Chapter 461 - 423: Separated by a Realm, a Single Chess Piece

Chapter 461: Chapter 423: Separated by a Realm, a Single Chess Piece

Chu Mu leaped, shooting up from the bottom of the lake like an arrow loosed from its string, and burst out of the water.

Suspended in the sky, Chu Mu briefly got his bearings. A fiery red blade-light shimmered, and he suddenly accelerated, vanishing into the heavens.

About three days later, the silent mountain range, formed by an eruption of a fiery sea of magma, came into his view.

The power of the Secret Realm flickered, having completely sealed off the sea of magma, making it impossible to see inside.

Chu Mu was still considering how to get in, but as soon as he reached the silent mountains, a crack appeared in the membrane of light formed by the worldly power, as if it had been prepared long ago, just waiting for his arrival.

Chu Mu froze for a moment. He subconsciously looked up at the sky. It was clear for thousands of miles, empty, with no sign of anything unusual.

He lowered his head slightly, his gaze as calm as water. He took a step and slowly passed through the crack. A searing wave of Fire Qi instantly washed over him.

He surveyed his surroundings. In the churning sea of magma, he couldn’t see a single trace of Demonic Qi.

The corrosion from the Demon Realm had clearly been suppressed to a certain area by the Secret Realm itself.

He moved forward through the sea of magma. In just a moment, the Spatial Rift, roiling with Demonic Qi, was revealed amidst the vast, ink-black sea of fire.

The endless sea of fire, once used to resist the Demonic Qi’s corrosion, had now transformed into a stretch of inky Demon Flame. It was as if it had defected to the enemy and become its vanguard, the churning Demon Flame frantically corroding everything in all directions.

Meanwhile, the remaining Earth Vein Fire Qi in this place, reinforced by the power of the Secret Realm, was stubbornly resisting the Demon Flame’s corrosion. It was a deadlock, with no clear winner.

The outcome of that battle in the Demon Realm was still unknown.

But judging from the current scene, the struggle between these two worlds, which shared the same root, was clearly still in a delicate balance.

It seemed neither could get the better of the other.

’This Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array... could it break the balance?’

The thought occurred to Chu Mu suddenly, but he immediately shook his head, dismissing the speculation.

The difference between True Demon Qi and Spiritual Qi had already determined that the Demon Realm would inevitably hold the absolute initiative.

After all, True Demon Qi could corrode Spiritual Qi, causing the Demonization of everything created around Spiritual Qi.

But Spiritual Qi could not corrode Demonic Qi, let alone reverse the state of the Demon Realm and break the Demonization.

The Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array could only ensure that, in this battle of offense and defense, the defense would be easier and more stable.

Chu Mu’s fingertips moved slightly. The core Array Plate, inscribed with the Nine Dragon Array Prohibition, materialized before him. With a wave of his hand, Fire Dragons seemed to roar as fiery red dragons took shape. Countless Array Prohibition Patterns swirled and flickered. The Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array was already taking its initial form.

Chu Mu methodically organized the Grand Array, strolling through the sea of magma and fire, searching for suitable nodes for the array’s eyes.

But after just a few steps, Chu Mu came to an abrupt halt. He whipped his head around to look at the Spatial Rift again.

’If this array is completed and receives the blessing of the Secret Realm’s power, the Demon Realm’s corrosion will become a pipe dream... Would the True Demon... just sit by and do nothing?’

As this thought arose, Chu Mu couldn’t hide his shock and suspicion.

’That year-long opportunity... it couldn’t be payment for being used as bait, could it...?’

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

In that battle back then, as long as the man in the Dragon Robe hadn’t killed the True Demon, it didn’t matter who won or lost.

The True Demon was bound to take control of the Demon Realm and become the new Master of the Demon Realm.

And in such a situation, it was utterly impossible for the man in the Dragon Robe, even at the same level of power, to kill the True Demon within the Demon Realm. Not when the True Demon was fully integrated with the Power of the Demon Realm.

