My Core is the Boss-Chapter 117.2: One Sword is Not Enough, Ten Swords Are Not Enough. How About A Hundred?
The Violet Heaven Maiden didn’t understand, nor could she believe it. Why would the almighty slate go silent? Had everything been an illusion?
Crack!
The hundreds of Heaven-Cleaving Swords taught everyone what strength in numbers meant. The more, the stronger!
Blood rained over the Ends of the Earth. The warship shattered. When the storm of bloodlight faded, only the Violet Heaven Maiden's remains and a single plain, stone tablet were left.
Qi Yuan contemptuously looked down at her. "I am no so-called Great Demon. I am far worse—the Fourth Calamity itself."
Even the Great Demon wasn't fit to carry his shoes.
The Blood Palace cultivators were struck speechless. One hundred Supremes, gone. The invincible Violet Heaven Maiden, annihilated. All without Qi Yuan taking a single step.
Canary's eyes sparkled. She rose on tiptoe and pecked his cheek. "Blood Drop... you're amazing!"
Qi Yuan froze. It was the first time anyone had kissed him, even in-game.
Before he could react further, the maiden's mangled corpse turned into a streak of light, shooting into the Myriad Phenomena Gate.
A terrifying change followed.
Thump, thump!
The gate pulsed as if it were a beating heart.
A monstrous presence stirred within. Qi Yuan stared towards the gate, where a horrifying creature had emerged. The people around him had all sorts of reactions.
Canary clutched her head. "Blood-Drop... my head... it hurts..."
Her vitality was drained away. Her face was as pale as a sheet, as if she was in immense pain.
Shang Yanran went pale. "My... my inner demon!"
The Foolish Daoist's face twisted in pain, struggling to suppress the evil rising within him. "The inner demon is coming out of the Myriad Phenomena Gate!"
Qi Yuan's expression grew solemn for the first time. He knew better how everyone felt.
The Demon Binding Art trapped the inner demons within each person. Only when one's lifespan naturally ended would they manifest as demonic remnants and emerge. However now, the terrifying inner demon was pushing its way out of the gate, stirring the darkness in everyone's hearts.
At this rate, everyone's inner demons would break free, killing them all. Once the inner demon from the gate escaped into the world, all life under heaven would perish.
Qi Yuan pulled the Canary into his arms, a trace of reluctance flickering in his eyes. "Canary, I must enter the Myriad Phenomena Gate. Remember this, I will find you again at the end of time."
So much had happened during this session of enlightenment toward the Origin. Yet this was also the shortest, less than two months. Just after he and the Canary had reunited, they were to part again.
The Canary's small face went pale, but she forced a radiant smile. "I will wait for you."
Qi Yuan swept his gaze over the crowd, then glanced toward where the Slate of Fate had been. Unfortunately, it seemed to have vanished from his sight. He knew he could wait no longer.
At last, he turned toward the Myriad Phenomena Gate and charged in without hesitation.
As his figure disappeared, the Myriad Phenomena Gate slowly closed once more. The terrifying heartbeat echoing from within grew faint.
Colors returned to the Canary's face. She gazed at the gate, full of longing. "Blood-Drop... are you going to be all right?"
She turned to the others, who were slowly recovering.
Shang Yanran's expression was full of worry. "There are endless inner demons within the Myriad Phenomena Gate. Once the Blood Master enters, he will suffer torment beyond imagination, torn and be devoured endlessly!"
The others felt both grief and awe.
Bai Ze said sorrowfully, "For our sake, for the sake of the world, Blood Master sacrificed himself to the demons! And yet, the world still calls him a Great Demon. How utterly laughable!"
The Canary stared blankly at the Gate. "When... when will Blood-Drop come out?"
She didn't care what the world thought of him, she only cared if he'd return alive.
Shang Yanran shook her head, her tone heavy with loss. "No one has ever entered the gate and returned. He will eventually be assimilated into an inner demon."
An inner demon... a Blood Demon.
The Canary refused to accept this. "No, there must be a way!”
She ran toward the Myriad Phenomena Gate, but she could not get near it. Though it seemed just within reach, it was as if an entire world lay between her and the door.
Everyone present fell silent.
A strange glint appeared in Shang Yanran's eyes. "If we can obtain the Slate of Fate, perhaps we can find a way to save the Blood Master!"
They all turned toward where the Slate of Fate had been, but it was utterly empty.
***
Inside the Myriad Phenomena Gate.
Countless agonies gnawed at Qi Yuan's soul. The intense pain he felt was hundreds, thousands of times worse than facing the ancient monsters of Earth's End.
He stood within the gate. Behind him was the door through which he had entered.
When he looked upward, he saw a staircase descended from the heavens, its upper end lost in infinity. High above, there was another door in the firmament.
On the staircase stood a withered corpse. It wore a neat monk's robe, its posture serene and dignified. However, its skin was akin to a dried bark, parched for millions of years. Its sunken eyes were shriveled and fetid, resembling those of dead fish.
The corpse glared at Qi Yuan, full of poisonous resentment. It was walking slowly down the steps, as if to reach him and push open the gate behind him.
"Are you the inner demon of the Great Demon?" Qi Yuan asked, enduring the unbearable pain.
The corpse answered hoarsely, yet filled with a monk's compassion, "For entering the Myriad Demon Gate and helping me close it, you have my thanks, Benefactor. If I were to step outside, this world would fall completely into ruin."
Despite its gentle voice, its eyes were brimming with venom, the two at war within one being.
"The Myriad Demon Gate?" Qi Yuan recalled that the Myriad Phenomena Gate was a gate of all gates. It could be anything, depending on the observer. In this monk's eyes, it was the Myriad Demon Gate. In Qi Yuan's eyes, it could be something else entirely. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚
The corpse then said, "Benefactor, you did not enter this gate merely to keep me imprisoned, did you?"
"Mm." Qi Yuan nodded. He had another purpose, to comprehend the Origin. Now, within this gate, his comprehension grew by the moment, each instant more profound than the last.
The corpse said again, "I know not your goal, but if you wish to achieve it, you must first send me into reincarnation, then ascend the Myriad Demon Stair."
In other words, Qi Yuan had to destroy him.
Qi Yuan nodded again, asking, "You don't seem to belong to this Flowing Wind World, do you?"
Through observation, his eyes had revealed fragments of useful information.
A flicker of gentleness appeared in the corpse's venomous eyes, as if recalling distant memories.
"I came from the Land of Buddha. This world is cursed, forsaken by the gods. Its beings know no reincarnation, nor can they reach Nirvana. Believing myself to possess profound cultivation, I brought with me three thousand volumes of Buddhist law, opened the Myriad Demon Gate, and entered this realm hoping to bring salvation to its people. But alas... my heart was shallow. Instead, I bred an inner demon and brought calamity upon this world.
"I beg you, Benefactor. Grant me and this world release! Otherwise, when the Myriad Phenomena Gate opens, its corruption will spread to the Land of Buddha, destroying it!"
Then, his once-gentle face twisted again in hatred. With a sudden lunge, the corpse charged toward Qi Yuan, as if to tear him apart.
Qi Yuan's gaze turned icy. "I can grant you release. As for granting release to the world, that's beyond me."
This world had done him no wrong. Why, then, should he do anything?
