Chapter 488: Reaching a Consensus, Beginning to Open the Gate

The Jianmu Demon Spirit could not understand why. This conflicted severely with its understanding of immortal cultivation! It could only be said that it did not understand the beauty of "liver-burning" cultivation, nor did it understand the various efforts Du En had made to become resistant to burning for the sake of self-detonation. In any case, now that the Indestructible Holy Source Body had been forged, his self-detonation sacrifice strategy had reached its culmination!

Die.

It seemed that one could read this color of absolute calm in the eyes of Du En, who was rushing over again, so fast it was as if he were treading upon time.

The expression of the Jianmu Demon Spirit changed, and it simply unleashed another burst of power.

Boom! A loud sound erupted from behind the Upper Realm Gate, and another impact occurred. The door leaves were even knocked open a bit, and a malice familiar to Du En quietly permeated out. The Red Star in the firmament, which had appeared stable, suddenly became unstable.

In the end, is it still that reverse side?

Going to such great lengths to do so much, just to connect the front and the back? Is the Luoyu Supreme doing some kind of simulation? Du En surveyed the overall situation, feeling full of doubts for a moment.

There was no time to think about it now, because the Jianmu Demon Spirit wore a wild, arrogant smile, seemingly wanting to take the opportunity to use some kind of method.

Leaving the Upper Realm Gate to the two of them, Du En focused on killing this guy.

It sounded quite simple, but it proved difficult to actually do.

At the very least, Sheng Zhaoshui and An Shen, looking at each other at this moment, both felt it was extremely thorny, because they had actually tried to sever the connection between the two sides just now, but they still did not succeed, and still let the Jianmu Demon Spirit draw in another collision from something behind the gate.

Therefore, there was not much they could actually do now.

One of the options was to use the other's own methods against them! The Upper Realm Secret Key!

Since it required such great effort to produce this key, it must be an indispensable link. Therefore, taking it out—whether to analyze and apply it or to threaten to shatter it—would surely make the evil entity behind the gate wary, buying critical time for Du En to surround and blast the Jianmu Demon Spirit to death.

After various considerations, the decision was made.

Thus, a triangular iron plate flew out from An Shen's rhombic mirror; it was the reforged Upper Realm Secret Key.

Hahaha!

You are finally willing to take it out!

Seeing this, the Jianmu Demon Spirit was immediately overjoyed and hurriedly opened its mouth to spit. It spat out a mouthful of essence blood it had kept for a long time, and at the critical moment of Du En's fierce double-pronged siege, it transformed into a strange rune.

Consequently, Du En lunged at empty air on the spot. He did not care at all about the wounds caused by his own platinum spear, but only looked back sharply to see the Jianmu Demon Spirit suddenly appear in the air in front of An Shen, its hand already grasping the triangular iron plate, the Upper Realm Secret Key.

That rune had also already been branded onto it, glowing red and seeping inside, causing the iron plate key to hum and emit strange fluctuations.

Click!

The Upper Realm Gate suddenly closed as it was before, and then sounds of machinery began to ring out, as if it had entered a normal opening mode. The moment the door closed completely, the evil entity behind the gate could not help but reveal excitement and agitation.

"Haha! It is done! The Great Dao is achieved!"

The Jianmu Demon Spirit was incomparably excited, acting as if no one else was around.

The Heaven and Earth Binding Rope also loosened at the sound, effectively failing.

It was proud, it was wild, it chattered incessantly: "I must thank you for reforging it well, otherwise I don't know how much effort it would have wasted me! Tsk! If it weren't for those three beasts back then, my Great Dao would have been achieved long ago!"

"Sure enough, you are Jian Yi, or rather, a main body created by a split-thought plant manifestation or something similar. In short, the reason you couldn't find the fragments yourself before was actually because you couldn't..."

"Haha, do you think I would tell you whether that is the case? But there is one thing that is correct, and worthy of my praise: your artifact-refining attainments are truly not bad, to actually be able to reforge it so... new?"

"Only realizing it now? Thank you for letting me know how it is to be used."

An Shen said this calmly, and the essence blood rune that had already seeped into the Upper Realm Secret Key suddenly resurfaced, was forced out, flicked away, and dissolved. The half-opened Upper Realm Gate also suddenly jammed; the true controller of the key was taking over.

In this way, the evil entity behind the gate should not respond for the time being, and at the same time...

The other two silently surrounded it. The Jianmu Demon Spirit was still in the air, but layers of principles for obstruction had already been laid out in all directions, isolating it and cutting it off from the Inverted Jianmu, making it unable to rely on this fallen divine wood to escape and regenerate.

