Chapter 630: Dark Core of Darkness

"Teacher Qiaofu once said that some places on the senior disciple's maps were extremely dangerous, so much so that even he wouldn't dare to easily set foot there. Is this divine city in the Supreme Brightness Heaven one of those perilous locations?"

Qin Mu's eyes flickered as he pondered deeply. Ultimately, he decided not to enter the divine city but to bypass it.

As he walked past the city, he suddenly caught sight of a figure and quickly stopped."Di Shitian King Buddha!"Qin Mu almost cried out in surprise. He saw another Di Shitian King Buddha—or rather, the Di Shitian King Buddha from the Kaihuang Era! Back then, Di Shitian King Buddha was not yet a Buddha, but a god with delicate features, appearing as a youth. He didn't have the Buddhist halo behind his head, nor was he wearing his current dharma robes, and he wasn't barefoot. He wore gilded, winged cloud-treading boots, and his body was clad in shining golden armor. At that time, Di Shitian King Buddha was not a Buddha, but a high-ranking and influential deity!Qin Mu was stunned.

Di Shitian King Buddha was not alone; he was accompanying several important figures as they walked into the divine city. Qin Mu's heart pounded. Driven by an inexplicable urge, he followed them. The people seemed to ignore him, and even the vigilant gods and devils within the city appeared not to notice him.Puzzled, Qin Mu suddenly heard footsteps and quickly turned around. He saw a group of skeletal spirits stealthily following behind him, acting furtively and cowering. Qin Mu chuckled, "These spirits are so ridiculously sneaky... Wait, no, these spirits are imitating my way of walking, so the one acting suspiciously is..."His face flushed slightly, yet he continued to tiptoe forward. He reached Di Shitian King Buddha and stretched out a hand to tug at his robes, but his hand grabbed at nothing. His palm passed right through the hem of Di Shitian King Buddha's garment without touching anything solid. Qin Mu was surprised. He waved his hand again, and this time, his palm passed straight through Di Shitian King Buddha's body without touching anything at all!

"This divine city, and all the gods and devils within it, are not real!"Qin Mu looked bewildered. Could this be a historical echo? However, historical echoes are typically imprints of powerful individuals' forms and voices branded into space, only appearing when triggered. The figures of weaker beings cannot be imprinted by spacetime. Yet, this was an entire divine city, with many ordinary citizens, clearly not a mere historical echo. And the inability to touch anyone or anything in the city meant he hadn't traveled back in time either!So, what exactly was going on with this divine city?

Di Shitian King Buddha walked and talked with the others. Judging by Di Shitian King Buddha's demeanor, these individuals must have been extraordinary beings, their status likely surpassing even his own. Qin Mu wanted to get ahead of them to see their faces, but when he reached the front, he couldn't help but be stunned. The faces of these figures were utterly blank, without eyes, ears, nose, or mouth, like a piece of paper pasted onto their heads!The skeletons, following him, also went to the front, and their jaws clattered to the ground, clearly astonished.Whoosh—Di Shitian King Buddha and the others passed right through Qin Mu's body. Qin Mu stood there, numb, feeling nothing pass through him. He reached out to grab, but there was no one to grasp. The skeletons scrambled, fumbling on the ground for their jaws. When these figures passed through their bodies as well, the skeletons trembled with fear, cowering on the ground, afraid to move. One skeleton, whose residual soul seemed more complete, let out a whimper, "Ghosts..."

Qin Mu bypassed the skeletons and caught up with the figures, thinking, "Now these skeletons aren't imitating me; I haven't been scared into cowering on the ground."Di Shitian King Buddha was saying something to the others, his voice very faint and light, almost inaudible. Gradually, however, the voices grew louder and clearer. Qin Mu listened intently, hearing the central, most distinguished-looking faceless figure say, "...Before our era, there were several other eras. I once explored the ruins of these eras, trying to uncover the enemy's origin, to see who our true enemy was. I also went to Youdu and questioned Earth Count, then visited Heaven Duke, who is overseeing the movement of billions of stars. I also visited many of the innate gods and devils of the myriad constellations. Interestingly, I found some useful information. Perhaps our enemy is not what we imagined them to be—Heavenly Court..."Qin Mu leaned closer to listen, but the voices became faint again.

"Always consider defeat before victory, Di Shitian. I need you to do something for me: gather all the skilled artisans and craftsmen under heaven to create a place where we can establish ourselves and survive even after defeat, preserving some of our strength to rise again. This time, in my search for the Heavenly Court's secrets, I found a wondrous place..."The voices grew fainter and fainter until they were entirely inaudible. Qin Mu followed them forward, but the voices became increasingly faint, until he could hear nothing at all. Furthermore, the further he went, the blurrier and more indistinct the figures of Di Shitian King Buddha and the others became. When they entered a manor, passed through its gate, and the deities standing on either side closed the doors, Di Shitian King Buddha and the others suddenly vanished!

