The Path to the Deepest Evil

Jin Sanyi slung an arm around Totti's neck, his peach-blossom eyes narrowing into slits as he slurred, "Dra...dra...drag it out, Totti. From now on, we're brothers. We meet today in all our splendor, let bygones be bygones. No matter how badly you screwed me over before, I won't hold it against you."

"Th...th...three-stammer Jin, I want to fight you!" Totti's drunken eyes were glazed, his tongue thick. "I never screwed you over—you were the one who screwed me…" He clapped Jin Sanyi on the shoulder. "I have one greatest wish: to sell you into slavery a few times myself."

"Ha… I didn't hear that. Say it again."

Jin Sanyi slapped Totti on the back, his peach-blossom eyes already skewed. "Drink and be merry, don't bring up gloomy matters."

Fatty Zhuge refilled their cups. "I'll take you both to the Drunken Beauty Palace later…"

"Vulgar, too vulgar…" Jin Sanyi shook his head vehemently.

Zhuge belched and retorted, "Elder brother San Yi, that's hardly fair. The Drunken Beauty Palace and the Sinking Fish and Falling Goose Palace are the finest elegant establishments under heaven—how can you say that?"

Jin Sanyi swirled his flask, still with his arm around Totti. "See mountains as mountains, see water as water. See mountains not as mountains, see water not as water. See mountains as mountains again, see water as water again. I've returned to simplicity. This is the three—the three—the three grades of elegant places, also called the three realms."

Totti grew excited and gripped Jin Sanyi's arm. "A kindred spirit! I never liked you before, but I've changed my mind now. I never thought I'd find one of us in such an unexpected moment. A true friend is hard to find; the tune lofty and few can match it… Today—"

"It seems I've also experienced the three realms. Fate!" Fatty Zhuge, tipsy, leaned in. "Come, I'll take you to a good place—a truly refined destination for those who have returned to simplicity."

"Where?" Jin Sanyi and Totti both lit up.

Zhuge wobbled to his feet, his words slurred. "Naturally, the place I know best—the Eternal Continent, Heavenly Emperor City, Academy Road. Back when Xiao Chen was in Heavenly Emperor City, I often… went with him to look at beauties."

"Indeed, you have truly returned to simplicity," Jin Sanyi approved, patting Zhuge's shoulder with an enigmatic smile.

"Xiao Chen… was he one of us?" Totti, though drunk, still had a glint in his eyes.

"Eh? Am I seeing things? I see Xiao Chen's little white beast again." Zhuge staggered forward. "Come, let Fatty pinch it. Back then I dared not mess with it, but today even an illusion—if I can't handle it, that'd be strange…"

BANG!

Zhuge was sent flying and crashed straight into Jin Sanyi behind him.

"Damn it! I've reached the third realm, so how come today the illusion doesn't feel like an illusion? Shouldn't it be see mountains as mountains, see water as water?"

Zhuge and Jin Sanyi staggered up, supporting each other, making a racket.

Totti was still drunk but not completely. "I see mountains as mountains, see water as water, see the little beast as a little beast." As he spoke, he suddenly sobered. "It really is that little beast!"

And so, the little beast grumpily abducted the three of them and, following the information they provided, headed straight for the desolate region a thousand li outside Mangzhe City.

Months ago, heaven-shaking fluctuations had erupted in that area, shaking the entire Soul Realm. Many powerful experts had gathered there, but only Half-Ancestors had charged inside; by the time others arrived, it was already too late.

When they reached that barren land, they also found Wu Ming and his son.

"Aiya, how do we get in?" The little beast scanned the area with big eyes, looking at the group.

None of them had any idea. Even after blasting the ground and sending sand flying, they still couldn't open the world gate.

"Keke's Ultimate Art—" it shouted, then seemed a little embarrassed, lowering its voice to mutter, "Keke's Ultimate Art… open the door."

Instantly, its body blazed with seven-colored divine light, a unique divine power surging in all directions.

