Chapter 821 - 434: Another Glimpse into the Future (2)
The scene shifts to Xue’Er seemingly undergoing the True Spirit Tribulation, amidst surging tribulation clouds filled with flashes of lightning and thunder. Her face appears exceptionally determined. However, as the tribulation thunder continues to descend, Xue’Er’s protection shield gradually breaks, and her complexion pales.
Next, the scene shifts once again, Li Mu sees a fierce battle taking place in a land awash in high-temperature magma, where countless cultivators die tragically. The intertwining lights of various spells and magical treasures form a dazzling spectacle. Li Mu sees his own figure fighting, watching as the Bu Mie Demon Lord wantonly massacres, leaving many high-tier cultivators crying out in agony as they die under his hands.
The scene transforms, and Li Mu witnesses the devastating scenes of a war between two realms. Countless beings wail amidst the flames of war, and the world is suffused with bloodshed and chaos. In this moment, he seems to personally feel the air of slaughter and endless sorrow.
...
The Time Fortune Spirit Turtle also appears to have sensed Li Mu’s great shock, feeling a chaotic mind and fearing he might suffer celestial secret retribution. A surge of resistance power emerges from within it, actively severing the divination.
With a soft "pop!" sound, the Time Fortune Spirit Turtle suffers heavy damage, its once-vital body instantly wilts.
Li Mu, shocked, hurriedly picks up the Time Fortune Spirit Turtle to examine its injuries carefully, discovering several cracks spreading across its shell, from which a weak and chaotic spiritual qi faintly leaks. This is the price the Time Fortune Spirit Turtle paid for forcibly severing the divination to protect him.
"Time Fortune Spirit Turtle, I’m sorry for causing you harm again!" Li Mu gazes at the Time Fortune Spirit Turtle with guilt and apologies. The substantial drain from the divination was beyond his control, yet the turtle unhesitatingly chose to protect him.
The Time Fortune Spirit Turtle tiredly raises its head for a glance at Li Mu, then weakly lowers its head, closing its eyes as it falls into slumber.
Li Mu sighs helplessly, realizing that due to his excessive peeping at celestial secrets, the Spirit Turtle’s artifact spirit suffered again, receiving severe damage, losing its ability to respond. All he can do is find ways to refine it again later, injecting more powerful streams of time and power of cause and effect.
Li Mu places the Time Fortune Spirit Turtle into the storage compartment, silently pondering the recent divination and the precious images seen from peeping into the river of time, along with the hexagrams appearing on the Spirit Turtle Armor.
Those hexagrams and future images replay constantly in his mind, producing unprecedented pressure on Li Mu.
The future revealed by this divination is not absolute, yet it points him toward a direction. Li Mu takes a deep breath to calm his excited mind, starting to analyze and deduce the hexagrams and future images.
During this divination’s celestial secret peeping, Li Mu "saw" many things regarding his "future". In the foreseen future, he along with clan leaders of the Eight Great Clans ventured to explore the Cangyuan Secret Realm, though they were attacked by the Bu Mie Demon Lord, leading to the massacre of the clan leaders, and his own outcome might not be much better.
Li Mu furrowed his brows, full of doubt and vigilance, involuntarily contemplating as to why the Bu Mie Demon Lord would appear in the Cangyuan Secret Realm?
Could it be that the Bu Mie Demon Lord hadn’t returned to Southern Wilderness but stayed in the Central State Spirit Realm, secretly watching him all along?
This thought gave Li Mu a chill of trepidation, if this assumption holds true, it means that his every move might be under the Bu Mie Demon Lord’s surveillance, and even worse, the demon lord might be lurking within the Cangyuan Secret Realm, waiting for an opportunity to ambush him.
Li Mu’s brows knit tightly, suddenly realizing the seriousness of the situation.
After a brief reflection, Li Mu devised a plan in his heart.
If things are truly as presumed, Li Mu decides to take proactive measures, opting for fighting fire with fire! Inviting Sword Master Feng and Sword Master Chen to venture into the Cangyuan Secret Realm together, leveraging their strength to thoroughly eliminate the hidden threat posed by the Bu Mie Demon Lord.
Thinking of this, Li Mu slightly relaxed, though his mood soon became tangled again.
