Chapter 716 - 705: River of Time and Space
"Ding Ling."
The Female Drought Demon nodded and said:
"Are you willing to rescue the Human Race, to save Jiuzhou and this world?"
"Of course, I am willing."
Ding Ling solemnly replied.
"Good."
The Female Drought Demon smiled faintly, though her face was pale, it couldn’t hide her stunning beauty:
"I will grant you an opportunity. I hope that once you become stronger, you can soar ninety thousand miles up. Strike against the Demon Dao. Save all beings from peril."
She flexed her finger towards the direction of the Divine Realm gateway.
Thunk!
An ethereal sound swept past the ear.
When Ding Ling looked again, he saw the Divine Realm gateway had opened.
The Female Drought Demon said laboriously:
"Ding Ling, hurry. This is the Celestial Path leading to the Divine Realm. Step on the Celestial Path, and you will meet the Divine Being. He will teach you the Demon Suppression Technique."
Ding Ling hesitated, but after some thought, he stepped forward.
It was because he remembered that he still had the opportunity to return to the Lower Realm or traverse other worlds, in case of real danger.
At that time, he could choose to travel to other worlds right away to avoid it.
And the Female Drought Demon indeed seemed unable to hold on.
Without thinking much, Ding Ling pulled out the Fire Finger from his Storage Pouch and tossed it to the Female Drought Demon:
"Senior, take it."
The Female Drought Demon pinched the Fire Finger with her jade-like fingers, then attached it to her severed finger. Before long, her bleeding finger stopped bleeding.
Quite evidently.
This Fire Finger indeed belonged to her.
Ding Ling was astonished and puzzled, wondering why Emperor Shitian had gotten hold of this Fire Finger.
One must know that the power of the Female Drought Demon is beyond imagination; a single drop of her blood could give Emperor Shitian a hard time. How did Emperor Shitian acquire this Fire Finger?
The Female Drought Demon seemed to perceive what Ding Ling was thinking:
"My Divine Power is limited and cannot sustain the gateway to the Divine Realm for too long. Ding Ling, when you return, I will explain everything in detail."
Ding Ling could only nod. Then his body transformed into a stream of light, diving into the Divine Realm gateway.
Originally, he intended to kill Xiong Ba.
But considering the strength of the Female Drought Demon
Xiong Ba would likely become nothing more than a Fire Zombie under the Female Drought Demon. How could a benevolent deity like her, who cares for all beings, possibly allow a Fire Zombie to tread on Jiuzhou Land, bringing harm to the living?
Sure enough.
After Ding Ling stepped into the Divine Realm gateway,
The Female Drought Demon gently patted the ground.
The coffin flew up again, suppressing the portal to the Demon Realm.
The Divine Realm gateway, the Female Drought Demon left a man-sized gap for Ding Ling to return.
After she had obtained the Fire Finger, she seemed to have regained some vitality; her entire demeanor became slightly more spirited. She looked at Xiong Ba and said:
"You should not go out and bring harm to Jiuzhou."
Xiong Ba’s face showed fear and dread.
He attempted to flee at the side.
But with a gentle point of the Female Drought Demon’s finger, he was toppled to the ground.
Then the Female Drought Demon pointed at the positions of the other five Fire Zombies, and Xiong Ba involuntarily fell near them.
He neatly joined the five Fire Zombies to form a Six Harmonies Array.
The Six Harmonies Array was evidently superior to the Five Elements Array.
With Xiong Ba’s addition, the coffin shone brightly, and the suppression force seemed to increase once more.
Xiong Ba was immobilized, forced to cooperate with the other five Fire Zombies, his face showing evident frustration, resentment, discontent, and fear.
"In the Jiuzhou World, do you have no one you care about?"
The Female Drought Demon sighed softly and said:
"Don’t you wish to avoid the Demon Qi flooding the human world, causing your loved ones to fall into demonhood and perish?"
With these words,
Xiong Ba recalled something, and the resentment, frustration, and fear slowly faded from his face and eyes. He looked towards the sky, muttering incomprehensibly.
...
...
Thunk!
It seemed to pass through a curtain of water.
In the next instant, Ding Ling stepped onto a ladder akin to a Celestial Ladder.
Ding Ling was secretly astonished.
In the Valley of Eternal Spring of the Celestial Dragon World, there was a Celestial Ladder.
He had not expected that in the Wind and Cloud World there would be one too! And apparently, there was more than one.
He recalled Bai Suzhen telling him about the Path to Heaven, which required Infinite Power to activate at a specific time and place.
Ding Ling remembered the location; he planned to ascend to the pinnacle of the world before setting foot on that Path to Heaven.
Unexpectedly, he was a step ahead, stepping onto this gateway leading to the Divine Realm.
Tap tap!
Ding Ling was quite familiar with such a Celestial Ladder Path.
Thus he moved quickly.
Whoosh! Like the wind, he ascended rapidly, cutting through a dimensional world. In the next second, his vision brightened, revealing roiling waves all around, with numerous shadows appearing and disappearing in the water.
"Where is this?"
Ding Ling stood on the Celestial Ladder, overlooking the great river of the Lower Realm.
It was vast and broad beyond sight, with no clear origin, yet it flowed forward. At about a thousand feet ahead, a fork suddenly appeared.
The mighty river, or perhaps it should be called the ocean’s water, split into two from there.
But what struck Ding Ling as peculiar were these two diverging water paths.
One gradually became illusory and thin, like the moon in water.
The other grew increasingly real, like a mirage manifesting into reality.
"How strange."
Ding Ling glanced at it before moving on along the Celestial Path.
He knew the peculiarities of this ocean, yet he hadn’t rashly stepped into it to avoid unforeseen incidents.
"Finally, I see you!"
However, he had just barely dashed a hundred feet when a soft sigh suddenly echoed.
This voice carried a hint of satisfaction, as if someone whose lifelong wish had been fulfilled, experiencing great joy and freedom.
The sound hadn’t fallen entirely.
A shadow suddenly soared from the ocean, slamming a palm heavily in Ding Ling’s direction!
Rumbling!
This palm strike caused the world to tremble, the ocean to surge, and an energy storm surged frantically towards Ding Ling, as if to crush him to dust.
Ding Ling was alarmed; his instincts told him he couldn’t withstand this strike!
Yet, to his surprise, smack!
The palm was actually stopped outside the Celestial Path, unable to approach him.
But even so, it still made the Celestial Path tremble incessantly.
As if it might decay and collapse at any moment.
"Who are you!"
Ding Ling shouted angrily.
Who wouldn’t be angry when attacked for no reason?
Not to mention, the assailant clearly intended to kill him!
"People call me the Half-God!"
The figure exhibited extraordinary demeanor, his words powerful and sonorous.
He was armored all over, resembling a mechanical life form, emitting faint clicking sounds of gears turning, which Ding Ling heard despite their subtleness.
"Half-God?!"
Ding Ling was taken aback.
This was an unparalleled formidable figure; he never expected to encounter him here.
"Aren’t you from the future?!"
Ding Ling shouted.
"Indeed."
The Half-God sighed, standing on the crest of the ocean waves:
"I traveled upstream along the river of time, after many twists and turns, and finally found you!"
His eyes were profound:
"The future has already changed drastically, even the world I was in has begun to unravel, becoming void and hollow, all this because of you!"