The underground area was vast and teeming with poisonous creatures. However, Ming Qi's strength was so formidable that these creatures posed no threat to him. An hour later, he found the exit and finally reached the surface.
Upon emerging, Ming Qi sensed a distinct difference in the air of this world. The breathable atmosphere was extremely weak. While this wouldn't affect advanced cultivators, it was practically fatal to ordinary humans.
After leaving the cave, Ming Qi quickly ascended into the air, unwilling to interact with the local inhabitants.
As he soared, he spotted scattered buildings. The architecture of the Qujing realm was vastly different from anything he had seen before. It lacked a distinctly three-dimensional structure, resembling simple caves. However, Ming Qi wasn't concerned with these; he was searching for the World Axis.
Just as he had previously searched the star field and the Beast Soul Heavenly Mausoleum, it took more than ten days to locate the World's boundary, and Ming Qi began a thorough search.
This time, however, to Ming Qi's surprise, his search didn't last long before the Heavenly Secret Disk immediately detected the location of the World Axis!
While sensing the presence of the World Axis, Ming Qi also noticed a characteristic: the closer he got to it, the more residents gathered around it, forming a dense cluster.
This wasn't a good sign, as it suggested the World Axis was likely crucial to the native residents of the Qujing Realm.
However, since Ming Qi had entered the Qujing Realm, he naturally had to obtain it. Regardless of its connection to the natives, he needed it.
Following his sensed direction, Ming Qi slowly advanced.
However, after a day, Ming Qi was shocked to discover that the distance between him and the World Axis hadn't closed!
This discovery astonished him. A distance of five thousand miles shouldn't have taken a day to sense, yet after a full day of flight, the distance to the World Axis hadn't changed!
Sensing the anomaly, Ming Qi immediately stopped to see what was happening.
Soon, Ming Qi discovered something strange: he was trapped by a strange formation!
After discovering the formation, Ming Qi felt a significant sense of relief. Although it was a natural formation, likely formed naturally within the Qujing Realm, it proved no challenge to him. Any formation was nothing compared to absolute power.
Confirming he was trapped by the formation, Ming Qi immediately summoned the King of Life and Death to join him in colliding with it.
The immense force of the impact shattered the formation in less than a quarter of an hour. The instant it was breached, Ming Qi's vision suddenly opened up. The previously ethereal mountains and land transformed, revealing the settlements of the indigenous people.
The dense caves below were a testament to this. In the heart of the gathering place, a towering structure, strikingly different from the architecture of the Qujing Realm, stood a hundred meters tall and encompassed several miles in radius. A vast terraced platform, atop it, stood a strange-looking statue of a six-winged deity, fully armored and wielding a massive, long-handled weapon. It held a majestic presence.
Ming Qi swiftly passed by and reached the platform.
After a quick inspection, Ming Qi determined that the platform was an altar, and the statue was the deity receiving sacrifices.
"Could there be gods in Qujing?"
At this thought, Ming Qi immediately denied it. Qujing belonged to the realm of disorder; gods couldn't possibly exist here. Even if there were, they could only be alien demons from the disordered world.
But that was impossible. The alien demons were known for their destructive and murderous tendencies, and were all terrifying tyrants. If they were alien demons, then the native creatures of Qujing couldn't possibly survive so peacefully.
And most importantly, the location of the world axis he had sensed was right on this mysterious altar!
As Ming Qi surveyed the platform, dozens of exceptionally tall men in red robes and bald heads swooped down from below. All of them possessed a third, vertical pupil on their foreheads.
These men, over three times the height of an average person, were true giants, unlike the natives of Qujing Ming Qi had encountered on the road.
"...,..."
Dozens of towering giants rushed to the altar, shouting incoherently. Ming Qi couldn't understand what they were saying, but from their expressions, it was clear they were furious.
"It seems this is unavoidable."
Ming Qi didn't want to clash with the locals, but the situation wasn't going to work.
The Axis of the World was most likely that statue. If he took it away, these people would surely fight him to the death.
Thinking for a moment, Ming Qi summoned the King of Life and Death.
"King of Life and Death, stop them!"
Giving the King of Life and Death a command, Ming Qi immediately retreated, approaching the statue.
Since a conflict with these locals was inevitable, it would be wise to use drastic measures to remove the statue. Although these people were tall and strong, their cultivation and strength were completely different. Shaking them off would be a piece of cake.
The King of Life and Death, originally the soul of the Starry Sky King, possessed immense wisdom. Upon hearing Ming Qi's command, his body suddenly expanded, instantly reaching nearly a hundred meters in height. This instantly frightened dozens of indigenous giants, who recoiled with cries of terror.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Ming Qi reached the statue. He concentrated his divine power in his hands, grasped the base of the wings behind the statue, and tore it off.
Seeing the statue being torn away, the already frightened indigenous giants flew into a rage and charged towards Ming Qi like a madman. However, facing the enormous size of the King of Life and Death, their bases were unable to reach him, and they were knocked away before they could even reach him.
Facing their inability to reclaim the statue, dozens of indigenous giants roared in anger and immediately formed a circle, chanting a loud incantation.
In a moment, the ground suddenly cracked in the center of the circle formed by the indigenous giants, and a blinding dark aura rose rapidly. Following the strange movements of the indigenous giants, Ming Qi suddenly noticed that the statue he was holding began to tremble violently. Soon, he lost his grip and it flew out of his grasp, crashing directly into the black aura.
Seeing the statue flying towards the dark aura, Ming Qi felt a sense of foreboding and shouted, "King of Life and Death, smash the statue!"
The King of Life and Death obeyed the order and immediately swung his massive body towards the flying statue. However, the statue showed no fear and charged at the King of Life and Death. In the blink of an eye, it passed through the King of Life and Death's massive body and fell directly into the dark aura.
The King of Life and Death was instantly pierced, his strength weakened. As Ming Qi retrieved the King of Life and Death, divine power surged through his body, and he flew rapidly towards the black aura.
The statue is the embodiment of the axis of the world, but it is also a necessary condition for the indigenous giants to summon the outer demon god. Now the only way to seize control of the axis of the world is to kill this outer demon god from the world of disorder.