Chapter 304: Soul Confrontation
The sword light and darkness were entangled in the desolate night. At that moment, Li Qingyun’s figure seemed to have turned into a dead soul, kneeling in the endless dust.

Wild winds howled in all directions, and the mountains of corpses, red-hot rotten wood, and broken armor scattered all over the ground were in a disorderly manner, turning the entire battlefield into a purgatory that drowned out the light.

The battle that was on the verge of a desperate situation suddenly came to a standstill, as if an invisible hand had clamped time and space, leaving only Li Qingyun gasping for breath.

The soldiers around him stood far away, staring in fear at his arm stained with gray lines, as if he had been infected by an alien plague, and wisps of black air lingered around him.

The previous fierce battle pushed his body to the limit, and also stirred the pain of the seal into a raging storm.
The sound of “silence” continued in his ears, eventually causing him to lose control of his body and suddenly fall into the ruins.

The outer gods also seemed to smell the horrible smell and did not dare to approach for the time being, forming a strange blank area.

Just as the curtain suddenly opened, Li Qingyun’s soul seemed to fall into a bottomless abyss, while his body in the outside world remained stagnant and stiff.

Mu Guiying and He Xiangu were frightened and tried to move closer to call out, but were bounced back by an invisible force.

They could only watch anxiously, unable to save the situation.

Everyone understood that at this moment, Li Qingyun’s consciousness had been completely swept away by the seal and entered a very dark realm.
At this time and place, he was having the most central, direct and ultimate confrontation with the powerful god sealed in his body.

The darkness was like a tide, seeming to bury all the light in an instant.

Li Qingyun slowly opened his eyes and found that he was standing on the broken bricks of the palace.

It was a vast and endless corridor with broken walls and dust floating like fog, reflecting the faint bluish light, making the scene before them seem particularly gloomy.

The walls were covered in cracks, as if covered in dried blood.

A few beams on the ceiling were struggling to stand, and sticky liquid was dripping from them from time to time, as if there was a raging sea of ​​blood outside the roof.

He knew that this was the palace in the deepest part of his sea of ​​consciousness, the core of the cage where “Silence” was sealed.

It was once quiet and tidy, but now it is almost destroyed: a large number of temple pillars have collapsed, stones have piled up into hills, and countless black vine-like tentacles extend from the depths, stirring on the ground.

Every time my eyes touch them, I seem to hear the sound of their twisting texture, so sticky that it makes my heart chill.

He raised his feet slightly and tried to move forward, but he felt his legs were as heavy as lead and he couldn’t move at all.

A chill ran up his spine from the soles of his feet, making it difficult for him to breathe.

He understood that “silence” was omnipresent here, engulfing every inch of brick and stone in the hall.

I am just the master of the seal, but I can no longer control this crazy expansion.

“There is dark fog all around. I guess the seal is on the verge of breaking.”

He thought to himself, his expression stern.

If he hesitates any longer, “Silence” will break through all shackles, directly occupy his body and become the God of Chaos.

He had to fight a desperate battle here, betting on whether his own will could override the divine consciousness of this ancient monster.

Suddenly, a sinister laugh echoed in the air above the hallway, accompanied by a low-pitched wave, as if carving a blood-red glow into the air:

“Li Qingyun… you are finally here.”

The voice sounded like a chorus of thousands of ghosts, or like someone’s hoarse mockery, with an ancient majesty and chill.

Immediately afterwards, the shattered stone wall not far away collapsed with a loud bang, and a huge shadow slowly emerged, as if some hazy god had crashed through half of the palace wall with his head.

The gray mist flowed along its body, and the ground made way for it.

Li Qingyun focused his attention and saw that the shadow was more solid than the virtual image he had seen before. Many twisted limbs or tentacles could be vaguely seen wriggling from behind it; the facial features were like a combination of a human and a giant beast, with only one half-open eye flashing a dark blue light.

He lowered his head slightly, as if looking down at an ant, and sneered softly.

The huge pressure made the atmosphere in the hall dead silent, and even breathing became extremely heavy.

