Truth and surprises

In the dead of night, Blue Mist silently spread.

The entire city was deserted and silent.

Tai Ming's forehead was covered in sweat, as if he had entered a dead city. Apart from him, there was no living creature. The Fire Spring was very abnormal; its intense blue color was so alluring that it seemed to draw one in.

It resembled a will-o'-the-wisp in an old graveyard, equally eerily blue and silent. Qin Ming tensed up, becoming highly alert.

He couldn't understand where everyone in the city had gone.

The entire city was lifeless and oppressive.

However, Qin Ming sensed something and looked back, only to find a dark figure in the thick fog heading towards him without any attempt at concealment. Faint footsteps echoed across the empty street, and the dark figure moved swiftly, arriving in an instant.

He was only about 1.5 meters tall, extremely thin, wearing a straw hat, an old and tattered straw coat, and straw sandals. The moment he raised his head, his eyes were dark red, seemingly filled with longing for the dark blue Fire Spring, but also with a sense of awe.

Only then did Qin Ming see its face clearly. He instantly gripped the hilt of his knife. The newcomer's face was also covered with straw clothing; to be precise, it was actually a Scarecrow.

The Scarecrow looked at him, opened its mouth, and made a rustling sound.

"What are you talking about? What's going on here?" Qin Ming asked. "A complete novice?" The Scarecrow's eyes blazed with red light, emanating a fluctuation of consciousness.

Then, it suddenly rushed forward, having already drawn an iron knife from behind it, slashing at Qin Ming's neck in a terrifying arc.

This is truly a sudden and unexpected attack!

Qin Ming was completely bewildered, having inexplicably encountered a Scarecrow and having no idea why it had suddenly attacked. Since it wanted to take his life, there was nothing more to say; he wielded the Abundant Jade Iron Force to launch a swift counterattack.

Facing an unknown opponent, he always went all out, and thus the entire sword erupted with an extremely dazzling light, like a blazing god.

Flames flickered. With a soft thud, the iron sword was severed in two. Moreover, the Mutton Fat Jade Iron Saber possessed extraordinary properties; the dazzling and sacred light it emitted burned the scarecrow even before it touched Scarecrow, causing it to scream in agony. "Stop! It's a misunderstanding!" it cried out in terror, retreating rapidly.

Qin Ming completely ignored it. The other party had launched a sudden attack, and now, seeing the situation was turning against them, they expected him to back down? In the midst of the battle...

If one hesitates even for a moment, one could very well find oneself in a desperate situation.

With a snap, he cut the Scarecrow in half at the waist, sending straw fragments flying everywhere.

A ball of red light shot up, trying to escape, but was struck by Qin Ming's powerful strike and exploded, accompanied by a shrill scream, like a large number of sparks scattering in mid-air before going out.

Qin Ming frowned slightly. This Mutton Fat Jade Iron was a deadly threat to abnormal creatures. Was he now caught up in some inexplicable incident? Just then, there was movement again in the blue mist. A small beast floated in the air, riding an object. It didn't seem to have a physical body; it was somewhat ethereal and hazy. What it stood on was a two-foot-long pine-tailed beast, flowing with a hazy glow. "Riding on its tail... Weasel Yin Spirit?" Qin Ming stood with his knife in hand. Everything that had happened tonight was too strange.

Some people in the Beyond the Mundane believe that a certain stage of consciousness can be called the Yin Spirit. Of course, most masters in the secluded realm do not agree with this view.

Those outside this field would find it difficult to detect Yin Spirit, even if they were right in front of them, they would feel nothing. Qin Ming, however, was extremely sensitive to them and regarded them as ordinary objects.

The Weasel's Yin Spirit was quite composed. After glancing at the broken Scarecrow on the ground, it immediately clasped its hands in a very polite gesture towards Qin Ming.

An Ming pondered, having no idea what was going on, and tried to entice the other party to continue.

"This place is both dangerous and full of Great Fortune, worth risking your life for. It can also accommodate many like-minded people. Brother, we'll keep to ourselves." The Weasel immediately stated, "Please go first." Qin Ming nodded calmly and Say More.

The Weasel nodded, and it was clear that Guan was quite hesitant, but in the end, it rode off on its tail and plunged headfirst into the dark blue Fire Spring with a splash. "Ah!" A painful cry came from the Fire Spring. It rolled and churned inside, stirring up large swathes of Blue Liquid, accompanied by a bewitching Fire Haze.

