The First Demon of the Chan Sect-Chapter 82 - 28: The 18th Level of Hell (Part 2)

Li Qingming looked at the ruins of "Tongue-pulling City" and finally swept away the pent-up rage in his heart. However, his face then turned bitter; having slaughtered every living being in this first layer of space, who could guide him now?

Shaking his head, Li Qingming leaped up and thought to himself, "I’ll have to use the old method."

He released his Primordial Spirit again, and the power of his Primordial Spirit surged over Tongue-pulling City, scouring every inch of the first layer of space.

In just the time it takes for a cup of tea to brew, a rock wall on the extreme southern edge attracted Li Qingming’s attention.

At the very bottom of the rock wall was a tiny hole, the size of a needle’s eye, continuously spouting faint streams of Sharp Gold Qi.

Li Qingming watched for a long while, a relieved smile appearing on his face, "Found it, I have finally found it!" He then performed a Seal Technique, and a bolt of Yuqing Divine Thunder struck the rock wall in a test.

"Boom!"

The loud thunder flashed, but the rock wall remained as smooth as a mirror, shining enough to reflect one’s image.

"What’s this?" Li Qingming eyed the rock wall intently and reached out to touch it. "Indeed, it’s a Sealing!"

It turned out that the entire first layer was completely enveloped by a seal. The power of the seal was vast and strong, harder than rock, and very difficult to break with brute force.

"To live in this Tongue-pulling Space for a lifetime? Is that possible?" Li Qingming caressed the rock wall, a myriad of thoughts flashing through his mind.

Suddenly, a bright light burst forth from Li Qingming’s eyes.

"Tai Chi! With softness overcoming hardness!"

Using the softest power in the world to overcome the hardest force, wouldn’t that be in accord with the Heavenly Dao’s fate?

Li Qingming took a few steps back, closing his eyes, he recalled the Tai Chi Boxing he had perfected over and over again in his mind. His demeanor was calm and serene, not befitting a disciple of the Primordial. His effortless aura, though, bore a resemblance to Laozi.

After a long time, Li Qingming gathered his calm and gently exhaled a breath of turbid air, and started practicing Tai Chi Boxing.

As Li Qingming’s Tai Chi Boxing, filled with the essence of the Tao, slowly unfolded, an indescribable force began to squeeze and expand slowly from the space.

Like the dawn of the universe, Chaos Qi surged like a mist, hazy and slowly coalescing into two Yin Yang Fish. On the Yin Fish was etched the Tao Rune "Yang," while on the Yang Fish was etched "Yin"!

Amid the vague and distinct movements, the two Yin Yang Fish merrily swam and frolicked. Suddenly, the roar of Heavenly Thunder, the sound of a violent wind howling from far to near, the black light burst forth from the eye of the Yin Fish, a bloody scene like the mallet of Hell: a white light flickered from the eye of the Yang Fish, endless vitality like a newborn baby.

"Boom!"

The two contrasting scenes converged, and the scroll showing half a realm of death and half a realm of life, shot directly at the rock wall, the massive roar echoing throughout the entire Tongue-pulling Space.

When the leaden glare had dissipated, a white gold world was revealed before Li Qingming’s eyes.

"Phew!" Exhaling gently, Li Qingming walked toward the narrow corridor filled with Sharp Gold Qi, his expression indifferent. The bright light contrasted sharply with the darkness outside in the first layer.

After passing through the long corridor, Li Qingming once again saw a familiar sight.

A massive Tao Rune outlined three large characters "Scissors City"

The interior bustled with intense activity, still led by demons and angels, except now, the steel pitchforks with hooks in the hands of demons had turned into gigantic scissors gleaming with a cold light. The work of pulling out tongues had become the cutting of fingers.

"Ah? Scissors City! Why does this name sound so familiar?" Li Qingming furrowed his brow as he gazed at the three large characters in front of him.

After a moment, Li Qingming suddenly slapped his forehead, realizing with enlightenment: "Tongue-pulling City... Scissors City... is there also an Iron Tree City, Mirror City below...? No wonder it felt so familiar! Isn’t this the legendary Eighteen Layers of Hell!"

"It turns out that the Eighteen Layers of Hell is not a place, but a Magic Treasure! It looks like this time, I really should thank Satan and Cain!" Li Qingming chuckled lightly, his expression extremely pleased.

In this layer, Li Qingming encountered situations almost identical to those in Tongue-pulling City. And the cities he worked his way down through proved his assumption indeed—quite melodramatically so.

"Iron Tree City," "Mirror City," "Steaming Cage City," "Copper Pillar City," "Sword Mountain City," "Ice Mountain City," "Oil Pot City," "Cow Pit City," "Stone Press City," "Chongjiu City," "Blood Pool City," "Wangsi City," "Crucifixion City," "Volcano City," "Stone Mill City," "Saw City."

These Eighteen Layers of Hell were precisely shattered by Li Qingming’s attention. Only at the last layer did Li Qingming finally realize the immense damage these layers inflicted upon the soul—it was truly horrifying.

"Phew! Having traversed these Eighteen Layers of Hell, are the settings of this hell not a bit too brutal? Even the soul of a Daluo Golden Immortal traversing hell would have its skin peeled away!" Li Qingming thought to himself as he looked at the purple gold gates before him.

After walking through hell, the next obstacle for Li Qingming was this purple-gold gate right in front of him.

The gate was entirely made of purple gold, engraved with the same images as the Golden Covenant Box. The muscular figure of the middle-aged man looked ready to break through the sky, chasing after the Great Dao that lay beyond sight.

"Screech!"

The purple-gold gate suddenly opened on its own, revealing no deadly traps or bloodwind beyond, only a desolate path that stretched into the unknown.

Having reached this place, Li Qingming wouldn’t miss any chance to break free from the tower, and he stepped in. Neither emptiness nor anything else could adequately describe the atmosphere in the space at that moment.

"Tap!" "Tap!" "Tap!"

The echoes of hollow footsteps resounded as Li Qingming tread upon an ancient path that seemed untrodden for hundreds of millions of years, silent to the extreme.

Suddenly, a glint of light flashed by. Following that, as if in a wildfire, a total of nineteen luminous spots flickered, leaping as though they were welcoming something.

Eighteen clusters of flame, either red or white, quietly revolved around a purple-gold radiance suspended in the void.

"My child, you have arrived! I have waited for you for countless eons!"

A voice, old and slightly raspy, slowly emanated from the purple-gold radiance.

"Who are you?" Li Qingming looked at the light cluster before him with a composed expression and calmly inquired.

"I am the Ancestor of Destiny, a Chaos God Demon just like Pangu!" The purple-gold radiance pulsated wildly.

"Oh? You didn’t perish?" Li Qingming nodded silently, thinking to himself: "Could it be he who opened this Middle Ancient World?"

"The Dao that I cultivate is the Path of Destiny," the light cluster paused briefly before continuing: "When Pangu opened the heavens, the Great Dao tempted us to block him, wishing to use Pangu’s hand to annihilate us within Chaos. I understood the Great Dao’s intention and thus did not go, avoiding that catastrophe. Thereafter, with Great Power, I forcefully continued Pangu’s work to open Heaven and Earth, seeking to verify the Great Dao."

"Alas, for lack of strength, the world I created was not complete; therefore, I exerted all my energy, hoping to emulate Pangu by transforming my body into all things. Unfortunately, I was ultimately outmaneuvered by the Great Dao, who took away my physical body and the majority of my Primordial Spirit, preventing my success! I should have perished, but who would have thought that this Innate Treasure, the ’Eighteen Layers of Hell,’ would save my life, allowing me to survive."