CHAPTER 316: CHAPTER 301: THE BROKEN INNER COSMOS

Boom!

A massive blood-colored beam shot into the sky, interrupting Fen You’s voice and startling the two from their conversation.

"Let’s discuss the rest later, follow me now." Fen You dived underground, with Wang Xu quickly following behind, putting away the sacred statue.

As they delved hundreds of thousands of miles underground, the blood-colored beam persisted, continuously closing in on them. Fen You remained silent, leading Wang Xu deeper into the earth.

"The beam is getting closer." Wang Xu frowned.

"I can sense a special space below that even I cannot penetrate. If I’m not mistaken, that should be the core of this forbidden array," Fen You said.

"Fen You, you once followed the Great Emperor Qing Fa, logically, your strength should be quite powerful, so why..."

"Why am I not powerful?" Fen You chuckled, "I am merely a Fire Spirit born of the Ganges Unquenchable Fire. Though I have the innate ability to devour all things, I cannot cultivate to make myself stronger—because I am just a True Spirit, without a real physical body. That’s why I must rely on your life form to devour and transform."

Wang Xu nodded; indeed, Fen You’s first master was the Great Emperor Qing Fa. Though he didn’t know exactly how strong Qing Fa was, to create an existence like Fen You, his strength must have been formidable.

If Fen You truly possessed part of Qing Fa’s power, his second master, Qu Yao Saint Venerable, might not have perished alongside the Dark Saint Venerable for the Ancient Luo Cosmos.

"Originally, I helped you mold a sacred statue to perform a soul transfer, so the statue could become my body. But I found that the statue’s physical limitations were too great, favoring spiritual consciousness instead, which is not suitable for me." Fen You shook his head.

"Also, and importantly, the statue’s soul is independent but still obeys you, tightly connected. If I took over the statue, I would still have to obey you. Though I am a Fire Spirit, I desire freedom and do not wish to be bound to anyone."

Wang Xu had long realized this point; as a Fire Spirit, neither Qing Fa nor Qu Yao had ever heard Fen You call them ’master,’ evidence of Fen You’s proud heart, unwilling to be a subordinate to anyone.

Swish! Swish!

In a flash, the two had ventured several million kilometers underground.

"Here we are!" Fen You halted, pointing a finger as a red-and-white flame seeped from his fingertip, instantly igniting into a fierce blaze, turning the surrounding area into a vacuum zone extending hundreds of kilometers.

"This is..." Wang Xu exclaimed.

Earth and stone turned to ash, revealing a giant door buried beneath. This door, crafted from an unknown material, gleamed a bronze-green hue. Wang Xu pressed lightly but couldn’t budge it at all.

Bear in mind, Wang Xu now possessed the strength of the Celestial God Realm. His press carried significant force, yet it left no mark on the door.

"If I’m correct, this door is made of ’Decaying Porcelain Stone,’ whose preciousness in this small Inner Cosmos is incomparable. A piece the size of a fingernail can create a treasure on par with an ’Acquired Divine Treasure.’ To gather such an immense amount of Decaying Porcelain Stone, there must be a tremendous secret behind this door."

Fen You, having lived for countless years, knew almost everything.

"Even knowing there’s a great secret behind this door is useless. My Double-Headed Dragon Slash can’t even scratch it." Wang Xu swung his blade fiercely at the door but couldn’t leave the slightest mark.

"Don’t waste your energy. The hardness of Decaying Porcelain Stone requires the existence of a Hundred Generations Celestial God or above to leave a mark. Even an Eternal Generations Celestial God would be helpless against such a construction of Decaying Porcelain Stone," Fen You said.

"Let your sacred statue try, use spiritual consciousness to open it."

Wang Xu nodded, with a wave of his hand, the sacred statue appeared.

Reverberate~

A powerful spiritual consciousness radiated from the statue, whose life level had ascended to the Celestial God Realm, causing the spiritual consciousness to surge in power.

"It’s loosening!" The spiritual consciousness easily found a gap within the door, slowly prying it open a bit.

"Fen You, with this gap, I should be able to enter by shrinking the Celestial God Body." The Celestial God Body could be minimized to the size of a cell, and the revealed gap was sufficient.

"No, it’s not enough yet. You need to open the door fully," Fen You instructed.

Wang Xu didn’t understand, but Fen You would never be wrong. Their lives were intertwined, and Fen You would not joke at such a critical moment.

Immediately, the spiritual consciousness exerted more force, transforming into two invisible giant hands, slowly prying the door open bit by bit.

Meanwhile, the surrounding blood-colored beam continued to approach. If Wang Xu and Fen You could not enter the door soon, they risked being engulfed by the beam, leaving nothing behind.

Clang——

The giant door was opened!

Before Wang Xu could celebrate, he saw the truth behind the door, his face changing drastically as he shouted, "Fen You, let’s go quickly!"

