Chapter 623 - 560: Interrupted for Far Too Long...

Chapter 623: Chapter 560: Interrupted for Far Too Long...

"What would happen?"

Chu Mu let out a self-mocking laugh.

The answer was undoubtedly simple and clear.

This "Scorpion Egg" was the most obvious consequence.

Then, Chu Mu closed his eyes. After sensing his surroundings for a long time, he slowly opened them again. The deep confusion that had filled them was now completely gone.

The nature of the Desert Sea Heaven and Earth, and even this Ruins Cave Mansion, now seemed incomparably clear to him.

With a flick of his wrist, an Elixir appeared, hovering over his palm.

The Elixir was pure white and flawless. Three perfectly natural, emerald-green Pill Patterns on its surface were a clear testament to its rarity.

A Three-Patterned Elixir—Top Grade among pills, a treasure of immense rarity.

Even with his level of Alchemy Skill, creating a Three-Patterned Elixir was a matter of sheer luck, something one could only stumble upon, not actively create.

The ultimate, most perfect medicinal efficacy was the hallmark of a patterned pill.

But that usually only meant the formation of a single Pill Pattern.

Creating a Two-Patterned or Three-Patterned Elixir, for Chu Mu, was more a matter of pure chance.

To this day, he had yet to discover a reliable method for producing them.

But one thing was certain: the existence of a Pill Pattern was a work of nature itself. It meant that unless one’s Divine Cultivation was powerful enough to overwhelm the heavens and earth, it was impossible to forge such a natural creation.

And yet, while the patterns on this Three-Patterned Elixir were lifelike, they were merely a form without substance, a shape without spirit.

He had initially thought this ineffectiveness stemmed from some change in the world, or perhaps from the limitations of this Desert Sea.

Qin Zhaoxue had even been certain that this failure was due to the restrictions of the Ruins Cave Mansion.

But looking at all the clues now, it was clear that his own guesses, and Qin Zhaoxue’s conclusion, were all wrong.

A false existence, even if it could simulate everything with lifelike detail, deceive all his senses, and strip away his connection to reality without him even realizing it, even if he never knew or noticed the moment he fell into the illusion.

Even now, aside from the few anomalies he had managed to perceive, he still couldn’t detect much else that was out of place.

But when it came to replicating a true work of nature, a fake was ultimately still a fake. It clearly wasn’t up to the task.

In other words, the illusion of this world was not yet capable of simulating the natural creation of a Pill Pattern.

Of course, it was impossible to simulate. If it could, it would no longer be an illusion. It would be the ultimate state of Refining Illusion into Truth—an unquestionably real world.

That was precisely why the Pill Patterns were ineffective—why they were mere form without spirit.

By now, even without much direct evidence, he could deduce one fact from all the various clues.

’That fact is... the entire Desert Sea Heaven and Earth, the endless Sand-tailed Scorpions, and even I myself are not truly real. We are illusions born from reality.’

’And this illusion is very likely not just a simple fabrication, but some kind of fusion of the illusory and the real.’

’The principle behind it is probably identical to the Heart of the Demon Realm I refined back in the Demon Realm.’

Back then, when he was refining the Heart of the Demon Realm, the endless Demons were illusory, or rather, they were false beings. But without a doubt, those false Demons also represented the real, existing Heart of the Demon Realm.

Killing each Demon had a direct effect on the Heart of the Demon Realm; it was a direct means of refining it.

’And this boundless Desert Sea, these endless Sand-tailed Scorpions... they are false, but if I’m not mistaken, they also represent something that truly exists... the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother!’

’In other words, this Desert Sea is the very place where the legendary Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother is being suppressed.’

’A real Celestial Palace imprisons and suppresses the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother within it.’

’Then, using the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother’s spirit, it generates an Illusory World, a spiritual world—this boundless Desert Sea.’

That would explain the emotionless ripple of will behind the endless Sand-tailed Scorpions.

’After all, if she is being suppressed, the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother’s Divine Soul obviously cannot be active in the slightest.’

’These endless Sand-tailed Scorpions, if I’m right, should be just like the endless Demons from the Heart of the Demon Realm—an illusion originating from something real.’

’The illusion originates from the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother’s Divine Soul, but it isn’t entirely under her control. Instead, it is trapped within this place of suppression.’

Thus, it formed an interwoven cage of illusion and reality.

And within this special illusory cage, the slaughter of Sand-tailed Scorpions must ultimately affect the real Divine Soul of the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother.

Chu Mu looked up, his gaze sweeping across his surroundings before finally settling on the scorching suns hanging high in the sky.

Nine scorching suns by day, nine hours of darkness by night.

Both numbers were nine, yet one represented nine suns, while the other represented a mere nine hours.

Day is Yang, night is Yin.

This undoubtedly meant that Yang was flourishing while Yin was in decline.

