Chapter 281: Senior Bai, Run! A Being Above Heavenly Sovereign?

Looking at this great rift, Baichuan did not hesitate.

He simply leaped up and flew straight in.

In an instant, an invisible suction force swept over him, wrapping around his body and accelerating his fall.

Yin qi, utterly dark and utterly cold, came like a blade wind, ceaselessly corroding his dragon body.

Time did not know how long it had passed; a flash of light appeared before Baichuan's eyes, and he found himself in a mysterious space.

"Boom—!"

Beneath the heavy rumble, Baichuan crashed heavily toward the shattered earth below.

He had abruptly lost the ability to fly… no, perhaps that was not the right way to put it — it should be said that within this mysterious space, there was no air, and there also existed a force akin to a flight prohibition.

And the dragon-kind "Atmospheric Shuttle" ability he had been using all along had lost its footing — there was no air for him to shuttle through.

But at this moment Baichuan's mind was no longer on that; he began to constantly survey the depths of this mysterious Mingtu.

This was a horrifying stretch of ravaged earth, likewise devoid of light.

As far as the eye could see, atop the shattered earth lay nothing but corpses — endless, boundless corpses, lying silent within this dim mysterious space; among them were human forms, beast forms, and still others of bizarre, indescribable shapes bearing grotesque limbs.

The sole commonality was that every one of these corpses emanated a soul-seizing, terrifying aura, and the more flesh and blood that remained upon a corpse, the more powerful its aura.

The dim, red-tinged sky was pierced by countless chains radiating an indestructible aura; one end of every chain was linked to a remnant corpse, and from time to time one could see strands of extremely pure Spirit/Magic power flowing along the chains, streaming toward the other end.

But at this moment, sharp-eyed Baichuan saw, above those endless chains, a startling flood of yin qi — that flood of yin qi, whose source was unknown, surged wave-like under the effect of some force toward the far end of the heavens.

That was the place Baichuan had fallen in from, and the only exit.

"This is?"

Suddenly, Baichuan cried out in shock; looking closely, he even discovered among them several enormous dragon corpses measuring a hundred meters in length, among them both Eastern dragons and Western dragons.

Those dragon corpses, even after countless years had passed, still radiated terrifying dragon might; most of their flesh and blood remained upon the remains, suggesting they had been extraordinarily powerful super experts in life.

Baichuan conservatively estimated them to be at least at the peak of True Monarch, perhaps even having touched that step of Main God Heavenly Sovereign; they were several times more powerful than Ao Qing, whom he had once encountered, yet now they had still perished here.

"Come… come here…"

At this moment, that mysterious murmuring summoning voice rang out once more.

And compared to before, within this summoning voice, that indescribable allure had intensified countless times over; an ordinary cultivator at True Person realm, once hearing it, would surely be seduced into losing self-control, and even a True Monarch, if even slightly careless, would fall prey to its way.

Baichuan smiled lightly and looked toward the direction from which the summoning came.

Then he glanced at the Light Point drifting soundlessly up from his clawtip, paid no heed to the fact that he had already lost the ability to fly, and simply walked step by step across this shattered earth toward the interior.

"Buzz buzz buzz…"

The True Dragon's enormous body had returned to walking upon the ground; the weight of that massive frame drew from this stretch of space a series of dull tremors, and occasionally one could even hear the "agonized" crunch of this shattered earth giving way.

"Woo woo woo…"

At this moment, an abrupt change suddenly arose.

A bizarre, mind-disturbing wailing sound rang out.

Beneath this sound, Baichuan seemed to see a scene浮现 before his eyes — within the scene, a handsome, dignified youth radiating a powerful aura reached out toward him with a gentle face, pleading for rescue.

Baichuan's gaze shifted; he paid it no heed and continued forward without pausing a single step.

The scene shifted again — a pitifully lovely beauty, half-bare of garments, gazed at him with a pitiful air; within those beautiful eyes, light rippled, brimming with astonishing allure, as if begging him to save her.

He still paid it no heed.

The scene shifted once more — a bold, bald great fellow…

A handsome female general in silver armor, dashing and valiant…

A True Dragon whose entire body was crystalline and translucent, its scales clean and flawless — by even a dragon's standards, incomparably beautiful…

A silver dragon of slender build, its wingspan nearly covering the entire sky, lay fallen upon the ground, exposing its most vulnerable belly to him…

At this moment, a great flood of scenes flickered ceaselessly before him — among them human forms, and beast-formed, dragon-formed beings pleading with him for rescue, willing to pay any price for it.

Countless scenes flashed before his eyes without pause, so that he could no longer see the surroundings.

But Baichuan knew full well that they had long since perished.

"Sigh~~"

He finally came to a halt.

Just as the many figures within the scenes showed a flash of joy upon their faces.

A faint, drawn-out sigh rang out, carrying within it an astonishing power.

"Hiss!"

"You have long since passed away — why do you still cling to delusion?"

Within the murmur, like one speaking to himself, the expressions of the many figures in the scenes also changed.

