by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
He quickly reached a place closer to the two of them. When he saw Long Chen, he became dumbfounded. He was clearly shocked at Long Chen’s cultivation base.
Then when he saw the old man’s staff, his expression completely changed. He pointed at it and strange sounds came from his mouth.
“Do you know how to speak the human language?” probed Long Chen.
The red-haired man didn’t seem to understand him, and he suddenly attacked Long Chen with a claw. His hand was as quick as lightning.
“Fuck, do you think I’m easy to bully?!” raged Long Chen.
Long Chen was just about to attack when the old man’s staff swung from a strange angle at the red-haired man’s wrist.
What startled Long Chen was that the staff suddenly became flexible and wrapped around the red-haired man’s wrist. The red-haired man was also startled, and he was just about to pull back when the old man landed a kick on his crotch, sending him flying.
“Ah, it seems I’m not the only one skilled in the crotch kick.” Long Chen had never expected that the old man was also skilled in this move.
“Brat, you dare to bully my family’s child? Are you trying to get yourself killed?” shouted the old man, pointing his staff at the red-haired man.
The red-haired man suddenly let out a furious roar, and a red light shot out of his third eye.
The red light contained strange runes. When they appeared, Long Chen felt like the world was collapsing. He almost coughed up blood.
“Activate your sixth sense!” shouted the old man. His staff transformed into a black streak that smashed toward the red light.
BOOM! The red light exploded.
“Split the Heavens 5!” Just at this moment, with the staff already swung down, a black saber-image shot out of it.
“Two attacks in one move?” Long Chen was shocked. The old man’s technique was truly refined.
The red-haired also hadn’t expected such a strange move. His hands drew a circle in the air, forming a blood-colored barrier in front of him.
He let out a miserable scream as a huge cut appeared in the middle of his body, almost cutting him in half.
Chapter 1596 Black Lake
The red-haired man miserably flew back. He let out a startled scream as he was flying toward the chain-wielding monstrosity. He then slammed his palm in the air, forcibly changing his direction. He narrowly flew by it.
The red-haired man was pale. He had almost crashed into it just now. He had also seen through how terrifying this monstrosity was.
It was unknown what secret technique he had, but his injury quickly recovered. Now when he looked at the old man, he had a fearful expression.
“Brat, if you want to fight, let’s fight.” The old man pointed his staff at him threateningly.
The old man’s temper was explosive, plus it was the red-haired man who had attacked first. If this situation wasn’t special, he’d have long since started a fight.
The red-haired man snorted. He said a few garbled things that they couldn’t understand and then went in another direction.
This bridge was so wide that he quickly vanished from sight. He had clearly decided to leave so they could each walk their own paths.
“Old man, why don’t we join hands and kill him?” probed Long Chen. Long Chen had no interest in that person’s life, but he was curious about his memories. He wanted to know what race he came from.
“This place isn’t suitable for a fight. Furthermore, there’s nothing worthwhile for us to take such a risk,” said the old man.
Long Chen nodded. That was true. There were no treasures to snatch here.
Long Chen estimated that this fellow had attacked because he had seen the old man carrying a weapon from the outside world in the Netherworld. He had wanted to know the reason and so he had wanted to search Long Chen’s soul.
“Hmph, count yourself lucky,” snorted Long Chen inside at that red-haired man. If the old man wasn’t present, he really would have an urge to capture that fellow. However, now he had to be an obedient child.
Long Chen followed the old man, and they encountered the chain-wielding monstrosities dozens of times. The concept of time and space was very muddled here. He could only get a general understanding of his surroundings. Based on his calculations, they had walked for a day to reach the end of the bridge. As for how long the distance was, there was no way to calculate it.
They didn’t see the red-haired man again. Based on the red-haired man’s speed, he had probably reached this place long before them.
However, once they reached the end, they saw that the lake in front of them was not blood-colored, but black. It was like ink.
“What dense death energy. This is a poison lake!” cried the old man. The lake’s death aura was absolutely terrifying. Just by smelling it, he could feel his life energy fading.
“It seems not everyone walks the same path in the Netherworld. Long Chen, you should go back. This place is very dangerous,” said the old man.
This black lake looked even more terrifying than the blood-colored lake Qu Jianying had crossed. Even being splashed by this water could be very troublesome.
“I’ll be fine. Just wait a second. I’ll prepare a set of armor for you.” A ball of mud appeared in Long Chen’s hand, and he wiped it across the old man’s face.
The old man was caught off-guard and allowed Long Chen to wipe the mud across his face. He raged, “Brat, what are you doing?”
“Don’t panic. I’m making you a mud armor to guarantee your safety against the black water.” Long Chen smiled.
This mud was no ordinary mud. It was the black soil that came from the primal chaos space. Long Chen was sure that this soil of death could resist the corrosion of the black water.
The old man thought that Long Chen was messing around, but Long Chen’s expression was serious, so he allowed it to happen.
He was quickly encased in mud armor. Although it looked strange, this was definitely a good thing.
