Chapter 437: Big Knife

Giant stone statues arrived near the earth-drilling statues. Suddenly, these tall statues moved their limbs rapidly, frantically digging the ground. Their arms churned like a whirlwind, tossing out huge boulders.

Qin Mu and the others on the Sun Ship were astonished. These demon god statues dug incredibly fast, though their digging technique wasn't pretty. Soon, they had excavated a large pit. The demon god statues gradually sank into the ground, continuously throwing rocks out of the pit.

"These guys dig faster than a dog!" Cripple muttered.

King Kun looked at Elder Grey and said, "When it comes to digging, aside from Earth Element Peak, Elder Grey is the best."

Elder Grey stood up and said, "I'll go see what they're up to." With that, he swayed, transforming into a large gray rat. He scurried off the Sun Ship at lightning speed, reaching the ground in a few breaths, then burrowed underground and vanished.

King Kun said, "Elder Grey is good at treasure hunting; he's called Uncle Grey-treasure. He can travel freely underground, so he's sure to discover something."

Qin Mu looked up. Above them, the sky was covered in blooming flowers, forming a floral canopy that enveloped the Sun Ship. The Flower Lord stood in the center of one of the flowers, seemingly growing out of it.

"These Celestial Venerables must be dealt with!"

Qin Mu looked at Apothecary and the others and asked, "Do you have any ideas?"

Apothecary chuckled, "We had no ideas before, but now we have plenty."

King Kun pulled out his golden horn and said, "Let me do it." He then stood up from the pool and bowed to the golden horn.

That golden horn was a sacred artifact of the Kun race, forged into a golden spear. After he bowed to it, the golden horn whistled and shot out. With a soft "whoosh," a golden line appeared in the sky, the trace left by the flying horn.

The golden line passed through the Flower Lord's glabella, then sharply veered from the back of her head, striking another deity and piercing through the heart chamber of that Celestial Venerable.

The golden line, formed by the golden horn, zigzagged back and forth at extreme speed. A moment later, all the deities, including the Star Lord, were pierced by the golden horn.

A clear, resonant whistle sounded, and the golden horn returned to King Kun's hand.

The golden lines in the sky slowly dimmed and vanished.

Qin Mu's heart trembled slightly as he looked at the golden horn; there wasn't a single trace of blood on it. This golden horn had slain so many deities, including the Flower Lord and the Star Lord, two of the Four Lords of the Heavens, yet it showed no damage whatsoever.

It was known that the physical bodies of the Celestial Venerables and demons were incredibly powerful; even artifacts of a sect could not harm them in the slightest. Forcefully attacking the body of a god or demon was like throwing an egg against a rock, shattering oneself.

Yet, the sacred artifact of the East Sea Kun race showed no wear, indicating its immense power.

However, while the sacred artifact was powerful, its effectiveness also depended on its wielder. King Kun's previous struggle against the Celestial Venerables had been unsuccessful, likely due to his relatively weaker strength.

"King Kun, I have already revealed the Three Bridges Method for mending the Divine Bridge. Why don't you come ashore and learn this method?" Qin Mu asked.

King Kun was surprised. "So, that method for mending the Divine Bridge was spread by the Human Emperor. I have already obtained this cultivation technique. To be honest, our Kun race frequently comes ashore to trade with Eternal Peace, exchanging goods."

Qin Mu felt relieved. "So that's how it is."

Suddenly, a large rat scurried onto the Sun Ship, heading toward them. As it ran, it transformed into the gray-robed elder, who reached the group, panting, and said, "There truly is something underground! The ground is hollow, there's a palace complex, an impossibly huge divine statue, and a giant saber!"

Apothecary quickly told him to soak in the Pure Yang Pool, saying, "Your injuries haven't healed yet. Speak slowly."

Elder Grey took a few more breaths and said, "There's a passage underground. Those stone statues have already dug to it and are going down. They reached the center of the earth, where there's a vast space. In the center of that space is a divine statue that seems to have emerged from underground. Chains surround it, tethering the palace. For some reason, the statue drilled into the chains. These chains are even thicker than the ones holding the sun to the Sun Ship!"

Everyone's hearts were shaken. They exchanged glances.

The chains that held the sun were a masterpiece from the Founding Emperor era. With current artifact-refining methods, such a divine artifact could no longer be created.

And the chains beneath the Divine Severing Mountains were even thicker than those holding the sun. Could they also be relics from the Founding Emperor era?

Deafy suddenly said, "The Sun Ship's chains hold the sun. So, are the underground chains holding that divine statue?"

Everyone felt a chill.

Why would a divine statue need to be chained?

Elder Grey shook his head. "No, you're mistaken. These chains are connected to several palaces, passing beneath them. I followed those stone statues down and saw those palaces floating around the divine statue. That statue doesn't look like it was originally underground; instead, it looks like it just emerged, similar to the statues that appeared in Eternal Peace. They must be newly appeared statues. However, this statue was unlucky enough to drill beneath the Divine Severing Mountains and got caught in the chains, unable to surface."

Cripple excitedly said, "Those palaces must have a lot of treasures! Let's go steal... Bah! Let's go pick up treasures!"

