People in the Imperial Music Bureau: The Storytelling Demon Child Nezha

With tears in her eyes, Su Yuqing released her grip, and Li Qiye plunged into the abyss. Just before darkness swallowed him, he saw the Witch God's face reveal a triumphant smile.

Li Qiye's body continued to fall in the darkness, the whistling wind in his ears sounding like the wails of thousands of vengeful spirits.

Chapter 278 The Key to the Seal

The witch god's chains were still tightly bound around his ankles, and the pain of them digging into his flesh kept him conscious.

The Star Ring vibrated more and more intensely, its eerie blue light piercing through the thick darkness.

There's something below! Li Qiye suddenly twisted his body, and the Blade of Severance slashed at the chains.

Amidst sparks, the chains snapped. He seized the opportunity to adjust his posture, and the power of his life force formed a layer of emerald green light on his body, cushioning the impact of his fall.

The moment his feet touched the ground, Li Qiye knelt on one knee, cautiously looking around.

This place resembles an ancient underground palace, with its dome so high that the top is nowhere in sight, and the surrounding walls are covered with runes similar to those in the Codex of Chaos.

The most eye-catching feature is an ancient bronze mirror suspended in the center of the hall—its frame is wrapped with black and white chains, but the mirror surface is completely empty.

Is this the fourth divine artifact? Just as Li Qiye was about to step forward, he suddenly heard the sound of chains dragging on the ground behind him.

The sorcerer god had also descended into the abyss at some point, his left eye, wreathed in black flames, particularly eerie in the darkness.

"I didn't expect you to deliver yourself to my doorstep." The sorcerer smiled sinisterly, the chains in his hands moving like venomous snakes. The Mirror of the Abyss was indeed here, but it would only belong to the King of the Abyss!

Li Qiye gripped the Blade of Severance tightly, suddenly realizing that the Dawn Scepter and the Codex of Chaos were no longer with him—presumably lost during the fall. Only the Heart of Life remained, emitting a faint glow in his chest.

Without the divine artifact, you are nothing. The sorcerer swung his chains, and the ground suddenly cracked open, unleashing countless skeletal arms that seized Li Qiye's legs.

At the critical moment, the Star Ring burst forth with an unprecedentedly bright light.

As if sensing something, the ancient bronze mirror suddenly rippled, and a beam of white light shot out, purifying the skeletal arm completely. The sorcerer grunted and took several steps back.

This is impossible! How could the Mirror of the Abyss respond to your call?!

Li Qiye was also surprised, but the opportunity was fleeting. He rushed towards the ancient mirror, and the instant he touched its surface, countless images flooded his mind like a tide—

He saw that in ancient times, light and darkness were one; he saw the first priest of light sacrifice himself to seal away darkness; he saw that the true purpose of the black-robed organization was not to release darkness, but to pursue absolute purification... Finally, he saw Su Yuqing fighting bitterly on the ground, her blood-red vines already half-stained black, and her Heavenly Evil bloodline was going berserk!

So that's how it is... Li Qiye suddenly realized that the four divine artifacts were both the keys to the seal and the artifacts of cause and effect!

Seeing that things were going badly, the sorcerer suddenly tore off his black robe.

His body began to twist and deform, and ancient golden patterns emerged beneath his skin—the mark of the priest of light!

"You think you've seen through the truth?" The former sorcerer god, now the High Priest of Light who has revealed his true form, sneered. "The real pollution comes from the so-called Purification 923! Every seal only exacerbates the imbalance of this world!"

Li Qiye had no time to think it through, as the Mirror of the Abyss flew into his hand on its own.

The moment he grasped the mirror handle, the other three artifacts pierced through the spatial barrier and appeared around him—the Dawn Scepter emerged from the void, the Chaos Codex rose from the ground, and the Heart of Life detached from his chest, forming a square formation with the Abyss Mirror.

The four sacred artifacts gathered for the first time, creating an amazing resonance.

A beam of light shot into the sky, piercing through the barrier between the abyss and the ground. Li Qiye saw Su Yuqing above being devoured by his own vines, while Xuan Ying and the others were surrounded by the black-robed men.

Chapter 279 Four Artifacts

There was no time to lose! Li Qiye used the power of the Four Divine Artifacts to soar into the air. The High Priest of Light tried to stop him, but was struck by the light reflected from the Abyss Mirror, letting out a painful howl.

