The cyan face in the sky was massive, appearing to be made of smoke, very light and faint, but as it descended from the heavens, it gradually became clearer.
Fine, cold sweat beaded on the Shaman's forehead, his head bowed even lower, not daring to look up.
"Heaven..."
A ethereal voice drifted from the air: "Understood."
The Shaman stood there bowing, motionless. The golden peak of this divine mountain was cold, but the sweat beads on his forehead began to drip down, one after another.
After a while, he secretly glanced upward, only to see the blue sky washed clean, the face had vanishedhad vanished without a trace。
The Shaman heaved a sigh of relief, quickly flew down the mountain, and distanced himself from the place.
A long time later.
The light flames on the golden peak flickered faintly, undulating like water waves. When the light flames stopped moving, two golden-eyed Suanni pulled a precious carriage out of the light.
In the center of this precious carriage stood a magnificent canopy, from which hung curtains made of jade beads and other treasures. The canopy's top had three tiers of golden roofs, each smaller than the one below.
The canopy had four golden pillars, each as thick as a forearm and seven feet tall. Beside each pillar stood a beautiful maiden, with qi forming a ring behind their heads, their robes fluttering, each dressed in different colors—green, red, yellow, and white. The girl in green held a jade bottle, the girl in red cradled a seven-stringed zither, the girl in yellow held a sword with both hands, and the girl in white embraced a pipa.
Beneath the canopy, through the curtain of jade beads, a man in purple robes could be seen sitting upright, his bearing extraordinary.
The two Suanni were covered in flowing light and color, their feet stepping on auspicious clouds, pulling the precious carriage with lightning speed toward the Central Plains.
This precious carriage was not as cautious as the Shaman. The Shaman avoided the vast Great Ruins, but this precious carriage drove straight into them,streaked across the sky in a trail of light in the sky, heading toward the State of Yankang. The person in the carriage seemed entirely unconcerned with the dangers of the Great Ruins.
Night fell, darkness enveloped the Great Ruins, the two Suanni emanating a terrifying aura that was extremely dazzling even in the dark, pulling the carriage through the darkness.
In the darkness, waves of demonic energy surged, suddenly transforming into a pitch-black palm that lunged toward the carriage and the Suanni's light. Wherever it passed, light was devoured, leaving only darkness.
Just as this black palm approached the carriage and no light could emanate, the carriage's bead curtain swayed, and the girl in red plucked the strings of her zither, producing two clear, tinkling notes.
Hearing the music, the black palm paused slightly, then retreated.
"Heaven?" A hoarse voice came from the darkness.
The girl in red nodded: "Lord Qiao of Heaven."
The demon in the darkness retreated and vanished, and from then on, no more demons bothered the carriage in the dark.
Though the Great Ruins at night seemed incredibly dangerous, it was still quite lively, with all manner of dreadful creatures active and bizarre occurrences happening frequently.
The carriage moved unhurriedly eastward. Beneath the canopy, Lord Qiao looked at the current state of the Great Ruins and shook his head: "Remnants not yet purged, lingering poison still remains."
This precious carriage flew through the sky, cutting through the darkness. Looking up from the dark Great Ruins, it was like seeing a star moving leisurely.
The night of the Great Ruins was shrouded in darkness, with no stars or moon in the sky. Many exotic beasts hiding in ruins and people in villages couldn't help but look up, gazingentranced at this unprecedented spectacle.
Suddenly, this star plummetedplummeted suddenly,streaked across the sky in a trail of light and crashed into the Great Ruins, causing those who witnessed the spectacle to secretly sigh inregret.
Boom!
The carriageas if out of control from the skyplunging diagonally, below was the source of the Yong River, in the darkness two mountain peaks stood like a gateway, and the carriage plunged diagonally between them.
The two Suanni struggled desperately to control the carriage but couldn't, causing them to let out terrifiedroars.
The four girls on the carriage were also in panic, and only then did they realize they hadhad somehow turned into withered skeletons！
The four girls looked ahead and saw that the two Suanni pulling the carriage had alsohad also turned into two sets of running white bones！
They looked into the carriage, where a skeleton sat there.
That skeleton remained calm,snorted: "Dragging my carriage down—could it be that Fengdu'sharboring wicked intentions?"
Ahead, the gray mist was vast and boundless, withmassive shadows standing in the mist, and red lights glowing in the mist, lanterns following the carriage's movement.
Those were not lanterns, but rathereyes。
The shadows in the mist vanished one after another, and the red lights also disappeared.
Flesh and blood returned to the two Suanni, and they felt the carriage was no longer heavy, quickly exerting force beneath their feet to pull the carriage back into the air. The four girls saw their own flesh and blood restored and couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief.
Lord Qiao's body also returned to normal, and he said indifferently: "Fengdu, not following the governance of Youdu, even daring to charge at Heaven—must be eradicated sooner or later."
The carriage continued along the Yong River, and when daylight finally broke, they saw the end of the Great Ruins, only over a thousand li away.
Suddenly, a sword light erupted from below, exploding in mid-air. The snow-white sword lightburst forth, its brilliance so overwhelming that itobscuring the sun's radiance.
