Stranger Danger

A few breaths later, the Crimson Luan landed in front of the Heavens’ Gate.

Ye Qing leaped off its back and gave it a solemn bow. “Thank you for everything, senior.”

“Chirp chirp!”

The Crimson Luan chirped softly before flying away. Once it had reunited with its brethren, they all took flight and disappeared into the sea of clouds. Ye Qing reckoned that they had returned to the Radiant Tree.

Ye Qing examined the Heavens’ Gate only after the Crimson Luans were all gone.

He labeled it as the “Heavens’ Gate” in his head, but it was really a gigantic pailou[1]. Seemingly made from bronze and covered in auspicious engravings such as dragons, phoenixes, and auspicious clouds, it seemed to be infinitely tall and wide. It also exuded an aura of mystery and antiquity.

Standing at the bottom of the structure, Ye Qing felt as small and weak as an ant.

That said, although the Heavens’ Gate seemed to be infinitely tall, he could clearly see the words “Kunlun Ruins” hanging on the roof.

The second he saw the words “Kunlun Ruins”, they suddenly unleashed a flash of light so bright that his eyes hurt, and tears streaked down his cheeks.

It was at this moment Ye Qing suddenly heard a bloodcurdling scream. It came from behind him.

Spine tingling with shock, Ye Qing ignored the pain of his eyes and surrounded himself in profound light.

When he turned around, he saw a shadow writhing and smoking a little on the floor. It looked like the blinding light was burning it.

“Warrior… save me… please, save me…”

It was at this moment the shadow suddenly transformed into a beautiful woman and begged Ye Qing for help.

The woman was extraordinarily attractive. Her appearance naturally induced sympathy in anyone.

Ye Qing was completely unmoved, however. He didn’t so much as bat an eyelid.

Seeing his lack of reaction, the shadow turned into a five-years-old girl next and cried, “Save Young Nan, uncle! Please! It hurts! It hurts!”

The young girl looked as cute and pretty as a doll. Her cries of pain were impossible to ignore either.

Still, Ye Qing did not move a muscle, though he was now wearing a curious expression. Not only could this shadow transform its appearance and looked exactly like a human, it could draw out their Seven Emotions and Six Desires as well. It did this to lure them to temptation and distort their mind.

Of course, this power was completely useless against him. At his current level, only a handful of people was his better in the area of controlling another’s Seven Emotions and Six Desires and bending their mind to their will. Compared to him, this shadow might as well be a child trying to cut down an adult with his toy sword.

Seeing that Ye Qing was still unmoved, a vicious snarl slowly appeared on the shadow’s face.

“Go on, change your appearance. Why are you stopping?” Ye Qing said with a chuckle.

“Why aren’t you helping me? Why aren’t you helping me!?”

The next moment, the shadow transformed into Ye Qing, though it was bleeding from all orifices and looked as ugly as a ghoul. The next moment, it pounced toward Ye Qing as if it would swallow him whole.

“Hah!”

Ye Qing sneered audibly before increasing the intensity of his light. Like fire tossed into a pot of oil, the shadow immediately caught on fire and sizzled loudly. It wasn’t long before it melted into nothing and perished.

“A Nine Nethers Demon…”

Ye Qing withdrew his power and turned serious after killing the shadow.

He was very familiar with the shadow’s presence. Uniquely dark, evil and tainted, it was almost identical as the Fog Demon’s. That was why he recognized it as a Nine Nethers Demon immediately.

“Why is there a Nine Nethers Demon in the Kunlun Ruins?”

Ye Qing’s eyebrows were tightly knitted. The Kunlun Ruins was a blessed land of the celestials, whereas a Nine Nethers Demon was a vile creature of the Nine Nethers. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they were the furthest things away from each other, so how on earth did they get involved with one another?

Or perhaps the calamity that struck the Kunlun Ruins many centuries ago were caused by the Nine Nethers Demons?

It wasn’t impossible. The Kunlun Ruins was an ancient blessed land of the celestials, and everyone residing within it was an extraordinary genius who could become a Sage. There might even be a legendary Immortal or two among them. Despite this, they were hit by a calamity so terrible that all of the celestials had fallen “aslumber”.

