Stellar Transformations

Book 10 17

B10C17: Life is death, death is life

If there were someone else here, they would see Qin Yu’s whole body fall down extremely fast like a beam of light and almost at the same time the heavenly flames fly past the Road of Death, grazing it. But in the blink of an eye, he rushes obliquely towards the river bank at a speed even faster than his falling-down speed.

A black light beam flashes. Immediately afterwards, he stands on the bank of the river of heavenly flames and lava.

Safe and sound!

A mortal observer perhaps still would not know what just actually happened. Only the experts such as Yan Mo and Dame Yan Ji would understand clearly what happened just now had they been here.

In fact --

In the beginning, Qin Yu’s body fell straight down extremely fast from the Road of Death like an aerolite. As he was falling down, several heavenly flames scraped past his original place. Even though he had avoided the attack of the heavenly flames, he was falling down towards the river of heavenly flames and lava.

The river was boiling and various heavenly flames were leaping up into the sky.

Even Dame Yan Ji would surely die once she fell into this river of heavenly flames and lava, let alone Qin Yu.

While falling down, he looked at that boiling river with ice-cold, absolutely fearless eyes. Suddenly -- his body, which was dropping extremely fast, stopped. His 2 hands were holding a black rope, which was coiling a good several loops around the other end of the Road of Death.

That black rope shortened at an exceptionally high speed.

In the blink of an eye, Qin Yu, who was holding one end of the rope, came to the bank of the river thanks to the rope shortening extremely fast. Then, taking advantage of the inertia caused by the contraction of the rope, he got on the bank directly with just a push of his hands.

......

That is Qin Yu’s survival process.

He has eventually succeeded in going through the Road of Death. But there is only worry instead of happiness in his heart at the moment.

“Li’er.” He clenches his fists, his heart full of anxiety.

Just when he is worried and terrified, the sky spins and the ground turns all of a sudden. He is standing on the bank of that river of heavenly flames and lava, but at this moment he disappears from the place very abruptly. When he wakes up --

“This, this is ...”

Qin Yu looks around. Just now he was still beside the Road of Death, where heavenly flames and thunderbolts can be seen everywhere. But now he finds himself on a prairie. The winds on the prairie blow on his body, making him feel very comfortable. However --

“How, how is this possible?” Qin Yu is dumbfounded at this moment.

Even if he were calmer and more collected, he would still be very shocked to see the person in front of him.

A black-robed man is standing several tens meter ahead of Qin Yu. This man is none other than 3rd tribulation loose devil Huo Can!

“Huo Can should’ve already died. I saw that with my own eyes. On the Road of Death, I saw him burnt to ashes by heavenly flames with my own eyes. How can ...” Qin Yu’s face is full of disbelief. At the same time, he feels confused.

Now Huo Can seems to see Qin Yu too. A stupefied expression also appears on his face at the same time: “Qin Yu, it’s you ... Aren’t you already dead?”

“I, I am already dead?” Qin Yu’s face is full of astonishment.

“I personally saw you struck to death by thunderbolts. How can you ...” Huo Can is also at sea about what happened.

“Yan Lang, how can you still be living?” Yan Mo’s voice is heard not far from them.

“Of course I’m still living. Why did you ask so?” Yan Lang’s voice rises doubtfully. “Ah, Dame Yan Ji, you, you ... I saw you fall into the river of heavenly flames and lava with my own eyes. How ... how are you still alive?”

One silhouette after another appears on the prairie.

“Big brother Qin Yu.” A pleasantly surprised voice rises. Qin Yu turns around to take a look.

Li’er, dressed fully in a silvery female suit of armor and a red pair of flat, ankle-high boots, is so excited that her face even reddens. Her eyes swell up and also redden. With just 2 or 3 steps, she runs up to Qin Yu and hugs him tightly at once.

Feeling her body in his bosom, Qin Yu even has a dizzy spell.

The feeling of finding something you lost is the warmest kind of feeling. Qin Yu cannot help embracing Li’er’s body even tighter. Li’er raises her head and looks at Qin Yu with her puffy, red eyes. As she is wearing a suit of armor, there is a rare air of heroism about her at the moment.

“Big brother Qin Yu, I saw that heavenly flame turn you ... I even thought, thought ...” Li’er’s beautiful eyes, which are looking at Qin Yu, are filled with terror as if she is seeing that scene again. Tears even stream down from her eyes uncontrollably.

Qin Yu feels distressed in his heart.

On impulse, he lowers his head and tenderly kisses away the tears in a corner of her eye.

