Chapter 236: Wuyou Village

Daoist Ayajing's expression changed dramatically, and he retreated repeatedly. The Dutian Devil King and Dragon Qilin were forced back by Qin Mu's aura, retreating hundreds of yards away, still unable to stand steadily.

Beneath Qin Mu's feet, the Moon Guardian's face was completely pressed into the Moon Ship by his steps.

He had been hanging on by a thread, but being crushed caused him to fully merge with the Moon Ship, becoming a part of it, and thus he perished.

The old Moon Guardian was dead.

Daoist Ayajing was profoundly shocked. He hadn't cared about the fate of the old Moon Guardian, who was, after all, a madman. His focus was on the fact that Qin Mu's flesh and blood were growing, breaking through the confinement of the Realm of the Dead!

Upon entering the Realm of the Dead, even a being like him would be reduced to mere bones, without a trace of flesh. After Qin Mu entered the Realm of the Dead with him, only his skeleton remained, as did the Dragon Qilin. Only the Dutian Devil King, not being a flesh-and-blood entity, remained unchanged.

Now, Qin Mu's flesh and blood had not only returned, but his form was growing larger and larger, like a living celestial god, divine light swirling around him, his aura unparalleled!

He had now replaced the last Moon Guardian of the Moon Herders, becoming the new Moon Guardian.

The power he commanded was immense, breaking through the limits of the Realm of the Dead, making its rules unable to control him! This was almost an impossible feat.

Daoist Ayajing had visited this Moon Ship many times, thoroughly inspecting everything. He had touched these colossal pillars countless times, yet never had such an astonishing transformation like Qin Mu's occurred.

He believed that only those peculiar Moon Herders possessed this ability, and only those with a special physique among them. The human body was a great furnace; ordinary Moon Herders should not be able to contain the terrifying energy of the Moon Ship. Only those with special physiques among the Moon Herders could possibly accept such vast energy.

The Moon Herders were likely extinct, with only the old man on this ship remaining, but he too had been trapped within the Moon Ship, barely clinging to life.

Qin Mu commanded the Moon Ship and its power. Could it be that he was a Moon Herder, and one with a particularly special physique?

However, Qin Mu was not a Moon Herder. Gripping the colossal pillars was an extremely dangerous act for anyone else, including the Moon Herders. Yet, for him, it was perfectly safe. His body seemed capable of naturally bearing this power, naturally allowing it to transform his flesh and soul.

"What immense power!" Qin Mu was both astonished and delighted. The power within him had reached an incredible level; his previous power, in comparison, was like a drop of water in a vast ocean – utterly insignificant! He felt as if he could change the world with a raise of his hand, altering and controlling its rules!

Qin Mu was enveloped in moonlit halos, rings of moonlight flowing down from his head to his feet, then disappearing into the Moon Ship.

The tops of his feet had already begun to sink into the Moon Ship, his soles merging with it. This was the Moon Ship's backlash.

Qin Mu had previously witnessed this backlash on the Sun Guardian of the Sun Ship. The Sun Guardian was Yan Jingjing, a Sun Herder. When the Sun Ship's sun extinguished, Yan Jingjing, by controlling the ship and gaining its immense power, also had to endure its backlash, burning her own life force. The longer she operated the Sun Ship, the faster she died.

Now, the crescent moon above the Moon Ship was also extinguished, devoid of any light. Qin Mu commanded the Moon Ship, borrowing its power, at the cost of his own life! He had to act quickly, using the Moon Ship's power and speed to delve deep into the darkness, to find Carefree Village and the village chief. Otherwise, the deeper he sank, the greater the price would be to escape, possibly to an unacceptable degree!

"Senior Brother Ayajing, thank you for your help along the way." Qin Mu, looking down from his elevated position at Daoist Ayajing, spoke, his voice rumbling like thunder: "Now, I must depart to search for the village chief and the others tonight!"

Daoist Ayajing suppressed the shock in his heart, flew up from the Moon Ship, and floated in mid-air. The Daoist was now in skeleton form, his Daoist robe tattered. He bowed and said, "Sect Master, please!"

Boom!

The colossal Moon Ship began to move, its underside shaped like a three-legged toad formed from towering mountains. Each step covered over ten miles. In a few steps, the Moon Ship passed through the gate of Fengdu, chains dragging the black crescent moon suspended in the air, moving out of the Realm of the Dead.

Inside Fengdu, powerful beings flew up, but could only watch the Moon Ship's distant silhouette. These Fengdu powerhouses watched from afar but did not pursue. When the Moon Ship first entered Fengdu, the King of Hell did not accept the Moon Guardian on board, only allowing the Moon Ship to remain on the desolate plains outside the city. Now that the Moon Ship was leaving, the King of Hell clearly had no intention of interfering.

A strange creature with a bird's head and a human body flew over, flapping its wings, and called out to Daoist Ayajing, "Daoist Ayajing, the King of Hell requests your presence." Daoist Ayajing quickly followed him into Fengdu, heading towards the Hall of Yama.

At this moment, Qin Mu, radiating brilliant light like a celestial god forged from the bright moon, controlled the ship as it exited the Realm of the Dead. The enormous Moon Ship crossed the sea of mist and entered the dark Great Ruins.

