The Mountain Shatters, the Hall Shatters-Where Are the People?

Splash!

After the god's Divine Body exploded, blood gushed out like a spring, vast and boundless, spreading out like a surging river!

The flesh and blood exploded, turning into smoke that swirled around the blood. The blood didn't even fall; while still in mid-air, it congealed and twisted into dragon-like forms, then flew rapidly in all directions with surging momentum, but like headless flies, it crashed into the hall.

Rumble!

The already crumbling palace shattered instantly upon impact, completely losing its form. The palace rippled, its smooth surface peeling away, turning into billowing Silver-Mercury that crumbled and scattered across the ground with a "crash."

But the blood dragon did not stop; it continued to fly, releasing masculine Qi and Blood that not only shattered the hall but also shook the structure of the Scholar Forest World inside and outside the Book Mountain.

Click! Click! Click!

A series of shattering sounds echoed from the Void, followed by cracks that appeared out of thin air and spread rapidly. They were so fast that they covered the entire hall in the blink of an eye, and then extended beyond the area, enveloping the mines outside.

Soon, the area both inside and outside the mountains was covered by these cracks that appeared out of nowhere!

Even Qiu Yan and the others stopped what they were doing as the cracks appeared, calmly observing and pondering.

At this moment, a powerful and Qi and Blood thought was transmitted.

"The Human Path advocated by that group is inherently evil! They attempt to use Order to restrain gods and humans! This is utterly perverse and contrary to the principles of heaven and earth! Gods and humans are born of heaven, and their birth should be unrestrained, free to kill or do as they please! If it weren't for someone's help, their lineage would have been severed long ago when they laid out their plans for this continent. How could they have possibly ruined our grand plan for revival? But the Heavenly Dao is constant, and the Divine Path is immortal, ultimately allowing us to revive once again. The three of you Literary Path Creation and martial arts will become a great threat as you grow. Although I dislike the Heavenly Court, I cannot let you go!"

As soon as the words fell, the blood dragons burst into flames, and the Divine Sense mixed within them also ignited!

Fluctuation!

The entire Book Mountain rippled, like a mirage, illusory and unpredictable!

Qiu Yan and the others felt a sudden unease, realizing something was wrong. They wanted to leave, but their path was already blocked by cracks!

The cracks are still widening and expanding!

Seeing this, Qiu Yan gathered the long river, Bai Zhaoyuan concealed the sharp light in his eyes, and Bei Xuan withdrew the ever-changing light mist. With a thought, the three transformed into streaks of soul shadows, traversing through the gaps in the rift. But the rift seemed to have a mind of its own, constantly extending and expanding, blocking their Human Path!

A rich Literary Thought and artistic conception emanated from the crack. When Qiu Yan caught it, it immediately stirred a tremor in his heart and a strong urge to go to that place at all costs.

"What's hidden in this crevice is probably extraordinary and could be of great help to Literary Dao. It's a pity the situation is unclear, so we can't go and explore!"

As Qiu Yan was pondering this, the voice of that deity sounded again.

"Don't rush, don't rush. The original intention of those people who established the Scholar Forest was to exterminate the Divine Path. But they also intended to train the younger generation. With your talents, now that you've come here, how could they let you go? I will lend them a hand. Even if I can't destroy you, I will send the three of you to the core of the Scholar Forest! And imprison you for endless years!"

The divine message was growing weaker and weaker, clearly indicating that it was rapidly declining due to the explosion of its Divine Body and the burning of its Divine Sense. However, Qiu Yan and the others were unable to retaliate at this moment. Moreover, considering the events before and after, he had already understood the other party's plan.

"This Scholar Forest is able to suppress divine power, which may very well be what the god said—a tool to target the Divine Path and restrict the gods. But since he can be resurrected, it means there are still loopholes..."

"Even if there are loopholes, since it targets the Divine Path, it won't let the gods have an easy time. After this god revived, it was immediately besieged. Bei Xuan and I seemed to arrive by fortuitous opportunity, but it involved Fortune and planning. Now that I think about it, my coming to Eastern Capital was because of Ji Zheng, a descendant of the Sage, Soul Entry into the Scholar Forest. It was thanks to Chen Jing, the successor of the Heavenly Principles, and there were many other things along the way that were subtly involved. As for Bai Zhaoyuan, he may have been assigned here to prevent the god from reviving!"

"However, this god has been planning this for a long time, starting from the last time the Sun Household came. Now, by possessing Sun Yong's body and substituting one person for another, he aims to minimize the suppression he faces from the Scholar Forest. But being part of the Scholar Forest, truly escaping their clutches will be extremely difficult. Therefore, this god is willing to risk his own life to survive!"

"Originally, it would have been difficult for this god to accomplish anything on his own, but unexpectedly, he had an accomplice outside. The boy who performed ventriloquism on the streets of Eastern Capital is highly suspicious! I once entrusted the Li Trigram to a copper coin and gave it to that boy. This was originally a casual move, but now it seems to have been a lucky accident!"

"That young man possessed an aura of divine power. I initially thought it was related to a deity, but now it seems he himself is a deity of extraordinary origin. To conceal his Divine Sense, he concealed it, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to detect it so easily. I've heard that after reaching the Third Grade Divine Rank, one can perform a profound transformation between reality and illusion, turning their Divine Body into a physical form. I suppose that deity is at least at the Third Grade!"

