Chapter 667: The Forefather

“They’re all dead, all dead…”

Panic, fear, confusion, and a dazed voice was low, yet in the quiet environment, it clearly and accurately reached every minor demon’s ears, causing their hearts to race, mouths to dry, and terrifying images to surface in their minds.

Before them was the fallen and collapsing Southern Heaven Gate; in the distance, rolling mists that gave an eerie silence. Hearing such words, witnessing the disoriented and devastated states of the green and black snake demons, and recalling that this place was once part of the Celestial Court—hundreds of years without any human, demon, immortal, or deity entering—it instinctively sent chills down their spines, an innate fear of danger.

What exactly had happened to the green snake demon and black snake demon after the Southern Heaven Gate? Why were they so terrified they seemed mad?

The black-robed demon king, who had the bearing of a martial arts expert, also grew more solemn. He extended his right hand, shaped like a claw, and lightly drew it inward. Two minor demons flew toward him.

Suddenly, his mouth stretched long and sharp, piercing the forehead of a minor demon, drawing out the most vivid “images.”

Mysterious deaths, still mysterious deaths—these images made the black-robed demon king slightly furrow his brow, unable to determine exactly what they had encountered.

“How did they escape?” Since the demise of General Python, the two minor demons had completely collapsed, their minds in chaos, leaving the black-robed demon king unable to obtain any useful information.

After pondering for a long time, he ordered the Bai Li spirit and other demons: “You all stay here, do not enter, and wait for me to come out.”

Originally, the black-robed demon king had planned to bring the minor demons inside to accelerate the search for treasures. Now that such a strange and terrifying incident had occurred, and even General Python had silently perished within, it was better to proceed cautiously to avoid unnecessary losses.

Bai Li and the others nervously nodded in gratitude to their king. Had it been another cave’s demon king, they might have been forced to serve as scouts, triggering traps and drawing out enemies lurking within the ruins of the Celestial Court.

Suddenly, two wings, each about a zhang long, sprouted from the back of the black-robed demon king. The feathers were like swords, each sharp with metallic sheen. With a gentle flap, he flew over the Southern Heaven Gate.

However, nothing unexpected happened. He was still heavily suppressed and bound to the “ground,” unable to continue flying.

Recalling the fragmented words left by the ancestors, he roughly understood the situation and began marching forward.

The surroundings were filled with rolling mist, seemingly ready to spew terrifying enemies at any moment. The earlier experiences and behaviors of the two minor demons made him cautious, warily advancing without flapping his wings, gliding silently toward the faintly visible palace complex.

A place that originally could be reached in two or three breaths took him a long time. The deathly silence of the ruined palace complex made him deeply wary. His blood flow slightly quickened, and every blade of grass and broken pillar made him suspicious, fearing that something terrifying might happen in the next moment.

The former Celestial Court, now a “realm of ghosts”—how could one be careless? Especially when the demons ahead had encountered something strange and terrifying!

Step by step, the black-robed demon king reached the garden where the green snake demon, black snake demon, and others had hidden, intending to examine the corpses, determine the cause of death, and thus judge the level of danger they had encountered or the strength of the enemy.

Looking around, all he saw were broken walls and decaying wood, with no dust elsewhere. Where were the corpses?

The corpses were gone? The black-robed demon king inhaled sharply, feeling even more horrified. His sensing and searching became more thorough, and his pace slowed accordingly.

…

“If nothing unexpected happens, they must now be proceeding with extreme caution, afraid to speed up recklessly and risk stumbling into an array formation or encountering terrifying enemies unprepared,” Meng Qi looked back toward the palace complex, his footsteps not slowing in the slightest.

They had hidden their auras, used silent zither sounds and bone-eating thunder to kill General Python and the others, frightened the green snake and black snake demons into fleeing, and then let them escape to clearly convey the message that “inside is terrifying and strange” to the following demon king, thus delaying his advance.