The strange figure spoke in a low voice:
“Before time, I walked in chaos, wanting to control creation, but was hunted down by the gods and eventually died in this palace. Unfortunately, the seal is not eternal.

“Now that the Outer Gods are stirring up the situation in the Three Realms, you are no longer able to trap me. Why don’t you surrender? If you hand over this body and let me revive, I can crush all the Outer Gods at my fingertips, and you can also share the supreme divine power. Isn’t that perfect?”

Li Qingyun raised a cold smile:
“Be your shell? I’m not that stupid.”

He swung the knife vigorously, as if he had a real knife in his hand, showing a decisive attitude towards the opponent.

Although his heart was still aching, he was still able to use some of the sword’s power in this illusion.

The shadow snorted contemptuously, and the surrounding walls trembled. Rows of out-of-control tentacles stretched out from behind the pillars and snaked towards Li Qingyun.

He wanted to dodge, but when he moved, he found that the gray fog in the air was like slime, holding his legs and feet, making every step extremely difficult.

The tentacles took the opportunity to attack frantically, some turned into sharp claws and spikes, and some opened their fine mouthparts and let out sharp screams.

Li Qingyun had no choice but to shout angrily and turned the sword energy into several slashes in all directions. Gray mist splashed everywhere and tentacles shattered, but the pain in his chest also intensified, as if he was hurting his own meridians.

The palace is a part of one’s soul. Breaking the palace wall with a knife is equivalent to hurting one’s soul.

Seeing that he was struggling, the tall shadow smiled:
“Look, if you swing your sword here, you will only damage your own vitality. If you continue to struggle, you will only collapse faster. Why not let go and merge, you and I will rely on each other and give the Outer God the ultimate destruction, isn’t that also satisfying?”

The voice carried an ancient allure, and every word was carving into Li Qingyun’s soul.

Li Qingyun gritted his teeth:
“Do not talk nonsense!”

He leaped up again and forced the knife towards the shadow, trying to chop off its head first.

But the shadow’s movement was so fast that it was beyond imagination. In an instant, countless dark claws climbed up the sword light, making a crackling sound, and forcibly shook him back in mid-air.

He landed on the ground with a muffled groan, and the broken bricks and stones under his feet immediately collapsed, causing him to fall into a pit several feet deep, unable to move as if he was stuck in a quagmire.

Large amounts of gray fog swirled and gathered, with some of them transforming into human faces or laughing totems, all of which laughed shrilly and wildly at him in unison, as if countless wronged souls were mocking him for overestimating his own abilities.

The shadow lowered his head and looked down at Li Qingyun in the pit with a disdainful look:

“You know, this palace was originally built by my power. Your illusion seal only gave me a longer period of nourishment. Now that the time has come, it is futile to struggle any further.”

Li Qingyun struggled and swung his knife, trying to cut off the restraints.

But every time the blade burst out, it consumed most of his mental energy, and the pain was more like needles piercing his brain, causing him to half-kneel on the ground out of control.

His sight swayed, and “Ji” laughed like thunder:

“Look, if you chop them a few more times, they will be completely defeated. The Outer Gods are nothing but ants. With my body, it will be easy to kill those clowns. Why are you hesitating?”

Li Qingyun’s lips were bleeding, and he spoke firmly:

“I will never devote myself to the demon god! You want to devour me?…Dream on!”

He used his internal energy again, and the flash of light condensed into a sharp edge at the tip of the knife, piercing into the ground beneath his feet, struggling to break free from the mud.

The huge shadow seemed to be stung, and it growled darkly, waving countless gray tentacles in an attempt to crush him to death.

The entire corridor shook with a loud bang, and large pieces of rubble and beams kept falling down, as if the world was ending.

Seeing that there was no way to avoid it, Li Qingyun could only hold up the blade to resist. Dazzling sparks burst out where the blade collided with the tentacles, and it hurt his arm bones.

But the more he fought, the more he understood that here, every move of the sword was consuming his essence.

Moreover, the shadow has the best terrain and is unscathed. A long battle will lead to defeat.