The door opened, and a denser, purer mist of sinuous blood surged forth. From the writhing flesh, twisted struggling bodies and heads emerged, howling in agony, wailing miserably as a powerful aura of sin spread into the sky.

Bloody hands stretched out from within the flesh, each incredibly powerful, the embodiment of sins, and chains of karma formed by endless resentment.

"Do not panic." Facing such a scene, Fen You remained calmly elegant, just as he pointed a finger, a trace of Indestructible Fire landed on the bloodied hands...

Bang!

In an instant, all the blood hands were ignited, the terrifying devouring power of the Indestructible Fire consumed the sins and resentments, enveloping all the blood and flesh in flames.

The wall of sinful flesh emitted a sharp wail under the combustion of the Indestructible Fire and was ultimately unwillingly consumed by the flames.

This wall of flesh was immensely powerful, its true strength exceeding Wang Xu’s. If another person at the Celestial God Realm had come, they would likely suffer heavy damage without preparation. Yet, the terrifying devouring ability of the Indestructible Fire firmly suppressed it,

"The Life Index... it’s soaring madly!" The Indestructible Fire entered Wang Xu’s abdomen directly, and immediately, a vast Power of Life surged, causing the Life Index of both the Saint Venerable and the Master Venerable to skyrocket.

"The Indestructible Fire burns away all sins, and I happen to completely restrain it. Furthermore, this flesh has a powerful life aura, containing a rich Life Index, which is greatly beneficial to you," Fen You said.

The wall of sinful flesh was entirely converted into Wang Xu’s Life Index, revealing behind the door a pitch-black empty area.

"The path is clear; let’s go in!"

The two entered together, and as they stepped into this empty space, the outside crimson beams instantly dissipated, and the life aura triggering the Forbidden Array vanished, thus the crimson beams couldn’t continue tracking.

Light illuminated the surroundings.

It was a vast region, boundless, like a small inner world, yet it had no sun, no stars, no clouds, only dense blood mist pervading the air.

Wang Xu and Fen You flew within, discovering this region was vast; aside from the increasingly potent scent of blood, there was only blood-red earth and sand, with no other changes.

"Where is this?" Wang Xu asked.

"It’s the Inner Cosmos within the Fallen Sword Abyss, a fragmented Inner Cosmos lacking many laws, preventing the universe from expanding further, with a diameter of only half a light-year," Fen You explained, "Back then, Qu Yao journeyed through the cosmos and came to this Wu Meng Sacred Cosmos and even reached the Fallen Sword Abyss, but never discovered such a small Inner Cosmos inside."

"Logically speaking, this Inner Cosmos shouldn’t exist, as there’s no trace of life aura... Whose Inner Cosmos does this belong to?"

Fen You also couldn’t fathom it.

Whether Mixed Cosmos, Divine Country, or Inner Cosmos, these derived inner worlds belong to the bodies of Cosmic Martial Artists, and to sustain their existence requires living beings to nourish them... Even without life, at least the most vital existence, the Prokaryote, should be present in the Inner Cosmos.

The Prokaryote of the Wu Meng Sacred Cosmos has always been in the Sacred Cosmos and never left, yet inside this tiny Inner Cosmos, not a single living being was present, clearly indicating even the Prokaryote was long gone.

Yet such an Inner Cosmos could still exist, defying comprehension.

"Hmm?" Suddenly, Wang Xu looked up, "No, there’s a presence here, I can feel it!"

Fen You looked at Wang Xu curiously. His own perception was extremely powerful, yet he hadn’t sensed it. Even if Wang Xu possessed Endless Life, his perception couldn’t surpass Fen You’s. How did Wang Xu discover a presence?

Since they had detected the existence of life, the two naturally accelerated, heading in the direction of the presence.

...

Meanwhile, in the external alien race’s Imperial Palace.

"Erxiwei has returned. That Wu Meng defector is nowhere to be seen... Did it fail again?" As Erxiwei just came back, the alien king in the small palace already sensed it, uttering a barely audible sigh.

He looked at the figure in the Ice Coffin, his gaze tender yet laden with deep helplessness.

This was his fourth failure.

Before Wang Xu, the alien king had used various means to elevate three top-tier alien geniuses, making them shine brightly.

Yet all three geniuses either died or vanished without a trace, completely evaporating from the world.

Wang Xu was the fourth, also the one in whom the alien king placed the most hope.

He was stronger than the previous three geniuses and was even a Mage.

Thus, the alien king used the most direct method of elevation—marrying the Princess to him, allowing him to inherit the throne directly, yet he still couldn’t escape this fate of death.

"Even possessing strength surpassing Erxiwei, still unable to contend with them. Is this my destiny? Li Ji, your fate, my fate, and our daughter’s fate, in the end, cannot avoid this calamity..." (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)