Chapter 429: The Deep Darkness, the Ancestor Ancestor Zhu Long

The dark sect followers stared in stunned silence at the unresponsive altar.

On the weathered altar, bloodstains seemed divinely awakened, emitting blinding crimson light that swiftly slithered across the ancient altar like a blood-colored demonic serpent, winding through its engraved grooves.

Above the altar, the dark qi churned thicker and thicker, countless overlapping shadows bowing toward the darkness.

One by one, exquisitely forged divine demons, offered as sacrifices, knelt upon the altar, chanting the revered name of the Ancestor Ancestor Zhu Long Demon Lord; their wails and howls, reciting ancient and sinister demonic tongues, stirred the surrounding darkness into turmoil…

The true disciples of other dark sects watched the surroundings in dread, each feeling countless eyes peering from the darkness, observing this scene and responding to their calls.

This was the terrifying grand rite of the Yu Jiuyou Dao, the most profound sacrificial technique of the dark sects.

The chilling winds and dark qi surged into the depths of darkness, a vast and terrifying aura as if seeking to commune with some will within the dark, transmitting information onward.

But this scene had already dragged on too long…

Even though the darkness had boiled, the master of the rite still had not descended his will to claim his offerings.

An old demon of the Yu Jiuyou Dao turned ashen, gesturing to calm the restless divine-demon spirits, his voice icy: "The rite has changed. After so long, even if the Demon Lord is elsewhere in the Central Lands, he should have heard our call!"

"Stay calm! The Ancestor Ancestor Zhu Long Demon Lord is still only a remnant soul; his waking hours are few. Let us wait a little longer!"

The faces of all the dark sect elders were grim; at this critical moment, their greatest pillar had vanished without reply, and unease stirred in every heart.

"Even if the Demon Lord's remnant soul remains asleep, consuming offerings is the instinct of divine power. Logically, no matter his current state, his instinct should have reacted. Even if his will cannot descend, the darkness from Yu Jiuyou should have responded—swallowed the offerings… Don't forget! How did we even contact the Demon Lord?"

The elder of the Eyeless Sect muttered uneasily.

He gazed at the darkness, stirred to near-boiling by the dark sect's sacrificial rite, yet held back at the edge of light by some invisible restraint, not advancing a single step.

He whispered to himself: "Why do I always feel the Demon Lord is refusing to see us? I must be imagining things!" Yet even this thought filled him with deep unease.

The faceless demon monk murmured: "Could this be a scheme of the orthodox sects?"

The old demon of the Yu Jiuyou Dao cut in sharply: "Impossible. Even the three Heavenly Masters of the Dao Academy are but ants before the Demon Lord. No one in the Central Lands can withstand such power. Even if those ancient imperial clans unearthed primordial artifacts, they could not resist. The Demon Lord's thought could crush us as easily as crushing an ant—why scheme? And how could the orthodox sects even deduce the Demon Lord's presence?"

He coldly scanned the group, his voice frigid: "Could it be one of you leaked the secret?"

The Immortal of Undeath replied coldly: "All of you swore the Yu Jiuyou Blood Oath, with Yu Jiuyou as witness—none could have betrayed it!"

Another old demon of the Yu Jiuyou Dao forced calm: "Perhaps the Demon Lord is still asleep! Our plan is already set. Even without his aid, eliminating the Southern Jin clans and left-path immortal sects won't be hard. Maybe the Demon Lord merely wishes to test us… You won't back down over this, will you?"

The other eight sects' dark cultivators exchanged glances. The shadowy figure from the Wailing Sect spoke first: "Of course not—but this is no good omen! Those people the Dao Academy sent in will eventually become a threat. Until we control them, I won't rest easy!"

"Then notify Master Sima Wu Yue!"

The old demon of the Yu Jiuyou Dao growled: "We several will seize Xiao Xie An. The rest are no threat."

Brother Qian Chen and Shi Princess Qingcheng descended through the roaring waters of the Heavenly River into the demon land, surrounded by pitch-black darkness; only the tip of Brother Qian Chen's upright finger burned with a pure white flame, casting a faint glow that shielded the two.

Walking through boundless darkness, they had only this single lamp; looking up at the star-strewn floating islands of the Starry Heaven, they saw only a few faint spiritual lights flickering.

All around was silent; walking here brought a peculiar loneliness.

The path they tread was the same range of rolling, screen-like mountains seen by day—on the cliff faces like a thousand blades, no one had walked, yet wind had carved a trail; one side was a sheer precipice, ten thousand zhang deep, wind rushing through yet no sound carried in the dark—as if all had been swallowed by darkness!