The Suanni and the four girls quickly closed their eyes, and when they opened them, the girls exclaimed in surprise. The earth-shattering sword light had vanished, but before the carriage now appeared a majestic landscape of towering mountains and continuous ranges.
Strangely, there had been no such landscape moments before, and this landscape was actuallyfloating in a sea of clouds, as if growing from the clouds.
Water rushing from the towering mountains produced a rumbling sound, and they also sawwaterfalls cascading down from steep cliffs,like jade cascading down.
This green mountains and clear waters floated among the clouds, showing no signs of abnormality, unlike a mirage.
"Stop." Lord Qiao said slowly from within the carriage.
The two Suanni quickly halted. Lord Qiao rose and looked toward the end of this landscape,only to see the mountains and rivers still stretching outward, as if growing on its own. Among the clouds, the mountains were vast and majestic, with new ranges and rivers continuously emerging from below the clouds.
At the edges of this landscape, sword lights flashed, difficult to catch, but not invisible to his eyes.
This scene was as if someone used a sword as a brush, painting a grand scroll of mountains and rivers in the clouds!
"The old cripple is actually still alive."
Lord Qiao smiled and said softly: "Descend. An old acquaintance lives here."
The two Suanni quickly pulled the carriage down slowly. When they sank below the clouds, the landscape above also descended, matching the carriage's descent,constantly blocking their path.
Finally, the carriage landed, and the sky's landscape grew smaller and smaller, continuously receding. When the landscapecontracted and vanished, a small village by the river appeared before them.
Lord Qiao looked through the bead curtain. At the village entrance of thisdesolate village was areclining chair, on which lay an old man without limbs. Thereclining chair swayed gently, creaking. Thatwretched old man without limbs basked in the spring sun,completely at ease.
"You're crippled."
Lord Qiao did not leave the carriage, speaking through the bead curtain: "You have no hands, no legs, and still wish to block my path? You are trulyoverestimating yourself."
The Village Chiefnarrowing his eyes, thereclining chair automatically rocking. He lay inside appearing very comfortable, and said leisurely: "In that case, why don't you try? I have no hands or feet, only a few years of life left. You must be confident you can kill me, right?"
Lord Qiaosnorted: "You don't have many years left, cannot protect the new Human Emperor. However, I will notrisk my life,trade blow for blow with yourwaning life."
"If you dare not risk your life with me, then go back."
Suddenly, the Village Chief'stransformed his qi into legs and arms, and he stood up from thereclining chair, walking toward the carriage. The two Suanni were instantlyfelt their blood run cold, and the four girls on the carriage showedexpressions of utter horror. In their eyes, as thisgaunt and scrawny wretch of an old man walked over, his body grew larger and larger, more and moretowering. That small figure in just a few steps seemed tofilled heaven and earth, blocking all their vision!
"You cannot protect the new Human Emperor!"
Lord Qiao stood up, and the carriage's canopy suddenlybegan to spin with a howl. The pillars beneath the canopy grew larger, thicker, and taller. The canopy expanded in the wind, and the hanging jade beads grew larger, as if each were astar, surrounding thisstar Lord.
The four girls in the carriage appearedincredibly tiny before him, and the two pure-blooded Suanni, originally huge, now seemed pitifully small.
Clang—！
The sword in the yellow-clad girl's hand left its sheath, falling into Lord Qiao's hand.
Lord Qiaoswung his sword, the old man opposite alsoswung his sword. The two sword lights met in an instant, and the Yong River suddenlystopped flowing, the water ceasing to flow. The sword light was brilliant but vanished in a flash.
Where the sword light disappeared, the Village Chief still sat in hisreclining chair, which creaked as it swayed. Lord Qiao also sat back down, the carriage returning to its original size. The giant anda sky full of stars from moments ago seemed only aillusion.
"I will not go to kill the Human Emperor, but others will."
Lord Qiao looked at the old man in thereclining chair through the bead curtain, saying indifferently: "In Heaven, there will be someyoung men who go to find him."
The Village Chief saidlazily: "As long as it's notyou old fossils, let them come."
Lord Qiao looked at him deeply, suddenly saying: "Return to Heaven."
The two Suanni quickly turned the carriage around, rose into the air, and headed west.
On the carriage, the green-clad girl said: "Star Lord, why do we return like this..."
Lord Qiao did not speak, suddenlygrunted, and drops of blood fell from the carriage, landing in the Great Ruins' forests below. Where the blood fell,flowers across the entire mountain suddenly bloomed, plants grewwildlyly, and the mountainside burst forth with endless greenery and flowers.
Whoosh—！
The canopy was suddenly blown backward by the wind, falling into the Great Ruins, with each jade bead scattering across the mountains and fields.
"No need to pick them up. Return to Heaven immediately!" Lord Qiao's face was somewhat pale, and he saidin a deep voice.
The four girls were startled, and the two Suanni quickly accelerated westward.
At the entrance of the Village of Broken Elders, thereclining chairwobbling, suddenly the chair fell apart, and the Village Chiefcrashed to the ground, his voicehoarse: "Herbalist, Herbalist!"
The Herbalisthurriedly ran out, complaining: "Lost your hands and feet and still being stubborn, you deserve it... Don't move, let me check your injuries first!