Chapter 163: Cemetery of Gods and Demons, First Visit to the Wasted World
It was a sensation of extreme distortion, transcending ordinary spatial teleportation. It wasn't a simple dizziness or tearing, but rather a feeling as if one's entire being—body, soul, consciousness, even the spirit—had been forcibly disassembled into its most fundamental particles and thrown into a madly swirling, illogical, chaotic blender. Time lost its meaning, space was a chaotic mess, as if compressed into an infinitesimal singularity one moment, then stretched to a cosmic membrane the next.
Ye Li held on to the last bit of clarity in her spirit. The power of her soul in the Nirvana Realm was like a beacon in a storm, firmly protecting her core. At the same time, she could clearly feel that from the hand clasped with hers, came the equally firm and even gently soothing power of the mysterious woman. Like the roots of a lotus, they supported each other and jointly resisted the cross-border turbulence that was enough to scare away the souls of ordinary Saint Realm cultivators.
I don’t know how long it took, maybe a moment, maybe ten thousand years.
The chaotic force that was enough to crush everything suddenly disappeared.
"boom!!"
It wasn't a sound, but a sense of impact. The two of them were like meteors falling from an infinite height, crashing hard onto a solid patch of ground.
The huge inertia caused them to stagger, and the touch under their feet felt unusually "crisp" and "dead silent", as if they were not stepping on soil, but dust and dead bones accumulated over billions of years.
The moment they stood firm, without even having time to look around, an indescribable "breath" of decay, ruin, chaos, and a chill that penetrated deep into the soul, like poisonous water that penetrated every pore, instantly drowned them.
This is not just a simple stench, but a kind of filth on the "level of existence".
"Void miasma!" Ye Li's pupils suddenly contracted and he shouted in a low voice.
Almost as soon as she spoke, the internal cultivation techniques of the two of them began to operate at their maximum capacity. A faint chaotic aura enveloped Ye Li, and the five fragments of the Samsara Mirror trembled slightly within her body, emanating an invisible force field that forcibly repelled, even subtly devoured and decomposed, the miasma that sought to erode her spiritual power, her body, and even her soul. However, she could clearly sense that operating her spiritual energy here was many times more difficult than in the spirit world, as if the "rules" of the entire world were rejecting and suppressing these "outsiders." Her spiritual energy consumption increased dramatically, while its power was greatly reduced.
Qin Yixuan's situation was slightly better, but still not optimistic. The divine aura that naturally flowed around her was as clear and bright as moonlight, forming a sharp contrast with the gray, filthy miasma. Wherever the divine aura touched, the miasma was purified and dissipated with a subtle "hissing" sound, like ice and snow meeting the sun. However, she also frowned slightly and whispered, "The laws here are fragmented and chaotic. My divine power is depleting rapidly, and the purification effect has been greatly weakened."
Only at this moment did they have the leisure to truly see the ruins of the original divine realm, known as the "Wasteland", before them.
The sky wasn't the familiar azure blue or deep, starry sky of the spirit world. Instead, it was a distorted, eerie mixture of colors, like an overturned palette. Dark purple, dirty green, dead gray, pale white... all these indescribable hues intertwined, flowed, and eroded each other, forming a vast, slowly rotating vortex. No sun, moon, or stars were visible, only a mind-bending canopy. The light, coming from nowhere, was dim and ambiguous, casting an ominous shadow over everything.
The earth was a boundless expanse of desolation and devastation. They stood on a vast, suspended landmass, its edges jagged and fractured, revealing unnatural cracks, as if shattered by some unimaginable force. Looking down, they saw a bottomless, dark void. Countless fragments of land, large and small, mountainous wrecks, even broken stone blocks that resembled palace pillars, silently suspended in the void, drifting slowly, creating a doomsday scene that was both still and filled with a sense of deadly movement.
In the distance, one can vaguely see some larger and more bizarrely shaped shadows. Some are like the skeletons of crawling giant beasts, while others are like twisted metal jungles. In some areas, the space itself shows abnormal folds and cracks, and wisps of chaotic air flow overflow from them.
Besides the pervasive, soul-destroying miasma of nothingness, the air was also filled with an inextricable sense of desolation and resentment. It was the resentment, anger, and despair of countless fallen gods and demons, lingering over eons, coalescing into an invisible poison that constantly sought to penetrate the minds of all living beings.
“Woo-ah-ah!”
At that moment, a roar, neither human nor animal, filled with pure violence and hunger, emanated from a distant ruin of twisted metal and crystal. The sound seemed to possess a strange penetrating power, affecting their very souls directly, sending a chill through both of them.
Almost at the same time as the sound was heard, the ruins suddenly exploded!
Dozens of black shadows shot out like ghosts, carrying a strong fishy smell and a disgusting smell of corruption, and rushed towards them!
