Chapter 461 - 408: Repaying the Debt

Having decided on his path, Qi Yun lingered no longer at the great battle.

He lifted his gaze slightly, looking toward the Celestial Vault at the magnificent figures slowly fading from view.

The True Monarchs’ edict had been issued.

Those at the Great Master Realm and above were forbidden from interfering in this battle.

It was an all-encompassing Restriction, an ironclad law jointly established by all the True Monarchs of this world.

No one could outsmart a True Monarch.

No one could employ petty tricks without being detected.

To do so would only invite calamity.

Qi Yun retracted his gaze, standing with his hands clasped behind his back.

His deep blue Daoist robe remained motionless in the astral winds, only the corners of his sleeves stirring gently, much like his current state of mind.

As calm as still water, without a single ripple.

He turned.

He took a step forward.

The step landed in the void. No strange phenomena appeared beneath his feet, only an exceedingly faint, ripple-like spatial wave that silently spread outward.

And yet, with that single step—

the figure in deep blue had already vanished from the Celestial Vault.

All that remained was an ephemeral wisp of Dao Rhyme, slowly circulating above the clouds.

...

San Si Master watched the figure disappear, his right hand slowly releasing its grip on the hilt of his sword.

He did not speak.

He simply lowered his gaze, turned, and took a step of his own.

The figure in green robes transformed into a streak of sword light and vanished into the void.

Lady Jiu Li’s phoenix-like eyes narrowed, the dancing fire within them slowly receding.

She lifted a hand gently, and the nine-headed Red Gold Golden Simurghs behind her beat their wings in unison, carrying the magnificent Phoenix Carriage into the void.

The light in Master Revolving Wheel’s eerie green eyes flickered erratically.

He gazed in the direction Qi Yun had vanished, at the slowly dissipating Dao Rhyme, remaining silent for a long while.

Then, the corners of his withered lips twitched slightly.

It seemed as if he wanted to say something.

But in the end, he said nothing.

The gray mist enveloping his body swirled gently.

The hunched figure, along with the gray mist, vanished into the void.

The three Crown Princes of the Dragon Palace exchanged a look.

A complex light flashed through the East Sea Crown Prince’s dragon eyes, which burned like cyan suns.

The North Sea Crown Prince’s deep blue eyes remained as cold and severe as ever.

The arrogant smile at the corner of the South Sea Crown Prince’s mouth had long since vanished.

None of them spoke.

They simply turned, transformed into three dragon-shaped shadows of differing colors, and vanished at the edge of the Celestial Vault.

For those who had cultivated to the Great Master Realm, many things could be understood with a single glance.

No words were necessary.

Above the clouds, complete silence returned.

Only the seething battlefield below continued to fuel the eternal calamity, consuming countless lives in its blaze.

...

「The highest level of Taixu Mirror Heaven.」

There was no light or darkness here, no sound nor stir, only an ink-black pool of water resting quietly in the center of a cavern.

That was the Daoist temple of the True Monarch of No Dao Extreme Law.

Qi Yun did not go there.

He simply stood with his hands clasped behind him, high above Mirror Heaven, gazing down at the stacked layers of crystalline mirror surfaces below.

Countless scenes were reflected in those mirrors.

There were disciples in seclusion, Masters discussing the Dao, Artifact Cultivators refining Magical Artifacts, and Talisman Cultivators deducing Cultivation Skills.

There was his Daoist Inheritance Dharma Body, sitting cross-legged in the Cyan Mountain Daoist Temple, silently guarding his foundation.

Qi Yun’s gaze lingered on the Daoist Temple for a moment.

Deep within his cyan-gold eyes, an extremely faint, almost imperceptible warmth flickered.

Then, he retracted his gaze.

He raised his hand.

He turned his palm over.

A palm-sized object, dark bronze in color, materialized from thin air.

Its six sides were as smooth as mirrors, each engraved with countless ancient and intricate seal scripts.

