Chapter 193: The Wind Clan

Xu Chen said this while taking out a ceramic teapot.

This teapot and teacup were the most common kind of porcelain found among the common folk; Xu Chen had just bought a few pieces casually in Nanyang City, intending to brew some Spirit Tea he had brought back from Yuqing Hall. However, he rarely used them, mainly because he was usually quite lazy and found even boiling water to be a hassle. Besides, he was young and, being alone, had no particular hobby of drinking tea; if he had the time to drink tea, he would rather study artifact refining and Magic Spells.

Looking at this strange yet smooth ceramic teapot, the woman's eyes lit up. She licked her lips and nodded, saying, "This thing is so exquisite, the Clan Leader might like it. By the way, what is this thing inside the cup? Such a pure color, can I drink it?"

Xu Chen thought for a moment, shook his head, and said, "This thing is called water. I don't know if you can drink it, but you can try."

The woman was even more puzzled and said, "Isn't water always black? Could it be water from the Mortal World?"

Xu Chen nodded and said, "Correct, this is water from the Mortal World. I brought it with me specifically to quench my thirst. I don't dare drink things from the Underworld, so I can only drink this."

The woman hesitated for a moment, brought the cup to her lips, and took a small sip. Suddenly, her eyes brightened. She took another sip, then another, and finally tilted her head back, pressing the cup against her face to pour the last drop of water into her mouth and swallow it. Only then did she let out a long, faint sigh and say:

"Such a pure aura. We have never tasted such delicious water. If you could gift the Elder a pot of water, I think he would take you to the Ancestral Temple to help you find the way back."

Xu Chen did not know whether to laugh or cry.

This worthless mountain spring water had unexpectedly become a treasure upon reaching the Underworld.

However, the woman's words also made him heave a sigh of relief. It seemed that today's rescue mission had not been in vain; thus far, the information he had gained far exceeded his expectations.

Not long after, Xu Chen and the woman sat on the Clam Shell Boat and left the cave. Under the woman's guidance, they plunged into the vast, boundless Black Wind and disappeared from sight.

Sitting in the Clam Shell Boat, the woman was incredibly shocked by this strange object.

Xu Chen was also quite curious; he had encountered this clam shell in what was called the Underworld River in the sky, and he had not expected the woman to say that this was the first time she had seen one in her life.

She had seen many clam shells, but she had never encountered one this large that could fly.

As the two traveled, they also conversed.

Although this woman was tall and fierce, and her personality was rather casual and fiery, her name was actually quite normal, and one might even say it carried a touch of beauty: Feng Feiyi.

After the two briefly exchanged names and spoke of how they had entered, Feng Feiyi also shared much of what she knew about Minghuang.

Only then did Xu Chen gradually begin to understand.

In reality, the so-called natives here were not truly people of the Underworld. Their ancestors had come here from the Mortal World a long time ago, not because they were lost, but to guard the Mortal World.

At that time, it was said that there was a fixed road connecting the Mortal World and the Underworld, allowing normal passage between the two realms. Moreover, great wars often broke out between the two, so the human race built cities here and arranged for powerful experts to garrison them.

Furthermore, what surprised Xu Chen even more was that Minghuang did not originally belong to the Underworld, but rather to the Mortal World.

The Underworld River was the boundary river between the Mortal World and the Underworld.

The current state of this place was caused by the erosion of Underworld Qi.

The people left behind here were also gradually eroded by Underworld Qi during their battles with Nether Beasts, eventually becoming lost here. Over millions of years of inheritance, they possessed very little of the aura of normal humans. However, generation after generation, they still firmly remembered their ancestors' dying wishes, guarding this Minghuang region and taking the slaughter of Nether Beasts as their duty. By now, it was unknown how many generations had passed, and their numbers were dwindling.

Feng Feiyi said that their tribe currently had fewer than two hundred people.

Other human tribes nearby were also seeing their numbers dwindle.

In the past, humans had built many large cities here, but after they were abandoned, they were eroded by Underworld Qi and turned into ruins. The clothes they wore, the Flying Forks and bows and arrows they used, and Magic Treasures like the Storage Crystal were actually just some crude human skills passed down from ancient times. A large amount of the techniques for crafting Magic Treasures had been lost, and they could no longer even use Magic Spells.

This was because the aura of the Underworld made it impossible for humans to cultivate.

However, they had still accumulated much new knowledge in their battles with Nether Beasts, allowing them to utilize Nether Beasts and some Underworld items to grow food and craft weapons, multiplying and surviving generation after generation.

These bizarre pieces of news shocked Xu Chen deeply.

He had not expected that by accidentally entering this place, he would discover a secret that was buried for millions of years and completely unknown to the outside world.

If all of this were true, did it not mean that the Underworld had been continuously eroding the Mortal World?

In that case, it was not hard to understand why places like Black Wind Ridge and the Eastern Wasteland Void Abyss existed.

However, it was also clear that the high-and-mighty True Immortal class had not stood idly by, but had been constantly preventing this situation from worsening.

They captured Ancient Fierce Beasts and used an Array to imprison them in places where Underworld Qi leaked, thereby suppressing the speed of the leakage.

Yet, this method could not solve the problem once and for all.

This might also be the reason why a disaster of Black Wind ravaging and Soul Beast mutation occurred in the Mortal World every few thousand years.

The Taiyuan Sect of those years might have also been destroyed because of a mishap in the seal suppressing the Underworld passage.

