Chapter 425: Deep Within the Inner Layer, the Formless Mother

Chirp! A clear, resonant cry, the Fire Phoenix leads the way.

The surging, erupting light of sickness, the ominousness that came with the infection, the solidified and proliferating fluorite red crystals—as the Phoenix Red True Flame, condensed into a violent force, swept past, all were crushed and incinerated, their jagged, uneven edges instantly becoming smooth and polished.

However, Du En had maintained this posture of plummeting and diving at extreme speed for a long time, yet this passage seemed to have no end at all; even now, the bottom remained out of sight.

Just how long had the Dark God been digging this pit?

Du En couldn't help but glance at the hanging lamp on his shoulder. To be honest, if not for the red sickness crystals that were growing deeper and more ominous, reflecting that he was indeed constantly moving downward, he would have even cautiously suspected whether he had already fallen into some trap set by the Dark God.

Facing his pointed gaze—which seemed to ask how she hadn't noticed even a shred of it—the Holy God felt no embarrassment or awkwardness this time.

She simply judged and weighed the situation, finally sighing: "This is falling toward the deep layer."

Hm? "The space of the inner layer, you are already able to make contact with it, right."

Indeed, he could.

"But the deep part of the inner layer, I'm afraid you still cannot set foot in it."

The deep part of the inner layer space? Deep-layer space?

Thinking of the four layers of space—the surface layer, inner layer, deep layer, and the bottom-most layer—Du En frowned slightly, though it was actually very difficult to see that tiny degree of curvature.

The Holy God saw it and hesitated, organizing her words: "It can't be called the true deep layer either. When it comes down to it, the deep space of the inner layer isn't actually like seawater or geological strata that can be described and measured with simple scales of distance. So, if I must say, he likely used some special method to create an interface similar to the deep layer within the inner layer."

Du En silently withdrew his gaze.

He had only just begun to come into contact with the inner layer; he had no exploration at all regarding matters of the deep space.

Even though he was a proper cultivator, if one's realm is insufficient, what one doesn't understand remains unknown.

However, he had roughly understood the situation regarding this seemingly endless pit.

Should one say it is worthy of being the Dark God's secret lair? To actually use such precise and profound spatial Dao techniques to create a deep-layer space within the inner layer of space, and to be able to connect it to the surface layer—it was fortunate that the door had been opened, otherwise, relying on himself alone, he wouldn't have even thought about entering.

It's just that with things this way, the retreat...

"Let me guarantee it, merging the Light Web in... it should be no problem!"

The Holy God began to show her power; that God-made spiritual vein, the Light Web she spoke of, immediately swayed and moved over from the inner layer, colliding with this side and merging in a very rough and simple manner.

Brilliance shone, red crystals collapsed.

The hanging lamp dimmed instantly, the True Flame firelight previously absorbed was squandered away, and then Du En saw this descending passage change very rapidly, with thirty or forty percent filled with light spots of various sizes.

Regardless of how tightly and meticulously the Dark God had set things up, the Holy God always used brute force to fly; she actually managed to squeeze in and merge, occupying as much as thirty or forty percent.

This couldn't be called seizing it entirely, but at the very least, it could guarantee a retreat! Moreover, the puppet-controlling bridge, which had been somewhat unstable, immediately stabilized.

That Dark God general did not discover the anomaly, because in its view, Du En detonating so many fifth-rank puppets would certainly result in a very serious backlash; falling into a moment of stagnation was already a very light degree of impact, and perhaps he was just suppressing the backlash.

This is the drawback brought by having too much cultivation knowledge, a kind of cognitive barrier; if it were the apostles of the Holy God's side, they would probably have already noticed that the opponent in front of them was not the real person.

Du En quickly revised his strategy for the entanglement and siege based on the battle situation on the other end; meanwhile, with the merging of the passage, a change in space also emerged invisibly.

Like folding, and also like leaping; in short, the time that would have taken a long time to fall was suddenly shortened to a very visible degree.

Visibly, a touch of blackness intruded into his vision.

Step! Du En, stepping into the water with one foot, nimbly bent his knees and then stood steady, calmly surveying his surroundings.

The silent blackness, like a curtain, filled five of the six sides of the three-dimensional space; one could not see where the end was. The bloody, vibrant red turned into a layer of water no deeper than a calf, spreading across the final side beneath his feet, like a boundless shallow sea.

This was the deep part of the inner layer space, a God-made quasi-deep-layer space? He silently experienced and realized the state of space here, which was vastly different from the normal—or rather, vastly different from the shallow surface layer—and felt that he was a little bit closer to the backbone of space itself, to those laws and principles.