Strangely enough, as the seven-colored divine power swelled and the little beast muttered the word 'open,' rumbling sounds came from beneath the earth. A large green stone rose to the surface.

Wu Ming stared in disbelief, then cursed inwardly. He had toiled here for months without so much as a hair moving. But this little beast came, muttered nonsense, and a large green stone covered with writing appears—it was infuriating.

Still, Wu Ming was no ordinary man. He quickly deduced that it had something to do with the little beast's unique divine power; it seemed the person who left the inscription had a special connection with this creature.

The snow-white beast, barely a foot long, faced a three-foot-tall green stone and felt truly dizzy—it couldn't recognize a single character on it. "So ugly!" it muttered to itself. "Much uglier than my writing." As it said this, it scrawled 'Keke' on the stone.

The people behind watched and were utterly speechless. Their silent verdict: equally ugly, if not worse.

After staring for a long time without recognizing a single character, the little beast felt a bit embarrassed. It mumbled to cover up, "Too ugly, I don't want to look anymore." It turned and pointed at Totti. "Hey, you, read it for me."

Totti had been studying it but couldn't find any matching memory; he had no idea what script it was. He shook his head. "Don't recognize it."

Jin Sanyi, Wu Ming, Wu Xiaoshi, and Fatty Zhuge all shook their heads in turn.

"You people are so uneducated. You can't even read characters." The baby beast actually looked down on them.

But its next words left them utterly speechless.

"I don't recognize a single character on it either."

You don't recognize them, and you still look down on others? They cursed inwardly.

But Wu Ming and the others had already noticed the problem. The writing on the green stone looked exactly like the little beast's handwriting, as if stamped from the same mold.

Equally crooked, equally like ghostly scrawls.

"How ugly. How could anyone write characters so ugly?" Little beast Keke muttered quietly.

"Cough…" Wu Ming cleared his throat. "It feels like it's exactly the same as your handwriting."

"Where?" Keke was very displeased. "Where is it as good-looking as mine?"

"Keke, are you sure you didn't write this before?" Jin Sanyi and Totti were deeply suspicious; the resemblance was too strong.

Just then, Wu Xiaoshi spoke. "There's… an imprint here." He dug away the earth around the buried end of the stone and revealed a complete impression.

It was a little paw print, very small and clear.

They all looked at Keke, because that paw print looked exactly like its little paw—almost identical, nearly overlapping.

"That looks very familiar…" Keke muttered guiltily. It half-suspected it had left this print on the stone while sleepwalking in the past, but that didn't feel right—it had never been here before. Guiltily, it stretched out its paw and pressed it against the print.

When Keke's paw fit perfectly into the print, heaven and earth suddenly shook with a great crash.

RUMBLE!

The sky split, the earth cracked; the world seemed to collapse.

The giant head that had once appeared in the sky did not manifest this time, but the world gate had already opened.

A pitch-black space unfolded before them.

"This is it! The world gate is open! Months ago I reached here just as it was closing!" Wu Ming shouted, convinced it was full of opportunity. "Charge in!"

He wasn't trying to share the opportunity; he just thought he needed some allies.

Afraid the gate would close, everyone rushed inside. But at that moment, figures shot out of the darkness toward them. Little beast Keke was alert and immediately opened Paradise Lost, pulling Wu Ming, Jin Sanyi, and the others inside.

"It's those Half-Ancestors!" Wu Ming cried out in alarm. "How are they so miserable? What happened?"

The Half-Ancestors were ragged, covered in blood, looking utterly wretched—as if they had just weathered the most brutal battle of their lives. They fled madly out through the world gate.

"They're so dumb—they locked themselves in and waited for me to open it…" The little beast wrinkled its nose, muttering.

"No, we have to retreat!" Wu Ming shouted urgently. "Even Half-Ancestors can't withstand whatever's inside. If we go in, we're dead for sure!"

