Chapter 346: Land of Light-Rejection

Many years ago, a sudden catastrophe forced living beings to hide in the underground, which rejected the light. In that boundless gloom, they struggled to continue their existence, walking a difficult path to keep the spark of their race alive.

This is the Land of Light-Rejection.

Du En felt a blur before his eyes, and he had already stepped into it.

In an inconspicuous, dim corner, where the distance was visible, there was a flickering, dull firelight; in the darkness, there seemed to be a viscous, sliding sound.

He was clearly located here, yet he remained undetected, because in reality, he was still isolated from the outside.

Clearly, there was still a little time to understand the current situation.

Thus, Du En read the information in the jade slip and generally grasped the situation here.

Among it, the final part emphasized how to return.

The situation this time was relatively urgent, and there might be some unpredictable developments; although Meng Changqing had observed and assessed it from the outside and deemed it unlikely to exceed the limits too much, it was hard to guarantee that unexpected situations would not arise.

Therefore, if Du En found himself unable to cope, if the situation became dire, or if the operation had already succeeded in stopping or destroying the relevant matters here, he could crush the jade slip, at which point Meng Changqing would guide him back.

If this path were blocked, there was a backup route: to hide within Kongsang Mountain, then use the Space-Seeking Jade Cicada to fix his position, and slowly push himself through the gaps in the inner-layer space to slip back.

Therefore, during this operation, Meng Changqing reminded Du En that Kongsang Mountain could not be used casually, lest it be detected that there was some causal connection or communication with the surface space of the Light-Rejection Planet.

That was why Meng Changqing had very appropriately given him a fifth-rank shrinking bag, which could store various fifth-rank items.

After quickly refining it, one could see it contained necessary supplies for the operation, mainly fifth-rank precious pills for recovery, as well as some material spiritual objects; most crucially, there were four hundred fifth-rank spirit beasts, quietly slumbering and sealed within using a special technique.

Meng Changqing clearly had not forgotten the special requirements of Du En's divine ability, stuffing all the spirit beasts he had managed to scrape together into it, revealing a rather solemn and tense emotion.

This operation would not be simple or easy! Moreover, it carried a hidden meaning: in this territory, if one could avoid using divine abilities, then do not use them; even if one killed someone at the Nascent Soul stage, it was best not to summon a dead zone to bury them, lest it be detected and monitored by others.

As for the conditions required to upgrade his divine ability, he would gradually resolve them later, so there was no need to worry about that.

Thus, Du En followed the advice, not casually transferring the spirit beasts to the more secure Kongsang Mountain, but instead placing their seal away and putting the shrinking bag in its original position as a form of disguise.

Finally, he delved slightly deeper into the Wicked Dragon Robe.

Because the nature of that wicked dragon was special, akin to a grievance-monster, and possessed immortality, it was actually not dead; it was just that now, Meng Changqing was using exceptionally brilliant methods to suppress and control it layer by layer, allowing some of its inherent characteristics to be utilized.

If an accident occurred and this wicked dragon suddenly revived, he could detonate the restriction, leaving it with only one breath left again.

Because that was a seventh-rank restriction! And it clearly referenced Du En's own methods regarding self-detonation device restrictions, making it convenient for him to initiate the detonation; it was entirely a simple matter of pressing a button, and it would cause no depletion or injury to himself.

"To think that the imprint and the device restriction could be separated like this, and made into such a situation; I can fully reference this later to make the backlash of self-detonation approach zero."

You copy me, I copy you.

Du En never minded or cared about this.

Since he had basically finished reviewing his situation and ensured there were no major errors, it was time to take actual action.

He began to walk, and in an instant, it was as if he had poked through a layer of foam, officially entering the Light-Rejection Star realm, or to be more specific, its underground.

He did not let his divine sense spread casually; his keen perception could capture the malice drifting in the air, and the spiritual Qi permeating the surroundings faintly emitted a foul stench, like the smell of rotting corpses, clearly having been polluted.

Du En pulled up his hood to cover half his face and walked calmly toward the flickering candlelight, like a funeral attendant, invisibly blending into the state of this star realm.

First, he had to find someone; they should be in this vicinity.

Zheng Xing.

The person Meng Changqing had sent earlier to investigate and monitor the situation, a peak Nascent Soul cultivator and a top-tier elite; originally, everything was considered normal, and although the environment here was harsh, there was no danger to his life, until today, when he suddenly encountered an accident.

