C640 The Broken World(part II)

"Alright! Let's head inside!" Woo Zhengyang had to remind everyone as they stood there, unmoving, even after Xuan Qixing and the others had long disappeared. Though reluctant, Woo Zhengyang knew that only by leaving this sealed world could they honor the efforts of Xuan Qixing and the Great Desolate Ancient Clan.

Turning around, they faced the gateway to the Holy City. The city gate was half-open, obscuring the view inside. Woo Zhengyang, Lee Yuanye, Black Robe, Yun'er, Bing'er, Jing'er, Li'er, and Huo'er began walking toward it, step by step.

As they approached the gate, a strange sense of familiarity enveloped them. With the first step, Woo Zhengyang noticed the gate, which hadn't seemed particularly tall before, had doubled in height. With the second step, that peculiar feeling persisted, and the gate grew even taller. After a few more steps, the gate had become so enormous that its top was out of sight.

"Our bodies have returned to their normal size!" someone exclaimed.

"No kidding! I always said our first city, our Holy City, should be towering! But this... this is just too tall!" Lee Yuanye remarked, craning his neck to see the endless height of the gate.

"Look, sir..." Bing'er suddenly tugged on Woo Zhengyang's sleeve, pointing behind them.

Woo Zhengyang and the others followed Bing'er's direction and looked back. Beyond the gates of the Holy City, a grove of green bamboo swayed gently in the breeze.

"Did we really walk through that bamboo grove these past few days? That's just too bizarre..." Lee Yuanye said in disbelief.

Everyone found it hard to believe, but they knew it was true. That seemingly small bamboo grove concealed a vast underground world.

"Alright, let's head inside!"

They had taken several steps, yet it felt like they were walking in place. They hadn't even reached the edge of the Holy City, let alone touched its gates. The enormous gate, whose material was unknown, had seemed ordinary before. Now, its massive size revealed intricate carvings all over its surface.

"Wow, a gate so tall you can't see the top. Can we even push it open?" Lee Yuanye stepped forward, ready to push the slightly ajar door.

"Buzz..."

Before he could touch it, the gate opened on its own.

"An automatic door, pretty advanced for our ancestors..."

Lee Yuanye was about to make another comment but stopped mid-sentence.

As the massive gate swung open, the scene inside the Holy City unfolded before the eight of them. To call it a city was an understatement; it was an entire world, an unimaginably vast world!

The world we live in now is a shattered one, a fragmented world. The heavens and earth have crumbled, and time and space are intertwined. This is the only way people can describe it.

In this world, there is sky and earth, but the sky isn't always above, and the earth isn't always below. It's like a painting that's been cut into pieces. After being divided, this world has been jumbled back together, with the heavens inverted and time in chaos.

Take the area around the city gate, for instance. Only this section is normal. Just a few steps forward, and you'll find yourself in a void. On the other side of this void is a world of towering mountains, where a skeleton, several times taller than the peaks, lies quietly. No one knows how many years have passed, yet the bones remain as pristine as jade.

"This... this is our ancestral land!"

"But... how do we get there?"

The people stood there, unable to take a step forward for a long time. The void appeared like a sudden patch of night in the middle of the day. Through this darkness, they could see the other side, a normal world, but no matter how close it seemed, they couldn't cross the void to reach it. Stepping into the void would mean endless descent.

"This way!" Woo Zhengyang said, leading the way to one side of the city gate. There, along the wall, was a section that connected to another place.

As they turned the corner of the city wall, the world before them suddenly expanded into a vast expanse.

"Roar..."

Before they could take in the scene, a shadowy figure covered in spikes charged at them from the side!

A devil pet!

Just as the creature lunged, Yun'er sprang into action, releasing a flurry of white ribbons. The ribbons wove together into a massive net, effortlessly ensnaring the devil pet. It struggled briefly before being securely bound.

With a gentle flick of Yun'er's hand, the creature was tossed into the void on one side.

"That little trickster really managed to lure all these fools in! If only this one were a bit dumber, it would just dive into the void and be done with it!" Lee Yuanye grumbled.

"Alright, enough complaining. Let's move on!"

The landscape was a barren desert, strewn with gravel and devoid of life. Woo Zhengyang and the others had no idea where to find the entrance to the next fragmented world, but there was someone who might know—the one who had ventured here before, from the mystical clan.

Woo Zhengyang sent Lee Yuanye into the Star World.

Not long after, Lee Yuanye returned, but the news he brought was less than satisfactory. Due to the presence of the sacred mountain, this world, even though fractured, wouldn't completely shatter, which explained the scene before them.

One thing is certain: there must be a path leading to the world where the Sacred Mountain resides. However, this path isn't fixed, and even the Red-clothed Demon King can't provide a specific route, as these fragmented worlds are constantly drifting, sometimes coming together and sometimes breaking apart.

In essence, these world fragments are connected by a line to the Sacred Mountain, but this line is dynamic. It might connect in one way today and another tomorrow. If you're lucky, you might walk straight ahead and reach the fragment where the Sacred Mountain is located in no time. But if luck isn't on your side, you might find yourself wandering in circles, seeing the Sacred Mountain nearby yet unable to get closer.

And if you're really unlucky, after wandering for ages, you might finally reach the last fragment before the one with the Sacred Mountain, only for the connection between the two fragments to break at that very moment! Then, you'll have to start searching for a new route all over again. If misfortune continues, you might repeat this process once, twice, or even several times...

In terms of time, if everything goes smoothly, you might reach the Sacred Mountain in a few days. If not, it could take you ten days, maybe even several weeks, not to mention the dangers you might encounter along the way. According to the Red-clothed Demon King, the first time they ventured in, it took them a whole month to reach the world where the Profound Mountain is located, and another month to return.