"Retreat, hurry!" Jin Sanyi's voice was even louder, but he couldn't break out of Paradise Lost no matter how hard he yelled.

"I came to save Xiao Chen. I didn't see him come out," the little beast said, refusing to listen.

"Then let us out! You go save him yourself!" Wu Ming was genuinely panicked now. If Half-Ancestors looked this ragged, inside must be something no mortal could dare to enter.

"Without you, I'd be scared. It's too dark in here. Let me think…" The little beast muttered.

@#￥%… The group was utterly speechless. It had reached the Half-Ancestor level and was still afraid of the dark! That excuse was… way too flimsy!

When the last Yaksha Half-Ancestor had also fled for his life, the world gate closed completely. Wu Ming and the others were in despair.

"Oh, I'll let you out now." The little beast muttered as if half-awake. The group was completely defeated—it was definitely doing this on purpose! They all felt this little beast wasn't half as muddled as it pretended. Jin Sanyi, Totti, and Fatty Zhuge had sobered completely and started howling:

"Heavens above…"

"Earth below…"

"Beautiful women…"

Wu Ming and his son also regretted bitterly. They should never have followed this little beast—it was the worst luck they'd ever had.

The Half-Ancestors who had burst out of the world gate were still shaken. If not for the fact that the Ancestral God soldiers from the first valley had charged into the second valley to fight, leaving only a few Half-Ancestor divine soldiers in the first valley, they would have been wiped out.

Even so, they had paid an enormous price.

A sentient Half-Ancestor artifact is already equivalent to a Half-Ancestor!

Now that they had escaped, they could hardly believe it. They had been bombarding the world gate for months without being able to shake it at all.

Neither the Half-Ancestors nor the current Keke and her group knew the truth: countless eons ago, a snow-white beast wearing sunglasses and chewing a straw had left a 'back door,' which was why the world gate could be opened again.

On the road to the deepest evil, a primeval demon city stood tall, majestic and imposing. Though it had stood for endless years, it remained intact, as if it could last forever.

"So brilliant!"

"So utterly extraordinary!"

The Dark-Iron Seal and the Golden Divine Halberd both exclaimed in admiration.

Near that primeval demon city, two beams of light like shooting stars circled the giant city, flying back and forth—dazzlingly radiant.

Seeing this, the Martial Imprint's face changed drastically, and he staggered back more than ten paces. Never had he looked so grave; he seemed to see something utterly terrifying.

"What's wrong?" Xiao Chen pressed.

"We've run into big trouble—it may be our end!" The Martial Imprint's voice was low.

Clearly, what had triggered such despairing thoughts were the two brilliant beams ahead, circling the demon city endlessly.

"What are they?" Though they were far away, even the Martial Imprint, a Half-Ancestor, felt a chill in his heart when he gazed at those two patches of light.

"That is terrifying power. If an Ancestral God were entangled by them, he would likely be in dire straits."

Hearing this, Xiao Chen and the others were greatly shocked.

"I hope they haven't noticed us. Otherwise, we are all dead!"

But unfortunately, as soon as the Martial Imprint finished speaking, one of the brilliant beams in front of the primeval demon city shot toward them!

"Ya ya, it's really dark here," the little beast muttered, advancing cautiously into the valley of buried soldiers. If not for Paradise Lost protecting them, they would have been pierced by countless beams of light when they tried to fly straight down.

Later, they slowly understood that going down the winding mountain path was the safest way.

The people behind them were listless.

Behind them floated a large green stone, its surface carved with crooked characters. No one knew when it had started following them.

At first they found it strange, but gradually they ignored the tail.

Though they encountered some Half-Ancestor divine soldiers along the way, Keke had now reached the Half-Ancestor realm itself, and Paradise Lost's power was even greater—its defensive strength was unmatched.

They advanced with some danger but no real harm.

In the first valley of the buried soldier valley, all the Ancestral God soldiers had charged into the second valley. No one could intercept them. The bronze Eight Trigram Diagram that had been bound in the central area—its physical body was still there, but all its divine consciousness power had left, so it was effectively mindless.

