Chapter 1730: Fragment of the World

Qi Xuansu turned his gaze toward the black tide below. Countless shadowy forms could be faintly seen surging within it, likely some sort of physical manifestation of the power of primordial chaos.

If Qi Xuansu still had his cultivation, he might have been able to resist it to some extent. But now that he had lost all his cultivation, falling into it would mean certain death.

This alone offered a glimpse of the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon’s extraordinary nature.

Since it was a tide, there would inevitably come a time when it receded. All they had to do was wait for the tide to go out.

Qi Xuansu examined the waters carefully but saw no sign of any fish. Perhaps those shadowy forms were what took the place of fish here.

He then raised his head and looked toward the sky. A sun hung overhead, illuminating heaven and earth, yet he could not shake the feeling that this sun was exceedingly fake, as though it had simply been painted onto the sky.

In any case, Qi Xuansu had encountered several sun gods before, including Izanagi, Himiko, Itzamna, and Kukulkan. He had even witnessed Vairocana suppress Izanagi within an illusion. His own Celestial Phenomena Spiritual Statue even encompassed the divine authority of the sun, so his perception of anything related to the sun was particularly keen.

In Qi Xuansu’s eyes, this sun resembled an eye more than anything else, a watchful eye silently observing this world. However, there was nothing Qi Xuansu could do about it in his current state, so he soon withdrew his gaze.

After resting briefly, Qi Xuansu finally recovered some of his stamina. He truly was not accustomed to such a drastic decline in his physical capabilities, like the loss of strength, the limits on his endurance, and even the frailty of his physique. Though his body was clearly in a perfectly normal state right now, he somehow felt even more powerless than when he had been gravely wounded and weakened in the past.

It was much like growing old. He finally understood how the aging of the body could bring about such enormous changes in a person’s state of mind.

Of course, Zhou Mengyao would be even less accustomed to it.

Her cultivation level was higher than Qi Xuansu’s, which meant the disparity was even greater for her. More importantly, it had been at least several decades since she had last experienced such a powerless state.

From this aspect, Qi Xuansu had it somewhat better. It had not even been a decade for him.

At the thought of Zhou Mengyao, Qi Xuansu turned to look at his former master once more.

Zhou Mengyao was still leaning against the jagged boulder, her upper body tilted slightly forward. There was a conspicuous bloodstain on her lower abdomen.

Qi Xuansu hesitated for a moment before asking, “How’s your wound?”

Zhou Mengyao replied, “The bleeding has already stopped. After all, I have undergone a Major Rebirth and undergone the transformation of shedding the mortal body and remolding the bones. Although I’m being suppressed by the laws of this world and have lost the vast majority of my supernatural abilities, I’m still stronger than an ordinary person.”

Qi Xuansu nodded. “That’s good.”

Zhou Mengyao chuckled, a hint of mockery in her voice. “Those words of yours don’t sound entirely sincere.”

Qi Xuansu replied frankly, “I know next to nothing about Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons. If you die, how am I supposed to get out of here?”

“Very good. You’re still as honest as ever.” Zhou Mengyao finally pushed herself away from the jagged boulder and stood upright. The cloak that had been parted naturally fell closed again, concealing her body. Her hood was still concealing most of her face, leaving only her chin visible.

This cloak was not an immortal object or even a semi-immortal object. It might not even qualify as a treasure and was perhaps merely a spiritual object. For Zhou Mengyao at her peak, it could hardly have been considered useful in battle. Perhaps she wore it because she simply liked its style or because it was more durable than an ordinary cloak. Unexpectedly, it had now proved very useful.

Had this cloak not been capable of blocking projectiles, Zhou Mengyao might have died at Qi Xuansu’s hands before the two of them ever had the chance to reconcile.

An Immortal dying to a pistol would be a joke if word ever got out. Still, this showed that the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon could not manipulate the laws of the Heavenly Dao entirely as it pleased. The laws could only suppress powers rather than prohibit them outright.

If this cloak truly had been an immortal object, Zhou Mengyao probably would not have been able to use it in the first place.