The handsome youth was no longer gentle, revealing a look of savage unwillingness; the pitiful beauty was no longer pitiful, her affectionate eyes now showing venomous hatred… the crystalline, pristine True Dragon revealed a form rotted beyond recognition, crawling with countless worms… the silver dragon's vulnerable belly transformed into a hideous, nauseating mouth-organ layered with row upon row of sharp teeth…

But at this moment, a golden flame and a black-purple flame, like twin whirlpools, twined and spiraled as they ignited.

In an instant, Baichuan finally saw his surroundings clearly — a layer of Canglan Ice Frost, he knew not when, had slowly crept over his claws, attempting to slow his steps, even to freeze him in place.

Vast swarms of black, worm-like creatures gathered densely around his dragon body; looking closely, one could see their sharp mouth-organs greedily opening and closing without pause, as though constantly preparing to feed — and the bizarre wailing from before was the sound of those black worm-like creatures vibrating their wings.

But Baichuan showed not the slightest surprise, for his means of observing his surroundings were not limited to one.

"Dust to dust, earth to earth — be gone, all of you."

A soft chant, like a sigh of compassion, rang out; the countless beings within the scenes finally sensed the danger and, in great alarm, attempted to flee.

Correspondingly, the boundless swarms of insects around him finally sensed the terrifying heat and scrambled to scatter.

The terrifying flames exploded forth.

The golden flame ignited the earth; the black-purple flame seared spirit and consciousness — turning this place into a kingdom of fire.

Silently, without even the sound of falling, the area around the standing True Dragon suddenly lay open; not a single thing remained, save for a thick layer of black ash, deep enough to bury a True Dragon's claws, lying upon the ground.

"A bizarre technique — it must be the work of the master of that murmuring summoning voice."

"First, they use the remnant souls of those dead to lure, by every means, every living being that sets foot here into staying, to keep them company forever. If that fails, then next come the terrifying creatures raised—willingly or not—from the corpses of those dead, which forcibly devour them."

"Do those remnant souls left behind by the dead know the truth?"

"They know. But the unwillingness and resentment left at the final moment of their own deaths made them, even though they understood they were abetting evil, still do exactly that. This is the dead's jealousy toward the living."

"Is this meant to block anyone who dares approach?"

"But if that's the case, then why does that murmuring voice actively draw outsiders in?"

"Is it meant to lure? Or to test?"

Gazing at the embers on the ground, Baichuan could not help muttering to himself, analyzing continuously.

At this moment, regarding Old Dragon's slim chances, he too harbored a faint ominous premonition.

It seemed he could not delay any longer.

After wiping away the obstructing eerie creatures, Baichuan no longer lingered, quickened his pace, and hurried toward the source of that murmuring summoning voice.

Perhaps because of Baichuan's earlier display of might, his body still carried a startling aura of power at this moment.

For the rest of the journey, he encountered no further obstacles.

And so, finally guided by that murmuring voice, he followed the chains hanging from the firmament to the edge of the earth.

What met his eyes was a scene of chaos, yet endless chains pierced straight into that chaos.

"Mm—mm—"

One after another, muffled groans of pain rang out continuously.

He finally saw one of the objectives of this journey—Old Dragon Ao Qing.

Ao Qing's current state was utterly wretched. Not only had he reverted to his dragon form, he was locked in place by a chain pierced through his reverse scale, unable to struggle, as stream after stream of pure Spirit was ceaselessly drawn out by the chain.

Baichuan even faintly made out that, from time to time, a wisp of pale-gold Dragon Blood was being drawn out—that was the most primordial Dragon Blood of all dragon-kind, and the root that represented whether dragon-type beings were divinely powerful or not.

Yet at this moment, this stock of primordial Dragon Blood was being drawn out unceasingly as if it cost nothing, flowing into that chaos.

So much so that the other party's entire body of scales looked somewhat dimmed, taking on a sallow greenish-yellow hue, no longer possessing the vibrant emerald color of days past,

Besides Ao Qing, he also discovered other figures: a great bird that should have been entirely radiant with golden light, incomparably majestic, but whose feathers were now dim and lusterless and whose expression was listless; a Daoist in a Daoist robe whose face was deathly pale; a monk with a shaved head wearing a kasaya; a young, cold, aloof woman in snow-white robes with a long sword at her waist; a heap of bone-white skeletal frames whose specific form could no longer be made out; a humanoid figure with several pairs of wings on its back and an expression of utter sanctity upon its face, resembling an angel; a giant dragon that Baichuan had once been most familiar with; and more…

It could be said that this place had gathered together every kind of powerful being from both East and West in this world; the aura emanating from each figure was at the very least Zhenjun Realm.

It was hard to imagine that Zhenjun or divine beings—exceedingly rare in the outside world, the kind an ordinary person might never see in a lifetime—were here counted by the dozen!

These great existences, who should have looked down upon the world, carefree and unrestrained, were at this moment utterly wretched, reduced to fish and meat on someone else's chopping block.

Then who was it that brought all this about?

