Chapter 391: Solar Well

“This world is man-made!”

Qin Mu and the others quickly realized that such a small world could not have been naturally formed. They soon arrived at the world's apex. Qin Mu wanted the flood dragons to carry them over the star river, but as the dragons ascended, they crashed into an invisible, dark barrier.

This dark barrier was unseen, yet it undeniably existed, forming the world's boundary. It was like a wall separating this space from other realms. The reason they believed this world was man-made was that, the moment they struck the barrier, countless honeycomb-shaped seals materialized on its surface, emitting tapping sounds. These seals rapidly illuminated a vast expanse of the sky, making them feel as if they had entered a colossal beehive.

This was a beehive seal, which Qin Mu had encountered before in the Ming Valley, so he was familiar with it. Ancient deities used beehive seals to close the rifts between the Youdu world and the real world. Here, however, beehive seals were used as the walls of a man-made world.

“There's no way to go around it; we can only pass through the star river,” Qin Mu mused. With this world's barrier blocking them, bypassing it from above was impossible. Their only option was to wade through the star river and reach the Solar Well.

“This space is quite peculiar. It doesn't look large, and the Solar Well and Lunar Well aren't far apart, at most three to five *li*,” Qin Mu observed. “Yet, according to geographical maps, the Lunar Well and Solar Well are tens of thousands of *li* apart. How is this accomplished?”

Si Yunxiang pondered, “Teleportation divine art… No! It must be folded space… That’s not right either! This is a complete space; it isn’t folded. What kind of divine art is this?”

The two wells in the Great Ruins were separated by tens of thousands of *li*, but in this starlit sea, they were only three to five *li* apart. In contrast, when observing the night sky from Yankang, the stars appeared close but were actually very distant. This place was the inverse of reality, which was astonishing. Si Yunxiang was also perplexed, unsure what divine art caused such an anomaly.

Qin Mu smiled, “The ancient deities of the Great Ruins possessed immense divine power, with many divine arts unknown to us. Perhaps they created this place simply to form a passage, making it convenient for them to move around in the Great Ruins. Let’s head to the Solar Well first.”

The nine flood dragons enveloped them, flying towards the star river. The dragons grew tense. The river was filled with mountain-sized boulders, hurtling and colliding chaotically. Whenever a star the size of a mountain crashed towards them, the dragons would use their divine abilities to push it away. These stars were also artificial, not particularly large. However, some unique stars, like beautiful jade, transparent and sparkling, glowed as they swept past nearby.

“How beautiful… Oh no!” Qin Mu’s expression changed dramatically. He played his flute intensely, controlling over a dozen flood dragons, whose bodies rapidly shrank. They swarmed onto his person. Qin Mu grabbed Hu Ling'er, tossing her onto his shoulder, and pulled Si Yunxiang. He shouted, “Fat Dragon, quick, jump into the Dragon Nest!”

He leaped into the Dragon Nest with Hu Ling'er and Si Yunxiang. Dragon Qilin also hastily jumped in. Just then, the jade-like star's glow became incredibly brilliant. In an instant, multicolored sword light filled the sky, sweeping across the stars in all directions! Mountain-sized stars were pierced by the sword light, riddled with holes!

Qin Mu, with the dragons, Hu Ling'er, and Si Yunxiang, jumped into the Dragon Nest. Countless flying swords flashed overhead. Hu Ling'er quickly ducked, and a few strands of her hair were cut off. Dragon Qilin hastily retracted his tail; a sword light swept past it, and two of his dragon scales fell off. Still shaken, they saw the jade-like star vanish into thin air.

Suddenly, colorful flying swords, like a rainbow meteor shower, streaked across the sky above the Dragon Nest, clashing with a clanging sound. They then reformed into a jade-like star and flowed away with the star river.

“What a massive sword pellet!” Hu Ling'er’s eyes widened.

Dragon Qilin mumbled, “It’s even bigger than Cult Master’s sword pellet…”

Qin Mu was also dumbfounded. He had never imagined such an enormous sword pellet existed. He had thought his own sword pellet was quite large, but seeing this one made him realize it was insignificant in comparison! “Could it be a divine treasure?”

