Chapter 436: Replacing Death

In Fengdu City, gods and devils flew in, gathering around the King of Hell. They looked down at the bridge and, upon seeing the vortex, their expressions changed drastically. Just as they were about to intervene, the King of Hell raised his hand and said in a deep voice, "No need. Let him go."

The gods and devils of Fengdu City were quite bewildered.

"The divine ability under the bridge is from Youdu. How can we tolerate Youdu coming to Fengdu to snatch someone?"

A god and devil said, "If we let Youdu cause trouble, Fengdu will soon be lost! King of Hell, let's counterattack Youdu!"

The King of Hell shook his head, his voice somewhat strange. He said, "That person used a Youdu divine ability, but he is not a god or devil from Youdu; he is a visitor from Wuyou Township. I have seen that face before; it's very similar to that person... There's no need to pursue it."

Beneath his dark cloak, his gaze burned faintly like a candle flame. "People from Wuyou Township have appeared. It's like an old dream from a previous dynasty; I've been waiting for the old swallow to return, for the old nest to be rebuilt. But instead of the old swallow, a new one has arrived."

The Village Chief said, "It reminds me of a familiar swallow returning. It's hard to distinguish between the old and the new swallow."

The King of Hell looked down at him, his cloak fluttering and rippling above Fengdu City. His form then receded, disappearing into the city.

The Village Chief looked down at the bridge and sighed, "I thought I was going to reunite with Apothecary and the others. I didn't expect Mu'er to summon them back. I wonder if their physical bodies have died. If they have, they'll likely have to reconvene in Fengdu... Master, what's with the river under the Bridge of Helplessness?"

"Legend has it that this is a Youdu river, which we call the River of Oblivion."

The previous Human Emperor came to his side, leaned over, and looked down at the bridge. He said, "There are many stories here that are hard to explain in a short time. There are often monsters in the river; these monsters also come from Youdu and are extremely terrifying. The powerful individual who just used a Youdu divine ability to forcibly snatch someone arrived here by following the River of Oblivion, using his ability to seize people. You should be quite familiar with the person who used that Youdu divine ability, shouldn't you?"

He looked at the Village Chief's face, his eyes glinting. He said, "You were the closest just now, and you heard that person's voice, yet you didn't try to stop him."

The Village Chief nodded, his voice filled with pride. "He is my disciple, the current Human Emperor! How about that, you old harlot? The disciple I chose is stronger than the one you chose, isn't he?"

"Hmph! Wasn't the disciple I chose you, you fool?"

"You old harlot, prepare to die!"

In the Divine Broken Mountain Range, within the Great Luo Star Force Field, Apothecary, Cripple, Kun King, and others suddenly opened their eyes. Deafy suddenly exclaimed, "Oh no, my physical body is dead! I can no longer hold onto my primordial spirit!"

Kun King and Ash Immortal also awoke, their expressions changing drastically. Their primordial spirits had been separated from their bodies for so long that their bodies had begun to die!

Earlier, Flood Dragon King God had detected their lack of breath, which was also due to the death of their physical bodies, hence the absence of vital signs.

"Mu'er, how long can you hold on?"

Apothecary hurriedly got up, taking out various medicinal herbs and silver needles. He said nervously, "If you can hold on for a bit longer, I might be able to prolong our lives and revive our bodies!"

Qin Mu stood before the Gate of Heaven's Legacy, continuing to borrow the magical power of the numerous flood dragons and Flood Dragon King God to maintain the Soulbeckoning Art. He said, "Don't worry, Grandpa Apothecary, I can still hold on for several days and nights!"

"It won't take that long."

Apothecary took out a beehive and said, "First, I'll use soul-boring worms to connect the physical body and the primordial spirit. Then, I'll use poison to nourish the body and sever the primordial spirit's connection to Fengdu and Youdu. Finally, I'll cultivate substitute worms to die in our stead."

He tossed the beehive into the air. It floated there, rapidly expanding. Within each honeycomb cell were large and small insect eggs and various strange seeds, with different kinds of insects in the milky-white eggs.

Apothecary quickly cultivated poisons and refined medicines, having everyone swallow an egg. His techniques were unpredictable, and as he patted them, heartbeats could be heard from within their bodies.

Apothecary then swiftly inserted silver needles all over their bodies. Deafy felt a bit intimidated looking at the insect eggs but was forced by Apothecary to swallow one by having his mouth pinched open.

Deafy's face turned ashen.

Apothecary quickly dug holes, took out a few seeds, and planted them. Moments later, the seeds sprouted, growing into enormous flower buds from beneath the ground. The large flowers rotated, their petals unfurling outwards.

"Everyone, get into the flowers!"

Everyone entered the flowers. Cripple said, "Quack doctor, what are these flowers? They feel fleshy."

Apothecary's expression was tense. He said, "These are not flowers; they are substitute worms. Don't move. Let the substitute worms swallow you."

"Substitute worms?"

Everyone was slightly startled, but then they saw the large flowers suddenly contract, their petals closing and wrapping everyone tightly within their chambers.

The flowers were indeed not flowers, but bizarre insects. After swallowing everyone, the flower buds began to twist and transform, gradually growing heads, limbs, and bodies, looking exactly like the people they had swallowed.

Qin Mu and the others were stunned. The beings formed by these insects were indistinguishable from Apothecary, Kun King, and the others. What was even more bizarre was that these insects possessed the same aura as Apothecary, Kun King, and the rest, even mimicking their souls and primordial spirits so perfectly that no difference could be discerned!

Even stranger, the bodies of "Apothecary" and the others rapidly aged. In an instant, their hair turned white, and in the blink of an eye, they went from middle age to old age, then from old age to death.

A moment later, "Apothecary" and the others successively exhausted their lifespans, fell to the ground, and died, lifeless. Only their corpses remained on the ground.

