Chapter 284: Entering the Underground Palace
In the great canyon, the massive tomb loomed like an abyss.
Only a corner of its gate was exposed. Just how grand and vast it truly was could not yet be determined. A torrent of ghost soldiers and ghost horses surged outward, endless and unstoppable.
The outstanding disciples of several Holy Lands had already ventured deep inside, followed closely by followers of many great sects and other major powers, slashing through the ghost soldiers as they forced their way in.
"Boom," "boom," "boom"...
War drums rumbled like thunder from deep within the underground palace. Ghost soldiers poured forth like a black tide, and many cultivators met their deaths.
Yet for the sake of the Nine Secrets, few major powers would retreat. A great number of cultivators charged in, each displaying their weapons as they battled the ghostly men and horses.
Then, someone unleashed Separation Fire, burning vast swaths at once, turning entire ranks of ghostly spirits into nothingness.
"Kill!"
The cries of battle rang out everywhere. The fighting was brutal. Before the underground palace, corpses littered the ground. The ghost soldiers and ghost horses were fierce and valiant, and many were trampled into bloody mud.
Only after an hour did the sounds of slaughter gradually fade. No one knew how many had died. Before the city gate, everything was stained crimson. Flesh and blood mixed with the soil, forming a muddy quagmire. Pools of blood glistened red, a scene too miserable to behold.
The city gate finally fell silent. The ghost soldiers and ghost horses had sharply diminished, almost invisible, no longer surging outward. The vast majority of surviving cultivators had already charged inside.
"Everyone, should we still go in?" A cultivator asked, his face pale, his body trembling slightly.
Before the city gate stood over a hundred people, their expressions grim. Some female cultivators were vomiting. Their strength was insufficient, and they had been watching from afar until now, only approaching at this moment.
"The ghost soldiers are few now. It should be safe enough for us to enter," another cultivator with a pale face spoke up.
"This ancient tomb is too terrifying. It's not a place we can freely enter and exit. There are likely even stronger ghostly spirits deeper in the underground palace," someone objected.
In the end, a minority chose to enter, while most were more rational, fleeing the great canyon and returning to the surface.
Three figures descended from the sky, arriving before the underground palace to peer inside.
"Daoist Duan, are you going in?" Ji Ziyue asked.
"Wait a little longer." Duan De was very steady, showing no urgency at all.
Ye Fan laughed. "Aren't you afraid someone else will get the Nine Secrets?"
"Aren't you in no hurry either? Good things can't be rushed. Going in first doesn't guarantee they'll get them." Duan De was very calm.
"Weng"
Suddenly, the underground palace shook violently. The yin energy inside grew even heavier. Many cultivators cried out in alarm, and then the sounds of battle rose again.
Duan De's face changed. "I knew it wouldn't be that simple. The truly dangerous things are just now making their entrance."
Low roars, fierce fighting—deep within the underground palace, chaos reigned, and screams came in waves.
"Are you sure this is really the tomb of that ancient aristocratic clan? I feel like something's off," Ye Fan asked.
"It's very off. There are too many ghostly spirits. These things require an extremely long time to be born," Duan De frowned.
Another half hour passed before the depths of the underground palace finally quieted down. The roars faded, and soon, people stumbled out.
These people had disheveled hair and pale faces, bearing severe injuries. Many had terrifying claw marks on their bodies, and some had even lost their arms.
"What's it like inside? What did you encounter?" Duan De put on a simple, honest look, approaching with concern.
"Damn it, don't even mention it. Inside is a den of ghosts. Ghosts everywhere. The deeper you go, the stronger the things you run into."
"Who knows which bastard discovered this tomb and dug up Yellow Spring water? Bullshit Nine Secrets! It cost me an arm!" A big man cursed repeatedly as he staggered away.
Duan De rubbed his nose and said nothing more.
In just half an hour, many people rushed out of the underground palace, all of them having lost their nerve and unwilling to take further risks.
"Alright, it's our turn to go in. If we wait any longer, there won't be anything left," Duan De decided to move.
Ye Fan said, "This poor Daoist doesn't want to go in. This place is ominous. There probably won't be any Nine Secrets."
Ji Ziyue also stopped. If even her brother couldn't handle what was inside, there was no point in her going in now. She felt it would be better to have an elder step in.
"If that's the case, this poor Daoist will go claim the Nine Secrets alone." Duan De flickered and vanished through the city gate.
"Little Daoist, you'd better get far away from here," Ji Ziyue said after thinking for a moment, then flew out of the great canyon and off into the distance.
This place was too dangerous. Even trying to fish in troubled waters would likely yield nothing. The ghostly spirits were endless. Ye Fan didn't act rashly and continued to wait outside.
Suddenly, the figure of a large dog caught his eye. Black Emperor, like a lone wolf, came bounding down the steep terrain from the great canyon.
Ye Fan had not only changed his appearance but also altered fundamental things like his scent. Even a dog spirit like this couldn't recognize him by smell.
"Black Emperor... over here!"
The big black dog was startled at the call and bared its teeth as it looked over.
"It's me. Don't make a sound. Use divine thought to communicate." Ye Fan hadn't expected it to come here. His previously settled mind grew restless again. This creature could even break through the restrictions of a Great Power. Going into the underground palace with it might increase his chances of success.
The big black dog scowled. "I was just looking for you. I went with you to the Undying Hall to rescue someone, and got nothing for it. All that effort for nothing."
"Has your conscience been eaten by a dog?!"
"Damn it..." The big black dog was so angry it almost pounced.
Ye Fan transmitted his voice. "Don't get mad at me. That old demon was clearly sealed into your divine bell. How could you not get the ancient scripture?"
"That scourge has temporarily merged with my divine bell. I can't refine it, so I can't get the scripture at all." The big black dog was very frustrated.
