Tens of epochs, billions of years.
The Demon God had been sealed here, possessing consciousness but never seeing the light of day.
What kind of loneliness was that? Xu Mu gazed at the blinding murals, momentarily lost in thought, his consciousness seemingly drawn into them, traversing to that ancient battlefield of the past.
This land burned with boundless inferno, and ancient beasts passed through his translucent form.
He was merely an observer.
Xu Mu floated, witnessing a world of immeasurable scale where nine suns hung in the sky. A mysterious being, whose face he couldn't discern, stood on a sun-wielding golden crow, wrapped in crimson silk.
With a wave of his hand, he brought down endless heavenly wrath and flame.
Countless beings turned to ash, the very dust and soil of the earth incinerated.
Xu Mu was shaken. What power was this, to burn the earth downwards? If given enough time, wouldn't the entire Primordial Realm melt?
He could hardly imagine what kind of adversary could possibly stand against a being of this caliber.
However, this was a battlefield, and there could not have been only this one deity.
Who was he fighting?
Xu Mu's gaze sharpened. He suddenly felt a hint of coolness carried on the breeze.
He looked up and saw that the nine great suns had suddenly dimmed.
From a higher celestial dome, a graceful woman, ten thousand feet tall, descended. She was entirely azure, holding a pure vase. With a gentle pour, billions of tons of seawater cascaded down, submerging the mysterious being in a vast expanse of water.
The water from the vase seemed endless, and as far as the eye could see, everything was submerged in the ocean. In mere tens of seconds, almost the entire landmass was drowned.
This world had less than three percent of its land still exposed.
He had lost? Xu Mu held his breath, as if waiting for something.
Then, from a thousand feet underwater, he heard a roar, like the cry of a sun.
Roar!
Flames ignited from the seabed, unable to be extinguished by water. In a short time, all the water within ten thousand feet of it had evaporated.
The mysterious being revealed its true form, colossal and earth-shattering, burning with fire.
Charles saw the mural and recognized it.
"It's the Fire God, Zhurong."
Xu Mu looked up, gazing at the figure like a radiant sun. Everything within ten thousand feet automatically ignited, including the water poured from the pure vase.
The Fire God burned with solar flames, the Water God poured forth the waters of the Forgetful River; neither conceded.
Thus, the entire world oscillated between water and fire, creating countless mists and peculiar substances that even Charles couldn't fully distinguish.
This was a battle between deities. Although it was a phantom, Xu Mu still felt an immense pressure, even an urge to prostrate himself.
"Water and fire are irreconcilable."
Xu Mu didn't want to see any more. He turned around, about to speak to the coffin, only to realize he was still within the mural.
He was trapped in an illusion.
Xu Mu frowned, and before him, another deity descended.
He had a bull's face, wings on his back, a bronze head and iron brow, eight arms, nine toes, and was also ten thousand feet tall.
This was the Demon God. Upon his arrival, all color vanished, the world turned ink-black, and even the sun's light was absorbed.
In the Demon God's hand was the great axe used by Pangu to create the heavens and earth. As he ran, he trampled on millions of beings, drinking their blood and flesh, and with one strike, severed the shoulder of the Fire God.
"Roar!!!"
The Fire God's roar shook the heavens and earth. He seemed to be saying something, but Xu Mu couldn't understand.
As the scene progressed, Xu Mu seemed to forget he was watching a mural. More and more gods and demons joined the war, the battlefield grew more chaotic, and it wasn't just a clash between demons and gods; the deities of the Heavenly Court were also in combat.
In this, the Demon God shattered the Water God's pure vase, while his weapon was turned to ash by the Fire God.
The headless Xingtian swung his blade at the sky, a ten-thousand-foot giant collapsed a celestial pillar, the Water God was devoured by Taotie, and the golden crow fell to the mortal realm…
That battle lasted for an unknown duration, until humans appeared on the last remaining land.
This was the beginning of the end of the Demon God's epoch. Xu Mu clenched his fists, his palms sweating.
In a battle of this magnitude, what use could weak humans possibly have?
With this question, he saw, on that distant ancient battlefield, a figure wielding ten thousand swords to cleave the sky, shattering the Heavenly Court and felling countless deities with his sword.