As the firelight drew nearer, the smell of blood rushed toward him, making one want to retch.

In the flickering of the flames that symbolized light and dispelled darkness, human corpses lay about, turning cold, the breath of life long since lost.

Step—Du En stepped onto the blood covering the ground, feeling only stickiness. Lowering his eyes to look, he discovered that this scarlet, still-warm blood seemed to faintly shimmer with a greasy yellow hue, but looking closely, it seemed like an illusion, a mistake made under the reflection of the firelight.

Turning his gaze again, he approached the corpses and crouched down to rummage through them, only to see nothing but skin and bones; one couldn't squeeze an ounce of oil out of them!

Quite strangely, they clearly possessed cultivation; from the basic information provided by Meng Changqing, he knew that the human race hiding and lingering in the underground here was actually like this, born with cultivation...

"Not true cultivators, or rather, not conventional cultivators, but they have Foundation Establishment cultivation upon reaching adulthood. The specific reason for this is hard to say for now."

Du En did not find any useful clues and stood up to look around, still stingy with his divine sense, afraid of accidentally triggering something.

Slither—

From the darkness, that viscous, sliding sound appeared again, appearing faint and indistinct.

He felt no fear, only surveying the place barely covered by the firelight.

Less than three zhang above was the crudely excavated ceiling, and tents were scattered in all directions; they were very dilapidated and not large, capable of accommodating at most three people.

The torches were somewhat chaotic, mostly fallen and extinguished by blood; a few fires were still struggling, serving as the main source of light. Judging from the scattered daily utensils and fragments of beast meat on the edges, the people here must have intended to cook something before they were harmed.

"Do the Foundation Establishment cultivators here not practice fasting? Moreover, the state of this camp really doesn't look like a place where cultivators gather; there are traces of ordinary people's lives everywhere..."

The dead would not answer questions, so he still needed to find a living person first.

Du En took a step, having long heard that wheezing sound in his ears. Soon, he found an inconspicuous tent in this camp, slashed open by blades; outside lay a man and a woman, who had been dead for a long time, their bodies nearly hacked to pieces.

The wheezing came from inside the tent. At a glance, he could see someone weakly leaning against a strange piece of wood used as a support, with many things scattered at their feet, impossible to identify what they originally were.

"Who... are you?"

"Are you Zheng Xing?"

"Yes, it's me. Are you... the person sent by the Resolution?"

"Yes."

Du En walked in front of Zheng Xing. This was a person who looked very young, not particularly handsome, but revealing a stubbornness; he had originally been full of hot blood, but now he was almost cold. "Don't move, I will treat you."

"No, no, don't waste your effort. Quickly, quickly go, chase them back!"

Clearly on the verge of death, Zheng Xing was not very clear-headed. Through his chest and abdomen, which had been directly slashed or bitten open by something, one could see his internal organs were incomplete; the Crimson Palace, his middle dantian, was missing, and the Sea of Qi, his lower dantian, was shattered, with only scattered fragments of his Nascent Soul remaining inside.

Unless he was taken back to the sect now, there was certainly no saving him.

Even if he could be taken back, it was likely very difficult to save him.

It was not just because the Nascent Soul, which had merged with his soul, was reduced to mere corners and his true spirit had nearly dissipated; there was also a layer of greasy, butter-like ointment inexplicably seeping out from his wounds, appearing exceptionally strange and naturally exuding a faint evil nature! All Du En could do now was use his magic power to forcibly and temporarily suppress it. Because Zheng Xing could not withstand a fifth-rank pill at this moment, he could only take stock from his own fourth-rank shrinking bag—the inventory he had obtained from Lou Shu yue—which were a few recovery pills, crush them, and sprinkle them onto his wounds.

He clearly became clear-headed because of this, revealing a look of shame.

"Unable to cope, yet acting recklessly, falling into such a state, failing the Resolution's cultivation. But, but, seeing the newborns who had finally been born in this camp being taken away, I really couldn't help it, I couldn't help it..."

"What exactly happened?"

"Sacrifice! Over at the central camp, they are suddenly going to perform a sacrifice. That evil thing, it needs innocent infants. Stop it, I beg you, I beg you, go stop it, stop it..."

The words were spoken in a hurried and impatient tone, yet the malice drifting in the air suddenly converged; the evil nature that Du En had forcibly suppressed with his cultivation suddenly surged, becoming impossible to suppress any longer, and it gushed out directly.

