Chapter 587 - 548: Thus It Passes, The Shocking Earth Palace
Chapter 587: Chapter 548: Thus It Passes, The Shocking Earth Palace
The reflection of the Corpse Demon was in the Human Celestial Pride’s eyes?
The Corpse Demon screamed.
In that instant, she met Song Ciwan’s clear, bright eyes.
They were such beautiful eyes, yet the Corpse Demon was suddenly struck by a terror so profound it felt like her very soul was about to scatter.
She shrieked, "AHHHH... Help me! Demon Ancestor above, save this Little Demon!"
The Corpse Demon spun around and fled. It was pure instinct. She turned away from the direction Song Ciwan was walking and ran for her life.
Empowered by her Demonic Power, the Corpse Demon’s entire body seemed to transform into a streak of light—
’No, that’s not right. How can there be light in this pitch-black corridor?’
After fleeing for a short while, the Corpse Demon suddenly realized that not only was there light in the dark corridor, but there was also a sense of direction!
She was no longer running in circles on the spot. Instead, she had found a true direction and was charging forward, sprinting, and actually moving away into the distance.
And behind her, the Celestial Pride in white followed, her robes fluttering. She seemed to be taking a leisurely stroll, yet each step covered dozens, even hundreds of yards, allowing her to stick close behind.
The Corpse Demon was now certain: this Human Celestial Pride could definitely see her.
’Not only can she see me, but she’s also broken free from that silent, colorless illusion. Or more accurately, this Human Celestial Pride must have done something to break the terrifying loop in this corridor.’
’But what exactly did she do?’
’Why did the corridor’s loop break without any sound, without any sign?’
’How did she manage it?’
’Why is she so terrifying?’
’What is she going to do now?’
’Sh-sh-she... why is she following me so closely?’
The Corpse Demon was so frightened she felt like she was about to die a second time. Finally finding her voice, she shrieked, "Human Celestial Pride, spare my life! I wasn’t really cursing you just now, I was trying to save you!"
Song Ciwan: ...
She didn’t speak, only letting out a soft sigh, a hint of melancholy still in her expression.
Earlier, when heaven and earth fell silent, she had truly been trapped in the darkness for a very long time.
It wasn’t just being trapped in darkness. Recalling the experience now, Song Ciwan came to a clear and distinct realization: ’I must have been trapped in a time loop.’
In that endless, ancient loop, she thought ten years, a hundred years, even a thousand years had passed.
But in reality? In reality, not even fifteen minutes had actually gone by!
On her Heaven and Earth Scale, she still had five trade attempts left for the day. And on the Insight Technique panel, the experience bar for her time-controlling Dew Skill had risen by a large chunk.
Morning Dew Ephemera (Master 35689/100000).
Compared to the previous (Mastery 3210/10000), it could be said she had jumped an entire Small Realm.
’Just now, I came to many realizations,’ Song Ciwan thought. ’Time is a rushing river. It exists not only in the real world but also in the world of the mind.’
’A living being’s perception can sometimes determine life and death.’
If Song Ciwan hadn’t broken out of that time loop and had instead continued to be worn down endlessly, then as she lived through a thousand years, ten thousand years, a hundred thousand years in the loop...
...all the way up to her current lifespan of three hundred and forty thousand years.
Then it was possible she would have truly died of old age!
This was another form of Time Control. Compared to Song Ciwan’s Dew Skill, it was hard to say which was more terrifying.
But Time Control from a psychological angle was undoubtedly much harder to guard against.
Song Ciwan had broken through this mental cage at her absolute limit, but she didn’t feel lighthearted or joyful. Instead, an indescribable calm settled over her.
Still waters run deep, with turbulent waves hidden just beneath the surface.
She couldn’t help but wonder, ’What is the true essence of time?’
’Is it "the swallows’ dream of bygone years, the parasol leaf’s flight at dusk"?’
’Or is it "a colt seen through a crack, a spark from a flint, a body in a dream"?’
’Or perhaps "the leisurely sun casting cloud-shadows on the pond, as seasons turn and stars shift through the autumns"?’
Add a touch of the mortal world, tainted with the vicissitudes of life, and it becomes, "A cup of wine in the spring breeze; ten years of rainy nights in the Martial Arts."
The sages lamented time: "It passes on and on like this, never ceasing day or night!"
’Ultimately, time waits for no one. To control time, one must first leap out of the mind’s temporal prison. Only by not trapping oneself can one hope to trap others.’
The Earth Palace corridor was deep and long. Song Ciwan had found her direction and simply followed the Corpse Demon closely. Or rather, she was the one herding the Corpse Demon from behind.
At the same time, she was carefully mulling over all the realizations she had just had.
According to the deductions from the Ancient Texts Wei Chi had provided, a time-aspected Spiritual Treasure existed within the Ancient Divine Palace. Thinking back, the illusion in the corridor must have been related to this Spiritual Treasure.
Song Ciwan recalled the various records from the Ancient Texts, silently deducing the path forward in her mind.
The Corpse Demon flew ahead, both hurried and terrified, feeling that the Human Celestial Pride shadowing her was profoundly horrifying.
She shouted for a while, but seeing that Song Ciwan gave no response, she grit her teeth and finally blurted out, "Xing Lan Fairy, this place is fraught with danger! This humble one is willing to act as your vanguard and scout the path ahead for you, Fairy!"
The moment the words left her mouth, the area ahead suddenly lit up.
Then, the Corpse Demon stopped before that vast and magnificent expanse of light, unable to take another step. She was stunned.
What did she see?
Standing in the shadows of the corridor, the Corpse Demon felt that in all her thousand years of life, she had never seen such a world.
It was a world of infinite magnificence, with a high, distant sky whose end was nowhere in sight—
In short, it looked nothing like an underground world.
Rosy clouds hung high in the distance, and a windy mist churned and rolled.
But these things were not what truly shocked the Corpse Demon.
What truly stunned her was, in this vast and open world, under a canopy of blue sky and a sea of clouds, a giant turtle was suspended in the Void!
The turtle was as massive as a continent, as vast as an ocean, almost blocking out the entire sky.
As the Corpse Demon stood at the corridor’s entrance and gazed up at the giant turtle, she felt infinitely small—so small that she no longer seemed like a Great Demon of the Demon King Stage, but a mere mayfly, a speck of dust.
Looking up, the Corpse Demon could faintly make out what looked like the silhouettes of cities and palaces on the great turtle’s back. The scale of those cities was just as immense, making her heart pound with awe.
It was impossible to imagine what kind of beings had once lived in this "Earth Palace."
How could this be an Earth Palace? This was practically a Celestial Palace!
As for the giant turtle carrying the cities, its eyes were shut tight and its four limbs hung limply in the void, as if it had grown ancient and died.
Ancient, grand, and decaying...
The indescribable sight and the ancient aura overwhelmed the Corpse Demon. She was speechless, until the Human Celestial Pride drew close behind her.
The Corpse Demon’s entire body trembled, and she hastily moved aside.
She kept her head raised, her gaze on the giant turtle a mixture of worship and fear, and murmured as if in a trance, "Xing Lan Fairy, so this is the Ancient Divine Palace... How are we supposed to cross? Do we fly?"
Ten Daoist Soldiers still surrounded Song Ciwan, but she didn’t send them to scout the path. Instead, she said nonchalantly to the Corpse Demon, "You can give it a try. Fly out and see."