Chapter 1138 345: Wait, Old Hen, Why Did You Suddenly Come Back?

"If we keep traveling like this, how long till we reach Yaoguang Mansion?" Zhou Qing changed the subject.

Up till now, he had always come out after just a single breath, but several breaths had already passed this time.

From the looks of it, Sikong Yan had just advanced to the Spirit Severing Realm, and there were still some things he wasn't very proficient at using.

Sikong Yan explained, "The Spirit Severing Realm can tear open space, but there are many limitations. For example, each traversal can't exceed a hundred thousand li, otherwise my Spiritual Power won't last."

"Secondly, you have to lock onto the destination's coordinates in advance. A slight deviation and you might get lost in chaotic spatial currents."

"Most importantly..."

Before he finished speaking, a spatial storm suddenly appeared in front of them.

Sikong Yan's expression tightened; his hands quickly formed Seals, and his Protective Spiritual Light flared sharply.

The storm howled past, scraping the edge of the Spiritual Light. Zhou Qing could even hear the "kaka" sound of the light being torn at.

"Most importantly, you have to constantly guard against chaotic currents and spatial storms." Sikong Yan finally finished his sentence.

"Even in the Spirit Severing Realm, if you get dragged into the heart of a spatial storm, you'll be ripped to pieces."

Zhou Qing was secretly shocked. So even a powerful Spirit Severing Realm expert couldn't casually traverse space.

"Up ahead is the outer city." Sikong Yan pointed at a light speck in the distance. "There'll be a violent impact when we pass through the spatial barrier. Make sure to steady your Heart and Spirit."

Before Zhou Qing could respond, he grabbed Zhou Qing's arm and shot toward the light spot.

In an instant, the world spun; an intense sense of weightlessness surged over him...

When he opened his eyes again, the two of them were already standing in a mountain range somewhere in the outer city.

"Alright, let's keep moving!" Sikong Yan patted his sleeves and adjusted the mask on his face.

Zhou Qing helplessly took out the Flying Ship.

As Spiritual Power poured in, the Flying Ship expanded against the wind, turning in a blink into a spiritual vessel over ten zhang long.

"Oh! You've got something this nice?" Sikong Yan's eyes lit up. Without waiting for an invitation, he leaped onto the deck.

Then, as if he owned the place, he shouted down, "Captain, what are you waiting for? Hoist the sails and set off!"

The corner of Zhou Qing's mouth twitched as he rose into the air and landed aboard.

With a twist of his fingers to activate it, the Flying Ship turned into a streak of flowing light, tearing through the sky toward Yaoguang Mansion...

Almost at the same time, beneath a mountain range tens of thousands of li away, there was a temporarily opened hidden Cave Mansion.

Inside, Spiritual Qi was dense and swirling. The Ghost Mastiff and Luo Lingling sat cross-legged, each holding a Top-Grade Spirit Stones in hand, Refinement and absorption of Spiritual Power circulating around them.

Beside them, the old hen was curled up in a corner, snoring away.

Its gray-brown feathers rose and fell gently with each breath. Now and then it let out a few muffled clucks, as if it were having some delicious dream.

Right at that moment, an eerie ripple suddenly spread across the ceiling of the Cave Mansion.

Next, the stone wall began to undulate like water, and gradually a horrifying scene emerged—

It was a Blood River whose destination no one knew, its waters thick as paste, glinting with a dark red light.

Countless pitch-black Dead Crows floated on the surface. Their feathers were soaked through with blood; they rose and fell with the waves, and ghostly green will-o'-the-wisps flickered in the hollow sockets of their eyes.

On the Blood River's bank, one could clearly make out a colossal tree standing silently.

Its trunk was black as ink, and its withered, twisted branches stretched out into the darkness like countless struggling arms.

Beneath it were laid out six coffins.

The most chilling thing was that hanging at the center of the trunk was a huge black heart.

Its surface was covered in eerie patterns, and it was beating with a slow yet powerful rhythm.

"Thump... thump... thump..."

Each beat was accompanied by the clatter of the iron chains that bound it.

At this moment, the sleeping old hen suddenly shuddered all over.

The heart in its chest started pounding uncontrollably faster, gradually syncing perfectly with the rhythm of that black heart.

"Gu... gugugu..."

The old hen opened its eyes in a daze. The once-murky chicken eyes now glowed with an uncanny blue light.

It staggered to its feet, its feathers stirring without any wind, staring fixedly at the vision on the cave ceiling.

The Dead Crows in the Blood River suddenly turned their heads in unison, thousands of ghostly green eyes fixing on the old hen.

The black heart's beating abruptly quickened, and the iron chains screeched with grating friction.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The old hen, as if summoned by something, couldn't help but spread its wings and flew straight toward the illusory Blood River on the ceiling.

Even stranger, its body passed through the surface like water, merging into the illusion without the slightest obstruction.

"Splash!"

The Blood River splashed up a dark red wave.

The old hen floundered in the viscous blood, its feathers quickly soaked through, but it seemed utterly unconcerned.

On the contrary, it looked unusually excited, letting out cheerful clucks from its throat.

At the same time, a layer of ghostly blue flames ignited on its body, evaporating the surrounding blood into scarlet mist.

This was the very Amulet it had formed back at the Taichu Dojo, after absorbing that blue flame from the earth-vein rift for half a year!

Now it leisurely paddled along, occasionally spitting out a mouthful of blue flame to roll a Dead Crow into its beak, crunching it down with crisp crackles.

But unlike last time, wisps of black gas began to seep from the surface of the black heart.

These currents slithered downward like living things, passing through the Blood River and drilling into the old hen's body.

With each wisp it absorbed, the old hen's feathers grew glossier, and the blue light in its eyes burned ever brighter.

Yet it seemed completely unaware, continuing to swim downstream along the Blood River toward its depths...

As for the Ghost Mastiff and Luo Lingling, they remained immersed in deep meditation, completely oblivious to the changes outside.

...

Taiqing Sect, Little Spirit Peak!

Mists coiled among the mountains, and spiritual birds cried.

"Whoosh!"

A fierce blade light tore across the sky, startling the birds in the forest into flight.