Chapter 414
Chapter 414: Ill Omen Approaches
Immortal Yuan Ling frowned deeply as he stared at the words and images projected from the jade jue before him.
Fresh reports from across Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain’s sphere of influence filled the air: abnormal movement of travelers heading from the Grand Void spiritual axis toward Shu Ji, along with suspicious phenomena on the Grand Void spiritual axis and nearby planets after the demon suppression tower incident spiraled out of control.
Immortal Yuan He stood at the side, watching the projection with a grave expression. Behind him, a hazy phantom floated like a hidden beast curled lazily at its master’s back.
“From the reports, in recent days many people have indeed suddenly departed for the border,” Immortal Yuan Ling said in a low voice. “Nearly twenty percent more movement than normal. We can’t say directly that all of them were influenced by Yun Qing Zi, but there must be cases like Ling Long and Shang An among them.”
“We stopped everyone we could,” Immortal Yuan He said slowly. “As for the celestial ships that needed to dock and transfer through planets around Shu Ji, I’ve already notified the local control bureau. They’re temporarily detaining them under reasons like ‘route risk’ and ‘facility malfunction.’ They’re inspecting the passengers now. If there’s news, it should arrive soon.”
Immortal Yuan Ling nodded. “Luckily, Shu Ji is remote. Most routes can’t reach it directly. Ordinary civilian celestial ships must transfer through planets like Yao Men and Ten Courts—unlike Hotel, which can reach it in a straight line. That bought us time.”
“But even so,” Immortal Yuan He said with a sigh, “some reached it before we reacted. In the end, we were too slow. Who knows how many victims like Ling Long and Shang An are already trapped on Shu Ji.”
Immortal Yuan Ling stroked his beard. “Xuan Che and his people have other urgent duties. They cannot act rashly. The situation on Shu Ji remains unclear. Even the stationed disciples there—and even the star warden—might already be influenced by Yun Qing Zi. In the worst case…” His gaze darkened. “The entire planet could be compromised.”
“I’ve dispatched nearby disciples from Yao Men Star,” he continued. “On one hand, they will assist Xuan Che and the others. On the other, they will track the travelers on the list who may already be influenced. We cannot allow Yun Qing Zi’s power to grow further.”
“I only hope it is not too late,” he said quietly. “I hope those influenced can still wake up, like Ling Long and Shang An. If we can save more, it may help us understand Yun Qing Zi’s true nature.”
A sharp, air-splitting sound snapped outside the hall.
A figure strode through the doorway—its whole body driven by machinery, no different from an automaton.
Immortal Qian Ji.
“Yuan Ling! I’ve made all the arrangements on my side!” Immortal Qian Ji shouted from far away, marching in at a near-run. “Reclining Cloud Ten Halls and heng xu have sealed all routes leading to Shu Ji. The portion outside Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain’s control zone—unless there’s another ‘daoist friend yu’ doing door opening over there—not even a fly will get close to Shu Ji…”
He stopped mid-sentence, sharply lifting his head to stare at Immortal Yuan He. Under Yuan He’s slightly stunned gaze, Qian Ji asked cautiously, “…You don’t have any flies on your mountain that can shatter the void, right?”
Immortal Yuan He’s face turned green. “No!”
“Good,” Immortal Qian Ji said, letting out a breath. “Remote Mist Sect’s Immortal Maiden Yun Yao has replied. Soon she’ll have people deliver materials on Shu Ji’s exploration and mining situation over the past century.”
“Nethergloom Valley will also send early development records. If Yun Qing Zi has been hiding on Shu Ji for these thousand years, there might be traces—spider silk—left in those records…”
Hearing that, Immortal Yuan Ling finally relaxed slightly and nodded.
Among the five major sects of the Grand Void spiritual axis, Remote Mist Sect and Nethergloom Valley were the best at mining and off-world development. Even though Shu Ji’s mining had declined now, hundreds of years ago the planet had been full of mining stations and outposts established by those two sects. In fact, among the twelve massive refining towers around Ink City that rose straight into the clouds, eight had been built by Remote Mist Sect.
They held an enormous amount of data on Shu Ji’s geology, environment, and development history. Their willingness to share it now was partly due to the trust built through years of co-governance—and partly because they, too, could feel the pressure Yun Qing Zi brought.
Immortal Yuan Ling’s expression remained grave. His gaze drifted past Immortal Qian Ji, through the roof of the grand hall and the vast array dome of Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain, as if he could see the starry sky beyond the planet.
An invisible, formless sense of danger hung over the Grand Void Star.
It couldn’t be seen. It couldn’t be touched. But to a cultivator’s spiritual sense, the unease cast by that shadow had thickened into something like ink—heavy enough to swallow the entire planet whole.
Immortal Yuan Ling couldn’t name it. But he felt that even a mad Yun Qing Zi couldn’t create such a strange shadow—no matter how many scheming heretics you added.
If he could feel it, then the sect leaders of the other four sects… should have felt it too.
