The Emperor Monarch of the long-extinct Asura Race, Ji Shenyun, was actually still alive...
Qing Yueqiu never imagined the "old woman" she'd t would have such an extraordinary background. This ancient powerhouse was so mysterious and terrifying that Qing Yueqiu had no confidence in making a deal with her.
But...
"Yueqiu, let us go back to how things were before."
"Loneliness and frigidity will be your end."
"Yueqiu, you can't do it on your own!"
"If you don't accept , this unexpected variable, you will never have another chance."
The voices of her Master and Ji Shenyun intertwined in her Sea of Consciousness, wrestling for dominance like a ga of tug-of-war. First one voice would grow louder, then the other, but they were impossible to shake off.
This made Qing Yueqiu pace back and forth, unable to make a decision.
She let out a long sigh, feeling that the tornt of making this decision was far more arduous than killing a hundred Cultivators earlier.
'Ji Shenyun claims she can see the secrets of heaven. If her prophecy is true, does that an I'll truly never be able to win Master's heart?'
'But what if this ancient Female Demon is tricking ? What if it's just a ploy to get to rescue her, and she can't help at all...'
But, even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance that Ji Shenyun was telling the truth, Qing Yueqiu didn't dare to just leave.
She had to consider whether this was the one and only variable—the only chance for change—in her entire life.
"Yueqiu, on this trip to the Kunlun Mountain Secret Realm, you may face many choices. But you must rember not to get fixated on one path. Sotis, choosing to give up an opportunity is, in itself, another kind of opportunity..."
Her Master's words, given to her before she left, echoed once more in her Sea of Consciousness.
'So, should I listen to Master and choose to give up?'
'Or should I follow my own heart...'
Qing Yueqiu lowered her gaze and turned her back to the depths of the Royal Palace Ruins, seeming to choose to leave.
But in the end, she let out another sigh and followed the call in her Sea of Consciousness, walking toward the depths of the Royal Palace Ruins.
"I'm sorry, Master... This trial today is one Yueqiu cannot avoid."
"In the past, this disciple has always followed your rules, Master. But the result is that the rule-abiding senior sister is far less favored by you than the rule-breaking junior sister."
"So this ti, no matter what, I want to go and see for myself."
A determined look flashed in Qing Yueqiu's crimson eyes as she resolutely stepped into the unknown depths of the Imperial City Ruins, an area about which even the Dao Sect had little information.
For so reason, Qing Yueqiu thought of her Master's wife, who had undergone the Void Celestial Tribulation.
'Was it the sa for Master's wife back then?'
Seduced by the thirst for knowledge, she continued to ascend even though she knew the path ahead might be a dead end.
Qing Yueqiu didn't know if she would be luckier than her Master's wife.
...
...
Astral winds howled, kicking up clouds of dust and sand.
The deeper she went into the Imperial City, the more densely cracked the bluestone tiles beca, and the more ruined buildings she saw. It seed this was the site of the most brutal fighting on the battlefield back then.
THUD THUD!
The sound of heavy footsteps approached. They belonged to thirty-foot-tall, headless Undead giants. Their massive bodies were half-corporeal, half-ethereal. With every step, dark red blood seeped from the ground. As eerie blue ghost-fire pulsed from their severed necks, it actually burned the surrounding Spiritual Qi, leaving behind fine black spots.
So of these Undead even had wings burning with black flas. To Qing Yueqiu, they felt at least as strong as the Divinity Transformation realm.
The deeper she went, the stronger the Undead beca, far exceeding what a Nascent Soul Cultivator could handle.
Furthermore, her keen perception of Killing Montum allowed Qing Yueqiu to sense even more terrifying existences lurking beneath the earth...
It was no wonder the Nascent Soul prodigies from the Major Sects found it so difficult to venture into the heart of the Imperial City Ruins.
Qing Yueqiu was only able to advance safely thanks to Ji Shenyun's protection.
Ever since she had communicated with Ji Shenyun, she felt that none of the Undead could perceive her presence. Even when she walked right past them, they took no notice.
This discovery also made Qing Yueqiu's heart sink slightly.
