Chapter 299: The Premonition of Seal Imbalance

The night was deep, and a thin crescent moon hung in the dark clouds, like a half-open and half-closed eye, overlooking the world indifferently.

The embers of the recently extinguished war still carried the smell of scorched earth and blood, billowing in the wind.

The corpses of monsters were scattered in the river and outside the camp, making the land look like a cemetery after a catastrophe.

Li Qingyun stood in front of a cracked stone platform. The sword power around him was restrained, but he still made people feel an uneasy and murderous feeling.

He seemed calm on the surface, but in fact, the same chaos was surging in his heart.

The severe pain in his chest had been tormenting him for days, and now it was biting him even more, as if invisible claws were crawling all over his heart and lungs.

He tried his best to endure it, tapping the scabbard lightly on the ground to stabilize his body, but he still couldn’t resist the waves of pain.

Occasionally, dark mist shadows flashed around him, making the monks around him feel dazzled, but also chilled.

There was a faint hoarse sound hidden in the sound of the wind, as if someone was whispering in his ear.

He knew that it was the loosening of the seal and also the call of “Silence”.

Since the series of fierce battles with the outer gods, especially the several times of forcibly awakening the power of the palace to break the monster formation, the sealed “Silence” broke free faster. Whenever it was late at night, it would turn into pain and hallucinations, dragging him into the abyss of the mind.

At this moment, Mu Guiying and He Xiangu were watching him from afar.

There were scattered torches in the center of the military camp, illuminating each other’s faces in half light and half darkness.

No one dared to ask, and the quieter Li Qingyun was, the less people dared to approach him.

During the last bloody battle, he was almost bitten by the seal and vomited black blood in public, which terrified the soldiers.

Everyone knows that if the true God in front of them makes any mistake, it will be more terrifying than the rampage of foreign gods.

Li Qingyun took a deep breath and turned to look at the remnant soldiers running around in the distance.

Ever since the emergence of the leader of the outer gods, the human defenses have been unable to withstand the repeated attacks, and emergency letters are everywhere.

The common people were displaced, and the secret alliance between Yuxu Palace and the outer gods caused many towns to fall into fang sacrifice.

If this continues, the barrier between the three realms will collapse completely sooner or later.

But he was trapped inside and outside, and when he swung his sword again, “silence” seemed to be tearing apart in the palace corridors.

The night was heavy, with occasional roars of beasts coming from scattered monsters wandering around the edge of the forest.

In the distant clouds, there was faint purple lightning, revealing that the outer gods were still plotting.

Li Qingyun suppressed the pain in his chest and tried hard to clear the gray fog in his mind:

“I can’t put it off any longer.”

He repeated this sentence in his mind and looked around, only to find that even the night seemed to be frozen, as if it did not want to witness an inevitable storm.

A servant stepped forward cautiously, stopped a few steps away from him, and reported in a low voice:
“Sir, the remnants of Huanglong Zhenren have reappeared, but their route is inconceivable. In addition, the aftermath of the space-time distortion in the southeast is still occurring, and the river water has flooded many villages…”

There was a strong sense of powerlessness in those words.

Li Qingyun nodded slightly, then waved his hand to signal for him to leave.

He was not surprised. Both the remnants of Yuxu Palace and the believers of the foreign gods seized the opportunity when his seal was about to collapse, making the situation worse.

There was a sudden sharp pain in my ears, like a dull hammer hitting my head.

He staggered and took a step back.

It seemed that in the next second, the darkness in his body would burst out of his chest, turning him into a half-demon.

He looked up at the sky and saw dark clouds overlapping, the moonlight was as thin as a spider’s thread, and purple lightning was floating in the gaps between the clouds, like the shadow of a snake moving among the giant trees.

He seemed to hear Silence chuckling happily, saying sarcastically, “The seal has been broken, and you have nowhere to escape.”

His eyes were stern, but he had to admit in his heart that the seal had reached the most dangerous edge.

“Qingyun?”

Mu Guiying called out with a little concern.

She noticed the slight tremor in his steps.