"Cough, cough…"

The sound of weak coughing arose. Perhaps the commotion caused by Baichuan's approach was too great, and those Zhenjun Realm and divine-realm powerhouses, each pierced through by chains with eyes closed as their power was drained, also opened their eyes one after another.

In an instant, countless gazes were cast over, continuously sizing up Baichuan, this unfamiliar visitor. The emotions within them ranged from curiosity, excitement, mockery, schadenfreude…

The one thing that never changed was only the deep pity within those gazes. Countless experiences, no doubt, had taught them that anyone who came here had almost zero hope of leaving alive.

Of course, at the very depths of those gazes, there was also no lack of a sliver of hope—otherwise they would not have sized him up at all. After all, given even the slightest chance to escape this place, this group of powerhouses would never let it slip.

"S-Senior Bai?!"

A startled, incredulous voice rang out.

It turned out Ao Qing had also awakened. Seeing the dragon-kind elder he had not seen in years, the Old Dragon was also greatly shocked.

"Oh, so it's a fellow clansman of yours, Daoist friend?"

"Hey, Old Dragon, quickly call your clansman to save us out of here!"

"Sigh, looks like another fellow Daoist is done for."

"Daoist friend, please lend a hand. There will be a generous reward afterward."

In an instant, because of Ao Qing's voice, voices kept rising from among that group of Zhenjun and divine beings.

Yet Ao Qing ignored the voices of everyone around him. Disregarding his weakened dragon body, he anxiously said to the true dragon below: "Senior, although I don't know why you've come here, please leave quickly! Otherwise, once that one appears, you won't be able to get away!!!"

"No, no, Daoist Ao—how can your clansman have only just arrived and you're already hurrying him away?"

A woman's voice teased with a laugh.

"Since he is a clansman acknowledged by Daoist Ao, this old Daoist won't hide it from you either—leave as fast as you can. This place is extremely dangerous."

A Daoist spoke in agreement.

"Daoist friend, please leave."

A cold, aloof female Sword Immortal, unable to bear watching the cruel scene about to unfold, likewise spoke in agreement.

"Daoist friend, could you bear to abandon this little lady? As long as you save me, this one is willing to do anything you wish."

A seductive, scantily clad, beautiful woman with sheep horns on her head tempted.

In an instant, all manner of voices came chaotically toward Baichuan.

Among them were those kindly telling him to leave, those who seemed to have already given up struggling and only wanted to drag others down with them, and those who hoped to be saved and leave together.

Every facet of human nature was laid bare at this moment.

Yet as the protagonist of it all, Baichuan turned a deaf ear.

He stood like a statue, motionless, silently watching the crowd, listening to their words, and beginning to analyze every sentence they spoke.

After a long while, he slowly summarized several key pieces of information.

This group of once-high-spirited super-powerhouses and great beings all seemed to have lost their courage because of a mysterious existence—even daring not to speak that being's name directly, lest they invite misfortune. But what kind of misfortune could make Zhenjun who had already been reduced to captives and harbored thoughts of death still not dare to mention it?

One must know that even a Heavenly Sovereign could not do this—make this group of Zhenjun and divine beings so afraid.

Furthermore, this existence seemed to be nearby, and might appear according to a certain Time pattern.

Without a doubt, the other party was surely the root cause of all this, and very possibly the true sovereign of this world, Mingtu.

In summary, from the current information it could be analyzed that the other party was very likely a powerful existence above Heavenly Sovereign and Main God.

Then, what was his choice?

Ignoring everything here, he turned around and left directly, avoiding a battle against a terrifying existence that was extremely likely above Heavenly Sovereign on the other's home ground.

Or should he try to rescue Ao Qing and wait for that mysterious existence to appear, then fight it?

"Clang——!!!"

"Clatter clatter…"

"Clatter clatter…"

However, before Baichuan could think it through, the next instant, an inexplicable sound rang out.

Then a wave of inexplicable, terrifying aura began to spread forth.

Under that terrifying aura, even more pure yin qi that had already taken solid form surged out madly, causing the temperature here to plummet sharply while also stirring the chains between the heavens to shake violently, rubbing together and emitting a clear, trembling hum.

The dimness between heaven and earth also began to waver, growing even darker.

"It's over!"

"Too late, too late! T-that one has appeared!"

"Sigh, another fellow daoist about to meet misfortune."

"Hahaha, it's coming, it's coming, let us suffer together and enjoy suffering together!"

"Lord, my supreme Lord, I welcome your arrival!"

For a moment, some sighed and closed their eyes in不忍, among them Old Dragon Ao Qing, who at this point had already painedly closed his dragon eyes, unwilling to witness the tragic scene that would follow.

At the same time, there were also those who gloated, laughing maniacally with heart-wrenching shrieks, yet unknowingly shedding a few drops of blood tears.

Of course, there were also those amid this unfortunate encounter who instead became obsessed with the power the other displayed, abandoning themselves and blindly worshipping the other.

And at this moment, Baichuan, amid the varied reactions of the crowd, slowly raised his dragon head and gazed at the descent of that mysterious existence…

(End of this chapter)