Chapter 897 - 332: I Forbid It! (Three Updates)
"No. What I speak of is only me, not you. As for what to sacrifice, Chaos will choose for itself. But don’t worry, it will give you a choice..." Taiyi Venerable corrected Mu Qingge’s words.
Mu Qingge slightly furrowed her brow. She lifted her gaze and looked at the Chaos Divine Status hovering in the air.
"Are you ready?" Taiyi Venerable asked.
His voice carried a bit more sternness and seriousness.
Mu Qingge took a deep breath and nodded.
Taiyi Venerable said, "Good, this is the choice that Chaos gives you!" With that, he waved his hand, and a beam of light shot out from the Chaos Divine Status, drilling into the center of Mu Qingge’s forehead at an extremely fast speed.
Mu Qingge was startled, and her entire person disappeared from the tomb chamber, leaving only Taiyi Venerable’s words echoing in her ears, "When you make your choice and after the sacrifice, you will naturally return here!"
"Qingge!"
"Qingge?"
"Little Lord!"
"Mu Qingge!"
Before Mu Qingge even opened her eyes, she heard voices of surprise beside her. Those voices were familiar, yet she couldn’t stop the astonishment in her heart.
When she opened her eyes, she saw familiar faces surrounding her, their expressions filled with concern and bewilderment.
"Little Lord, are you alright?" Huangfu Huan stood by Mu Qingge’s side and asked.
Mu Qingge’s gaze swept over their faces and then looked towards those equally surprised faces farther away.
Her sudden appearance had caused quite a stir.
Everyone trapped in this tomb chamber was looking towards her.
Xi Qianxue squeezed to her side, gently tugged at her sleeve, and softly asked, "Are you alright?"
Mu Qingge slowly shook her head and said to those concerned about her, "I’m fine."
She hadn’t had time to ask where this place was or what they were doing here, when suddenly a loud noise sounded, and it seemed as if the ground beneath the tomb chamber trembled.
"What happened?"
"What happened again?"
"Could it be another monster emerging from underground?"
"Everyone be careful!"
The sudden tremor caused chaos among the crowd.
And at this moment, a vortex suddenly appeared at the top of the tomb chamber, inexplicably. The vortex was milky white, spinning rapidly inside. From the center of the vortex, a whirlwind seemed to emerge, making it impossible for those in the tomb chamber to stand firm, swaying to and fro.
"Ah—! What’s happening?"
"Where did this strange wind come from?"
"I can’t stand firm!"
Everyone in the tomb chamber fell into confusion and panic.
Suddenly, Mu Qingge felt a force pulling her, lifting her feet off the ground, drawing her towards the vortex.
Mu Qingge’s eyes narrowed sharply, and before she could react, she was lifted into the air.
"Qingge—!"
"Qingge!"
Wei Molili reacted quickly, reaching out to grab Mu Qingge’s ankle to prevent her from being sucked into the vortex. He slammed the Giant Ruler Heavy Sword into the ground, using its force to hold himself steady.
However, in just a moment, Wei Molili’s face turned red, with veins bulging. He let out a roar, "Ah—!" The Giant Ruler Heavy Sword was uprooted, carrying him along towards Mu Qingge.
Mu Qingge moved closer to the vortex.
Ying Ze quickly grabbed Wei Molili’s Giant Ruler Heavy Sword, stomping hard on the ground, embedding his feet into the floor up to his knees.
The three of them were connected to each other, with Ying Ze exerting his giant power to the fullest, yet still unable to overcome the vortex’s pull on Mu Qingge.
"Qingge!" Xi Qianxue transformed the Divine Sword into a ribbon of water, powerfully lashing it to bind Mu Qingge’s waist, pulling her tightly.
Xi Qianxue’s feet were repeatedly dragged, and Ji Yaohua and Yao Xinghai, disregarding any concerns about gender, rushed over to hold onto Xi Qianxue. The strength of the five people together was still insufficient to pull Mu Qingge.
This scene happened in the blink of an eye, too fast for others to react.
At this moment, a figure flew in from afar, throwing a long rope that also bound Mu Qingge’s waist, pulling forcefully. He turned his gaze to Huangfu Huan and Shen Bicheng approaching, shouting, "Aren’t you coming to help!?"
