Chapter 1 The Edge of the Divine Revelation World
Within the pitch-black Mustard Layer at the edge of the Divine Revelation World.
Qin Si, holding a binding immortal rope in one hand, leisurely took a step. In the blink of an eye, he was already a thousand miles away.
The Mustard Layer was utterly dark. Fifty-odd years ago, when the boundary between the Divine Revelation Continent and the outer continental realms merged, many sect cultivators entered the Mustard Layer. In the end, everyone realized that none of those cultivators had ever emerged, and no amount of searching could find them. As a result, the Mustard Layer became a forbidden zone for both righteous and demonic paths, rarely trodden by anyone.
Of course, this did not include Qin Si and Qing Lan.
The space within the Mustard Layer was the most unstable. Years ago, while searching for Bai Shengyi, Qin Si and Qing Lan would enter whenever they had the chance.
As for today, Qin Si's arrival was not a whim.
After another half an hour, he suddenly stopped, his handsome face showing a hint of coldness: "Is this what you have been planning?"
In the inky darkness, a vast expanse of ethereal white light suddenly broke through, like coalescing starlight, or like countless luminous flowers blooming in unison, incredibly magnificent.
But as Qin Si approached for a closer look, he saw that this radiance was entirely composed of towering Void Beasts!
These Void Beasts were all in their prime, their beastly eyes tightly shut, their expressions in pain, all without breathing.
Upon closer inspection, their beast cores had all been dug out in one go.
Beside them, the beast cores were arranged in an extremely mysterious pattern. Immense resentment and hatred condensed into strong grievances, spiraling in strands around the Obsidian Jun stones, forming a familiar formation – the Nine Revolutions Fortune-Stealing Array.
Yet, there were some differences.
The Nine Revolutions Fortune-Stealing Array required the support of heavenly and earthly spiritual energy and various offerings, along with the synchronized operation of the Celestial, Human, and Earth formations to function. However, this formation, constructed from the beast cores of Void Beasts, was powered by chaotic energy and was not a compound formation, emitting an even more ominous aura.
"How did you know about this place!"
The binding immortal rope in Qin Si's hand trembled violently, revealing a blood-red infant form. This infant form was none other than Li Tingyun.
After treating Yue Shuxin at the Divine Revelation Academy, Bai Shengyi went to Baili City to provide aid, while Qin Si, sensing the anomaly in the Heavenly Dao Ravine, brought Li Tingyun into the Mustard Layer.
Li Tingyun had intended to self-detonate and escape on the way, but he did not expect Qin Si to be prepared, causing him to lose a physical body instead.
At this moment, Li Tingyun watched as Qin Si mercilessly destroyed the formation, his entire being turning even redder, like a boiled, overripe tomato.
"Stop! Qin Si, I command you to stop!" he roared, "You insolent brat, you will destroy all of Divine Revelation! Do you know how many people will covet the Universal Secret Realm once it appears? If there is no celestial ladder built by the Nine Revolutions Spirit Gathering Array, no one in Divine Revelation will be able to ascend. How can they contend with those outsiders?"
As he spoke, seeing Qin Si pause his actions, his heart rejoiced.
He knew that these outwardly righteous gentlemen cared most about the general welfare of the world. As long as he brought up the safety of the entire Divine Revelation World, he didn't believe Qin Si would not listen to him.
Thinking this, Li Tingyun secretly condensed a wisp of black smoke in his palm.
The wisp of smoke was no larger than a palm, insignificant in the boundless darkness, perfectly hidden in the shadows like a black ribbon.
"Qin Si, I am truly not deceiving you. Although I have fallen into demonic ways, I am still a person of the Divine Revelation World and cannot stand by and watch the Universal Secret Realm destroy all of Divine Revelation," Li Tingyun continued.
Qin Si's voice was calm and steady, "So you know the Universal Secret Realm will appear in the Divine Revelation World?"
It was known that the Universal Secret Realm was not like the various large and small secret realms that already existed in Divine Revelation. It could be said that before this, the Universal Secret Realm existed only in the ancient legends and classical texts of the Divine Revelation World, and no cultivator had ever truly seen it.
The only record with slightly more detail was in the Buddhist sect's scripture repository – "The beginning of the divine race, the era of the Heavenly Dao, where spirits resided and divine beasts roamed, existing independently outside the vast river of stars, is called the Universe. It may have appeared in the Chongyuan Middle World, or it may have created a deity."
That ancient scripture was left by a great cultivator who had ascended in the past. The use of two "may"s to describe the appearance of the Universal Secret Realm showed that he was actually questioning this information.
Even when cultivators in the Divine Revelation World ascended, they were not certain of the existence of the Universal Secret Realm. Now, with no one ascending for over three thousand years, and isolated from news of the major middle worlds, where did Li Tingyun learn of this matter? He even confirmed the location of the Universal Secret Realm's appearance?
Li Tingyun stammered, "This, this is not because the small Universal Secret Realm appeared so suddenly in the past, that's why I guessed that the Universal Secret Realm would definitely appear in Divine Revelation."
"Oh."
Qin Si appeared to sheathe his sword. Li Tingyun's crimson eyes flickered, and the black mist in his hand drifted towards Qin Si.
"Qin Si, with your talent, as long as the immortal ladder is restored, you will surely be able to ascend to the upper realm quickly. Your future is boundless. Therefore, as long as you release me now and let me repair this formation, we can both ascend. Isn't that a win-win..."
Before he could finish the word "win," Li Tingyun saw an ice-shattering silver light cleave through the void, forcefully and domineeringly shattering the remaining formation!
"Qin Si!"
Li Tingyun let out a hoarse cry, struggling in anger and wanting to lash out, but he was bound even more tightly by the binding immortal rope.
When he saw Qin Si leap and lightly evade that wisp of black mist, what else could he not understand?
"You played me?" Li Tingyun spat out a mouthful of blood in anger, "You insolent brat, do you know what you are doing? Do you want to be the sinner of all Divine Revelation?"
It had to be said that if not for the extremely obvious bloody scent emanating from Li Tingyun's infant form, anyone who didn't know better might have mistaken him for some righteous and upright great person.
Qin Si sneered, ignoring him for the moment. After completely destroying the formation, he discovered that beneath the beast cores, there were still quite a few human bones, "The cultivators like Qi Fei and Yi An who entered the Mustard Layer back then, did you kill them too?"
Upon hearing this, Li Tingyun's angry voice abruptly ceased, and a sinister, cackling smile appeared on his face.
"How could that be me? I was the sect leader of a top-tier sect back then, how could I do such a thing."
"Qin Si, you are acting so recklessly today. When the entire Divine Revelation World falls, I will wait to see your joke! You rely on your unfettered cultivation, but you don't know that above the Mahayana stage, there are even higher realms. Whether it's you or the entire Divine Revelation, it's all just like this."
Li Tingyun spoke word by word, wishing to inflict a deep inner demon upon Qin Si.
However, Qin Si raised his phoenix eyes slightly, his thin lips curled in a mocking smile, and said, "Old man, how do you know I don't know there are higher realms above the Mahayana stage? How do you know that cultivators like us cannot ascend?"
He dragged Li Tingyun forward, his grip surprisingly strong.
Li Tingyun was unable to resist, only hearing his pointed voice, like the eternal, unchanging profound ice beneath a deep abyss, emitting a chilling cold that struck fear into people's hearts.
"I am in a good mood today, letting you see how this immortal ladder to ascension is repaired. So that you, like a rat in a gutter, don't annoy my ears."