Chapter 1471: Chapter 877: Returned Empty-Handed, Ancient Secrets Revealed (Part 2)

He just sat there quietly like that, as if he had been so since time immemorial, and as if he were waiting for something.

In fact, there was one thing Lu Qing had not told Qiu Ruofeng and the others.

It was that he vaguely felt that Qing sitting there in meditation seemed not merely to have fallen, just that simple.

It seemed he was suppressing something.

That feeling was faint and elusive, yet it truly existed.

As if beneath the throne, within that endless darkness, something was being firmly pinned down by Qing’s corpse, unable to move.

But this was only his conjecture, with no evidence.

Moreover, he had not lied.

With this Divine Thought Avatar of his current one, he indeed had no way to deal with this corpse.

He even felt that even if his true body came, it might not be able to so much as stir Qing’s corpse.

At most he could use his Superpower to probe its details and see whether he could discover anything.

Perhaps only when his cultivation advanced another step, when he walked further along the Unity Realm Stage, would he be able to withstand the terror upon Qing’s corpse and truly come into contact with the secrets of that level.

But that was all a matter for the future.

For now, leaving was the correct choice.

The group retraced their path and quickly left the great tomb.

On the way back, those Demon Fire Monsters still kept endlessly emerging, but compared to when they came, their numbers were already much fewer.

Perhaps Qing’s corpse had sensed their departure and no longer deliberately drove the monsters to besiege them.

With Lu Qing’s Space Law opening the way, the group proceeded unimpeded all the way, soon leaving that mountain range, passing through those Demon Fire regions, and finally returning to the Netherworld Palace’s stronghold within the Demon Abyss.

That floating stone suspended in the darkness still emitted a faint glow, quietly awaiting their return.

The group descended upon the floating stone, each of them feeling as though they had survived a great calamity.

The few Black Robed Men exhaled long breaths, their Heart and Spirit finally relaxing.

This trip had been far too刺激—too thrilling—for them.

Several times they almost thought they were going to die, only to be rescued by Lu Qing.

Although Qiu Ruofeng still maintained a few degrees of composure, one could also see the fatigue and lingering fear in his eyes.

"Many thanks, Mr. Lu!" He formally saluted Lu Qing. "Without you on this trip, we fear we’d have died ten times over and more."

The few Black Robed Men also bowed to Lu Qing in thanks.

Lu Qing waved his hand slightly and said calmly, "No need for so much courtesy; this was nothing but a transaction.

What I promised you, I have already fulfilled.

I have now taken you to explore that great tomb once.

According to our prior agreement, Fellow Daoist Qiu, it is time for you to honor your word and tell me the reason those ancient Transformation Immortals disappeared."

Qiu Ruofeng nodded. "Naturally."

He took a deep breath, his gaze growing distant, as though traversing endless time and returning to that far‑off era.

"This matter is a long story; please sit, Daoist friend."

The group entered the great hall and each took a seat.

Qiu Ruofeng was silent for a moment, as though organizing his words, then slowly began to speak, narrating an old tale long buried in dust.

"Daoist friend should know that in ancient times, the cultivation civilization beneath the starry sky was far more flourishing than now.

In those days, Transformation Immortals were not rare; every great power had a Transformation Realm Immortal in residence.

It is even said that there existed beings beyond the Transformation Realm, who would occasionally manifest their sacred presence amid the starry sky."

Lu Qing nodded. These things he had also seen recorded in the Holy Alliance’s classics.

He even knew perhaps a little more than Qiu Ruofeng.

That was because in the Witch Clan’s Trial Secret Realm, he had learned that in remote antiquity, the Human Race and the Witch Clan vied for supremacy, and in the end the Human Race prevailed.

At that time, the Human Race should have possessed quite a number of incomparably powerful Great Powers.

Yet in this present age, he seemed to have found no records or legends about those Great Powers.

Qiu Ruofeng went on, "But it was in that very era that, one day, a great event suddenly occurred." 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

"What great event?" Lu Qing asked.

Qiu Ruofeng’s gaze grew grave. "That day, in the starry sky, a gigantic fissure suddenly appeared."

"A fissure?" Lu Qing’s brows furrowed slightly.