Li Qingyun held his breath, turned around and smiled faintly:

“It’s nothing, just an old injury that has recurred.”

Although his words were light, they could not hide the panic in the generals’ eyes.

He Xiangu wanted to persuade her again, but she pursed her lips and hesitated.

Li Qingyun interrupted and said in a deep voice:
“The army must not lose its morale. I can hold on.”

Can he hold on? In fact, even he is not sure.

There were bursts of rumbling sounds coming from the scabbard, as if it was resonating and echoing deep in the palace, or like the whispers of an outer god.

Li Qingyun closed his eyes, and in a moment he seemed to be in a gray fog maze again. The pillars of the temple collapsed and shattered, and red turbid liquid overflowed from under the floor, like a sea of ​​blood and mucus mixed together.

Sometimes he couldn’t tell whether it was an illusion from an alien god or the whisper of “Silence”, or perhaps the two were linked together, trying to pull him into deeper despair.

Suddenly, his heart trembled and he tried hard to dispel the illusion.

When I opened my eyes, I could still see the bright lights and noisy voices in the camp.

But whenever he looked elsewhere, he might be in a trance: the shadow of a palace looming in the sky, and countless dark shadows grinning at him at the end of the corridor.

He held on tight, gripping the knife slightly harder, letting the sharp edge of the sheath touch his palm, as if using the pain to maintain his sanity.

As soon as the sky was getting light, urgent news came: the battle lines of the Outer Gods were in turmoil, especially in the north, where giant beasts were attacking again, and military supplies were in dire straits.

All the ministers and commanders of various departments hoped that Li Qingyun could come out again to fight the enemy.

But if he were to strike again, the seal would most likely be broken immediately.

This is a dead end, and any choice leads to the edge of the abyss.

Many soldiers in the camp also began to feel uneasy: If Li Qingyun was unable to go to the battle due to his injuries, could the human world survive the next wave of attacks?
He Xiangu waited outside the tent with a sad expression. After a while, she walked in and wanted to persuade Li Qingyun to hide his injuries and not go to the most dangerous place.

Li Qingyun replied calmly:

“Who else but me can kill the leader of the Outer Gods? The undercurrent in Yuxu Palace can only be stopped by me. If I don’t go tonight, and I don’t go tomorrow, will there be another chance the day after tomorrow?”

He Xiangu was speechless and could only sigh and leave, leaving the decision to this only hope in the storm.

Late at night, Li Qingyun suddenly woke up from his half-asleep meditation, his forehead soaked with cold sweat.

He saw the palace corridor shaking violently again, and countless gray runes climbing along the walls of the palace, as if they would completely devour the soul as soon as the sword force was released next time.

He stood up in a daze, and realized that the moonlight outside was as cold as a knife. The night wind blew the lingering smell of blood in his face, making him smell the odor of ruin and decay.

He moved to the corner of the camp, looking down at the nearby terrain alone, but suddenly felt dazed: the ground beneath his feet seemed to rise several feet, overlapping with the cracks in the sky, as if he was in some kind of half-real and half-virtual wonderland.

I came back to my senses in an instant and everything returned to normal, except that the severe pain in my chest remained.

The palace illusion and the distortion of the Outer God acted together in his soul. The seal could collapse at any time and never let him go.

Looking back at the tired and sleeping soldiers in the camp again, Li Qingyun secretly clenched his fists: If this seal is unstable, he is likely to turn into a monster more terrifying than the Outer God, or become a “silent” zombie.

He absolutely didn’t want to see that scene.

He not only has to save the world, but also has to protect himself.

But the continuous attacks of the foreign gods have pushed him to his limit, and he has to draw his sword and fight at any time.

This situation is a dead end.

The next morning, He Xiangu and Mu Guiying came and silently reported to him: the remnants of Huanglong Zhenren appeared again, and they were still dreaming of carrying out the “sacrifice of ten thousand souls” and carrying the evil power of foreign gods to massacre the city.

When Li Qingyun heard this, his pupils contracted and his palms clenched into a crackling sound.

But before he could set off, he felt a sudden pain in his chest and spat out a mouthful of scarlet blood with a hint of grey mist in it.

