!

To be precise, this is an ancient portrait jade slip.

Its owner is unknown, but judging from the size of this jade slip, its owner must also be terrifyingly extraordinary.

As for its origin, in the records of the Moyu Holy Land, it arrived from outside the heavens during the Emperor Xuanyou Ancient Emperor era, fell into the Moyu Clan of that time, and was then borrowed by the Emperor Xuanyou Ancient Emperor.

Until many years later, under the efforts of the Great Emperor of the Moyu Clan at that time, with countless battle merits, the jade slip was finally retrieved from the Emperor Xuanyou Ancient Emperor.

Subsequently, this jade slip became the holy object of the Moyu Clan.

Until before the arrival of the Remnant Face, the Moyu Clan followed the Emperor Xuanyou Ancient Emperor to leave, built their own holy land outside the heavens, and after several turns, this object was exclusively enjoyed by the Mingyan Great Emperor.

Eventually, it became the property of the Lan family.

Its peculiarity lies in the portrait scene imprinted within it.

Holding the Lan family token, stepping into this jade slip allows one to walk from reality into illusion, from the present world into that portrait scene.

As for the specifics of that portrait...

Some call it Creation.

For many years, this secret realm has always been controlled by the Lan family. Outsiders wanting to enter need to pay a considerable price, and whether they can finally succeed depends on the Lan family's mood.

If the Lan family is unwilling, even if the price paid is great, it is useless.

And at this moment, outside this Boundary Source Desolate River where everything seen is poor mountains and evil waters, Xu Qing's figure approaches with a whistle, suddenly pausing in mid-air, looking down.

This place is sparsely populated and guarded by no one.

After all, not many people obtain the qualification to enter this secret realm, and the peculiarity here does not need to be guarded.

A few breaths later, a faint glow appears in Xu Qing's eyes, he raises his hand to take out the token given by the Empress, and without any hesitation, takes a step toward the desolate river below.

Like walking through a layer of water curtain, filtering out the mountains, rivers, fierce beasts, and poisonous miasma.

In the next instant, that huge basin and the vast, astonishing jade slip within it appear in Xu Qing's eyes.

"Walking into the portrait..."

Xu Qing gazes at the majestic jade slip, feeling the ancient aura and the sense of vicissitudes upon it, and finally, his gaze falls below.

"This jade slip is nearly thirty percent buried in the ground... the exposed part is only about seventy percent."

"What kind of existence needs such a large jade slip."

"And what kind of existence can portrait Creation."

A look of anticipation appears in Xu Qing's eyes. Although he roughly knows about this secret realm from Xue Chenzi's memory, he hasn't seen it with his own eyes after all.

And although he has experienced many secret realms in his life, this is the first time he has encountered one like this.

So, after confirming that the surroundings are clear and that this huge jade slip is operating normally, Xu Qing does not hesitate, holds the token, and heads straight for the jade slip.

Instantly approaching, without stopping for even a moment, the moment he touches this huge jade slip, his figure vanishes suddenly.

Not merging into the jade slip, but as if erased.

In a bizarre manner, he vanishes from the present world!

When he appears... he is already inside the portrait!

After seeing the scene before him clearly, the ripples in the heart of Xu Qing, who has appeared in this portrait, can no longer remain calm, rising violently.

"This is..."

Xu Qing's breath hitches.

For the knowledgeable Xu Qing, this would not normally happen; it is just that the scene he sees now is too astonishing.

This is a void!

Deep in the void, Xu Qing sees a huge candle.

The candle is red and is burning.

With the burning, the candlelight illuminates all directions, making the entire void flicker, and in the uncertain light and shadow of the halo, countless stars and countless worlds are forming in the gathering of dust.

Countless.

One can only see at the periphery of the halo that those stars and worlds complete the process of gathering from dust in an instant, and in the next instant, as if reaching the limit, they collapse, turning back into dust and scattering in all directions.

In this process, along with the formation of worlds and stars, countless rules and laws are born within, and then they are destroyed together, merging into the dust.

Repeating over and over, constantly cycling.

Just in this one glance of Xu Qing, at least hundreds of thousands of worlds appear and are destroyed.

But it is limited to the periphery of the halo.

The closer to the red candle, the slower the stars and worlds form, and because the formation is slow, the destruction is also slow.

So as Xu Qing looks, near the candlelight of the red candle, he can see many nearly complete stars.

"This scene..."

Xu Qing takes a deep breath. He doesn't know if this is true Creation, but he can clearly feel at this moment that in this portrait scene, it is filled with extremely rich world aura.

Rules, laws, origins—everything can be seen everywhere here.

