Chapter 552: The Unhallowed Ground (Third Update!)
"Primordial Spirit Conference?"
Black Tiger God was quite puzzled; he had never heard of this term before. Si Yunxiang took out a large stack of diagrams and spread them out in the city tower. These diagrams were covered with various runic imprints.
"This is a technique jointly created by the Cult Leader and the cultivators of Yankang, named the Three Primordial Spirit Convergence Art by the Emperor."
Si Yunxiang searched for a moment, found Qin Mu's primordial spirit imprint, then took out cinnabar and a brush. She dissolved the cinnabar and began painting on the pillar of the city tower, drawing Qin Mu's primordial spirit imprint. "The Cult Leader once imprinted everyone's primordial spirit marks in the Grand Academy's Grand Study Hall, including his own. The Primordial Spirit Conference uses these imprints to attract one's own primordial spirit, gathering everyone's spirits for discussion."
Ling Yuxiu took out a stick of incense and inserted it beneath the painted primordial spirit imprint, lighting it. She said, "This incense is the Soul-Guiding Incense refined by the cowherd using the Soul-Pulling Divine Ability. It's used to guide the primordial spirit. We plan to use the Soul-Guiding Incense and the primordial spirit imprint to resonate with his spirit, drawing it here to ask about his whereabouts."
The two women exchanged a glance. Si Yunxiang released her primordial energy, illuminating Qin Mu's imprint, while Ling Yuxiu wrapped the fragrance of the Soul-Guiding Incense in her energy and infused it into the imprint.
Everyone in the tower waited quietly, watching the burning incense. The smoke curled up faintly, the fragrance not strong, even very light.
The time it took for one stick of incense to burn wasn't long. As the incense slowly burned away, everyone felt a bit anxious. The primordial spirit imprint and the Soul-Guiding Incense should resonate with Qin Mu's spirit. If Qin Mu activated the Three Primordial Spirit Convergence Art, he could come here to meet them.
But if Qin Mu had met with misfortune, he wouldn't come.
When the incense was more than half burned and still nothing happened, everyone was growing secretly anxious. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew into the city tower.
Everyone's heart leaped with joy. In the tower, Qin Mu's primordial spirit appeared faintly, unstable.
"Cult Leader, where are you?"
Dragon Qilin was overjoyed and hurriedly called out, "The elixirs you prepared for me are all gone! Come back quickly!"
Qin Mu was surprised. "I prepared enough for three or four months. Why are they gone already?"
"Well..." Dragon Qilin couldn't find the words.
Fox Ling'er quickly said, "Young master, we're searching for your whereabouts. Where are you now?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "I don't know. In the demon territory, there's no sun in the sky, no moon or stars. I can't tell directions, and I don't know where I am. I was kidnapped by Furi Luo and barely escaped. Now I'm being hunted by elite demon forces. My primordial spirit can't stay long here."
Everyone frowned deeply.
Sang Hua suddenly spoke up, "Brother Dagu, look at the mountain ranges around you, memorize their shapes, and see if there's any city nearby. Our Grand Heavenly Realm has sixty-four Divine Cities, each with a different name, and the mountain ranges around each are distinct. Whether you know the mountain shapes or the city name, we can determine your location."
Qin Mu's primordial spirit picked up the cinnabar brush and drew on the ground, quickly sketching the mountains near his location. "I don't see any Divine City," he said.
Sang Hua, Yu He, and other cultivators from the Grand Heavenly Realm crowded around to look, but each shook their heads. They were young and had never been to the demon territory.
"I'll go get my father!" Sang Hua hurried away.
Suddenly, Qin Mu's primordial spirit dimmed. "The enemy is here! I have to go back!"
A strong wind swept through the city tower, and his spirit vanished. Soon after, Sang Hua returned with Divine Lord Sang Ye. Divine Lord Sang Ye carefully examined the geographical map Qin Mu had drawn, thought for a moment, and exclaimed, "He's near the demon race's lair! The Liyang Mountain Range beside Guimei City!"
