Chapter 754 - Battle Vestiges
However, Ye Qingyu's fist was about as useful as a ball of cotton against an ancient mythological beast.
The very next instant, he was inevitably pounced upon and knocked down by the beast, whose hill-like foreclaws pressed down crushingly on his shoulders.
Blood began to flow from both of his shoulders, which were instantly torn apart and gashed down to the bone, before his arms were directly crushed. Subject to the power of this beast, his physical cultivation was as tough as paper. His bones were fragmented and his flesh was minced...
The beast's suppressive force caused Ye Qingyu to feel helpless and weak like never before, as if he was a dinghy on an ocean full of raging storms which could swallow it up at any time.
He flailed maniacally.
While enduring the terrible pain, he worked up all of the strength he could muster to try and break free from the sharp claws. However, his attacks were utterly futile, and he thus remained completely unable to move.
How could this be... this... this kind of marrow-deep pain isn't just an illusion... that mythological beast statue with its eyes closed just now... what's going on?
Riddles flashed across his mind in quick succession.
Could this be the danger of the 18th district, as mentioned in the legends?
No, I can't die.
I didn't enter this Door of Darkness just to give this beast an easy time.
He bellowed furiously.
Widening his eyes, he began to operate all of his trump cards.
But...
He was simply incapable of retaliating.
The legendary giant beast displayed near-fiendgod-level of power which, like a mountain weighing down, could not be withstood by any ordinary being.
Terrified, Ye Qingyu looked with a hint of despair in his eyes at the mythological beast, whose bloodied mouth was wide open to bare its peerlessly sharp fangs.
Just then, a weird change occurred.
A strange feeling suddenly climbed onto his shoulders.
His shoulders, which had been squashed into minced meat and muck, suddenly regained feeling. Now covered in a power that gave off a soft mist, they carried a tinge of warmth and an extremely mysterious aura.
Subsequently, all of his pain began to gradually subside.
His vision once again turned blurry.
A black hole instantly sucked in the beast which had opened its mouth to devour him, as well as all of the blood-colored waves, causing everything to become distorted. It seemed as if the entire plane was collapsing and the world was disappearing in smoke.
His vision regained clarity.
The exquisitely carved, supernaturally crafted mythological beast statue appeared in front of him again.
It stood erect beside the spirit path quietly and motionlessly despite the wind.
"This... just now... it was only a illusion."
Ye Qingyu felt as though he had survived a disaster.
He immediately understood.
However, the feeling earlier was certainly real. Everything was perfectly flawless about it, whether it was the beast's figure, actions, or aura, or every detail of that terrifying world. Even the pain Ye Qingyu suffered when his body was fragmented and crushed was unmistakable.
What a scary illusion.
Breathing heavily, his entire body continued to shudder uncontrollably, and his back was already drenched in cold sweat.
The Celestial Phoenix Maiden who had been in front of him was now standing beside him, with her dainty, fair fingers, that were as slender as bulrushes, resting on his shoulders.
The source of the warm misty power was none other than those fingers.
Didn't expect it to be her who saved me.
"Thank you..." he hurriedly acknowledged.
He was fully aware that an illusion of such a terrifying level was not simple, and that there was a real possibility his soul would have been destroyed had he died within it, which would have been the case if not for the Celestial Phoenix Maiden's magical power-containing palm.
"Don't look at their eyes." Her voice remained chilly as ever.
She retracted her palm and turned her body to proceed forward without saying anything.
Ye Qingyu nodded his head as if thinking of something.
When he turned his head back, he fixed his gaze upon the lines on the sculpture instead of the eyes, but remained somewhat doubtful.
The Celestial Phoenix Maiden said "their". Does that mean I mustn't look at the closed eyes of the other two sculptures as well?
And who exactly left behind these scary sculptures?
And how did the Celestial Phoenix Maiden come to know about the horror of their eyes? And why does she have the power to dispel the illusion?
He carefully examined the lines on the other parts of the sculpture without looking at its eyes.
He indeed saw power that surpassed the Dao among these lines. Every line contained a frightening Dao essence law which was an extremely rare martial opportunity.
Never mind, let's just memorize these lines first and scrutinize them when I get out. Perhaps I can gain an opportunity out of them.
He memorized the lines on the body conscientiously.
After doing so for every line except those on its eyes, he carefully recalled the lines on the other two sculptures, and only turned to leave after making sure that he had committed them to memory.
