Chapter 988: Floating Fiend Breaks Down
Similar to the Holytide Region, the Southisle Region bordered the sea. In the wilderness there, Floating Fiend raced along, this time disguised as a nonhuman. He had been traveling in disguise for two days.
At first, he had intended to go along the seafloor until he reached the outer sea. It seemed to him that if the search for Xu Qing was going on in the east of Revered Ancient, then the outer sea would be a safe place to hide out. The outer sea was a dangerous place; it wasn’t somewhere to enter blithely. But it seemed like the perfect place to stay out of sight.
Unfortunately, when he realized that there was some sort of invisible sealing magic separating the inner and outer seas, he eventually had to give up on that plan. That sealing magic came from the orders issued by humankind and the Firemoon Darkheaven people. By using godly might to manipulate natural laws, they sealed all exit routes. Getting too close to that magic would make it difficult to keep his disguise up. After studying it very closely, his heart sank.
Ultimately, he turned and went in the opposite direction.
His next plan had been to just hide out on the seafloor. But during the two days that had passed, he sensed the streams of divine will scouring the seafloor increasing constantly. There were more of them and they were more densely packed as time went on. It was as if all the godly entities in the sea were joining the search.
Even the water itself gave Floating Fiend a very strange feeling, as if the currents around him were somehow growing in number.
And then there’s that Flame Phoenix, who seems to be scanning the sea constantly. If things keep going on like this, the Grand Emperor’s treasure won’t last much longer.... I need to get out of this area!
The sense of pressure and danger eventually forced Floating Fiend to give up on his idea of going to the outer sea, and also his plan to stay hidden on the seafloor. That was what led him, not to Sea-Sealing County, but to the Southisle Region.
There weren’t many human forces in the Southisle Region. Instead, the place was controlled by seven mid-sized nonhuman species. Normally speaking, they didn’t have much contact with outsiders, and thus, the area had a reputation for being isolationist.
The terrain in the region was primarily mountainous, although there was a huge desert on the border. The region seemed like the perfect place to hide out, except, for that very reason, it was the subject of a lot of attention in the search for Xu Qing. Sadly, Floating Fiend had no other good options.
The upside is that, even though this place is in the east, it isn’t controlled by humans....
Keeping such thoughts in mind, Floating Fiend entered the region. As he traveled, he continued to change his appearance every so often, and made sure to sever all traces of his passage, as well as any karma. And thus, he proceeded carefully through the mountainous wilderness.
All the while, he continued assimilating the dilapidated pagoda in the hopes of getting to Xu Qing, who was inside. Sadly for him, the pagoda was mysteriously powerful, and the bubble’s force of rejection kept resisting him. The assimilation process was going very slowly.
That just increased Floating Fiend’s anxiety. He was particularly frustrated by Xu Qing. He had only said one thing to Xu Qing earlier, only for Xu Qing to use that to deduce some important information. Over the following days, Xu Qing had resisted him with greater intensity, and had occasionally attempted to send out messages via divine will. Though he managed to sever all such streams of divine will, preventing them from going out, they still left him feeling increasingly glum.
Xu Qing, still seated in a cross-legged position, was now about half recovered from his injuries. At a certain point, he sent out a message via divine will.
“You didn’t answer my last question. I guess that just proves that your Vivifiend holy land is in a bad situation.”
He got no answer.
“I suppose another possibility is that... it doesn’t exist anymore.” Xu Qing’s expression was placid. With godliness dominant within him, he was incomparably rational. Thus, despite the fact that he wasn’t a person who liked to talk much, he knew that his only way of getting information about the outside world was to interact with this Imperial Sovereign. “That means that you must be on the run right now, being chased by humans. You’re probably looking for a good hiding place.”
Floating Fiend was no fool, and therefore, no matter what Xu Qing said to him, he didn’t provide any response or feedback. And yet, his heart only continued to sink and sink.
Thankfully, his impression of the Southisle Region turned out to be mostly correct. Even after traveling through it for a few days, he didn’t encounter any streams of divine will searching the place. After weighing all the options, he finally picked a cave in which he sat down cross-legged to hide and focus on assimilating the dilapidated pagoda.