But he had no choice, this was the foundation of his sea of ​​consciousness, if he did not have a final battle with “Silence”, the body outside would sooner or later fall into the devil’s clutches.

In the stalemate, the shadow sneered grimly, and suddenly spread out its tentacles again, and a dark eye condensed at the top of the hall.

A fierce light suddenly appeared, like a black sun hanging high in the palace, shooting a dark purple airflow towards Li Qingyun.

The airflow was highly corrosive. Once it touched his soul, it was like countless poisonous thorns piercing into his sea of ​​consciousness.

He groaned, feeling his soul being torn apart by pain so severe that he almost fainted.

At this critical moment, various scenes of past battles flashed before his eyes.

The hardships he endured to protect the human race and kill the demons, and the heroic deeds he bravely fought against the great famine to save the people, the audience’s tearful expectations for him, and his old friends such as Mu Guiying and He Xiangu who shared life and death with him.

Those scenes drew the long-honed tough sword heart to flash in his heart, and he actually confronted the dark purple airflow head-on, advancing instead of retreating. With a roar, he condensed all the meager energy in his body at the tip of the sword, transforming it into a sharp sword aura that rebounded into those huge eyes.

With a loud bang, a cloud of dust exploded on the top of the temple. The shadow seemed to have its vitals damaged. It let out a shrill roar, and many of its tentacles shrank and retreated on the spot.

Li Qingyun half-knelt on the ground, and the shock in his body was extremely severe.

He seized this slight chance to win, and struggled to break free from the swamp. His body was sore but he could not hide his fierceness. He held the knife proudly and pointed it directly at the center of the shadow:
“I…will never give in.”

The shadow was so painful that he was speechless for a long time, then he roared wildly. Black mist waves rolled up several feet high on the ground, like a tsunami, completely enveloping Li Qingyun.

He felt a deep chill and nausea, his limbs gradually became numb, and he seemed to be pushed into the lowest level of despair by an undercurrent.

He tried hard to split the sea of ​​fog, but was knocked back by the turbulent force. Every inch of his skin began to burn, as if it was pierced by millions of soul-devouring needles.

The blood coughed out of his mouth mixed with the black mud and fell into the sea of ​​fog, disappearing without a trace.

In midair, the shadow transformed into half a smiling face, looking down at him proudly:
“Your resistance will only increase your suffering. This palace is my foundation. If the outer gods force you to slash it, I will take the opportunity to occupy my body. What if the people cry? What if the gods and demons dance wildly? The fate of the mortal world is nothing but a wisp of smoke.”

His words were ruthless, as if all the suffering of the seal was under his control, and now it was time to reap the rewards.

Li Qingyun was wrapped in black fog, with tingling and chills overlapping. His consciousness began to blur and he was about to be completely swallowed up.

In a trance, he saw the phantom of the bloody battlefield outside: He Xiangu and Mu Guiying were protecting their bodies to the death, and the foreign gods and monsters were approaching layer by layer.

If he were to be devoured by “Silence” at this moment, the outer gods would just wait for him to transform into another demon god, and all living beings in the three realms would be doomed.

Tears flashed in his eyes and he gritted his teeth in hatred, using his last bit of strength to break through the confusion and try to maintain the flame in his sword heart.

Under the hellish oppression, he seemed to hear a faint call from outside:
“Qingyun, hold on… don’t fall… don’t leave us…”

That might be Mu Guiying’s voice, or perhaps it was the desperate hope of the people. It was brief but soul-stirring, like a sharp blade cutting into the desperate situation, allowing him to find a little light.

In the hall, the infinite gray fog almost completely submerged him…

But at the moment when he was about to lose everything, he suddenly let out a wild roar, concentrated all his mental strength, transformed the sword energy into a sharp blade, and stabbed it fiercely at the half smiling face in the air.

The blade light swept across the sea of ​​fog, tearing out a crack that was instantly visible.

The dark and surging tide was forcibly knocked back several feet by this blow. He took a breath and his head felt so severe that it seemed to split, but the pain was accompanied by madness:

“I… Li Qingyun… will never allow you to trample on the world even if I die…”

The last few words sounded like a bloody roar, carrying all his resentment and determination to protect.