'Perhaps... Ji Shenyun isn't as weak as she seems. At the very least, she still has enough power to exert so influence over this entire Secret Realm.'
Qing Yueqiu silently activated dozens of Defensive Treasure Talismans on her body. The layered armor they ford would likely take even a Divinity Transformation Cultivator so effort to break, which finally set her mind at ease a little.
"Here... I'm here."
As Qing Yueqiu walked deeper and deeper into the Royal Palace Ruins, Ji Shenyun's voice, which had fallen silent, reappeared in her Sea of Consciousness.
Following Ji Shenyun's guidance, Qing Yueqiu arrived before the ruins of a great hall that had collapsed eons ago.
Broken, sky-supporting stone pillars jutted diagonally into the nine heavens. Starlight fragnts still flowed within their mottled cracks. A single glance was enough to tell that not a single brick or tile here was ordinary; any piece taken to the outside world would be a priceless treasure.
"Do you want to see what this great hall looked like in its pri? Just touch it, and you will see."
Ji Shenyun's voice sounded again. Qing Yueqiu hesitated for a mont, then reached out a fair hand to gently stroke the dark red, blood-like cracks on a stone pillar.
In an instant, she felt a roar in her Sea of Consciousness.
She saw a vision of the past: an imnsely tall palace that seed to swallow the sun and moon, and standing proudly upon a Nine Layers jade staircase was a beautiful woman dressed in magnificent black and red robes.
Just as Qing Yueqiu tried to focus her gaze for a closer look, the illusion shattered like smoke, leaving only the fine dust of ti trickling through her fingers.
"Was that woman just now you?"
"I do not know what you saw, but if the woman you speak of was wearing a black and red Dragon Robe, then it was likely ."
"Alright, enough chatter... It's ti for you to rescue ."
Following the guidance, Qing Yueqiu ca to the center of the ruined hall.
Here, Chaos Qi rose into the air. Four Ancient Bronze Nails bound by Divine Iron Locks suppressed the four cardinal directions.
An Azure Dragon Copper Nail was in the eastern position; the White Tiger Copper Nail occupied the western position; the Vermilion Bird Copper Nail was in the southern position; and the Black Tortoise Copper Nail suppressed the northern position.
Even though Qing Yueqiu didn't understand Arrays, she could sense the extraordinary mystery within it.
And what was being sealed by the nails of the four Divine Beasts was, unexpectedly, an Ancient Bronze Mirror half-buried in the earth's ley lines.
Qing Yueqiu noticed a fine crack in one corner of the Ancient Mirror. The hazy Chaos Qi was seeping out from that crack. Perhaps this was why Ji Shenyun's seal had loosened, allowing her to communicate.
'Could it be that soone else ca here before and tried to rescue Ji Shenyun? But for so reason, they didn't succeed.'
'In that case, a lot of what Ji Shenyun said before might be contradictory...'
Qing Yueqiu's eyes flickered, and she grew more wary of Ji Shenyun in her heart, but her expression remained unchanged.
"You're in the mirror?"
"A mirror? I see... So those old bastards sealed inside the Qiankun Sun and Moon Mirror. No wonder the Ice and Fire Domains have been tornting day and night."
"Old bastards?"
"The powerful mbers of the Human Race who ambushed back then."
"Junior, let ask you, what is the legend you know of the war between the Asura Race and the Human Race?"
Qing Yueqiu recalled the legend her Master had told her and said softly:
"After the Innate Divine Spirits were overthrown, the Human Race beca the foremost race. But the Asura Race was unwilling to be surpassed by the humans. They wanted to replace the Innate Divine Spirits and rule the Ten Thousand Races once more, so they went to war with the Human Race, were ultimately defeated, and wiped out."
Upon hearing this, Ji Shenyun was silent for a mont, then she let out three great laughs and cursed,
"Hahaha... Utter nonsense!"
"The Human Race is as treacherous as ever! Back then, they openly tore up the Peace Treaty and brazenly attacked the Asura Race before my Divine Skill was perfected... After the war, they twisted history. Such shaless tricks are truly passed down from generation to generation, a fundantal flaw of the Human Race!"
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