Section Forty-Two: The Broken Blade of Ancient Huang, the Immortal’s Footsteps

The ancient yellow broken blade revealed just a hint of its prowess, striking terror into both Long Yi and the Battle King. If, at that moment, Qiao Ling had not struck him with a hand blade but had instead used this broken knife, would he still be standing here now? Fortunately, Wuyun had placed a restriction on Qiao Ling, preventing the broken blade from launching an active attack. Otherwise...

The answer was obvious. Under the precise control of the ancient yellow broken blade, the stone sphere was like a thick sheet of paper, peeled apart and spread out like a silken net. Then, something strange happened.

The blue powder, as fine as dust, dispersed in the air and formed a pattern. Under Wuyun’s coloring, it came to life, vivid and distinct.

A towering figure appeared—three heads and six arms, each head a different color, all sharing the same body. As it matured, the three heads detached from the body, each taking on a new form: one like a dragon-elephant, another a jade python, another a monstrous stone—each transformation intimately tied to the owner’s cultivation techniques.

At this, Qiao Ling’s gaze turned cold. Wuyun’s description was indeed accurate: this three-headed, six-armed race belonged to the demon tribe, to the supernatural, neither one nor the other.

But in the next instant, even Wuyun was stunned by what he saw. In the vast memory scene, the owner of the eye appeared amidst desolation, cultivating his techniques, creating worlds. Every object around him exuded the aura of divinity.

“The Divine Realm! A higher dimension!” Wuyun murmured, just about to probe further when he saw that below, the memory was a blank void, as if cleansed away.

This lasted half a day. At Wuyun’s urging, the ancient yellow broken blade finally reached the end. When the stone sphere was sliced into over a hundred thousand layers of varying size, a segment of ancient script emerged at last. As it appeared, the script resonated, as if this was the final revelation, then vanished.

The stone sphere crumbled to dust, and the fragments were stealthily swallowed by the little hawk—its keen eyes desperately needed such treasures.

Wuyun closed his eyes and was speechless for a long time. When he finally spoke, he said, “The Supreme of the Divine Realm has calculated my existence, because I am from beyond this dimension. He hopes I will go to save the Divine Realm; only I, as an outsider, hold even a sliver of hope for salvation!”

Ignoring the mocking smiles from Xiong Laosan and the others, and Qiao Ling’s cold sneer, Wuyun returned to his usual self and said little more. He understood that being discovered was the inevitable consequence of Sheng Ba’s arrival in this dimension.

Guided by Wuyun, the group each selected items from the table: Xiong Laosan held a demon pill in his mouth, Long Yi consumed a patch of gray-patterned hide, and when Liu Ruyan picked up a hand bone, a strange rune appeared on her right hand as the bone dissolved instantly.

The little hawk chose a green feather at random, but his excitement betrayed him.

The Battle King drew the short straw: he attached an unknown leg bone to his severed limb, and new flesh grew rapidly, forming a new foot.

This should have been a cause for celebration, but the new foot was a good twenty centimeters longer than the other, forcing him to walk with an awkward, splayed gait.

“An immortal foot, an immortal foot,” Xiong Laosan tried to comfort his close friend, but the latter only grew more bitter. Did he have to lose all dignity?

From start to finish, everyone gained something, even Wuyun, who received a fragment of information. Once all had absorbed their respective gains, before the disdainful Qiao Ling could speak, Long Yun pressed him for three items.

The hair, flesh, and birth location of the Golden Bridge Immortal; the date and hour of his birth; weapons he had used or marks of his enemies.

Qiao Ling shook his head repeatedly—he didn’t even know his master’s birthdate. After all, which master craftsman would reveal their secrets to their sentient weapon at the time of forging? Still, surely he knew something? Qiao Ling insisted his master must have left clues and urged Wuyun to search for them.

Before he could furrow his brow, Qiao Ling’s murderous intent became palpable—he seemed ready to attack at the slightest provocation. The broken sword at his side was also beginning to gather its power.

A peculiar silence fell. Even Xiong Laosan stopped refining the demon pill in his stomach, and everyone fixed their gaze on Wuyun.

“Hahaha!” Wuyun laughed heartily, then said, “After all this talk, it turns out you were just stalling for time!”