At the thought of immortal objects, Qi Xuansu deliberately tried to sense the Longevity Stone Heart but received no response whatsoever. It was merely serving as a substitute for his heart. On further thought, this was only reasonable. Even the cultivation of an Immortal had been forcibly suppressed here. No matter how extraordinary the Longevity Stone Heart might be, it could hardly be more powerful than an Immortal.

After 12 hours, the sky had gone completely dark, and the tide finally receded.

In this respect, the rules governing the tides were no different from those of the mortal world. This suggested that the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon could influence only a limited number of rules, while most fundamental laws remained beyond its ability to alter.

Zhou Mengyao said, “Going out to sea is impossible. Let’s head farther inland. Hopefully, this isn’t an uninhabited deserted island.”

Qi Xuansu suddenly remembered a Western castaway novel he had read some time ago and could not help but shudder.

If this really was an uninhabited island, and if they could no longer escape, was he supposed to spend the rest of his life here with Zhou Mengyao? Would the two mortal enemies raise goats, grow food, and stare at each other day after day? The thought was downright terrifying.

The two descended the high slope one after the other. Although Zhou Mengyao claimed that she was fine, there was still a slight awkwardness to her gait, showing that the gunshot had inflicted no small amount of damage.

Qi Xuansu asked, “What does the darkness at the edge of the sea signify?”

Walking ahead of him, Zhou Mengyao answered without turning around, “It marks the boundary of the world. What do you think a ‘fragment’ is? An island, a city, or a mountain can each constitute a small world unto itself. They are individually torn away and left isolated beyond the mortal world, like fallen leaves drifting away from a tree.

“Perhaps this island originally lay somewhere out at sea, where one could sail across the waters to other islands or continents. But now that it has been torn away, it is as though it has been placed beneath a glass dome, with nowhere else to go. Unless you possess the abilities of a Heavenly Immortal, allowing you to disregard the boundaries of space and roam freely throughout the worlds, our only option is to find a way out that operates within the rules.

“A Confucian Sage once used supreme divine abilities to refine one such fragment into an immortal object. That artifact is the Heavenly Chessboard, which remains in the hands of the Confucian School to this day. It is extraordinarily profound and can be used to simulate the great trends of the world within it. In truth, such a method is not all that different from the methods of an Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon.”

Qi Xuansu said, “Even a Heavenly Immortal wouldn’t be able to cross the void without their cultivation.”

Zhou Mengyao said, “That isn’t necessarily the case. As long as one’s cultivation is comparable to this Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon’s or even one level below it, one would not be suppressed to such an extent. The higher one’s cultivation, the more cultivation one retains after being weakened by the rules. You’re a Pseudo-Immortal, so you still retain some of the foundation of a Xiantian Being. If you were merely a Heavenly Being, you would be reduced to the cultivation of a Houtian Being and wouldn’t be much stronger than an ordinary person. Conversely, if a First-Tribulation Immortal were here, they would at the very least retain a Pseudo-Immortal cultivation. The inside of any being is always the most vulnerable part, so swallowing someone too powerful might instead backfire.”

Qi Xuansu more or less understood.

If Zhou Mengyao had not been injured, then even after being swallowed by the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, she would still have been able to retain the cultivation of a Heavenly Being. If so, she would still be capable of soaring through the skies and boring through earth, and the environment here would probably have been unable to do much to her. She certainly would not have ended up in such a sorry state.

Qi Xuansu asked again, “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Zhou Mengyao said, “It’s nothing serious. Even if it were, we don’t have the luxury of worrying about it right now. We have a pocket realm nested within another pocket realm, with the Grand Illusion Realm layered on top of that. With so many layers overlapping, I suspect there may be something wrong with the flow of time here. If time passes quickly here but slowly in the mortal world, then it wouldn’t be much of a problem. What worries me is the opposite. If time passes slowly here while racing by in the mortal world, then we’ll have a serious problem. So we’d better find a way out of this place as quickly as possible.”

Hearing this, Qi Xuansu’s expression also turned solemn.

The two quickened their pace as they headed deeper into the island.

This island was unlike the ones in the Southern Continent, where the vegetation was far denser. Nor was it like Sahul, with barren deserts stretched everywhere. Instead, it fell somewhere in between.

