Chapter 568: You see, there's a person on that nail?

Within the Moon-Sacrificing Domain, there is no true sun. It is perpetually dim here; only during the three months when heavenly fires pass overhead does the entire domain radiate with bright light. However, that light represents death.

Not all clans could adapt to such living conditions. Thus, amidst countless cycles of beings perishing and then reviving, individuals of extraordinary talent were born within some powerful clans. They proposed the concept of an artificial sun, and due to their clans' relative strength and generational replenishment, they eventually created their own clan's sun.

The light and heat, however, did not spread very far, only able to cover the clan's sphere of influence. Its power could not compare to the Sun of Dawn, but regardless, achieving this was enough to provide great protection for the clan. Such clans naturally had more individuals serving as Divine Envoys. Therefore, every time the Scarlet Mother arrived, although the clan would perish, the sun would remain, and their subsequent revival and development would be much faster.

In countless cycles over endless years, a total of nine clans in the Moon-Sacrificing Domain had created artificial suns. Due to various incidents, three had extinguished, leaving six remaining. The artificial sun of the Solitary Sun Clan was one of these six. It was also the most recently formed; it was said that a mysterious person assisted in its construction.

Several months ago, their sun, hanging in the sky, inexplicably vanished on its own. The entire process was extremely sudden, and despite the Solitary Sun Clan's strict vigilance, nothing could be done. It was as if the sun had hidden itself. Now, it appeared above the sky of this great world fragment.

"Those old geezers from the Solitary Sun Clan borrowed my stuff and never returned it," the Captain muttered, looking up at the sun. "Hmph, they don't know it was intentional." He felt immensely pleased. "They raised it quite well for me."

In the sky, light shone brightly. The sun, released by the Captain, emitted dazzling and blinding rays, and intense heat radiated from within it, making the world, in that instant, feel as though it had entered a scorching season. The temperature instantly rose, and the heat continued to surge. Within just over ten breaths, the heat emanating from the sun was already astonishingly immense. Countless mists emanated from the ice, and the unmelting glaciers showed signs of thawing.

However, compared to the glaciers of the entire great world fragment, one artificial sun was clearly not enough to melt them completely. This was also why the Captain had come to this particular ice peak.

"Melting just this spot is enough!" The Captain's eyes gleamed with an unusual light. He raised his hands, waved them towards the sky, and shouted. "Little Roundy, over here, over here, shine right here."

The sun in the sky suddenly trembled, and its scattered light and heat instantly converged, retracting from all directions. Wherever it passed, the glaciers began to melt slightly, revealing startling traces. Finally, all the light and heat gathered on the ice mountain where the Captain stood.

Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu knew the sun's power, so they had long since moved away. The Captain's hair and eyebrows instantly caught fire, making him look very strange. But he didn't care in the slightest; his clothes remained normal, and his expression showed pure comfort. "It was quite cold before, but now it's much warmer."

And the ice peak beneath his feet, after this concentration of light and heat, began to melt. The black ice water turned directly into mist before it could even flow. The tall ice peak visibly shrank. Soon, the ice layer revealed a hundred-zhang-wide cavern. Mist continuously rose from within, its depth steadily increasing as it melted downwards. Waves of ancient aura also spread as the ice dissolved.

As Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu watched all this with pounding hearts, a roar echoed from within the cavern in the ice. At that moment, the black ice layer melted directly to its very bottom! It revealed the true earth beneath, which had never been seen by the world for countless years.

However, compared to the black glaciers covering the entire world, this hundred-zhang-wide cavern was like a pinhole. Thus, although it was pierced through, the surrounding cold still caused it to show signs of refreezing. The Captain paid no attention to this. His expression excited, he quickly lowered his gaze.

Aided by the sunlight, the earth deep within the hundred-zhang ice cavern was extremely clear. One could see that on the black soil, there were surprisingly orderly crimson furrows. These furrows were densely arranged together, as if part of a colossal fingerprint! It was as if a supreme being's palm had once descended, striking the earth of this great world, obliterating all life, and leaving behind its crimson palm print. And the pattern here was merely a corner of one of its finger-prints.

"Big Swordy, Little Ningy, quick, get out my treasure hide!" After confirming it was correct, the Captain roared, raising his hands to fully control the sun, emitting more heat to prevent the cavern from re-sealing.

Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu dared not delay. They had been fully focused; now, hearing the command, they showed no hesitation. Ning Yan waved his hand and took out a pale yellow hide. The hide was not small; when spread out, it was as large as dozens of people. It was rectangular, and there were many traces of splicing on it. As for the origin of the hide, because it had been repaired quite perfectly, it was difficult to discern at a glance.