The scripts were now slowly flowing, emitting a deep and ancient light.

The Six Realms Heaven.

Its sole purpose was to perform Tunneling Cosmic Jade and cross between heavens.

Qi Yun held the Bronze Block, feeling the cold, heavy sensation in his palm.

That was the aura of the Outer Realm.

That was the aura of countless heavens.

That was the place he had to go.

...

’The hundred-year deadline...’

Qi Yun muttered to himself, his voice slowly echoing across the silent Mirror Heaven.

That was his agreement with the God of Wealth.

Back in the Spirit Mountain Sacred Realm, in a desperate situation bathed in Buddha Light and surrounded by enemies, he had bought a chance to break the deadlock on credit, at five times the cost.

If he failed to repay this debt within a hundred years,

the God of Wealth would take his Primordial True Body.

That was the foundation of his entire cultivation path, the basis for his ability to create separate Dharma Bodies and command all skills.

If it were taken, all would be lost.

Now, he couldn’t interfere in the great war.

This was the perfect opportunity to take a trip to the Outer Realm.

’I’ll just grab a few Great Masters and bring them back.’

’And pay off this debt.’

...

Qi Yun closed his eyes slightly.

With a single thought, the Nether Spring Dharma Body, seated upon the Blood Sea Lotus Platform deep within his Purple Mansion, slowly opened its blood-red eyes.

’Original Body?’

Nether Spring’s voice echoed in his Heart and Spirit, laced with a hint of confusion.

Qi Yun did not answer.

He simply relayed his thoughts to it.

Nether Spring was silent for a moment.

Then, a flash of understanding crossed its blood-red eyes.

’Understood.’

His voice held a hint of amusement and anticipation:

’Hunting people in the Outer Realm... Interesting.’

’Where do you plan to start, Original Body?’

Qi Yun didn’t answer immediately.

He simply opened his eyes slowly, his gaze turning to the Celestial Vault, toward the unseen, more distant existences far beyond it.

He looked in the direction of the countless heavens.

After a long moment,

a very faint smile slowly formed on his lips.

The smile was so faint it was almost invisible.

"The Outer Realm is boundless, the heavens innumerable,"

he spoke softly, his voice not loud, yet it echoed slowly across the silent Mirror Heaven like the very first sound at the dawn of creation.

"But a Great Master is, after all, a Great Master."

"No matter which heaven they are in, no matter what Dao they cultivate."

"Once they reach that Realm, their aura merges with Heaven and Earth, resonating with the Dao Principles."

"Compared to other Cultivators, they are actually quite easy to find."

As his voice fell, he said no more.

He simply tossed the Six Realms Heaven.

The Bronze Block flew from his hand, hovering in the void before him.

A deep blue light slowly began to shine from the block.

At first, the light was extremely faint, almost imperceptible.

But in the instant it lit up—

the countless ancient seal scripts bloomed at once!

Like innumerable stars igniting simultaneously on the foot-wide Bronze Block!

The light shot skyward, piercing straight into the Celestial Vault, toward the unseen, more distant existences far beyond!

Wherever the light reached, the void began to tremble, to twist, to—

Tear apart!

A deep blue portal slowly took shape within the torn void.

The portal was over a thousand feet high and hundreds of feet wide, its edges swirling with an indescribable Chaos Color.

Qi Yun stood with his hands behind his back, watching the slowly forming deep blue portal.

After a long moment,

he took a step.

He stepped forward, and the deep blue figure vanished into the portal.

Behind him, the deep blue portal slowly closed, as if it had never existed.

Only an ephemeral wisp of Qi Yun’s Dao Rhyme remained in the void.

That wisp of Dao Rhyme slowly circulated above the silent Mirror Heaven, lingering for a long, long time.

...

The deep blue portal slowly closed.

Qi Yun’s figure completely disappeared into that chaotic void.