Yu He frowned. "Guimei City? Wasn't that Divine City already destroyed? I heard it's become an unhallowed ground..."
Divine Lord Sang Ye nodded. "When the demons invaded back then, they first appeared at Guimei City and completely destroyed it. Ahead of the Liyang Mountain Range is the Guimei City battlefield, the cruelest and bloodiest battlefield in all the Grand Heavenly Realm's divine-demon wars. Over a thousand gods and demons died there! The number of cultivators from both the Grand Heavenly Realm and the demon race who perished is countless! If he keeps going forward, he'll enter that unhallowed ground!"
Ling Yuxiu asked, puzzled, "Why is it called an unhallowed ground?"
Divine Lord Sang Ye said, "Too many gods and demons died there. Their divine blood and demon blood mixed together, creating an extremely strange zone. It contains the unyielding wills of gods and demons, as well as the souls of the wrongfully dead, carrying curses and demonic nature. The number of cultivators, gods, and demons who died there back then was so great that when night fell, the entire area was lit up."
A trace of fear showed on his face. "What lit up the night were lanterns hanging on small boats. Those boats came from the Netherworld. Countless old ferrymen, carrying lanterns, appeared on the battlefield, turning it into a ghostly realm, taking away the souls of the dead. Back then, I hadn't yet cultivated to the divine realm; I was just a small soldier in that battle..."
After the great battle, it was incredibly desolate. The young Divine Lord Sang Ye was severely wounded in the fight. When he woke up, it was already dark.
He crawled out of a pile of corpses and saw a sight he would never forget. Small boats with hanging lanterns sailed out of the darkness. Under the lantern light were thousands of identical old men. They came silently to the Grand Heavenly Realm, harvesting souls on the battlefield.
Those old men made no sound, but in the night battlefield, countless spirits wailed and roared, unwilling to fall into the Netherworld. Yet, without exception, they were captured by those old ferrymen and drifted away into the darkness on those small boats!
He would never forget that scene!
"The shattered souls that weren't taken away by the ferrymen remained there. Over time, it became an unhallowed ground, full of strange occurrences and eerie things hiding within."
Divine Lord Sang Ye steadied himself and continued, "Later, both the Grand Heavenly Realm and the demon race abandoned that place. If Cult Leader Qin continues forward, he will step into this unhallowed ground."
Dragon Qilin suddenly shouted, "When divine blood and demon blood mix, they can give birth to terrifying things like the Root Demon of Withered Ridge! We need to notify the Cult Leader immediately to avoid that place!"
Divine Lord Sang Ye asked, "How strong is the Root Demon of Withered Ridge?"
"About the level of a Life and Death realm expert."
Divine Lord Sang Ye sneered. "That's just a small fry. Some things in the unhallowed ground are far more powerful than Life and Death realm cultivators. Notify him as soon as possible to avoid that place!"
Ling Yuxiu and Si Yunxiang quickly tried to contact Qin Mu again, but this time, even after the Soul-Guiding Incense burned out, Qin Mu never responded.
"He must have encountered enemies and couldn't respond. This is bad!"
Si Yunxiang said rapidly, "Those enemies must be extremely powerful, maybe even forcing him into the unhallowed ground!"
Black Tiger God stood up resolutely. "I'll go there and bring him back!"
Divine Lord Sang Ye shook his head. "You can't make it. The journey is too far, with too many variables. If you encounter a demon god on the way, even you will die there. It's best for you to stay here, wait for his primordial spirit to respond, and hope he can walk out of the unhallowed ground. Only by leaving that place does he have a chance to survive."
Black Tiger God frowned deeply and shook his head. "I was the one who lost him. I must find him!"
Si Yunxiang and Ling Yuxiu exchanged a glance and said in unison, "We'll go with you!"