Wu Jianwu also quickly arrived, and together with Ning Yan, they grabbed the hide. The two of them, one on each side, forcefully stretched the hide open, facing the cavern beneath the ice layer.

"Haha, this treasure hide looks better and better the more I see it." The Captain in mid-air was beaming, his eyes burning with excitement.

Ning Yan looked at Wu Jianwu, on the verge of speaking but holding back. Wu Jianwu remained silent.

The next moment, the excited Captain formed hand seals and pointed towards the sky again, emitting a low growl. "Little Roundy, give me a few bursts of light to help me imprint this image!"

The sun in the sky instantly swayed. The next moment, it surprisingly flashed continuously. The light became unprecedentedly strong, then instantly extinguished, only to repeat the process. This cycle repeated more than ten times. Because the intervals between flashes were too rapid, this series of intense flashes made the surroundings extremely bright.

And on the hide stretched open by Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu, a fingerprint gradually emerged under the refraction of light at that moment. Its appearance was identical to the fingerprint below the cavern, only greatly reduced in size. It was rapidly becoming clear, and an astonishing pressure was spreading from within it.

Even though Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu were prepared, their bodies still trembled. It was as if the object they held underwent an earth-shattering change at that moment, becoming incredibly heavy, pressing them down so they couldn't remain airborne and began to fall. But soon, Ning Yan emitted bloodline power from his body. Numerous small beasts appeared around Wu Jianwu, also emitting bloodline fluctuations. Only then were they barely able to hold on.

After more than ten breaths, as the sun grew dim, the fingerprint on the hide became completely clear. Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu suppressed their trembling and quickly rolled up the hide. After putting it away, they each exhaled, looking with lingering fear at the Captain in mid-air.

The dim sun in mid-air cast its lingering glow, falling upon the Captain, making his figure appear grand and imposing. It also reflected the sense of regret on his face. "It's a pity such a magnificent scene can only be admired by the three of us," he mused, "my little A Qing can't see it."

The Captain stood with his hands behind his back, full of sighs. "When I describe it to him later, he'll surely feel very complicated," he said. "What a pity, what a pity." The Captain shook his head, just about to speak again, but at that moment, a dramatic change suddenly occurred.

The sky of the great world fragment suddenly shone, and the color of the world changed. A expanse of light blue appeared across the sky. Not a small patch, but the entire sky! Looking around, the dim sky instantly turned entirely light blue, and this blue light grew continuously stronger. A terrifying fluctuation was descending from beyond this sky.

Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu's expressions changed, but the Captain remained calm. "It seems those outside discovered us; they came quite quickly," he said. "But it's fine, this was within my expectations."

"You two, leave according to the method I told you before. We'll meet at Tianniu Mountain. Once there, the other fortune I promised you will appear!" The Captain raised his hand and directly took out a jade slip. "So now, let's each go our sepa—"

Before he could finish his last sentence, suddenly, from the light blue-filled sky, a colossal, world-shattering roar abruptly erupted. This sound echoed through the clouds, deafening. The sky, formed of ice, directly fractured into a long crack. This crack stretched for ten thousand miles, and the echoing sounds reverberated continuously, causing the ground to begin shaking.

And there was not just one crack; in the blink of an eye, a second, a third, a fourth... Dozens of cracks simultaneously appeared on the icy sky. Looking around, the icy sky was like a shattered mirror, and cracking sounds like thunder continuously exploded. As for the blue light emanating from within, it was even more brilliant than before, turning the light blue sky into a deep blue. Dazzling rays shone more strongly from each crack, forming long beams of light that reflected on the glaciers. Even the black glaciers could not stop the blue invasion. Thus, through continuous refraction, the ground rapidly turned blue, and in the blink of an eye, everything within heaven and earth was this color. Terrifying pressure erupted with the light. And the astonishing fluctuation from beyond the icy sky was earth-shattering at that very moment.

Amidst the roar, the sky collapsed. Countless ice shards, like blue meteorites, crashed towards the ground. The ground churned, also showing signs of collapse. This scene was one of heaven collapsing and earth rending.

Deafening sounds echoed in all directions. And amidst the collapsing sky, a colossal ten-thousand-zhang-long nail revealed its tip in the sky! Just a tip caused the icy sky to shatter in concentric circles around it, with the scope widening and fragments falling. The blue nail, with overwhelming might, whistled as it descended!

The entire great world fragment shook with unprecedented intensity at that moment; even the Captain's arrival earlier had not caused such a dramatic change. And countless souls within this great world, whether dispersed outside or slumbering within the ice, at that moment, emitted sharp cries filled with terror. For them, this was the arrival of the apocalypse!

Ning Yan was utterly aghast, and Wu Jianwu was on the verge of tears. "It's over! I said outside that I had a bad feeling about this time, but you insisted on dragging me along!!"