In the blink of an eye, the fog was about to condense into a strange pattern, which was destroyed by his strong force and then dispersed.

Everyone in the army screamed in shock when they saw this.

Mu Guiying called out urgently: “Qingyun, don’t force it anymore!”

But Li Qingyun gritted his teeth and stomped his feet on the ground, suppressing the pain in his chest, his eyes gleaming with coldness:

“We must not let those scumbags from Yuxu Palace sacrifice more of their compatriots. I will resist for half a day. No matter how strong the seal is, we cannot let them get away with it.”

It was obvious that he had spared no effort, but the other generals felt distressed and helpless and could only hastily organize their armies to go to battle.

At dawn, a large group of people gathered together, with Li Qingyun leading the vanguard.

He forced his internal energy to temporarily calm the gray fog swirling in the palace, and the scabbard also faintly emitted a golden and white light, showing that his sword spirit was still there.

During the march, his mind seemed to be hammered every day, and he would fall into illusions if he was careless.

Although many soldiers did not know the inside story, they felt that the adults’ behavior was somewhat anxious and painful.

Some people also began to wonder: “Can Lord Li really still wield the sword as well as before?”

But when they thought of the scene where Li Qingyun had killed many monsters in a desperate situation, they couldn’t help but hold a glimmer of hope – maybe he could really turn the tide again. After all, he was the pinnacle of the cultivators in the world, and no matter how difficult it was to seal him, it couldn’t extinguish his burning will.

However, on the second day of the long march, He Xiangu became alert and discovered that Li Qingyun’s face was becoming increasingly pale. Every midnight, she could vaguely hear him pacing alone outside the tent, as if he was fighting against a certain force in his body.

On the third night, he was seen sitting by the campfire. Suddenly, he began to tremble all over and gasp for breath. He almost drew his sword and chopped people down. Fortunately, Mu Guiying acted decisively and shouted at him several times, which brought him back to consciousness.

Under the light of the fire at that time, his eyes flickered strangely, as if the murderous intent under the knife no longer belonged purely to him.

This incident caused confusion among the army, and many soldiers discussed privately: Could it be that Lord Li was poisoned by an alien god? Or will he become the second Lord of the Nether Abyss?
Although the discussion was suppressed by the officers, hurtful rumors spread in the air, silently gnawing at everyone’s trust in him.

Mu Guiying tried her best to comfort them, asking them to remember how Li Qingyun had protected them time and time again in the past. She also told He Xiangu to avoid large-scale battles as much as possible and to hurry to the criminals’ lair in Yuxu Palace.

Li Qingyun understood the bitterness of his comrades, but he was powerless to deny that he was gradually being sealed and disintegrated.

He was attacked by nightmares every night. He dreamed that he turned into a monster, wreaking violence on his comrades and the people, and stirring up a storm more fierce than that of the foreign gods. He also dreamed that the palace corridor collapsed in the middle, and “silence” laughed at him in the depths of the darkness:

“You and I are one, why struggle?”

Every time he woke up with a start, he found that his clothes were soaked with cold sweat and the intense fear in his heart could not be dispelled.

But the war did not wait for him to recuperate.

Another report came from the front: alien monsters suddenly appeared hundreds of miles away, destroying villages wantonly, and seemed to be pulling the order of the human world to collapse completely.

The shadows of the Taoists from Yuxu Palace also appeared in the corners of the city, frantically extracting the souls of the people for the external gods to absorb.

So, Li Qingyun could only keep on running – the imbalance of the seal became more and more serious, as if reminding him: You don’t have much time.

At dusk on the fourth day, he led his army to a mountain pass and saw the ground littered with dead bodies and a pungent smell of blood. Not far away, the runes of the Yuxu Palace were still flashing evil light.

The soldiers were about to vomit, and Mu Guiying led people to carefully search for any survivors.

Soon someone called out:
“We found a seriously injured Taoist priest. He seems to be a member of the internal strife and opposition!”

The crowd rushed forward and found the Taoist priest lying on a pile of rocks, dying, his lips covered with white blood foam, as if he had been injured by some foreign monster.