Ye Fan laughed. "That's simple. When Pang Bo gets out later, I'll have him take you in as his guardian divine beast and teach you a peerless ancient scripture."
The big black dog looked hostile. "Kid, do you believe I'll shout 'Primordial Mother Qi Root is here' and have a crowd rush over to tear you apart?"
"Come on, we're two grasshoppers tied to the same rope. Let's not argue. Let's go into the underground palace together and see what we can fish out."
"You want me to help you break the restrictions, don't you?" The big black dog looked like it had seen right through him.
Ye Fan remained calm. "This place is a ghost's nest. I'm letting you go in so you can get some benefits. There probably aren't many restrictions to break."
"If you want me to help, just say so. Don't act like I should be grateful to you." The big black dog bared its teeth.
"I want to ask you, can you carve dao patterns that can traverse the void?" Ye Fan looked at it seriously.
The big black dog said arrogantly, "Who am I? Under heaven and earth, there's no one else like me. There's no dao pattern I can't carve. As long as you provide the source, I can send you all the way to Central Province."
"Really? Or are you lying?" Ye Fan was intrigued.
"Of course it's true."
Ye Fan's eyes lit up. "Then let's not waste words. Carve them now. I don't need to traverse millions of miles—just a thousand miles through the void will do. We'll use it as an escape route later."
"Carving something like that requires special materials. Do you have a Dark Jade Platform?" The big black dog rolled its eyes.
"I've collected some." Ye Fan tossed out a piece several meters long, pitch-black and translucent, glimmering with a faint luster.
He had another reason for not entering the underground palace. The Holy Lands were determined to get the Nine Secrets. Their Supreme Elders had surely come and were likely waiting outside, sealing off the area.
Now that Black Emperor was here, if it could carve dao patterns for traversing the void, it would help eliminate that hidden worry.
A quarter of an hour later, Ye Fan and the big black dog entered the underground palace. Of course, they didn't walk together—one in front, one behind—and the big black dog had transformed into a two-foot-long mongrel to avoid being recognized.
This underground world was vast and expansive. The deep, sprawling underground palace stretched on endlessly, connected in a chain. It didn't seem like a tomb but rather a massive underground castle complex.
Along the way, they saw many corpses and occasionally one or two ghost soldiers charging out. But this couldn't stop Ye Fan, since it wasn't a charge of thousands of troops.
"Once we're inside, keep an eye out for a fat Daoist. No, he's changed his appearance. He looks like this..." Ye Fan transmitted the image to the big black dog.
"You mean you want me to bite him at a critical moment and snatch the treasure?" The big black dog looked at him sideways. "You'd have me do such a shabby thing?"
"Actually, if I could, I'd bite him myself, but my teeth aren't sharp enough to compare with yours. That bastard can definitely find treasures. Just keep an eye on him, and you're guaranteed to come back loaded."
This ancient tomb was magnificent, like an underground palace complex. Stone pillars coiled with dragons, tomb walls carved with phoenixes—it was very elaborate. The underground halls were connected one after another.
"Meow..." Suddenly, a piercing cat cry rang out. A black light shot out from a stone hall, lunging at Ye Fan, fast as a black lightning bolt.
It was a massive creature, five or six meters long, with sharp claws over a foot in length. It looked like a big black cat, but its body was covered in scales, strong and powerful, with teeth like daggers that gleamed coldly.
Ye Fan threw a punch, shattering the big black cat. Besides turning into a thick cloud of yin energy, it left behind a pool of filthy blood.
Black Emperor's expression grew serious. "A yin body that has produced blood. This place is truly fierce. It's probably been sealed for ten or twenty thousand years."
After advancing several miles deeper into the underground palace, Ye Fan grew more and more alarmed. He saw a giant ghost soldier over ten meters tall that had grown flesh and blood, but someone had cut off half its body, leaving wounds that looked like they were made by a Great Desolate Halberd.
Soon after, he saw dozens of ghost soldiers with scales growing on their bodies, surrounded by many broken Dao Palace-level weapons.
They looked as if they had been scorched, missing half their bodies. This closely resembled the Holy Light Art of the Holy Son Yao Guang.
"Rumble, rumble, rumble"
Yellow water surged in torrents. A great river cut through the underground palace, flowing away. The yellow was enough to make one's heart tremble, and a foul, rotting smell filled the air.
Moving forward a little further, Ye Fan saw many ghost soldiers in golden robes, shining brightly with ruddy faces, as if they had come to life. But they had already been slain.
Then, they saw several huge piles of bones, with large snakes slithering in and out, fierce and menacing. After that, they came across a lake of blood, where creatures were also moving about, though they seemed scared off by those ahead and didn't attack.
After traveling a total of over ten miles, they finally reached the end of the underground palace. The scene had completely changed.
The yin energy was swept away. Ahead, everything was bright and shining, dazzlingly luminous.
It was a stretch of jade towers and jeweled pavilions, sitting at the end of the underground palace, extremely sacred. Streams of auspicious light bloomed, and rays of multicolored radiance shot out in all directions.
Surrounding it was lush greenery, with many rare flowers and exotic plants growing in this underground world.
"How strange. I thought it was a ghost's nest, but it turns out to be a palace radiating holy light." Ye Fan was somewhat surprised.
These buildings were golden-yellow, yet nearly crystal clear and transparent, like gold or spiritual jade, incredibly magnificent.
Seeing this scene, the big black dog was startled. "Damn it, am I seeing things? Such holy power... Could it be that someone is trying to attain the Dao as a corpse?!"
"Ji Haoyue, Golden Wing Little Peng King, the Divine King of the Jiang Family, and the people from the Holy Lands have all gone in. I wonder what they'll find." Ye Fan's eyes shone with divine light.