"Yes." Qiu Ruofeng nodded. "That fissure spanned the starry sky. No one knew whence it came, nor where it led.

When it appeared, the entire starry sky quaked. Innumerable stars shattered amid that quaking; countless Life Realms were destroyed in that quaking."

He paused, then continued, "And from that fissure poured forth endless Power of Darkness, identical to what we now encounter in the Demon Abyss."

Lu Qing’s heart stirred. "You mean this Dark Abyss is connected to that fissure?"

Qiu Ruofeng nodded slightly. "Precisely. According to the records passed down through the generations of our Netherworld Palace, this Dark Abyss is a part of that fissure—or rather, it is that fissure gradually evolving over the course of endless years."

Lu Qing fell into thought.

Qiu Ruofeng continued, "After that fissure appeared, the entire starry sky was plunged into panic.

The Transformation Immortals of all the great powers set out in large numbers to investigate.

But most of them never returned, falling within that fissure."

"And afterward?" Lu Qing asked.

Qiu Ruofeng sighed. "Afterward, an unknown peerless powerhouse used a Supreme Divine Power to seal that fissure.

After the sealing, the fissure gradually shrank, eventually becoming what it is now—this Dark Abyss."

"Sealed?" Lu Qing’s heart stirred. "Who sealed it?"

Qiu Ruofeng shook his head. "We don’t know. That powerhouse left no name, no trace; we only know that after he sealed the fissure, he vanished and never appeared again."

He paused, then continued, "But although the seal was powerful, it was not eternal.

As time passed, that seal began to slowly weaken.

The Power of Darkness also began to seep out from the cracks in the seal."

Lu Qing nodded slightly, signaling for the other to go on.

Qiu Ruofeng said, "And the reason those ancient Transformation Immortals disappeared is also related to this."

Lu Qing raised an eyebrow slightly. "Oh?"

Qiu Ruofeng said, "After that fissure appeared, the Transformation Immortals beneath the starry sky began to vanish in large numbers.

At first, everyone thought they had gone to investigate the fissure and fallen within it.

But later it was discovered that things were not so simple."

He looked at Lu Qing, his gaze deep. "Because not all of those missing Transformation Immortals had gone to the fissure.

Some disappeared suddenly within their own Cave Mansions;

some vanished suddenly while fighting others;

and some even disappeared into thin air under the eyes of the multitude."

Lu Qing’s brows knit together. "Vanished into thin air?"

Qiu Ruofeng nodded slightly. "Yes, as though some power had directly erased them from between Heaven and Earth."

He sighed and went on, "At that time, the entire starry sky was thrown into panic.

The Transformation Immortals were all in fear for their lives, afraid that they would be next.

Yet no matter how they guarded against it or how vigilant they were, the disappearances kept occurring."

"Later, someone discovered a pattern."

"What pattern?" Lu Qing asked.

Qiu Ruofeng said, "All those Transformation Immortals who disappeared had once approached that fissure—or rather, all of them had once been eroded by the Power of Darkness."

Lu Qing mused, "You mean that the fissure’s Power of Darkness would leave some kind of mark upon them, and that this mark would trigger at some moment, forcibly taking them away?"

A hint of approval flashed in Qiu Ruofeng’s eyes. "Daoist friend is indeed perceptive. Exactly so."

He continued, "The founder of our Netherworld Palace—the Transformation Immortal who deduced the prophecy—once delved deeply into this phenomenon.

He found that those Transformation Immortals eroded by the Power of Darkness would bear an extremely hidden mark upon them.

That mark would not reveal itself under normal circumstances, nor would it have any effect on the cultivator.

But when a particular moment arrived, that mark would trigger and forcibly drag the cultivator into that fissure."

"A particular moment?" Lu Qing asked.

Qiu Ruofeng shook his head. "Even our Patriarch failed to fully comprehend it.

He only said that it seemed related to some pattern, like the tides, with rise and fall.

At certain intervals, that fissure would ’become active’ once; at such times, the marks would be triggered."

He paused, then continued, "And those Transformation Immortals dragged into the fissure never appeared again.

Some say they fell within; others say they went to another world.

But what the truth is, no one knows."

Lu Qing fell silent.

He had not expected the reason for the disappearance of those Transformation Immortals to be like this.

Yet doubts still lingered in his heart.