As you can see, it's not so faint; it's become slightly more solid. Moreover, its fluffy, broken tail, which had turned from withered yellow to glow with a pale golden hue, has acquired a certain spiritual quality.

Qin Ming was startled. What was going on? He was also a little envious. Should he throw the Mutton Fat Jade Iron Saber in and see what happened?

However, the next moment he retreated warily, because the Weasel's Yin Spirit rushed out, riding on its pale golden real tail, its consciousness confused, charging around wildly, and roaring incessantly.

"Those who blaspheme against the gods shall die!" It went mad, baring its fangs and claws, roaring and howling, then its eyes flashed with ferocity as it charged toward Qin Ming.

Howl!

A flash of snow-white light swept across, like a red-hot iron falling into withered leaves. With a crackling sound, Qin Ming's Mutton Fat Jade Iron Saber not only severed the Weasel in two,

It was burned to ashes.

Then, he swung his sword again, and the only remaining object, the pale golden tail, was easily cut in two as it fell, unable to withstand the pure white blade.

"The Blue Fire Spring is related to Godlike creatures?" Qin Ming frowned deeply. If so, the problem had become serious.

He recalled that when he first discovered the blue light, it had shattered the clouds high in the sky, expanding in all directions, which was why he had fallen from the sky. A hissing sound came, and a large snake appeared in the night, also Yin Spirit, riding a snake skin and flying in, swirling with Black Mist in mid-air.

When it saw the Scarecrow and severed tail at Qin Ming's feet, it showed some fear and stopped a short distance away. "They provoked me, which is why they died so tragically," Qin Ming said.

"I have no grudge against you, and I would never dare to offend you," the giant serpent said, its tone polite yet cautious.

Qin Ming nodded. With the real "battle record" on his feet as proof, this kind of Yin Spirit was finally talking properly. He decided to ask about the situation directly.

"What on earth is going on here?" As he spoke, he kicked the broken Scarecrow away.

This place is related to Divine Grace, containing a rich Divine Nature. It can be used to refine various Spirit Artifact and rapidly improve their quality. If one ventures here...

"It's dangerous, but it can also enhance one's Divine Nature, though it's easy to suffer a backlash. The Domain of the Gods contains great majesty and is extremely terrifying," the great serpent patiently explained.

It rode on its skin, landed by the Fire Spring, and put the snake skin inside. Instantly, the dull snake skin began to glow, its spirituality surging dramatically. Then it quickly withdrew.

"Why did you stop?" Qin Ming asked.

"My old skin can no longer bear too much Divine Nature; it has reached its limit," the great serpent said.

Even so, it was quite content and even excited. It wanted to leap into the pool several times, but it restrained itself.

"What's going on with this city? And where are its residents?" Qin Ming asked. "This is a Divine City, inhabited by a great being, on the verge of becoming a god."

"This is a Divine City, inhabited by a great being who was about to reach the realm of divinity, but something seems to have gone wrong. As for the inhabitants, I know nothing about them." The giant serpent looked bewildered; it hadn't seen any people here.

Qin Ming's expression turned solemn. He recalled the blue light he had discovered earlier. Even from such a distance, he could feel its power, which had even shattered the clouds in the sky. Could this be related to becoming a god?

Seeing his grim expression, the serpent quickly explained, "This Divine City appeared suddenly. The great being must have encountered an accident. I haven't seen his people, just those inhabitants."

Qin Ming asked, "You've never seen this city before. How did it suddenly appear in this area?" "Yes!" The giant snake nodded solemnly.

It, along with the Scarecrow and the Weasel, were the closest Divine Nature beings to this place, so it immediately sent its Yin Spirit out of its body and rushed over.

Qin Ming gently tapped the bluestone on the ground with his Jade Iron Saber, producing a crisp, realistic sound. His expression was grave. "Is it really that terrifying?" he wondered. "Can this sword of mine be nurtured with Divine Nature power?"

"You're a New Life Path, and the weapons you use daily haven't been refined, so their effectiveness is probably not very good," the giant snake said tactfully.

