novelraw Chapter 1086: How could there be a path to immortality in this world? (94) — Fate
Chapter 1086: How could there be a path to immortality in this world? (94) — Fate
Jessica paced anxiously—some time had already passed since they had reached the summit of this great mountain.
Luo Qiu had entered the palace but had yet to return.
Qin Chuyu sat cross-legged on the ground, eyes closed. The Green Lotus Sword Song lay across her lap, letting out faint hums from time to time.
Miss Maid stood facing the Penglai Palace, quietly keeping watch… The reason Jessica thought of it as "keeping watch" was that this maid from the club had a level of patience that seemed beyond human. From the very beginning, she hadn’t moved an inch—like a statue perched on the cliff's edge.
“…You don’t seem worried?” Jessica walked over to You Ye and lowered her voice.
“There’s no need to worry.” Miss Maid smiled. “No individual, in any sense of the word, can harm my master.”
Jessica opened her mouth to speak… That sounded a bit too absolute.
She shook her head, about to say something more, when a faint tremor passed through the ground.
In fact, just before this tremor, a terrifying phenomenon had already occurred—a beam of golden light had suddenly shot up from the mountain below, piercing straight into the sky, as if splitting the mountain in half.
Something was clearly happening deep beneath the mountain… which was precisely why Jessica had grown increasingly anxious.Almost as if to confirm her unease, the ground trembled more violently.
Even You Ye was no longer indifferent. She looked down, then elegantly took two steps back—
And in that instant, the ground ahead exploded as a massive shadow burst from the mountain’s body!
Qin Chuyu awoke with a start and opened her eyes—what she saw was a towering Gaia locked in fierce battle with Da Zhe!
Da Zhe’s clothing was torn in multiple spots, while the giant Gaia also bore countless fine cracks across its metallic frame.
【La——!】
Valkyrie-Class Gaia suddenly opened its mouth wide and fired a massive beam of red light downward!
Da Zhe frowned, then dove with his Zhanlu Sword in hand—his speed outpaced the beam itself. Reaching You Ye, he pressed his palm against the flat of his sword to block the attack.
The residual force from the red beam scattered violently, blasting away part of the mountain’s summit.
“What is that?” You Ye asked calmly, raising her eyes toward the Valkyrie-Class Gaia. Her brows furrowed slightly.
Da Zhe lowered his hand from the sword’s edge—the blade of the Zhanlu Sword was glowing red. Looking at his palm, it seemed slightly burned.
“Not exactly sure, but it’s tough to deal with,” Da Zhe said as he shook his hand. “The space below was too tight, so I couldn’t use any big moves. If the place collapsed and buried Baijie’s evacuees, I wouldn’t know how to explain it to the Boss.”
Miss Maid nodded. “The master is inside now. Other than the palace area, you can go all out. But preferably, take the fight farther away.”
Da Zhe glanced at the massive Gaia, then gave a bitter smile. “That’s easy for you to say… This thing’s really tanky.”
“Are you the problem?” Miss Maid’s gaze sharpened. “Also, watch your demeanor.”
“…Got it.”
Da Zhe nodded like a scolded boxer on the ropes, then slapped his cheeks and took a deep breath to refocus. Energized, he rushed the Valkyrie-Class Gaia again, sword in hand.
Meanwhile, You Ye, who had been fully focused on Penglai Palace, now split her attention between it and Da Zhe’s battle.
“This has already surpassed the limits of this world’s science…” Miss Maid muttered with a frown. “Could it be…”
As she contemplated, the skies above Penglai’s treasure vault suddenly changed. The clouds swirled violently, and from the center of the vortex, a colossal light sword emerged!
Da Zhe’s Heavenly Sword!
Qin Chuyu was visibly shaken by its appearance. In that moment, she could feel Green Lotus Sword Song tremble in her lap—not from fear, but from surging battle spirit!
“Even though the sword spirit sleeps, its instincts have been awakened…”
She took a deep breath—the descending light sword seemed slow, but in truth it fell with immense speed, carrying unimaginable power.
【La——!!!】
Facing the descending Heavenly Sword, the Valkyrie-Class Gaia spread its arms wide and unleashed another brilliant red beam!
BOOM—!!!
The moment the sword and red light collided, a powerful shockwave burst outward, rippling across the mountaintop and instantly clearing half the sky of clouds!
