Stellar Transformation-Chapter 179: Episode 8: The Return of Qin Yu - 16: The Owner of the Ninth Jade Sword
"Which one should I choose?" Qin Yu’s gaze swept across the nine passageways, scrutinizing each one closely.
However, upon closer inspection, Qin Yu realized that the nine passageways were similarly deep and unfathomable, with only slight differences in their winding paths. How could one make a choice? If it were just Qin Yu alone, he would feel pressure, but it wouldn’t be too overwhelming.
But at this moment, he bore the lives of Hou Fei and Little Black on his shoulders.
"There’s hardly any difference between the nine passages. That immortal said to choose, but gave no hints. How can I choose like this? The probability of death is too high with one out of nine." Qin Yu’s calm heart began to grow irritated.
The more he looked, the angrier he became: "What bullshit immortal. If you want to give someone a jade sword, just give it, why make this nonsense with nine passageways to choose from? Moreover, there’s only one passageway that leads to life!" Beads of sweat appeared on Qin Yu’s forehead, and his eyes slowly reddened.
Azure Dragon’s face was stern, Di Long looked very anxious, but the Three-eyed Old Demon simply sat cross-legged quietly. True Master Yan Xu, True Master Huo Tian, and True Master Di Feng were discussing something.
"Hey, Azure Dragon, don’t be so grim. Di Long, you’re so scared of death, you’re really too weak. Does True Master Yan Xu have an idea? Ha ha... Qin Yu, stop thinking, just randomly pick one and go in, right?" Yida said with a sinister smile.
Qin Yu gave Yida a cold look: "Why don’t you choose?"
"Me?" Yida fiddled with his purple hair and said, "Do you even need to ask that question? I’ll wait for all of you to make your choices. Once each of you is dead, won’t I then know which is the path to life?"
"Idiot." Hou Fei laughed strangely, "Yida, you idiot, didn’t you see that all nine passageways are winding and bottomless? How can you know if the people who enter are alive or dead? Besides, you don’t have everyone’s soul jade scrolls."
"Yida, there’s so many of us, do you think we should all choose the passages?" The Three-eyed Old Demon opened his eyes to say.
Yida didn’t care at all: "Three-eyed, why are you sitting cross-legged here at this time?"
The Three-eyed Old Demon’s distinct laughter began: "Since only one of the nine passages is the path to life, if I can’t be absolutely certain which one it is, I definitely won’t choose any. It’s better to quietly cultivate in this cave until the tribulations arrive!"
Until the tribulations arrive!
Qin Yu, Azure Dragon, Yida, and the others all looked incredulously at the Three-eyed Old Demon, and even True Master Yan Xu, who was in the midst of conversation, stopped speaking and looked at the Three-eyed Old Demon in disbelief.
The Three-eyed Old Demon sneered: "I just don’t believe it. Let the Ninety-nine Tribulations strike down; if they can’t break through this place, then so be it. It would be perfect for me to pass the Ninety-nine Tribulations with ease." The Three-eyed Old Demon’s words left everyone speechless.
However, what the Three-eyed Old Demon said was indeed a method.
Only... one must bear the loneliness.
"Even if the Ninety-nine Tribulations cannot break this place, once I ascend, I will go directly from this realm to another. Whatever the case, this place will not be able to stop me, the old ancestor." There was a hint of pride in the Three-eyed Old Demon’s eyes.
To ascend, no matter where one was, once ascension took place, it was a direct journey from one realm to another.
All were speechless.
"Three-eyed, you’re strong," Azure Dragon said with a tearful smile, only managing to say that much.
Alone, always cultivating in this cave until the Ninety-nine Tribulations arrived. Even for a cultivator, not many could endure the loneliness of staying in one place indefinitely.
"Throw a stone to ask the way," Di Long said coldly, his gaze, however, sweeping across the dozen or so surviving cultivators.
Hearing Di Long’s words, everyone’s eyes lit up. Indeed, throw a stone to ask the way. It was impossible to send Teng Shan, Hou Fei, and the other experts to try. Now, the only choice was to send those dozen or so Golden Core Stage Cultivators.
"True Master, save us!" The dozen or so Golden Core Stage Cultivators knew something was amiss and immediately knelt down to plea. These people were all from the Penglai Immortal Domain.
However, True Master Yan Xu frowned and then, with a single stroke of his hand, divided the dozen people into two groups. He sighed toward the nine people he had separated and said, "You nine will have to make the sacrifice. First, create your own Soul Jade Scrolls."
"True Master, have mercy, please!"
The nine cultivators were extremely frightened, but the gaze of True Master Yan Xu turned cold.
The Three-eyed Demon glanced at them coldly and said, "Listen up, you nine. I command you in the name of Bishui Mansion to quickly create your own Soul Jade Scrolls and enter different passages; otherwise... all nine of you will die, and your sects will be annihilated as well."
The faces of the nine changed dramatically.
The cultivators summoned by Penglai Immortal Domain from near the Hidden Dragon Continent were not the core members of their forces; they all belonged to various sects. The Three-eyed Demon indeed had the power to obliterate their sects.