“Don’t cry. I’ll never have a problem and I’ll never make you worry either. Just set your mind at ease.” With his head lowered, he stares into the eyes of Li’er in his bosom and says gently but firmly.

Li’er’s face quickly becomes totally red. She immediately buries her head in Qin Yu’s chest, not daring to look at him anymore at all.

Only now is Qin Yu startled.

“Just now I ...”

Only now does Qin Yu feel his heart pounding like a drum in his ears. Previously, he only experienced this kind of heart-pounding feeling when he was doing weighted jogging as part of the limit training in his childhood.

But when he sees Li’er in his bosom, he cannot help hugging her a bit tighter with a smile.

“What actually happened, Qin Yu? I saw you burnt to death by heavenly flames with my own eyes. Besides, you even shouted to me to ask for help. I believe ... I absolutely didn’t see wrong.” Yi Da goes up to Qin Yu, looks at him and says with a face full of doubt.

Seeming to be woken up with a start, Li’er immediately leaves his bosom. It is just that her face is blushing.

Qin Yu curses Yi Da in his mind, but after a while he also has doubts about what actually happened.

Judging from what everybody has said, looks like they all saw someone else die, but ... now all of them are alive and well. What actually happened?

“Could it be all of these were just illusions?” Qin Yu is doubtful in his mind, but he finds it hard to believe that the illusions could be so real that even the smells and temperatures of those heavenly flames and the lava were clearly sensible.

8 individuals have appeared on the prairie, consisting of Qin Yu, Yan Mo, Li’er, Yi Da, Dame Yan Ji, Huo Can, Azure Dragon Yan Lang and Old Taoist Gan Xu.

But Reverend Shui Rou, Reverend Yue Yan and the 3 experts from the dragon clan are not here.

“That Immortal Emperor Ni Yang said 9 out of 10 who entered the Road of Death would die. Why are so many of us alive and well now? This is really strange.” Azure Dragon Yan Lang says doubtfully. 9 out of 10 would die and their number was small but now 8 individuals have come to this place.

At the moment, the atmosphere between Old Taoist Gan Xu, Huo Can and Dame Yan Ji is a little sensitive.

Old Taoist Gan Xu, Reverend Shui Rou and Reverend Yue Yan killed Huo Lan so naturally his younger brother Huo Can bears a huge grudge against these 3 people. Because Reverend Shui Rou and Reverend Yue Yan have not appeared, Huo Can certainly considers Old Taoist Gan Xu his target.

However, he is afraid of Dame Yan Ji’s presence so he does not dare to fight Old Taoist Gan Xu to the death. If they fought each other to the death, perhaps they would not be able to compete with Dame Yan Ji.

Dame Yan Ji is also feeling frustrated in her heart. She was badly injured in the Qingyu Immortal Mansion then was attacked again on the Road of Death so now she does not even have as much as a third of her original power. But even so, it is still impossible for Huo Can and Old Taoist Gan Xu to fight her one-on-one.

“Where did Reverend Shui Rou and Reverend Yue Yan go? Could they have died in the Road of Death?” Huo Can says furiously. “Those 2 adulterers, I still haven’t looked for them to get revenge. If they died in the Road of Death, that would’ve been too good for them.”

“No, perhaps they went into the Peach Blossom Land.” Old Taoist Gan Xu takes a disdainful look at Huo Can and says.

“What about the 3 uncles?” Azure Dragon Yan Lang is feeling doubtful in his mind at the moment too. “Could they have really gone into the Peach Blossom Land?”

When he was listening to Immortal Emperor Ni Yang’s first explanation of the Peach Blossom Land and the Road of Death, he thought of his 3 uncles. In his opinion, because his uncles had already reached the late Dujie stage, they would eventually choose to enter the Peach Blossom Land.

Now his 3 uncles are really not here, but he feels a bit anxious.

Without his 3 uncles, the dragon clan has become the weakest force among the lucky survivors.

“Congratulations, I didn’t expect you to have the guts to choose the Road of Death!” Immortal Emperor Ni Yang’s voice resounds powerfully through the prairie. Everybody stops talking right away and listens to him attentively.

“I know you’re very curious about why the people you saw dead are now living again in front of you.” Immortal Emperor Ni Yang’s voice has a tinge of jeering.

Qin Yu and the others are all listening. Even though they have already guessed in their minds, only when Immortal Emperor Ni Yang tells them the answer can they eventually make sure.

“Let me tell you: The Road of Death is the road of life.” Immortal Emperor Ni Yang says wickedly.

Everybody’s heart gets a shock.

Could it be those who came into the Road of Death are all alive?

