Chapter 690 — The Primal Origin of Darkness

. " The Star Sea must have been left behind by a mighty one of the Kaihuang Era; otherwise the Ziqing gods would never have planted the Dawn Spring and the Soul Spring here. Yet the treasures of the Star Sea were clearly near to ripening—so why had no one come to harvest them?

"If we go around Taihuang Heaven and Luofu Heaven, I fear it will take the better part of a month to reach the Dawn Spring. " The Dragon Qilin bore them out of the Soul Spring and into the open, then flew toward the distant cliff.

It was still daylight; no light came from the cliff, and none would until nightfall.

This cliff had once been crossed by two roads—flying bridges that spanned the gap, sloping all the way from the top of the cliff down to its foot, for the convenience of men and horses.

But when the great red kun had carried Shen Mu here, both bridges had been crushed and broken by Taihuang Heaven. And now, unbelievably, both bridges had been repaired! Astonished, Shen Mu slowed the Dragon Qilin. A great cave mouth had appeared on the reverse side of Taihuang Heaven, and outside it a great many young women were bustling about, tending the bridge foundations.

Within the cave mouth, a vast number of great square boulders had grown legs and feet, and were walking out in good order. Yan Jingjing had never seen anything so bizarre, and could not help but marvel.

Shen Mu laughed. "This is a divine art of the Western Land.

I know now who is trying to drive a tunnel through Taihuang Heaven. " He brought the Dragon Qilin down to land. When the women divine-art users saw him approach, they were both startled and delighted, and called into the mountain cave, "Boss, our son-in-law is here!

" Shen Mu flushed slightly and explained to Yan Jingjing, "The person in there must be the Formation Master He Yiyi, one of the three masters of the Western Land—an exceedingly powerful woman, unmatched in formation arts. .

. Mm, third in the world in formation arts. They are talking nonsense; I am not the He family's son-in-law, it is only their local custom of visiting kin. I did not go to pay a courtship visit. I went to the Western Land to help Nai Kui win back his throne.

. .

" Even as he spoke, a sweet fragrance swept toward him, and a woman flew into Shen Mu's arms like a darting bird, laughing.

"My sweetheart has come! " Shen Mu did not know where to put his hands and feet, and beads of cold sweat welled one by one on his forehead.

He Yiyi released him and laughed.

"Look how frightened you are. Young lady, he is not my sweetheart—don't be afraid.

" Yan Jingjing's face was utterly solemn; she said not a word, only stared at her. Shen Mu laughed.

"You gave me a real fright. Sister Yiyi, is it the He family who has been ordered to drive the tunnel through Taihuang Heaven this time? " "The Emperor issued a decree, commanding our He family of the Western Land to repair the roads first and drive the tunnel through, to link the Eastern Land and the Western Land. " He Yiyi smoothed the hair at her temples and wiped away her sweat. "The Emperor bestowed the Black Tortoise Pearl on us, and had every expert of our He family take the field. Borrowing the Pearl's power, we entered the interior of Taihuang Heaven, cut the mountain stone, made the stone walk out on its own, and then set the stone to repairing the bridges by itself.

Look at those bridge piers over there—without the Black Tortoise Pearl, I would never possess such immense dharma power and perception. " Shen Mu looked back, and could not help but praise her inwardly.

The piers beneath the two flying bridges were mountain-peak giants, holding the bridges up on their shoulders. The peak giants were of differing heights, lifting the flying bridges on their shoulders so that the spans lay smooth and level.

The tallest of them must have stood several thousand zhang!

Shen Mu sighed in admiration. "Compared with the clan-guarding treasures of the Western Land's great houses, this is no less impressive.

" Suddenly a woman called out in a loud voice, "Formation Master, night is coming—let us first take shelter in the nearest village!

" Yan Jingjing said abruptly, "No need. With me here, you need not fear the encroaching darkness. " He Yiyi was taken aback and gave her a long, deep look. Before long the sun set.

Shen Mu immediately turned his eyes to the cliff wall, and saw darkness come surging out of the cracks in the rock like a flood of towering waves pouring down, engulfing their side in an instant! The darkness encroached.

When this darkness met Taihuang Heaven, it was as though Taihuang Heaven did not exist at all—it passed straight through and in moments swept over the whole of the Desolate Ruins. The crowd gathered around Yan Jingjing, and saw that the girl now seemed like a little sun, giving off a rich divine light that held the darkness back. Let the darkness wash against her as it would, she stood unshaken.

Yan Jingjing glanced at He Yiyi as if to flaunt her victory. He Yiyi smiled faintly, but inwardly she felt a prickle of unease. "This woman is a deity, and this protective of her food—I fear it will not be easy to grow close to him.

" Shen Mu stared fixedly at the cliff wall. The darkness within it poured fully out, and then suddenly there came shafts of bright light, shining upon the reverse side of Taihuang Heaven.

That light came precisely from the cracks in the cliff wall!

"Just as I guessed—the darkness comes from these hidden heavens! When it is night in the Desolate Ruins, it is day in those heavens; when it is day in the Desolate Ruins, it is night in the heavens within the cliff. It is like an hourglass.

" Shen Mu narrowed his eyes. On the cliff at the source of the Surging River, a great many cracks were giving off light—which meant the number of heavens hidden in this cliff was absolutely not small!

"That Lou Qianzhong, who died at my hands, said the darkness of the Desolate Ruins was arranged by his master, the Black Emperor of Mingdu. Though the darkness shifts and alternates here at the cliff, what exactly is the darkness? " He hesitated.

To this day he did not know what the darkness of the Desolate Ruins truly was. It was certainly not darkness in any ordinary sense; it must be some strange substance. Nor was that all.

When the darkness encroached, strange demons prowled within it, devouring every living thing that dared set foot in the dark. And when day came, the demons vanished along with the darkness.

So where did these demons come from?

Moreover, after the darkness descended, exceedingly dreadful demon gods roamed within it.

When Shen Mu had rescued Yu Zhaoqing and the others of the Tianyu Clan at the Dawn Spring, he had seen demons crawl out of another space and time—which proved that the Desolate Ruins held many such entrances! And the place with the most entrances was right here: the cliff at the source of the Surging River. "Among these lights, one must be the true birthplace of the darkness! This birthplace of darkness is by no means one of the heavens that shine from the cliff; it hides darkness within, so it certainly gives off no light.

And the simplest way to find this birthplace.

. . " Shen Mu swiftly took out paper, lifted his brush, and from memory sketched the outline of the cliff, marking the position of every point of light, thinking, "When day breaks, I will compare the points of light I have drawn with the cracks in the cliff. The crack that gave no light tonight—that is the source of the darkness!

"