Li Qingshan pursed his lips. His gaze was firm, rapidly moving through the twisting tunnel as he made his way towards a brand-new world he had never set foot in.
Suddenly, the end of the tunnel lit up.
He grinned and moved even faster, filled with anticipation. Beyond the light was the Human realm. Just what would be awaiting him?
But at this exact moment, his body suddenly collapsed like a burst bubble. A moment earlier, he was a multitude of colours, but in the next moment, he vanished without a trace like he had never existed in the first place.
The World of the Five Continents, the lone island on the sea.
A pair of scarlet eyes opened up slowly, taking in Xiao An, Gu Yanying, and Rāhu Xiaoming’s figures.
Gu Yanying asked in concern, “How is it?”
Rāhu Xiaoming said, “You can tell just from his expression that it failed!”
Li Qingshan scratched his head. “The clone suddenly shattered. Don’t tell me Si Long has set up some kind of trap? But I didn’t even leave the Heaven Climbing Vine yet!”
As it turned out, his so-called method of sure success was sending his mirror clone up first. That way, he did not have to worry about anything, whether it was traps or powerful enemies. At most, he would sever the Heaven Climbing Vine.
Rāhu Xiaoming said, “It’s not Si Long’s trap. Instead, the laws of the world from the Human realm collapsed your clone.”
“Collapse?” Xiao An glanced over.
Rāhu Xiaoming nodded. “Yes. His mirror clone originates from his innate ability. It’s technically a technique. You can use techniques here, but that doesn’t mean you can use them in the Human realm.”
Li Qingshan stroked his chin in thought. “All abilities and techniques only exist based on the laws. When I first ended up in the small world, I encountered a similar problem, unable to use any of my abilities. However, that was because I was restrained by the laws of the world. In other words, going from a lower world to a higher world will also lead to severe restraint?”
Rāhu Xiaoming smiled. “You can’t call that restraint. Instead, it is conditioning. The waves in the ocean are obviously much larger than the ripples in a pond. Once you experience it personally, you’ll obviously understand!”
“That’s reasonable.”
Li Qingshan left behind a mirror clone and entered the Heaven Climbing Vine again, following the twisting tunnel up to the Human realm.
Since there was no method of sure success, there was nothing else he could do. He would just have to take a gamble.
His main body was far quicker than his clone. In the blink of an eye, the resplendent glow filled his eyes again.
A moment earlier, the feeling of his mirror clone’s collapse echoed through his mind, which made him become slightly nervous, but without a single hint of hesitation, he threw himself into the light.
Suddenly, he understood that the brilliance was light emitted when the purity of spiritual qi had reached an absolute limit.
He had never experienced such pure spiritual qi before. Even when he directly absorbed it from spiritual stones and spiritual veins, it could not reach such an alarming level. Every single breath he took felt like he had swallowed a spiritual stone, almost to a point where he felt like he developed indigestion.
The glow was even more dazzling and blinding than the summer sun, but it began to ease up again after he crossed over some sort of boundary.
He felt the tough, smooth rock under his feet. The light that filled his eyes had yet to completely disperse. He still could not observe his surroundings closely.
At that instant, an indescribable sensation filled his body, like thousands of threads invisible to the naked eye piercing every single pore, every single inch of his skin, leaving him momentarily immobilised.
Before he knew it, he had already passed through the Heaven Climbing Vine and arrived in the Human realm.
He blinked his eyes as hard as he could and blurrily made out a space of splendour. An ornamental, grey pillar stood like the central mainstay, directly linking with the ceiling. On there coiled a vivid, five-clawed golden dragon.
His heart jerked, only to realise that the golden dragon gave off no aura at all. It must have only been a decoration.
As a result, he relaxed. Beneath his feet seemed to be a circular altar, made from the same material as the grey pillar. The pillar stood in the centre of the altar. When he blinked his eyes again, he discovered that the golden dragon above had vanished.
Before he could even become shocked, he felt his chest ache. A golden streak of light had passed through his chest, making blood spurt out of his back and turn into rolling flames. A dragon-shaped sword appeared, whistling with sword qi and thrumming with dragon cries with its murderousness on full display.
“So there is an ambush!”
And it was an extremely dangerous ambush too. Even when the sword pierced his chest, the spirit turtle had not given him any form of warning.
He had not adjusted to the laws of the Human realm at all, so not only was he unable to use any of his innate abilities, but even his powerful body did not listen to his command. He was basically unable to put up any resistance.
Having tasted blood, the dragon-shaped sword seemed to become even more excited. It circled through the air a few times before turning into a golden streak and swinging down over Li Qingshan’s head.
If the sword landed on him, he would be split in half.
Li Qingshan turned his head with difficulty. There was no fear in his eyes. Instead, he was very excited. He called out, “Flowery!”
Clang!
A wild and magnificent blade of frenzy received the dragon-shaped sword. Their edges collided violently, and the screeching sound echoed through the splendid hall.
However, the sword immediately gained the upper hand, pressing down inch by inch.
His scarlet hair drifted through the air, breaking strand by strand. Li Qingshan’s head ached as he began to seriously consider whether his head was hard enough or not. The sword definitely was not a regular arcane treasure. It was as powerful as the Immortal Relinquished sword at the very least. The Frenzy Flower Blade of Path’s End was not weak either, but it had sustained severe damage during the battle on Dragonshead mountain. The Asura Altar of Armaments had been destroyed too, so he was unable to repair it.
Blood trickled down from his forehead. He closed his eyes instead, becoming as still and firm as the earth. He gathered his focus to understand the “threads” which pierced his body. That was the laws of the Human realm. He could not break free from them, so he could only adjust to it.
However, the small world inside his body shrank rapidly under the restraint of the invisible power, such that it almost stopped operating. He was unable to draw a single shred of power from it, let alone unleash his innate abilities.
However, the feeling was different from when he entered the small world. There were no restraints from the laws of the world. Instead, it felt more like a regular person suddenly being placed in gravity several times greater, such that even their circulatory system began to malfunction.
Of course, he was not a regular person, but a cultivator that possessed great power. He definitely would not be in any life-threatening danger. As long as he had ample time, he would be able to adjust to this new environment.
However, he did not even have a single minute right now. Under the threat of the golden sword, he seemed to see Si Long’s golden dragon eyes again. He suddenly realised this was the true Son of Heaven’s Sword of the True Dragon.
Perhaps it was exactly because of the laws of the world that Si Long had not taken it with him to the lower world, leaving it here to watch his dwelling, especially to guard against any stowaway that had entered his dwelling without his permission.
Without any further thought, there was a clang and the Frenzy Flower Blade of Path’s End sprawled away. The cracks on the blade grew larger yet again.
The golden sword whistled down. Li Qingshan tilted his head slightly and the sword slashed down the right of his neck, cutting through his flesh, blood and bone like it was unstoppable. It reached all the way down to his lower belly, about to split Li Qingshan in half.
At this moment, a pair of sturdy and powerful hands gripped the hilt firmly.
Li Qingshan grinned, “You’re an object without a master and you still act so flagrantly!”
