Chapter 499 - 441: Corpse of the True Monarch

"Where is he?"

Hearing this, Cai Shen did not reply immediately. After a brief silence, he slowly uttered a name that even slightly surprised Qi Yun.

"The Wuji Holy Sect."

"Hmm?" Qi Yun’s gaze suddenly sharpened. The Wuji Holy Sect? His Sect!

Central Earth, the new site of the Wuji Holy Sect.

The giant of the Demon Dao, formerly located in the bitter cold lands of the Northwest, now stood tall in the core of Central Earth, the most prosperous region in Profound Yellow with the most abundant Spiritual Qi.

The rolling, magnificent mountain range, resembling the spine of a giant dragon, was chosen as the new foundation of the Sect. Its main peak towered into the clouds, absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, with overlapping ridges that stretched beyond the horizon. Deep underground, several top-tier Spirit Veins that had been forcibly restrained and modified roared and surged, supplying an almost endless amount of Spiritual Qi.

In the sky, demonic clouds transformed into the phantom of a massive Array Map that covered tens of thousands of miles. It rotated slowly, exuding a suffocating pressure. Let alone intruding, if ordinary Cultivators even approached within a thousand miles, they would feel a piercing pain in their Divine Souls and a stagnation in their Magical Power.

This was the Wuji Holy Sect, which had risen to unprecedented heights and taken the absolute lead after the power dynamic between the Righteous Dao and Demon Dao shifted, all thanks to Qi Yun’s immense prestige!

The ancestral vein it occupied was a Grotto Heaven Blessed Land previously shared by several top giants of the Righteous Dao in Central Earth. Now, it belonged entirely to the Holy Sect.

The atmosphere within the Sect had flourished by more than tenfold compared to its past days in the Northwest! Every day, thousands of Demonic Cultivators rode their Escape Lights in and out, whether to execute missions, pay tributes, or seek refuge. The bustling activity was at its peak, and the demonic might was overwhelming.

It was already the supreme Champion Scholar of the Demon Dao in Central Earth, and even the entirety of Profound Yellow.

On this day, an imperceptible breeze of Clear Wind silently brushed past the layers of Guard Arrays and patrolling disciples on the Holy Sect’s periphery—formations capable of strangling Void Refinement Cultivators. In an instant, it vanished into the Taixu Mirror Heaven. It triggered no alarms and disturbed no one.

As the Acting Sect Leader, Qi Yun held the highest authority, second only to the Sitting Sect True Monarch. The infinite Restrictions enveloping the entire Taixu Mirror Heaven, painstakingly laid down by generations of True Monarchs and Array grandmasters, were practically nonexistent to him.

He passed through layers of spatial folds and Secret Realms—which felt familiar yet appeared even more extraordinary due to the drastic changes in the Spiritual Qi environment—and crossed the palaces and pavilions that enshrined the past ancestors and important lineages. Qi Yun’s goal was clear: the highest level of the Taixu Mirror Heaven.

This was the apex of the Taixu Mirror Heaven, as well as its end. There were no palaces, nor were there any pavilions. There was only a boundless, vast space composed purely of Supreme, ethereal "light" that seemed to carry the essence of the Celestial Dao’s Laws. Borrowing the Celestial Vault above and resting on nothing below, standing within it made one feel in a daze, as insignificant as a speck of dust.

This place was the Supreme secret sanctum where the True Monarch who watched over the Holy Sect would comprehend the Dao, observe the heavens, and deduce profound mysteries! Its very existence was one of the Holy Sect’s most core secrets. Let alone ordinary disciples and Elders, even past Acting Sect Leaders had absolutely no qualifications or ability to set foot here without a personal summons from a True Monarch!

Qi Yun’s Clear Wind avatar slowly condensed within this sea of light, reverting to his original appearance clad in a Deep Blue Daoist Robe. With his hands behind his back, he stood in this brilliantly expansive void, his calm gaze sweeping the surroundings. It was completely empty, save for the omnipresent "light" that seemed to contain infinite information and Dao Rhyme.

