I am grinding experience in another world-Chapter 660 - 648: Heavenly Change

Qingqiu Mountain underground peach forest.

The peach trees stood quietly, their blossoms emitting a gentle glow, illuminating the underground cavern brightly.

Chuan Changzai, the Scripture Doctorate of the Hundred Illusion Sect, arrived at the underground cavern as he usually did.

First, he walked around the grayish stone gourd once, then stared closely at a single crack on its surface.

"The fissure has shrunk by another fraction? Good news!"

With a chuckle, he flipped his hand and pulled out a palm-sized green jade-carved gourd leaf.

This leaf-shaped Magic Artifact was a gift from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect, capable of detecting the deeper sealing layers within the Inheriting Heaven Law Prohibition.

Chuan Changzai skillfully infused Mana into it, causing the vein patterns within the leaf to sparkle with silver light.

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After a long while, he withdrew his Spirit, a look of relief spreading across his face.

"The phenomena of demon deaths has ceased, the Inheriting Heaven Law Prohibition has stabilized, and the fissure should be completely repaired soon."

"Stabilization is good; signing the Contract requires the Heavenly Star Essence to connect and summon the Daoist Ancestor's power."

"The Inheriting Heaven Law Prohibition was originally aligned with the Heavenly Star, now it's stabilized; it won't be disrupted by the Heavenly Star Essence anymore."

Thinking of this, a wave of relief surged through his heart.

"By now, the Daoist Soldier Apprentices should have completed the signing of their Contracts."

"Over a hundred Daoist Soldiers heading to the Thousand Mechanisms Sect will soon earn a significant amount of Daoist Cultivation for the sect."

"As a Scripture Doctorate, I'll surely get a share of it."

"With the Daoist Cultivation I've accumulated earlier, it'll be enough to exchange for a gourd of Primordial Energy, greatly enhancing my progress in refining my Divine Orifice."

Excitement surged within Chuan Changzai; it took him a while to calm down before activating the leaf-shaped Magic Artifact to leave the underground cavern.

Before departing, his peripheral vision habitually glanced at the fissure on the surface of the gourd.

But he suddenly noticed that a tendril-like faint crack had already extended along the black Talisman sealed on the gourd surface, stretching deep into the underground. It seemed as if the entire gourd had been split in two by this slanting fissure!

Chuan Changzai's scalp instantly tightened, and he spun around sharply.

Yet, upon closer inspection, the surface of the gourd appeared perfectly intact.

The fissure remained just a thin line, even slightly smaller than when he had first observed it moments ago.

Was he seeing things?

Uneasy, he circled the gourd twice more and found no anomalies. Finally, he breathed a long sigh of relief.

"Guarding against this fissure day and night, I'm starting to lose my mind," he muttered with a self-deprecating laugh.

"No wonder the Sect Master has us take turns on duty—it's to prevent us from overthinking while being influenced by the demonic energies and losing our Spirit."

"The Sect Master is thoughtful indeed," he remarked, chuckling as he raised the gourd leaf Magic Artifact in preparation to leave the cavern.

But just as his hand lifted halfway, wisps of soft, gentle force suddenly materialized around him.

These forces seemed like a flexible, resilient net that instantly enveloped his entire body, leaving no gaps.

Chuan Changzai felt like a mosquito trapped in amber—he couldn't lift his hand to activate the Magic Artifact, nor could he even blink!

The Mana surging from his Jade Seed was entirely absorbed by the invisible net, making it impossible to secretly activate the Magic Artifact to escape.

Swish!

Not far to his left, a shadow abruptly came into view.

Chuan Changzai's forehead was now drenched in cold sweat. He strained his eyes toward the left, and after a great effort, he managed to catch sight of the corner of a black gown embroidered with golden threads.

"Pretend not to see it and bluff your way through?"

A soft, graceful laugh resounded beside his ear.

"It's too late for that…"

...

"Farewell to the Daoist Ancestor!"

Before Qingqiu Palace, accompanied by Zheng Bailian's shout, the golden flame within the four-sided cauldron disappeared with a "poof."

The invisible, overwhelming power in the sky vanished into the void, and the clouds, which had been dispersed in all directions, began slowly drifting back to the mountain peak.

