Chapter 27

Basin, great river.

In the river water, electric currents flickered rapidly; an electric eel nearly thirty meters long frenziedly released currents, and in the shallows by the bank a giant hippopotamus let out a piercing wail, convulsing as it collapsed into the river water.

Two black spindle-shaped objects were blocked by the skeleton of a dead giant beast, slanting to a stop on the riverbank.

In a distant rock crevice, a waterfall rushed down; amidst the thick water mist, something seemed to have shot out.

After about a quarter of an hour, in the river stretch where Stone Lingqing, Luo Lin, and others had landed that day, a pitch-black fish with a single horn on its head surged forth.

The great fish was shrouded in black smoke all over; its large fish eyes stared blankly, exuding a strong aura of death, and its movements were unusually stiff. It suddenly opened its mouth, and several human figures shot out from its mouth; one of them backhanded a grab, and the fish, several dozen meters long, instantly shrank, turning into a wisp of black light that vanished into his palm.

Clad in black tight-fitting leather armor, with a fully enclosed hood on their heads, a straight sword on their backs, and leather pouches at their waists, these people's attire was identical to that of Luo Lin and the others.

Compared to Luo Lin and the others, however, the seven people who burst from the great fish's mouth had an aura several times stronger; upon their appearance, an inexplicable yin-cold killing intent enveloped the surroundings, causing even the electric eel, which was outputting current at full power, to instinctively retract its aura and swiftly sink into the deep riverbed to evade.

The point where they emerged from the fish's mouth was over twenty li from the riverbank; they merely tapped lightly on the water surface and directly leapt into the air, crossing that stretch of river with ease and landing on the bank.

One of them flickered, leaving a few faint afterimages as he lunged to a fern thicket dozens of meters away; after a brief search, he snapped off a thin twig and returned.

Along with it came a palm-sized iron plate, upon which extremely fine blood-red lines traced a bloody straight sword. The iron plate occasionally trembled slightly, continually spreading faint ripples outward.

"The Nine Palm Order… is a secret letter left by Ding." Holding up the branch etched with dozens of strange patterns, this person presented it to a stalwart man in the center whose aura was slightly stronger than the others.

Nine Palm Order took the branch, narrowed his eyes to examine the patterns, shook his head and laughed: "A bunch of brats who think their wings have hardened… What does this mean? Ignoring the rules of the Mist Blade? Acting on their own and overstaying… Hmph!"

Nine Palm Order said softly: "Acting on their own is bad enough, but they did a sloppy, messy job and even let a little girl escape… If this gets out, how will the other Mist Blade division chiefs view me?"

"Am I just a figurehead as a chief?" Wisps of black qi rose from Nine Palm Order's fingertips, quickly winding around the delicate branch.

The branch withered and shriveled, turning into specks of black ash that drifted down with each breath.

The group turned into afterimages without a word, then merged into the wind.

After a while, about two quarters of an hour later, a black shadow flickered in the waterfall rushing down the rock crevice; soon after, blood-colored smoke drifted upward on this stretch of the river.

The river churned, and a pitch-black wooden boat some twenty meters long emerged, with a mast ten or so meters high planted in its center; on its black sail, written in luminous blood-red paint, were the two bloody characters: "Changsheng"!

An old woman wearing a blood-red robe, with a childlike face, crane-white hair, and a ruddy glow, her skin smooth and tender like a child's, stood ramrod straight at the prow; she narrowed her eyes, scanned the surroundings, and broke into a delighted smile.

"Lingqing, this girl found a good spot. This secret realm is enough to build a hidden branch hall—good, good, good." The old woman suddenly gave a strange laugh: "I want to see just what kind of heroes dare to slaughter my Changsheng Sect's branch hall."

Behind the old woman stood a dozen or so young men and women.

Whether male or female, they all wore black robes with crimson sashes around their waists; the men were handsome and suave, the women youthful and beautiful, each brimming with vigor far beyond that of ordinary people.

These youths gave the impression of over-fertilized bean sprouts, their vitality so full it seemed ready to burst from within.

Upon hearing the old woman's words, these youths chuckled softly in unison.

The old woman chuckled, stamped her foot, and the black wooden boat lifted off the water, riding a gust of wind to the shore. After circling the nearby area for a moment, she pointed a finger; a clod of earth split open, and a small bead that continually flickered with a faint blood-light rose into the air and landed in her hand.

The old woman swallowed the bead in one gulp; a surge of abnormal blood qi roiled across her face, and she suddenly let out a few strange laughs.

