Chapter 459: Ghost Infant River

Hua Changxi hovered above the fissure, crimson flames whipping around her, illuminating the broken yet still majestic Zhu Que formation on the rocky floor of the well.

However, the moment her gaze swept over the edge of the formation, her expression changed drastically.

Outside the formation, arranged in a ring, stood hundreds of figures.

They sat cross-legged like mountains, Zhu Que tokens hanging from their waists that Hua Changxi recognized instantly.

Pity that the Zhu Que totem on those tokens had long since dimmed, devoid of light.

These people were the long-missing Zhu Que Army!

No!

There were too few!

According to the Zhu Que Army Register, nearly a thousand names had dimmed, yet fewer than five hundred Zhu Que soldiers stood here; therefore, several hundred more remained unaccounted for.

As the Hall Master of Lingguang Hall and commander of the Zhu Que Army, Hua Changxi found it almost unbearable to look upon these hundreds of soldiers before her.

Eroded by ghostly qi and scorched by ghost flames, their flesh and blood had long dried up, skin clinging tight to bone with a greenish-gray, stone-like texture; only a faint crimson flame remained in their dantians, burning stubbornly like a candle in the wind.

Even more chilling was the fact that a slit had opened on the brow of every Zhu Que soldier.

From those slits, strands of pure soul power and origin blood qi flowed out like tiny streams, merging into the patterns of the formation beneath their feet.

The sole reason the entire Zhu Que formation had not yet completely collapsed was because these hundreds of soldiers were using their divine souls as fuel and their flesh and blood as catalysts, maintaining the formation's operation day and night!

Hua Changxi's wings trembled slightly, her throat constricting.

These Zhu Que soldiers were delaying the formation's total collapse through self-sacrifice.

The formation had merely developed a hole, yet the ghost qi and ghost flames inside the prison tower were already so dense; once it ceased functioning entirely, one could imagine those forces sweeping across all of Nanxiang County.

"Hoo~"

Lotus flowers of fire bloomed beneath the Zhu Que soldiers, while dozens of Zhurong Stones were simultaneously arranged around them.

With the formation breached, Hua Changxi could not rescue these soldiers at this moment; she could only hope the fire lotuses and Zhurong Stones would allow them to hold on a little longer.

In the next instant, Hua Changxi flew into the formation, fixing her gaze on the fissure at its center.

Then, taking a deep breath, she ignited her wing edges with Nanming Li Fire to form a crimson-gold barrier, flapped her wings once, and plunged without hesitation into the fissure.

In an instant, heaven and earth inverted, and space-time tore apart.

Her body was swept into a twisted void tunnel where, amidst the ghost qi and ghost flames, countless shattered lights and wails accompanied her—the lingering echoes of torn souls, the obsessions of the unwilling dead.

Amidst the chaotic turbulence, only those nine blood-colored chains served as guiding threads, piercing through illusion and pointing straight toward the other shore.

After an unknown duration, Hua Changxi spotted a dazzling green rift and dove toward it fiercely.

The moment she flew out of the rift, her form rapidly contracted, transforming into a firebird no larger than a thumb, while the view before her changed abruptly.

She hovered above a vast, boundless river of eerie green.

The river water was no ordinary fluid but condensed from hundreds of millions of resentful qi, death qi, and yin sha qi, flowing slowly with a phosphorescent green glow.

Silent and soundless, yet capable of scattering one's mind and spirit.

Hua Changxi had no time to examine the river closely, as her attention was immediately drawn to a scene in the river's center nearby.

Nine blood-vein chains crisscrossed to weave a blood cage, within which floated a black token the size of a palm, emitting an eerie green light.

Simultaneously, a ghostly hand formed of ghost qi and clad in green ghost flames gripped the blood cage tightly.

The ghost hand extended from the eerie green river, connected to it; whenever the ghost qi on the hand faded or the ghost flames weakened, ghost qi and flames would drift out from the river to replenish what was consumed.

Although Hua Changxi had concealed her aura to the extreme, her appearance still caused the green river to tremble.

Sensing something approaching the riverbank, her expression shifted slightly, and she shot forward in a flash, landing atop the blood cage.

