Chapter 192: Minghuang

After feeding the woman the pill, Xu Chen leaned against the rock wall to the side, eyes slightly closed, observing and waiting carefully.

After a full half-hour, Xu Chen suddenly opened his eyes, only to see the woman's fingers suddenly twitching lightly as if in a spasm.

It was effective!

Xu Chen sat upright at once to observe closely; sure enough, the woman's hands, feet, and body soon showed slight reactions, and at the same time, her breathing seemed to have become much stronger, and the aura on her body also had relatively intense fluctuations. After another quarter of an hour or so, the woman actually opened her mouth and spat out a few weak sounds: "Wu... xi ah..."

Xu Chen:...

Although he did not understand, he was certain that his previous actions were completely correct; the woman was highly likely to wake up. However, seeing the way she lightly opened her mouth, he thought for a moment, picked up the pottery pot, and poured another mouthful.

The woman actually cooperated very well, swallowing the blue liquid, and then looked as if she wanted to drink more, so Xu Chen fed her a few more mouthfuls in succession. Only then did the woman's emotions slowly calm down, and she twisted her body slightly before falling into silence once again.

Xu Chen's mood, on the contrary, became even more agitated.

The Soul aura radiating from the woman's body at this moment was becoming increasingly intense, and her breathing was becoming more and more steady; it seemed it would not be long before she woke up.

Sure enough, another half-quarter of an hour passed, and the woman suddenly shook her hands and feet as if having a cramp, then suddenly opened her eyes and sat up at once, staring tightly at Xu Chen, her body even moving backward involuntarily a few times, appearing confused as well as terrified and uneasy. At the same time, her hand reached forward, and a Flying Fork appeared, pointing at Xu Chen.

"Fu yong ga lie long tu..."

Xu Chen:...

He could not understand a single word the woman said, but Xu Chen shook his head lightly, pointed at the bottles and jars on the ground, and then made a drinking motion.

Only then did the woman notice the things on the ground; her expression froze suddenly, and then she seemed to go to check her Crystal Stone Space, her face full of disbelief. However, after a moment, she pointed the Flying Fork at Xu Chen and shouted again:

"Fei yi ha ku ga lie..."

Xu Chen spread his hands and made the drinking motion again, while also spreading his hands to indicate that he had no malicious intent.

After hesitating for a long time, the woman finally lowered the Flying Fork slowly, took a few pills from the pottery jar and stuffed them into her mouth, then drank a few more mouthfuls of the blue liquid. After thinking for a moment, she actually handed the pottery pot to Xu Chen: "Ku lu ku lu ga!"

Xu Chen was between laughter and tears as he waved his hand, then lightly grabbed in front of him, and a porcelain cup appeared with water in it; he took a sip to indicate that he had his own.

The woman stared tightly at the white porcelain cup in Xu Chen's hand, her face even more surprised. She put down the pottery pot and pointed at the pottery cup in Xu Chen's hand: "Qu nu!"

Xu Chen shrugged and handed the porcelain cup over. The woman took it in her hand, and when she saw the half-cup of water remaining inside, her expression became extremely agitated. She let out a cry as if she had been scalded and stood up, not even noticing that the pottery pot had tipped over onto the ground, spilling quite a lot of the blue liquid.

Xu Chen hurriedly used a swirl of Origin Qi to set the pottery pot upright, trying to release his Divine Sense onto the woman.

The woman's muscles tensed instantly like a provoked wild beast, and at the same time, a powerful Soul aura surged back. Xu Chen remained calm and composed, his Divine Sense surging out without giving an inch, while his Protective Origin Qi exploded, firmly shielding his entire body.

The two forces of Soul collided in the narrow cave. Xu Chen's body swayed slightly, but the woman could not support herself at all and staggered back several steps. Just as she was about to hit the cave wall, Xu Chen used his Origin Qi to hook her and steady her, while simultaneously withdrawing his Divine Sense like a receding tide. Only then did he reveal a gentle smile, point to his own brow, and say, "You don't need to be nervous; we can try to communicate using Divine Sense."

The woman seemed to understand. After hesitating for a moment, her intense Soul aura slowly receded. Xu Chen then tried to release a wisp of Divine Sense onto the woman again, while using Divine Sense Transmission to say: "I have no malicious intent toward you; I only wanted to help you when I encountered those Soul Beasts earlier."

The woman stood blankly, without any movement, as if she hadn't heard. Just as Xu Chen was sighing internally that Divine Sense communication wouldn't work either, a voice suddenly sounded in his mind: "What are Soul Beasts?"

Xu Chen was suddenly overjoyed, his hands and feet trembling with excitement.

Divine Sense Transmission does not actually transmit sound, but a kind of pure conscious information; this information can only be directly received by the Soul, and it is actually silent and soundless.

All of a person's daily perceptual behaviors—vision, hearing, smell, and touch—are physical perceptions, conveyed through the Seven Souls to be accepted by the Three Spirits, and then transformed into a form of conscious information. Only then can the Soul perceive all changes in the outside world, and only then can people communicate with each other.

Language is merely a type of artificially processed external information; in reality, it is very incomplete and related to the meaning of the words and phrases created.