On the subsequent road.
Pulao, Suanni, and Bixi...
Just like he had guessed, closed-eyed sculptures of the other dragon offspring appeared without exception on the left side of the spirit path, over a kilometer apart from each other.
He would approach each mythological beast sculpture and, while avoiding their eyes, memorize the lines on them before he proceeded ahead.
After passing by all nine sculptures of the dragon offspring, he further saw sculptures of the four ancient ferocious beasts, namely Taotie, Hundun, Taowu, and Qiongqi.
Every one of them was peerlessly exquisite and lifelike, and revealed an extremely savage and terrifying ferocity. They, too, had their eyes closed and were a kilometer or so apart from each other.
After memorizing the lines on these sculptures as well, Ye Qingyu followed the Celestial Phoenix Maiden and continued on the spirit path for another thirty minutes.
After ascending several flights of stone steps.
"Is this... a teahouse?"
Pausing his footsteps, Ye Qingyu looked curiously around a three-story high stone building which was by the side of the spirit path.
In the hall of the first story were arranged a dozen-odd primitively simple tables, on each of which were placed several teacups and a teapot. Some tables were also placed with several white or red porcelain bowls and dishes.
A cloth shop was right across from the teahouse. On its counter was laid out a completely intact animal coat which could be recognized as a top-grade pelage of a demonic beast at first glance. Two teapots with white bases and green surfaces were placed on a table directly in front.
This was clearly an arrangement which could only be seen while the shop owner was serving customers.
Similar teahouses and shops were tightly packed together on both sides of the street, which appeared to be even more prosperous than the Snow capital's liveliest street.
Moreover, there were signs of large flows of visitors left all over.
It was as if the duo had arrived in a town which used to be flourishing.
However, it was completely deserted at present, such that there was not even the tiniest breath of life detectable.
Everything has been preserved completely intact. It's as if the people here just up and disappeared...
Ye Qingyu became more and more mystified.
At the same time, he realized that the Celestial Phoenix Maiden showed no sign of pausing her footsteps and simply looked straight ahead ever since entering the town.
It was almost as though she was not the least bit doubtful or curious about this deserted place.
Seems that she already knew what it would be like here...
Perhaps these super powerful sects which have long formed alliances have a wider grasp on information than I thought.
Ye Qingyu swept a glance at the streetside calligraphy stalls before chasing up to the Celestial Phoenix Maiden.
After passing through the deserted city, they continued walking for another hour.
Within Ye Qingyu's field of vision, there were finally some changes to the backdrop of the ancient fiendgod cities.
A few buildings that had collapsed into rubble were blocking the road on the right side of the spirit path several hundred meters ahead.
There's a large stretch of ruins over there!
The duo quickly arrived in front of the ruins.
Broken walls, rubble, and debris of palaces and pavilions were scattered everywhere across the ruins, which were several hundred meters in circumference and could be said to be in a total mess. The crumbled roof tiles and thick palisades of which less than half a meter remained standing were vestiges that only a battle could have left behind.
Did a battle take place here?
Ye Qingyu's heart skipped a beat.
His pupils revealed an increasingly astonished expression as he carefully examined the direction which the rubble and debris had scattered to as well as the position which the walls had collapsed in.
This was because he had determined that these buildings had collapsed to the bombardment of a power generated by a single person in a single stroke in a single instant!
The strength of this person is simply too terrifying.
He actually managed to destroy these buildings which have been blessed by protective formations of the God and Devil Era and which even a Saint level expert cannot so much as shake. What's more, he apparently had a lot left in the tank, for the power which he used didn't affect the surrounding buildings.
Who could it be?
Ye Qingyu instinctively made a connection to the small groups of Heaven's pridelings who had entered the Doors of Darkness together and wondered if any of them could have been the culprit, but quickly refuted this idea.
Because nobody among them possessed such strength to begin with.
More importantly, by examining the surrounding vestiges, he reached a new conclusion: that the battle had most likely taken place way back in time. Dust shrouded the collapsed buildings and ground, giving them an ancient appearance and proving that the vestiges were not new.
These vestiges were formed during a battle which took place at least several thousand years ago... But why aren't there any corpses or other things left? What are the statuses of the two parties involved in this battle? And why did they come here?
He had many questions.
Just then, he saw at the corner of his eyes that there were several fragmented and broken strange bones lying around the periphery of the rubble and broken tiles...