Chapter 433: Exotic Contact

When Dragon King God saw Qin Mu also fall to the ground playing dead, he became flustered. He was a god, the dignified Dragon King God, a noble dragon deity; how could he shamelessly play dead to escape danger like Qin Mu and Fox Spirit?

Dragon King God fell to the ground, his limbs twisted, looking far more pitifully dead than Qin Mu. It was clear this wasn't his first time playing dead.

The enormous face lowered, and the stone statue seemed to have poor eyesight. Its massive face brushed almost against their bodies as everyone held their breath, motionless.

"Eeyoo—" the stone statue emitted a long sound from its mouth, then slowly straightened up and walked into the darkness, its heavy footsteps gradually fading away.

"This stone statue seems to be searching for something," Qin Mu mused, leaping to his feet. "Where do they come from? The Great Ruins? Or other worlds? What are they looking for?"

Fox Spirit and the other flood dragons crawled up. Dragon King God also dusted himself off. Fox Spirit praised him, "Dragon King God, you were the most convincing among us! You must have practiced many times! Please teach me if you have time!"

Dragon King God's face flushed. He stammered, "I didn't, don't talk nonsense! Playing dead relies on talent..."

Qin Mu walked forward, saying, "Let's continue searching. Everyone, be careful. We don't know if there are other statues here! Dragon King God, what do you think about that last statue?"

Dragon King God thought for a moment and said, "This statue is most likely not from the Great Ruins."

Qin Mu was slightly taken aback. "Not from the Great Ruins? What makes you say that?"

"The statues in the Great Ruins are weathered by wind, rain, and frost; they are all very old. But this statue is very pristine, as if it had just recently transformed into a statue."

Dragon King God wasn't entirely sure. "However, the Great Ruins have the most statues, and they are the most bizarre. Perhaps this statue also came from the Great Ruins, likely hidden in some sealed space, which is why it doesn't appear old."

Qin Mu pondered, "Could it be that many statues were buried under the Divine Break Mountain Range, and when the mountain range was destroyed, these statues emerged from the ground?"

"That's possible," Dragon King God said. "Lord, Dragon Herder once mentioned that the origin of the Divine Break Mountain Range is very peculiar. This mountain range blocks the Great Ruins, separating it from Eternal Peace. Inside the Great Ruins is chaos, while outside it is safe and sound. There must be something wrong with the Divine Break Mountain Range itself."

They delved deeper into the strange land. The gray fog grew thicker, and the darkness deepened. The air was filled with a maddening oppressive silence, and from time to time, the reverberating sound of the Quake Cauldron echoed from afar, one rumble after another.

Qin Mu followed the vibrations forward, and it wasn't long before they encountered a second stone statue. This one was also searching in the darkness and mist, seemingly looking for something.

"Dragon King God's words hold some truth," Qin Mu thought, bypassing the statue. "These statues most likely came from beneath the Divine Break Mountain Range!"

A mountain range that isolates the strangeness of the Great Ruins is inherently strange itself. What did the Divine Break Mountain Range use to block the darkness of the Great Ruins?

This time, the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor used the Quake Cauldron to collapse the Divine Break Mountain Range, allowing the darkness of the Great Ruins to invade over a hundred miles. From this, it's clear that the Divine Break Mountain Range indeed served to block the darkness.

This mountain range likely appeared after the collapse of the Founding Emperor Era, when it became the Great Ruins. Qin Mu had heard that a god created the Divine Break Mountain Range here to separate the Great Ruins from Eternal Peace, preventing people from escaping the Great Ruins. When creating the mountain, they bypassed Mount Meru because there were people above the Great Thunderclap Monastery.

Perhaps the god who created the mountain at that time buried many statues within it.

"Young Master, could this statue be one of those that emerged in Eternal Peace?" Fox Spirit asked.

Qin Mu was slightly surprised. Fox Spirit continued, "Perhaps there were statues near the Divine Break Mountain Range. Many heavenly deities and other powerful beings died in battle here, and these statues used them as blood sacrifices to come to life. However, there weren't enough sacrifices, so they couldn't fully revive, only just manage to walk."

"That's also a possibility," Qin Mu said, puzzled. "If so, what are the statues looking for?"

"The Quake Cauldron that collapsed the Divine Break Mountain Range, of course!" Fox Spirit said matter-of-factly. "The Quake Cauldron is their weapon. They need to find it and unleash the earthquake energy within it completely to destroy the world. The Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor collapsed the Divine Break Mountain Range, but he certainly didn't unleash the full power of the Quake Cauldron."

"Spirit, you're truly clever!" Qin Mu praised.

The little fox puffed up with pride.

"However, if the statues can move, why aren't they searching for other celestial weapons?" Qin Mu shook his head. "It would be easier for the statues to find other celestial weapons. Moreover, this place is still constantly shaking, clearly indicating that the Quake Cauldron is continuously unleashing its power. It shouldn't be difficult for the statues to locate the Quake Cauldron using the vibrations. Therefore, your guess is probably incorrect; Dragon King God's speculation is more reasonable."

Fox Spirit's smugness vanished instantly.