"By obeying, one of the nine of us might live; otherwise, we all die. Fellow daoists, good luck."
One middle-aged man among the nine who knelt down stood up abruptly, cast a resentful look at True Master Yan Xu and the Three-eyed Ancestor, and then produced a jade block. He quickly made a Soul Jade Scroll of his own.
The other eight also stood up one by one after a moment, each with a look of resolute acceptance of their fate, and made their own Soul Jade Scrolls.
The leader among them collected the nine Soul Jade Scrolls and handed them over to True Master Yan Xu. The leader gazed intensely at True Master Yan Xu and said heavily, "True Master, please keep these safe." True Master Yan Xu accepted them expressionlessly.
"Fellow daoists, good luck. I shall go ahead first," said the leader as he stepped directly into the passage on the far side.
"Fellows, good fortune." Another entered the second passage.
...
One after another, the individuals entered the passages, while True Master Yan Xu arranged the nine Soul Jade Scrolls on the ground in the order corresponding to the passages each person entered. Now that the nine had all disappeared into the depths of the passages, the scrolls lay peacefully on the ground.
Azure Dragon, True Master Yan Xu, Yida, Qin Yu, and others all watched the nine Soul Jade Scrolls. At this moment, with the nine long vanished into the passages, they could only judge whether the people who went inside had died by observing the Soul Jade Scrolls.
"Bang!"
The second Soul Jade Scroll shattered...
Soon after, the third Soul Jade Scroll also broke apart, followed by the fourth, the fifth...
In just a short time, the second to the ninth Soul Jade Scrolls all broke apart. Everyone’s eyes brightened, and their gazes turned to the first passage.
"It seems that the first passage is the one leading to life," said Di Long with a smile. "My fellows, why aren’t you hurrying? Do you want to let that Golden Core Stage Cultivator snatch the Ninth Jade Sword?" Di Long said and directly walked toward the first passage, with Di Jian and Di Xu immediately following behind him.
"Bang!"
The only unbroken first Soul Jade Scroll... now shattered as well!
The Di Long siblings froze in place as if struck, disbelief etched on their faces as they turned to look back. The first Soul Jade Scroll had shattered too. At this moment, the Di Long siblings were baffled, as were Azure Dragon, the Three-eyed Ancestor, Qin Yu, and the others.
"All nine Soul Jade Scrolls have shattered, and the nine are dead. What exactly is going on?" Di Long couldn’t understand.
The Immortal, having left a message stating that one of the paths leads to life, must have meant there was a way to survive, so why did all nine people perish? As the nine Soul Jade Scrolls shattered, everyone once again found themselves at a loss as to what to do next. Could they be forced to cast stones to find their way again?
Silence.
The entire cave was eerily quiet, each of the powerful cultivators frowning deeply.
"Cackle, you bunch of dummies," Hou Fei laughed mockingly, "Out of the nine passages, only one is the path of life, and that path must lead to the Ninth Jade Sword. Find where the Ninth Jade Sword is, and we’ll know which one is the path of life."
Di Xu rebuked, "If we knew where the Ninth Jade Sword was, would we need to bother with such trouble?"
"Idiot," Hou Fei scoffed.
Qin Yu’s eyes brightened, looking at Hou Fei in disbelief, "Feifei, you’re truly clever."
Azure Dragon, Yida, and others also thought of the solution almost simultaneously. Azure Dragon laughed aloud, "Hou Fei is indeed smart, haha... Yes, just find the direction of the Ninth Jade Sword. True Master Yan Xu, the secret technique you used last time to seek the Ninth Jade Sword failed, but try again this time."
Qin Yu, Yida, Situ Xue, and others also turned their gazes to True Master Yan Xu.
True Master Yan Xu was startled, and then he laughed, "Indeed, I have become old. This method is good. Last time, the directions of the eight Jade Swords entering the Primordial Wilderness were chaotic; there must have been some problem. Let’s try this time; it might succeed."
Saying so, True Master Yan Xu floated into the air and sat cross-legged.
One by one, those present threw their Jade Swords towards True Master Yan Xu. At this point, no one hesitated. At such a critical time, it wasn’t just about the Ninth Jade Sword; it was about everyone’s very lives. Who would dare to take this lightly?
True Master Yan Xu once again performed the secret technique.
The eight Jade Swords were connected to True Master Yan Xu, beams of brilliance shot out, True Master Yan Xu’s expression was solemn, as he executed one magic formula after another... Time ticked away, second by second, and after a long wait, sweat appeared on True Master Yan Xu’s forehead.
"My friends, it’s a success," True Master Yan Xu suddenly exhaled and said.
The eight Jade Swords flew parallel to one another, heading directly into the... first passage!
"The first passage?" Qin Yu was astonished.
The Di Long brothers were also taken aback, as was everyone present. When the Soul Jade Scroll corresponding to the first passage broke earlier, it had caused everyone to lose hope, but now the Jade Swords were indicating the direction on their own.
"If the first passage is the path of life, why did the person who entered it die?" Di Long immediately questioned.