Qin Mu was perplexed. He had followed these figures into the manor, and as the gate closed, Di Shitian King Buddha and the others vanished right before his eyes!"This situation must be... a viewpoint!"Qin Mu lowered his head in thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up, his eyes shining brightly. He struck his palm with his fist, "It's a viewpoint! This must be the Kaihuang Era, over twenty thousand years ago. Someone in this divine city witnessed this scene, and what they saw became a segment of memory! I am currently within this person's memory! Senior Disciple Brother, like me, also entered this person's memory! Memory is what the eyes see transformed into a mental image. The person who witnessed this scene didn't enter the manor, which is why Di Shitian King Buddha and the others disappeared after entering..."He passed through the gate to the outside and scanned his surroundings. "He didn't see the faces of those beings, which means their power was too great. Their visages must have been shrouded by their divine radiance, preventing this person from seeing their faces. That's why everyone in this memory is faceless! So, where did he witness this scene..."

Qin Mu walked back along the way he came, his gaze sharp as lightning, searching everywhere. He thought, "This person must have an unusual appearance. Perhaps they have multiple heads and faces, allowing them to see both forwards and backwards..."There were many gods and devils in the city, and the streets were bustling with people, making it difficult to pinpoint whose memory this was. This divine city was likely a very important place in the Supreme Brightness Heaven, with an incredibly vast number of gods and devils. Many had cultivated to their primordial spirit forms, resulting in bizarre and varied appearances. Primordial spirit forms, like the Four Spirit Bodies from the Grand Ruins, were common here. He also saw deities with human heads and snake bodies, ox heads and human bodies, bird heads and human bodies, human heads and bird bodies—a myriad of strange forms. Gods and devils with multiple heads were also not uncommon.Qin Mu looked around, left and right. Figures of gods and devils passed through him or beside him, yet he still couldn't find the person who had witnessed this scene.

"The entire divine city is essentially displayed within this memory. So, this person must have been standing in a high place. Only by being high enough could they have gained a comprehensive view of the entire city and imprinted it in their mind..."Qin Mu suddenly looked up towards the watchtower. On the city's watchtower, a god-devil stood there, also faceless! Qin Mu rose into the air and swiftly ascended to the tall watchtower. He circled the god-devil once, observing it. This god-devil had one head with four faces, a vertical eye between its brows, a total of nine eyes, and a topknot resembling a pagoda. At the very tip of the pagoda-like topknot, there was yet another eye, allowing it to see in all directions!"It's you! I've fallen into your memory!"A surge of joy filled Qin Mu's heart. He took a decisive step and walked into the god-devil's body.

Suddenly, the surrounding scenery rapidly shifted. The divine city collapsed and vanished, and all the gods, devils, and city inhabitants distorted and disappeared. The group of skeletal monsters that had been cowering on the ground in the divine city suddenly found the city gone, replaced by ruins and piles of white bones everywhere. These skeletal monsters were scared out of their wits, scrambling around like headless flies.In the center of the city, where the watchtower should have been, there was now a deep chasm. One skeleton lost its footing and tumbled down, clattering, letting out a prolonged shriek. Qin Mu also stepped into empty space, his heart startled. Just as he was about to use his divine ability to fly up, he suddenly felt a peculiar force field dissipate his ability into nothingness. His body plummeted rapidly. He heard the sound of rolling stones and the screams of skeletal monsters as he fell. He quickly extended vital qi in all directions, and one thread finally latched onto something, stabilizing his descent.

Immediately, Qin Mu sent out another thread of vital qi, wrapping it around the falling skeleton. With a gentle shake, the skeleton fluttered up, flailing its limbs, and landed outside the deep chasm, disoriented and unsure of what had happened. The other skeletons came forward, chattering their jaws, silently comforting it.A group of skeletons peered down into the chasm from its edge. They saw that beneath the ruins of the divine city lay an incredibly vast, hollow world, shrouded in complete darkness. They couldn't tell how deep or wide the opening was. Qin Mu hung from his vital qi thread, appearing like a tiny insect suspended in the boundless darkness. The skeletons were horrified. Grabbing each other's feet, they formed a line, attempting to create a rope of bones to pull Qin Mu back up.

Just then, something glowed in the darkness, and light emanated from it, but it was too far for Qin Mu to discern. He activated his Nine Heavens Eye Opening Technique, but as soon as he did, the divine ability became chaotic, almost causing his eyes to burst. He quickly abandoned the idea."Thank you!"Qin Mu retracted his vital qi thread, bringing himself to the top of the dark cavern, hanging upside down with his legs braced against the stone wall. He called out, "I'll go down and take a look first; you can help me up later!"At the end of the bone rope, the skeleton shook its head. Suddenly, Qin Mu pushed off forcefully with his legs, shooting like an arrow from a bow towards the light. In the vast dark space, the young man plunged as if into the depths of a dark ocean, with the rushing wind roaring in his ears.