According to the natural laws of the world, such an imbalance of Yang and Yin was clearly unnatural.

After all, the world operates on a principle of harmony and balance between Yin and Yang.

But if one viewed this Desert Sea Heaven and Earth as a prison, a place of suppression, then this imbalance became perfectly logical.

The presence of Yang is often the bane of all things evil.

And the presence of Yin often signifies malevolent, shadowy beings.

In other words...

Extreme Yang represents suppression.

And Extreme Yin represents the one being suppressed—the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother.

Such overwhelming Yang, all just to suppress a mere nine hours of Yin’s darkness.

This point alone was enough to show just how terrifying the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother must be.

Moreover, based on the clues, Chu Mu was almost certain that in the very beginning, this Desert Sea must not have had any darkness at all.

There was only Extreme Yang!

It suppressed all darkness and evil in this Desert Sea, imprisoning the legendary Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother from every angle, leaving no blind spots.

However, some unknown event must have occurred, causing this Ruins Cave Mansion to remain hidden from the world for many years.

As a result, the Extreme Yang was left without external, man-made intervention to maintain it.

Over the long course of time, this flawless suppression has clearly developed some weaknesses.

And that is how the nine hours of Extreme Yin came to be.

That’s why there are now endless Sand-tailed Scorpions, and why any outside Cultivator who enters is met with a relentless, frenzied siege to the death...

’There’s clearly no such thing as a truly perfect prison in this world.’

’Even the most perfect prison will inevitably develop flaws under the erosion of time.’

’The most important factor is human intervention.’

And this missing human intervention...

Chu Mu’s gaze flickered, and he once again looked down at the glaring crimson mark on his wrist.

’How do you ensure the continued imprisonment of a terrifying being that cannot be killed? How do you guarantee it won’t escape its prison?’

The question was clear.

And the solution, embodied in this so-called "Scorpion Egg," was just as clear.

It was nothing less than... moths to a flame!

’He, Qin Zhaoxue, and every other Trial Taker who entered this Desert Sea Heaven and Earth... they are all moths drawn to a flame!’

’It’s just that, in ancient times, the Cultivators who acted as moths to the flame probably knew what their mission was.’

’But I, and all the Trial Takers who entered the Desert Sea today, are completely unaware of this sacrificial mission.’

In that moment, Chu Mu felt as if he had crossed the vast river of time, seeing the Desert Sea as it was in ancient times.

’The Desert Sea would have been just as boundless, but there couldn’t possibly have been so many endless Sand-tailed Scorpions.’

’And at regular intervals, large groups of Cultivators would have entered with their Divine Souls to cleanse and exterminate the Sand-tailed Scorpion Race that had manifested from the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother’s Divine Soul.’

’Through this slaughter that blended illusion and reality, they would form a "Scorpion Egg," nurture it, until finally... the Scorpion Egg matured.’

’And this Scorpion Egg... it could perhaps be seen as a "Demon Seed"!’

’A Demon Seed containing the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother’s Divine Soul and desires. It could even be seen as a wisp of the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother’s Divine Split.’

’To carry this "Scorpion Egg"—this wisp of the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother’s Divine Split—with one’s own Divine Soul was to be locked in a life-or-death struggle.’

’You either hold true to your own mind and purify the Scorpion Egg, or you are eroded and corrupted by it until your body is usurped, transforming you into... a human-shaped Clone of the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother.’

Without a doubt, this was the very definition of moths to a flame—a life-or-death battle with one’s own life as the wager.

But it was also, without a doubt, an extremely effective method of man-made intervention.

Take this time, for example. There were at least several dozen Cultivators who entered the Desert Sea.

Each Cultivator would nurture a Scorpion Egg, carrying a wisp of the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother’s Divine Split.

If even half of them—or just a third—succeeded in purifying the Scorpion Egg...

...it would mean that at least a dozen wisps of the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother’s Divine Split would be completely obliterated. And that meant the Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother’s power would be weakened.

Day after day, year after year.

With this sacrificial intervention, the prison would have remained stable. The Sand-tailed Scorpion Mother suppressed within would have had her life force worn away, bit by bit, under the constant, day-after-day, year-after-year assault.

Of course, the premise for all this was that this constant, year-after-year, day-after-day attrition could not be interrupted.

Otherwise, you get what the Desert Sea is like now: endless Sand-tailed Scorpions, spread across every corner of the land.

Low Tier Cultivators who enter have basically no chance of survival, let alone nurturing and purifying a Scorpion Egg.

Even for High Tier Cultivators, every step of the process would be incredibly difficult.

And judging by the altered cycle of day and night, this sacrificial mission must have been interrupted for a very, very long time.

So long that... the Sand-tailed Scorpions in this prison have become endless. So long that... this place of suppression itself seems to be on the verge of losing control...

To the point that... after such a long interruption, the mission itself has likely been long forgotten, buried in the distant past...

...