Chapter 555: Clearing the Clouds to See the Sun

Thousands of skeletons and zombies surrounded Qin Mu, sweeping eastward like a tide and engulfing everything in their path.

The Land of the Undesirable was indeed full of strange and eerie entities. Most were peculiar beings formed from the resentments or lingering souls of gods, devils, and fallen divine arts practitioners. These creatures were imbued with the powerful divine arts that gods and devils had unleashed in their dying moments, making them extraordinarily powerful and terrifyingly grotesque.

The land became such a bizarre place due to the brutal war, where the negative emotions of gods, devils, and divine arts practitioners who perished erupted, and their divine and demonic blood mingled. Consequently, the beings within also possessed twisted minds.

Along the way, Qin Mu encountered all sorts of bizarre and ominous creatures: mountains of flesh formed from mixed divine and demonic remains, skeletal centipedes with hundreds of heads, dismembered hand bones scurrying about, and dragon-headed, horse-bodied, long-tailed monsters made entirely of bone.

However, no matter how powerful these ominous entities were, they could only await death when faced with the army of General Wei Liao, the Seven Killings Star Lord. They were effortlessly swept aside by the jubilant forces of skeletons and zombies.

The vastness of the Land of the Undesirable was almost unimaginable. Even at their considerable speed, it took Qin Mu and his companions over two days to reach its edge.

"Young friend Qin, if you go any further, you will leave the Land of the Undesirable. We can only accompany you this far." Wei Liao stopped, cupped his fists, and bowed. "Farewell for now."

Qin Mu returned the bow. "Farewell. After this, I will surely go to Fengdu to inquire with King Yama, to see if a place of peace can be found for all of you. Please await my news." With that, he turned and departed.

Wei Liao watched him go, then suddenly called out loudly, "Young friend Qin, you also bear the surname Qin. What is your relationship with the Founding Emperor?"

Qin Mu looked back, waved his hand, and replied, "The Founding Emperor is my progenitor!"

"No wonder, no wonder..." Wei Liao paused for a moment, watched Qin Mu exit the Land of the Undesirable, and then became suddenly excited. He shouted repeatedly, "Lads, let's go! Let's conquer the vast lands of the Undesirable, rule over this ominous realm, and await the arrival of the Founding Emperor!" Countless skeletons and zombies roared in response, following him as he plunged into the depths of the demon-energy-shrouded Land of the Undesirable.

After Qin Mu exited the Land of the Undesirable, he looked back and saw terrifying tremors erupting within. It seemed General Wei Liao, the Seven Killings Star Lord, was attacking other ominous entities.

"Even in death, they fight on, their white bones repaying their lord's grace. What true heroes!" He walked eastward through the dim light. The Land of the Undesirable might become Wei Liao's territory, and situated within the demon race's lands, it could become a thorn in their side.

"Huh, I still remember those Netherworld words!" Qin Mu blinked. The Netherworld words in his mind had not disappeared. Could the strangeness of the Land of the Undesirable be accompanying him?

Not only that, he could still see the portal to another Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, which remained in opposition to his original Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure.

"So I've mastered the Netherworld language just like that; this is a bit strange..." He once again assumed his Suppressing Star Lord form. The Gate of Inheritance reappeared, and with it, the ancient scroll. He opened the scroll, but instead of chanting, he silently recited the Netherworld words page by page, committing them to memory.

Half an hour later, having completely memorized the Netherworld words from the book, he dispelled his Suppressing Star Lord form, and the Gate of Inheritance behind him vanished.

"I've only seen the Gate of Inheritance on the statue beneath the Hades Valley, which was suspected to be a Hegemon Body. However, that statue wasn't holding a scroll. Among all the divine beings and divine arts practitioners I've encountered, it seems only I manifest an ancient scroll when I assume the Suppressing Star Lord form." Qin Mu pondered deeply for a moment before realizing, "The Hegemon Body statue beneath Hades Valley, like Xu Shenghua, is actually a pseudo-Hegemon Body. Only a true Hegemon Body would have such an ancient scroll appear in their hand! I'll ask the village chief later; he knows more than I do!"

Having grasped this crucial point, he finally felt relieved and cast the matter aside. He resumed chanting the Netherworld words from the book as he ran eastward.

Waves of demonic energy surged towards him, flowing into his glabella and causing his demonic cultivation to soar.

This time, there was no anomaly of the dead rising again. That resurrection must have been caused by the ancient scroll. Qin Mu felt relieved; as long as he didn't take out the ancient scroll, the Netherworld words from it were simply a marvelous cultivation method, and he wouldn't need to worry about disturbing the Netherworld or being hunted by its reapers.

He ran frantically, and wherever he passed, demonic energy was drawn to him, rising straight up like smoke signals. He resembled less a divine arts practitioner and more a great demon racing through the land.

Suddenly, he stopped chanting the Netherworld demonic words. Instead, profound and obscure divine words flowed from his lips, as his demonic energy surged towards the portal of the demonic Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure. Immediately, demonic words echoed in his mind, seemingly from the Nine Springs in the depths of darkness, strange and unpredictable, interfering with his demonic energy and preventing him from breaking open the portal.

The divine words from his mouth also contained strange power, counteracting the sudden demonic words.

When Qin Mu first opened his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, divine words had also seemed to descend from the Nine Heavens, interfering with his Spirit Embryo's breakthrough. He had then used demonic and Buddhist words to forcefully break through, allowing him to cultivate his Spirit Embryo.

That time, it could only be considered luck. Now, he used the same method. His mastery of divine words was immeasurably greater than before, making it effortless to counter the demonic words from the Nine Springs with divine words. This allowed his demonic energy to surge unimpeded, crashing against the Spirit Embryo's wall!