“You don’t need to be so careful now. My black soil isn’t normal soil. It’s sticky and should follow your movements. As long as you don’t tear it off, it shouldn’t fall,” said Long Chen.
Long Chen took out a sword. It was an Ancestral item, and although it was already broken, it was still very tough.
He stuck the tip inside the black water. When he pulled it out, he and the old man sucked in a cold gasp of air.
The portion that had entered the black water had vanished silently.
“Good stuff!” Long Chen gulped.
“Brat, don’t tell me you want to drink it!” raged the old man upon seeing Long Chen’s excited expression.
Long Chen smiled mischievously and didn’t reply. He got to work again and quickly wrapped his leg in black soil as well. He then stepped into the black water.
The old man let out a startled cry. It was too late to stop Long Chen, but he was dumbfounded to see Long Chen pull his leg out. His foot was still there, completely fine.
“Alright. Let’s get going.” Long Chen smiled. This black water couldn’t do anything to his black soil.
If he didn’t think it would be too troublesome, he could even make a small boat out of the black soil. However, that would be too time-consuming.
The two of them jumped onto the floating logs. All of a sudden, they sensed some mysterious energy sealing their energy, so they couldn’t use magical arts here and could only walk obediently.
The two of them were now very slow. Black mist surrounded them, making it so they couldn’t see the path forward or back. They could only see the floating log beneath their feet.
“The Yellow Springs Path really is interesting. This path is just like a person’s life. Looking at the path forward and back will both bewilder people. The path back is just as covered with mist as the path forward. If you try to retreat, one wrong step will lead to death. Rather than retreating with your eyes closed, continuing to advance with your eyes open is better. You can’t see your
goal or hope, but you can see your next step. As long as you persevere, no matter how long the path is, you’ll reach the end eventually. However, countless people die during the process because they can’t see any hope. Sometimes they might just be one step from the shore, but their despair causes them to fall,” said the old man emotionally.
In truth, the old man did not know that this was the Yellow Springs Path. He just felt that this situation was very similar to the Yellow Springs Path in stories, so he was moved to say this.
Long Chen nodded. “Saying to just keep going sounds simple, but it really is difficult, especially during those days when it’s impossible to see any hope. Despair is inevitable. However, true experts will also persevere whether or not they can see any hope, because they have some reason why they must persevere.”
He looked at the boundless Yellow Springs Path. The way in front was shrouded, the way back was covered in mist. Wasn’t this an exact portrayal of his current situation?
He had no way back. He had to find his biological parents and solve the riddle of his origins. However, before he could solve this riddle, he was tossed into a world filled with enemies.
He also had a family of his hot-blooded brothers and beautiful women following him. He couldn't go back. He not only had to achieve his dreams, but he also had to achieve the dreams of everyone who followed him. No matter how dangerous it was, he had to continue forward.
“Little fellow, don’t say the words of someone old and world-weary,” said the old man with a smile. He hadn’t expected Long Chen to also say such a thing. In his eyes, Long Chen was still a child.
Long Chen bitterly smiled. He also felt like he was old. There were many things he was seeing clearer, which only made him more tired. He thought back to when he and Little Snow had first left the Phoenix Cry Empire. At that time, he had been filled with hope, and he had wanted to live a carefree life. He had thought that the higher his cultivation base, the fewer restrictions he would have.
His frame of mind had changed. The greatest change had occurred when Little Snow died. Although Little Snow’s crystal core was still being nourished by Meng Qi’s Myriad Spirit Diagram, Long Chen felt like his heart was being stabbed every time he thought of how Little Snow had died to protect him.
Whether or not a person matured didn’t depend on their age. The main thing was what they experienced. Although he was only in his twenties, he had a weather-beaten heart.
Fortunately, he still had some immature fellows to play around with. That was the only time Long Chen could feel young.
“Long Chen, something’s off. Those fish monsters still haven’t appeared. Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?” cried out the old man suddenly
Even after walking for a long time, there wasn’t the slightest change. That was too strange. It was completely different from what Qu Jianying had experienced.
“Don’t be so suspicious. Senior Qu walked on a red path, while we’re on a black path. It’s normal for it to be different. Stop trying to shake my confidence,” said Long Chen.
This truly was a bit strange, but they were still following the wooden logs. They couldn’t have gone in the wrong direction.
The two of them were still continuing forward when Long Chen’s eyes brightened. He saw a red light in the distance and quickened his footsteps.
He quickly saw what that red light was. It was the red-haired man.
At this time, the red-haired man was enveloped by a red light that protected himself from the black mist. The black mist was continuously striking his barrier like black vipers.
The red-haired man’s expression was extremely ugly. His aura had weakened a great deal already, and he was adjusting his condition while standing on a floating log.
Long Chen instantly realized what was going on. This mist was the attacker here. However, with the black soil protecting them, the mist couldn’t do a single thing to them.
Seeing that the red-robed man was extremely tired from blocking the mist, Long Chen had a thought. He stealthily approached.
