Stellar Transformation-Chapter 178 - 8 Qin Yu Returns 15 - Life and Death Passage
The falling boulders, each over a hundred meters long and six to seven meters wide, were of unknown thickness. Qin Yu estimated that the weight of each boulder was only a few million pounds. However, dozens of ordinary Cultivators behind him joined hands and were powerless against them.
Qin Yu’s legs bent slightly, and with both hands, he fully supported the hundred-meter-long boulder, as an immense pressure from the boulder pressed down through his arms, causing his legs to bend even more unconsciously.
"Zi~~" A deep sound arose from beneath his feet, and Qin Yu’s feet sunk into the stone slabs on the ground.
Since the stone wall passage caused segment after segment of boulders to fall simultaneously, those beneath each segment bearing the weight were different. Qin Yu, Hou Fei, Hei Yu, Azure Dragon, and Teng Shan were at the forefront, naturally supporting the weight together.
The stone slabs on the ground made noises, unable to bear the weight, some cracking and others sinking into the ground underfoot.
"So heavy," Hou Fei exclaimed, with both hands supporting as well. Little Black made no sound, his huge wings directly propping against the surface of the boulder. The three brothers together barely managed to fully support the weight of the boulder.
Qin Yu was shocked. Back when he first practiced Outer Strength, he hadn’t yet reached the Innate Realm, but could lift over a thousand pounds with a single hand. Upon reaching Innate Great Success, he could lift a ten-thousand-pound boulder. As for the Star Nebula Realm and Meteor Realm, not only did physical strength increase by several orders, but the Star Power within the body was also incredibly formidable.
Just Qin Yu alone could lift a few million pounds. Hou Fei’s strongest trait was his strength, which was even greater than Qin Yu’s. Little Black’s strength was not far off from Qin Yu’s either. The three of them joining forces to withstand the boulder could indicate its immense weight.
"Azure Dragon, why aren’t you pitching in?" Qin Yu bellowed.
While they—the three brothers—were making an effort, Azure Dragon beside them had not moved but was instead closely examining the talismans on the boulder.
"These talismans are tricky!"
Azure Dragon muttered to himself, then smirked at Qin Yu, "Not bad at all. Alright, you three can rest now."
With a cold shout, Azure Dragon’s hands suddenly transformed into huge dragon claws, his arms thickened, and dragon scales appeared. A powerful energy burst forth from within his body, so powerful that it made the air around them tremble.
With his arms pushing, Qin Yu, Hou Fei, and Hei Yu, the three brothers, felt no pressure at all.
When Azure Dragon stepped in, he surpassed the combined efforts of the three brothers, Qin Yu.
Hou Fei’s eyes flickered with red light as he stared at Azure Dragon for a long time before communicating via Spiritual Sense, "Big Brother, when the boulder fell just now, why didn’t Azure Dragon take action at the start? Was he hoping the boulder would crush us to death or at least injure us?"
Qin Yu fell silent for a moment before responding via Spiritual Communication, "Don’t overthink it." He also glanced at Azure Dragon.
However, on the stone slab floor of the stone wall passage, blood had already formed streams, the blood of Cultivators. With the terrifying pressure of the boulder, even the three of them found it difficult to support. How could teams of ordinary Golden Core Stage Cultivators bear it?
The screams of agony had already gradually ceased.
Since each boulder was a hundred meters long, those beneath the same segment of the boulder naturally formed a group.
Qin Yu’s group of five. Immediately behind them, Di Long, Di Jian, Di Xu, Three-eyed Ancestor, and Lou Ke were just beneath the same segment of boulder. Yida, Situ Xue, and Jiao Jiu happened to be struck down by the same segment of boulder. True Master Yan Xu, True Master Huo Tian, True Master Di Feng, and the dozen or so Cultivators following closely behind them were smashed by the same segment of boulder.
Aside from these few groups, all the others were dead.
"Dammit, when will this boulder lift? Break it for me!" Hou Fei’s Black Stick slammed down on the boulder with tremendous force, which normally would be enough to shatter any boulder it struck, and indeed, the boulder should have splintered immediately.
However, as Hou Fei’s Black Stick struck the boulder, the talismanic inscriptions on it flashed with a black light. The entire surface of the boulder seemed to be enveloped in a black luster, effortlessly deflecting Hou Fei’s attack, leaving the boulder completely unscathed.
"Hmm," Hou Fei was greatly surprised.
"Break!"