Suddenly, Qin Mu stopped and once again fell to the ground, playing dead. Ahead, incredibly heavy footsteps sounded again, and a tall stone statue approached them. Qin Mu secretly opened a slit with his eyes and saw that the statue's back was covered with flags. The flags were also petrified, but each one had a giant, very eerie eye on it.

Tufts of black mist flew in, rapidly merging into the flags on the statue's back. Then, one of the eyes on a flag gradually transformed from stone, turning into flesh and blood, its pupil and sclera slowly becoming a real eye.

The eye rolled around within the flag with a dull gaze, clearly lacking enough energy to fully free itself from petrification.

"Demonic eye! The statue is a demon!" Qin Mu's scalp tingled, and he nearly jumped up. If it was a demon, then these statues absolutely could not be from beneath the Divine Break Mountain Range. In the darkness of the Great Ruins, it was demonic monsters that ran rampant. They weren't afraid of the strangeness within the Great Ruins' darkness because they *were* the strangeness!

Qin Mu had even encountered a demon god in the darkness before. That demon god had lured him, making him mistakenly believe that the outskirts of Fengdu were the Carefree Village. The village chief had even clashed with that demon god!

"No, that's not right. If these statues are demon gods, why are they turned to stone? All the demon gods I've seen before were lively and energetic!"

Various thoughts popped into his mind, and he suddenly considered a possibility: the world where these statues originated did not overlap with the Great Ruins or Eternal Peace. They weren't demon gods from the Great Ruins but came from another world. Therefore, when they crossed into this world, they had to turn their physical bodies into stone because their power couldn't fully cross over!

"What exactly is going on with this place?" Qin Mu's mind reeled. During the night in the Great Ruins, three to five different worlds had appeared, and now, with the collapse of the Divine Break Mountain Range, a new world was invading!

"Is another world about to overlap with Eternal Peace? Why are such incredible things happening?"

Just as he thought this, the demonic eye on the flag rolled around, surveying its surroundings. Suddenly, its gaze fell upon them, lying on the ground playing dead, and the demonic eye showed a mischievous expression.

A chill ran down Qin Mu's spine.

The flag suddenly dropped from behind the statue and plunged into the ground in front of them. Qin Mu stopped playing dead, immediately leaped up, and shouted, "Dragon King God!"

Hearing this, Dragon King God immediately transformed into his true form. Qin Mu picked up Fox Spirit and leaped onto the dragon's back. Dragon Qilin, along with the other flood dragons, scrambled onto the dragon's back. Dragon King God roared and charged forward!

Behind them, the statue turned, its massive hand sweeping down with extreme speed!

Dragon King God roared, his vital qi exploding into a surging flood. The water transformed into a long river, swiftly coiling upwards along the statue's arm, intending to crush it.

The statue's arm bent and straightened, and with just one bend and stretch, it shattered Dragon King God's divine ability.

Dragon King God's hair stood on end. He shrieked, "Lord, it's a true god!"

"It's a true demon, actually!" Qin Mu corrected.

The statue's footsteps lifted and fell, catching up to Dragon King God in a few strides. Another massive hand swept down. Dragon King God quickly dodged, while the flag floated in the air, then plunged down again with a thud, its demonic eye still fixed on them.

Once Dragon King God had escaped a certain distance, the petrified flag flew up again and plunged into the ground not far from them, like a bouncing banner.

"This statue sees with that eye! Without that eye, the statue can't see us!"

Qin Mu suddenly realized. He immediately pulled out the Sun Jade Eye from his Taotie Pouch, placed it on the dragon's back, and activated it without hesitation.

*Buzz*—A beam of solar divine light tore through the darkness and mist, cutting into the demonic eye on the flag. The demonic eye instantly shot out a black beam, blocking the solar divine light.

With his other hand, Qin Mu grabbed the Lunar Jade Eye, adjusted its direction, and a thin blade of light shot out from the Lunar Jade Eye as well. Wherever it passed, space almost solidified into matter!

The light from the two jade eyes, one yin and one yang, immediately tore through the demonic eye's black light, shattering the demonic eye within the flag. Only a gaping hole remained in the center of the petrified flag!

"Activating the Lunar Jade Eye and Sun Jade Eye together seems to make them more powerful!" Qin Mu suppressed his surprise. He looked up and saw that with the demonic eye gone, the stone statue's movements suddenly froze. It tilted its head, as if listening for something.

"Don't move," Qin Mu whispered.

Dragon King God quickly stopped. Qin Mu softly urged, "Walk slowly, don't rush..."

Dragon King God tiptoed forward, afraid of making any sound. Qin Mu kept his eyes fixed on the statue. The statue seemed to be looking around, hammering here and kicking there, but still didn't notice them.

Suddenly, Dragon King God's body stiffened. He stammered, "Lord..."

"Keep going!" Qin Mu said without turning his head.

"Lord, look ahead!" Dragon King God's voice was hoarse.

Fox Spirit also trembled, saying, "Young Master, look ahead..."

"Ahead?" Qin Mu paused slightly, then looked back and was stunned, unable to recover for a long moment. Behind them, the statue was hammering around, causing the ground to crack and crumble, and was approaching them.

But Qin Mu seemed oblivious. After a long time, he murmured, "Imperial Preceptor, what have you done..."