The other side stood towering, unyielding cliff walls.

Though both possessed cultivation, walking here still carried a dangerous aura.

Brother Qian Chen had to warn: "Stay close. If you slip and fall, it's fine by day—but now it's night. Once swallowed by darkness, I may not reach you in time. If you stray too far from this light, the danger is extreme!"

Shi Princess Qingcheng couldn't help asking: "My father warned me the same—centuries ago, even Daoist Yangshen True Ones vanished in this darkness! What's hidden here? Why so terrifying?"

"Not even Daoist Yangshen True Ones—any Primordial Spirit Immortal who enters this darkness risks never returning!"

Brother Qian Chen wasn't exaggerating; the Luo Tian Divine Artifact had fallen here and been corrupted by the Ancestor Ancestor Zhu Long's remnant soul.

Who knew what else lurked in this Yu Jiuyou darkness? If even one or two more demons of this caliber appeared, it would be normal for a Primordial Spirit Immortal to never escape!

"This darkness connects directly to Yu Jiuyou —anything could emerge!"

Brother Qian Chen explained: "In ancient times, when Yu Jiuyou was most tightly linked to the Earth Immortal Realm, the tombs of many great cultivators were eroded by Yu Jiuyou. Terrible ghosts and demons would seize their corpses; even their own residual souls were corrupted by Yu Jiuyou 's dark qi. To resist this, they installed terrifying prohibitions in their tombs—even burying servants and clan members with them."

"And it was this very darkness that invaded the tombs of those great ones!"

Brother Qian Chen raised the tiny flame, sweeping it to illuminate all sides.

Shi Princess Qingcheng suddenly saw things retreating swiftly where the light touched the darkness.

Brother Qian Chen drew the Heaven-Roving Umbrella from his treasure pouch, flicked the hilt embedded with Xuantian Star Stone, and the Youqing Sword shot forth into his hand. He slashed it into the darkness—a soft sound, black blood stained the blade; the bloodied edge of Youqing dimmed slightly, silently.

Something in the darkness wailed. Brother Qian Chen coldly said: "You dare circle me? Get lost!"

He handed the Heaven-Roving Umbrella to Shi Princess Qingcheng: "Just some demonic corpses—corpses corrupted by Yu Jiuyou, daring to spy on us. Hold this umbrella. If anything happens, it'll give me time to react."

He raised the umbrella over her head. Shi Ning Shimei's cheeks flushed slightly as she pulled out the Demon-Binding Silver Ring and the Yuan Yang Merit Seal, murmuring: "Brother, I have a few other treasures for protection."

Brother Qian Chen glanced, shook his head: "Those won't help. The Heaven-Weaving Azure Silk has been refined with both Heaven and Earth primordial qi—it alone can form a self-contained realm to barely resist the darkness. Other artifacts? Using them will only draw worse things from the dark!"

"Do you know why alchemists don't use their true flames, but insist on Ancestor Ancestor Zhu Long fire essence to resist this darkness?"

Shi Princess Qingcheng propped her chin: "Why?"

"Because only Ancestor Ancestor Zhu Long fire essence counters this darkness. All other true flames and divine lights only provoke fiercer backlash—the most terrifying things lurking in the dark will come to snuff out that light. So in this darkness, light isn't safety or hope—it's a deadly trap…"

…………

The Wailing Sect's dark cultivators walked through the darkness, draped in black robes.

Their robes were stained with blood from the last rite, using a trace of the Demon Lord's aura to shield them as they moved safely through the dark. Even so, someone had vanished without a sound during tonight's mission.

No one knew if he disappeared into the darkness—or was taken by another sect's cultivator at the shrine meeting?

The group moved in total silence; even Tian Qi Zi, normally cold and arrogant by day, walked silently at the center.

A cultivator lagging behind, limping, stumbled over a stone and fell a step behind. He sensed a shadow trailing him, glanced sideways—and saw the figure wore the same black robe. He relaxed slightly.

"... Eleven, twelve, thirteen…"

As he looked ahead, he unconsciously counted the figures before him.

"Fourteen, fifteen!" He included himself and the shadow behind—his heart eased: "Good, I'm not the last! Fifteen people total!"

"Wait… wasn't one missing earlier?"

A chill of unease rose in him. He recounted: correct, they'd started with fifteen—but one had vanished mysteriously at the shrine.

Had the companion lost in the darkness returned?

The shadow behind said nothing, walking steadily. He quickened two steps to rejoin the group—yet the shadow behind him also stepped forward two steps, pressing tightly against him.

A strange coldness brushed his back.