As the shout rang out, the Azure Dragon’s claws emitted a dazzling glow, tearing through the black talisman’s light. Then, the giant rock naturally shattered into countless pieces, and suddenly the rock above the heads of Qin Yu’s group of five was gone.
Qin Yu, Hou Fei, and Hei Yu all looked towards the Azure Dragon.
Hou Fei’s Black Stick attacks were ineffective against the black talisman, yet the Azure Dragon could tear it apart, the disparity between them was clear. However... Hou Fei had not transformed, which didn’t represent his full strength.
"Swoosh!" The Three-eyed Ancestor’s forehead split open, and a third eye emitted a green light ray, directly breaking the black talisman, and then the giant rock was easily blasted into fragments by everyone.
True Master Yan Xu’s body surface suddenly surged with an astonishing Sword Light, and at this moment, True Master Yan Xu seemed to be enveloped by a huge sword. With a shout, the Sword Light shot directly at the black talisman, which likewise shattered.
Yida’s long purple hair, reaching down to her buttocks, suddenly shot straight up like long needles.
"Puchi!"
As if piercing paper, the black talisman’s glow was thus pierced by the purple hair.
With the boulders breaking apart, the entire passage lit up, the pitch-black state that was there before had dissipated.
"The darkness just now must have been due to that mysterious talisman," the Azure Dragon stated with certainty. Even though the passage was littered with debris, it did not affect the group at all.
Qin Yu, however, turned his gaze to the four individuals.
An Azure Dragon at the early stage of Kongming Realm, a Three-eyed Ancestor at the late-stage Cave Void Realm with a third eye, Yida, a Demon Cultivator at the late-stage Kongming Realm, and True Master Yan Xu, a Cultivator at the late-stage Kongming Realm. While the Azure Dragon had a slight advantage, the rest were closely matched.
"So strong!"
Qin Yu thought to himself.
He knew very clearly that among the Six Great Forces, the Star Pavilion’s power was only slightly greater than that of the Nine Evil Hall. The other four were backed by those four super experts, but... if Uncle Lan were considered part of the Star Pavilion, then the Star Pavilion would be the strongest.
******
The Star Pavilion, with Qin Yu, Hou Fei, and Hei Yu, the three brothers. The Green Dragon Palace, with the Azure Dragon and Teng Shan. Bishui Mansion, with the Three-eyed Ancestor and Lou Ke. Nine Evil Hall, with the brothers Di Long, Di Jian, and Di Xu. Purple Flame Demon Prison, with Yida, Situ Xue, and Jiao Jiu. Penglai Immortal Domain, with True Master Yan Xu, True Master Huo Tian, and True Master Di Feng.
In addition, there were a dozen or so surviving Cultivators standing behind True Master Yan Xu. These were the people who had survived.
"I think it would be appropriate for everyone to cooperate. If we continue to fight separately, I fear that many will die before we even see the Ninth Jade Sword," True Master Yan Xu said with a smile.
Playing with her hair, Yida sneered, "Cooperate? If there’s genuine intent, it’s fine, but if not, at the critical moment, you old fellow might sneak attack... Heh, heh." After sneering a few times, Yida stated with certainty, "I’m used to protecting myself. I don’t like relying on others to determine my fate."
"I feel the same," the Three-eyed Ancestor glared at True Master Yan Xu.
Di Long said, "I’m neither for nor against it. If everyone agrees, then I agree too." Di Long’s statement was pointless; since two had already disagreed, it was obvious that he was not inclined.
Qin Yu remained silent.
"Azure Dragon, let’s move on," Qin Yu said to the Azure Dragon.
Azure Dragon glanced back at the crowd and said indifferently, "Everyone, take care of yourselves. I won’t be responsible if anyone dies. If you’re really worried about your life, turn back now." Having said that, Azure Dragon continued forward with Teng Shan.
No one turned back, including those dozen or so ordinary Cultivators.
It was not that they did not want to, but they dared not. The leaders of the Six Great Forces could retreat, but their subordinates could not. Retreating would mean abandoning their leaders in the face of danger, and that would have severe consequences.
This time, everyone was clearly much more cautious.
They carefully observed their surroundings, advancing steadily.
After traveling for roughly a few hundred miles through the underground passage, the group entered a special place—a cavern that could hold ten thousand people, with nine exits aside from the entrance, each leading down a dark passageway with no visible end.
"Nine passages, one leads to life, the rest to death. You must make a choice, ha ha... If you want my treasure, you’ll have to rely on your luck!"