“…What on earth is that thing?” he whispered.
…
Huge demon-suppressing pillars rose throughout a vast underground cavern. The flowing lights of earth veins crisscrossed the space, winding along the cave walls and silently streaming through the air above. Chains strengthened and refined with spiritual power swayed faintly, clattering as they brushed and rubbed.
Within that sound, a massive stone sphere with a terrifying “face” lazily shifted and looked toward a corner of the cavern.
Not far away, a strange giant snake with seven heads was coiled around a demon-suppressing pillar. It was wrapped in a demon-binding rope far thinner than the chains on Omen Wandering Star, and it snored loudly in its sleep.
The stone sphere’s mouth split open. Jagged stone “teeth” revealed themselves bit by bit. It floated up, and in the hollow, pitch-black cavities where its eyes should have been, chaotic shadows swirled.
It drifted in front of the snake, bared its teeth, and deliberately shook its chains.
The snake jolted awake. All seven heads snapped open their eyes at once—fourteen pupils reflecting Omen Wandering Star’s horrifying shape.
“Ah—holy crap—awo—waugh—aaaargh!”
The creature let out a scream no normal person should be capable of making. Then it launched itself off the pillar—only for its heads to yank and tangle each other (especially the dog head, which clearly didn’t share the others’ priorities). Before it could even flee, it tied itself into a ball and rolled unsteadily among the chains.
Omen Wandering Star let out a hoarse, terrifying laugh.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Serpent Princess forced one head out of her tightly coiled ball and glared at the stone sphere. “Scaring a protected animal like me?! Getting exiled down here is miserable enough already!”
“I’m curious,” Omen Wandering Star said, drifting a little closer, looking down at the weak, low creature with something like contempt. “How did you get exiled to the lowest level? With your ability, you are not qualified to be suppressed below—let alone here. Look around. These pillars barely react to you. You can sleep on them like they’re beds.”
“Of course it’s because that old thief Yuan He took revenge with public power!” Serpent Princess snapped. “That filthy, rotten-hearted old Taoist! I only cursed him a few times while being escorted in, and he happened to hear it, so he threw me down here and said I needed to ‘reflect’ properly… Reflect my ass! Was what I said that bad? I didn’t even say the worse stuff!”
Omen Wandering Star watched her rant. Its face showed no expression a human mind could interpret. After a long moment, a hoarse voice rumbled from between its jagged teeth. “I feel like you asked to be sent down.”
Several of Serpent Princess’s heads immediately shrank back into the snake ball. “W-why would you say that?”
“You used to curse Yuan He often,” Omen Wandering Star said. “Sometimes your foul mouth echoed all the way down here. He wouldn’t throw you to the bottom just for that—unless you asked him to.”
“I asked him? I asked him my—” Serpent Princess’s face flushed. Under that hollow gaze, she faltered, then muttered, “…Fine. Mostly I was afraid I’d get beaten to death if I stayed up there. A bunch of idiots think they got caught because I snitched at the end. They said if I hadn’t snitched, they’d have escaped down the mountain already.”
“Did you snitch?”
“I did.”
For the first time, Omen Wandering Star understood what humans meant by speechless.
“What else could I do?!” Serpent Princess insisted, still somehow righteous. “In that situation, anyone who didn’t bow their head was an idiot. Those old Taoists at Thousand Peak Spirit Mountain are vicious. I saw that old thief Yuan He set up a huge cauldron at the foot of the mountain—Samadhi Truefire under it, spicy beef-tallow broth inside. When they caught a runaway demon beast, they tossed it in. Some got sliced and tossed in. Some got tied into bowknots and tossed in. Some got flattened, scored with knife cuts, and tossed in…”
She shuddered and snapped her jaws. “Was that snitching? That was being sensible—and helping others be sensible too!”
She rambled on, cursing wildly, her words full of chaotic fragments cobbled together by several muddled brains.
Then she abruptly stopped. It was as if the one screaming just now hadn’t been her at all. She became calm, watching the stone sphere with wary eyes.
“Why did you suddenly come talk to me?” she asked.
“Bored,” Omen Wandering Star said. “And curious.” Its mouth cracked wider, as if it were smiling. “Do you know, little creature? This planet’s ill omen is approaching. I can feel it. The long-awaited day of release is near.”
Its voice lowered, rough and delighted. “I have always enjoyed observing how the so-called intelligent species on this planet react as the process unfolds. And you… are an interesting individual.”
Serpent Princess stared at the massive stone sphere floating before her. After a long moment, she widened her eyes slightly.
“…So what?”
Omen Wandering Star went still.
Then, without a word, the stone sphere turned and floated upward. It stopped at the threshold where the demon-suppressing chains and pillars would react violently, and it shouted toward the cavern above:
“Yuan Ling! Yuan He! Whoever it is, take this idiot away immediately! Send something with a brain down here! Did you hear me?! Something with a brain!”
No one answered.