Apothecary retorted testily, "You've just barely saved your life. If you run around recklessly, you might lose it! Elder Grey, what else did you see?"

Elder Grey said, "There are floating bridges in the air, connected to the palaces around the divine statue..."

King Kun puzzled, "There are already chains, so why floating bridges? What are the chains for?"

Elder Grey's expression grew strange. He wanted to speak but hesitated. "There's also a saber on the statue's forehead. The chains are for that saber... When the statue emerged from underground, it probably ran right into the saber and got its head cut by it..."

Apothecary puzzled, "What saber?"

"A large saber, a very large saber."

Elder Grey revealed his two long incisors, his mustache twitching. "Heaven Saber's saber is already quite large, but it's pitifully small compared to that one. That saber runs north-south, seemingly embedded in the statue's forehead, very, very long. When I saw it, I noticed something strange..."

He steadied himself. "Grandma Si, the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor, and the Celestial Venerables are all inside that gleaming saber. The saber is like a mirror, and their primordial spirits are fighting inside it, yet they don't realize it."

Qin Mu and the others imagined the scene, feeling a shiver. Grandma Si and the others had used the Great Luo Celestial Star Formation to pull everyone, including the Celestial Venerables' primordial spirits, away, only to land in the space within a saber?

And when the Eternal Peace Imperial Preceptor activated the Earthquake Cauldron, intending to perish with the Celestial Venerables, the cauldron's energy was absorbed by a terrifying force underground. Was it also this saber at work?

King Kun was stunned. "We fell into that strange, vast, empty space, but we never realized it was on the surface of a saber... We fought on the surface of a saber for so long without knowing!" He sounded incredulous.

Elder Grey continued, "Those stone statues got there before me. Several of them are building a very large altar. I don't know what for."

Qin Mu's heart stirred. "Elder Grey, could you draw what the altar looks like?"

Elder Grey used vital qi as a brush, drawing in the air. A moment later, the altar was complete. This altar resembled the altar from another world that Qin Mu had seen at the cave entrance, which was used for demon armies to pass through the world barrier into Eternal Peace.

The altar Elder Grey drew had rune structures somewhat similar to that altar, yet also different.

Qin Mu paused slightly, then suddenly grew curious and asked, "Who has a mirror?"

Cripple chuckled, "Deafy loves to show off. Others might not have one, but he definitely does."

Deafy snorted, producing a mirror. Qin Mu quickly said, "I need two mirrors. Who else has one?"

Apothecary stammered, "I have one here."

Deafy glared at him. "You have no face, what do you need a mirror for?"

"To tidy my clothes," Apothecary said matter-of-factly.

Qin Mu took the two mirrors. He placed one mirror to the left of the altar drawn by Elder Grey and the other to the right. He then suddenly said, "Elder Grey, can you project this altar into the mirrors?"

Elder Grey's mind moved, and the vital qi altar flew into the mirrors. Qin Mu looked into the mirrors and suddenly understood. "These two altars are mirror images of each other! The altar those stone statues are building is a mirror image of the altar in the other world. They must be directly teleporting the demon army from the other world to the underground altar. The altar they are using must be a type of teleportation array, but it's different from my Heavenly Saint Cult's teleportation arrays. Their array is more primitive and requires blood sacrifice."

Cripple chuckled, "Why are these guys teleporting demon armies here? They wouldn't be planning to blood sacrifice these demon armies to awaken that divine statue underground, would they?"

No one laughed, and Cripple's laughter gradually died out.

These demon armies were being teleported in, to be self-sacrificed as a blood offering to awaken the underground statue. If this statue were awakened, who knew what would happen?

"This statue is most likely not a statue, but the ancestor of these demon god statues. The statues probably came here to save their ancestor."

Deafy said, "After the demon army is blood sacrificed and the statue revives, heh heh, all our fighting and dying will have been for nothing! The statue's demon children and grandchildren will have revived him!"

Everyone fell silent. The Village Chief was dead, Old Buddha was dead, Old Daoist was dead, and Xuan Shengwu, Elder White, Elder Yellow, and others had also been lost. In the end, they still couldn't prevent the arrival of these true gods and demons.

They were too exhausted to fight anymore. Once this true demon revived, they would all be doomed.

Qin Mu continued to examine the two mirrors. Suddenly, he asked, "Does anyone else have mirrors? Give me two more."

Apothecary rummaged through his medicine basket and pulled out two more mirrors, tossing them to him. Deafy raised an eyebrow and snorted, "How vain!"

Qin Mu placed one mirror in the center of the two mirrors, reflecting light. He then used another mirror to reflect the light again. After multiple reflections, the altar projected onto the final mirror was still a mirror image. Qin Mu thought for a moment and said, "What if the demon army can't be teleported over? Will the remaining statues still be able to awaken that underground divine statue?"

Apothecary curiously asked, "What does the Little Human Emperor plan to do?"

Qin Mu showed a shy smile, "Apothecary Grandpa, don't tease me... I plan to create two more teleportation altars between these two altars to interfere with their teleportation. After the interference, those demon armies might not be able to transmit. It's like these two mirrors; if you slightly change the direction, the image won't reach the last mirror."