The black mist seemed boundless, but the human descendants living here were long familiar with the environment. Therefore, under Feng Feiyi's guidance, Xu Chen adjusted the direction of the Clam Shell Boat. After flying for a full two hours, they entered a pitch-black canyon.

The canyon was steep and narrow on both sides, as if it were a crack torn out of thin air. The further down it went, the narrower it became; in some places, it was only a dozen or so feet wide, and it was like a bottomless abyss. The further Xu Chen flew, the more terrified he felt. After flying for about another quarter of an hour, they passed through a doorway that was clearly carved by human hands, and suddenly, the area ahead brightened, revealing a relatively flat valley basin.

What surprised Xu Chen most was that the black mist in this valley had thinned by more than half, and there was a faint white light flickering on the surrounding mountain walls. Even without using his Divine Sense, he could roughly see the condition of the entire canyon. Apart from the still pitch-black rocks and soil, there were also many strange plants planted in the canyon, resembling wild grasses and vines, with their colors primarily being black. However, Xu Chen did not feel any Spirit Qi fluctuations; they were clearly species unique to Minghuang.

"This place is truly not bad!"

Having wandered and flown in this boundless, pitch-black land for several days, suddenly seeing such an environment with plants and clarity, Xu Chen could not help but feel pleasantly surprised.

Feng Feiyi did not know what Xu Chen was saying, but she still used her Divine Sense to communicate and explain: "This is where we live, called Fengxia City."

Xu Chen was stunned for a moment and asked with full confusion: "I don't see anyone living here, where is the city?"

The woman pointed to a place in the valley where the white light was most prominent and said: "We all live inside the caves; that is the entrance. However, this valley originally had a real city, but it has been abandoned for a very, very long time. If you look closely, you can still see some traces."

Upon hearing this, Xu Chen released his Divine Sense to examine the valley carefully. Sure enough, among the black rocks, soil, and the strange plants growing there, he could see some abandoned, broken walls. However, due to the passage of time, they had long since weathered and crumbled; if one did not observe carefully, one would never find any traces.

"This city was once very tall and housed tens of thousands of people. It is said that it was built all the way up to the ground above. Later, it was destroyed under the attacks of Nether Beasts and rebuilt several times, but in the end, it was completely abandoned. Later, as the Underworld Qi continued to erode it, the outside became gradually unsuitable for living, so our ancestors dug into the mountain, and now we all live in the caves..."

While Feng Feiyi was explaining, Xu Chen had already controlled the Clam Shell Boat to quickly skim across the valley and fly to the place where the white light was brightest. Sure enough, he discovered a cave over a zhang high here, with a doorway built of huge stone bricks all around. Embedded in the stone bricks were many glowing stones, and there were a large number of red patterns on them, which also looked like some kind of Ancient Rune.

Just as Xu Chen stopped to observe the cave, several powerful Soul auras arrived one after another, slamming heavily into the Clam Shell Boat. At the same time, several figures emitting red light rushed out from the cave. In the blink of an eye, several tall men wearing the same tight-fitting armor with a pair of red light-wings hanging behind their backs appeared before Xu Chen, all holding Giant Forks, their emotions appearing very tense.

As the clam shell opened and Xu Chen and Feng Feiyi stood up from inside, the men became even more tense and agitated. They flew up together to surround the clam shell, looking at Feng Feiyi with faces full of vigilance, chattering away in a gibberish that seemed full of suspicion and reprimand.

Xu Chen did not speak, but stood in the clam shell with his hands behind his back.

Feng Feiyi spread her light-wings and flew out. After a period of communication with the men, their emotions calmed down slightly. Several powerful Soul auras landed on Xu Chen, and after another round of all-encompassing, no-dead-angle observation, one of the guys who looked the most fierce jumped onto the Clam Shell Boat, pointed his Giant Fork at Xu Chen, looked down at him, and let out a roar of intimidation.

Looking at this guy who was nearly half a head taller than himself, Xu Chen slightly released his Yuan Qi to protect his body, and a powerful Divine Sense similarly blocked the man's unscrupulous Soul pressure.

Xu Chen's resistance seemed to anger this man. The red patterns on his tight-fitting leather clothing began to flicker, and clusters of red light halos began to circulate. His thick arms exerted force suddenly, and the Giant Fork thrust forward another half a foot, almost stabbing Xu Chen's body.

Feng Feiyi came up in a rage and pushed the man away, chattering away again. Finally, the man put away his Giant Fork and retreated sullenly, but he still stared at Xu Chen with a face full of vigilance, clearly very nervous about this human with strange attire and unknown origins.

Feng Feiyi looked at Xu Chen with an apologetic face and transmitted her voice: "Sorry, this guy is called Feng Zhao. He has no ill intent; it's just that your appearance and aura are too strange, and he is worried about danger because there are many weak children and elderly people inside the cave."

Xu Chen smiled and waved his hand: "I understand. Don't worry, I absolutely have no ill intent and will not threaten anyone. You just need to take me to see the Clan Leader and the Elder. As long as I find the way back, I will leave here very soon."

Feng Feiyi nodded and explained to Feng Zhao and the others again. In the end, Feng Zhao let them pass with an ugly expression. Xu Chen stepped out of the Clam Shell Boat, took a few steps in the air, and landed on the stone brick ground in front of the cave.

(End of chapter)