"Chen Erniu, what in the world did you do? What is happening?!!" They had already crushed their teleportation talismans, but this teleportation, which the Captain claimed was always effective, now lost its effect amidst the changing world.

The Captain also gasped, his eyes wide and somewhat bewildered. "I don't know either! Something's off, it's too bizarre! I just came in to leave a mark, didn't do anything else, it shouldn't be like this! Why are the Nether Race so unreasonable, acting as if they want to destroy everything with one move!"

"What are they doing? This is going too far!" The Captain's body trembled. He instinctively looked up at the whistling blue nail descending. His bewilderment was quickly replaced by shock, and he cursed under his breath.

"Damn it... that's a Sovereign Weapon!!!"

"These Nether Race are lunatics! They actually used a Sovereign Weapon to kill us! I've never seen them so vicious before! But where did they get a Sovereign Weapon? No, this is the nail from the Third Son of the Sovereign's brow!"

"Damn it, I was going to retrieve that for my sixth major undertaking! Who?! Who got there first?!!"

The Captain's heart was a tempest, filled with indignation, but the aura from the Sovereign Weapon still made him shiver. After quickly crushing the jade slips to no effect, his body shot up, and he dashed into the distance. As he ran, he kept taking out more teleportation jade slips to crush, while yelling frantically.

"You two, stop chattering and run after me! A massive change has happened here, and it's really not my fault!"

"It is you!" Wu Jianwu's eyes turned red, and he roared, but he knew this was not the time for anger. So he gritted his teeth, secretly vowing that if he could get out alive, he would immediately stay far away from this lunatic.

"The Ten-Intestine Tree incident was just like this, Chen Erniu, can't you die without courting death?!" Ning Yan's heart was also pounding with fear. This sense of life-or-death crisis suppressed his fear of the Captain, and he couldn't help but roar, but still sped towards the Captain.

Soon, the three of them scurried across the shattered ground like three rabbits, fleeing desperately. But the next instant, the roar from the sky grew louder, and the shattered area also expanded.

Until countless ice shards collapsed from above, the nail, arriving with infinite momentum and sweeping all before it, broke through everything and thoroughly surged into this great world fragment. Its descent unleashed incredibly terrifying fluctuations. Countless souls wailed and shattered. A raging aura spread across heaven and earth. The Captain and his two companions could only huddle together, holding up the hide, and speed away while trembling.

The Captain was unwilling to give up, and couldn't help but turn to look at the nail whistling down towards the ground. After that glance, his pupils sharply contracted, and he gasped. "Holy hell, there's a person... on that nail!!"

Ning Yan and Wu Jianwu instinctively turned their heads at the sound. What they saw was indeed a figure standing on that terrifyingly huge nail. Amidst the shimmering blue light, this person stood alone. His long hair danced, and his clothes flapped in the wind. His aura was extraordinary, like that of an immortal. Especially his handsome face and slender physique, everything about him gave an impression of unparalleled perfection. And as he stood on the nail, it was as if this object was his weapon, being wielded by him. This demeanor, this imposing presence, was enough to shake anyone who beheld it to their core.

"Don't you guys think this person looks a bit familiar...?" The Captain paused, staring blankly at the sky, muttering.

Ning Yan was stunned, his eyes showing disbelief, his mind a blank. Wu Jianwu was also dumbfounded. As he looked bewildered, the Captain pinched him hard. Ning Yan instinctively glared. When the Captain saw Ning Yan wince, knowing it wasn't an illusion, he took a deep breath, and a strong light appeared in his eyes.

"It really is little A Qing!"

"Little Junior Brother, I'm here!" The Captain suddenly leaped up, waving continuously towards the sky.

Meanwhile, in the shattered sky, as the colossal nail whistled down, its pressure first impacted the ground. The ground extensively collapsed, the ice layers sank, exploding layer by layer. Ice chunks fell from the sky, and ice shards also splattered from the ground.

And Xu Qing, standing on the nail, was actually not as calm inside as he appeared. His heart trembled, and his mind was a tempest. Indeed, the power of this nail was too terrifying. He recalled the journey: from the moment the nail touched the outer ice plain, ice layers continuously collapsed wherever it passed. Its sharp momentum seemed invincible. All the ice layers along its path were torn apart, until it blasted open a huge cavern and descended into this great world fragment. And it brought him here.