When Li Qiye broke through the abyss and returned to the surface, the scene before him tore his heart apart—Su Yuqing was kneeling on the ground, her blood-red vines now completely black, attacking Xuanxing and Xuanyue uncontrollably.

Further away, a crack appeared in the sky, stretching across the horizon, from which countless dark creatures poured forth.

Li Qiye! Xuan Ying saw the Abyss Mirror in his hand, and hope flashed in her eyes. With the four divine artifacts gathered, the final seal could be broken! But Su Yuqing...

Li Qiye looked at Su Yuqing, who was struggling in pain, and then at the ever-growing crack in the sky.

The Mirror of the Abyss suddenly rose up automatically, revealing two scenes: one where Su Yuqing was completely devoured by the Heavenly Evil Bloodline after he chose to seal the rift; the other where he chose to save Su Yuqing, and the rift devoured the entire world.

An ancient inscription appears beneath the mirror: Light originates from darkness, redemption begins with sacrifice.

The voice of the High Priest of Light echoed from the abyss, reverberating throughout heaven and earth: Make your choice, Chosen One! Let me see where your so-called third path lies!

Li Qiye gripped the four divine artifacts tightly, his gaze shifting between Su Yuqing and the rift in the sky.

Suddenly, he noticed an inconspicuous groove on the frame of the Abyss Mirror—which perfectly matched the shape of the Star Ring.

The moment the Star Ring fit perfectly into the Abyss Mirror in the groove, Li Qiye felt a surge of electricity coursing from his fingertips through his limbs and bones.

His vision suddenly expanded, as if he were seeing millions of parallel universes at the same time—the countless possibilities caused by each choice unfolding before his eyes like a spider web.

This is... Li Qiye's pupils suddenly contracted.

Ripples spread across the surface of the Abyss Mirror, and a blurry figure gradually became clear. The person wore a long robe woven from starlight, and their face bore a striking resemblance to Li Qiye, with the same star ring on their left hand.

"Finally, you've arrived, Successor." The person in the mirror spoke, their voice like an ancient echo: "I am the first Priest of Light, and the forger of the Star Ring."

Li Qiye's breath hitched.

He had worn the Star Ring on his hand since he could remember. His master only said that it was a treasure of the sect, but never mentioned its true origin.

Light and darkness are inherently one, the person in the mirror continued, the so-called seal is merely a means to maintain the causal relationship between the two. The Four Divine Artifacts are the keys, and the Star Ring—

Before the words were finished, the sorcerer's maniacal laughter interrupted the dialogue in the mirror.

This former High Priest of Light has crawled out of the abyss, his body wrapped in chains of black and white energy.

How ridiculous! The face of the sorcerer is twisted, and you actually believe the lies of the first priest? If light and darkness are inherently one, then what has our thousands of years of purification amounted to?

He abruptly ripped open his robe, revealing his heart—where a jet-black crystal was embedded, relentlessly devouring the surrounding light. Look closely! This is the truth! Every so-called purification only creates more darkness!

Li Qiye looked down at the Star Ring, which was resonating strangely with the Four Divine Artifacts.

The gem at the top of the Dawn Scepter refracted a rainbow of light, the pages of the Chaos Codex turned automatically, the Heart of Life pounded like a drum in his chest, and the Mirror of the Abyss reflected the black crystal essence on the sorcerer's chest—it was actually a corrupted core of light!

Chapter 280 The Power of Causality

You defected back then because you discovered this secret? Li Qiye suddenly understood something, but your solution was wrong...

Wrong? The sorcerer grinned maliciously, "Then I'll show you what's truly right!"

He formed a hand seal, and the black crystal on his chest burst forth with dazzling light.

The rift across the sky suddenly widened, and a giant eye slowly opened in the darkness.

At the same time, Su Yuqing let out a painful scream—the black vines on her body stretched towards the sky as if they were alive, connecting with the crack.

Rain cleared! Li Qiye tried to rush over, but was trapped in place by the force field formed by the four divine artifacts.

The fusion of the Star Ring and the Mirror of the Abyss is not yet complete, and abruptly interrupting it may cause the artifact to go out of control.

　940 Xuan Ying and Xuan Xing were desperately trying to stop the black-robed men attracted by the rift, while Xuan Yue was trying to freeze the darkness spreading around Su Yuqing with moonlight, but the effect was minimal.

Li Qiye... Su Yuqing struggled to lift her head, a glimmer of clarity flashing in her bloodshot eyes. "Never mind me... the seal is complete..."