They flew out of the Dragon Nest again. Qin Mu still had the dragons form a Divine Dragon Shield and had one dragon carry the Dragon Nest, proceeding with increased caution. The Divine Dragon Shield was a divine art from the Ling family, the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Shield, originally a offensive refinement art. Qin Mu manipulated the nine flood dragons to deploy it as a formation. In his mind, the marvel of application lay in one’s own heart, without rigid rules. Some thought his ideas were wild, while others found them heretical, but he didn’t care.

The chaotic star river periodically sent crashing stars. Even though the Divine Dragon Shield was formed by nine extremely powerful flood dragons, some dragons were still left with broken bones and strained muscles. Qin Mu constantly refined elixirs to heal the injured dragons, having others take their place to maintain the integrity of the Divine Dragon Shield. After enduring countless hardships along the way, they finally reached the core of this galaxy, not far from the two divine wells.

This area was relatively safe. The stars orbited the Solar Well and Lunar Well, and here, there were only scattered stars, not many in number. Si Yunxiang breathed a sigh of relief and wondered, “Cult Master, this place is so dangerous. Even with over a dozen flood dragons protecting us, we still had to occasionally hide in the Dragon Nest to avoid danger. How did the Sun Watcher get here?”

Qin Mu looked up, seeing that thick light pillars also shot upwards from the Solar Well and Lunar Well. Above them were two large, circular openings, like wellheads. “Since they are Sun-herders, they naturally arrived here on the Sun Ship. Moreover, the Sun Watcher’s power is extremely high; she is like a celestial being.”

Si Yunxiang was startled. Like a celestial being?

Qin Mu didn’t elaborate. The flood dragons moved their bodies, shaking their heads and tails, carrying them towards the light pillars above. Suddenly, Qin Mu looked down and was momentarily stunned. He saw that the massive Solar Well was filled with huge light spheres, like countless suns! Of course, these suns were not large; they must have been treasures refined by divine creation. But so many suns squeezed into the deep well still deeply shocked him!

“The suns on the Sun Ship went out. Why don’t they retrieve an unextinguished sun from the Solar Well?”

Just as he thought this, the sound of chains rattling loudly came from above them. An enormous black iron chain descended from the wellhead of the Solar Well, continuously lowering, approaching the suns in the well.

Hu Ling'er asked in surprise, “Young Master, are the Sun-herders fishing for suns?”

Qin Mu was also astonished. There were several large hooks hanging from the bottom of the chain, presumably attempting to snag the suns in the well and pull them out. However, he quickly saw that the black iron chains were scorched red, showing signs of melting even before reaching the well, with molten iron continuously dripping down the chains into the well. Not only that, the large hooks were also softened by the heat and completely dissolved before the black iron chains could approach the suns, and the black iron chains themselves broke from the heat.

The sound of chains being pulled back from above came, and a voice at the well's edge sighed, “Still can’t fish it out…”

As the dragons flew towards the wellhead, the closer they got, the larger and wider the opening became. By the time the dragons carried Qin Mu and the others out of the wellhead, the Solar Well had become a massive opening, five hundred *li* wide. Looking into the hole, they couldn't see anything, only blinding, sun-like light. A straight light pillar shot out from the well, illuminating the sky. The light then spread out from the sky, forming a massive dome that enveloped the area. This Solar Well was like an immensely vast, luminous mirror!

“Oh, didn’t fish out a sun, but instead fished out a flood dragon!” A booming voice came from the well's edge, surprised.

Qin Mu and the others followed the sound, seeing several giants of the Sun-herder tribe standing by the well. Dressed in white robes, they resembled priests, pulling on chains and looking at them in astonishment. Qin Mu took a few steps and stood on the head of a flood dragon, smiling, “Qin Mu, a person from Wuyou Township, here to see the Sun Watcher! Please, elders, inform her!”

“Guests from Wuyou Township!”

