Translator: Ninetales Editor: DarkGem
When the divine flood dragon king saw Qin Mu also lying on the floor and acting dead, he was at a loss. He was a god, the divine flood dragon king, the esteemed god of the flood dragons, so how could he escape from trouble by shamelessly playing dead like Hu Lingâer and the rest?
Thump.
The divine flood dragon king collapsed onto the floor, his limbs distorting. His death seemed to be even more miserable than that of Qin Mu, which made it evident it wasnât his first time playing dead.
The huge head came down, but its eyes seemed to be bad. The giant face literally brushed across everyoneâs bodies as they held their breaths and remained motionless.
Issh.
The stone statue let out a long hiss before slowly straightening up to walk into the darkness. The thumping footsteps gradually went away.
âThis stone statue seems to be looking for something.â Qin Mu jumped up and pondered over it. âWhere did it come from? Great Ruins? Or another world? What is it looking for?â
Hu Lingâer and all of the flood dragons crawled up while the divine flood dragon king patted the dust off his body. Hu Lingâer praised him, âDivine flood dragon king, among all of us, youâre the best at playing dead. You must have practiced it many times! When you are free, you must teach me more!â
The divine flood dragon kingâs face flushed and he muttered, âI did not, donât talk nonsense! Playing dead is all about talentâ¦â
Qin Mu walked away while saying, âLetâs continue our search. Everyone be careful, since we donât know if there are other stone statues here! Divine flood dragon king, whatâs your opinion of the one we saw earlier?â
The divine flood dragon king thought for a moment before saying, âThat stone statue is most likely not from Great Ruins.â
Qin Mu was slightly stunned. âNot from Great Ruins? Why do you say so?â
âThe stone statues in Great Ruins brave the wind and rain, frost and cold, so all of them are very old and worn down. But this stone statue was quite clean and fresh, as though it had just become a stone statue.â
But the divine flood dragon king couldnât be sure. âHowever, there are also stone statues in Great Ruins that are most peculiar, so it could be one which hides in some sealed space where the elements cannot reach it.â
Qin Mu muttered to himself irresolutely as he pondered over it. âCould there have been numerous stone statues hidden under God Broken Mountain Range? When it was destroyed, could they have risen upâ
âItâs a possibility,â the divine flood dragon king said. âYour Majesty, Dragon Rearing Sovereign had once said that the origin of God Broken Mountain Range was very fishy. It surrounded Great Ruins, separating it and Eternal Peace. Great Ruins was in a piece of chaos yet it was peaceful outside it, so there definitely had to be something wrong with God Broken Mountain Range.â
As they entered deeper into the strange place, the gray fog and the darkness grew thicker and thicker. The air was filled with a dullness that could make one go crazy, and from time to time, trembling from Earthquake Cauldron would come from afar.
Qin Mu headed toward the tremors, and not long after, they encountered a second stone statue. It also seemed to be searching for something.
âDivine flood dragon kingâs words make senseâ Qin Mu avoided the stone statue and thought to himself, âThese stone statues are most likely from under the God Broken Mountain Range!â
A mountain range being able to hold back the peculiarity of Great Ruins was strange by itself. On what did it rely on to block the darkness of Great Ruins?
Since Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor had used Earthquake Cauldron to shatter God Broken Mountain Range, the darkness of Great Ruins had expanded by a hundred miles. Just from this point, it could be seen that God Broken Mountain Range had really possessed the ability to block the darkness.
The mountain range should have appeared after Founding Emperor Empire was wiped out and become Great Ruins. Qin Mu had once heard people saying that some god had created God Broken Mountain Range to separate Eternal Peace and Great Ruins and prevent people from Great Ruins to come in. When they created the mountains, they reached Mount Meruâs area, but because there was someone on top of Great Thunderclap Monastery, they took a detour.
It couldnât be said for sure, but the god who had created the mountain range might have also buried numerous stone statues underneath it.
âYoung master, could this stone statue be one of those that popped up in Eternal Peace Empire?â Hu Lingâer asked. As Qin Mu froze, stunned, she added, âIt might be the god statues from near God Broken Mountain Range. Because many gods of High Heavens and other strong practitioners had died here, the stone statues could use them as sacrificial offerings to come back to life. However, because the sacrifices werenât enough, they couldnât revive completely and can only move around.â
âThereâs this possibility as well,â Qin Mu said with some suspicion. âIf thatâs the case, what are the stone statues looking for?â
âOf course itâs the Earthquake Cauldron that shattered God Broken Mountain Range!â Hu Lingâer said as though it was expected. âEarthquake Cauldron is their weapon and they need to find it to release all of its power. Although Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor shattered God Broken Mountain Range, he definitely didnât release everything that was inside the cauldron.â
âLingâer is really smart!â Qin Mu praised.
The little fox was proud of herself.
âItâs just that since the stone statues can move, why donât they look for other meteorological weapons?â Qin Mu shook his head. âFinding other weapons would be much easier. On top of that, this place is still trembling, so itâs evident that Earthquake Cauldron is still releasing its power continuously. With that, it shouldnât be too difficult for the stone statues to find it from the direction of the tremors. Because of that, what you guessed should be wrong. Divine flood dragon kingâs guess is more logical.â
Hu Lingâerâs proudness vanished without a trace.