The shadow was pierced by the sword light, and its shape collapsed slightly, but it did not die out. It just roared in anger, gathered again, and rushed towards Li Qingyun with more mist.

Apparently, its injuries were not serious, but Li Qingyun was already exhausted. At the moment of collision, he was blown away again, crashing into the temple pillar and nearly fainting, his consciousness swaying like a dead leaf in the wind.

An idea lingered in his mind – why not release him now, perhaps he could pull the Outer Gods down with him?
But that also means that he will forever be a demon.

As he struggled, the palace collapsed from top to bottom, and broken bricks hit him around with a dull sound, like a dirge for the end of the world.

The shadow sneered and approached, with an air of victory. It stretched out several charred claws, fiercely clamped Li Qingyun’s torso, and dragged him into the endless depths bit by bit.

Seeing that he no longer had the strength to swing the knife, the shadow opened up like a human mouth, and sharp fangs flashed in the mist, ready to swallow him whole.

Just at this moment, the past events reappeared in his eyes: slashing the wilderness with a sword and protecting the human race with blood; countless grateful or eager eyes ignited the final flame in his heart.

Rather than falling into the evil path, it is better to die right now!
He turned his dying determination into a roar, burning all the remaining sword intent.

In the blink of an eye, the sword energy glowed brightly from his body, condensed into a blazing flame, and stabbed fiercely at the fangs and claws.

With a loud bang, the hall shook as if an earthquake had occurred. The huge gray shadow was stabbed in a vital part, and let out a painful howl, taking several steps back.

Li Qingyun covered his fractured shoulder, stood up again from his semi-fainting state, and staggered forward on the broken stone slabs.

Silence uttered a hoarse anger:
“You… do you really want to perish together with me? If so, I will destroy your soul first and see who can control this divine body!”

The gray fog rolled in and gathered, enveloping the last pillar of the temple.

Those twisting tentacles rushed towards Li Qingyun with destructive momentum like a deadly whirlpool, trying to devour his entire consciousness in one blow.

He also took a deep breath and changed his defense with his knife, hoping to have a final collision with it.

The moment the two forces collided, everything became extremely slow.

He could even see the twisted symbols jumping on the surface of the tentacles, emitting low, soul-shaking spells.

Immediately afterwards——

“boom–“

It was like the roar of thousands of thunders, and the entire palace illusion was turned upside down.

The walls, pillars, and ground all turned into fragments, and a dark torrent swept through the corridor. Li Qingyun was caught in the center of the storm, his chest burning, his mind almost shattered.

The shadow was torn into instability, but it still refused to give in.

The two were in a stalemate, as if whoever let go first would be destroyed completely.

In this destructive storm, his soul was on the verge of breaking, and even thinking was difficult. Suddenly, he saw phantoms all around him: human suffering, the bloody slaughter of the foreign gods, the gods of Yuxu Palace laughing wildly, the people wailing, He Xiangu and Mu Guiying risking their lives…

Countless fragments overlapped and merged into his mind.

If he fails here, there will be no one to stop the Outer Gods from destroying the Three Realms. How can he accept this?

With his last bit of faith, he turned all his obsessions into sword flames, which suddenly exploded in the dark vortex!
The knife light split into hundreds of sharp blade phantoms, piercing straight into the core of the gray giant shadow.

The shadow roared in anger and swung his sword repeatedly, trying to extinguish the knife light, but Li Qingyun concentrated all his remaining energy on it, hoping to fight with the opponent to a mutual defeat. This desperate gamble made the shadow show fear.

The sword shadows were as brilliant as star rain, piercing through the layers of barriers in the sea of ​​fog.

The explosion caused the last beam in the hall to collapse and cease to exist. All the dust, stones, and tentacle fragments mixed into a huge wave and rolled in all directions.

Li Qingyun felt dizzy, his vision gradually dimmed, and a slight bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Even if I die, I will drag “silence” into the abyss and prevent it from causing trouble in the world.

