“How goes it?”
A low voice sounded. A black-robed man appeared in this desolate world. Looking at this barren world, he hadn’t expected such a world to still exist.
“What we can confirm is that Chu Jiujiu, the Great Priest of the Gu Tribe, came in. But her presence is too weak to pinpoint. Based on inference, she’s somewhere around here. The search won’t be easy.”
“Hmph! No matter how hard, we must find her! This is a godsend opportunity! A gravely wounded Chu Jiujiu—though it’s beyond the plan, it’s a huge surprise.”
If Qin Mu were here, he might recognize the face hidden beneath the black robe at a single glance.
It was the man who had made Qin Mu experience a life-and-death crisis for the first time—Long Shengtian.
Long Shengtian, who should have died at Qin Mengyu’s hands, was now appearing in this lifeless world.
After all, in his past life, he had lived for so long. Even though his cultivation was gone, he still had experience. Playing it safe and preparing a backup plan was something he could manage.
And so, when facing a life-and-death crisis, he managed to save his own hide.
What they called a great cultivator—one reason was being ruthless and capable of fighting; the other was the art of lying low and surviving.
“Strange. The trajectory of other events hasn’t changed, but whenever that kid is involved, it alters.”
Long Shengtian had paid a tremendous price to escape from Qin Mengyu’s grasp. After a long period of rest and recovery, he planned to seek out a man named Jing Kun. In the near future, that man would become a powerful figure—befriending him would be beneficial.
But by the time Long Shengtian reached the Royal Capital, he saw a wanted poster for Jing Kun, released jointly by the Great Yu Dynasty’s court and the Seven Star Sect.
This had never happened in his past life. Logically, Jing Kun was supposed to marry into the Great Yu Dynasty’s imperial clan, help the emperor break free from reliance on the Seven Star Sect, and openly break ties with Lu Qian, the Sect Leader of the Seven Star Sect.
In his past life, the Seven Star Sect had never become the leader of the Righteous Path either. All of this made Long Shengtian doubt his existence.
Every single event was connected to one person—the Qin Family sisters’ younger brother, Qin Mu.
Long Shengtian clearly remembered that the Qin sisters had no younger brother. In the end, both of them were alone. Despite countless admirers, none caught their eyes.
So Long Shengtian chose to cooperate with the Demon Clan and proposed a condition they couldn’t refuse.
Transform the Wildlands into a place where the Demon Clan could live fully.
Since the Wildlands had been isolated from the outside world for far too long, they could be considered the environment on the Heavenly Profound Continent closest to the Creation of Heaven and Earth. With a little manipulation—reversing the Spirit Veins—the Demon Clan could have a true foothold on the Heavenly Profound Continent.
The Demon Clan agreed readily. As for Long Shengtian’s condition—he wanted to blood sacrifice all the living beings in the Wildlands, use their blood to reforge his body, and in one go, raise his cultivation to the Tribulation Stage.
The greatest obstacle to this plan was Chu Jiujiu. Her strength was too formidable. The Demon Clan couldn’t be certain of subduing her, and even if they did, they would pay a huge price, with many top experts falling. Even if they took the Wildlands in the end, they wouldn’t be able to hold it and would be forced to spit it back out.
The plan was to first divide the Gu Tribe, weaken the Gu Tribe’s overall strength, and then slowly deal with Chu Jiujiu.
But now, with Chu Jiujiu on the verge of severe injury, if they took this chance to eliminate her in one fell swoop, Long Shengtian’s century plan could be completed in an instant.
As for the remaining six Great Elders—they were only at the Heavenly Unity Stage. Threatening, yes, but not too much. They could still be taken down.
“Chu Jiujiu… where are you…”
Long Shengtian knew that Chu Jiujiu was a woman of great courage and determination. In the end, she would lead the Gu Tribe to prosperity. But for his own grand scheme, what did that matter?
Long Shengtian wasn’t too clear about how to enter this world, but the Demon Clan knew well.
The Demon Clan had lived in such a place for a long time, until one day a giant wave struck them. Some gained power from that wave. Over time, the Demon Clan benefited greatly from the periodic Spiritual Qi Tsunamis that erupted within the Spirit Veins.
Later, they discovered a passage to another world, and the Demon Clan opened it up.
That was the Demon Invasion Event of the Ancient Era.
While Long Shengtian was searching for Chu Jiujiu, Qin Mu was walking step by step toward Chu Jiujiu’s direction.
Relying on the residual True Qi in his body and the Divine Dragon Blood within him, Qin Mu was now in much better condition.
‘Kid, you need to hurry. That girl’s aura has moved; she must have woken up.’
“Divine Dragon Senior, I want to hurry too, but there’s no Lingqi here to replenish. It’s already impressive that I have the strength to walk.”
Qin Mu was panting after running a few steps. He felt worse than an old man in a park.
***
“Ugh…”
A pained moan. The beautiful woman lying on the ground opened her beautiful eyes.
Her clothes were somewhat torn, revealing patches of fair skin, especially around the hem of her skirt—snow-white long legs, but the wounds on those legs were heartbreaking to see.
The moment Chu Jiujiu saw Qin Mu swept away by the Spiritual Qi Giant Wave, she panicked and rushed over to protect him.
She thought it was just an ordinary Spiritual Qi eruption, something trivial for her.
But she had overestimated herself. When it came right in front of her, she realized it was no ordinary Spiritual Qi eruption. Even though she was at the Tribulation Stage, she felt a shudder.
In an instant, Chu Jiujiu pulled out a Fabao to protect herself, but unfortunately, the Fabao shattered. Since breaking through to the Heavenly Unity Stage, this was the first time Chu Jiujiu had been so severely injured.
In fact, this only proved her strength.
The Spiritual Qi Giant Wave inside the Spirit Vein—especially within the main vein—at such a scale, could easily overwhelm a Great Ascension Realm cultivator, let alone someone at the Tribulation Stage.
‘I hope Young Master Qin is unharmed.’
Chu Jiujiu thought it unlikely, but keeping his life shouldn’t be too big a problem.
Her beautiful eyes swept the surroundings. This dead, silent world—she had never been here before. There was no Lingqi at all, and she had consumed a lot of her internal Qi resisting the Spiritual Qi Giant Wave. Now, she could only do a simple recovery of her injuries.
Hearing from Divine Dragon Senior that Senior Chu had moved, Qin Mu immediately decided to climb the small hill in front of him. A famous survival expert, Bear Grylls, once said: if you want to escape and find direction, it’s best to get to a high vantage point.
Since he was searching for something, the principle of standing high applied.
Bear’s words should be trusted; Ed’s words needed consideration—after all, “three days hungry for nine meals” wasn’t said for nothing.
Qin Mu used all his strength and finally reached the top. As luck would have it, he ran into someone there.
A black robe. Qin Mu looked closely and suddenly realized—wasn’t this the black-robed man who had been talking with Wan Xiangtian?!
Oh my god, what kind of luck was this? In a place where even birds didn’t shit… well, there weren’t even birds here.
Anyway, to run into this guy in such a place—Qin Mu wanted to cry. What kind of luck was this!!!