He saw a young man in a long robe, holding a scripture, his words manifesting reality, sealing countless deities.
He also saw a bald old monk, striking the sky with a hand seal, causing the heavens to fracture and a black hole to appear, with spatial turbulence annihilating the deities that fell into it…
Humanity eventually triumphed. The deities were all slain or banished, and the Heavenly Court lost its former glory.
But the Demon God remained; he had not died.
While his combat power wasn't the strongest, he was the most peculiar, impossible to truly kill. His massive body could even withstand spatial turbulence to return to his own realm, making him unbanishable.
So, those human powerhouses united and killed the Demon God again and again.
As the old generation of humans aged and died, new immortals rose to continue killing him. This process lasted for an unknown time, causing widespread suffering, until one person appeared.
That person's name was Fuxi, hailed by the people of that world as the Human Emperor.
It was he who completely ended the era of gods and demons.
Fuxi split the Demon God's soul, body, and spirit into three with supreme Dao techniques, sealing them in different places.
First, he dismembered the Demon God's body, ground it into mince, and fed it to livestock. Then he killed the livestock and burned them to ash, which was then poured into the sea.
The only remaining piece that couldn't be crushed, a horn of the Demon God, was placed in a colossal coffin, pulled by nine divine dragons with chains, sealed, and buried underground, never to see the light of day. Murals were left behind as a warning to future generations: if anyone came here, they must never open the seal.
Therefore, what Xu Mu saw in the coffin was the Demon God's horn.
Next, the Demon God's soul was sealed by Fuxi in a palace. Periodically, Fuxi would reinforce the seal, otherwise, a trace of energy would seep out and wreak havoc in the human world.
Finally, the most difficult part to deal with, the Demon God's spirit, which was equivalent to the demonic power within his body, was placed by the Human Emperor in a separate realm to be diluted and absorbed by the power of the Great Dao. This process might take countless epochs.
Thus, Gui Ye (Mysterious Night) was formed.
…
…
After an unknown duration, perhaps an instant, Xu Mu finished viewing all the murals. He withdrew from that profound state and returned to the spacious underground palace.
He gazed at the murals before him, then looked back at the coffin of the sealer, falling silent.
"That is definitely not an ability," Xu Mu closed his eyes. Those deities could destroy worlds at will. The records of the Primordial Era suggested that only the power of Apocalypse could match them. All existing ability users on the continent were incomparable, even the top-ranked fisherman on the World Rankings.
"You are merely a fragment of the main body's horn, and your soul is sealed in the Dark Palace."
"I once faintly heard the Human Emperor mention that he had to reinforce the seal periodically, otherwise your soul would leak out and cause trouble in the human world."
"You were the one who came to this underground palace, killed those thirty-four people, and then returned to Bu Luo City to spread false news, weren't you?"
For some reason, in this state, Xu Mu had become unusually calm and analyzed logically.
"Yes," the Demon God in the coffin replied.
"Your soul is out, it can kill, but it cannot help you open the coffin."
"Yes."
Xu Mu raised an eyebrow:
"Then why did he kill those people? If he had just let them act, this seal would have eventually been broken."
"Because he doesn't want me to break the seal first," the Demon God's voice was calm. "I cannot be killed. Every inch of my flesh has its own consciousness. I am the Demon God, and he is also the Demon God."
"If I break the seal before him, the demonic power of Gui Ye will return to me, and his will will be extinguished."
"Mao Ni didn't deceive me." Hearing this, Charles suddenly sighed. He remembered a novel from the Blue Star that described a similar plot, though the protagonist was a robot.
"So he spread the news of the sacred relic to lure human powerhouses to open the Dark Palace and release him. But one domain lord died there before. Who killed him?"
"I don't know," the Demon God's voice sounded tired. His energy was limited, and he only spoke so much because he hadn't spoken in so long.
"After I was sealed, humanity seemed to have experienced a catastrophe. Fuxi disappeared, or perhaps died. Before that, he had left sacred beasts to guard."
…
"Forget it, no need to research this."
After listening, Xu Mu took a deep breath and spread his hands.
Charles's equipment no longer needed to be meticulously researched. The secret of Gui Ye was revealed, and his silver was safe.