The strong cultivators of the Sun-herder tribe were startled. They hastily dropped the chains and bowed, saying loudly, “Guests from Wuyou Township, please wait a moment while we go and report!” With that, they quickly turned and left.

“They seem to have misunderstood. I only said I’m a person from Wuyou Township, not that I came from Wuyou Township,” Qin Mu scratched his head, letting the flood dragons land by the well. Seeing how solemn these Sun-herders were, they were likely going to invite high-ranking tribal members for a grand welcome.

Si Yunxiang tapped the Dragon Nest and called inside, “Princess Xiu, we’ve reached the Solar Well, hurry out.” Ling Yuxiu woke from her meditation, leaped out, transforming into a stream of dragon energy, and regained her form upon landing. Si Yunxiang was very envious: “Princess Fat Chest has greatly improved her cultivation in such a short time; she’s stronger than me!”

Ling Yuxiu looked around, her mind greatly shaken. She stared intently at the massive ship docked not far from the Solar Well. It wasn't her first time seeing a Sun Ship, but she still couldn't hide her shock. This Sun Ship was truly enormous, with chains dragging a black sun, lying prostrate on the ground. The ship's deck was like a continent, capable of sustaining tens of thousands of people.

She looked around again, feeling another surge of shock. The area around the Solar Well was covered by a dome, forming a unique space permeated by an unsettling power: pure yang energy!

Qin Mu was examining a tall stone stele by the well. Hu Ling'er came closer, pulling out a small notebook and writing tools, intending to copy the text on the stele. Since she began studying calligraphy and painting with the deaf elder, she had become incredibly diligent, copying down any characters she encountered. However, she didn’t recognize the characters on this stele and had to ask, “Young Master, what does this stele say?”

“This is an inscription written in divine script, recording the history of the Solar Well,” Qin Mu read. “The stele says: ‘The Emperor commanded Sister Qing to refine the two wells of the sun and moon. Sister Qing was mischievous, failing for a hundred years. The Emperor was enraged and wished to execute her. Sister Qing, trembling with fear, completed the refinement in fifty years. However, the sun and moon in the wells had no light. Sister Qing plucked out her own eyes and cast them into the wells, bringing forth light. The Emperor commanded the historian to erect this monument in commemoration.’”

He looked up at the black sun floating on the Sun Ship. “That sun has the blood of Sister Qing’s deity, which is why it would shine brightly. But for some reason, the sun went out.”

“The sun went out because of a powerful enemy!”

Qin Mu followed the voice. Hundreds of Sun-herder divine race members were walking towards them, each of them towering. Leading them was the old patriarch of the Sun-herder divine race. Seeing Qin Mu, he paused slightly, showing disappointment, and said, “So it’s that young friend from Xianglong City. I thought someone from Wuyou Township had arrived. Young friend, what are you doing here?”

Qin Mu smiled, “I came to see the Sun Watcher.”

The old patriarch shook his head and said, “The Sun Watcher’s life is nearing its end. We are selecting a new Sun Watcher. Young friend, you have a deep connection with Wuyou Township; please stay and bear witness.”

Qin Mu’s heart trembled, and he looked confused. “Didn’t they say Yan Jingjing still has many years of life left? Why…”

“Alien demon gods attacked the Solar Well, and the Sun Watcher personally led the resistance. Her lifespan was almost completely depleted,” the old patriarch sighed. “Come with me, you all. The Sun Watcher should be able to pass away with a smile, seeing an old acquaintance like you.”

The surrounding Sun-herders’ faces dimmed. Their white robes fluttered, and the air seemed to flow with sadness. The old patriarch stopped, scanned his surroundings, and shouted, “Why the sorrow? The moment one becomes the Sun Watcher, one is destined to merge with the Sun Ship, to become one with it, and to stand alongside all past ancestors and sages. This is an honor! Why are you sorrowful? Dusk is approaching, and alien demon gods will invade again. All of you, pull yourselves together!”

Qin Mu looked up at him, seeing the old patriarch’s white hair gently swaying. Yan Jingjing was his granddaughter. He asked why they were sorrowful, yet the sorrow in his own heart was unspoken.