Just as he was preparing to attack, the red-haired man turned back to see them. He let out a startled and cry and fled into the distance, disappearing from sight.
“Damn, he actually ran.” Long Chen clapped himself in the leg. He had almost caught him.
Chapter 1597 Collecting the Black Water
The red-haired man was definitely using some kind of divine ability to forcibly hold back the black mist. However, based on appearances, doing so was very taxing to him.
Only now did the old man realize that the reason this black lake didn’t seem as frightening as the blood-colored lake was thanks to Long Chen’s black soil. It isolated them from the mist.
The two of them continued forward. There were no surprises or dangers, but they didn’t dare to be careless. After all, there was no need to take any risks. Stability was the most important thing here.
The two of them eventually reached the end of the floating logs, and the whirlpool of nine different colored pools appeared.
When they personally witnessed it, this sight was even more stunning. They felt majestic energy gathering. It was like all the Daos of the world were concentrating here, as if this was the pinnacle of the world.
When he saw the nine-colored whirlpool, Long Chen felt his 108,000 stars slowly circulating.
“As expected, my senses weren’t wrong. These nine lakes have some kind of connection to the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art,” muttered Long Chen.
Through Qu Jianying’s vision, he had immediately felt an urge to come here when he had seen these lakes. That was the main reason why he had decided to take this risk.
Or rather than saying that the nine lakes were related to the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art, perhaps there was some aspect of them that was based on the same concept as the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art.
The two of them stood on the edge of the whirlpool. The flow of the nine liquids was like the cycle of life. There was joy, sorrow, anger, the cycle of birth and death. It was all in an endless cycle.
“How regretful. Once I return to my true body, all these memories regarding the Netherworld will disappear. I really don’t know how Qu Jianying managed to seal a portion of her memories of this place,” sighed the old man.
For most Netherpassage experts, their final memory would be going into the gate. Everything that happened in the Netherworld would be erased.
It was unknown what technique Qu Jianying had used to retain a portion of her memories. Even the old man had no choice but to admit that her abilities were amazing.
The old man had originally wanted to tell what he had seen in Qu Jianying’s memories to Boss Bao and the others. However, he was stunned to find that whenever he wanted to say it, his memories of it would vanish.
Then when he no longer wanted to say it, his memories returned. The secrets of the world of the dead could not be spoken.
Although the two of them knew some of the secrets of this world, only they could know it. They were unable to transmit it to others.
Regretfully, once the old man left the Netherworld, his memories of the Netherworld from Qu Jianying would probably also be erased along with these new memories.
“These nine lakes are a manifestation of the Heavenly Daos. They contain the principles of life, death, and reincarnation, the mysteries of the universe’s rise and fall. If I could comprehend them, wouldn’t I be able to ascend in the future?” said the old man emotionally.
However, that was impossible. No matter how much he comprehended here, that comprehension would vanish once he left. It would be like a dream that he couldn’t remember.
“Let’s go.”
The old man looked on for a while before turning to leave. It was nice to dream, but looking was useless. He had to get to work.
Long Chen nodded without saying anything. He didn’t know that it was impossible to tell others about the Netherworld. The main thing was that he hadn’t tried.
However, even if he d
id, it wouldn’t be useful. Although he had seen the memories Qu Jianying had left behind, the feeling was not as strong as experiencing it in person.
Long Chen went down the whirlpool with the old man. There was a straight staircase that the two of them went down.
With the nine-colored waterfall around them, Long Chen felt the turning of the cosmos within the water. It was like he was lost in the river of time. Time seemed to be speeding by yet also standing still. That feeling was very difficult to describe.
“Damnit, is my realm too low to understand it?” cursed Long Chen. Right now, all he could feel was shock. He was unable to understand the true meaning behind this.
Long Chen and the old man continued downward. When they were still some distance from the bottom, the waterfall began to slow down and flow back upward. It was a shocking sight.
When they arrived at the ground, they saw a giant castle with giant gates.
When Long Chen saw these Gates of Hell, there were already dozens of other figures in front of it.
Amongst them was the red-haired man. He was sitting lotus-style in a corner.
Although he looked calm, Long Chen knew he was faking it to not appear weak. He was definitely in the midst of recovering. The black mist should have exhausted a great deal of his energy.
Although they saw through his act, Long Chen and the old man didn’t expose him. They looked toward the other people.
Perhaps they shouldn’t be described as people. Many were not fully humanoid.
Some were humanoid with wings. Some were covered in scales. Some had long tails. There were all kinds of lifeforms. There were some giant beasts amongst them as well.
Long Chen’s heart shook. Was the Martial Heaven Continent truly so powerful? There were this many experts attacking the Netherpassage realm?
“These fellows aren’t from the Martial Heaven Continent, or there’s no way I wouldn’t recognize any of them. They came from other domains,” transmitted the old man to Long Chen as they sat down to rest.
The Yellow Springs Path might have passed without any surprises, but the old man needed some time to recover from that state of high tension.