"There is only one path out of the nine that is the path of life. If you don’t choose this first one, which one will you choose?" Yida sneered, then flew into the first passage first, while everyone also retrieved their Flying Swords.
Qin Yu and his brothers, along with Azure Dragon and Teng Shan, quickly followed into the first passage.
True Master Yan Xu, the Three-eyed Ancestor, and others followed suit, and the Di Long brothers reluctantly chose the passage as well.
******
No one dared to relax; even though the eight Jade Swords had indicated this passage, everyone was still extremely cautious. After all, the cultivator who had entered this passage had died, suggesting at least some danger within.
But now, no one knew just how dangerous this place really was.
"Big Brother, be careful," Hou Fei said at this moment, his eagle eyes scanning all around, appearing very vigilant. Qin Yu nodded as well. At this moment, he was also on high alert, with Little Black by his side, sweeping the surroundings with his eagle eye.
In this passage, Spiritual Sense was utterly useless. Places set up by Immortals were not something they could easily probe into.
Yida was in the front, while the three brothers, Azure Dragon, Teng Shan, and Qin Yu, were not far behind. Following them were True Master Yan Xu, Di Long, the Three-eyed Ancestor, and others. These top personalities representing the Six Great Forces of the Overseas Cultivation World were all being exceedingly cautious at this moment.
As time passed, it seemed that everyone’s guesses were wrong; there wasn’t a single trace to be found here.
"Why aren’t there even any corpses of the cultivators?" Qin Yu’s brows furrowed deeply. If people died, there should be corpses, but after advancing for so long, they had not seen a single cultivator’s corpse, which was truly strange.
However, just at that moment—
Whoosh whoosh~~~ like a tide, on the other side of the channel, a dark red tide surged at high speed, completely filling the entire passageway. No, it wasn’t a tide, but more like a magmatic flow, and on the surface of this flow, there were flames.
"Underground Flames, be careful!"
The Three-eyed Ancestor’s voice echoed through the passageway, and in just an instant, like a tide, it completely covered everyone. Those few Golden Core Stage Cultivators who had survived, not having used the ’throwing stones to ask the way’ method, turned into ashes before even touching the Underground Flames.
If we were to talk about who was the most at ease among those present, the first one would have to be Little Black.
In the midst of the Underground Flames, Little Black didn’t even need to use his Protective Demon Essence Power. Relying solely on his black wings, which were comparable to an Upper Grade Spiritual Artifact, and the protection of his feathers, the Underground Flames could not harm Little Black in the slightest. As for others, Di Xu, Situ Xue, Jiao Jiu, True Master Huo Tian, and True Master Di Feng, the four humans, were slightly more harried.
Qin Yu and the others also effortlessly countered it with their Protective Energy. Qin Yu, Azure Dragon, Teng Shan, the Three-eyed Ancestor, and other Demon Cultivators had extremely strong bodies. Even if their Protective Energy only defended against the majority of the attack, their bodies didn’t mind that bit of power, whereas the bodies of those Cultivating Immortality and Cultivating Demon were weaker.
Nevertheless, they all managed to avoid losing their lives.
"Everyone, hurry up." Azure Dragon shouted loudly, then took the lead and rushed toward the other end of the channel at high speed. Qin Yu and his brothers, along with the others, shuttled through swiftly, and in just a moment, they passed through the channel.
Apart from the Underground Flames, there were no other attacks.
Once out of the passage, they were greeted by a luxurious hall, which was far more grandiose than the Imperial Palace, and much larger in size. To everyone’s shock—there were two enormous Divine Beasts resting under this great hall.
On the left was a dark red-bodied beast with six thick, sharp spines on its neck, a golden horn on its head, and a body surface like blocks of stone. Its defensive power even surpassed that of the Divine Beast Dragon, and it was a hundred meters long—the Dragon Rock Lion.
On the right was a colossal avian creature, tens of meters tall with vast wings, with flames entwining every part of its body, exuding a noble presence that could be distinctly felt. It was the Divine Beast—the Red Bird.
At the top of the great hall sat a man in a black robe, with a snow-white cat lying on his lap. At this moment, the robed man was looking down, playing with a Jade Sword. Suddenly, he lifted his head and smiled towards the crowd that had emerged from the passage into the great hall.
At this moment, Azure Dragon, Qin Yu, the Three-eyed Ancestor, and about a dozen other people were looking at the scene before them in shock.
The two great Divine Beasts, the Snow Cat, the man in the black robe, and that Jade Sword.
The man in the black robe smiled at the astonished crowd and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce myself. I am the holder of the Ninth Jade Sword, and at the same time, the Controller of the three million-mile peripheral region of the Primordial Wilderness—Yan Mo!"
(Chapter two is finished, and volume eight also concludes. Tomorrow, volume nine begins, which promises to be even more exciting. Everyone, cast your monthly votes; I’ve been overtaken again and fallen to fifth place, sweating~~)
(To be continued. If you wish to know what happens next, please visit WWW.CMFU.COM for more Chapters, support the author, and support genuine reading!)