Suddenly, Qin Mu stopped and collapsed to the floor to play dead again. Incomparably heavy footsteps came from in front of them as a tall stone statue walked toward them. Qin Mu narrowed his eyes and saw that the back of that stone statue was filled with flags. They had also petrified, but there was a huge eye on each and every flag, which looked very strange.
Lumps of black qi poured into the flags behind the stone statue. With it, one of the eyes on a flag gradually transformed from rock into flesh and blood. The eye slowly became a true eye.
It rolled around in the flag, looking very rough. It was obvious that the energy wasnât enough for it to completely break free of its petrified state.
âDevil eye! The stone statue is a devil!â
Qin Muâs scalp crawled and he almost jumped up. Since it was a devil, it definitely couldnât be a stone statue from under God Broken Mountain Range. What walked in Great Ruins in the darkness were the monsters of the devil race. They werenât afraid of the strangeness because they were the peculiarity themselves!
Qin Mu once met a devil god in the darkness, and he had lured them forward, making him mistake the outskirts of Fengdu as Carefree Village. Village Chief had even fought with him!
âThatâs not right. If these stone statues are devil gods, why did they become stone statues? The devil gods I saw in the past were all full of vigor!â
All kinds of thoughts jumped around in his head, and he suddenly thought of a possibility. The world of the stone statues wasnât the one overlapping with Great Ruins and Eternal Peace. They werenât the devil gods from Great Ruins, but had come from another world. Because they traversed into another world, their corporeal bodies turned into stone and their power still remained outside!
âWhat exactly is going on in this place?â
Qin Muâs mind was groggy. At night in Great Ruins, there were three to five different worlds, but now that God Broken Mountain Range had crumbled, a new world had shown up!
âIs that new world going to overlap with Eternal Peace? Why did such an unimaginable thing happen?â
Just as he thought this far, the devil eye on the flag rolled to survey the surroundings. Suddenly, its gaze landed on Qin Mu and the rest who were playing dead on the ground, and playfulness appeared in it.
Fear struck Qin Muâs heart.
The flag suddenly fell off the back of the stone statue and landed right in front of them. Qin Mu abandoned his plans to play dead and immediately rose while shouting, âDivine flood dragon king!â
The divine flood dragon king instantly transformed back into his original form when he heard him. Qin Mu brought Hu Lingâer to jump onto its while the dragon qilin led the other flood dragons to climb up the dragonâs back. The divine flood dragon then whooshed and rushed away!
Behind them, the stone statue turned around and its hand slammed down at an extremely fast speed!
The divine flood dragon king roared, and all his vital qi exploded, turning into a torrenting flood. It transformed into a long river which quickly coiled around the arm of the stone statue, trying to crush it.
The arm of that stone statue bent and straightened, and with that, the divine art of the divine flood dragon king was shattered.
He felt his blood ran cold and shouted, âYour Majesty, itâs a true god!â
âIt should be a true devil!â Qin Mu corrected him.
The stone statue raised its feet and caught up to them in a few steps. The other hand came slamming down, and the divine flood dragon king avoided the strike. In the meantime, the flag soared into the sky before landed on the ground. The devil eye on it continued to stare at the group.
When the divine flood dragon king escaped a certain distance away, the petrified flag would soar up once again and land close to them. It was like a hopping flag.
âThe stone statue is relying on that eye to see! Without it, the devil god wonât be able to locate us!â
Qin Mu instantly came to a realization and took out Sun Jade Eye from his taotie sack. He immediately placed it eye on the dragonâs back and activated it without a word.
Hmmmm!
A beam of sun divine ray tore apart the darkness and the fog, slicing at the eye on the flag. A black ray instantly shot out from the devil eye as well, blocking the sun divine ray.
Qin Mu grabbed Moon Jade Eye with his other hand and adjusted its direction. A thin light blade shot out from Moon Jade Eye, and wherever it passed by, space would literally solidify into substance!
The rays from one a and a moon instantly tore apart the black ray from the devil eye and shattered the eye. The petrified flag was left with only a broken hole!
âUsing Moon Jade Eye and Sun Jade Eye together seems to result in an even greater power!â
Qin Mu suppressed the astonishment in his heart and raised his head to look at the stone statue. Its movements suddenly stopped, and it tilted its ears as though it was trying to hear something.
âDonât move.â Qin Mu whispered under his breath. The divine flood dragon king immediately stopped and Qin Mu said softly, âSlowly walk, donât hurryâ¦â
The divine flood dragon king slowly crept forward in fear of making any sound while Qin Mu stared intensely at the stone statue. It seemed to be looking around, smashing here and kicking there, but it didnât notice them.
Suddenly, the divine flood dragon kingâs body paused and he said in a trembling voice, âYour Majestyâ¦â
âContinue walking!â Qin Mu didnât turn back his head.
âYour Majesty, look ahead!â the divine flood dragon king croaked.
Hu Lingâerâs voice was also trembling. âYoung master, look aheadâ¦â
âAhead?â
Qin Mu was slightly stunned and turned back to look before them. As his eyes caught sight of what the others were referring to, he couldnât help staring blankly, all his sense having flown out. Behind them, the stone statue pummeled everything and shattered the whole place, slowly closing in on them.
Yet Qin Mu seemed to feel nothing. After some time, he muttered, âImperial Preceptor, what have you doneâ¦â