Chapter 602: Si Popo's Little Shoe

The demon god was in the midst of a fierce battle with the Deceased God guarding the altar. Although he was highly alert and aware of his surroundings, his opponent was too formidable, forcing him to concentrate entirely on the fight. When the garment flew towards him, he sensed no threat and thus remained unguarded. By the time he realized it was on him, it was already too late.

Grandma Si's garment rapidly shrank the moment it settled on him, constricting his chest, causing his ribcage to contract sharply, and his ribs to crackle audibly.

The garment felt as if it were covered in needles, piercing his body and sending unbearable sharp pains through him.

The demon god gasped for air and quickly shrunk his body, a feat easily accomplished for a demon god. At that very moment, his opponent's sword swept towards him, but his reduction in size inadvertently allowed him to evade the strike.

However, as he shrank, the garment also contracted, continuing to constrict him tightly.

"Break for me!"

He tried to expand his body, but the garment did not yield. The demon god immediately heard the sound of his own ribs fracturing!

Not only did his ribs break, but his internal organs were also crushed almost simultaneously.

His chest was constricted to the thickness of a thumb, and the garment was filled with silver needles, piercing his entire body and crippling his physical functions. In such a state, attempting to expand his body was truly suicidal.

The Deceased God he was fighting pierced his skull with a single sword thrust the instant he tried to expand, pinning his spirit to death.

The demon god's eyes widened, blood gushed from his mouth, and he rasped, "If only I hadn't been wearing this small garment, you wouldn't have defeated me…" With that, he breathed his last.

The garment automatically detached from his corpse and flew back to Grandma Si, where it disintegrated into strips of ragged cloth and returned to her basket.

Qin Mu looked at the strips of cloth in the basket and tentatively asked, "Grandma, your sewing skills have truly become extraordinary. Where did these strips come from, and how were they able to constrict a demon god's body?"

"The strips are woven from the sinews of gods and demons, and a few dragon tendons that I found in the Great Ruins. Since there weren't many, I could only weave them into small strips."

Grandma Si smiled, "The key lies with the Grand Progenitor Demonic Scripture, which allowed me to stitch these tattered cloths together and make them inescapable for the demon god."

Qin Mu blinked, "Grandma, what else can you make besides clothes?"

"I can also make two pairs of small shoes. I even have layered soles sewn from demon god hide, more than enough to make two pairs of cloth shoes."

Grandma Si pulled out two pairs of soles, blinked, and chuckled, "Wear my shoes, and I guarantee you'll wish you were dead but couldn't die, and you won't be able to take them off even if you wanted to. Do you want to wear Grandma's shoes, Mu'er?"

"No! You made me wear too many small shoes when I was little; my feet were stunted because of it!"

As they were talking, the Deceased God guarding the altar called out from a distance, "Fellow Daoists, please come up and join us!"

Qin Mu and Grandma Si ascended the altar. The god, elegant and handsome, was momentarily flustered by Grandma Si's beauty. He quickly regained his composure, bowed, and thanked them, saying, "So it is Cult Master Qin. Is this fellow Daoist from the Supreme Emperor Heaven? Thank you for your assistance!"

"Senior recognizes me?" Qin Mu asked, surprised.

The god smiled, "The Celestial Master once spoke of you, Cult Master."

Qin Mu quickly asked, "Where is the Celestial Master?"

"Over there!"

The god raised his hand and pointed into the distance, "The sixth altar from here is where the Celestial Master is stationed. I must remain here to guard this altar, so I cannot escort you. Please forgive me!"

Qin Mu and Grandma Si took their leave and headed in the direction indicated. Along the way, they observed other altars also under attack, either by vast demonic armies surging like tides or by individual demon gods fighting for control of the altars.

Qin Mu and Grandma Si offered help where they could; otherwise, they bypassed the conflicts.

One altar had already fallen into demonic hands, and its guarding deities were likely killed, which was inevitable. The Woodcutter Sage had seized the demons' lifeline this time, threatening Luofu Heaven, forcing the demons to fight desperately to reclaim some leverage for negotiation.

"Luofu Heaven is so dangerous, yet demons actually reside here!"

Qin Mu and Grandma Si saw numerous skeletal remains of demon gods towering in certain forbidden zones. The areas were filled with undulating stone steles inscribed with demonic script, likely erected to ward off the natural disasters here.

The demon race, meanwhile, lived within the divine treasures of these demon god remains. It seemed that after the natural disasters struck, some demon gods sacrificed their physical bodies to allow their kin to survive.

"Grandma, why does this demonic world experience natural disasters? Where do they come from?" Qin Mu asked, perplexed, looking up at the fragmented planet in the sky. The massive planet was in motion, stirring up more calamities and causing elemental disruptions of earth, water, wind, and fire.

Star fragments also rained down from the sky like fiery serpents, their impact points unknown.

Grandma Si shook her head, "How would I know? Perhaps these are genuine natural disasters, or perhaps gods and demons deliberately moved these planets here to inflict calamities. Only beings like Boundless One might truly know the reasons behind it all."

Finally, they arrived at the sixth altar.

Qin Mu and Grandma Si looked into the distance and saw the altar's divine and demonic energies, one black and one white, intertwining above it like two large fish slowly swimming head to tail.

"Boundless One has arrived!"

Qin Mu's heart grew heavy. "I wonder if Lu Li has come? If Lu Li is here too, then the Woodcutter Sage is in danger!"