Cold sweat flowed down involuntarily.

"Ho, how can this be? This is my life-bound dharma treasure..."

"Do not deceive yourself; that only makes people look down on you."

"Reforging? You are wrong; it was refining a new one. Otherwise, how could it have taken so long?"

"The reason that skin of yours is so tattered is because you were digging out the hidden techniques on it as much as possible, not because you wanted to explore information."

The two people and one god spoke one after another, while still brewing lethal moves.

The Jianmu Demon Spirit could not help but reveal a look of relief.

This was fine too; at least it was simple and quick, without having to suffer torture.

Thinking and sighing in its heart, it looked moved. After all, years of scheming had fallen short; in the end, it had been careless, in the end... Then, it was blasted into nothingness on the spot by the killing moves empowered by the Dao-might of the three, dying as thoroughly as possible.

However.

"Although we succeeded in eliminating him, as expected, neither the bewitching Red Star nor the Inverted Jianmu will disappear obediently."

Du En said this in a tone that showed no surprise, and shifted his gaze to the surrounding sky.

The light of the Red Star had slightly receded due to the death of Jian Yi. Although the garden layer of the Five Elements and Four Seasons in the air no longer had such great pressure, its red bewitchment did not shrink or disappear because of this, but remained hanging high in the starry firmament, though its edges were vaguely blurred.

The Jianmu underfoot, its roots, branches, leaves, and fruits no longer emerged endlessly, having been swept away by the fire sea tide of Phoenix Remnant Hatred. However, although the main trunk and roots were no longer surging with evil power, they were still like a dam blocking the sea, able to stand motionless within the fire sea tide.

"Being so resistant to burning, it is clearly not something we can destroy."

"And being so high and distant, it is not something we can easily touch."

"So, for now..."

Looking back at each other, the two people and one god actually knew that there was only one course of action at the moment.

That was to go to the reverse side of the space and see if the problem could be completely solved there. If that really didn't work, causing trouble and destruction was also possible. In short, do one's best and leave the rest to fate!

At the same time, since it could be basically determined that the space behind the Upper Realm Gate was the reverse side of the space they had once visited, they could now go directly through this gate.

An Shen already knew how to urge the key, and it was very simple to open it.

However, Du En had some slight misgivings. He no longer indulged the Phoenix Remnant Hatred, but he did not forcibly undo the transformation of the dharma treasure either; he just suppressed it back into the spear, causing the fire sea tide and the fire cloak on his body to disappear rapidly, and then, with his other free hand, took out that bone whistle.

"The enemy went to great lengths just to open the gate to come and go. If we enter through this gate, I fear there are still improprieties, but it is a pity... the situation now does not allow for choice..."

The bone whistle was already covered in cracks, though it was unclear when they had appeared.

The most likely cause was the two impacts on the Upper Realm Gate just now, which had rippled over here, crossed the heavy obstructions on Du En's body, and still cracked it.

It might be barely possible to use it to open the gate one more time, but after it was used, it would likely shatter completely and turn into nothingness. That was why Du En had made the decision to enter through the gate all of a sudden.

An Shen and Sheng Zhaoshui saw the decision here, and although they also had some slight misgivings, they did not dwell on them too much. Now, seeing this scene, they were completely relieved and understood the reason.

"Its implications are likely even broader, perhaps not even limited to this Qingxuan Star Realm, so it is better to keep it."

"That is exactly so. To tell the truth, I consider myself quite knowledgeable, but I truly cannot recognize the origin of this little thing. No matter how I look at it, it is just ordinary cattle or sheep bone, and that aura of its is also extremely strange and difficult to grasp."

An Shen and Sheng Zhaoshui spoke in this manner.

Du En glanced at the latter, somewhat suspicious that this fellow was not telling the truth.

The latter was likely feeling a bit guilty; upon receiving such a glance, he feared Du En would once again deliver some blunt, biting remark, so he immediately began to change the subject: "Speaking of which, whether it is Bai Ji or Zhu Qing, they actually aren't all that formidable. There is a sense of hollowness and flimsiness about them. If we had only beaten Zhu Qing until he was crippled or unconscious earlier, we could try to interrogate him now to see what he knows about this little thing."

Although there was a suspicion of hindsight and changing the subject, it had to be said that these words did indeed have some merit.

An Shen chimed in: "Judging from Jian Yi's past experiences, his hollowness and lack of substance are likely not the result of any evil corruption or degradation; he is simply that level of person. As his subordinate, Zhu Qing is probably just the same sort of goods as Jiu Yun—adept at bluffing and posturing, but when it comes to being truly calculating or steadfast, he possesses neither."