Was Qiao Ling trying to break through Wuyun’s restriction? Or did he simply not want to rescue the Golden Bridge Immortal’s reincarnation?

Qiao Ling said nothing, letting Wuyun continue.

“This place is the famed imperial artifact of the Golden Bridge Immortal. I sense a mysterious power enveloping all directions, yet you claim there are no enemies nearby. As the spirit of the artifact, you know better than anyone whether you are harmed or not.”

“Unless... unless…”

“This bridge does not belong to you. You came later, forced to remain here!”

Qiao Ling sneered, while Xiong Laosan and the others broke into a cold sweat. Was another battle about to erupt? Even if the little bug had gained tremendous benefits, even if Long Yi and the Battle King had recovered and advanced, that broken sword was not something they could evade.

Wuyun’s expression shifted as he roared, “You are not the bridge spirit! You slipped down from the Divine Realm. The Golden Bridge Immortal died at your hand—all because of that eye bearing information!”

“How ridiculous!” Wuyun laughed again, the sound strange and unsettling. “You are gravely wounded. To enter the middle realm from the higher one, you had to sever your cultivation and descend to the immortal level. Once the spirit of the space detects your arrival, no matter your power, the entire immortal realm will mobilize to destroy you.”

“The most absurd part is, you don’t even know what the supposed message is. You’ve simply waited here, killing every friend and kin who came searching for the Golden Bridge Immortal, even hoping to use me to deduce the reincarnation’s whereabouts.”

“It’s all out in the open now!” Long Yi’s face was grave, while the Battle King looked longingly at his mismatched legs.

A deadly battle was about to begin.

Behind Qiao Ling, the stone golem, the Lady in Red, the black-faced elder, and the crimson poison flood-dragon all struggled, but the restrictions locking their minds could not be so easily broken.

Qiao Ling, ambushed, caused those behind him to gain a hint of clarity.

“You’re absolutely right.” Qiao Ling slowly turned to the ancient yellow broken blade, sighing, “Very few manage to survive the journey from the Divine Realm to the immortal realms below. Order cannot so easily be altered.”

“My cultivation is not high, but I am proficient in certain spatial arts, so I was chosen and sworn to pursue any information left by the seers. I don’t even know why. I don’t want to stay here, nor do I want any of this. But a divine vow, sworn in the Divine Realm—if I ever regain my status and start over, reaching the immortal realm and then crossing to the Divine Realm, if the task remains unfinished, the vow itself will erase me!”

“And the most ironic thing is—the prophecy is true, and I just happened to stumble into it.” Qiao Ling was furious. With a wave of his hand, the ancient yellow broken blade burst into brilliant light, its aura no less than the Tiger-faced Immortal’s.

Even a single strike from it would spell doom for all present!

Despair—far worse than facing the Tiger-faced Immortal.

“Senior, are you revealing your hand now because you can’t keep up the act of fortune-telling?” Xiong Laosan stammered, all joy at his new treasure gone.

“Hmph.” Qiao Ling snorted coldly. “The moment you used those items, you became like mortals swallowing immortals. Once you leave here, the thunder of space rifts will tear you to pieces. Mortal beings who swallow immortal essence—beyond this place, there will be no grave for you.”

“Ah…” Xiong Laosan frantically tried to claw the demon pill from his throat, but after a while realized it had already fused into every part of him. Removal was impossible.

“Who gave you the courage to expose all this?”

This was the question Qiao Ling most wanted answered. As a stowaway from the Divine Realm, his survival depended on extreme caution.

Especially now that the prophecy was coming true, and the unknown variable was shaking everything—he was more cautious than ever.

“Stop stalling,” Wuyun said, stepping up to Qiao Ling. With a point of his finger, the ancient yellow broken sword unleashed imperial might, sending Wuyun, the Battle King, and the rest flying to the corners of the room, blood streaming from their orifices.

Even Wuyun was not spared. Coughing up several mouthfuls of blood, he sighed, “Too hasty. Had I let you stall a little longer, I could have gained a bit more time.”

“Though I am constrained, my life-bound divine blade will not let me come to harm. You cannot do anything to me. Once I rid myself of your curse, it will be your time to die.” Qiao Ling’s voice was cold, utterly fearless. With the divine blade at his side, even that demon cat would have no choice but to flee, tail between its legs.