Boom! A thunderous roar erupted within him. His other Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure was forcefully broken open in one go, and his demonic cultivation instantly surged. More and more demonic energy was drawn to him, and the demonic words from the Nine Springs abruptly ceased.

"There's no demonic Spirit Embryo in this Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure!" Qin Mu was surprised. His demonic Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure was empty, containing only a spirit platform imprinted with various bizarre demonic runes.

"Hegemon Body Three Pills Technique!" Qin Mu activated the Hegemon Body Three Pills Technique. Demonic energy surged within him, flowing into the demonic Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure. At that moment, with a flash of light, his Spirit Embryo suddenly appeared within this divine treasure, settling upon the spirit platform, breathing and absorbing the demonic energy.

The demonic energy exhaled by the Spirit Embryo intertwined in the air, forming a demonic sun and a demonic moon.

"The village chief is still extraordinary! The Hegemon Body Three Pills Technique he taught me can even cultivate the demonic path!" Qin Mu was deeply moved and admired the village chief immensely. He secretly praised, "When will I have the vision and insight of that old man?"

The Hegemon Body Three Pills Technique and the Netherworld demonic words he chanted worked in tandem. The Hegemon Body Three Pills Technique propelled his demonic energy, while his Spirit Embryo breathed it in, and the Netherworld demonic words drew demonic energy into his body. His demonic cultivation grew increasingly profound and continuously soared. Before long, the demonic sun and demonic moon in his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure had largely taken shape, mirroring the great sun and bright moon in his other Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure.

Once Qin Mu felt his cultivation was complete, he directly assaulted the Five Qiao Divine Treasure. With a tremendous roar, he broke open the demonic Five Qiao Divine Treasure, and five demonic Five Qiao stars hung in the air, flickering with eerie demonic light.

His Hegemon Body Three Pills Technique became even more complex in its operation. Demonic energy connected with the Five Qiao stars, circulating in a peculiar manner, and his demonic cultivation deepened further.

"At this rate of cultivation, it might only take a few days for my demonic cultivation to catch up to my divine cultivation."

Numerous demon experts were still searching for him throughout the demon territory, forming groups and conducting widespread roundups. Many demon experts saw Qin Mu from a distance but paid him no mind, completely unaware that the individual who looked more like a demon than they did was the very Qin Mu they were so desperately seeking.

Qin Mu traveled unhindered, continuously heading east. After six or seven days, a bright light suddenly appeared in the sky.

He looked up and saw the light growing larger and brighter until a perfectly round sun appeared in the sky, bringing some illumination to the demon territory.

Qin Mu's heart swelled with joy, and he let out a long sigh of relief. "This sun is round, not flat! The Imperial Preceptor is still extraordinary!"

He observed the direction from which the sun rose, measured the shadows on the ground, then ran another twenty li, calculated the angle of the shadows, and deduced, "I am still over ten thousand li from the place where the sun originally rose. Bharadwaj truly possesses vast divine powers to have abducted me so far!"

The perfectly round sun in the sky made him feel as if he had broken through clouds to see the light of day, and his mood brightened considerably.

Suddenly, a divine city appeared ahead. Around the city, numerous demon folk were coming and going.

Teams of demon cavalry were searching everywhere, stopping and interrogating passing demons as well. Qin Mu slightly frowned, deciding it would be better to bypass the city.

Suddenly, hoofbeats approached, and a team of demons galloped towards him. Seeing him from afar, they shouted, "Stop!"

Qin Mu stopped. The leading rider said, "It's not him, let's go!" With that, he rode off with the other demon divine arts practitioners.

Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. Just then, a familiar voice called out, "Hey kid, I need an attendant. Come here, be my attendant!"

Qin Mu paused, then looked in the direction of the voice. He saw a young man with a demonic blade on his back standing nearby, waving at him. It was Zhe Huali.

Qin Mu walked closer. From the hilt of the demonic blade on Zhe Huali's back, a demonic eye suddenly opened, spun, and glowed with a bloody hue. The demonic eye stared at Qin Mu excitedly. After a moment, the demonic blade's eye closed.

Zhe Huali walked forward and said, "Follow me."

Qin Mu followed him. Zhe Huali led him eastward, past the divine city. Along the way, there were many demon experts conducting inspections, wave after wave, but upon seeing Zhe Huali, they would not interrogate them.

Upon reaching a hundred li east of the city, Zhe Huali stopped and said calmly, "You may continue eastward."

Qin Mu proceeded as instructed. Just then, he felt a pair of eyes land on him, like two blades piercing his body!

Qin Mu's muscles tensed, then twitched twice, shattering the blade intent.

The blade intent in the gaze shattered with a crisp 'clink' sound.

Zhe Huali's voice came from behind him. "It really is you."

Qin Mu dispelled the demonic energy around him, turned, and smiled. "Zhe Huali, your blade skills have improved significantly."

Zhe Huali's eyes were like blades, forcing Qin Mu to shatter the blade intent within his gaze. Clearly, his blade skills had advanced greatly since the battle at Li City!

"Brother Qin, it's truly astonishing that you managed to escape from Meng City and even pass through the Land of the Undesirable alive. Since our farewell at Li City, I've thoroughly studied your sword technique, the Calamity Opening Sword Art. It is indeed very powerful, and I, too, have gained some insights."

Zhe Huali said calmly, "I won't let you die by the hands of others. The only one who can kill you is me! All the disciples of the demon gods throughout the Grand Emperor Heaven are searching for you. Don't die on the road."

"Thank you." Qin Mu bowed.

Zhe Huali did not acknowledge his courtesy, and swiftly departed.