Divine Sense, however, transcends the scope of the Seven Souls' perception and communicates directly with the Three Spirits. Moreover, it is not language or text, but a form of consciousness capable of expressing complete psychological activity.

When cultivators communicate with each other, Divine Sense can isolate external perception and even transcend the distance of sound transmission. If the Soul is strong enough, they can still communicate with each other from hundreds or thousands of miles away.

Furthermore, Divine Sense information can ignore race; even between Demon Beasts and Spirit Beasts, as long as they have sufficient intelligence, they can communicate with each other.

For example, many cultivators keep Spirit Beasts, and both sides can even communicate through Divine Sense, almost reaching the point of complete understanding.

According to the consensus of the cultivation world, as long as both parties' Souls are strong enough, they can communicate without any obstacles.

This is also the reason why cultivators from different regions can communicate with each other very quickly.

This is already a method of communication that completely transcends mortals, counting as an evolved ability.

Xu Chen had originally held the attitude of just giving it a try, never expecting it to actually succeed.

The woman not only understood the content he conveyed but could even respond normally.

Thus, Xu Chen felt completely relieved and replied via Divine Sense Transmission: "Someone told me that Soul Beasts are also called Nether Beasts. I am not from this place; I was swept here while fighting Soul Beasts in another place."

Upon hearing this, the woman also breathed a sigh of relief and transmitted: "So that's how it is. However, your ability is very strange; I have never seen a person like you. I wasn't intentional at the beginning either, because the vicinity is the nest of that kind of giant beast, and there is a very powerful leader among them. We couldn't fight them at all and could only flee."

Xu Chen nodded and said: "I already know. The reason I saved you is that I wanted you to help me find the way back. I don't know if you can help me."

The woman thought for a moment, nodded, and asked: "Where exactly do you come from?"

Xu Chen pointed at the sky.

The woman was stunned for a moment, then her expression changed drastically, and she shook her head vigorously: "Impossible. No one can come down from above. Even the strongest people cannot cross the Underworld River to come down."

Xu Chen was stunned: "What is the Underworld River?"

The woman said in surprise: "Could it be that you don't know what place this is?"

Xu Chen shook his head.

The woman looked at Xu Chen with a strange expression, and after a long silence, she said: "This is the boundary between the Underworld and the Mortal World, also called Minghuang. Legend has it that there is an Underworld River above, boundless and vast, and the Void is difficult to cross. Our ancestors are said to have come from the Mortal World, but we don't know what is above. If you really came down from above, if you want to go back, perhaps you can find the answer by going to our Ancestral Temple, but I cannot help you."

Minghuang!

While shocked, Xu Chen felt internally chaotic.

From the time he first met Wuyazi and was told that the rift in Black Wind Ridge led directly to the Underworld, he had vaguely had an idea: would one reach the legendary Underworld by passing through the rift?

In the Mortal World, legends of the Underworld have circulated for thousands of years, described as the place where people go after death, filled everywhere with evil ghosts and spirits, and impossible for mortals to enter.

But in the Immortal World, although there is the same saying, it is much more realistic. After all, the scope of activity and the abilities of cultivators are greater, and they can learn more about the true face of this world.

In reality, this world is extremely complex. The earth has ten directions, and the heavens have nine layers. Not only do humans and Demon Beasts live there, but there are also various gods, demons, ghosts, and monsters, which also occupy vast areas to multiply and thrive. Among them, there are also many existences as powerful as True Immortals, but low-level cultivators only listen to these as stories. Only those True Immortals can roam the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths and know the true reality of this world.

These True Immortals also cultivated step by step from mortals, so these legends have been passed down from generation to generation, leading to countless reveries for later generations.

And the Underworld is a strange world opposite to the Mortal World, which no one has ever set foot in. It is said that even Spirit Realm Great Cultivators dare not step into it, and they don't even know where the entrance is.

But he never expected that after a fierce battle with a Soul Beast by chance, he would actually be brought to this place.

The only good news is that this woman still knows a little bit of information about the Mortal World and the Underworld, and even their ancestors came from the Mortal World.

Then that means there is still a path that connects them, and it is not completely isolated.

In addition, Nether Qi also leaks out from the Underworld. Right now, finding the rift under Black Wind Ridge is almost out of the question, but Xu Chen feels that since Black Wind leaks everywhere in Great Song and the surrounding countries, there must be many rift passages of various sizes. As long as he finds one, perhaps he can escape alive.

Thinking of this, Xu Chen said, "Then can I go to your Ancestral Temple to take a look?"

The woman was silent for a moment again and said, "You saved me, so I can take you back to the tribe, but whether you can go to the Ancestral Temple is not for me to decide; it requires the consent of the tribe's Clan Leader and Elder."

Xu Chen was overjoyed and said, "Then I will trouble you to take me back to your tribe to visit the Clan Leader and Elder; if I can find the way back, I will definitely reward you heavily."

The woman looked at him with a strange expression on her face and nodded, saying, "Fine, but I warn you, the people in the tribe are not easy to talk to, so you had better be careful. As for the reward, I think this thing is not bad; perhaps they will like it."

Xu Chen looked at the porcelain cup in the woman's hand, thought for a moment, and said, "This is just a cup for drinking water; if you like it, I will give it to you, and I can also give your Clan Leader another item!"

(End of this chapter)