"No!" Li Qiye roared. The Star Ring seemed to sense his resolve, suddenly detaching from the Abyss Mirror and flying above his palm, spinning. The four divine artifacts simultaneously hummed, forming a peculiar energy field.

The sorcerer's expression changed drastically upon seeing this: "Are you insane? Forcibly activating an artifact that is not yet fully fused will—"

Li Qiye ignored it. He poured all his spiritual power into the Star Ring, and the two extreme endings shown by the Mirror of the Abyss appeared in his mind, along with that ancient text: Light originates from darkness, and redemption begins with sacrifice.

"I choose the third path," he said softly.

The star ring suddenly burst forth with an unprecedented light, neither pure white nor deep black, but a gray like that of the beginning of chaos.

Wherever the light touched, time seemed to stand still—the expanding rift froze, the black-robed man was frozen in his charging posture, and even the ferocious expression on the witch god's face froze.

Only Su Yuqing could still move. She stared in astonishment at her body, where the dark vines were shedding their filth and gradually returning to a crystalline blood color, with even the tips glowing with a golden-red light.

This is... She raised her hand, and a vine spontaneously extended towards Li Qiye. The moment it touched the gray light, the patterns on the vine lit up, forming runes similar to the Chaos Codex.

Li Qiye felt a familiar energy emanating from the vines—it was Su Yuqing's Heavenly Evil Bloodline power, but it was purer and stronger than ever before.

This power resonated with the Star Ring, projecting a three-dimensional map before him—the core node of the sealed rift, hidden tens of thousands of feet underground in the Eternal Night Forest.

So that's how it is... Li Qiye suddenly realized that the Heavenly Evil Bloodline was not a curse, but the power of cause and effect!

The Witch God suddenly broke free from the time freeze, the black crystal on his chest now cracked: "Nonsense! The Heavenly Evil Bloodline belongs to the Abyss King..."

He didn't finish his sentence. Su Yuqing's golden-red vines shot out like lightning, piercing precisely through the black crystal.

There was no explosion, no light; the black crystal vanished silently, like a burst bubble. The sorcerer staggered back, staring incredulously at his empty chest.

Impossible... How could the Heavenly Evil Bloodline be...?

Su Yuqing stood up, her body enveloped in golden-red energy. Her eyes were still blood-red, but no longer violent; instead, they resembled the purest rubies. "I saw it," she said softly yet firmly, "the truth within the Mirror of the Abyss."

Chapter 281 The High Priest Disappears Completely

We have all been deceived—the Heavenly Evil Bloodline is not a product of darkness, but rather the bloodline of the guardians who maintained the cause and effect of light and darkness in ancient times.

As she spoke, the giant eye in the sky suddenly closed, and the crack stopped expanding.

The emerging dark creatures, as if lost and without guidance, began to attack each other.

Li Qiye felt the vibrations of the Star Ring become regular, and the four divine artifacts automatically arranged themselves into a peculiar formation. The Dawn Scepter was on top, the Chaos Codex was below, the Heart of Life was on the left, the Mirror of the Abyss was on the right, and the Star Ring—floating in the center.

It was about to begin. He looked at Su Yuqing, who nodded in understanding. Golden and red vines wove into a net, enveloping the two of them and the four divine artifacts.

The sorcerer struggled to stop it, but his power was rapidly draining away as the black crystal shattered. You don't understand... cause and effect only delay annihilation... complete purification is necessary...

Li Qiye ignored it. A beam of gray light shot out from the center of the star ring and pierced straight into the ground.

The entire Eternal Night Forest began to tremble, and countless cracks appeared in the ground, but instead of darkness gushing out, pure energy streams burst forth—the primordial causal power that had been sealed for millions of years.

This is the true seal. Li Qiye grasped Su Yuqing's hand, and their power merged through the vines and the star ring. It wasn't about suppressing darkness, nor was it about annihilating light, but rather—

Returning to the origin. Su Yuqing continued his words, and the blood-red vines suddenly transformed into a dazzling golden-red, like thousands of ribbons of light piercing deep into the earth.

The ground shook violently, and a huge array of light rose from the ground, covering the entire Eternal Night Forest.

The black-robed man screamed as he turned to ashes in the light, while the trees corrupted by darkness regained their life.

The sorcerer god knelt on the ground, watching his hands gradually become transparent: So...we were all wrong... His body began to dissipate, and in his final moments, a hint of relief appeared in his eyes. Beware...the Abyss King...he has already...