The Nine Nethers Demons were one such calamity. Born in the Nine Nethers—the darkest, vilest, most heretical, and most yin places in the entire world—no one boasted greater power of corruption than them. They could easily tempt a person to fall into temptation, indulge in their vices, lose sight of their heart, and give birth to all sorts of evil desires.

All Nine Nethers Demons were born with the Nine Nethers’ power of corruption. Naturally, they were quite terrifying. They were many times scarier than even the Strangers terrorizing the world of mortals right now.

Assuming that, for whatever reason, the Nine Nethers Demons and the Nine Nethers Demonic Qi had invaded the Kunlun Ruins and formed a Black Tide, then even the Kunlun Ruins would be hardpressed to repel them.

This would also explain why he encountered a Nine Nethers Demon just now.

But of course, this was just an assumption. He could not verify its authenticity until he had further proof.

Regardless of the truth of the matter, this accident was a reminder that the Kunlun Ruins were as dangerous as the Annon Sutra said they were. He must never let his guard down.

Ye Qing’s eyes gradually turned deep and dark yellow as he looked up at the three words in the sky once more. He was curious. What on earth was within the three words that they could discover a Nine Nethers Demon that even he had missed?

Of course, he wasn’t too afraid even though the damn thing had been hiding right inside his shadow. The Profound Yellow Mother Qi shielded him from all evils. Even if he hadn’t discovered it, there was still nothing the Nine Nethers Demon could have done to him.

Thanks to the power of the Profound Yellow Mother Qi, he was able to examine the three words even though the intense light shining down from the Heavens’ Gate was still hurting his eyes a little.

“A stamp…”

After a careful examination, Ye Qing discovered that the bright light came from the stamp at the bottom right corner of the board.

“Stamp of Profound Sovereign Chongming…”

Ye Qing muttered the words within the stamp under his breath. It was only five words, but they were ancient, profound, and possessed seemingly limitless power.

If he wasn’t mistaken, the name on the Heavens’ Gate—“Kunlun Ruins”—was written by this Profound Sovereign Chongming. That was why his stamp existed at the bottom right corner of the board.

He did not know who Profound Sovereign Chongming was, but the fact that he was allowed to stamp his name on the main entrance of the Kunlun Ruins, and the fact that his stamp was so powerful, could only mean that Profound Sovereign Chongming was an extraordinary person. He was most likely one of the celestials living in the Kunlun Ruins.

“It’s too bad…”

A moment later, Ye Qing reluctantly withdrew his gaze from the stamp. Had the stamp existed anywhere else, he would have done everything in his power to claim it for himself. Unfortunately, the stamp was engraved into the Heavens’ Gate itself. He couldn’t possibly destroy this whole structure just to obtain the stamp, right?

If he did, the celestials of the Kunlun Ruins might jump out of their coffins and slap him to death.

But of course, he wasn’t serious about taking the stamp. The main reason he came to the Kunlun Ruins was to save Yi Pin. He didn’t mind a bit of looting, but considering his objective, the last thing he wanted to do was to start a side quest.

A shrug later, Ye Qing stepped through the Heavens’ Gate.

The second he crossed the threshold, the scenery before his eyes changed as if he had entered a whole new world.

He saw cyan mountains, green waters, and leisurely clouds at the distance.

He saw clusters of towers, pavilions and palaces.

The air was overflowing with spiritual qi, colorful and gorgeous.

The white clouds leisurely floated across the sky while taking all kinds of forms.

The blowing wind secretly showed off the profound secrets of nature.

And the tall mountains and flowing waters came together to play a melodious tune of nature.

This was a realm anyone would say, “What a blessed land of the celestials!” at first glance.

Ye Qing was frowning though.

It was because hidden behind this picturesque realm of the celestials was thick, tainted darkness.

1. Literally meaning “memorial archway gate”, a paifang, also known as a pailou, is a traditional style of Chinese architecture, often used in arch or gateway structures. ☜

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