A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

Chapter 1281: The Words of a Ghost

"Seeing as all of us are cultivators of the True Immortal Realm, all of us must've been fated to meet here, so would it be possible for you to free me before we talk about anything else?" the statue asked in a hopeful manner.

"We can save you, but the three of us are completely new here and would like to ask you some questions about the underworld," Han Li said.

"I'm happy to answer your questions, but I haven't been to many places in the underworld, and this Black River Region is the only one that I'm relatively familiar with," the statue replied.

"The Black River Region? How many regions are there in the underworld?" Han Li asked.

"The underworld is extremely vast. As for exactly how vast, even the people of the underworld most likely won't be able to answer that question. I'm only aware of the existence of the Black River Region, the Infernal Region, and the Yama Region," the statue replied.

Han Li's interest was immediately piqued upon hearing mention of the Yama Region, but his expression remained unchanged as he said, "Tell us about the Black River Region first."

"The Black River Region is said to be a virtually boundless region, and its name comes from this black river beneath us. It's home to close to twenty noteworthy places, including the Fierce Ghost Planes, the Undead Forest, and the Blood Hell Canyon. There are many ghostly tribes residing here, but not many of them possess high levels of intelligence..."

Through the statue's words, Han Li was able to develop a very basic understanding of the underworld, and it was really quite similar a place to the True Immortal Realm, the Devil Realm, and the Gray Realm.

"Which powerful figures do you know of in these three regions, and what are their cultivation bases?" Han Li asked.

"I don't know too many details, all I've heard is that there are three very prominent figures in the underworld, namely Xue Li, Gui Wu, and the Infernal King. The Black River Region seems to be under the jurisdiction of Xue Li, but I'm not sure who rules over the other two regions. Like I said, there are very few ghostly beings here that possess high levels of intelligence, and that makes it quite difficult to gather information.

“I've heard that all three of them are extremely formidable, but I'm afraid I don't know their exact cultivation bases," the statue replied.

Han Li nodded in response, then changed the subject as he asked, "What do you know about the Yama Region?"

"I've never been to the Yama Region. All I've heard is that the ghostly beings there are very powerful, and that compared with the chaotic Black River Region, everything is much more orderly over there," the statue replied.

"Have you heard of a place called the Yama Manor in the Yama Region?" Han Li asked.

"I vaguely recall seeing such a place in the memories of a ghostly being that I searched the soul of. It's on the outskirts of the Yama Region, and it seems to be a very mysterious place," the statue replied after taking some time to think.

"Do you still recall where that place is?" Han Li immediately asked in a hopeful manner.

"I've been sealed here for so long that many of my memories have become rather hazy, but I can try and find it," the statue replied.

Han Li took a glance at Weeping Soul out of the corner of his eye as he asked through voice transmission, "Can you tell if he's speaking the truth?"

"I can't sense his soul through the seal, but he seems to be telling the truth, judging from the tone of his voice. Of course, there's a possibility that he could just be putting on a very convincing act," Weeping Soul replied.

All of a sudden, Jin Tong interjected, "Which branch of the Earth Emperor Sect are you from?"

Both Han Li and Weeping Soul turned to her with surprised expressions.

The statue faltered slightly upon hearing this, then replied, "It seems like you're quite familiar with our Earth Emperor Sect, Fellow Daoist. I am a disciple of the Earth Emperor Sect's Bitter Bamboo Peak, and my master is Peak Master Yue Jing."

Jin Tong gave Han Li an almost imperceptible nod, and Han Li was rather curious about how she knew so much about the Vast Earth Immortal Region, but he didn't ask any questions as he turned his gaze back to the statue and said, "Alright, I can free you, but in exchange, you have to take us to the Yama Manor."

"Deal!" the statue immediately replied.

"Weeping Soul, help me break this seal," Han Li said as he turned to Weeping Soul, and the latter nodded in response.

"This is quite a complex seal, but over the years, I've managed to get a decent grasp on it. Should I tell you my findings to help you break the seal?" the statue asked.

"There's no need for that. This seal is indeed quite powerful, but it's become a lot weaker with the passage of time, and I've already identified some vulnerabilities that I can exploit," Han Li replied.