Meanwhile, they quickly searched the palace complex, found nothing valuable, let alone the core item, and then passed through the area, proceeding along the only path—other places were filled with floating white clouds that were not substantial; stepping on them would cause one to fall into unseen “voids” below.

“Even our advance and search were cautious. How could they, having been startled, not be even more careful?” Zhao Heng smiled, believing the plan’s effect should be good.

Jiang Zhiwei reminded him: “If the arriving ‘demon king’ is reckless and brainless, he might not fall into the ‘trap.'”

The current Journey to the West was different from their own world; there were fewer great demons, and titles were confusing. Any demon who occupied a mountain claimed to be a demon king.

Ruan Yushu pursed her lips: “A demon king threatening us must be at least at the master level. No matter how brainless, after cultivating for so many years, he should have gained some wisdom and cunning.”

As Meng Qi was about to agree, he suddenly thought of the truly foolish demon kings in the original Journey to the West, who were tricked by the Monkey King like clowns, so he silently closed his mouth.

Qi Zhengyan spoke in a low tone: “Our advance isn’t fast either. The Six Paths only mentioned the core item but didn’t specify what it was or where it was located. We must search inch by inch to avoid missing it.”

Meng Qi and the others nodded. Perhaps this was the difficulty of the mission. Otherwise, arriving before the other demons, they could have ignored other gains, headed straight for the core item, grabbed it, and immediately fled, making the mission easy to complete.

Just then, a splashing sound drifted from ahead, lacking normal texture but adding a sense of illusion.

“The Milky Way…” Hearing water sounds in the Celestial Court, Meng Qi’s mind naturally thought of this.

The Milky Way once commanded by Marshal Tianpeng?

The five exchanged glances and quickened their pace, passing through the mist to see a quietly flowing river. Its waves seemed illusory, shimmering with light, and looking down, it seemed bottomless.

Suddenly, Meng Qi raised his hand, blocking Jiang Zhiwei and the others, and stopped himself.

Because over the Milky Way was a long, narrow bridge made of white clouds, and in front of the bridge stood a tall, imposing soldier clad in silver armor and holding a halberd!

“Heavenly soldier?” A thought struck Meng Qi’s heart.

In the Celestial Court, wearing such attire, who else could he be but a heavenly soldier?

Could it be that remnants of heavenly soldiers, generals, star lords, or spirit officials still existed within this fragment?

As thoughts raced through his mind, Meng Qi suddenly noticed something wrong—the “heavenly soldier” completely ignored them, neither questioning nor stopping them. He stood there silently, like an ancient statue eternally guarding the place.

“It’s not a statue, but its vitality is strangely frozen,” Jiang Zhiwei transmitted mentally.

As she spoke, Meng Qi also noticed something odd. The silver-armored heavenly soldier was eight chi tall, with a ruddy face, flesh brimming with powerful energy, and skin showing no signs of decay, as if still alive.

But he had no breath, no interaction with the ocean of primal energy, no blood flow, and his vitality seemed frozen.

“I can’t tell the cause of death…” Meng Qi frowned.

Zhao Heng was even more puzzled: “Dead for nearly a thousand years without any sign of decay, yet maintaining strong vitality and power—could it be a Dharma body?”

Some external experts could achieve the feat of not decaying after death, but maintaining vitality and strength was no ordinary feat.

“The bridge guard should be a heavenly soldier,” Ruan Yushu whispered.

If heavenly soldiers were all Dharma bodies, then swallowing ten thousand Dharma bodies at once would be too absurd! Meng Qi took a breath:

“I’ve seen the remains of an earthly immortal; this heavenly soldier’s condition is similar but distinctly different, at least without maintaining vitality.”

“Heavenly soldiers should only be external experts. Perhaps it’s due to the special nature of the Celestial Court itself or the strange cause of death.”

With such a heavenly soldier “blocking” the way ahead, how could they dare to approach recklessly and cross the bridge? They had to proceed cautiously and carefully.