However, the faint golden sword scar between Qi Yun’s eyebrows grew slightly hot in this place, as if sensing something.

"It seems this is the place," Qi Yun muttered to himself. Without further hesitation, he flipped his palm.

A bright golden branch, only about a foot long, appeared in his hand. This branch looked ordinary, yet it was a small section containing the foundational Dao Rhyme that he had gently snapped off from the main body of the God of Wealth ancient Gold tree!

Holding this golden branch, Qi Yun swiped it lightly at the seemingly empty, vast void of light ahead. The movement was casual, graceful as a master calligrapher’s brush strokes.

BUZZ!!!

A sudden change occurred!

Where the golden branch traced, the originally peacefully flowing, unified "light" suddenly rippled and twisted violently, like a lake into which a boulder had been thrown!

Complex, ancient Spells and Talismans, exuding a heart-palpitating power of a Seal, explosively surfaced from the deepest, most hidden dimension of the void! These Spells linked, intertwined, and combined with each other. In an instant, they transformed into a giant Restriction that covered everything in sight, stretching for an unknown number of thousands of miles!

"As expected..." A divine light flashed in Qi Yun’s eyes. He was not entirely surprised by the scene before him.

The golden branch trembled slightly. A speck of purer golden light lit up at its tip, like the most precise probe, slowly tapping into the giant Restriction.

HISSS...

It was like a red-hot iron wire plunging into a layer of ice.

The Spells and Talismans experienced an extremely brief moment of stagnation and chaos the instant they made contact with the golden branch. Seizing this one-in-a-billionth of a second opportunity, Qi Yun completely withdrew his aura. As if transforming into a Flowing Light of the Dao of Wealth originating from the same source as the golden branch, he swiftly slipped in through the nearly imperceptible gap created by the node’s disruption!

SWISH!

His figure instantly disappeared into the terrifying Restriction that stretched for ten thousand miles, as if swallowed by it.

The next instant.

The scenery before his eyes abruptly shifted! The brilliance, Dao Rhyme, Restrictions... Everything vanished.

In their place was an absolute, deathly still, and frigid darkness. Only an extremely faint, obscure dark light, seeping out from an unknown source, barely outlined the surrounding contours.

This seemed to be a cave. The cave walls were as smooth as mirrors, presenting an unnaturally regular curvature. The rock displayed a gloomy blue-black hue, its surface covered in dense, mottled patterns that seemed naturally formed yet contained profound truths of the Great Dao. It was piercingly cold to the touch.

The air was filled with an eternally unmelting solitude and the dusty scent of settling ages. There was no Spiritual Qi, nor was there any vitality.

The cave was not large, spanning no more than a hundred zhang in radius. In the center lay a pool of water no larger than a few square zhang. The water’s surface was calm and unrippling, like dead water. The edge of the pool bordered the black rock. Throughout the entire cave, apart from the mottled rocks and this bizarre pool, it was completely empty.

"Is it here?" Qi Yun’s voice rang out in this absolutely deathly still space, carrying a hint of an echo.

He waved his hand, and a golden light flashed in his palm. The figure of the artifact spirit, Cai Shen, was summoned once more, still bearing the appearance of a middle-aged man in golden robes.

As soon as Cai Shen appeared, his Spiritual Body involuntarily trembled slightly, his face revealing extreme discomfort and vigilance. He looked around this seemingly ordinary cave. The glowing patterns on his golden robes dimmed a bit, as if suppressed by a certain aura in this place.

"What a bizarre place... Deathly still, hollow..." Cai Shen whispered, his gaze slowly landing on the dark gray pool in the center of the cave.

Unable to resist, he took a few steps forward and arrived at the edge of the pool. He bent down and extended his right hand, a wisp of pure golden light of the Dao of Wealth lingering on his fingertips, wanting to touch the dark gray water’s surface to sense more.

