Chapter 247: Imprisoning the Outer Gods with a Brush

Hunlun Chi Form did not break through the sealed sheet of white paper.

Instead, within that flat surface, it forcibly folded and unfolded an endless expanse of abysses and corridors in the blink of an eye.

The Reducing Reality into the Six Directions had sealed it within a two-dimensional plane.

Yet now, Hunlun Chi Form was like a great architect, reconstructing and unfolding an entire three-dimensional world.

Li Shun was horrified to discover that the nebula writhing around the mouth of the bronze mask within the sealed white paper had not grown any larger.

But the wind and snow between heaven and earth, the Bing Province earth beneath their feet, and even the awe-inspiring voice pouring from Zhao Cheng's mouth were all imperceptibly reversing and twisting, flowing of their own accord toward that mass of nebula.

The Great Qian world and the world woven by Hunlun Chi Form began to merge with one another.

It was tantamount to Hunlun Chi Form's projection truly descending into the mortal world.

"Where are the people from the Great Qian court? Why are they still standing around watching?"

Seeing that the situation was gradually developing beyond control, Li Shun desperately resisted the Outer God's erosion while simultaneously attempting to locate the hidden mastermind behind all this.

Fortunately, the overwhelming majority of Hunlun Chi Form's power was concentrated upon the phantom of Taiyi Xuanpin.

Only because of this was Li Shun still able to maintain his sanity.

Zhao Cheng continued murmuring incessantly, but his voice seemed to be muffled beneath a layer of cloth, making it difficult to hear clearly.

His expression was also gradually becoming strained and distorted.

Hunlun Chi Form paid no attention to these two insignificant mortals.

It slowly drifted toward the figure in black robes.

The sight was extraordinarily strange.

Clearly, it remained trapped within the sealed white paper. Clearly, its own body did not seem to move at all.

Yet it manipulated the world it had woven, causing that world itself to approach the phantom of Taiyi Xuanpin.

The instant the two sides came into contact...

The figure in black robes suddenly vanished from the Great Qian world.

It appeared within the world woven by Hunlun Chi Form.

At the same time, a magnificent voice suddenly rang out, echoing throughout heaven and earth for a long while.

"I wield the Yin-Yang Brush, opening a single character within the void, evolving ten thousand realms upon the tip of my brush..."

Li Shun could no longer see the figure. He could only hear its voice.

A moment later...

A colossal hand gripping a brush pierced through the clouds and descended from the heavens.

It rapidly began writing around the sheet of white paper that had sealed the two Outer Gods.

In an instant, Li Shun seemed to see a brand-new world being born, then enveloping the sealed white paper within itself.

Unlike the world Hunlun Chi Form had simply woven together, the world depicted by that enormous hand holding the brush seemed to be a genuine world, no different from Great Qian itself.

Thus, almost in an instant, the figures of the two Outer Gods disappeared from Li Shun's sight.

Yet the enormous hand holding the brush did not stop writing.

Instead, it continued wielding its miraculous brush without pause.

This isolated world became increasingly vast and tangible.

Li Shun could even vaguely see the countless living beings within it!

It was precisely because of the laughter, curses, cries, and voices of those countless beings that the sensation of erosion brought by the Outer Gods finally began to fade completely.

However, the two Outer Gods clearly had no intention of simply sitting back and waiting for death.

The world that had been drawn into existence suddenly began to tremble violently for no apparent reason.

It became perilously unstable, as though it might be torn apart from within at any moment.

Just then, another dazzling radiance descended from the heavens.

It seemed to come from beyond the firmament, tearing apart the light of day and plunging the mortal world into night.

"Great Siming..."

From that starlight, Li Shun sensed an aura that was extremely familiar.

Under the illumination of the starlight, the isolated world gradually became more stable.

Then, enveloping the entire world, it was carried back beyond the heavens.

It vanished without a trace.

The Outer Gods.

The colossal hand holding the brush.

The starlight from beyond the heavens.

In the blink of an eye, all of them disappeared.

Only Li Shun and Zhao Cheng remained.