Qin Mu dispersed the Soulbeckoning Art. Waves of eerie energy surged from an unknown source. In the depths of space and time, darkness churned, then lights flickered in the darkness. A paper boat drifted over, and an old man beneath a storm lantern stood up, holding a lantern and shining it on the corpses of "Apothecary" and the others. From the corpses, their respective "souls" floated out, seemingly without any consciousness, woodenly following the old man's lantern onto the paper boat.

The paper boat turned around, the old underworld envoy hung up the lantern, and the paper boat sailed into the darkness. The eerie aura vanished.

"Alright, we've tricked the underworld envoy!"

Apothecary's voice suddenly came from underground. Then, the ground swelled, and fleshy insect sacs emerged. Apothecary, Cripple, and the others crawled out of the sacs, covered in sticky liquid.

Apothecary removed the silver needles from everyone's bodies. Their bodies were still very weak, and their primordial spirits remained somewhat unstable. After checking them, Apothecary said, "The soul-boring worms are eating into both the soul and the body. We need to first recuperate your physical bodies and let them revive before you can fully come back to life. My medicinal herbs are almost depleted; I don't have enough spiritual medicine..."

Qin Mu quickly said, "There's a Pure Yang Pool on the Sun Ship that can quickly restore vitality."

"That makes things much easier!"

Apothecary sighed in relief and said, "Let's immediately go and soak in the Pure Yang Pool to quickly recuperate our bodies. Those substitute worms won't be able to fool the underworld envoys for long."

Everyone hastily made their way to the Sun Ship. Qin Mu, familiar with the way, led them to the Pure Yang Pool. As they soaked in it, their physical functions gradually recovered, but the pool water also gradually diminished.

Seeing that everyone was no longer in mortal danger, Qin Mu quickly asked, "Everyone, where did your primordial spirits go?"

Ash Immortal sighed and said, "During the great battle, the Sun Guardian steered his ship to provide support. However, the gods of the High Heavens were truly formidable, possessing powerful divine abilities, spells, and divine artifacts. Our eldest sister and second brother successively died in battle, and the Sun Guardian was also attacked on the ship, his life hanging by a thread. The Imperial Preceptor then activated the Quake Cauldron, intending to take everyone down with him and injure the gods, but a strange thing happened..."

Qin Mu looked puzzled, then suddenly realized something and blurted out, "Did the Quake Cauldron shatter the barrier between another world and Yankang?"

"No."

Cripple shook his head and said, "The power of the Quake Cauldron was absorbed by the Divine Broken Mountain Range."

Qin Mu was stunned.

Cripple continued, "When I saw that bastard, the Yankang Imperial Preceptor, take out the Quake Cauldron, I knew something bad was about to happen. I immediately carried Apothecary and fled, staying far away. Deafy, you were closer at the time; you tell him."

Deafy pulled out his two iron ears, washed them in the Pure Yang Pool, then reinserted them into his ear holes. He said, "When the power of the Quake Cauldron erupted, I also knew it was bad. I immediately started painting, intending to hide in the world within the painting to escape this calamity. Unexpectedly, the Quake Cauldron's power was truly terrifying; I didn't even have time to escape, and the worlds within my paintings were annihilated one after another. It was at that moment that an unimaginable power suddenly surged from the Divine Broken Mountain Range, absorbing the Quake Cauldron's energy. Following that, a large hole was blasted into both the sky and the earth, and another world appeared on the other side of that hole."

At that time, they were in the midst of a fierce battle. The Yankang Imperial Preceptor's reckless strike terrified everyone, scattering their souls. However, the sudden change in the Divine Broken Mountain Range allowed everyone to escape the disaster.

They didn't have time to check the situation in the other world as they were plunged back into a bitter struggle. Flower Monarch and Star Monarch Yan were too powerful to contend with. Flower Monarch went to attack the Sun Ship, intending to kill Yan Jingjing, making the situation critical.

Granny Si, seeing the dire situation, gathered everyone and set up the Great Luo Star Formation. She forcibly activated the Great Luo Star Grand Array, pulling everyone's primordial spirits out of their bodies in one go, intending to wage a primordial spirit battle.

"Then, we entered a strange world."

Deafy stared blankly, saying, "Beneath the Divine Broken Mountain Range, there is a strange world. It should be, it should be..."

Kun King, being well-traveled and knowledgeable, said, "The internal world of a divine artifact of gods and devils!"

Deafy nodded and said, "We were trapped in that place, but we continued to fight. Ultimately, several of us were killed. After we died, we sensed a strange power invading that world. Then, we saw a bird-headed deity flying towards us, flapping its wings, leading us to Fengdu, saying we were going to meet an old friend. Just as we saw the Village Chief, Mu'er pulled us back."

"The Village Chief is in Fengdu?"

Qin Mu was surprised, then felt a sudden pang in his heart and clenched his fists. "Village Chief, I will definitely go to Fengdu and rescue you!"

Even more shocking was that an inexplicable power beneath the Divine Broken Mountain Range had blocked the Quake Cauldron's might and even pulled their primordial spirits into it. What exactly was this heavy artifact? Why was it buried here? Who created it, and who buried it?

"So, the heavy artifact that the stone statues of foreign demon gods are searching for must be it! Granny Si and the others, along with the primordial spirits of the High Heavens' gods, are still inside that heavy artifact!"

No sooner had he thought this than the ground suddenly shook. Rocks flew in the distance as a stone statue spun, breaking through the earth and slowly rising. The stone statue of the foreign demon god had searched from underground and found its way here.

At the same time, vibrations came from the darkness. Qin Mu gazed intently and saw stone statues moving towards them from within the mist.

"They've found that heavy artifact!" Qin Mu's expression changed drastically.