Li Qingyun stepped forward with great pain and supported the Taoist’s weak body.

The Taoist priest opened his eyes with great effort and saw that it was Li Qingyun, crying:
“Sir… several of my senior brothers… earlier sacrificed the souls of several cities and used twisted magic to help… help the Outer Gods… in an attempt to completely destroy the barrier between the three realms…”

At this point, he choked on a mouthful of blood, and then he spoke intermittently, “If it’s any later… no one can stop it… We wanted to stop it, but in the end… ah…”

Li Qingyun’s eyes spit fire:
“Do you know where his lair is?”

The Taoist priest was in a state of distraction. He only pointed to the southwest and uttered hoarsely, “Seal… take care of yourself…” Then he died without a sound.

The soldiers around were silent.

Everyone understood that the “seal” that the Taoist priest was referring to was the fatal hidden danger in Li Qingyun’s body.

Even those who still have conscience in Yuxu Palace are worried about him, which shows how dangerous the situation is.

A drizzle suddenly came, soaking the bloody ground and corpses, and flushing out dark red sewage, which flowed down the mountain path.

Li Qingyun looked up at the sky, and seemed to feel that “Ji” was also grinning in his sea of ​​consciousness: “You don’t have much time left. If you want to save the world, you have to remove the seal, otherwise… ahahaha…”

The lurking thought frightened him but he could do nothing about it.

If he completely releases the power of the palace, he will inevitably be swallowed up by “Silence”; if he retains it, how can he stop Yuxu Palace and the outer gods?
At night, Mu Guiying and He Xiangu saw a faint black gas oozing out of his left chest, and it was obvious that the seal had loosened, so they surrounded him and tried to persuade him to rest more.

But he just shook his head silently. Although he didn’t say anything, his eyes were full of “must continue”.

No matter how his body protested, he could not retreat. Once he retreated, even if he saved his life, the human race would probably be in danger of being saved.

Silent all night.

The next morning, he gritted his teeth and gathered his troops, preparing to rush to the southwest to search for the main nest of the Taoists of Yuxu Palace. Unexpectedly, the alien monsters arrived first.

A large number of deformed monsters came from the sky. The soldiers formed a battle line in time of danger. Mu Guiying and He Xiangu led the team to fight against them.

Li Qingyun raised his knife to help, but the pain from the seal suddenly burst out, and he felt a sweetness in his throat and almost vomited blood.

Gray mist appeared on the surface of the skin, scaring bystanders and making them scream.

Li Qingyun forced himself to take a deep breath and retracted the knife. He was sweating profusely and was unable to exert his full strength.

Although this moment was brief, it was enough to cause the confidence of the soldiers on the front line to drop sharply.

Fortunately, Mu Guiying and He Xiangu worked together and managed to hold back the enemy tide, so Li Qingyun did not actually take action.

He felt a little dejected, but he also understood: if he loosened his sword a little, the seal would be broken.

The whispers in the gray fog made him even more uneasy: “If you refuse to accept my power, you can only watch all living things die…”

Therefore, he could only set off again with a heart full of bitterness.

The seal was like a string that could break at any time. Once he forcibly drew the sword, it would push him into an irreversible abyss.

Internal and external troubles were intertwined here, making him feel heartbroken.

This is the sign of the seal being out of balance: no matter the conspiracy of the outer gods or the cruelty of the Jade Void Palace, when they come again, will he still be able to swing his sword? Or will he be completely swallowed by the gray fog?

When the army reached a dilapidated ancient road, the woodcutter in front reported in horror: the cliff not far away suddenly collapsed, and a deep crack led to a strange space, in which there were remnants of the talisman array set up by the Yuxu Palace, which was connected with the black fog of the outer god.

Li Qingyun lowered his head to think, but felt a chill in his limbs.

He looked up at He Xiangu with a complicated expression: Perhaps if the problem is not resolved quickly, even he himself will be in danger, let alone saving the overall situation?

He Xiangu understood what he meant, but just nodded and remained silent.