However, at this moment, Mu Qingge turned her head to look at everyone holding her and said, "Let go!"
Her words left everyone stunned.
Her tone was calm, without a trace of panic.
"I’m fine, let go." Mu Qingge’s eyes were clear as she spoke to them with an incredibly serious tone, "Trust me, nothing will happen."
It was as if they were moved by her gaze, or perhaps unable to refuse her words.
Those pulling her were left in a daze.
Taking the opportunity, Mu Qingge used her Spiritual Power to shock them all away, and she was directly sucked into the vortex by its power.
"Qingge—!" Xi Qianxue shouted loudly.
At that moment, when Mu Qingge was sucked into the vortex, the vortex immediately stopped, and the strange wind disappeared.
The vortex transformed into a transparent barrier, separating Mu Qingge from the others. Although they were in the same tomb chamber, it felt like two different worlds.
"So strange!"
"This place is truly bizarre! We need to get out!"
This scene frightened many people.
And those hundreds of demon cultivators now looked at Huangfu Huan and Shen Bicheng, as if asking with their eyes what they should do.
Huangfu Huan raised his hand, signaling them to stay calm.
Because he and the others all saw Mu Qingge standing there, surveying her surroundings.
This was the same tomb chamber, yet it seemed that only the place where Mu Qingge was standing was another space within the tomb chamber. What exactly was hidden in there?
"Could it be that there’s some treasure hidden inside?"
"It’s very possible! Otherwise, why would it be hidden so secretly?"
They all saw that in that space, there were two stone boxes placed before Mu Qingge’s left and right hands. What was inside the stone boxes made them all curious.
"Is it possible that this Primordial Venerable Tomb has some treasure that the City Lord Mu has acquired?"
"Ah, this defiant luck is beyond our reach."
"Indeed! This bizarre place has taken the City Lord Mu to another location, and now she has treasures. Even if we want to witness her splendor, we can’t do it."
He said it like this, but secretly implied, ’even if we want to snatch it, we can’t!’
Facing such a strange scene, the crowd in the tomb chamber gradually fell silent. Almost everyone was curiously looking at Mu Qingge, isolated in another space.
But Mu Qingge’s gaze fell on those two stone boxes.
The stone boxes, unknown from what era they came from, had patterns that were already a bit blurry but still made people feel their antiquity.
In front of her was a door.
She did not know that this door also existed in the tomb chamber. One could say, the door she saw and the one the crowd in the tomb chamber had already seen, the one depicted, were one and the same.
However, the door the crowd in the tomb chamber saw was just a carving on the wall. What she saw was a tightly shut and potentially openable door!
"This door is the one leading to the place you just were. If you can open it, you’ll receive Chaos’s approval and become its new master." A voice suddenly rang in Mu Qingge’s mind.
This voice, she wasn’t unfamiliar with.
It was the voice of the Taiyi Venerable.
’Open this door?’ Mu Qingge’s gaze fell on the tightly shut door.
"Do you see those two stone boxes in front of you?" Taiyi Venerable’s voice sounded again, prompting Mu Qingge to shift her gaze slightly to the two stone boxes within reach of her left and right hands.
"Inside is the choice Chaos offers you. Choose one and offer it, this door will open," Taiyi Venerable said.
’Inside here is what must be chosen for sacrifice?’ Mu Qingge thought to herself.
She walked forward a few steps, raised both hands simultaneously, and opened the lids of the stone boxes together.
Suddenly, two clusters of light erupted from the stone boxes.
One was a mysterious, slightly cold dark blue. The other was deep red, fiery as flames.
"It’s actually Soul Sacrifice? And Emotion Sacrifice?" Taiyi Venerable’s voice was filled with astonishment.
"Soul Sacrifice... Emotion Sacrifice..." Mu Qingge softly murmured, her clear gaze reflecting the shadows of the two clusters of light.
She felt a heavy sigh echoing in her ears and mind from Taiyi Venerable.