The only possibility was to lure the True Demon out of the Demon Realm—to lure the snake from its hole. Without the augmentation of the Power of the Demon Realm, and given the terrifying Cultivation of the Dragon Robe man’s avatar, which alone was on par with the True Demon, suppressing the True Demon would likely be a simple matter of a single thought.

But the question was, how to lure the snake from its hole? What bait could be used?

Chu Mu racked his brain, but the answer was still crystal clear.

He, Chu Mu, was arguably the best bait.

After all, he was the trailblazer who had undergone the Refinement of the Heart of the Demon Realm. As long as he was alive, his influence on the Demon Realm would persist.

The moment he walked out of the Demon Realm alive, it meant that a fatal flaw had appeared in the True Demon’s plan to control the Demon Realm!

At this moment, Chu Mu had a sudden realization.

The real reason the man in the Dragon Robe had saved his life and even given him that year-long opportunity in the Inheritance Land probably lay here.

The longer he lived, the better he lived, and the higher his Cultivation grew, the greater the threat he posed to the True Demon!

Now that he was here, to say there wasn’t a plan to lure the snake out of its hole...

Was that even possible?

He had paid a price that nearly left him completely spent just to escape his predetermined fate as a pawn in the True Demon’s hands.

But clearly, he still hadn’t escaped the fate of a pawn.

He had merely gone from being a piece in the True Demon’s hands to one in the hands of the man in the Dragon Robe.

Chu Mu subconsciously clenched his fists, Power surging through them. But just as quickly, the surging Power vanished without a trace.

All living beings are but pieces on a board.

Weakness itself is the original sin.

’At least I’m still qualified to be used.’

Right now, he was powerless to interfere in the game between these Great Powers.

But at least, judging by the reason he was being used, as long as the True Demon was not dead, he, this pawn, was crucial. He could never be a discarded piece.

Someone would be more concerned about his safety than he was...

He’d never imagined that one day, he would feel this way because of the True Demon’s existence...

Chu Mu let out a self-deprecating laugh.

He stopped paying attention to the Spatial Rift and no longer worried if the True Demon would appear to eliminate this future trouble.

He was certain that from the moment he entered this sea of magma and fire, the man in the Dragon Robe must have started watching.

Even if his real body had not arrived, even if it was just a wisp of Divine Thought, by borrowing the power of the Secret Realm, if the True Demon dared to come, this Secret Realm would probably turn into a cage in an instant, trapping the True Demon inside.

All alone, Chu Mu walked through the sea of fire, silently preparing the layout for the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array.

His skill in the Array Dao was not particularly profound, but his level was more than sufficient to simply copy the design.

Besides, for the sake of his Lifebound Treasure, during this year of near-constant "Spiritual Radiance Blessing," his research on the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Array had never stopped.

Compared to an ordinary person, even decades of painstaking study probably couldn’t match his one year of focused effort.

Chu Mu was completely focused.

But in the void, things were not calm.

A thin membrane between worlds separated a world into two.

One side, the Demon Realm. The other, the world of the Secret Realm.

At this moment, within the Secret Realm, a Divine Soul phantom stood in an imperceptible part of the void. He wore a Gilded Dragon Robe, a testament to his noble status.

The man stared indifferently at the world membrane, his gaze sharp and cold, as if it could pierce right through it.

And in the Demon Realm, that True Demon had, at some unknown time, also arrived at the border between the two realms. The True Demon’s gaze, however, was not on the world membrane.

Demonic Qi churned within the Spatial Rift, and a projection made of Demonic Qi had already appeared above it.

On the screen of the projection was a sea of magma and fire.

Within the sea of fire, a figure in green robes ambled about. As he walked and stopped, one Technique after another fell into the sea of magma. The swirling, flickering Array Prohibition Power could be clearly sensed, even through a mere projection.

The True Demon’s gaze was frigid, his killing intent surging without concealment.

It was only a Spatial Rift, only a Golden Core Cultivator. If he entered, it would take but an instant to eliminate this future trouble for good.

But at this moment, the True Demon remained perfectly still.

He looked toward the world membrane, as if meeting the gaze of the man in the Dragon Robe.

A world apart, a single chess piece...

...