"Yo, it's that bunch of backstabbing assassins… Lingqing merely killed a little girl destined to die young—why all this fuss?" The old woman smiled benevolently: "Poor thing, Lingqing is… diligently serving my Changsheng Sect, only to have her clan exterminated; this is nothing but a provocation against my Changsheng Sect."

The blood-red sail of the wooden boat fluttered on its own, with a loud "whoosh," the boat surged forward in a gale, speeding toward the distant sunken pit.

At this speed, the wooden boat is considerably faster than the group of chiefs.

Crystal clusters rose and fell in all directions, emitting a strange aura that made Wu Tie feel uneasy—like being thrown into water or having a fish dragged onto land.

These crystal clusters dominate this vast cavern; under their influence, the cavern's environment seems unsuitable for human habitation.

At the cavern entrance it's fine, but upon approaching Bull Hero, the temperature becomes extremely high, the humidity extremely great, and Wu Tie feels his body weigh down more than tenfold, the air pressing on him with immense pressure.

High temperature, high pressure, high gravity, and apparently also lacking oxygen.

Wu Tie stared blankly around, unable to fathom how, over just a few dozen li, the environment could have become like this.

Old Tie stood at Bull Hero's feet, he stared blankly up at Bull Hero for a while, mumbled a few incoherent words, then walked around Bull Hero's massive frame toward the ruins behind him.

"Do you know the origin of the title 'Pantian Great Sage'?" Old Tie asked Wu Tie as they walked.

Wu Tie looked at Old Tie blankly and shook his head.

"So, you should read more. Pantian Great Sage Bull Demon King… that's a figure from myth and legend." Old Tie continued walking: "This Bull Hero fellow probably hasn't even a tenth of the Bull Demon King's power, yet he gave himself that nickname."

Wu Tie shuddered, instinctively glancing back at Bull Hero's towering, kilometric frame.

Thus, does he really lack even a tenth of the Bull Demon King's ability? Just how mighty would the Bull Demon King himself be?

"Hey, who is the Bull Demon King?" Wu Tie asked Old Tie seriously.

"When Grandpa I have free time and am in a good mood, I'll tell you." Old Tie dangled the question before Wu Tie, then irresponsibly tossed it aside: "But it's a rather interesting story, involving a monkey."

Wu Tie gritted his teeth in hatred, "A monkey? What's a monkey? I've never seen a monkey… How does this story involve a monkey again?"

He and Old Tie entered the ruined remains of the buildings—broken walls, collapsed structures, utterly dilapidated—but from the lingering architectural details, Wu Tie could imagine how splendid and magnificent this complex once was.

Strangely, this cavern spanning a hundred li in radius is ruled by countless crystal clusters of all sizes; only this patch of building ruins is clean, with no trace of crystal clusters.

The ground is even more immaculate, with square after square of green tiles laid out neatly.

Following the road paved with green bricks, after a stretch a great pond a hundred meters in radius appeared ahead.

In the pond there was actually a pool of clear water, plus several clumps of large leaves that moved on their own, and several long flower stalks bearing white blossoms the size of washbasins; a faint fragrance wafted forth, a scent Wu Tie had never smelled before.

Whether the mushrooms Wu Tie had known since childhood or the luminous vines, they possessed no fragrance.

This fresh fragrance penetrated his heart and lungs, leaving Wu Tie utterly stiff in place.

An unprecedented sense of beauty welled up inexplicably; he stared blankly at the flowers and leaves—this was not the beauty that ought to exist in this lightless, sunless world.

"What are you staring at? Just a few worthless lotuses." Old Tie's dry words instantly shattered Wu Tie's reverie: "Such commonplace junk… not some rare variety—what's there to stare at?"

Wu Tie opened his mouth, glaring at Old Tie in annoyance.

He seemed to suddenly grasp some of Grey Master's anger from back then.

Going around the pond, traversing a short stretch of green-brick road, climbing a few steps, one arrives at the largely intact main hall.

Red walls, red pillars, golden-yellow tiles glimmering with a faint light; the whole hall is encircled by a layer of pale white light. Though not large, the hall exudes an ancient, sturdy aura that brings peace of mind.

In his ears, it seemed someone was softly chanting something.

In the distance, a bell seemed to ring.

Solemn and dignified, matching the surrounding ruined architectural debris, Wu Tie's inexplicable sorrow welled up, two streams of tears inexplicably flowed out.