He looked towards the altar and could see many different divine treasures. However, on the altar's summit, apart from the divine treasures of the Woodcutter Sage and Boundless One, he saw no divine treasures that had entered the Heavenly Palace or Demon God Palace realms.

Lu Li was not among those who ascended the altar with Boundless One; instead, there were some disciples who had not yet become demon gods, posing little threat.

However, there were divine treasures of several gods and demons below the altar. Boundless One likely feared the Woodcutter Sage might indeed sacrifice Luofu Heaven, so he had the demon gods who accompanied him remain at the base of the altar.

Qin Mu felt relieved and walked towards the sixth altar with Grandma Si.

Upon reaching the base of the altar, Qin Mu spotted the Black Tiger God and, delighted, waved to him.

The Black Tiger God ignored him, nervously gripping his twin hammers and staring intently at the two demon gods opposite him.

The Woodcutter Sage's voice drifted down, "Qin Mu, deities are not permitted on the altar. Please have the woman beside you remain below; you may come up."

Qin Mu acknowledged him.

Grandma Si couldn't help but say, "Sage Master, I am the former Saintess of the Heavenly Saint Cult. I admire you greatly and implore you to grant me an audience!"

On the altar, the Woodcutter Sage leaned out and looked down. He paused, somewhat dazed, then slowly said, "What a woman; she nearly disturbed my dao heart. The Heavenly Saint Cult has nothing to do with me, and you have already seen me. Do not come up, or your state of mind may become unstable."

Grandma Si could only agree and remained beside the Black Tiger God, whispering, "Mu'er, once you go up, do not activate the Overlord Body Three Elixirs Art. If you absolutely must use your cultivation method, you must place the golden willow leaf on your forehead."

"Don't worry, Grandma, I understand!"

Qin Mu strode up the steps, ascending the altar, and soon reached the top. There, Boundless One and the Woodcutter Sage sat in their respective high seats. Below Boundless One were several young people, including Zhe Huali, and surprisingly, Young Master Qi Jiuyi from the Heavenly Court was also present!

However, Qi Jiuyi had his own designated seat, clearly a privilege due to his status, granting him the right to be seated.

Qin Mu stepped forward, bowed to the Woodcutter Sage, and then greeted Boundless One. Boundless One remained seated, merely nodding slightly in return.

Qin Mu then greeted Qi Jiuyi and Zhe Huali, who both returned his courtesies without the slightest hint of disrespect, despite Qin Mu being their adversary.

Qin Mu stood beside the Woodcutter Sage. Boundless One watched him curiously, noting that Qin Mu's eyes were covered by a white silk scarf, yet a vertical eye had opened on his forehead, allowing him to see. He chuckled, "Young Friend Qin, the eye on your forehead is quite peculiar."

Qin Mu's third eye lowered its gaze, avoiding his.

Boundless One laughed heartily, "You dare not look at me, are you afraid of me? You are still young, a newborn calf unafraid of tigers. If you were to develop fear of me, I would worry about your future cultivation progress and dao heart! Come, look at me."

Qin Mu paid no attention.

Qi Jiuyi and Zhe Huali also observed Qin Mu, feeling quite puzzled as to why he had covered his eyes, and were very curious about the third eye on his forehead.

The Woodcutter Sage looked at Qin Mu, who was hanging his head, looking somewhat disheartened. He chuckled, "Qin Mu, why have you come to find me? And why are your eyes covered? Oh, I see, have you gazed into Boundless One's eyes again?"

Qin Mu nodded, feeling deeply ashamed. "My disciples and a few seniors from my family laid out a deceptive formation in Supreme Emperor Heaven, blocking Senior Boundless One's army of millions of demon gods. As a result, I was harmed by Boundless One again. I met his gaze, and he planted a divine ability in my eyes. If I look into a mirror, he will abduct me. I don't know how to break this divine ability, so I came to find you, Master."

The Woodcutter Sage smiled, "Boundless One is your senior; he's just playing a trick on you. He's right here. Why would he need such petty tricks to abduct you? Remove your silk scarf and see how he tries to abduct you."

Qin Mu untied the silk scarf, revealing his eyes.

The Woodcutter Sage chuckled, "Now, look into a mirror and see if he can abduct you."

Qin Mu took out his mirror and looked into it. Immediately, Boundless One's figure reappeared in the mirror, growing larger and stepping out of it.

Qin Mu's hands trembled, unable to bear the mirror. The Boundless One in the mirror was, in fact, the Boundless One in his own eyes, a nightmare about to engulf him!

Suddenly, the Woodcutter Sage raised his woodcutting axe and struck the mirror in Qin Mu's hand!

Across from them, Boundless One let out a muffled grunt, and a blood-red mark suddenly appeared on his forehead!

Qin Mu felt a great weight lift, all pressure immediately gone, and a sense of lightness washed over him.

The Woodcutter Sage retracted his woodcutting axe and chuckled, "I told you Boundless One was just joking with you. He is your senior; how could he attack you? Does he not worry that if I get angry, I might hack his disciples?"

Blood trickled down Boundless One's forehead, splitting and sliding down both sides of his nose, and all three of his faces showed anger.

"Old friend, you should know that if you continue to defend Luofu Heaven, you might survive, but your twenty-four fellow Daoists will not escape death!"

He turned one of his faces, stating solemnly, "It is not my demon race that seeks to destroy you. There is another who truly wishes to eliminate you. With your wisdom, you should understand the gravity of this. Why let them die in vain?"