"I never thought Chaos would give you such a test. Soul Sacrifice means you must offer your soul to Chaos. After a thousand years, Chaos will gradually reclaim your soul, and you will become a walking corpse without a soul or consciousness. The most important part is that you won’t have the chance to reincarnate, essentially meaning you’ll truly perish. The consequences are really too severe, cutting off all your paths. After a Soul Sacrifice, there’s no method to compensate for the loss. With your talent and cultivation, if you continue cultivating, not just a thousand years, but even ten thousand, a hundred thousand years would be easy. A thousand years is really too short for us," Taiyi Venerable slowly explained the meaning of Soul Sacrifice to Mu Qingge.
Mu Qingge quietly listened, saying nothing.
The consequences of Soul Sacrifice were indeed great. A thousand years sounded long, but she wanted to be with Si Mo for all eternity; how could she bear to only accompany him for a thousand years?
"What about Emotion Sacrifice?" Mu Qingge asked.
"Emotion Sacrifice?" Taiyi Venerable thought for a moment and said: "I would advise you, if you don’t want to give up on Chaos. Choosing Emotion Sacrifice is the best option. At least it’s better than Soul Sacrifice. Emotion Sacrifice means offering your love, the feeling of affection towards the opposite gender. After the sacrifice, you will no longer have feelings for anyone, even if you have a lover, you’ll gradually see him as a stranger, someone unimportant. Emotion Sacrifice doesn’t affect kinship or friendship, it’s just love between men and women, and sacrificing it is far better than Soul Sacrifice..."
"I choose Soul Sacrifice."
Suddenly, Mu Qingge decisively spoke, interrupting Taiyi Venerable.
"Well, you still seem to be enlightened... What! You choose Soul Sacrifice?" Taiyi Venerable reacted, shocked. As an ancient Venerable who left a Divine Sense, the strong emotional reaction from Mu Qingge actually startled him.
"What did you just say?" Taiyi Venerable asked again in disbelief.
Mu Qingge remained calm, speaking without a hint of hesitation: "I choose Soul Sacrifice."
"You’re crazy! Everyone can see clearly which choice is more rewarding among the two! How did it become a losing deal when it comes to you?" Taiyi Venerable said, confused.
Mu Qingge slightly curled her lips into a smile, slowly saying: "For some, the length of life is important. However, for me, if I were to completely forget my beloved, even if I could live for thousands and thousands of years, what’s the significance? If I can be with him, even if it’s just a thousand years, I would gladly accept it."
"Don’t let your eyes be blinded by desire! Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed." Taiyi Venerable advised.
"I never regret my choices," Mu Qingge lifted her chin lightly, her gaze straightforward.
She was not blinded by desire nor confined to fleeting affections. Only she knew, if she chose Emotion Sacrifice, Si Mo would suffer greatly.
Si Mo once forgot her but still remembered her as his woman, treating her as always. Yet it already made her feel sorrowful and heartache. If she also forgot him, perceiving him as merely a stranger, how painful would it be for him? She truly couldn’t bear it, nor did she want her beloved to eternally live in such suffering and torment.
Forget Si Mo?
Sorry, she couldn’t do it!
Mu Qingge didn’t say anything further, her gaze resolute, stepping steadily towards the cluster of dark blue light.
The exchange between her and Taiyi Venerable was conducted within her Spiritual Sense, unheard by others.
However, as she constantly approached the blue light cluster, Huangfu Huan standing outside faintly sensed something amiss. A bad premonition led him to crush the Communication Talisman given to him by Si Mo without hesitation.
He hadn’t told Mu Qingge that before they entered the Demon Tomb, his master specifically found him and handed him this Communication Talisman, instructing him to crush it in times of crisis.
The crushed Communication Talisman disappeared.
Yet, within mere breaths, as the dark blue light fell slowly, enveloping Mu Qingge entirely, at the moment Taiyi Venerable’s ineffective attempt at stopping resulted in a helpless sigh...
The space in the tomb chamber suddenly cracked open, and a tall, slender figure in dark color stepped out. Upon seeing Mu Qingge wrapped in the blue light, his amber eyes erupted with icy killing intent, a cold voice seething through his teeth: "This sovereign does not permit—!"