Qin Ming learned that the Fire Spring was the core of the Divine City, and it was the rich "Divine Nature" left behind after that "great being" met with misfortune! The giant serpent went far away, restraining its impulse and not leaping into the Divinity Pool, disappearing in the night.

Qin Ming walked to the blue-green Fire Spring and inserted the Mutton Fat Jade Iron Saber into it, but there seemed to be little change.

He quickly took out a small piece of cloth, about the size of a palm, with metal threads woven into it and embroidered with Cloud Pattern. There should be other patterns as well, but the piece of cloth was too small to make out the main subject.

This was what he obtained after killing the young man who could transform into mist at Black Sun Mountain. It was no ordinary item, as even the Abundant Jade Iron Saber couldn't cut through it. Qin Ming placed it into the blue Fire Spring pool.

In an instant, the pool boiled, as if a bright Solar Yang had fallen into it, illuminating the area and causing a thick Blue Mist to rise. "This is too dazzling! Something bad is going to happen! What is this thing?!" Qin Ming was shocked. He never expected that an inconspicuous piece of Torn Cloth would cause such a commotion.

However, this sacred sight lasted only a moment before quickly subsiding, and the Great Sun that the Torn Cloth had transformed into seemed to have been extinguished.

Qin Ming's instincts were exceptionally sharp. He noticed that although there were no more unusual phenomena, the intense blue color of the Fire Spring seemed to be fading very slowly.

He immediately bent down to look at the Torn Cloth, which had actually grown slightly larger, with the portion protruding.

Moreover, it shimmers with a soft, flowing light; if it was once lifeless, now it seems to have been "resurrected."

Qin Ming was shocked when he stared at it, because the metal wires woven into the Torn Cloth were no longer dim, revealing their true form. Some were pure white, while others were shrouded in Purple Mist, resembling various kinds of "Exotic Metal"!

He gasped, the blue night mist completely beyond his expectations. This palm-sized Torn Cloth seemed to have quite a history. After all, Li Qingyue's Near Immortal Object —the Eight Trigrams Furnace—was also forged from various Exotic Metal.

Qin Ming observed carefully and found that after the Torn Cloth became larger, a tattered Great Sun appeared on its edge.

He finally understood why the commotion had been so loud: as the Torn Cloth amplified and repaired itself, the Remnant Sun appeared, shining directly upon him.

The Great Sun is woven from golden threads, so its material is undoubtedly Exotic Metal.

Qin Ming carefully sensed the surroundings and discovered that the Blue Fire Spring in the pool was indeed fading at a relatively slow pace, while the cloth seemed to be slightly enlarging.

This stirred up a storm within him, leaving him restless and filled with anticipation.

At this moment, a number of Yin Spirit began to appear outside the city, drawn by the Divine City, all revealing expressions of intense longing.

In the distance, towards the Scarlet Radiance Domain, several blazing suns seemed to stretch across the sky, so dazzling that they illuminated the pitch-black heavens and earth.

"A mere demonic insect dares to dream of devouring a city and becoming a god? I've been waiting for you for days!" A voice rang out from under the Scorching Sun, cold and ruthless, with an indescribable sense of oppression that made many creatures on the ground tremble.

Clearly, the "great being" mentioned by the giant snake met with an accident because some powerful beings were intercepting and specifically hunting him down.

The figures in the Great Sun are not physical, yet they are extremely dazzling, illuminating the night sky.

In the midst of the blazing sun, an old man with white hair, his eyes like two Immortal Sword, shouted, "Qingxu, go! The opportunities in the Divine City are immense, hurry!" "Yes, Master!" Li Qingxu replied.

A Higher Aberrant Bird spread its enormous wings, carrying a group of disciples from the Beyond the Mundane away at high speed. Some of them were acquaintances of Qin Ming.

"This fortuitous opportunity; disciples of the Esoteric Sect, do not fall behind!" A voice rang out from under another blazing sun. Another enormous raptor appeared, carrying the Esoteric Sect disciples towards the Divine City.

The third wave of attacks came from the Great Sun, accompanied by the sound of elephants bellowing, and a loud shout, "Hurry up and follow!" Clearly, the aliens had also arrived, including a young Six-Tusked White Elephant and Violet Lightning Beast.

A "great being" sought to approach the boundaries of the divine, but was thwarted by all sides, resulting in a series of lavish feasts.

(There's more to come!)