He then gave Weeping Soul some instructions on how to assist him, and the two of them began working on breaking the seal together.

Han Li injected his immortal spiritual power into a sealing rune on the right side of the statue's body, while Weeping Soul enveloped the entire statue in her law powers.

A green flame emerged over the rune with the influx of Han Li's immortal spiritual power, and it split up into two lines of fire that spread over the statue before converging back to the same spot.

As Weeping Soul injected her law powers into the statue's body, a layer of dark red light began to emerge, and the stone material began to peel away bit by bit to reveal what was sealed underneath.

Inside the statue was an extremely physically imposing man that was over thirty feet tall. His upper body was bared to reveal his bulging musculature, and his crimson skin was riddled with rings of strange runes that gave off an appearance of primitive power.

What was most bizarre about him was that there was no head attached to his neck, only a grisly wound, and there were two glowing, golden eyes where his nipples should've been on his chest.

"What the hell is this thing?" Jin Tong exclaimed, and Weeping Soul's brows had also become tightly furrowed with apprehension.

"It doesn't look like this guy is from the True Immortal Realm. We may have been fooled," Han Li said in a grim voice.

A burst of sinister cackling rang out from the headless man's body, and Han Li's trio immediately sprang back to distance themselves from him.

"Finally, I'm free! I didn't think you'd actually be able to do it!" the headless man cackled, and his current voice was completely different from the one that he had used earlier.

"Now that you've been freed, please hold up your end of the deal and take us to the Yama Manor," Han Li said with one hand clasped behind his back, ready to lash out at any moment.

"You actually belived me? Only a fool would believe the words of a ghost!" the headless man chortled as a giant, crimson ax that was roughly the same height as himself appeared in his grasp.

The headless man set his foot down onto the ground with an almighty stomp, and an incredibly fearsome aura instantly erupted out of his body, displaying his peak-Great Encompassment Stage cultivation base in its full glory.

"Who are you?" Han Li demanded as an Azure Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword appeared in his grasp.

"My name is Xue Li!" the headless man declared in a thunderous voice, then abruptly appeared behind Weeping Soul in the blink of an eye before swinging his ax down upon her.

"Look out!" Han Li yelled as he channeled his time law powers and rushed to Weeping Soul's aid, while Weeping Soul herself sprang forward to just barely evade the sharp edge of the giant ax.

The sound of tearing fabric rang out as the back of her robe was split apart, while blood splattered through the air.

At the same time, Han Li had already arrived behind Xue Li, and he was plunging his sword directly toward the latter's heart from behind.

As opposed to turning around, a strange snapping sound suddenly rang out from Xue Li's shoulders, and his arms twisted around to an impossible angle as he used his ax to parry Han Li's sword.

A flurry of golden lightning instantly erupted out of the sword at Han Li's behest, and Xue Li's entire body was instantly enshrouded in Cardinal Heavenly Lightning.

The eyes on Xue Li's chest were struck by the golden lightning, and he immediately closed them with an agonized howl.

Weeping Soul took advantage of the opportunity to flee to Jin Tong's side, and the latter could see a gruesome gash that ran down the entire length of her back, one that was deep enough to expose the vertebrae underneath.

Jin Tong was furious to see this, and she launched herself at Xue Li with golden light flashing over her body.

Right at this moment, Xue Li let loose a thunderous roar, and a crimson vortex appeared over his giant ax.

The golden lightning released by Han Li's sword was instantly sucked into the vortex, following which Xue Li swung his ax at Han Li's head with almighty power.

As opposed to fighting fire with fire, Han Li evaded the attack, but once again, Xue Li put his incredible speed on display, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake as he raced after Han Li.

However, before he was able to reach Han Li, he was intercepted by Jin Tong, who had launched herself at him in a seething rage.

In response, Xue Li swung his ax at Jin Tong, who, instead of taking evasive measures as Han Li had, took on her true form and continued to hurtle directly toward Xue Li.

A loud clang rang out as the blade of Xue Li's ax was caught between Jin Tong's front legs, stopping it cold in its tracks.

A hint of surprise flashed through Xue Li's eyes upon seeing this, and he forced his ax down with all his might. As a result, Jin Tong was also forced downward, but her grip on his ax remained firm, and she refused to let go.