“That’s right, just like what you think. Whoever chose to enter the Road of Death has come here safely. Those heavenly flames and that lava looked formidable, but it doesn’t matter if you were hit by lightning or fell into the river of lava, you would pass through safely then come to this prairie in the end without so much as suffering a scratch.”

Immortal Emperor Ni Yang is obviously very pleased with himself.

“This Immortal Emperor Ni Yang has unexpectedly, unexpectedly fooled us again. In the beginning he said 9 out of 10 would die then he said all of us might die, but now ...” Huo Can looks very furious at the moment. “He’s really, really gone overboard.”

The others have nothing to say.

The Road of Death, which in the beginning was said with exaggeration to be so dangerous that it would kill anyone who is careless, is unexpectedly the safest place. Moreover, if someone set foot in the Road of Death, they definitely would not die and would arrive in this prairie safely.

Suddenly Qin Yu is struck by a thought.

Because those who chose the Road of Death are living, what about the ones who came into the Peach Blossom Land? Have they really encountered no dangers as Immortal Emperor Ni Yang said?

“The Road of Death is the road of life, but the Peach Blossom Land is the land of death. Whoever chose to enter the Peach Blossom Land ... would discover after their arrival that the place is the real land of death, ha-ha ...” Immortal Emperor Ni Yang laughs out loud.

Everybody is frightened in their heart.

Fooling them, making fun of them and considering their lives a toy.

This Immortal Emperor Ni Yang is basically someone without scruple. He seems to be playing a game. The information he told them in the beginning seemed true, but in the end it was discovered to be false. It is really hard to tell whether what he says is true or false.

“My 3 uncles.” Azure Dragon Yan Lang’s face changes color greatly.

If his 3 uncles had come into the Peach Blossom Land to wait until their ascension to leave, he would still be at ease. But Immortal Emperor Ni Yang said that whoever entered the Peach Blossom Land would die so he cannot help feeling anger and unwillingness surging inside.

“Life is death, death is life. How can those who don’t even have the guts to face death and dangers and are willing to live an easy comfortable life be qualified to get my treasure? If they were living in this world, it’d also be a waste natural holy energy, so they deserved to die.” Immortal Emperor Ni Yang says disdainfully.

It is obvious he looks down the most on those who fear death and dangers.

Since these individuals came into the Road of Death, this means they have the courage to face death and dangers. Immortal Emperor Ni Yang approves of this courage so they have all arrived in this prairie safely.

“Immortal Emperor Ni Yang.” Qin Yu secretly lets out a breath of relief. He does not know if he should consider this Immortal Emperor Ni Yang good or bad.

“Big brother Qin Yu, this Immortal Emperor Ni Yang is really powerful, especially when it comes to formations and illusions.” Li’er’s face is still blushing. But at this moment she says in her mind: “Uncle Lan told me so before we started off ... Looks like he was right.”

Now the 8 individuals present all think about the treasure.

“Congratulations on coming to this place. Everybody, since you have gone this far, let me officially tell you that ... you’re already safe. Of course it will be none of my concern if you kill each other.” Immortal Emperor Ni Yang’s voice echoes through the prairie’s sky. “What you will have to do is distribute immortal treasures.”

Are Immortal Emperor Ni Yang’s words believable?

Some are and some not. Only an idiot would totally believe him.

This is the conclusion everybody has come to after going through so many things in the immortal mansion.

“If you fly south 8000 li from your current place, you’ll see a jade storied building, which is none other than the Treasure Storing Tower of the Nine Swords Immortal Mansion. The most precious immortal treasures of the Nine Swords Immortal Mansion are all in there. Now you can go to seize the treasures. How many you will get depends on your own abilities.” Immortal Emperor Ni Yang finally announces the location of the treasures.

The Treasure Storing Tower of the Nine Swords Immortal Mansion is 8000 li to the south?

At this moment, everybody commits that information to memory.

“The 8000 li journey from here to the Treasure Storing Tower has absolutely no dangers so you can fly as you please without worries. Good luck, ha-ha ...” Following loud laughs, Immortal Emperor Ni Yang’s voice eventually vanishes into the air.

The 8000 li journey has no dangers?

Are these words said by Immortal Emperor Ni Yang totally believable?

Qin Yu, Li’er, Dame Yan Ji, Old Taoist Gan Xu and the other 4 experts look at each other. Right afterwards, they fly south, only their flying speeds are very slow. Clearly they are all going with caution instead of ‘flying as they please without worries’ as Immortal Emperor Ni Yang told them to.

End of b10c17.