Everything seemed as though it had merely been an illusion.

But soon, dozens of people from the Directorate of Celestial Observation surrounded the two of them from all sides.

Clearly, what they had just experienced had not been a hallucination.

"Although the two of you have rendered meritorious service by assisting in resisting the Outer Gods, you must first undergo isolation and examination."

"Please forgive us."

The leader spoke with great courtesy, but his expression was exceedingly solemn.

Li Shun naturally understood that the Directorate of Celestial Supervision was acting to prevent them from having been contaminated by the Outer Gods. He nodded cooperatively.

He had not expected...

Upon hearing this, Zhao Cheng instead let out an impatient roar.

"We faced two Outer Gods directly and barely escaped with our lives. Is this how you treat your heroes?"

"Where were you when the Outer Gods manifested just now?"

"I was able to maintain my sanity even in the presence of the Outer Gods. What problem could there possibly be? What are you investigating me for?"

Zhao Cheng grew increasingly irritable as he spoke, and his eyes suddenly turned completely blood-red.

The innate qi surrounding his body was also surging violently, as though on the verge of erupting.

Li Shun's heart sank when he saw this.

Zhao Cheng's behavior was completely different from his usual manner.

Clearly, he had already been affected by the Outer God's erosion.

"I hope he can still be saved."

Fortunately, Zhao Cheng had evidently not lost all reason.

Faced with the encirclement of the Directorate of Celestial Supervision, he did not choose to resist by force.

He forcibly suppressed the brutality surging within his heart and merely continued cursing under his breath.

By comparison, Li Shun's behavior appeared far calmer.

But what surprised Li Shun was that the people from the Directorate of Celestial Supervision were actually even more cautious toward him.

They assigned several times as many people to guard him as they did Zhao Cheng.

This left Li Shun somewhat dumbfounded.

However, he soon understood.

Someone like Zhao Cheng, who had nearly gone mad after directly confronting an Outer God, was the normal reaction of an ordinary person.

His own composure and tranquility, by contrast, appeared exceedingly abnormal.

But Li Shun knew perfectly well that he had not been contaminated by the Outer Gods.

Thus, he showed no signs of confusion or panic.

During the journey, the people from the Directorate of Celestial Supervision used a secret technique to obscure Li Shun's vision, making it impossible for him to distinguish east from west or north from south.

He only knew that they were flying rapidly through the air, but had no idea where they were going.

It was not until nearly half a day later that Li Shun's normal vision was restored.

He discovered that he was already inside a dark, secluded chamber.

The walls of the room were covered with intricate and profound patterns.

Surrounded by these patterns, Li Shun felt his heart becoming incomparably calm.

At the same time, he also instinctively felt utterly at ease within himself.

There was nothing he could not speak of openly before others.

"Hm?"

A flicker of light passed through Li Shun's eyes.

In an instant, he realized something was wrong.

Most of his consciousness retreated into Fangcun, leaving behind only a portion of his thoughts to remain outside and control his body.

Before long, an old white-haired man dressed in Daoist robes slowly entered the secret chamber.

He did not introduce himself.

Instead, he immediately began asking various questions concerning the lineage of the Spring and Autumn Brush.

Li Shun naturally answered each question fluently.

Then the old man asked in a deep voice,

"The two Outer Gods you encountered in Bing Province. What are their respective names? And what exactly did you feel?"

Li Shun pondered for a moment before answering truthfully.

"They are Taiyi Xuanpin and Hunlun Chi Form."

"The methods of the Outer Gods are indeed unfathomable, and ordinary people find them extremely difficult to withstand."

"However..."

Li Shun's expression turned solemn.

"Within the Great Qian world, we practitioners of the Hundred Schools are not entirely powerless to resist them."

"The Divine Ability of the Hundred Schools, Reducing Reality into the Six Directions. And the starlight of the Great Siming descending from beyond the heavens..."

"The Outer Gods are not invincible."

Li Shun spoke each word distinctly.

The old man looked at Li Shun's utterly serious expression.

A strange look appeared on his face.