A violent gust swept across the summit—
But the moment it reached You Ye’s side, the wind stopped—Jessica and Qin Chuyu, behind her, were entirely unaffected.
At the same time, the chaotic energy funneled into the entrance of Penglai Palace… From the entryway, two figures calmly walked forward against the storm—‘Mo Xiaofei’ and Windchaser.
Inside the palace, they had seen Luo Qiu enter the crystal chamber holding the corpse of the Penglai Immortal. But now, having heard the chaos outside, they rushed out to investigate.
“What… what is happening out here…” Windchaser stared blankly at the two terrifying forces colliding above the mountain, eyes full of fear. But ‘Mo Xiaofei’ only frowned deeply, silent and contemplative.
Just then, the massive light sword moved again—or rather, it overpowered the red light.
“Haaa—!!!!”
A deep roar burst from Da Zhe’s throat!
The Heavenly Sword broke through the beam like a blade through paper and resumed its descent at full speed—
The sword’s blade alone was over 100 meters long!
【La——!!!!】
As the Heavenly Sword fell, the Valkyrie-Class Gaia let out a final operatic cry before being completely engulfed by the descending blade.
RUMBLEEEEE—!!!!
From the heavens it fell, the giant light sword slamming straight into the mountaintop!
It split the summit in two—creating a massive chasm in the grand plaza before Penglai Palace!
The sword buried itself deep into the mountain!
In the air, Da Zhe held the Zhanlu Sword in both hands, frozen in a downward-striking pose, breathing heavily. His body flickered slightly before stabilizing—then he frowned again.
The Heavenly Sword was a technique he developed while slaying Void Abyss Demons in dimensional rifts. It wasn’t fully refined—its sheer power was hard to control!
From the plaza before the Penglai Palace, a massive crack now extended all the way to the mountain’s edge!
The entire summit had been split—not just the plaza!
Rocks crumbled and fell. The forward half of the summit suddenly sank and tilted along the fracture line, continuing to collapse downward.
Miss Maid gently rubbed her brow—unfortunately, the spot she stood on was in the sinking zone.
She waved her hand, creating a glowing sphere that enveloped Qin Chuyu and Jessica, lifting them into the air.
RUMBLEEEEE—!!
The fractured mountaintop kept collapsing. As it fell, it broke apart further—an impact powerful enough to shake the entire Penglai Treasure Vault!
Miss Maid silently observed. She didn’t speak, even as the landslide reached the ground below—
Because at the moment the mountain split apart, something buried deep within was finally revealed—just the corner of its true form.
Amid the billowing smoke, faint flashes of metallic light kept flickering. As the dust began to clear, what appeared before everyone’s eyes was a colossal metallic structure!
Even though only part of it was exposed, it astonishingly occupied nearly a third of the mountain's mass!
“What… what is that…” Jessica gasped, covering her mouth in shock.
“It likely belongs to the technology of the original world,” Miss Maid suddenly said coldly.
Jessica and Qin Chuyu both turned toward her, but Miss Maid said nothing more. She simply controlled the light orb to descend and approach the massive structure hidden within the mountain—as if to examine it more closely.
The light orb sped across the exposed portion of the structure at high speed—yet compared to this massive object, it looked no bigger than a firefly fluttering around a skyscraper.
In the sky, Da Zhe rubbed his chin while recovering his strength. Glancing at the now-exposed structure, he muttered, “Wait, I was just inside this thing?”
He didn’t know much. As a rookie even newer than a certain old dog, his narrow worldview gave him only one intuitive impression of the massive buried object—it looked like an alien spaceship!
RUMBLE—!!
Suddenly, the rest of the mountain began to shake violently—rocks split off and collapsed from the mountain’s body!
The source of this intense tremor was precisely the massive structure buried in the mountain—it was moving!
As if trying to break free from the mountain, it suddenly surged upward and broke through the summit!
Its movement triggered the complete collapse of the entire mountain. Below, Miss Maid looked up and softly said, “Master.”
At her command, the light orb clung to the surface of the structure and rapidly ascended—
It climbed up to a small remaining section of the plaza before the Penglai Palace. There, the air shimmered slightly, and a figure slowly emerged.
Luo Qiu opened his eyes.
“Master!” Miss Maid quickly approached. “We’ve encountered… a bit of a situation.”
Luo Qiu blinked in surprise, then nodded after a glance around. “How long was I inside?”