Step by step, Meng Qi cautiously approached, but the heavenly soldier still showed no reaction.

…

A gust of demon wind blew, and dark clouds gathered. Six groups of demons appeared near the fragment of the Celestial Court.

Among them, three groups were led by tall figures clad in armor. One demon had a pattern on his forehead forming the character “King,” with lightning-like eyes and hidden fangs, seemingly accompanied by ghostly shadows. Another demon had dark skin, disheveled hair, a slightly plump build, and fists as large as sandpots. The third demon appeared honest and simple, with a sturdy build, holding a rake.

Their auras slightly decayed, tainted with dust, as if they had lived for hundreds or even thousands of years.

“The fragment of the Celestial Court—it’s the fragment of the Celestial Court!” The tiger demon with the “King” mark on his forehead exclaimed in delight.

The dark-skinned bear demon licked his lips: “I was just worried about my dwindling lifespan and the lack of elixirs to prolong life when I encountered such good fortune!”

“Good fortune, good fortune!” The clumsy buffalo demon echoed.

The tiger demon exhaled, seeming a bit sentimental: “It’s a pity we didn’t understand the mysteries back then and missed the chance to eat Tang Monk’s flesh. Otherwise, we would have achieved immortality long ago and wouldn’t be in this predicament!”

He turned his head to look in another direction, intending to thank Silver Python King, who had sent the vanguard and not kept the information to himself, allowing them to arrive first.

Silver Python King, his tongue flickering, wearing silver armor and holding a long spear, stood majestically in front of his minor demons, beside whom stood a man completely shrouded in strange black robes, emitting a decaying and obscure aura that made the tiger demon feel only dread.

“Who is this?” He asked in confusion, and all the demon kings turned to look.

Silver Python King respectfully replied: “This is my ancestor, Lord Dangshan!”

“Lord Dangshan?” The tiger demon repeated the name, which none of them had heard before. But if he was Silver Python King’s ancestor, he must be extraordinary!

Dangshan surveyed the area, his voice raspy and aged: “Don’t waste time.”

…

As Meng Qi approached the heavenly soldier, he grew increasingly vigilant, his sword and saber ready to strike at any moment, but the heavenly soldier showed no reaction, seemingly long dead.

When he finally passed the heavenly soldier and reached the front of the bridge, Meng Qi slightly relaxed, thinking perhaps he had been scaring himself.

But in such an environment, caution was necessary; one could not risk their life for nothing.

Jiang Zhiwei and the others followed one by one. Meng Qi casually sensed the slowly flowing river.

His mind buzzed as if entering an illusion. He felt the surrounding water flowing gently, shimmering with light. The river flowed into the void in the distance, becoming increasingly boundless and vast, floating with countless stars radiating heat and light—sun-like stars, their distances so far apart that Meng Qi could never fly across them in a lifetime.

He withdrew his senses, his teeth clenched. Could this truly be the “Milky Way”?

No wonder it was the Celestial Court of the Immortals!

As he was about to step onto the bridge, suddenly, he felt Qi Zhengyan’s aura surge, and his dragon-patterned sword slashed toward a certain point in the void.

Cold purple star river pierced through the air, flying into the distance, but it struck nothing.

“What’s wrong?” Meng Qi remained alert, scanning the surroundings.

Qi Zhengyan frowned: “Even before entering the fragment, I felt someone following us. Now, I feel even more strongly that we’re being watched.”

Being watched? Meng Qi looked around, his senses spreading outward.

In the absence of danger, could Senior Qi be more sensitive than himself?

Suddenly, Meng Qi’s heart quivered. He abruptly turned to look at the heavenly soldier.

The heavenly soldier’s eyes slowly opened. The frozen vitality abruptly broke, becoming vibrant again, as if he had returned after crossing through endless years—a subtle feeling of coming back from the distant past!