Only when you get closer can you clearly see the monsters. They vary in form. Some still barely retain human or animal form, but their bodies have long been severely decayed and twisted, their skin having a dull, stone-like or metallic sheen, covered in strange markings and pustules. Others are completely patchwork monstrosities made up of broken limbs, bones, and internal organs, making a teeth-grinding grinding sound as they move. Even more are simply a mass of constantly wriggling, shifting shadows, with only a single crimson light at their center, flickering with the most primitive desire to devour.
Without exception, they were all shrouded in a dense aura, the same source as the surrounding "void miasma," only more condensed and aggressive. Their eyes, or rather, what resembled eyes, were completely filled with a chaotic darkness, devoid of any rationality, only the most instinctive, greedy desire for all living life and energy.
"They are the remains of ancient creatures that have been completely eroded and transformed by the 'nothingness'!" Ye Li made an instant judgment, her eyes as cold as a knife. "Be careful, they have no sense of pain, are not afraid of death, and only know how to devour. Their power should not be underestimated!"
Before he finished speaking, the humanoid monsters at the forefront were already waving their twisted and deformed bone claws, which gleamed with dark sharp edges. They tore through the drowsy air and fiercely grabbed at Ye Li's face and heart! Their speed was so fast that it was comparable to that of a physical cultivator at the peak of the spiritual realm!
"snort!"
Ye Li snorted coldly, but didn't dodge. She knew she had to fight swiftly here, conserving every ounce of strength. She pressed her right fingers together like a sword, and Nirvana's spiritual energy surged forth. However, it didn't summon the laws of heaven and earth to create a mighty momentum like in the spirit world. Instead, it condensed into a thin, gray sword aura, its edges swirling with the aura of chaos—the Sword of Samsara!
“Swish!”
The sword energy passed silently, without a shattering explosion. The monsters froze in their tracks. Immediately afterwards, their bodies, imbued with the power of "nothingness" and incredibly strong, began to crumble and disintegrate from the point of impact, like sand sculptures weathered for eons. They dissolved silently into the finest dust, leaving not even a trace. This wasn't physical destruction; rather, the very "structure" of their existence was shattered from its very roots by the power of samsara, annihilating them into nothingness.
However, more monsters came one after another. They seemed to be completely unaffected by the "death" of their companions, and even became more manic because they smelled the scent of the same power being "eliminated".
Elsewhere, Qin Yixuan was also under attack. She was surrounded by several swarms of shadow monsters and a massive, stitched-together monster that resembled a giant lizard and a spider. The shadow monsters unleashed invisible mental attacks, attempting to taint her soul, while the stitched-together monster opened its fang-studded maw and spewed out a highly corrosive dark green slime.
Qin Yixuan's face remained calm, not a trace of panic. She raised her bare hands lightly, and from her fingertips flowed a mysterious female power as pure as moonlight, yet imbued with an awe-inspiring and inviolable will.
"Pure the world, starlight."
The cold voice rang like the gentle sound of a jade chime. Specks of brilliant yet not blinding starlight radiated from her, rippling outward like ripples on water. The invisible spiritual impact collided with the starlight, like a drop in the ocean, instantly purified and smoothed out. And the corrosive mucus, upon contact with the starlight, emitted a violent sizzling sound, evaporating and dissipating rapidly, leaving behind not even a trace of odor.
The starlight shone upon the shadow monsters, causing them to let out shrill screams. Their bodies melted and shrank like ice and snow thrown into a blazing fire. The thick-skinned, thick-fleshed Stitched Monster, enveloped by the starlight, became noticeably slower in its movements. The gray, resilient sheen on its surface began to dim rapidly, as if being peeled away layer by layer.
"Li, there is a very stubborn resentment combined with the power of nothingness in their core. If it is not thoroughly purified, the debris may regenerate or pollute the environment!" Qin Yixuan quickly transmitted the message while increasing the output of divine power. The starlight became brighter and brighter, binding and purifying the stitched monster tightly.
"I understand!" Ye Li responded. She had also discovered that even though the monsters she had slain with the Samsara Sword had dissipated, a subtle, malevolent energy always attempted to escape or blend into the surrounding environment. With a thought, the fragments of the Samsara Mirror within her body shone faintly, and a deeper force of devouring and disintegrating was attached to the sword's aura. This time, the slain monsters were completely annihilated, and even the trace of malevolent energy could not escape, being directly devoured by the fragments of the Samsara Mirror, transforming into imperceptible nutrients.
The two men stood back to back, fighting fiercely against the endless stream of alienated monsters on this desolate and silent suspended land.