Old Iron let out a light snort, lifted his forepaw, and slapped the shut hall door with a paw.

A soft sound rang out, the hall doors opened, and the white light shrouding the great hall shattered like soap bubbles, bursting into countless white light points that scattered and drifted.

A strong incense aroma rose from the opened doors; the hall was brightly lit, and on several lustrous gold-and-colorful large lamp stands, hundreds of thick-armed ever-burning lamps swayed, lighting the whole hall as bright as daytime.

Behind the offering table facing the hall doors, three dim clusters of light silently exploded the instant the doors opened; countless gold powder scattered down, and these extremely fine gold particles, upon hitting the ground, emitted an exceptionally clear 'ding-ding' sound.

Before the offering table, eighteen futons were laid on the hall floor.

On each futon, facing the hall doors, sat a person in cross-legged posture.

As the three clusters of light behind the offering table shattered, eighteen silhouettes also burst open, specks of blood-colored light rose, then gently fell to the ground, likewise emitting a faint 'ding-ding' sound.

The blood and flesh of these silhouettes exploded, leaving eighteen golden skeletons on the futons. They remained seated cross-legged, their bones bearing a faint pattern resembling the lotus flowers in the pond outside.

The golden bones were smooth and bare of any flesh, yet they looked not fearsome but instead exuded a sense of peace that washed over one.

After countless gold and blood-colored light points landed, a 'crack-crack' sounded, and the eighteen golden skeletons simultaneously split along uneven lines. Every skeleton, every bone showed cracks; some skeletons were densely cracked, shattering entirely into fragments smaller than a grain of soy.

Even though the bones were shattered thus, a supple force still wrapped around the skeletons, keeping them largely intact.

Wu Tie stared in shock at the sight within the hall.

At the instant those three dim clusters of light burst, Wu Tie saw that they were three statues several meters tall. The oddly shaped statues had solemn, gentle faces, emanating an inexplicable warmth and benevolence.

And those eighteen silhouettes, before their flesh and blood exploded away, Wu Tie likewise made out their faces.

Their expressions were almost identical to those three statues—solemn, gentle, radiating deep warmth and benevolence.

"Old Iron, who are they? And what about that… big guy inside those three clusters of light?" Wu Tie patted Old Iron's hind leg.

"A bunch who constantly proclaim neutrality… yet can't help meddling." Old Iron's tone was complex: "Among them, we have allies, but also a portion that holds a poor attitude toward us."

"Besides, these matters are too far removed for you… little guy, a rookie isn't qualified to know too much." Old Iron gave a cold snort, his eyes suddenly shooting two beams of Blood Light that enveloped an object at the center of the eighteen cross-legged golden skeletons.

It was a lotus flower over a meter in diameter, entirely golden.

The golden lotus was also riddled with cracks; extremely faint golden light continually seeped from its petals, barely forming a pale light curtain over the flower.

At the center of the light curtain floated a thumb-sized speck of ashen bone.

The bone fragment's edges were uneven and extremely rough, looking like a small piece violently chipped off some bone.

Old Iron's body shuddered violently, his huge eyeballs protruding more than three inches from his deep sockets: "This… Yang Jian, Niu Yingxiong, or even that Howling Celestial Dog—what are they doing here, just for this?"

"This… this…" Old Iron jerked his head up, gazing at the spot where the three shattered statue lights had been.

"Heh, heh, heh…" Old Iron chuckled ambiguously, then suddenly rose onto his hind legs, grabbed Wu Tie with both forepaws, and slammed him hard toward the golden lotus.

His tight armor fell away like water; Wu Tie smashed headfirst through the pale golden light curtain, his forehead striking the floating gray bone fragment, which sliced his forehead skin and clung tightly to the wound.

His blood surged throughout his body, rushing rapidly toward the wound.

The bone fragment, like a vampire, frenziedly drained Wu Tie's blood; his body convulsed violently, he crashed hard to the ground with a painful howl.

In the snap of a finger, half of his blood was sucked away; Wu Tie's vision darkened, and he nearly fainted.

The bone fragment, seeming sated with blood, drifted upward, emitting a faint Blood Light around it as it circled the hall once, then slowly flew out.

Old Iron's eyeballs protruded another half-foot: "Just going to leave after eating your fill? Bastard… do you even have any shame?"

Heavy footsteps sounded from outside the hall, and a low voice said: "Ancient treasure? This treasure shall belong to my Mist Blade."