"Do not sit there judging from a position of superiority; in all things, one must fear the 'what if'."

Du En said something that was very correct but also seemed like a deliberate retort, then his gaze suddenly flickered: "Come to think of it, ever since Zhu Yi was brought back by Jian Yi—or rather, released back—I actually haven't properly asked her about this. Perhaps she knows something on her end."

"Hm?"

"..."

Both Sheng Zhaoshui and An Shen paused.

You actually didn't ask her to clarify this matter? This, this... they had assumed Du En had long ago secretly used divine sense transmission or some other means to confirm it with her, and that there was simply nothing worth mentioning, which was why they hadn't exchanged information.

After all, although they were currently in the same group, they each harbored their own secret agendas, and there were many inconsistencies in their stances and persistence.

They would cooperate with great sincerity, but to say they were completely open with one another was thinking too simply.

And then you tell us that, regarding this crucial matter, you actually didn't inquire or verify it!

Yet, looking at Du En's expression, it seemed, perhaps, to be true and accurate! Then, why?

The answer was actually quite obvious.

An Shen glanced at Sheng Zhaoshui, and the corner of Sheng Zhaoshui's mouth twitched. He always felt he had encountered a bugler; whenever he met a situation that was inconvenient for the god to speak of directly, he liked to let him sound the alarm first, and then he would follow up.

It was mainly because An Shen knew his own style didn't really mesh well with Du En's, and now that he was in a situation of having to be rational, restrained, and "watch the room," he would definitely make full use of any mouthpiece available to him.

In any case, this seemingly flippant fellow wouldn't mind. After muttering to himself for a moment, he spoke decisively: "In other words, you were actually intentionally waiting for us here?"

"You could say that."

Du En put away the bone whistle and looked toward the Gate of the Upper Realm: "Zhu Yi is not dead yet, and there is still a possibility of saving her, so naturally, I must go to save her. Although I am not some great saint, there is a portion of responsibility on my part for her falling into the enemy's hands again."

Uh, according to you, wouldn't that mean you have to keep her by your side and look after her forever to say you have no responsibility at all? Do you have to be so excessively absolute? Your desire for responsibility is a bit too great...

Sheng Zhaoshui immediately began to grumble inwardly, then was met with Du En's calm gaze.

"What I just said was that we could clearly foresee her being abducted, yet the result was that we only adopted a 'fishing' style of passive response. Sheng Zhaoshui, do you dare say you were stupid enough not to foresee such a situation, or brain-dead enough not to have such an obvious and clear intention?"

"..."

Sheng Zhaoshui remained silent, shrugged his shoulders, and spread his hands helplessly.

With an expression that said, "You're right, let's just listen to you," he was simply too cavalier, making one want to give him a good beating.

Du En ignored him and looked only at An Shen: "What is Fellow Daoist An's opinion?"

"I fear the situation is not that simple... However, since Fellow Daoist Du has foreseen it, you must have made preparations, so it has not yet reached the point of being impossible."

In other words, if it were impossible, he would not do it.

One is willing to allow for sacrifice.

The other is cold and indifferent on the inside.

Although both are powerful helpers, to be honest, it would be better to work alone.

Du En could not help but think this at that moment.

Then, he spun his spear, his gaze fixed on the Gate of the Upper Realm.

With opinions unified and their strength mostly recovered, it was time to open the gate and enter to see exactly which act of the Supreme's grand drama this was!

Click, click-click-click...

As An Shen activated the key, the Gate of the Upper Realm suddenly began to emit various sounds of mechanisms engaging and releasing, then quickly stopped. The triangular iron plate-like key flew out and landed in the now-revealed triangular keyhole.

Click! Hum! As it gently locked into place, a hum arose. Centered on the triangular iron plate, three types of patterns extended toward the three directions of the gate's surface: one with very strict, rigid, and formal lines; one complex and ever-changing like clouds; and one twisted and distorted, resembling blood vessels and tendons.

The three types of patterns reached the door frame and stopped, emitting three different kinds of light.

Pure white, deep azure, and dim, evil... intangibly, it seemed to correspond to the three people before the gate.

"Very well, Fellow Daoist An, there is clearly a problem with you; why not confess quickly?!"

No one paid any mind to Sheng Zhaoshui's nonsense. He laughed to himself after speaking; he didn't actually care, as his gaze had been fixed on the gate the entire time.

Bang! A partition suddenly covered the triangular iron plate.

(End of chapter)