After a while, the storm gradually dissipated and dust floated in the disappearing shadow of the palace.

Li Qingyun half-knelt on the ground, his breathing so weak that it seemed like it would stop at any moment.

The dark giant disappeared, but a vague black outline was left in the collapse in the distance, constantly breaking into pieces, emitting faint roars and hoarse curses.

He had not yet been completely destroyed, but was severely injured by Li Qingyun’s extreme sword moves and fell into dormancy or silence.

The corridor had become nothingness, leaving only a chaotic void beneath his feet.

He stood up shakily, as if half of his soul had been gouged out of his body, and his eyes were empty.

In essence, this was the result of his confrontation with the soul of “Silence”: he fought with the strategy of hurting the enemy by a thousand and hurting himself by twelve thousand, and temporarily forced “Silence” to retreat, but also seriously injured himself.

If there was any external impact at this time, he might collapse on the spot.

The drifting gray mist turned into tiny fragments of light and slowly sank into the bottomless depths. It was the retreat of “Silence” and also a sign that the seal was crumbling.

Li Qingyun had a complicated expression: Although he managed to protect himself temporarily, the seal had almost become an empty shell. If he fought with the outer gods next time, the palace would be shaken again, and “Silence” would surely come back.

He finally sighed, unable to stay in this chaos for long. He could only use the remaining power of his spiritual consciousness to awaken his external body, hoping that the outside world had not yet fallen.

The consciousness gradually left the illusion, everything around turned into blurry smoke and dust, and the shadow of the palace disappeared.

The sounds of fierce fighting and human voices once again flooded into his ears.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself still in the middle of a battlefield covered in blood and mud, with the blade stuck in the ground and his fingers gripping the handle completely numb.

Mu Guiying and He Xiangu tightly surrounded him. More than a thousand soldiers were dying but they did not retreat. The foreign gods and monsters were hovering in the distance, as if they had sensed that his condition was strange and did not dare to approach rashly.

Seeing Li Qingyun open his eyes, Mu Guiying was surprised and tearful:

“Qingyun, you’re back…”

He Xiangu also took half a step forward to support him, but saw that his body was still as stiff as a stone, half of his body was stained with gray-black blood, his expression was tired but his eyes were firm.

He shook his head slightly, forced himself to stand up, looked coldly in the direction of the wandering monster, and then said in a hoarse voice:
“I’m still here…”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, grateful that he had not yet been completely possessed by silence.

But Li Qingyun himself knew very well that although this confrontation between the palace illusion and the soul had come to a temporary end, it had dragged him to the brink of burning out.

Only the last thin film of the seal remains, and “Silence” is lurking in the darkness of the sea of ​​consciousness with fierce hatred, ready to come back at the first chance.

At that moment, he was no longer able to struggle.

But at least at this moment, he protected his soul and did not let this terrible Chaos God succeed easily.

Thinking of this, he slowly took a step forward with his knife, facing the pool of blood and the mountain of corpses, as if declaring to the gods outside: Even if he is trapped in eternal damnation, he will not retreat even a bit.

There was a dead silence in the air. The monsters roared but did not dare to approach rashly. It was a kind of fear of his sword power and inner determination.

The night wind was blowing, unable to blow away the cruel smoke of gunpowder, but it brought a sense of inexplicable chill.

Li Qingyun coughed up blood twice and looked up at the dark sky. Where the purple lightning flashed, the shadow of the outer god was vaguely lingering.

Behind him, Mu Guiying and others were looking at his back with concerned eyes, silent and speechless.

No one shouted “rest” or “retreat” because they knew he would not agree.

He just adjusted his breathing slightly, pointed the tip of the knife at the ground, and his face showed an irreplaceable determination: no matter what conspiracy or powerful enemy there was, as long as he still had his soul, he would stand in front of it.

Even if the next outbreak completely shatters the palace and “Silence” breaks out, we must first protect the last front line of the human world.

Now that I have made up my mind to do so, I am not afraid of being cut by the sword or killed.