The thumb-sized firebird quickly vanished within the crimson radiance of the chains.

"Why has the Ghost Infant River suddenly started trembling?"

Several ghost clan members clad in black robes appeared on the riverbank directly opposite the blood cage.

"Could it be humans from the other side of the Ghost Flame Well attempting to reclaim the Ghost Flame Token?"

"Likely so. Should we notify Lord Ghost Marshal to come investigate?"

"Forget it. Lord Ghost Marshal just went to the sacrificial altar, probably to refine that Zhu Que bone offered by the humans. Let's not disturb him; otherwise, if Lord Ghost Marshal gets angry, we'll all scatter our souls and perish."

"True. That Zhu Que bone is the formation core sealing the Ghost Flame Well. Once the core is refined, Lord Ghost Marshal will be able to freely open the well's restrictions, and then our ghost clan can enter and exit the human world at will."

"If Lord Ghost Marshal also seizes the Ghost Flame Token, that nine-story prison tower suppressing the Ghost Flame Well will belong to our ghost clan. It is said that tower is a Dao weapon, containing the sounds of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth; if one can comprehend it, one might even become a master of a Dao."

"No wonder Lord Ghost Marshal takes the anomalies here at the Ghost Infant River so seriously, personally coming to guard them."

Laughing and chatting, the several ghost clan members departed.

Only after they left did Hua Changxi fly out, gazing in the direction of their departure with piercing eyes.

Zhu Que bone, formation core...

So the formation was breached because its core had been stolen!

Then the fissure she had just traversed must have been the location where the formation core was placed.

The Ghost Flame Token must be reclaimed, and simultaneously, the Zhu Que bone serving as the formation core must also be recovered.

Hua Changxi withdrew her gaze and looked at the Ghost Flame Token inside the blood cage.

On one side of the Ghost Flame Token was a relief carving of a closed-eye Zhu Que stepping upon a black well, entirely embodying the stance of 'suppressing the chaos of the netherworld with the might of the divine bird'; on the other side were carved the two characters 'Ghost Flame'.

Having experienced occupying six blessed lands and grotto-heavens, Hua Changxi instantly conceived a method to refine the Ghost Flame Token upon seeing it: make the Zhu Que on the token open its eyes.

She had already cultivated the Zhu Que spiritual body, and her blood carried the Zhu Que will inherently; surely this should enable the Zhu Que on the token to open its eyes?

Hua Changxi decided to give it a try, but before that, she first had to deal with the ghost hand beneath the blood cage.

"Hoo~"

A thumb-sized fire lotus drifted down gently, landing on the ghost hand that clung tenaciously to the blood cage.

As the fire lotus merged in, the ghost hand instantly faded somewhat.

Immediately afterward, ghost qi drifted out from the Ghost Infant River, filling the portion of the ghost hand that the fire lotus had dissolved.

After this happened several times with no other reaction from the ghost hand, Hua Changxi realized the ghost hand possessed no 'consciousness' and required human manipulation.

Seeing that no ghost race members had come to investigate during this interval, Hua Changxi felt a slight relief in her heart; hesitating no longer, the next moment, a drop of essence blood flew out and merged into the Ghost Fire Token.

Once the essence blood merged, the Ghost Fire Token immediately began to vibrate, followed by a surge of red light that directly suppressed the green glow upon the token.

The blood-colored chains, as if sensing the anomaly of the Ghost Fire Token, instinctively tightened.

The instant the blood-colored chains tightened, the ghost hand also instinctively began to drag.

The tug-of-war commenced once again.

Hua Changxi grew anxious in her heart, fearing Jing Sheng could not withstand such fierce pulling; fortunately, at that moment, the Zhu Que relief on the Ghost Fire Token opened its eyes.

In an instant, Hua Changxi perceived a connection established between herself and the Ghost Fire Token, and she immediately manipulated the token to cease vibrating.

"Why is the Ghost Infant River vibrating again?"

Those few ghost race members from before appeared once more; looking at the Ghost Infant River churning up waves and the tightening ghost hand, they cursed under their breath.

"The Ghost Infant River is vibrating consecutively; we must report this to Lord Ghost Commander. If any accident occurs, we cannot bear the responsibility."