"And me!" Fox Ling'er raised her tail, then looked at Dragon Qilin.
Dragon Qilin hesitated. Fox Ling'er's eyes flickered, and she said softly, "Dragon Fatty, if we don't find the young master, you'll have to go hungry."
Dragon Qilin instantly became full of energy. "Count me in!"
Sang Hua looked at her father. "Dad, they don't know the area..."
Divine Lord Sang Ye was greatly troubled. "Be careful. On the second day you enter the demon territory, I'll lead an attack to draw the demons' attention, making it a bit safer for you."
At the edge of the unhallowed ground, the demon-fire nightmare horse beneath Qin Mu let out a mournful cry as a series of blade lights severed its legs. A demon cultivator ripped open the horse's belly and lunged at Qin Mu on its back.
Qin Mu leaped up, pressed his palm downward, and smashed both man and horse into pieces with one strike.
Whoosh—
An old crone carrying a large gourd charged at him. Blood light surged from the gourd like a tide, engulfing him. The bloody tide was foul-smelling and spun wildly, turning into a massive blood python that coiled tightly around Qin Mu, cracking his bones with a series of pops.
The array patterns in Qin Mu's eyes spun wildly. A great sun rose from the river of stars, and with a hum, two beams of light shot out. One severed the python's head, the other cut through the old crone's neck.
A scorpion-tailed Rakshasa woman whipped her tail hook out like a long whip. The venomous hook pierced Qin Mu's shoulder, lifted him high, and slammed him hard to the ground. Another demon youth carrying eight large banners bowed to the fallen Qin Mu. The eight banners whistled out and planted themselves around him.
"Demon Linked Mountain Array! Suppress, suppress, suppress, suppress, suppress, suppress, suppress, suppress!"
The demon youth shouted eight times. Eight phantom images of massive mountains descended from the sky with eight booming crashes, shaking the earth.
Suddenly, countless starlights flickered within the eight mountain phantoms, forming a strange Grand Celestial Star Force Field. Qin Mu struck out with one palm, shattering all eight mountains.
He burst out of the banner array, only to see over a dozen spinning blade pellets flying toward him. He quickly struck out with his palm, forming a massive "Stop" character in the air. The dozen blade pellets were frozen mid-air. The next moment, the pellets spun, and countless demon blades shot out, shredding the "Stop" character to pieces!
Qin Mu turned, stepping in a celestial pattern, narrowly dodging the countless demon blades. His sword pellet rose, and he caught it, sweeping it through the air, shattering countless demon blades.
A dozen three-headed, four-armed demon warriors charged in, advancing and retreating in coordinated attacks, furiously assaulting Qin Mu.
Qin Mu blocked repeatedly, taking dozens of hits in the blink of an eye. He quickly used earth escape technique to flee, but the dozen four-armed demons pressed their hands to the ground simultaneously. The earth rumbled and rose, forcing him back out.
Qin Mu leaped into the air, crashed down, and moved like a dragon and snake, rushing into a vast marsh ahead.
The many demon warriors chased to the edge of the marsh but suddenly stopped, all frowning.
"What do we do? Should we go in?" one demon cultivator muttered quietly.
Qin Mu walked into the marsh, looking around. Thick fog filled the area, demonic energy pervaded the air. Beneath the clear water, corpses floated. On the occasional patches of dry land, only skeletal remains and rusted spiritual weapons lay scattered.
He thought for a moment, then walked to a patch of dry land and gently tapped on a skeleton. Grinning, he asked, "Brother, which way should I go from here?"
The skeleton sat up straight, turned its head to look at him, and its jaw opened and closed. "This is the Yellow Springs Road. You can come, but you can't go back."
— Third update. Seven consecutive days of bursts, and I'm exhausted. I've been having trouble sleeping lately. I need to rest. There won't be an update at midnight tonight. I'll return to the normal update schedule. I'll burst again in a couple of days!