Soon, Qi Xuansu noticed signs of trees having been chopped and confirmed one thing—the island was inhabited. Perhaps its residents did not even realize that their world had already been severed from the mortal realm. They might simply believe that the surrounding seas had been sealed by some mysterious force, preventing ships from passing through and leaving them unable to depart the island.

After walking for roughly four hours, traces of a road gradually began to appear. The two followed it onward and arrived at a fortified village. They happened to be standing on a rugged path along a slope, giving them a commanding view over most of the settlement below. It had the typical structure of a fortified stockade, complete with defensive walls and watchtowers. At this hour, the village was utterly quiet, with only a few torches moving back and forth as guards made their patrols.

Qi Xuansu and Zhou Mengyao exchanged a glance.

“Should we go straight in? Or wait until daybreak?” Qi Xuansu asked.

Zhou Mengyao frowned as she gazed toward the dark mountains in the distance. “I can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t quite right.”

In this strange and unfamiliar land, Qi Xuansu likewise chose not to act rashly. He said, “Then let’s watch for now and see what happens.”

At around midnight, bells suddenly began ringing throughout the fortified village, accompanied even by the clanging of gongs.

In an instant, torches were lit everywhere, illuminating the entire village. The previously quiet settlement suddenly burst into activity, with people rushing to and fro. Many carried weapons in their hands as they hurried toward the walls and watchtowers.

Before long, a band resembling mounted brigands charged out of the forest and launched an attack on the village.

In the past, disturbances caused by bandits and brigands had been commonplace. At the less severe end, they would rob travelers, kidnap people, and demand ransoms. At the more severe end, they would sack towns, murder their inhabitants, and set buildings ablaze. Whenever the realm descended into chaos, such bandits became especially rampant, often terrorizing entire regions.

However, since the founding of the Great Xuan Dynasty, the Imperial Court had cracked down on banditry with tremendous force. Throughout the Central Plains, banditry had essentially been eradicated. However, the Jianghu was still an inherently gray world, where people would do anything to survive.

Qi Xuansu said, “They’re just bandits...”

“Take a closer look,” Zhou Mengyao interrupted him.

Qi Xuansu directed what little blood qi he had left into the acupoints around his eyes, enhancing his vision. Sure enough, he soon noticed something unusual.

A faint black aura shrouded the bandits. It resembled the power of primordial chaos, yet also seemed somewhat like yin energy. But due to the great distance between them, Qi Xuansu could not distinguish which it was.

Empowered by the black aura, these bandits appeared extraordinarily formidable. Each of them were only slightly weaker than Qi Xuansu in his current state. Even though the villagers enjoyed the defensive advantage of their walls and possessed some crude siege-defense equipment, they were still struggling desperately to hold their ground.

“There’s more to them than meets the eye,” Qi Xuansu said softly.

In the past, he could have dealt with these bandits with a casual wave of his hand. But in his current state, trying to wipe out such a group would probably leave him with only the slimmest chance of survival.

Zhou Mengyao said, “The more unusual they are, the better. That black aura surrounding them might just be the key to getting us out of this place.”

Qi Xuansu said, “With our current strength, the two of us can barely protect ourselves. Defeating these bandits would be extremely difficult. We’ll need to borrow some outside strength.”

Zhou Mengyao swept her gaze across the village below. “Isn’t this outside strength right in front of us?”

Qi Xuansu sensed that Zhou Mengyao already had a plan and asked directly, “What are you planning to do?”

Zhou Mengyao replied, “There are three ways to gain control over grassroots power—government authority, clan organization, and religion. Since they’ve already had to fortify their village and defend themselves, they obviously can’t rely on the authorities. The two of us are outsiders, so clan ties are out of the question as well. That leaves only one option—preaching a religion.”

Qi Xuansu was startled. “You mean the methods used by secret societies?”

Zhou Mengyao said, “Exactly. We can use religion to organize the villagers and bring them under our command. I’ll play the role of the prophet and religious leader, displaying miracles before the people. You’ll be the most loyal disciple and protector of the faith, responsible for negotiating interests and making deals behind the scenes. Basically, I’ll be the god, and you’ll be the king. We won’t be staying here for long anyway, so we can make all the grandiose claims we want and promise whatever we please.”