In another future vision, Xue’Er failing the Tier Seven True Spirit Thunder Tribulation signifies her death under the tribulation, a scenario Li Mu cannot accept.
Regarding Xue’Er, Li Mu has long since treated her like family. If Xue’Er truly perishes in the thunder tribulation, then what would his feelings be?
Li Mu’s expression turns severe, he cannot allow such a thing to happen, thus he mustn’t be lax about Xue’Er’s cultivation any longer; he needs to be stern going forward.
Following, some more future visions foretell nothing good, warfare in the South Wilderness Spirit Realm being tougher than imagined with heavy casualties,..., failing to thwart the Demon Abyssal Forces invasion, triggering a war between two realms, ....
In summary, various terrible futures send chills down Li Mu’s spine, involuntarily forcing his mind to quiet down, resulting in the divination causing the Time Fortune Spirit Turtle to deplete and suffer retribution, receiving heavy damage.
Nonetheless, it remained worthwhile, as knowing these situations ahead of time offers a chance for change, as the branches of the tree of cause and effect are boundless, and tributaries of the river of time endless, even the smallest change can significantly alter his destiny.
While Li Mu is immersed in divination and celestial secret peeping, contemplating solutions, the Eight Great Cultivation Clans of Central State have begun intense preparations for the upcoming exploration of the Cangyuan Secret Realm. The most notable competition concerns the ranking of Daoist Soldier refinement.
The Eight Clans decided that their most outstanding three Divinity Transformation Stage disciples from each clan would compete in a showdown, determining who emerges superior. This contest not only concerns clan prestige but also determines the refinement sequence of Daoist Soldiers, enhancing the clan’s strength and defensive opportunities.
The competition starts, core disciples of the Eight Great Clans showcase their divine techniques, fierce battles unfold on the arena. In an instant, spells abound, sword qi sweeps across, spectators find themselves dazzled and blood boiling.
While the Eight Great Clans focus on the ranking battle, a covert current is surging in a corner of Ji Yun City. Elder Ji Wuheng of the Ji Family is drawn out by information about a discovered rare treasure, rapidly traversing the city’s streets, seemingly crucial to meeting someone important.
However, this hurried appointment turns out to be a meticulously designed trap. As Ji Wuheng reaches the agreed location, a sinister aura suddenly rises all around, and the Bu Mie Demon Lord steps forth from the shadows, bearing a fierce and cruel smile.
"You, you, you are the Bu Mie Demon Lord!"
The Integration Realm Demon Cultivator, Ji Wuheng immediately recognizes the identity of the opponent, speaking with both fear and despair.
"Ji Wuheng! Heh, I wish to borrow something from you." The Bu Mie Demon Lord smiles menacingly, with deep malice embedded within his smile, sending chills down one’s spine.
"Borrow what!"
Upon hearing, Ji Wuheng turns pale, realizing he has fallen into danger. Yet, as an elder of the Ji Family, he wouldn’t surrender easily.
Ji Wuheng quickly mobilizes the spiritual power within him, preparing to execute an escape technique.
"Borrow your head, for identity purposes." The Bu Mie Demon Lord says with an ominous expression.
As his words fall, the Bu Mie Demon Lord waves lightly, a surge of powerful dark energy explosively emerges, rapidly condensing into a jet-black, ink-like blade, pressing down with fierce killing intent towards Ji Wuheng.
Ji Wuheng releases several magical treasures from his storage ring, including a round spirit shield, protective spirit talisman,..., striving with all his might to resist, yet the power unleashed by an Integration Cultivator is overwhelmingly strong. The black demon blade, as if cutting through tofu, easily slices through his defensive spirit armor, round spirit shield, spirit talisman shield, aiming for his neck.
The Bu Mie Demon Lord’s power far exceeds Ji Wuheng’s expectations. Despite fighting with all his strength, the gap of one great realm level renders him unsustainable; his defenses are broken repeatedly, his body sustaining severe injuries. Ultimately, under a heavy blow from the Bu Mie Demon Lord, Ji Wuheng crashes heavily to the ground, completely losing the ability to resist.
In less than a hundred breaths, the crushing battle ends with Ji Wuheng’s divine soul invaded, main consciousness demonized, resulting in annihilation.