No one heard his inner voice. Everyone just silently guarded him, and he was also silent. A tragic but soul-to-soul confrontation that was more tragic than a thousand words was engraved in his eyes.

His fight with “Ji” was far from over, but in this round, he severely injured it and retreated temporarily.

At the moment he put away his sword and stood up, his eyes seemed to have deepened a layer of coldness, and were faintly filled with regret and sadness: if the world was not threatened by foreign gods, he might be able to dissolve the seal in a more stable way, but now, all he had left was the courage of an ordinary man to resist the calamity.

In the distance, perhaps there are still people crying, monsters howling, and the gods of Yuxu Palace laughing sinisterly in the dark.

The Lord of the Underworld deep in the sky was unwilling to leave and was preparing for the next wave of deadly siege.

Li Qingyun had no time to care about anything and just broke free from the palace illusion, his soul was still shaky.

He slowly sheathed the knife, but heard a crisp sound, as if the blade and the sheath were breaking, and it seemed that the seal on his body was also crumbling.

Mu Guiying called softly, “Qingyun?”

He looked back, his eyes mixed with complex emotions, and then nodded slightly:
“move on.”

After saying this, he walked with determination, yet his weakness and trembling were unconcealable.

Mu Guiying and He Xiangu carefully protected him on each side, fearing that he would fall to the ground and never get up again in the next second. However, although his shoulders and back were hunched, his will was still like a thousand-year-old sword, and it had never been broken.

The sword light disappeared into the sheath, no longer dazzling, but it seemed as if a greater storm was lurking.

That was the remaining strength after his fight with “Silence”, which also meant that if he was forced into a desperate situation again, he would still burst out with dangerous and unpredictable power.

Everything is just waiting for the outer gods and the immortal gods of Yuxu Palace to approach; just waiting for the next shock and split between heaven and earth.

The palace collapsed, the gray fog lurked, and although the confrontation between souls ended, it was only the outpost of a deeper bloody doomsday.

In this dead end where peace and killing were entangled, he continued to trek with his severely wounded soul; in the silent night, the remaining soldiers followed him, walking towards an unknown dark road together.

Some soldiers saw his figure from afar. His right arm was covered with dark cracks in the moonlight, as if it had turned into a half-monster, but it was still standing upright.

It even makes people wonder whether he is a man or a god, and whether he is exorcising evil spirits or is he a demon himself?

There was no answer. He himself did not know the outcome of this trip. He only knew that the battle in the palace illusion came suddenly, but it was also a natural process, pushing him to the cliff where he fell halfway.

If the gods of Yuxu Palace and the outside gods join forces to attack again, can he stop them again?
Can I walk back from the gray fog again? Who can guarantee it?
The moon was dim and the wind was cold. He walked forward in silence, using his scabbard as a crutch, his feet stepping into the blood-stained wilderness. Every step he took seemed like walking on the edge of destruction.

Mu Guiying followed quietly behind him, her eyes slightly red, but she did not make a sound to disturb him, and no one knew how dazed he was.

The husks lay beside the dead soldiers, and the monsters’ limbs were oozing with pus and rot, with a pungent smell.

He was completely unaware of it, and only shook his head occasionally, as if to drive the auditory and visual hallucinations out of his mind. The seal was still painful, constantly reminding him that there was only a thin film between him and “silence”.

If this thin film were to break one day, the torrent hidden deep within the palace would burst forth completely.

What kind of demons will appear in the Three Realms by then?
Is it him, Li Qingyun, who has transformed into “Ji”, or is he a martyr in the battle to the death? Or can they perish together?

Everything remains a mystery, and all we can do now is continue to face the unknown dark battle ahead.

As the night progressed, the torches and human voices grew fainter behind the receding camp.

A long wolf howl echoed in the distant rocks, and I didn’t know if it was a demon wolf raised by the outer gods.

Li Qingyun stopped and looked in the direction of the sound, but he only saw endless dark clouds.

His mind moved slightly, he flicked his sleeves and walked forward, saying:
“Defeat the Outer God first, then destroy Yuxu Palace. No matter what the outcome is, I will have no regrets.”

……

(End of this chapter)