However, at the exact moment Cai Shen’s fingertips were about to touch the viscous surface of the water!

BUZZ!!!

Without any warning, the seemingly deathly still dark gray pool suddenly erupted with an indescribable, apathetic, freezing, and terrifying light that seemed to originate from the end of the ancient void!

At the same time!

BOOM!

A blurry, tall figure, seemingly condensed from pure Dao Rhymes of "nothingness" and "apathy," brazenly materialized in the center of the pool!

The figure’s face could not be seen clearly; there was only a humanoid silhouette. Yet, the aura it exuded made Qi Yun and Cai Shen’s hair stand on end instantly!

The oppressive might of a True Monarch!

The moment this apathetic figure appeared, without any communication or hesitation, it directly raised a finger and pointed it right at the leaning Cai Shen!

The movement was simple and direct. The target pointed straight at the core of Cai Shen’s Spiritual Body, intending to forcibly and completely erase him, this artifact spirit of the Imperial Soldiers, from the very level of existence!

"Not good!" Cai Shen’s expression changed drastically. His Soul Body erupted with unprecedentedly resplendent golden light to resist, but in the face of the power of nothingness from that apathetic finger, his golden light of the Dao of Wealth was like a candle in the wind, instantly dimming and melting away!

He could only give it his all and retreat backward violently!

However, that apathetic finger seemed slow, yet it locked down space and time. Cai Shen’s violent retreat was like a snail’s crawl. In the blink of an eye, he was about to be caught up and swallowed by that invisible power of nothingness!

At this critical moment!

CLANG!!!

A clear, resonant, and impassioned sword cry, containing the Supreme will to sever everything and shatter Ten Thousand Laws, suddenly exploded in this deathly still cave like the first ray of light at the creation of the world!

A figure, towering like a solitary peak and deep blue like the night sky, instantly stepped in front of the retreating Cai Shen!

Facing that apathetic finger capable of obliterating the artifact spirit of the Imperial Soldiers, Qi Yun’s face remained as calm as water, a blazing white light flashing past his eyes. He, too, raised his right hand, bringing his fingers together like a sword, and gently pointed out against the spreading, all-devouring power of nothingness!

The faint golden sword scar between his eyebrows abruptly lit up!

A fierce Sword Intent, pure, condensed, and aloof to the extreme, explosively erupted from his fingertips!

HISSS!

Two equally simple finger strikes, both containing Supreme Dao Rhyme, brazenly collided in the void!

Where the two finger strikes clashed, a terrifying singularity suddenly formed—collapsing, twisting, as if even "existence" itself was about to be torn apart!

Around the singularity, the black rock silently turned to dust. Countless pure black, spiderweb-like cracks surfaced in space, and the flow of time became incredibly chaotic, with faint chaotic air currents seeping out from the fissures!

A stalemate!

For just an instant!

BUZZ...

The power of nothingness pointed out by the apathetic figure was forcibly blocked, torn apart, and ultimately reduced to nothingness by the peerless, aloof true Sword Intent erupting from Qi Yun’s fingertips!

Qi Yun’s body swayed slightly, then he stood firmly.

The apathetic figure seemed to "glance" at Qi Yun. Its blurry silhouette rippled slightly and slowly dissipated.

The grayish-white light erupting from the pool also quickly dimmed, reverting to that deathly still dark gray, as if the thrilling scene from a moment ago had never happened.

"Phew... That was close!" Still reeling from the shock, Cai Shen stabilized his Spiritual Body. The gaze he directed at Qi Yun was full of gratitude and lingering fear.

If Qi Yun hadn’t intervened in time against that finger strike just now, he would have suffered a tremendous loss. Heavy damage to his Spiritual Body would have been getting off lightly.

Having suppressed and extinguished the Restriction on the pool, Qi Yun lowered his eyes to look at it, his gaze instantly narrowing.

"This is..."

"The corpse of... a True Monarch?"