The moment he arrived, Xu Qing saw black glaciers collapsing. He also saw a sun-like light source in mid-air, but it was very dim, seemingly having little residual power to emit light and heat. He was puzzled as to why there was a sun here, when he saw three rabbit-like figures on the ground. For a moment, Xu Qing's expression was dazed, and a strange feeling arose. Seeing the Captain and his two companions here, Xu Qing found it incredible. They had clearly agreed to meet at Tianniu Mountain, and he had been thinking of hurrying there, yet they were actually here. But this sense of disbelief vanished in an instant. It seemed logical for the Captain to appear here. After all, given his companion's madness, he seemed more likely to appear in the most unimaginable places. The Captain had strayed further and further down the path of courting death, never knowing exhaustion, and only when his suicidal endeavors became reality would this mad life of his conclude.

These thoughts arose in Xu Qing's mind in an instant. At this moment, he didn't hesitate in the slightest. The moment the blue nail slammed towards the ground, his body abruptly ascended, leaving the nail. Given the nail's speed, Xu Qing's departure instantly took him far away. He was currently still protected by blue light. After detaching from the nail, he swayed abruptly and headed straight towards the Captain and his two companions in the distance.

Behind Xu Qing, the colossal blue nail gained more and more speed, stirring up a storm. A sea of blue light surrounded it. Amidst the collapsing sky and shattering ground, it rapidly approached the icy surface. In the blink of an eye, only two thousand zhang remained between it and the ground.

At such close proximity, the destructive intent emanating from the nail could already annihilate everything. The collapse of the ice layers continuously spread. A massive deep pit directly appeared on the ground. The surroundings violently shattered. The deep pit, ten thousand zhang deep, continued to collapse downwards. Many of the souls slumbering within perished directly under this pressure before they could even awaken. Those who awoke met an even more tragic end, unable to escape, shattered to pieces.

Until the distance was a thousand zhang, eight hundred zhang, five hundred zhang... The shattering of the ground reached its peak. The bottom of the deep pit already revealed earthen ground. Unlike when the Captain raised the sun and the ice layers would self-heal, the ice layers at this moment had lost their healing power.

Until an earth-shattering roar erupted, and the entire great world fragment shook with unprecedented intensity, the Sovereign Nail plunged into the deep ice pit. The moment of impact, a ring-shaped storm erupted on the ice layer, and a shockwave, as the pit was compressed, rumbled outwards in all directions. From a distance, the ice layers, centered there, continuously shattered and lifted. Hundred miles, thousand miles, ten thousand miles... Endless ice layers simultaneously exploded. At this moment, it was earth-shattering.

And the nail, unstoppable in the deep pit, swept through everything with irresistible force, touching the true earth deep within. The earth collapsed, the frozen mud caved in. The nail, demolishing and shattering, blasted open the mud layers, surging beneath the surface of this great world fragment, directly piercing through! With stronger momentum, more resolute conviction, and more terrifying sharpness, it furiously plunged deeper!

Outside, although Xu Qing was in mid-air, he was too close. The aftermath of the earth's collapse threw his body off balance, blowing him further away like a kite with a broken string. Fortunately, he was protected by blue light originating from the same source as the nail. So after Xu Qing spat out a few mouthfuls of blood, his body gained speed by leveraging the force, and he fled with all his might. As for the Captain and his two companions, they had also ascended. They were at some distance, and also had the hide to block. The Captain even recalled the sun to help share the burden, so they were barely fine. But they were equally terrified.

The two sides rapidly approached each other. Xu Qing's voice, carrying a warning, suddenly rang out. "Ascend with all your might! A great change is about to happen below!"

Xu Qing was very clear about the nail's purpose, so he knew that the collapse of this world fragment would definitely start from the ground. After giving the warning, he sped towards the collapsing sky. The Captain and his two companions were also incredibly fast. They understood that this was not the time for pleasantries, so they erupted with full power and headed straight for the sky. As Wu Jianwu and Ning Yan were slower, the Captain simply enveloped them, erupting with even greater power and whistling upwards.

As the four grew further and further from the ground, just as they neared the sky, the world's tremors erupted again. This time, it was even more astonishing and intense than before, affecting not just ten thousand miles, but the entire great world fragment. Because the previous source was from top to bottom, but now the source was from bottom to top!

Beneath the ice layers of this great world fragment, at the bottom of the frozen earth, a colossal entity existed. At this moment... it had revived from its sealed and suppressed state. It was trembling, rising upwards from beneath the earth. All the ice layers were torn open. Countless ice chunks exploded. A colossal bronze coffin broke through the surface, ripped through the frozen earth, shattered the ice layers, and appeared before the eyes of Xu Qing and the other three! It was identical to the coffin beneath the Sea of Heavenly Fire!

Immensely astonishing. It had been buried deep underground for endless ages. Now... it reappeared in the world! An ancient aura filled heaven and earth. And on the lid of that coffin, a nail was hammered in. Cracks spread across the coffin lid.

At this shocking sight, blue mist rose from the nail. The figure of the Heir emerged. He floated outside the coffin and spoke softly. "Third Sister, you've awakened."