Chapter 500

The Nine Firmaments is a pyramid that rises layer by layer, the higher you go, the closer to the Heavenly Dao; while the Nine Netherworlds is a funnel that descends layer by layer, the deeper you go, the closer to nothingness.

Hua Changxi had never ascended the Nine Firmaments and did not know what kind of scene it was.

But now, being in the Nine Netherworlds, this topsy-turvy phenomenon left her with a bizarre astonishment.

Here, the concepts of up and down were completely overturned; up is down, heaven is earth.

Those islands floating overhead were nothing but illusory mirages; to reach them, flying upward would only be futile, and only by falling downward could one possibly touch those islands.

Gazing at this eerie space, Hua Changxi speculated inwardly that this visual dislocation might originate from some energy reflecting from the bottom of the abyss—projecting the reality underground onto the illusory vault of heaven.

Although the floating islands in the sky were as illusory as mirages, they were like a mirror, reflecting the strict hierarchical strength of the ghost clan.

Thus, one could use this to probe the overall strength of the ghost clan.

"One, two, three, four…"

Leaning by the window, Hua Changxi looked up and carefully counted the layers of floating islands on the canopy of heaven.

If the land beneath her feet was the first realm of the Nine Netherworlds, then the floating islands at an altitude of a thousand meters represented the second realm of the Nine Netherworlds.

Several thousand meters further up was the third realm of the Nine Netherworlds, where the number of islands had clearly become sparse.

At ten thousand meters altitude, corresponding to the fourth realm of the Nine Netherworlds, the islands grew even more scarce.

Above tens of thousands of meters was the fifth realm of the Nine Netherworlds; in the vast sky, only a few dozen solitary silhouettes remained.

Above a hundred thousand meters, the sixth realm of the Nine Netherworlds, there was only a single lone island, suspended alone at the edge of the sky.

Further up, there were no more traces of islands.

In the Nine Netherworlds, the deeper you went, the more foul and dense the turbid qi became. Those without sufficient strength could only stay in the first layer; if they rashly fell into the second layer or deeper, they would explode from the erosion of the turbid qi.

This was the same principle as cultivators exploding from being unable to bear dense spiritual qi.

Therefore, to fall from the first layer of the Nine Netherworlds downward also required strength to sustain it.

For instance, the sixth-layer abyss of the Nine Netherworlds could only be reached by ghost clan of the Ghost King realm; the fifth layer, by the Ghost Marshal realm; the fourth layer, by the Ghost General realm.

As for the second and third layers of the Nine Netherworlds, there were no strict realm restrictions; as long as one dared to fight and kill, even low-level ghosts could set foot there.

This time, Lady Crimson Nightmare had entered the Ghost Realm Fort to compete for territory.

Of course, what she coveted was never the first realm of the Nine Netherworlds, but the sixth realm of the Nine Netherworlds, suspended a hundred thousand meters in the sky.

In Lady Crimson Nightmare's ambition, it was time for a second floating island to manifest there.

"Creak~"

The door of Lady's Tower slowly opened.

A red-robed maidservant, her face veiled and carrying a white-bone lantern, walked out slowly.

Inside the white-bone lantern, an eerie green ghost fire swayed silently, emitting a light that was not harsh but carried a chilling cold, illuminating everything within a hundred meters around the red-robed maidservant.

Within the range of the lantern light, all ghost clan members retreated.

After casually closing the tower door, the red-robed maidservant swept a indifferent glance around, then stepped forward, unhurriedly heading toward the most bustling and lively street of the Ghost Realm Fort.

"Strange! Lady Crimson Nightmare didn't shake the Nightmare Bell this time when she returned to Lady's Tower!"

"Never mind that now! Follow that maidservant! Capture her and perform a soul search to see what Lady Crimson Nightmare is up to."

The bustling noise of the Ghost Realm Fort was in no way inferior to a mortal market.

After the red-robed maidservant entered the market, she did not stop walking; she merely tilted her head slightly, her peripheral vision sweeping over the few sneaky tails behind her, then abruptly turned and slipped like a ghost into a deep, secluded alley ahead.

"Quick! Follow her!"

Alley connected to alley, like a maze.

The red-robed maidservant's pace grew faster and faster, her red robe leaving trails of afterimages in the darkness.

A quarter of an hour later, when those few ghost clan tailors, panting, scurried back onto the bustling street, all they saw was a jostling crowd of ghosts, and the red-robed maidservant was nowhere to be seen.

At the same time, at the other end of the bustling street, a black-clad woman holding a bone flute and wearing a ghost-carriage mask was strolling leisurely toward the brightly lit market street inside the Ghost Realm Fort.