“Almost forty minutes,” You Ye replied.
Luo Qiu nodded again and said with some wonder, “The world of thought is strange… It only felt like ten minutes.”
“Master?” Miss Maid asked softly.
Luo Qiu nodded, then shook his head. “Let’s deal with the matter here first. We’ll talk when we return.”
“Understood.” Miss Maid nodded obediently.
“Boss!”
Da Zhe dropped from the sky and landed beside Luo Qiu, looking rather embarrassed. He recalled how Miss Maid had told him not to affect the palace in battle, so he nervously asked, “Uhh… Boss, I didn’t disturb you, did I?”
Luo Qiu waved it off. “It’s fine—I came out myself.”
Just then, Luo Qiu’s eyes were drawn forward—as if by something.
At that moment, the massive object that had been buried in the mountain broke fully free and soared into the sky. Its giant frame swept before everyone’s eyes—
Its shadow completely engulfed the Penglai Palace. Yet despite the mountain’s collapse, the palace remained utterly unmoved—as if frozen in space.
Even after the mountain crumbled, Penglai Palace floated stably in midair.
Suddenly, a part of the giant structure was blown open, and several figures shot out from the breach, flying directly toward the floating Penglai Palace!
At the lead was Daoist Baijie, with Gong Fanxin and Gongsun Wuwei close behind!
They weren’t panicking because of the external chaos—but because of Huang Baifu, who was in hot pursuit!
Fully demonized, Huang Baifu had turned into a completely mindless beast, ruthlessly hunting them down, utterly indifferent to the destruction outside.
But as they burst out of the ship, Baijie, Fanxin, and Wuwei finally saw the outside world clearly.
This sky-darkening object—Leixia Ship!
…
“Boss Luo!!”
Daoist Baijie quickly scanned the air and immediately spotted Luo Qiu and the others outside Penglai Palace. He changed course and flew toward the floating palace—
But just then, Leixia Ship, now fully airborne, suddenly unfolded rows and rows of turrets along its hull—countless cannons!
Beams of light rained down from every turret, not aimed at any specific target, but blasting madly in every direction across the entire Penglai Treasure Vault!
The incoming light beams forced Baijie to raise his black-and-white mirror artifact in both hands to block the attack. In doing so, he had no choice but to abandon the strange metal dog he had picked up earlier.
As he lost his grip and plummeted toward the ground…
Tai Yinzi felt surprisingly calm. He blinked and instinctively flailed his limbs.
Falling… but I saw the master!
I finally saw the master! In this nightmare of a place, I finally found my backing!
But at the moment of victory, you abandoned me, Old Daoist Baijie!!!
How can I bow down here!?
I won’t kneel!!
Clenching the scroll tightly in his mouth, Tai Yinzi finally let out a roar of frustration. His limbs scrambled wildly to slow his fall—but it was useless!
Still, his will to survive was terrifyingly strong.
He crashed onto a falling boulder but refused to give up! Using the debris as stepping stones, he climbed madly—toward the floating Penglai Palace!
I won’t kneel, I won’t kneel, I won’t kneel!!!
He dashed, jumped, and scrambled—and at last, by sheer willpower, he reached the outer plaza of Penglai Palace!
There, he finally saw Luo Qiu standing between Miss Maid and Da Zhe!
Finally…!!
Master! I, Tai Yinzi, have found you at last!!
From one corner of the plaza, a tiny figure dashed madly toward Luo Qiu, weaving through falling light beams.
With a mighty leap, Tai Yinzi stretched out his body, aiming to dive into Luo Qiu’s arms—
But just then, Da Zhe saw a bug-eyed little creature, gripping a scroll in its mouth, charging like it had overdosed on performance enhancers. Instinctively, he swatted it aside without thinking.
“Master, I’m—”
SMACK—!!
A herculean slap sent Tai Yinzi flying. Dazed, he felt himself spinning through the air… tumbling off the plaza… and plunging toward the earth.
“NO——!!!!”
…
“Huh? That dog looked kinda familiar…” Da Zhe frowned and looked at his boss. “Boss, was it calling out to you just now?”
“…Hmm.” Luo Qiu frowned slightly. “Might’ve been Tai Yinzi.”
At the same time, Luo Qiu looked down—at his feet, a paper scroll had rolled over due to the wind.
—
(End of Chapter)