The large green stone that followed behind them entered the first valley as if it knew the way. It came to the front and led them straight to a cliff wall in the second valley.

If Xiao Chen were there, he would recognize this spot as the place where he had obtained half a stone skull. The fist-sized black hole was still there, blowing out chill wind.

The second valley was filled with sky-piercing killing intent—Ancestor God soldiers from different eras were locked in fierce battle! The dazzling light could be seen from hundreds of li away. The murderous chill was so piercing that Wu Ming and the others could not help trembling, their hearts quaking with fear.

Just then, the large green stone floating in front of Keke suddenly shot up and smashed into the cliff wall with a bang.

The fist-sized black hole instantly expanded to the size of a doorway. A bone-chilling wind blew out. Wu Ming, Jin Sanyi, and the others all felt an icy coldness. The sinister aura was so strong that even Wu Xiaoshi could barely move!

Inside the dark cave stood another green stone, very similar to the one that had opened the world gate, with the same crooked writing.

This time, little beast Keke said nothing about the writing being ugly, because the others had already agreed that the two were exactly equal in ugliness.

This green stone, sensing the divine power fluctuations of Paradise Lost, began to glow faintly. Then it became bright as a mirror.

A moment later, the image of a snow-white little beast gradually emerged from the mirror.

For once, Keke felt a little embarrassed and muttered, "How did I become so ugly?"

But as the image in the mirror grew clearer, Keke became more and more puzzled.

The people next to him also sensed something odd. The mirror was very smooth, but the image was seriously distorted.

Finally, when the snow-white little beast in the mirror became completely clear, they were all stunned.

Was that really Keke? With its paws clasped behind its back, wearing crystal sunglasses, chewing a straw, looking at the sky with a completely unconcerned air… It was too absurd!

Little beast Keke was also dumbfounded. For the first time, truly and completely, the little thing was baffled.

The group felt a little dizzy. The green stone in front had indeed turned into a mirror, but it was weirdly, uncannily strange.

"Ya ya!"

Keke growled angrily, flailing its paws and sending a beam of seven-colored divine light at the mirror.

The divine energy flowed into the strange mirror like water. The snow-white beast image inside became vivid and could even move freely.

"Little one…"

Just then, the cool little beast inside actually spoke in a lazy voice.

That sudden voice in the wind-filled cave gave Wu Ming and Jin Sanyi goosebumps—their souls nearly fled their bodies.

Even Keke was taken aback, quickly retreating a few steps to stare warily at the mirror.

The cool little beast in the mirror spoke lazily, as if nothing mattered. "Hey, little one in front of the mirror, I bet you're not as handsome and pretty as me. Life is truly lonely as snow. When you are unmatched in the world, even good looks are peerless. Oh, to seek but one defeat and fail…"

The group before the mirror felt dizzy. This cool little beast was way too narcissistic!

Even Keke rubbed its eyes hard to make sure it wasn't seeing things before guiltily muttering, "You… who are you?"

"This is the loneliness of the strong…" Hearing these words spoken in that utterly casual tone was extraordinarily strange.

"You are of the same race as me…" Keke mumbled, then spoke up. "Your writing is too ugly. You're not handsome. You're ugly! You can't compare to me!"

The bystanders were a bit dumbfounded. These two little beasts were really…

"Little one, you should learn from me. Keep going forward now. I've already opened a safe passage to the deepest evil place. Ah, such boredom. To think I opened it so easily. I wonder if I'll ever find such a challenging thing to do again…"

The little beast chewing a straw waved its paw lightly. Light flashed, and the mirror reverted to a green stone. The characters on it glowed brightly and shot into the black hole, driving away the biting chill.

Jin Sanyi, Wu Ming, and the others stared with their mouths agape. To the deepest evil place? If what the cool little beast said was true, then they truly had stumbled into a heaven-sent opportunity.