He felt boundless power surge within him; his divine treasures, from Spirit Embryo to Five Stars, Six Directions, Seven Stars, Celestial Being, Life and Death, and Divine Bridge, all opened, filled with terrifying energy. Even more immense power continued to flow from the Moon Ship. The Moon Ship contained incredibly complex formations. As his palm touched the colossal pillars on the ship, the formations activated, and boundless energy flooded into his body, simultaneously transforming his physical body, his soul, and his spirit embryo, elevating his cultivation realm directly beyond the Divine Bridge to an incredible state. The realm of a celestial god.

It was hard to imagine what level this power would reach if the Moon Ship were complete!

"Carefree Village, Village Chief, I am coming!"

The massive Moon Ship moved through the darkness, shimmering like a fleeting shadow. The surrounding mountains flashed by. The jade pendant on Qin Mu's neck also grew enormous, swaying in the night, pointing towards the distant darkness.

Suddenly, with a clang, the jade pendant detached from his neck and flew into the distance. Qin Mu controlled the Moon Ship to accelerate, following the rapidly moving jade pendant through the darkness. As the ship moved, it compressed space, and thunder raged around the Moon Ship, continuously tearing through the darkness with earth-shattering force.

Above the Moon Ship, colossal rocks continuously fell from the disintegrating moon, streaking through the air and leaving trails of fire as they plunged into the dark Great Ruins. As the Moon Ship traveled, fiery meteors fell the entire way, causing smoke and fire to billow around the ship, a striking sight.

The Moon Ship's deck held countless palaces and halls, once the living quarters of the Moon Herders. Unfortunately, a great battle had taken place here, wiping out the Moon Herders. The last Moon Herder, the Moon Guardian, was also consumed by the Moon Ship when Qin Mu became the new Moon Guardian. The Dutian Devil King and Dragon Qilin hid in a palace that had not yet collapsed, avoiding Qin Mu's earth-shattering celestial god aura. The Dragon Qilin was swayed back and forth and soon fell asleep, but the Dutian Devil King had no intention of sleeping and peered out from the palace window.

He could see the majestic Qin Mu standing like a towering mountain amidst the central pillars. Qin Mu's power had materialized; the swirling moonlit halos were materialized power, possessing terrifying might. "This world is not as lowly as I imagined," the Dutian Devil King mused. "Such creations of the gods require extremely profound Daoist arts and divine abilities; they cannot be produced by an ordinary civilization." He pondered, "Do I really want to invade a world like this? What I fear is not the heights this civilization has reached, but the thing that destroyed it..."

Countless monstrous creatures in the darkness of the Great Ruins were startled by the colossal ship and swarmed towards it. These monsters were enormous, but minuscule compared to the Moon Ship, like tiny ants, and slow-moving. The Moon Ship directly ran them over. Amidst the thunderous roars, squishing sounds of crushing could be heard. Countless mysterious creatures of the darkness were trampled, their guts spilled, turning into mere sludge. Still more monsters lunged at the Moon Ship, their guttural demonic speech echoing. These monsters tried to climb aboard the land-traveling vessel, but were instantly struck down by the thunder caused by the Moon Ship's movement, their bodies falling like rain.

In the darkness, a terrifying aura surged. A black shadow grew larger and larger, its wings like clouds, flying from the darkness, soaring over the thunderous layer created by the Moon Ship, bringing rolling demonic clouds to invade the Moon Ship. From within the demonic clouds, a colossal monster extended its head, a creature with nine heads that spewed demonic fire, attacking Qin Mu at the center of the colossal pillars. Fierce flames illuminated the dark sky. The enormous monster's body rolled within the demonic clouds, resembling both a bird and a dragon, as if it were a hybrid creature.

"Garuda!" The Dutian Devil King was startled.

Qin Mu's body was wreathed in moonlight, blocking the demonic fire. Suddenly, a crescent moon appeared on his forehead; it gradually transformed into a full moon, as if a portal was being drawn open. Soon, a full moon appeared on his forehead. It was not a full moon, but an eye, radiating moonlight. Swoosh! An incredibly bright beam of light flashed across the sky, slicing through the darkness and cutting through the demonic fire. One by one, bird heads plummeted from mid-air, exactly nine of them. Behind the heads, their necks writhed like dragons, spurting blood.

The full moon on Qin Mu's forehead slowly closed, turning back into a crescent, which then also vanished. The Dutian Devil King closed his mouth, utterly silent. "After this kid releases me, I will absolutely never invade this abnormal world!"

The Moon Ship continued its journey, with monsters still swarming towards it. Suddenly, a loud roar echoed from the darkness, and countless monsters abruptly retreated, vanishing into the shadows. Qin Mu's jade pendant flew ahead of the ship, appearing incredibly tiny, like a speck of dust.

Suddenly, with a chime, the jade pendant seemed to strike an invisible barrier, becoming fixed upon what appeared to be empty space. The barrier shimmered gently, like a lake standing upright between heaven and earth. Ripples spread outwards from the jade pendant as their origin, growing larger and larger, and at the center of these ripples, a corner of another magnificent and grand world slowly revealed itself.

Carefree Village.