Don't look at it as just a little bit; for the Transformation to Divinity stage, or even the Void Refinement stage, that is something dreamed of! Therefore, this place is actually a sacred site for practicing the Dao of Space; if one looks into it closely, it could even be said to be the prototype of a blessed land. If it were placed elsewhere, it would probably have already been cut away entirely by a cultivation sect and grafted into the steel buildings of the Central Capital.

Du En couldn't help but think this, a trace of regret rippling through him, because he had come here not for cultivation or seclusion, but to explore this lair of the Dark God.

At first glance, it seemed as if there was nothing here, as if it had been idled and emptied by the Dark God, but what the naked eye sees is not the full picture of this place!

Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils, seeing the leopard through a tube! He pushed this secret technique to its peak, and only then, in a state where his divine sense could not leave his body, did he capture a glimpse of the reality here with his eyes! A deep blood-red...

Du En's eyelids lifted slightly, his vision reflecting that touch of deep light.

Sizzle! Something was swinging down, passing directly through Du En's body; only after a moment did a sound emerge, and then, from the middle of the severed human body, a light arc suddenly appeared in the air, like a wound, from which surging fresh blood emerged.

Splash!

This fresh blood was quite substantial, as if space and light had been slashed and wounded, spilling out in gushes and merging into the layer of blood-water on the ground, stirring up waves, but if one observed carefully, one could see that the water level actually hadn't changed at all.

Du En was first split into two halves, then submerged by this fresh blood, and in the blink of an eye, he turned into nothingness; even the True Flame Fire Phoenix that had finished clearing the way and was now on guard similarly shattered and extinguished quietly, leaving only a wisp of blue smoke.

The external light dimmed from then on.

Invisibly, however, there was still an entrance, and it remained filled with strangely warm and bright light spots.

"Sizzle~"

Within the formless and substanceless, a sound mixed with mockery and displeasure seemed to arise.

The existence that had just launched the sneak attack immediately swung its weapon without a second thought.

Hands, or rather, crystal limbs as sharp as knives and swords.

Swish swish! If one could see, one would be able to see that the pair of crystal blades suddenly became dazzling; one did not know how many times they swung, and only after a moment did a sound emerge, followed by arcs of light that expanded and spread, rushing directly into the entrance passage, intending to repeat the same trick.

"Chirp!"

The True Flame Fire Phoenix that had just vanished into blue smoke, accompanied by a clear cry, suddenly reappeared at this moment; as it spread its wings, the True Flame surged out like a river, directly submerging those light arcs and evaporating all the blood that had appeared, rushing toward the formless existence with undiminished momentum.

?! It couldn't help but be greatly shocked, never expecting that it had failed to kill with one blow; but it was not a simple existence either, and immediately, with annoyance in its gaze, it unfolded a pair of blood-colored claws on its back and grabbed forward fiercely.

Before they even landed, a thick, bloody stench had already surged forth, and various ghostly wails and howls erupted within it, as if it were a net-casting spider, throwing out the web of resentful blood it had woven, instantly snaring the incoming True Flame.

Sizzle, roar, pfft...

Like water droplets into a hot wok, or like adding gas to a high flame, or like pouring water to extinguish a fire—three different forms of collision suddenly intertwined.

It had actually taken Du En's Phoenix Red True Flame, the culmination of his efforts, head-on!

This was his strongest secret technique in his conventional state! However, it was very dissatisfied with this, emitting bursts of ear-piercing cries that were hard to describe, echoing within this strange black-curtain space, and continuously intensifying, forcing out Du En, who had just avoided the sneak attack and taken the opportunity to hide in the dark.

The external light became complete once more; he had no expression or ripples, simply raising a hand to point at the opposite side, and then blue wood grew out with a boom.

Wood Domain.

The domain of blue wood expanded in the blink of an eye, with tall trees, emerald grass, and exotic flowers, blocking and cutting through the echoing cries; at the same time, small blood-colored flowers grew and bloomed, becoming increasingly enchanting and bloody as they absorbed whatever was permeating this space.

Delicate Flowers.

Two Dao techniques were superimposed and cast once more, transforming into a Wood Domain blooming with blood-colored flowers, trapping the enemy within.

"Roar!"

That strange existence let out a great roar immediately, shaking the entire space into a momentary pause.

"So it really is a part of the Source of Life! Did that guy use the part of the Star Source and Spirit Source he cut away and stole to create this thing?!"

Accompanied by the Holy God's hurried, shocked, and angry words, blood-colored beasts suddenly surged out from that formless existence; the scene was like fruit that had become overripe, bursting open directly.

Head after head of diverse blood beasts burst forth, surging with great might, roaring as they charged into the Delicate Flower Wood Domain, beginning to wreak havoc.