However, his moment of peace and quiet only lasted for a few hours. As night approached, rumbling sounds filled heaven and earth outside of Floating Fiend’s cave as several streams of divine will swept through the area. All of them came from powerful experts.
Floating Fiend’s eyes opened, and they shone with the utmost vigilance. About six hours later, the divine will moved on. However, before Floating Fiend could breathe a sigh of relief, an even more terrifying will arrived, accompanied by a godly might that could crush anything in its path.
It filled the area, causing the sky to shake, the land to quake, and mountains to sway back and forth.
It was from a god!
Floating Fiend’s expression flickered as he took out his shears. The authority of erasure spread out, adding to the concealment effect he had around him. Outside of his cave, a great wind blew.
Within that wind was a very gruish voice.
“Xu Qing... Xu Qing... Xu Qing....”
It was hoarse and seemed to conform to an indescribable rhythm. This was clearly a god who was issuing a cry bolstered by godly authority. Outside, wild colors flashed in heaven and earth. Meanwhile, the sword on Floating Fiend’s back vibrated, and within the dilapidated pagoda, Xu Qing’s eyes opened.
At that moment, Floating Fiend quickly made a decision. Biting the tip of his tongue, he spat out some of his precious dao blood onto the shears. The shears vibrated and the rust spots on them expanded. But the shears did manage to erase all traces leading to him. Eventually, the voice faded away.
Floating Fiend’s face looked incredibly pale. As of now, he didn’t dare to stick around. After confirming that the god was gone, he raced off. This time, he didn’t put the shears away, but instead, used the authority of erasure constantly as he fled.
In that manner, two more days passed. He passed through countless mountain ranges, shifting directions constantly, until he eventually reached a desert.
The entire time, he was jumpy with fear. He ran into the will of gods a few times, and without his Grand Emperor shears, he would definitely have been discovered. Sadly, the constant use of the shears was wearing them down significantly.
And because he was consistently forced to use his precious dao blood, his cultivation base, which had just experienced a breakthrough, was destabilizing. Unfortunately, he had no other options. The pressure he felt kept growing more intense, until he found himself in the desert. There, he transformed into a host of sand grains that started moving with the wind.
On the first day, everything proceeded normally. On the second day... Floating Fiend in sand form suddenly lurched to a stop as he caught wind of a strange singing off in the distance.
“In ten miles of sand I looked for you; for a hundred miles of swamp I examined each clue; through a thousand mile tomb you fled and flew; ten thousand miles of bamboo passed through my view; Floating Fiend oh Floating Fiend, where could you be; perhaps I’ll just wait for you to come to me.”
The song was gruish and sinister, and when it sank into Floating Fiend’s heart, he felt waves of terror assailing him. And that was because the song mentioned his name!
As the song echoed through the desert, the sand vibrated and floated up into the air, turning into numerous little hands that almost resembled swaying stalks of grass.
Astonishingly, the song emanated from those pieces of sand. As it drifted back and forth, it caused a terrifying sensation to build within the visibly astonished Floating Fiend. It gradually turned into an intense sensation of deadly crisis.
Breathing heavily, he unhesitatingly detonated half of the sand that made up his form, which turned into droplets of dao blood that splattered onto the shears. A loud cracking sound rang out as he severed all karma and all traces of himself. He even severed the time belonging to the shears, as well as its own essence.
To Floating Fiend’s senses, everything around him turned blurry. When it became clear again, he was away from the desert, having used the essence of the shears to teleport to safety. He was now in an unfamiliar swampy region. The moment he appeared, he couldn’t stop from coughing up a massive mouthful of blood. Before the blood could even land on the ground, he reached out, took the blood and erased it out of existence. He couldn’t leave any traces of himself. The terror in his eyes was clearly visible.
What level of god was that?? That god... very nearly had me within īts omniscience!!
Breathing unsteadily, Floating Fiend hurried along. Things were just getting more and more dangerous, and also increasingly gruish. Though he had an Imperial Sovereign cultivation base, he felt like he was walking the line between life and death. Before he could get his bearings, his heart lurched all of a sudden.
