đź“– Chapter 953 - Prisoner of the Dao of Heaven...
The depths of the black paper sea were full of resentful energy that obscured any vision. However, down at the very bottom of the sea… Maybe it was because of the spell formation, or maybe it was because of that woman’s corpse, but Wang Baole was able to see everything clearly.
But perhaps it was precisely because of this vast difference from the rest of the sea that the black qi on the woman’s body became even more shocking. The way it tangled about, clearly trying to assimilate her, made Wang Baole feel a trembling in the depths of his soul.
He had no idea what that black qi was. However, it made every single part of his body unceasingly send him warning signals.
Danger!!
Wang Baole’s heart trembled. He looked at the woman’s body, looked at the black qi all around her, and even looked at the place where the black qi was coming from… the cracks in the mirror seal!
“This is…?” After a while, Wang Baole barely calmed himself down and sent a divine thought to the paper human cutout beside him.
“A passage to an unknown location!” The paper human cutout didn’t even glance at the seal. Instead, it gazed at the woman’s corpse that was sitting there cross-legged. There was reminiscence and even gentleness in its eyes as it spoke.
Right now, its voice was no longer as uncanny as before.
“The reason for the Starfall Empire’s existence is to suppress this passage. What I need you to do is get closer and use that Daoist magic of yours. Once you do, the qi spreading out from the passage will be stifled, and the seal will have some time to recover.”
Wang Baole had a grim expression on his face. Although he had known his task beforehand, the scene in front of him still caused his mind to spin. After thinking for a while, he turned to look at the paper human cutout.
“Senior, it’s not that this junior doesn’t want to help, but… There are three things I need to know!”
“Speak.” The paper human cutout didn’t look back at Wang Baole. It just continued staring at the woman’s corpse with a gentle gaze.
“First… Senior seems to know this woman. Senior, what exactly is your identity? Who is this old friend of yours, and why is she here?!” Wang Baole immediately opened his mouth.
When the paper human cutout heard his question, it fell silent. It didn’t care that Wang Baole’s one question actually contained multiple questions, but after a while, its aged voice reverberated in Wang Baole’s mind.
“She is my lover. As for my identity… Your Planet Guiding Drumstick was formed by a portion of my divine soul. Do you understand now?”
Wang Baole’s mind rumbled when he heard that. He recalled what the paper human cutout had said earlier; an emperor of the Starfall Empire had sacrificed himself, turning his fleshly body into the Heavenspan Drum and splitting his divine soul into ten parts, which turned into the Planet Guiding Drumsticks.
After that, every once in a while, the Chosen of the Outer Domain were permitted to come to the Starfall Realm and obtain a great opportunity.
“My divine soul wasn’t split into ten parts, but eleven! I don’t know why the extra part appeared in the Outer Domain, but I remember that back then, the last place I went to was the unknown place beyond this seal.” The paper human cutout said softly. Its face held some confusion, but there also seemed to be a profound meaning in its words.
“But I’ve lost all my memories of that place. When I came to, I was already in a ruin inside the Never-Ending Dao Domain, and I was unprecedentedly weak.
“As for my lover… She is not from the Starfall Empire, nor is she from the Never-Ending Dao Domain. She is from... the place beyond this seal!” The paper human cutout didn’t continue speaking after that. Although there were several points of suspicion, Wang Baole instinctively felt that the paper human cutout was telling the truth, if only a part of it.
Although he wanted to hear more details, he knew that it wouldn’t be of any use. Thus, he instead asked his second question.
“Second. This passage… Why must it be sealed?”
This question seemed almost unnecessary. However, it was really Wang Baole making an approach from a different direction. No matter what the paper human cutout’s answer was, it would have to involve the unknown place beyond the seal in some way.
The paper human cutout remained silent for longer this time before it finally spoke slowly.
“Do you really have to know? Knowing won’t do you much good. And once you know, you’ll also be known… Are you sure?”
For some reason, these words made the hair all over Wang Baole’s body instantly stand up. After a long moment of silence, he gritted his teeth with a fierce expression.
“The will brought over by this junior’s scripture will surely attract attention anyway. Thus, it’s better to just hear about it now. Senior, please tell me.”
“It’s to monitor!” The paper human cutout said calmly.
Before the paper human cutout spoke, Wang Baole had thought about what it might say, but no matter what, he would never have guessed that the answer to his question was… to monitor!
After hearing those words, Wang Baole’s expression revealed a look of confusion. He wanted to ask further, but the paper human cutout had already closed its eyes. Thus, Wang Baole could only keep his thoughts in his mind. After a while, he spoke up again.
“Third… Senior, can you guarantee my safety?”
“I’ll try my best.” The paper human cutout finally turned its head and looked at Wang Baole. Although its words were short and simple, after meeting its gaze, Wang Baole felt that it had no intention of harming him and would indeed protect him to the best of its ability.
After thinking it over, Wang Baole’s eyes showed a decisive light. Gritting his teeth, he no longer hesitated. In fact, since the moment he arrived here, there was only one path in front of him.
Since he had no other options… he would just do it!
After making his decision, Wang Baole’s momentum surged. His body flickered and rapidly approached the mirror seal. Although he didn’t actually enter the central area where the woman’s corpse was, only sitting down on a stone pillar at the periphery, he still felt an extremely powerful sense of crisis.
Fortunately, the paper human cutout quickly arrived beside him. With a wave of its hand, a gentle light enveloped Wang Baole, easing the trembling of his body.
“Do it.” The paper human cutout murmured.
Although Wang Baole had used the Dao Scripture many times before, this time was different. Previously, he had only used it to frighten his enemies and spoke a few words very slowly. But now, he was about to recite the whole thing with all his strength. If what he usually did was like whispering quietly into the ear of a sleeping person, then what he was about to do was like screaming into that person’s ear with all his strength, and not just once or twice but continuously.
“Damn it…” Wang Baole sighed, but he was a decisive person after all. Gritting his teeth, he sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes. After a while, his eyes flew open. A profound glow appeared in their depths, and deep in his heart, he began to recite!
“Enlightened…”
When he recited the first word in his heart, nothing changed in the surrounding black paper sea. The seal was the same as usual, as was the woman’s corpse. However, the paper human cutout cast Wang Baole a sidelong glance. There was a profound light in its eyes, and its chest heaved slightly. At that moment, it sensed that… Wang Baole’s thoughts seemed to have been blocked off. The paper human cutout couldn’t read them in the slightest.
This was a familiar scene; every time Wang Baole recited the Dao Scripture, the same thing would happen. At that moment, anticipation rose rapidly in the paper human cutout’s heart.
A moment later… A vast might suddenly descended on the seal beneath the black paper sea!
It seemed like there was an ancient aura that came from beyond the Starfall Realm and beyond the Never-Ending Dao Domain, traversing the endless starry sky in an instant to appear here. Even if what arrived was nothing more than a sliver, even if that sliver had only formed the barest of connections to the place where that aura truly existed… To Wang Baole and the paper human cutout, it was still incomparably vast.
Rumbling sounds reverberated, and the entire black paper sea churned with waves. The sea was thrown into a frenzy, but what was even more frenzied was… the black qi coming from the cracks in the seal!
At that moment, the black qi was agitated like never before. It suddenly stirred and spun, forming a huge black vortex that rotated at high speed and instantly covered the entire mirror seal. If the black qi had been a person, its expression would certainly have been one of surprise and apprehension!
This scene made the paper human cutout’s anticipation grow stronger. And at that moment… Wang Baole recited the next sentence of the Dao Scripture!
"...prisoner of the Dao of heaven..."