The green wood and blood flowers naturally met them head-on, either taking root, whipping, or binding... but these blood beasts were incredibly strange; although they possessed the power of the Transformation to Divinity stage, they were like mere shells, impossible to draw any nourishment from. Once struck down, they shattered, emitted blood, and vanished into smoke in the blink of an eye.

The Delicate Flower Wood Domain, unable to keep up its recovery with its consumption, began to fail, its center being rapidly torn apart.

Du En stared at the opponent with his Fiery Eyes of Truth, giving it an exceptionally unpleasant feeling of being spied upon, so it suddenly twisted its head, the head splitting open directly from the middle to reveal a terrifying eye within.

Composed of stitched-together corpse parts, filled with a riot of colors, and with various divine charms flowing and mixing together like a pot of mushy, foul-smelling porridge, it suddenly slammed into his field of vision, immediately causing the Fiery Eyes of Truth on this side to crack, blood flowing like fire.

Divine Corpse Death Eye!

An Shen had not just found one or two divine remains, but had found many; although many were merely shattered, fragmented pieces, once gathered together and made into this eye, then inserted into the head of this formless existence, it immediately radiated a bit of its original divine charm.

If it were only one, Du En would not be like this at all, but there were many, some light, some heavy, intertwined and crisscrossing, along with this carrier itself.

In this way, it caused the Fiery Eyes of Truth, which could see through the true nature of things, to be overwhelmed on the spot, making Du En's Nascent Soul feel a violent impact, immediately causing a splitting headache and a flood of complex information to appear out of thin air.

Rain God, Thunder God, Wind God... Formless Birth Mother! The name of the thing An Shen created suddenly crowded out the lingering charms of various gods, becoming the sole master, transforming into a giant abyss-like mouth, about to swallow Du En's heart and mind! Those who dare to peer into the abyss shall eventually be swallowed by the abyss!

He saw through its origin, and naturally suffered its backlash.

However, Du En's Dao heart remained calm and waveless, his mind not panicked in the slightest, only grave and cautious; he pushed his cultivation technique to the limit, and the Radiant Glory Dharma Domain erupted with a boom.

Within the heavy light, there were five layers of light wheels superimposed together, and from within them, a crazed divine pupil suddenly appeared, looking directly out from this new port that had emerged in his mind toward the outside world—at the Five Turbid Evil World that was hateful, that was to be destroyed, that was to be burned away! "Ah!!!"

The Formless Birth Mother, who had been feeling triumphant during the eye contact, suddenly let out a miserable shriek, a type of crimson flame drifting from its body—red to the point of turbidity, red to the point of blackness, red to the point of terror! The blood beasts that had been bursting forth from its body vanished on the spot, with only a pair of blood claws still able to block the True Flame Fire Phoenix.

Du En was not having an easy time either; it was because his physique was constantly transforming and strengthening, and his cultivation technique was already approaching the critical point of another breakthrough, that he was able to superimpose this onto the illusory level of his mind and directly guide out a bit of the true nature of the Divine Venerable's lingering hatred.

Yet even so, letting the shadow of that divine eye manifest finally caused it to see the shallow Evil World once more from the deepest principles themselves, from which terrifying hatred-fire surged, directly igniting Du En like a torch.

This was the true Phoenix Lingering Hatred!

It had always been trying to surface, trying to float from the deepest depths to the shallowest layer; the utilization and invocation Du En had used before were merely the spreading, burning flames, the heat waves at its very edges.

Therefore, even as resistant to burning as he was, a trace of pain could not help but appear on his face at this moment.

"Wah wah wah..."

The Holy God was even more flustered, her hanging lamp darting about as if her backside were on fire; she hadn't managed to escape in time just now and had also been touched by this profound hatred-fire.

However, she possessed a deep foundation after all, and soon suppressed and extinguished the flames on her body, turning instead to emit pure light to help Du En suppress the burning of the hatred-fire, allowing him to recover quickly as well.

Without hesitation or delay, he raised his hand forward.

Borrowing the fire, Divine Refining! The entire Delicate Flower Wood Domain was suddenly covered by fire; he pinched a sword-finger technique, slowly and firmly pulling it back to stand before him, his endless mana flowing out like a sluice gate opening, losing at a terrifying speed, to the point where it actually began to fail to keep up.

This had not happened before.

And the secret technique performed because of this caused the sword vessels, which should have been emerald green, to now be wrapped in the deep, faded, yet still not to be underestimated Phoenix Hatred-Fire that turned the emerald into a scorching red.

"Ah!!!"

The Formless Birth Mother opposite, amidst its miserable shrieks and screams, actually directly gouged out the Divine Corpse Death Eye on its head, using this to sever the causal connection of the eye contact, and then, relying on its own terrifying strength, attempted to suppress the scorching hatred-fire.

(End of chapter)