Dense yellow grease suddenly seeped out from Zheng Xing's body, covering him in the blink of an eye until he became an incredibly bloated fatty corpse, causing him to die completely.

Unable to stop it, Du En felt a faint golden glow of fire emerge in his eyes, which then flashed and vanished.

Fiery Eyes of Truth.

Then, he finally saw what that wet, slippery malice was.

Eyes!

Like rotting eyes, swimming in the darkness, flashing and vanishing, quietly peeping and paying attention to everything under the light outside, revealing a truly sinister gaze.

Fortunately, Du En had the Evil Dragon Robe, which prevented him from being discovered, so he could continue to act quietly without fear of being swarmed by the enemies here right from the start.

Even a Nascent Soul perfection stage cultivator died so miserably; I fear the danger is even greater than expected!

"Next, let's go take a look at that central camp."

Just as Du En was thinking this, he suddenly discovered new movement.

He immediately pondered for a moment, stepped back empty-handed, quietly vanished into the shadows, and conducted a cautious observation of the outside.

After a while, fifty people appeared in this slaughtered camp.

Clatter, clatter~

The strange, massive armor constantly emitted this friction sound at the edges of its various parts as the wearers walked, and occasionally dripped scarlet blood that was about to congeal and appeared exceptionally viscous.

Because the armor as a whole was like a tin can, thick and tightly covering the person, it was impossible to see their specific appearance; one could only feel a sense of oppression that kept living beings at a distance and seemed ready to devour anyone.

"Soldiers? According to the existing intelligence, they should be subordinates of that Light-Rejecting Sect..."

Light-Rejecting Sect.

As the name implies, this is a religious sect.

Judging from the intelligence sent back by Zheng Xing, it is precisely the one that dominates the central camp, spreading its influence in all directions, and is currently the ruler of the underground of this Light-Rejecting Star Realm.

"The strength of the soldiers is at the Golden Core stage, but, as expected, something is not quite right; the aura fluctuations appear abnormal. However, why did they turn back?"

Looking at this situation, it is easy to determine that they are the personnel who massacred this camp, but their sudden return inevitably made Du En vigilant, as he felt he might have been exposed just now.

But he remained calm, did not act rashly, and continued to observe from the shadows.

Then he saw these fifty Light-Rejecting Sect soldiers scan their surroundings, and after confirming there was no abnormality, they began to disperse, swinging the door-sized swords in their hands to sweep away all the tents and corpses that were blocking the path.

A spacious road leading from outside the camp to where Zheng Xing died soon appeared.

Stab! After finishing the road-clearing work, the soldiers inserted their swords into the ground and stood silently on both sides of the road like statues.

Then, two people who were dressed significantly differently, not overly tall but with very long top-crowns, making them look quite tall, strolled over from a distance.

"Welcome, Sacrificial Priests."

The soldiers shouted in unison, their voices sounding lifeless, like a programmed mechanical alarm clock, without any emotional color mixed in.

Du En still used his divine sense very cautiously, observing only with his naked eyes at this moment.

The two high-crowned Sacrificial Priests walked into the camp, where the firelight had dimmed significantly due to the recent road clearing.

Their ornate robes were like blood, embroidered with gold thread, and they were also bulging; their faces looked like opera masks, worn on those high, twisted, tree-like conjoined top-crowns, while their foreheads were smeared with a paste-like stain symbolizing the Light-Rejecting Sect, greasy and as if it were really smeared on with lard.

They looked very strange, but their cultivation was genuinely at the Nascent Soul stage; it was just so bizarre that it was difficult to define their specific minor realm, which inevitably made one feel suspicious.

Du En suspected that they were the culprits who killed Zheng Xing.

And these two Sacrificial Priests, unlike those soldiers, seemed to have plenty of personal emotions; they walked quite casually, their paces were inconsistent, and they chatted away casually.

Such words were, naturally, not a language Du En had known before.

But not to mention that the jade slip already contained information in this regard, even if it didn't, with the cultivation of a Great Cultivator, he could directly translate it into a language he understood, unless some extra means were mixed into the conversation.

These two Sacrificial Priests of the Light-Rejecting Sect clearly did not have such means to affect Du En, and they didn't even notice Du En's existence, showing no vigilance at all.

So, as soon as they opened their mouths, Du En was able to understand and know what they were saying immediately.

(End of this chapter)