There were characters of the Hidden Dragon Continent on the walls of the cavern, and each character emitted a terrifying aura, one much stronger than that of divine beasts like the Azure Dragon and the Three-eyed Demon. One could say... it was not even on the same level.
Everyone looked at the stone wall.
"Pfft!"
Azure Dragon, Three-eyed Demon, Yida, and True Master Yan Xu all turned pale and spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
As for Qin Yu and others, they just felt an oppressive weight in their hearts. Meanwhile, those dozen or so ordinary Cultivators didn’t feel anything at all. Immediately, the four of them sat down with crossed legs and dared not look at the stone wall again, each of them quietly regulating their breath.
"Nine passages, but only one is the path to life," Qin Yu furrowed his brows deeply.
After a moment, Azure Dragon and the others stood up, but they no longer looked at that wall.
Excitement flickered in Yida’s eyes, and blood beads oozed from his lips. "Ha ha, you all believe that those words on the wall were left by that Immortal, right?"
"Of course, there’s no doubt. Just the aura left by the characters alone was enough to injure us. If that was all, it would only prove that the person who left the characters was an Immortal. But look at those Golden Core Stage Cultivators..." Azure Dragon pointed at the Golden Core Stage Cultivators.
Everyone looked, indeed, those people were unaffected by the characters on the wall.
If the simple characters contained an aura that exerted pressure, one would naturally be unable to bear it if their cultivation was weaker.
"The pressure brought by these characters actually injures those with higher cultivation but affects the weaker ones less. This is truly magical; at least I have never heard of such a thing. This Immortal must be at least a Golden Immortal, and maybe even the legendary..." Azure Dragon stopped there.
Clearly, it was a secret.
"What’s the use of all this nonsense? Azure Dragon, now that we have nine passages here, which one should we take? Since the Immortal said that the others are the paths to death, with our strength, if we choose the wrong path, it only means death," the Three-eyed Demon said with a cold face.
Everyone felt the heaviness in their hearts.
These were the words of an Immortal at least at the Golden Immortal Level. With their strength, they couldn’t possibly work miracles.
So... out of the nine paths, we must choose the one that leads to life.
"Nine paths, with only one leading to life, it’s too hard to choose. Compared to the Ninth Jade Sword, life is more important. I don’t want to waste time here. Lou Six, don’t forget who you’re following," Di Long said, then turned with Di Xu, and Di Jian also followed them, intending to return the way they came.
"Coward," Yida scoffed.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, Di Long’s face twisted in horror, and he yelled out. Di Jian and Di Xu also cried out in alarm.
The rest immediately turned their gaze toward them. Di Long and his two companions looked back down the passageway they’d come through, and following their gaze, everyone else looked over. Without looking, there was no concern, but upon looking, everyone’s expressions changed dramatically.
At that moment, the passage swirled like a black hole, with black light swirling out from it and spreading over the walls of the vast cavern.
"This is bad."
Azure Dragon, True Master Yan Xu, Qin Yu, and the others realized the gravity of the situation. In just an instant, that black light enveloped all the walls of the cavern, turning the entire space pitch-black, except for the nine unaffected passages.
Looking up, they saw a line of floating characters—"Either life or death!"
"Ha ha..." Yida suddenly burst into laughter, "This Immortal is truly impressive. He left a message saying ’Among the nine passages, only one leads to life, the rest to death, we must make a choice’, and now indeed we must choose, as the way back is gone and only nine passages are left to choose from."
"Freak," Di Long gave Yida a cold glance.
Not everyone could laugh in the face of such a situation like Yida—most people didn’t want to die. But now they had no other option, even the walls of the cavern were permeated with the black light, radiating terrifying energy that made everyone shudder with fear.
There was only one choice to make!
Life or death!
"Big Brother, you choose. Whichever path you take, I’ll follow you. Gagag, I really trust your luck," Hou Fei looked at Qin Yu and laughed, while Hei Yu also turned his sharp gaze to Qin Yu, understanding his intent.
The two brothers both agreed with Qin Yu’s choice!
Nine passages, with only one leading to life—the odds were too slim.
But with no way back, there was only the choice to make!
Qin Yu gritted his teeth and scanned the nine passages.
(That’s the end of the first Chapter. I saw everyone’s messages in the book review area, so from now on, I will choose the second method of updating. Normally two Chapters a day, with one Chapter updated during the four days off in a month... There will be a second Chapter today! Hehe.)
(To be continued, if you wish to know what happens next, please login to WWW.CMFU.COM, with more Chapters available, and support the author for official reading!)