"This can be set aside, but there are some things you need to research."
"For instance, issues of higher-level physics and space. Alternate dimensions seem to exist, so what about the multiverse? Where are those banished deities? Will they return? Why did the humans of that era, who were so strong, disappear…"
"Shut up, shut up!"
Xu Mu quickly interrupted Charles. He wasn't qualified to think about such matters yet. He only cared about the location of the sacred relic.
"What's going on with the anomaly in Xishan? Does a sliver of the Demon God's leaked soul have the power to change the world? What is Gui Ye, and why does the darkness intensify after midnight?"
"Alright, I was wrong. The instruments still need to be researched."
…
Xu Mu surrendered and then turned to look at the coffin:
"Now, what do you want to do?"
"Since you are a successor of the divine, you barely qualify to converse with me," the Demon God said. "Why don't you rescue me? We can join forces and return the world to the era of gods and demons, how about it?"
Xu Mu sneered. Did he take him for a fool?
If he let him out, the first one to die would be this so-called successor of the divine!
"If you tell me where the sacred relic is, I might consider it."
Xu Mu said feigning sincerity. In his heart, he only wanted to obtain the sacred relic, which would bring him one step closer to the secret of Apocalypse.
"The so-called sacred relic is something left by a saint, or rather, a god."
In the underground palace, Changsun Shouying, who had been standing with his back turned, stood up, grinning sinisterly. His bones emitted crackling sounds like thunder.
He seemed to have changed.
Xu Mu sensed the change in his aura and his expression suddenly tightened. He immediately retreated backward.
But it was too late.
In an instant, Changsun Shouying's body moved before Xu Mu, and he slammed a palm towards the youth's chest.
"Vellitan!"
In the face of mortal danger, Xu Mu looked at the youth's face and blurted out that person's name.
This aura was the aura of a third-stage ability user he had seen for the first time. He would never forget it.
He had never expected that the person the entire Great Xia was searching for had been hiding in Xishan all along!
"Stop for a moment, let's talk this out!"
Thanks to three months of rigorous physical training, Xu Mu raised his arm and blocked Vellitan's palm at the last moment. However, his body still bore the immense force and he was smashed heavily into the coffin.
He estimated that there were still over five minutes until the arrival of Gui Ye. He was no match for Vellitan. To kill him, that person had to arrive!
"Talk it out?" Changsun Weiying's face contorted, his voice turning into Vellitan's aged, hoarse tone. "It's because of you that I've been reduced to this state, even losing my body. And you want me to talk it out?"
Vellitan roared and unleashed a second punch. The domain beneath his feet instantly spread out, engulfing the entire underground palace.
Xu Mu was shocked. He had actually entered the Lord realm!
"You made a deal with that divine soul in the palace?"
Xu Mu immediately guessed the truth. Vellitan possessed the Heavenly Book and knew those secrets, so it wasn't surprising.
And if he had found the Dark Palace first and communicated with that soul, entering the Lord realm wouldn't be surprising either.
Changsun Shouying's body let out three mad laughs. Relying on his absolute superior strength, he grabbed Xu Mu's neck and lifted him into the air.
"So what if I did!"
"Lord Demon God has promised that after his resurrection, I will be the second sovereign besides him. I will be his first Demon General!"
Vellitan roared excitedly, his grip tightening. Xu Mu's neck seemed to swell, and breathing immediately became difficult.
Although his physique was strong, in the face of a fourth-stage ability user, especially one who had unleashed their domain, he had no ability to resist.
"In this state, you can last for another fifteen seconds at most."
Charles calculated and began the countdown:
"Fourteen, thirteen, twelve…"
"You're really trying to hasten my demise!"
Xu Mu roared in his heart, gripping Vellitan's hands tightly, trying to break free, but it was useless.
"You've become much weaker than before. Is it because of the Xishan anomaly?"
Vellitan, seeing how easily Xu Mu was subdued, felt a hint of surprise.
Was he too strong, or had Xu Mu become weaker, to be so easily captured!
"Weak, even with all your effort, what use is it if you found the sacred relic before I arrived?"
Above the vast and majestic palace, a clean-faced, handsome youth slowly stood up.
"Come, give me your body."
"Vellitan, I will kill him for you now!"
…