At that very instant—

「Overseas, in the far west.」

Deep within the hidden Pure Land, perennially shrouded in the endless golden light of Wish Power, several figures seated on lotus platforms simultaneously opened their eyes.

Buddha Light flowed within those eyes, and karma intertwined.

"He’s gone."

A deep voice, like an ancient bell, slowly echoed through the Pure Land.

It was the voice of the Dragon Elephant Wisdom Bodhisattva.

Beside him, a savage smile appeared on all three faces of the Vidyārāja Bodhisattva.

"The True Monarchs’ ban is limited to the Profound Yellow Origin Realm."

"The Outer Realm... is not covered by the ban."

As the voice fell, several gazes met.

In that instant, no words were needed; their intentions were understood.

The next instant—

BOOM—!!!

Several beams of Buddha Light shot into the sky at once!

The Buddha Light was dazzling and intense, instantly tearing through the golden light of Wish Power that shrouded the Pure Land, shooting straight into the Celestial Vault, toward the unseen, more distant existences far beyond!

Within each beam of Buddha Light sat a magnificent figure.

The Dragon Elephant Wisdom Bodhisattva was surrounded by flowing seven-colored Buddha Light, the phantom of an Ancient Dragon Elephant behind him raising its head and trumpeting.

The Vidyārāja Bodhisattva, with three heads and six arms, was wreathed in sky-scorching azure flames, each of his six arms wielding a Demon-Slaying Magical Artifact.

The Treasure Tree Adornment Bodhisattva, behind whom the phantom of a sky-blotting Bodhi Treasure Tree swayed, scattering a rain of boundless, wise light.

The World-Purifying White Lotus Bodhisattva stood atop a ten-thousand-zhang Purifying World White Lotus that bloomed, its petals unfurling as if to encompass the whole of Heaven and Earth.

Four Bodhisattvas, four beams of Buddha Light—

shot straight into the void!

Toward the deep blue figure that had departed earlier.

In swift pursuit!

...

The Buddha Light faded.

The void slowly healed.

The golden light of Wish Power that shrouded the Pure Land also gradually returned to its original state.

It was as if nothing had happened at all.

But within this newly calmed void—

an extremely faint, almost imperceptible blood-red ripple quietly spread out.

The ripple was incredibly fine, like the trace left by a light breeze brushing across the surface of water.

But in the instant this ripple spread—

a figure, without any warning, slowly strode out from within the ripple.

He wore a long, blood-red robe, the color a deep crimson, like dried, coagulated blood, or a boiling Blood Sea.

His face was exceptionally handsome, with slanted brows and eyes, a high-bridged nose, and thin lips holding a faint, cold, and sinister smile.

Nether Spring.

He just stood there with his hands behind his back, ten thousand zhang high in the sky, before the newly healed void.

His blood-red eyes stared in the direction the four beams of Buddha Light had disappeared.

"KYEHEHEHEHE—!!!"

A strange laugh, both bone-chillingly cold and utterly gleeful, erupted from his throat!

Wherever the laughter passed, the newly healed void actually showed faint signs of shattering again!

"The mantis stalks the cicada—"

He paused, the blood-colored pupils in his eyes swirling like vortexes:

"Unaware of the oriole behind?"

He shook his head slightly, his sinister smile gaining a mocking edge:

"But behind this oriole..."

He slowly raised his head, looking toward the direction the four beams of Buddha Light had vanished, toward the vast and boundless Outer Realm, toward the direction of his Original Body’s aura, which he knew better than anyone.

He enunciated each word slowly:

"There’s still an eagle..."

As his voice fell, he said no more.

With a gentle flick of his sleeve,

the blood-red figure instantly transformed into a wisp of viscous blood mist, like ink dissolving in water.

The blood mist roiled, silent and soundless.

Then it shot straight toward the depths of the Pure Land, streaking toward the Buddhist Cultivator’s Original Sect Land that the four Bodhisattvas had just left!

...