Just as the temple was about to collapse and the Silver-Mercury were scattering, Qiu Yan and the others realized that the situation was critical. They knew that once the Ore-Mother Hall collapsed and the Silver-Mercury exploded, even if the god had supernatural Divine Ability, he would have little chance of escaping. Correspondingly, the souls of Qiu Yan and the others would also be in grave danger. Therefore, they decisively let go.

However, it seems that for that deity, the danger of being trapped in the Silver-Mercury was nothing compared to the suppression he suffered by the entire Scholar Forest after escaping the temple. On the contrary, even if it was dangerous, as long as the situation was chaotic, he could protect himself with the soul of Sun Yong and might be able to win in the chaos. Even if he suffered heavy losses, as long as he could escape Scholar Forest, it would be worth it for him.

"Such a desperate determination, appearing in Divine Spirit Body who can be called immortal, is truly remarkable. However, one thing remains unclear: if this god has truly been reborn and revived, what is the reason behind it? And if my Divine Spirit Body Void Ruins, can it be reborn?"

Thinking to himself, Qiu Yan also realized that the resurrected deity in the hall not only wanted to cause the hall to collapse, but also had a greater purpose!

The purpose is...

Boom!

As Qiu Yan flew at high speed, he suddenly trembled all over. A powerful surge of Literary Thought Aura surged out and enveloped him completely, while the world around him shattered completely, and all the scenes faded away like fragments!

The collapsing hall, the shattered cave, the chaotic sounds, and even the faintly emanating Qi and Blood waves all quickly receded from Qiu Yan as the surrounding scenery shattered completely, and the surroundings suddenly became pitch black!

Only endless Literary Thought permeates the surroundings.

"Hmm?" Qiu Yan was not alarmed. He first calmed his mind and then released his senses to capture the changes in all directions. However, this sense could not reach the edge. He could only feel himself falling. Moreover, he felt a sense of disorientation. The cave, the hall, the Qi and Blood and qi, and the fierce battle seemed to have become distant memories. He had the illusion that it had been a long time ago.

"What happened?" After careful recollection, Qiu Yan realized the reason. "That's it! Cracks are everywhere in the mountains, which has shattered space!"

The cracks had long since spread throughout the Book Mountain, inside and out, and were interconnected, like a mirror riddled with cracks. Now the mirror was completely shattered, revealing its back.

"The surface of the Scholar Forest World has shattered, and I have fallen into the world behind it? Where am I?"

With these questions in mind, Qiu Yan tried to ascend his soul, but found it difficult to do so. His soul kept falling, but below was pitch black, and he could not see any scenery or know where it led.

But not long after, a Confucian Void stepped into the air and walked up, looking at Qiu Yan and saying, "Another person assimilated by the Scholar Forest has arrived..."

Rumble!

At the same time, outside the Book Mountain, the mountain itself collapsed with a deafening roar!

From a distance, it looks like a tall house collapsing, with the supporting beams breaking and sinking inward from the mountaintop, triggering a chain reaction that causes the entire mountain to continue to collapse inward.

The collapse immediately caused billowing smoke and flying yellow sand. Fortunately, the dust spread from the inside out, otherwise, if the yellow sand had drifted over and clung to the pavilion at the foot of the mountain, the torrent of information contained within would have immediately caused the scholar remaining in the building to have his soul explode!

It should be noted that although the boats carrying some Confucian scholars were heading to the Book Mountain, many others remained at the foot of the mountain out of caution. Now, upon hearing the rumbling sound, these people all came out of their pavilions, looked up, and were immediately horrified.

"The mountain collapsed!"

"How are Mr. Bei and Young Master Sun doing? Could they be deeply entangled in this mess?"

"Don't panic, don't run. Although the mountain has collapsed, judging from its shape, this area won't be affected."

"Brother Zhang is right. Everyone, please calm down. Once we leave the stronghold, the ground outside is covered in Doubt Frost, and there is nowhere to rest. How long can we hold out?"

"Indeed, this building was created by Mr. Bei through his visualization. If something had happened to him, how could he be unharmed?"

The commotion was palpable, and although some tried to calm the crowd, they could not quell the chaos. Soon, some began reciting scriptures and classic texts to soothe their State of Mind.

Unbeknownst to the bewildered crowd, two figures were gazing at the scene from afar within the Scholar Forest community.

"There's actually a pavilion in Scholar Forest!" a voice rang out.

"Brother Li, in the Scholar Forest, as long as one concentrates one 'Literary Heart, has a clear understanding of things, and has some knowledge of external objects, one can visualize real objects."

These two people were none other than the two whose souls were caught in the vortex at the Hall of Illuminating Ethics in the Imperial City; one was surnamed Pang, and the other was surnamed Li.

"It seems Brother Pang is quite knowledgeable about the Scholar Forest; I shall ask him for some guidance."

The man surnamed Pang laughed and said, "No problem, no problem. Actually, I'm worried now. Since we acted impulsively and entered the forest ahead of schedule, leaving our physical bodies in the Imperial City, I don't know if anything might happen to us."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a voice rang out from behind him.

"You two need not worry. There are powerful guards protecting your physical bodies in the Forest Altar Literary Hall; there will be no accidents."

Upon hearing this voice, Li and Pang's expressions changed drastically. They turned around and saw a Daoist priest.

"Daoist Lu greets the two benefactors."

P. S.: Thanks to "Volcano1889" for the donation!