"But it is illusory..."

Xu Qing's gaze sweeps over everything, murmuring softly.

But he knows very well that although they are all illusory, and although he has walked into the illusion, for God-Concealing cultivators, this will be an unparalleled place for enlightenment.

"But there is also danger."

Xu Qing's divine sense expands, enveloping all directions, his body flickers, and he moves forward carefully.

According to Xue Chenzi's memory, the canyon where the change occurred in his fate is located on a star in the middle of the candlelight halo.

Xu Qing is not sure if this star has finished its life and collapsed into dust after these few months.

So he does not waste time and speeds away within this portrait world.

As he approaches the halo, Xu Qing feels a sense of heat; that is the heat wave formed by the burning of the red candle in the distance, and he feels the changes in the rudiments of countless rules and laws within it.

And he carefully avoids the collapsing worlds along the way, getting closer and closer to the destination.

Until half an hour passes, Xu Qing finally sees the star from Xue Chenzi's memory from afar.

This star is in the midst of collapsing.

But because the area where it is located has a relatively slow flow of time, it has not completely collapsed yet, only half of it has collapsed.

Although approaching it is dangerous, at least there is still hope.

Seeing this, Xu Qing feels relieved in his heart and is about to head over, but in the next instant, his expression sinks, and his right hand suddenly raises to grab hard at his side.

A cold feeling sweeps across his palm.

Nothing.

Xu Qing's power Dao marks flash in his eyes, gazing in all directions, and information about a dangerous object existing in this Boundary Source Secret Realm from Xue Chenzi's memory emerges in his mind.

That is a strange existence.

Their specific form and specific number are unknown to Xue Chenzi.

He only knows that this kind of existence, although invisible, can be sensed due to the coldness after approaching, because of the heat contained here.

Thereby sensing it.

Although he doesn't know their true form, Xue Chenzi knows their origin.

These strange cold feelings used to be cultivators.

This concerns another kind of danger in this secret realm.

That is assimilation.

In this portrait world, if one stays for a long time, or gets too close to the red candle in the center, there is a certain probability of being assimilated here.

After assimilation, the cultivator is as if erased, turning into an unknown form, and is forever trapped in this illusory portrait, unable to walk into the present world.

Although most cultivators who come here know this in advance, as time passes, some people eventually end up assimilated and stay here for various reasons.

And their form after being erased—whether it is a soul state or another level—perhaps the Great Emperor knows, but clearly, Xue Chenzi does not understand.

Thus, after Xu Qing sweeps his cold gaze around, his body lets out a boom, his blood energy expands, and the peculiarity of his body gives him confidence that he is not something these strange existences can stain.

So, after looking around, Xu Qing continues to speed, getting closer and closer to the collapsing star.

Soon, the moment he draws near, Xu Qing takes a step forward and lands directly on this star.

The moment he lands, the heat disappears instantly, and endless cold spreads from all directions.

Although it looks empty, in Xu Qing's perception, he vaguely senses that countless strange things exist all around!

This is actually a star filled with such strange existences!

At the same time, outside this Boundary Source Secret Realm, in the west of East Moyu...

Within the West Moyu territory, that sacred Dao platform like wings is now shining with brilliant light.

In the Dao platform, at the highest point, on an octagonal altar, a figure sits cross-legged.

Their body is blurry, and the specifics cannot be seen, only the outline.

Although it is an outline, the fluctuations from this person and the indescribable terrifying aura make everyone who comes here to pay respects tremble, not daring to look directly.

As is the case now, a West Moyu Sovereign kneeling beside the altar is just like this.

He trembles uncontrollably in his heart and speaks in a low voice.

"Great Emperor, during this period, throughout the entire Holy Land, whether East or West, we have searched all areas. Except for the place where the Mingyan Great Emperor is in seclusion, we have not found the object you mentioned anywhere else."

The Moyu Great Emperor is silent.

The kneeling Sovereign waits for a long while before rising and respectfully taking his leave.

A long time later, on the silent altar, the Moyu Great Emperor's low voice emerges.

"Does this object really exist?"

As his words echo, the sound of iron chains rings above the altar, and a black-robed figure hangs down from the void.

Bound by iron chains all over, his flesh is being corroded, but this black-robed person shows no abnormality, as if he doesn't care at all, speaking calmly.

"I told you long ago that this Wishing Face possesses its own intelligence and was never found by others, but rather it goes to find those who are suitable."

"If it doesn't want you to find it, with your cultivation base, even if it appeared before you, you wouldn't be able to see it."

"And you have searched for so long without finding it, which is enough to show... you, Moyu Great Emperor, are not the suitable one."