Chapter 861 — The Broken Bridge in the Fallen God Valley

The Heavenly Dragon King clearly had his own misgivings. He nodded slowly and led the many demigods behind him down from the mountain. Suddenly his body shook, and one snow-white dragon whisker after another streamed back, piercing through a heaven with a swish, swish, swish.

That heaven-world was opened by his whiskers, and countless fire dragon crows flew out of it, streaming toward the Fallen God Valley.

He was not confident of exploring this forbidden ground, so he first sent the fire dragon crows to scout the way. These creatures had dragon mouths and crow heads, dragon tails and crow wings, and were some fifty or sixty zhang long. They were demigods with dragon blood, and there were vast numbers of them.

A maidservant beside Yan Qiling and Mu Qiubai took out a door and set it upright on the flat ground. The woman grasped the handle and opened it, and behind the door was another heaven-world. From it swarmed winged demigods, flying toward the Fallen God Valley.

Xing An shook his head and sneered. "These fools only know how to pile up lives. Not a brain among them, and no sense of life or death."

Halfway to the Fallen God Valley ruins, the winged demigods and fire dragon crows suddenly turned to white bone one after another and fell from the sky. Yet no small number of them survived and pressed deeper, reaching the foot of the Fallen God Valley.

Having scouted the road, Yan Qiling, the Heavenly Dragon King, and the others set out one after another toward the Fallen God Valley.

Shen Mu looked at Xing An, who said unhurriedly, "That road is a dead end. The true road of life lies beneath our feet. Watch your step. Keep your feet at the same height as mine, and do not let your head rise above mine."

Shen Mu hastily lifted his feet and lowered his head. Dragon Qilin hurriedly shrank down to a length of just over a zhang, so that he stood no taller than Xing An. Yan'er was shorter than Xing An to begin with, and suddenly transformed into a blue sparrow that perched on Shen Mu's shoulder.

Xing An took out an enormous computing yuan soldier. Countless symbols crackled and shifted as it ran its calculations, and only then did he take a step.

"This computing yuan soldier is exactly like mine!"

Shen Mu's expression turned strange. "Xing An copied my yuan soldier!" he thought.

Xing An took that step, and suddenly the round blob of light burst forth. A sword light dozens of li long came straight at them, its sword aura vast and overwhelming, enough to make one's blood run cold.

So fearsome was this sword light that it pierced through dozens of radiant, many-colored glows along the way, and wherever it passed, space itself was cut open.

The power within the sword light was immense, sweeping away all before it. Not only could Xing An and Shen Mu not withstand it, even a cultivator of the Jade Capital realm would likely be slain by a single strike.

The sword light came to rest exactly beneath their feet. They felt as though countless tiny blades were piercing their bodies, a sharp stinging pain, yet strangely, the light did not harm them. What stung them was the sword intent contained within it.

Xing An stepped onto the sword light and quickened his pace. "Faster," he said in a low voice. "This sword light will soon withdraw."

Shen Mu hurried after him with Dragon Qilin.

Below, Yan Qiling, Mu Qiubai, the Heavenly Dragon King, and the rest all looked up. They saw Shen Mu and Xing An running overhead with Dragon Qilin, and their hearts jumped. "This sword light is not the Fallen God Valley's killing formation, but a bridge?"

Around them, many demigods were still dissolving in the divine glow, collapsing into heaps of white bone as they walked. The pressure on everyone grew.

Yan Qiling hastily leaped up onto the sword bridge. "It is safe here," she said.

The others leaped up as well. Six or seven of them were taller, and the moment they landed on the sword bridge, their heads vanished without a trace; others had half their skulls sheared away. It was a horrifying sight.

"Careful! This sword bridge only protects up to a height of seven chi. Keep low!" the Heavenly Dragon King shouted.

By the time they landed on the sword bridge, Shen Mu and Xing An had already reached its end, before the blob of light. Behind the light was a cliff, and a floating bridge connected it to the far side.

Xing An jumped down from the sword light and landed squarely on the floating bridge. Shen Mu jumped down as well. The instant he landed, there came a humming sound, and the sword light suddenly withdrew into the blob of light overhead. The divine glow the sword had cut apart closed up again.

Yan Qiling and the others, who had just landed on the bridge, suddenly found nothing beneath their feet. They cursed inwardly, and saw the divine glow come surging in from all sides.

"Fall back!" the Heavenly Dragon King barked.

Everyone retreated. Several more turned to white bone and collapsed as they ran.

They fled the Fallen God Valley. Mu Qiubai opened the door again and let more winged demigods fly out. "Find that sword bridge!" he shouted.

Swish.

The sword bridge appeared again, shearing off the heads of hundreds of winged demigods and leaving a field of corpses. At last Mu Qiubai determined the bridge's exact position.

On the floating bridge by the cliff, Xing An shook his head. "These fellows only know how to pile up lives."

Shen Mu laughed. "And how many lives did you lose before you found that sword bridge?"

Xing An fell silent, forcing down the urge to beat him to death.

They reached the top of the cliff on the far side. Beyond it lay a valley, ringed by steep precipices. Chains ran in every direction, tethering a coffin that stood upright, and beneath it was a stone well.