Mu Guiying gritted her teeth and held the knife to protect his side, fearing that he would fall at any time.

Neither of them spoke again, because they both knew that the seal crisis was imminent.

How long can Li Qingyun last? If the powerful god sealed in his body finally breaks out, will all his efforts go to waste?
The mountain wind blew, blowing up dust on the road, and the earth seemed to be wailing softly.

Li Qingyun closed his eyes and seemed to hear the sound of cracks in the palace collapsing, and seemed to see the leader of the foreign gods grinning grimly in the clouds.

A huge invisible shadow enveloped him, forcing him to fight for his life.

“The seal is out of balance… the signs have reached a critical point. I’m afraid the next battle will be the final watershed between me and Silence.”

He murmured in his heart and gripped the hilt of the knife tightly, but he felt the veins bulging on the back of his hand, a mixture of pain and heart-wrenching hatred.

He tried hard to restrain himself, not letting the dark mist spread to half of his body, so as not to scare the soldiers who were following him.

So, without even turning back, he gave the order:
“All troops continue to the southwest. Eliminate all remnants of the Outer Gods and Dao Sects. Anyone who stands in our way will be killed without mercy.”

The voice was unusually cold and hard, which made the soldiers’ hearts tremble.

They knew that this god was originally kind-hearted, but now he was tortured by endless pain and became cruel and ruthless.

Perhaps this is the last ray of clarity before the seal collapses.

During the march, the shadow of the huge palace gate kept appearing in Li Qingyun’s mind, as if the door would open in the next moment and let the dark torrent swallow him up.

He forced his thoughts back to the battle situation and reminded himself: Since the seal will collapse sooner or later, he should use this limited time to save more compatriots.

If I have to fight with “Silence” and both of us suffer losses, or even have my body taken over by it, at least I will have no regrets in this life.

In this way, they walked slowly along the mountain road in the dusk wind and dust. They saw devastation all along the way, but no one sighed anymore.

The gloomy sky was spreading with darkness, as if foreshadowing the coming of a new rainstorm.

From far away outside the mountain, there was a faint echo of the horns of the outer gods. Perhaps it was the Lord of the Underworld calling on the monsters to gather again; or perhaps it was another part of the Yuxu Palace’s layout.

Li Qingyun wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and looked towards the other side of the barren ridge. He seemed to see the shadow of “Three Realms Separation” gradually engulfing the world.

He whispered to himself: “The seal…will soon break…”

But he still held his head high, using his remaining willpower to dispel the waves of drowsiness. He no longer cared whether there was an abyss ahead, and could only step into the next pool of blood of fate.

This is a sign of the seal collapsing, the forerunner of all storms, and the most dangerous prelude to Li Qingyun’s fate.

The world depends on him, but is also afraid of the monster that breaks free from his body. He moves forward in silence, his soul and body on the verge of breaking apart, while the outer gods and Yuxu Palace are weaving a deeper web of conspiracy in the dark, waiting for the moment when this god who protects the Song Dynasty can no longer control himself and then sweep across the world.

Night fell again, and the air was filled with the burning smell of blood and gray fog.

Li Qingyun rode his horse and stood in front of the col. He felt so much pain in his chest that he almost fainted. However, he bit his lip and slowly pulled out the knife half an inch, with the final determination burning in his eyes.

No matter what, after the seal is broken, I will never allow the outside gods and Yuxu Palace to do whatever they want.

He took a moment to regulate his breathing, then turned around and saw that Mu Guiying and He Xiangu had serious eyes, but they still did not take a single step back.

From the look in their eyes, it can be seen that even if Li Qingyun really became another terrifying god or demon, they are willing to sacrifice themselves to complete this rescue or blockage.

The mountain wind howled, and someone whispered in the dust:

“When the sword breaks, I’m afraid you will also perish with it.”

No one objected, because everyone understood that the curtain of the seal imbalance had been opened, and whether the fate ahead would be self-annihilation or another miracle would only be revealed at that moment.

The mottled firelight reflects the turmoil in people’s hearts, and the dark momentum of the sword hides boundless tragedy…

……

(End of this chapter)