Cold sweat streamed down Senior Brother Qu's forehead. His voice was hoarse as he said,"No wonder these treasures have remained here untouched. Junior Sister Qing… these treasures have already gained sentience. Anyone who isn't their true master will be harmed instead!"
Senior Sister Qing shuddered and nodded repeatedly.
Qin Mu said coldly,"These treasures have been here all this time, and no one has ever dared to take them. Even the strange beasts avoid them. There must be grave danger. You knew the risk and still pushed your own junior brother into it. Your heart is vicious—you are the true demon!"
"The demon child is trying to confuse us again!"
Senior Brother Qu looked grief-stricken as he shook his head."What do you know of the bond between my junior brother and me? A little demon will always think with a demon's heart. You judge me with a twisted mind and naturally think mine is the same. I won't argue with you. When dawn comes, I'll send you on your way."
Qin Mu frowned. This Senior Brother Qu was sinister and ruthless enough to sacrifice even his fellow disciple. There was no way he would allow Qin Mu to leave alive.
Yet Qu's strength was terrifying, far beyond Qin Mu's ability to resist—and Senior Sister Qing was just as formidable.
At that moment, the ground suddenly trembled violently, shaking the entire ruin. Deep, muffled roars of exotic beasts echoed from beneath the earth. The beasts within the ruins quivered and retreated, staring nervously at the towering stone portal with fear-filled eyes.
"What are these beasts afraid of?"
Just as Qin Mu thought this, an overwhelmingly dense darkness surged from the giant gateway like a black tide.
His heart leapt. The portal seemed to possess an invisible barrier that held the darkness at bay, while the darkness crashed against it in a frenzy, trying to break through.
The barrier twisted and warped under the assault but did not break. The darkness twisted with it—at times like razor-sharp claws, at times like smoke being stretched thin by the wind, at times like countless needles. Its forms changed endlessly.
Suddenly, the darkness ceased its assault. The barrier grew still.
Moments later, the invisible barrier bulged outward—as though something from behind was pressing against it—stretching further and further.
The darkness forced the barrier outward until it formed the shape of a face.A giant face—its brow touching the canyon's sky, its chin pressed against the ground.
Every beast in the ruin collapsed to the floor, unmoving, not daring even to raise its head to look.
The face had three pitch-black eyes. The instant Qin Mu saw them, icy terror washed through him, as if his very soul might be sucked away.
The face suddenly spoke. Its voice was deep, buzzing, layered with countless overlapping tones. It spoke in a language no one understood:
"Kikodo… Samoye… Prajna-prajna Samoye… Kikodo Prajna Samoye…"
The humming voice carried a strange, dreadful power. The earth of the ruin quaked violently. Palace walls cracked, stone pillars collapsed, fissures spread across the ground.
Even the massive stone gateway trembled, shedding dust and gravel—the structure clearly couldn't endure much longer.
Just then, a bright radiance burst forth from the plaza.
The leader of the skeletons held a luminous pearl, and now that pearl erupted with brilliant light. It floated into the air, its glow like sticky, flowing multicolored mist.
The viscous radiance spread across the plaza, enveloping the two hundred skeletons.
And those skeletons… began to change.
Qin Mu froze completely.
Within the glowing mist, the skeletons were no longer skeletons—they became living maidens.
Young girls with rosy cheeks, crimson lips, and bright garments like burning flames.
Dozens upon dozens of maidens sat upon the plaza. The leader was also a young woman, holding up the rising pearl in one hand.
From their lips came a strange chant—mysterious and obscure:
"Yi po xiu po sa nan jun he xi, guan ming duan jing wu si jiang you…"
The voice from the darkness grew louder and more immense, shaking the entire canyon. Darkness surged from all directions, flooding toward the ruin.
But the voices of the maidens grew even clearer and brighter, and waves of radiance burst from the pearl. With each pulse of light, darkness dissolved like smoke.
The two sides clashed—like the voices of gods and demons battling.Light and darkness collided violently again and again.
It was a duel beyond imagination, shaking Qin Mu's soul. Although he lived in the Great Ruins, this was the first time he had ever witnessed such an unfathomable spectacle.
"This sound…"
Qin Mu was stunned.The voices of the maidens sounded similar to the divine voice he heard when he tried breaking through the Spirit Embryo Wall—same cadence, same sacred resonance. Though the words differed, the intent felt the same.
Whenever he tried to break the embryo wall with his qi, he faintly sensed a distant voice descending from beyond the Nine Heavens—holy, solemn. Each time it rang out, his qi would falter and retreat, unable to break through.
The two sides continued their ferocious battle of sound. Neither could overpower the other completely.
The demonic voice was powerful, terrifying.The maiden's divine chant was clear, sacred, resilient.Whenever the demon voice gained ground, the divine chant would surge up and shatter it.Whenever the divine chant waned, the demon voice would erupt like a flood from the stars.
Both sounds possessed exquisite, astonishing power.
Qin Mu listened, entranced—until he suddenly shivered, a spark of realization bursting in his mind.
"Demonic voice and divine voice fighting each other…The divine chant is similar to the sound that blocks me from breaking the embryo wall.Then—could I use the demonic voice to counter the divine one?"
His heart pounded with excitement.It was an excellent idea.
If he learned this demonic chant, then when the divine sound echoed during his breakthrough, he could recite the demonic chant to counter it—allowing his qi to breach the Spirit Embryo Wall!
If he succeeded, with his Overlord Body and the Three-Dan Overlord Technique, he would no longer need to fear Senior Brother Qu or Senior Sister Qing.
But then he froze, as if splashed with ice water.
The voice from beyond the Nine Heavens was the voice of a god.If he used a demon's chant to break through the restraint of a god…
Would that make him a demon sealed away by the gods?
Were Senior Brother Qu and Senior Sister Qing… right?Was he truly a "little demon"?
"No. No!"
Qin Mu shook his head.If he were a demon, then wouldn't all the other Overlord Bodies also be demons?If they were demons, why call it the Overlord Body instead of the Demon Body?
"Doesn't matter if it's demon or overlord—I just need to break through first!"
Once he decided, he immediately began memorizing the demon chant—its tone, cadence, rhythm, rise and fall. Every intonation, every twist in its eerie melody, he engraved into his heart.
Only after confirming there were no mistakes did Qin Mu circulate his Three-Dan Overlord Qi Technique.
While silently reciting the demonic chant, he drove his qi upward and charged toward the Spirit Embryo Wall at his glabella!