Before he could finish speaking, the former High Priest of Light vanished completely in the light.

The light array lasted for about fifteen minutes before gradually dimming. When the last ray of light disappeared, Li Qiye discovered that the four divine artifacts had changed their forms—the Dawn Scepter had become a short staff with black and white stripes, the Chaos Codex had become a pendant, the Heart of Life had merged into his chest, and the Abyss Mirror had shrunk to a palm-sized bronze mirror.

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Only the Star Ring remained unchanged, but a trace of flowing golden-red light appeared inside—that was Su Yuqing's bloodline power.

"Is it over?" Xuan Yue asked weakly. She, Xuan Xing, and Xuan Ying were all covered in wounds, but their eyes were full of hope.

Li Qiye looked up at the sky, where the crack was slowly healing.

As the azure light of the Eternal Night Forest dissipated, Li Qiye knelt on one knee on the bluestone slab of the Great Feng capital. The bronze mirror transformed from the Abyss Mirror in his arms shattered in two, its surface reflecting his pale face—there was no Xuan Ying or Su Yuqing, only the teahouse owner on the street corner holding a broom, looking at him suspiciously: "Esteemed guest, what is this...?"

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“I had a long dream.” Li Qiye took out some loose silver and placed it on the table, his fingertip brushing against the star ring in his palm—the ring was still there, but the flowing golden-red light had disappeared. He stood up and found himself wearing the blue robe of a storyteller from Tingfeng Tower, with half a scroll of the manuscript of “Perfect World” falling out of his sleeve.

Three days later, Tingfeng Tower was packed. Li Qiye gripped the gavel formed from the Blade of Severance, looking at the many unfamiliar faces below the stage, and suddenly recalled the "Threads of Cause and Effect" that Xuan Ying had mentioned in his dream.

Chapter 282 Mirror

"Dear readers, today we will discuss the thirty-seventh chapter of Perfect World: Shi Hao mistakenly eats the Vermilion Fruit, and his blood and bones boil—" As he struck the clapper, he caught a glimpse of a gray-clad man wearing a bamboo hat in a private room on the second floor, who was carving the runes of the Mirror of the Abyss on the table with his fingertips.

"Wait a minute." The gray-robed man spoke, his voice hoarse like that of a sorcerer in a dream, "When Shi Hao's supreme bone was dug out, did he see an ancient bronze mirror?"

The "940" incident caused an uproar in Taiwan. Li Qiye gripped the gavel tightly and discovered that the handwriting on the manuscript was changing on its own. The originally blank page revealed a sketch of an ancient mirror—exactly the same as the abyss mirror in his dream.

"You jest, sir," he said, trying to sound calm. "This story is entirely my own invention. Where would I get an ancient mirror?"

The man in gray removed his straw hat, revealing a black flame tattoo at the corner of his left eye: "But I clearly remember dreaming last night that someone was wielding a blade that could sever boundaries to cut through the Black Moon. Mr. Li, do you think this dream... was real or not?"

Late at night, Li Qiye was revising his manuscript under the oil lamp. Suddenly, the candlelight flickered violently, and the characters "Shi Hao" on the manuscript bled, gradually turning into "Witch God." He turned to another page in alarm and found that next to the description of "Virtual God Realm," a line of small characters had appeared: "Underground of the Great Feng Imperial City Division, the location of the causal array eye."

"boom!"

The window was flung open by a fierce gust of wind. A golden-red maple leaf landed on the manuscript, its veins forming the three characters "Su Yuqing." Li Qiye trembled as he pulled out a shard of bronze mirror from his pocket. The shard reflected not himself, but a woman in a blood-red dress—her vines were piercing through the bluestone slabs, spreading towards him.

"Li Qiye!" A woman's voice came from within the fragments, "Wake up! You're trapped in your own storybook!"

The next day, a special listener arrived at Tingfeng Tower—Zhao Kaishan, a constable in a dark blue long robe, with the words "Suppress Evil" engraved on his sword at his waist. He slammed a scroll on the table and lowered his voice: "Mr. Li, are you aware that the 'Eternal Night Forest' in your book matches the landscape of the 'Mass Burial Ground' that disappeared ten years ago?"

Li Qiye opened the scroll, his pupils shrinking sharply. The yellowed drawings depicted twisted ancient trees, a black moon, and abyssal fissures, and at the end was his own handwriting: Successor of the First Priest, sealing karma with a storybook.