The hairs on his neck stirred, as if something clung to his throat—but no breath touched his skin, as if the face pressed against his neck didn't breathe. A nameless dread enveloped him; he turned again—and the shadow still stood one step behind, neither closer nor farther.

"Who are you?"

He whispered.

The shadow gave no answer, drawing attention from the front. He could only tremble: "There's an extra person among us!"

"Don't speak!" Tian Qi Zi warned.

The group resumed walking, but the man at the rear became his obsession. He stopped, waiting for the shadow to catch up—but the shadow stopped too…

The two stared at each other, separated by one step. The distance should have revealed every pore—but in this deep darkness, only silhouettes were visible. Others hesitated, halting. Tian Qi Zi said: "Don't stop. Whoever lags behind, let him stay."

He turned and walked on.

The trailing shadow hesitated, then followed—passing him, he couldn't help asking again: "Who are you?"

The shadow finally broke silence—its fingertip ignited a drop of bloodlight, illuminating them both. A pale-faced young cultivator glanced at him, saw something terrifying, his face twisting in horror: "It's the missing Canyun Yan Yan Shixiong!"

He stared at the flickering light, then smiled—a grotesque smile…

Tian Qi Zi spun back: "Don't light anything!"

In that instant, darkness swallowed the bloodlight; the two figures vanished, as if the darkness around them had grown denser, obscuring all.

"No matter what happens, emit no light," Tian Qi Zi said coldly. "If you survive, I'll still refine you into a Formless Divine Demon when we exit the darkness."

All fell silent.

Soon, the group resumed walking—fifteen figures, none missing, slowly trudging through the dark.

…………

"Brother, if walking is unsafe, why don't we fly?"

Shi Princess Qingcheng asked cautiously.

"This ground is demon land, but solid. Fly into the air, and you're fully swallowed by Yu Jiuyou. Do you think flying forward is truly forward?" Brother Qian Chen activated his fire-element spiritual light; the pure white flame brightened, now illuminating three zhang around.

Brother Qian Chen sighed: "The worst fear is flying and realizing you're neither touching heaven nor earth—never seeing dawn again!"

Walking on this demon land, though perilous, still kept them within the Jin Ling Cave Heaven.

If fully swallowed by darkness, who knew if they were still in Jin Ling Cave Heaven—or had accidentally slipped into Yu Jiuyou?

Brother Qian Chen glanced at the Xuantian Star Stone on his sword hilt. This artifact, never lost even in the Magnetic Earth Vortex, now pointed only toward the Ancestor Ancestor Zhu Long fire essence in his hand. This meant the surrounding darkness had erased all directions—even past and future were chaotic.

Lose the Ancestor Ancestor Zhu Long fire essence and the ground beneath your feet, and who knew what fate awaited?

The Ancestor Ancestor Zhu Long fire essence was no ordinary thing—it was a divine flame, possessing divinity.

"I wonder when I'll get to see Candle Zhu Jiuyin's secret vault…"

Brother Qian Chen mused inwardly.

"He seized the alchemists' legacy and inherited the foundation of the Luo Tian Divine Artifact! No doubt, even a single hair of his is thicker than the combined thighs of the Southern Jin clans—perhaps even the Southern Jin treasury can't match it. After all, what good is a state treasury? Even if it had treasures, they'd be in Master Sima's private vaults…" Brother Qian Mou, who had looted the Tang Dynasty's Left Treasury, sneered.

"Supposedly, the herb garden hadn't been tended for tens of thousands of years—every spirit herb should have matured into a Medicinal King."

"But now it seems the floating islands are still managed by Luo Tian Divine Artifacts, with countless divine generals, Dao soldiers, and golems—resources still flow efficiently. According to records I've seen in the Luo Tian World, a major alchemist's mechanical workshop, with sufficient resources, can forge dozens of Golden Core-level golems and eight or nine Yinshen-level golems daily. Top-tier workshops even produce one Immortal Qin War Golem nearing Primordial Spirit strength every decade."

"Over hundreds of millions of years, with a whole cave heaven supplying resources—how vast a fortune has Candle Zhu Jiuyin amassed?"

Just imagining the Qin methods and the alchemists' madness sent a chill down Brother Qian Chen's spine.

Even if this Luo Tian Divine Artifact was damaged and couldn't reach eight or nine tenths of the Qin Dynasty's peak war potential, as long as it retained one percent of its original production capacity, the accumulated war golems, magic treasures, Luo Tian artifacts, and war machines would be a terrifying number!

"I can't touch this wealth yet… But when I've secured my position as the top, all this will bear the surname Pan… no—Brother Qian!"