Chen Mu, standing among the crowd who had been anxious about the power of the Pure Yang Dao Ancestral, finally recovered his senses.

Seeing the people around him cheerfully envisioning their Thousand Mechanisms Sect futures, he couldn't help but gradually set aside his worries.

Of course.

The Pure Yang Dao Ancestral was an existence of legend—a being capable of commanding celestial powers.

As for himself?

A humble butcher of auxiliary soldiers in the Thousand Mechanisms Sect.

An existence like the Dao Ancestor, absorbed in meditating upon the Great Dao all day, wouldn't bother to deal with a minor figure like him.

"I've been worrying needlessly." Chen Mu chuckled, shaking his head.

The Pure Yang Dao Ancestor's power was merely a witness and enforcer of the Daoist Soldier Contracts.

As long as he didn't defy the Contract, he wouldn't face backlash.

The Heavenly Star battlefield was ever-changing; forcing Daoist Soldiers to confront demons through the Contract was surely an option.

But he was just a rear-line butcher—never mind forced deployment, even if he volunteered for frontline combat, they might not even accept him.

He had no reason, nor even the chance, to openly defy the Thousand Mechanisms Sect's decrees.

"It's just this damned world." Chen Mu smiled helplessly.

Years of hardship had made him prone to expecting the worst.

"Surely not every bit of bad luck has to happen to me, right?"

"Haha…"

While he was laughing at himself, a commotion of chatter reached his ears.

Chen Mu snapped out of his thoughts and realized the crowd had lifted their heads to the sky, their voices filled with restless discussion.

The celestial stars that should have completely vanished were still hanging in the sky. Moreover, their radiance hadn't dimmed—instead, it shone brighter than ever!

Stars visible during the day?

This...

Before he could figure out what was happening.

Buzz!

A sound like a whale's long cry echoed from deep within Qingqiu Mountain basin.

All around fell silent, followed by a thunderous cacophony akin to tens of thousands of galloping horses.

Instinctively, Chen Mu activated Truth Listening Divine Power.

He discovered the mist encircling Prison Valley was surging with the speed of a collapsing river, emerald-green light bursting forth within.

Then, the five towering Demon Suppressing Needles began buzzing in unison.

The originally dark red patterns on their surfaces started pulsating with ghostly green light.

An invisible force suddenly erupted from beneath Qingqiu Mountain, rushing skyward.

Crack!

Like muffled thunder, a pitch-black fissure appeared in the clear sky.

Countless emerald-green lights flickered around the fissure like countless hands, tearing it wider apart.

The next instant.

Whoosh!

Thick, blood-like liquid gushed forth from the fissure.

In a blink, a vast and turbulent blood river waterfall materialized in mid-air.

The scarlet blood-water cascaded from the heavens, crashing thunderously into Qingqiu Mountain basin.

Countless grotesque faces writhing within the blood-water wailed and surged, their buzzing cries warping the minds of those who heard them, driving them toward madness and slaughter.

The previously jubilant crowd before Qingqiu Palace was thrown into chaos.

"Hold yourselves together!" Zheng Bailian shouted, jolting everyone back to their senses. "It's merely a minor demon disturbance. Why panic like this? Where's your dignity?!"

Without hesitation, he pulled out a palm-sized Bronze Token.

"Decree!" Zheng Bailian raised the Bronze Token high and hollered.

A familiar force enveloped everyone, like an invisible gentle hand resting on their shoulders—the binding power of the Daoist Soldier Contractual Decree.

"All disciples shall use the Sealing Demon Curse to defend Qingqiu Mountain. Any who defy this order shall face the punishment of Five Thunders Bombarding!"

"Get to it!"

As soon as the order was issued, the formerly composed Zheng Bailian instantly activated his Escape Light and shot off into the distance, vanishing in an instant.

The crowd: "..."

Chen Mu: "..."

That damn Zheng Bailian. Not only did he flee during the crisis, but he also used the Contract to mandate the disciples to stay and guard the mountain.

This was clearly sacrificing everyone else to buy himself time!

Just moments ago, he thought he was a minor figure with no chance to defy the Contractual Decree.

And then Zheng Bailian turned around and gave him a solid blow of reality!

Goddamn bastard!