The Abyssal Garden: No Room for the Idle

Su Qi's eyebrows arched.

Mr. Luo, indeed still honest and sincere.

"But," Luo Shenfu furrowed his brows, "what do these traces mean?"

Since the light had flashed only momentarily, he had probed with all his might and only glimpsed a rough outline.

Su Qi, once again, raised a finger, with Starfire appearing at its tip.

"Clearly,"

"the marks on the ground seem to be footprints."

He analyzed minutely, speaking softly, "Although I don't know why they exist here, uneroded by the Old Days, it seems possible to move forward by following these traced footprints."

Luo Shenfu frowned deeply, his voice grave, "Footsteps? Moving forward along them..."

He did not deny Su Qi's idea, and looked around the corridor.

In this airtight corridor, there were no other exits, only the surrounding Black and White Doors.

It seemed there was only one path to take.

"But…"

Luo Shenfu looked solemnly forward, "it's too dangerous."

"In the boundless Darkness ahead, you must step precisely into the traced footprints with every step. A single misstep, any part falling outside, might result in encounters with dreadful Ominous forces."

"Thus, Daozi must carefully use the Starfire at critical locations."

Although Luo Shenfu advised against moving forward,

he had a vague feeling about something; the traces above were vast, seemingly left here on purpose, and though the many energies were mottled and complex, they felt somewhat familiar.

This seemed to be a guide, extraordinary in this place.

"Understood."

Su Qi gave an OK gesture.

He ignited the Starfire directly, this time without any acceleration, and started walking forward.

He stepped onto the first footprint.

As expected.

The massive Old Days did not surge forward with the black and white colors.

"Continue, I will help you determine the positions," Luo Shenfu spoke intently, "step by step."

Each cluster of Starfire illuminated a small area, and he would determine the position of the traces, pinpointing it precisely before stepping carefully.

This required extreme caution, treating each spot with the utmost care.

But.

"..."

Su Qi glanced curiously at his ring.

"Brother Luo, I think it's not that complicated."

"You go have a cup of tea and rest a bit; I'll handle the rest."

Luo Shenfu: "?"

Su Qi started walking.

At the same time,

each step seemed to land precisely on the traced footprints, and the surrounding Starfire completely lit up everything around him.

"???"

Luo Shenfu watched this scene, shocked!

No, I'd been busy analyzing and planning all this time.

And you just went straight on?!

Seeming to notice Luo Shenfu's sheer surprise,

Su Qi also smiled and patched things up.

"Immortal Path enlightens my true vision."

Su Qi's pupils flickered slightly, speaking softly, "Everything follows a form."

Since the Immortal Path Stele had already merged with him, a dimension's power was at his behest, and naturally, he held the ultimate interpretation.

Luo Shenfu's eyebrows lifted, his doubts fading significantly.

If it's by the Immortal Path, then it's fine.

"But is the power of the Immortal Path so easy to control?" he muttered,

"That Saint only began contemplating it after becoming a God."

"Because I'm a sports student, weather, talent, depth—you wouldn't understand," Su Qi calmly walked forward, each step precisely on each footprint.

Luo Shenfu: "...."

Perhaps at the moment of first meeting, he might have really believed it.

At this point,

Su Qi continued forward, neither fast nor slow, walking for about a minute, making Luo Shenfu sweat profusely, although it was uneventful.

Until ten minutes later.

Luo Shenfu still wasn't used to it, and he was sweating even more.

Because Su Qi sped up.

He almost started running!

Luo Shenfu watched, terrified, unable to help but cry out, "Can you slow down a bit! Watching this makes me anxious!!"

This feeling was like riding a bus on an extremely narrow mountain road, with half the tires already off the cliff.

But the speed was still hitting 100 mph, a slight mishap would mean total destruction.

Who the hell can handle this?!

"Your mental toughness still needs work, solid Luo," Su Qi said meaningfully.

Work on it, my ass!!

Luo Shenfu was a Cultivation Great Success, a cultured man who had guarded the stele for countless years; at this moment, he was somewhat anxious!

However,

Su Qi didn't respond; instead, he looked ahead and muttered to himself,

"This corridor is even longer than I imagined."

Ten minutes had passed.

Along the way, there were densely packed yet dilapidated doors in black and white, but he had still not reached the end of the corridor.

He could only continue forward by following the footprints.

To tell the truth,

another reason Luo Shenfu felt his heart tighten was...

the pressure.

If it were someone else, each step forward would require immense courage, and the pressure and despair that hit him when he couldn't see the end almost swallowed him whole.

Because,

he could move forward by following the footprints without straying, but retreating was very difficult; the footprints were very narrow and virtually together.

Wanting to give up midway, the higher the cost of giving up the farther he went.

Therefore,

the farther forward, the greater the despair.

And according to the method he had proposed earlier, each step required full concentration and a lot of energy and time to reach this distance... it would probably take a day and a night, leaving his mind weary.

Of course,

all of this did not apply to Su Qi, who was striding as if flying, looking around as he went.

Luo Shenfu: "....."

Daozi was just... too relaxed.

They continued forward.

Su Qi quickened his pace again, and Luo Shenfu simply stopped paying attention to this and focused on the doors around him.

After all,

this corridor was truly long, and walking slowly, who knew how much time it would take to complete.

And Luo Shenfu, looking around, his pupils subtly contracted.

"To tell the truth, there are too many doors of worlds that have been erased from existence," Luo Shenfu said gravely, "Although these doors are forgotten as soon as they are seen, with no marks or patterns remembered, my current feeling is... there's something very special here."

"It seems to involve the entire Dark Zone."

Su Qi: "Coincidentally, I think so too."

Luo Shenfu looked around and muttered, "Daozi, how did you actually get here?"

Su Qi: "Even more coincidentally, I'd like to know that too."

Luo Shenfu: "..."

"In any case,"

Su Qi calmly said, "Don't rush, the reversal is coming."

Luo Shenfu's spirit sharpened: "Did you find an exit?"

"No."

Su Qi: "The footprints... are on the ceiling now."

"??"

Luo Shenfu widened his eyes: "A physical reversal!"

And Su Qi directly leapt, stepping onto the ceiling and hanging upside down.

Luo Shenfu felt a slight sinking in his heart.

Walking upside down wasn't really an issue for any Sequencer who could use Spiritual Energy.

However,

this undoubtedly increased the difficulty, making it even more challenging, and Spiritual Energy would be consumed even more, with slight miscalculations leading to a series of collapses.

However,

"Why have you sped up again!!"

"Don't rush."

Su Qi said calmly.

"Is it me who's rushing, or is it you!"

To tell the truth,

the road ahead was not easy to navigate, and the footprints were all over the place.

Some were up, some were down, and some even required fixed-point jumping, palm sticking, and climbing.

However,

Su Qi thought it wasn't a big problem; the more it was like this, the more it indicated...

"We are almost there."

Su Qi looked ahead.

There was already a slight change in the corridor.

He directly looked up.

The next moment,

countless Starfires burst forth violently! A mass of light illuminated the path ahead!

They had finally seen the end.

Outside the end of the corridor.

Seemed to be an infinitely vast... Star River, and upon closer inspection, all these twinkling Star Rivers were densely packed with doors.

Most importantly,

these doors were not black and white, they all emitted twinkling white light, so at first glance, they all looked like Star Rivers.