Chapter 239: Getting Unreliable with Age

At the edge of the forest, the Blind Man rested, leaning on his staff, his expression grave. The Butcher swung his blade. Around them, space shifted in strange, layered ways. These folded spaces changed their surroundings with every transformation: sometimes a vast forest, sometimes a scorching desert, sometimes towering ocean waves, and sometimes an expanse of stars.

With each change, different forbidden spells erupted, and the divine prohibitions hidden within those spaces unleashed their power. The Butcher had to contend with these sudden bursts of divine energy.

"Blind Man, Granny," the Butcher grumbled, "my back is about to break! Are you two rested yet?"

The Blind Man sighed, "I'm old; my body isn't what it used to be. Let me rest a bit longer."

"I'm not much younger than you!"

The Butcher retorted angrily, "Besides, my lower body just got reattached and hasn't fully healed! If I keep fighting, my upper and lower halves will split apart, and you'll see!"

The Blind Man calmly suggested, "Granny is younger; let her go."

From Granny Si's mouth came an ancient voice, which sneered, "Though I am very strong, this lady's body cannot sustain it much longer. Lady, surrender your body to me..."

"Get lost!" Granny Si snapped.

The Butcher and the Blind Man exchanged strange looks. Granny Si's "condition" was worsening. Since she had found them, she had repeatedly faced danger, with Li Tianxing frequently emerging to take control of her physical body.

"The demon seed is growing stronger; Granny Si will likely be replaced by Li Tianxing sooner or later."

The space around them continued to shift, as if a deity were rolling a die. Each face of the die represented a divine prohibition, and they were inside the die. Whichever face it landed on, that face's divine prohibition would activate. However, this die didn't have six faces; it had one hundred and eight.

This time, it landed on the stellar face. Suddenly, they found themselves suspended in the vast, boundless star-filled sky, with no ground beneath them or sky above.

Those glittering stars were not actual stars but mirrors. As each mirror shone, countless beams of light suddenly converged and buzzed towards them.

The Butcher roared, creating a vast, unbroken line with his blade, splitting open a path between life and death. He cleaved through the terrifying divine light, which then whistled past them, both in front and behind. Only the ground they stood on remained safe.

Granny Si quickly called out, "Deaf Man, Deaf Man, come over here!"

On the other side of the starry sky, the Deaf Man was battling the constellations, brandishing his brush with incredible speed. The Blind Man said, "The Deaf Man can't hear you..."

Before he finished speaking, the Deaf Man immediately tried to fly towards them but was struck by a beam of starlight, knocked away, and disappeared.

"Butcher, rest for a bit! It's my turn!" Li Tianxing's voice came from Granny Si's mouth.

The Butcher immediately stepped back. Granny Si moved forward, her Great Educational Heavenly Devil Scripture activated, warily observing the shifting space around them.

They were not the only ones trapped in this folded space prohibition. The Deaf Man, Old Ma, and the Cripple were also caught, but each was confined to a different face of the die, making it difficult for them to gather.

When Granny Si arrived and saw the Blind Man and the others trapped, she tried to break the prohibition, only to find herself ensnared. When the Deaf Man came looking for them, he also tried to undo the spatial prohibition but was likewise drawn in.

"This spatial prohibition has one hundred and eight divine faces, but the central hub of its formation does not lie within these one hundred and eight faces."

The Blind Man stood up, his mind-eye clear as a mirror, observing all directions. "We are inside a god's die. Old Ma and the Cripple are on another face, but sometimes they end up on the same face as us. The Deaf Man is occasionally thrown into this small sub-dimension. This suggests that this spatial prohibition has been running for too long, and its mathematical calculations have begun to deviate."

He performed some mental calculations, constantly deducing, then suddenly raised an eyebrow. "The god who laid down this spatial prohibition only calculated to a fleeting instant after the decimal point, not to the smallest possible number! This divine prohibition will collapse on its own after running for a while longer!"

The spatial prohibition shifted them into a volcanic region, where divine flames roared like dragons amidst lightning and thunder. Granny Si fought valiantly, and Li Tianxing's voice came from her mouth, "So, how long until this prohibition collapses on its own?"

The Blind Man calculated, "In twenty-four thousand years."

"Blind Man, shut up!" the Butcher roared, wishing he could cleave him in half with a single strike.

Just then, a voice came from outside, saying, "Kid, six of your elders are trapped inside."

Inside the spatial prohibition, everyone was startled and looked outwards, but saw nothing.

The Blind Man, extremely tense, shouted, "Mu'er, don't come in! You can't withstand the power of the divine prohibition!"

Qin Mu's voice came from outside, "Demon King, do you have a way to break this and rescue them?"

"This kind of spatial prohibition uses a spatial matrix secret technique, folding one hundred and nine spaces into one hundred and eight spatial cross-sections. It appears to have only one hundred and eight, but there are actually one hundred and nine."

The voice from outside continued, "However, the god who set up this spatial matrix secret technique probably cut corners and didn't calculate to an infinite number of decimal places, leaving some flaws. This secret technique will automatically dissolve after running for twenty-four thousand years. But if the one hundred and ninth space can be found, breaking it won't be difficult. Wait a moment, let me calculate..."

Inside the spatial prohibition, Granny Si, the Butcher, and the others exchanged glances. "The person with Mu'er is remarkable; they saw through the mysteries of this prohibition at a glance. Much more reliable than the Blind Man."