Ye Li moved like a ghost, her movements hampered in this area, yet she remained incredibly swift. The Samsara Tribulation Sword swept across the land, each strike carrying the aura of finality and return to the abyss, completely obliterating the existence of each monster. Sometimes, she transformed her fingers into palms, striking out with a single blow, inducing a small-scale Samsara vortex, simultaneously engulfing and disintegrating several monsters. Her fighting style was efficient and ruthless, imbued with a sense of indifference to the laws of nature.
Qin Yixuan, like a stabilizing force, held her ground. The Mystic Goddess's radiance shifted in her grasp, transforming into a purifying rain of light, weakening and annihilating weaker shadow monsters across a vast area; sometimes converging into a protective shield, blocking sudden blows; sometimes entwining and restraining powerful entities like chains, before piercing and purifying their cores with a highly concentrated starlight beam. Her power, imbued with a sense of divine order, was incompatible with this chaotic and filthy world, yet precisely the most effective means of restraint.
Their synergy quickly blossomed in actual combat. Ye Li spearheaded the attack, crushing threats with sheer force; Qin Yixuan, on the other hand, was responsible for purification, protection, and control, checking for gaps and ensuring not a single trace of "nothingness" contamination remained. Their combination of attack and defense, annihilation and purification, unexpectedly formed a unique, seamless rhythm of battle in this desperate situation.
Black and white intertwined, the annihilation of samsara and the purifying power of the stars resonated, illuminating this deadly land with a bizarre brilliance. The roars of monsters, the creaking sounds of disintegrating bodies, and the hum of colliding energies formed a brutal symphony of slaughter.
The battle lasted for about an incense stick of time. When the last mutated monster, shaped like a giant centipede, attempted to emerge from the ground, Ye Li crushed its head with a single kick, and the power of reincarnation instantly consumed its entire body, turning it into dust. After it was completely purified by a shower of starlight casually sprinkled by Qin Yixuan, the area finally returned to a momentary state of death.
The air was filled with the aftermath of the energy surge and a faint sacred aura of purification, temporarily dispelling some of the miasma.
The two men panted slightly, beads of sweat forming on their foreheads. Even with just the first wave of battle, the toll on their bodies had been greater than a full-scale battle with a cultivator of the same level in the Spirit Realm. The oppressive environment and the difficulty of the monsters here far exceeded their expectations.
"We shouldn't stay here for long. The noise from the fight just now might attract more trouble." Ye Li said quickly, his consciousness spreading outward like mercury, cautiously exploring the surroundings.
Qin Yixuan nodded, closing her eyes and tilting her head slightly, as if carefully sensing something. The power of the Xuannv goddess was incompatible with the filth of this world, but precisely because of this extreme opposition, she was particularly sensitive to certain auras of the same or nearly the same origin.
After a moment, she opened her beautiful eyes, a hint of surprise and certainty flashed in them, and she pointed in one direction - that was a huge shadow area deep in the countless suspended lands, vaguely shrouded in a pale golden, yet extremely dim and broken halo.
"Over there... I sensed a faint, yet extremely pure and ancient sacred aura that originated from the same source as myself. Although it was dilapidated, like a candle in the wind, it did exist." Her tone was filled with a barely perceptible excitement. In this hopeless wasteland, any clue related to "sacredness" and "order" was like a beacon in the maze.
Almost at the same time when Qin Yixuan pointed out the direction, the five fragments of the Samsara Mirror that had been quietly floating in Ye Li's body and providing protection, trembled slightly in sync without any warning!
A faint but incomparably clear resonance came from a completely different direction—an even darker and deeper area, as if it could swallow even light. Twisted demonic shadows and flashes of scarlet light could be vaguely seen, emitting a heart-pounding sense of chaos and depravity.
Ye Li turned his head suddenly and looked towards the demonic realm, his eyes instantly becoming extremely sharp.
Two directions.
First, the remaining sacredness attracted the Queen Mother of the West.
One of them has a deep evil nature and is calling for the fragments of the Samsara Mirror.
As soon as they set foot in this cemetery of gods and demons, they faced their first crucial decision. From the very beginning, the road ahead was filled with fog and detours.
Qin Yixuan also felt the movement of the fragments in Ye Li's body. She looked towards the demonic realm, her eyebrows furrowed again, and then looked at the sacred direction she had sensed. She said softly, "It seems that what we are looking for is not in the same place."
Ye Li was silent for a moment, her eyes scanning between two opposite directions. Finally, she took a deep breath of the cold air filled with miasma and said in a deep voice:
"The sensing is very weak, and the distance is probably very far. This place is full of dangers, and it's too risky to act separately." She paused and looked at Qin Yixuan, "Pick a direction first. Which direction do you think the sensing is more 'urgent', or is more likely to find clues about this place and the 'Void Devouring Beast'?"
This decision will directly affect their initial trajectory in the wasteland and may even be a matter of life and death.
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