And it was because... the water in this unknown swamp was stirring. The mud was trembling, and the plants around him were swaying. Even the bugs seemed to be on the move. It was as if everything around him had a will of its own. There wasn’t much of that will, and it seemed to be pure instinct. But that instinct... was searching for him and for Xu Qing.
The sense of danger within Floating Fiend exploded to new heights. There wasn’t time to do much thinking. He unleashed more of the essence of the shears, and an instant later, he disappeared without a trace.
After a number of teleportations through different areas, the shears were getting rustier, and Floating Fiend was feeling increasingly exhausted. That was when he found himself in front of a bare mountain that looked like a tomb. That was when the lingering fear within him disappeared. However, his heart was now like dirt that had been baked by the sun until it cracked.
Xu Qing then sent out another message with divine will.
“You’re running out of time.”
“Shut up!” snapped Floating Fiend, which was the first time he had responded after all of the various dangers he had been through.
Only two words were spoken. But they were enough to cause Xu Qing’s eyes to glitter brightly. He had his answer.
“It seems time... really is running out for you.”
Looking very grim, Floating Fiend cut off the divine will from Xu Qing. The killing will in his heart bubbled.
“Let’s see which happens first, me assimilating Xu Qing, or you people finding me!”
With that said, he turned to leave the mountain. Except that was when boundless and never-ending clouds surged on the horizon. They were like the sea rushing in his direction. Within those clouds, it was just barely possible to see a gigantic baby, crawling along rapidly. Heavenly might came with it, almost accompanying it, as the baby wailed and cried out for ‘daddy.’ It seemed furious. The sound caused natural law to tremble and magical law to prostrate.
Floating Fiend’s eyes went wide.
“Heavenly dao!” he blurted in shock. The shears appeared overhead, and again he unleashed their power. A loud cracking sound rang out as more cracks covered the shears. They now looked to be in horrific shape. However, Floating Fiend did manage to vanish.
When he reappeared, he was completely and utterly lost. All he could do was pick a direction based on instinct and intuition. As he fled, he heard the crying baby several times, as well as numerous instances of the aura of gods and spirits. Each time, he used the shears, no matter how much it pained him to do so.
Over and over again, he spat out dao blood. After fleeing for eight days straight, he was feeling completely exhausted.
However, he’d found a location where there was no divine will, no cry of a baby, no chanting of a god. There was only... a bamboo forest that went on for ten thousand miles!
The bamboo was bright red! When the wind blew, the bamboo leaves rippled like a crimson sea. The sound of the leaves rustling against each other seemed like wind blowing through a desert and causing the sand to scrape against itself. Along with that sound came something like a nursery rhyme that caused Floating Fiend to completely break down.
“In ten miles of sand I looked for you; for a hundred miles of swamp I examined each clue; through a thousand mile tomb you fled and flew; ten thousand miles of bamboo passed through my view; Floating Fiend oh Floating Fiend, where could you be; perhaps I’ll just wait for you to come to me.”
That nursery rhyme slammed into his mind like heavenly lightning. At the same time, a god strolled through the sea of bamboo. The canopy of heaven turned red thanks to hīs arrival. The earth became filled with crimson fog thanks to hīs presence. Time became a river stained with scarlet thanks to hīs approach. All of that red, from heaven, to earth, to time, converged to create a bright red robe.
The newcomer was a handsome middle-aged man with long, flowing hair. Each strand of that hair was like flowing light, and hē emanated a godly might that would cause suns and moons to lose their glory.
This god’s name was Yu Liuchen!
Striding forward until hē was right in front of the trembling Floating Fiend, he laughed softly. “Floating Fiend oh Floating Fiend, where could you be; perhaps I’ll just wait for you to come to me. ”
Floating Fiend’s mind was spinning, and he had completely lost any power to fight back. He couldn’t even think properly. The nursery rhyme echoed in his mind, reminding him of everywhere he had been as he fled.
***
Out in the boundless void, there was a host of clay figures bearing a shrine as they marched through time. They were headed in the direction of the same bamboo sea where Yu Liuchen stood.
Erniu was among the clay figures, waving his god vine and casting his senses about.
A languid voice drifted out of the shrine. “It’s no use, Niu’er. Stop tormenting that little vine. I know where Xu Qing is.”