After a moment, the voice came again, "Do you have any unused treasures? Something sturdy. I'll throw it in, into the one hundred and ninth space. When that sturdy object is added to the one hundred and ninth space, it will be like an extra gear in a mechanism, causing it to jam and the formation to dismantle itself."

Qin Mu's voice replied, "This is something I picked up from the Loulan Golden Palace. Is it usable?"

"Oh, this treasure is quite good. You're really lucky to just pick up such an artifact. No wonder I couldn't calculate your fate; your luck is heaven-defying, it's not that I'm incompetent."

As they spoke, Granny Si and the others saw a luminous pearl fly past them. The pearl grew larger and larger, revealing mountains and water within, like a complete world with towering peaks and flowing waterfalls.

The pearl cut across the sky in front of them, rapidly transforming into an enormous object. Its spherical 'sky' contained mountains and rivers, before it vanished beyond the horizon.

"Be careful; it's going to be a bit rough when the prohibition breaks," the voice from outside continued.

No sooner had the words faded than violent tremors erupted from the depths of space. Layer upon layer of space began to collapse, and earth, water, wind, and fire surged wildly, sweeping away everything. The divine prohibitions within each layer of space crumbled, unleashing terrifying energy in all directions!

The trapped individuals quickly circulated their vital energy, deploying their strongest defensive techniques to counter the raging energy. Fortunately, this energy was not specifically targeting them but merely gushing outwards, making it manageable.

If it had been directed solely at them, they would surely have been blasted to smithereens!

Qin Mu stood in front of a forest, which suddenly disintegrated into ashes. A powerful surge of air swept through, clearing away all the trees, turning them into fine powder.

With a series of thuds, four figures appeared out of thin air, crashing hard onto the ground and creating several large craters.

Qin Mu shook his head, "They're getting on in years, yet they still cause so much worry..."

"Cripple, get out of the way!"

The Deaf Man's voice rang out as the old man plummeted head-first from mid-air, crashing down. Below him, the Cripple grunted, being hit by the Deaf Man.

In mid-air, a brilliant Buddhist light shone as a giant Buddha descended. Golden springs welled up from the ground, with lotus flowers blooming within them. The Buddha lowered its legs, stepping on the lotuses as it slowly descended.

The golden lotus springs vanished, and the great Buddha dissipated, transforming into an old man in green robes – Old Ma. His clothes were somewhat tattered, but compared to the others, he wasn't in a bad state.

Everyone stood up and exchanged bewildered glances. They had truly emerged alive from that spatial secret technique. Although each had sustained considerable injuries, none were fatal.

They looked up and saw Qin Mu standing not far from them. The young man from Disabled Elderly Village kept shaking his head, as if he was finding them increasingly unreliable with age.

In front of Qin Mu stood a triumphant, large iron lump, its eight arms akimbo, looking like a stuffed lantern, apparently waiting for them to worship it.

Behind Qin Mu was a Dragon Qilin, as plump as a pig, appearing half-asleep, listless, and uninterested in anything.

"Mu'er, how did you get here?"

Granny Si, surprised, walked over, examining Qin Mu from head to toe. She then complained, "How dare you trespass into such a dangerous place! You're too bold! Are you hurt?"

"Granny, keep your distance from him."

The Blind Man stepped forward, somewhat tense, and said to Qin Mu, "Granny Si can no longer fully resist the demon seed in her heart. She switches between male and female, and Li Tianxing could take control of her at any moment. Be careful she doesn't harm you!"

From Granny Si's mouth came the ancient, demonic voice, "Rest assured, he is the current cult master of my Sacred Cult. As the previous cult master, I naturally would not harm him."

Suddenly, Granny Si's voice reverted to a female one, "Li Tianxing, get back in there!"

The Cripple stepped forward, sizing up the Dutian Demon King with eight arms akimbo. "Mu'er, this iron lump of yours is actually useful. What's its name again?"

Old Ma replied, "Dutian Demon King."

The Butcher also came over to inspect it, asking doubtfully, "Where did you get this? You didn't have this iron fellow last time I saw you, but it's quite useful."

"It's really ugly," the Deaf Man stated.

The Dutian Demon King bristled with anger, about to erupt, but Qin Mu quickly said, "This is the Dutian Demon King, the supreme ruler of the Dutian World. I invited him to rescue you all. The Dutian Demon King's mastery of divine prohibitions is extremely high; he can certainly guide us through any danger."

The Dutian Demon King's mood brightened. "This kid certainly knows how to talk, even if he's a bit rotten-hearted, a little malicious in his methods, and a bit too clever..."

"Where's the Village Chief?"

Qin Mu asked, "And Grandfather Apothecary and Grandfather Mute, have they also arrived here?"

The Blind Man shook his head. "My eyesight is good. I followed the clues left by Apothecary and the Village Chief to this place, but I didn't encounter Mute or Apothecary."

The others silently nodded.

Granny Si said, "Apothecary and the Village Chief should be fine together, especially with Patriarch and the Law Enforcement Elder accompanying them. We just haven't seen Mute. That fellow does things without a word, never telling us what he's up to. He's alone, so I doubt he can hold out much longer. Mu'er, it's impressive you sought us out despite the danger."

Qin Mu huffed, "You all didn't go home for New Year's, just ran off everywhere. What if you got lost? Of course I had to come look for you! Demon King, you lead the way. And you all, stop wandering around!"

"Mmhmm," the group of old men and women hastily nodded.