Chapter 495 - 487: Recuperation
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Netherworld. Read exclusive content at NovelBin.Côm
A faint grey mist drifted across the sky, the sun emitting a cold, pale light.
Beneath, the mountain ranges were eerily quiet; at the turn of a valley, occasional gusts of black, cold wind appeared before abruptly vanishing into thin air.
In one instant, a pitch-black sphere, several stories high, materialized out of nowhere in the sky.
A bundle of black smoke with a long tail burst forth from it, akin to a meteor falling from heaven, glimmering with a ghastly green flame, and smashed directly towards the ground.
Boom!
At the foot of a small hill, a swath of trees collapsed, broken branches and torn leaves flying; a seven or eight-meter-wide crater was created by the impact of the smoke, with smoke and dust rolling around and soil and stones splattering.
As a gentle breeze dispersed the dust, a giant with indigo skin, five or six meters tall and radiating intense heat, lay sprawling, eyes closed, at the bottom of the pit.
Before long, the giant shrank like a deflated ball, reverting to the size of a normal human after just a few breaths.
After a good while, Chen Mu, in tattered clothing, regained consciousness and slowly opened his eyes.
He looked dazedly at the cold white sun above and felt the chilly air within its rays, an involuntary smile of relief spreading across his face.
"The sun of the Netherworld... it has been too long since I last saw it."
...
Two days later, twenty li away from the mountain where he landed, in a small valley, the thatched wooden house produced by Nether Demon Heaven was relocated from Thousand Lanterns City and hidden among the mountains and forests.
On the porch at the entrance, Chen Mu lay in a rocking chair, enjoying the uniquely cold and refreshing breeze of the Netherworld, his eyes slightly squinted.
Even though the environment in the Netherworld wasn’t all that great, compared to Nether Demon Heaven, he immediately felt the tranquility and peace here.
"It’s just I don’t know how Old Ghost Shen and the others are doing."
The makeshift Ghost Gate is, after all, not as safe as the authentic one.
There were no problems leaving Nether Demon Heaven, and no issues traversed the chaotic passageway that sparkled with golden stars in all directions.
However, upon entering the Netherworld, they encountered trouble.
They crashed into nine layers of invisible walls.
Those walls were soft like membranes and seemed to have a recognition function, allowing them to easily pass through with the Ghost Gate leading them.
But as they passed through more invisible barriers, the Ghost Gate, comprised of Yin Spirits, started to deform gradually.
It was like a large ship glued together with adhesive, going through repeated washings, the glue being diluted and washed away, with parts starting to loosen and fall off.
By the time they breached the ninth layer of invisible walls, the Ghost Gate, forcibly held together by the Mountain-Carrying Scripture, completely collapsed, and the Yin Spirits were forced to scatter.
"Our preparations were still inadequate," Chen Mu lamented.
Although he had practiced the Sixth Rank Jade Gate Curse to its limits, significantly improving his control, the powers of the Yin Spirits were still uneven, like stones of different shapes and sizes piled together with many gaps in between, all relying on the Mountain-Carrying Scripture to fill and maintain them.
Short-distance teleportation might not reveal any problems, but once they traversed the void to extend the distance, encountering the invisible walls of the Netherworld, issues immediately arose.
As for the Yin Spirits scattered in all directions...
He couldn’t help shaking his head.
In these two days, he hadn’t felt the return of the Spiritual Seed’s aura, suggesting they probably survived. But as for exactly where they ended up and whether the surrounding environment was suitable for survival, he had no idea.
"I can only wish them luck," he said.
They had come together in desperation to struggle for life, and their gathering was accidental, so their dispersal was unavoidable.
"It’s just a pity to have lost Old Ghost Shen."
"An old ghost of over three hundred years, he must have mastered many Secret Curses and Dharma, and he knew many secrets of the Netherworld. It’s a shame I didn’t get to extract much from him during our time in Nether Demon Heaven."
His thoughts were racing, but his hands continued to move.
After confirming there were no significant dangers using the Truthful Listening Technique again, he erected the small Three Talents Method Prohibition to block out light.
The already concealed thatched cottage amongst the woods was suddenly replaced by a giant rock.
After setting up the Five Ghosts paper figures to stand guard, he lay in the rocking chair, basking in the sun and resting with his eyes closed.
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Having lived in trepidation in the Nether Demon Heaven for nearly two years, although it was quite safe to hide in Thousand Lanterns City, that place was after all a flawed sanctuary. If it weren’t for the use of Soul-Attracting Lamps to simulate the changes in light, just the disruption of the day-night rhythm alone would have caused him great trouble.
Now finally back in the Netherworld, he vowed to rest for a few days first.
...
As the days passed, the desolate mountains and wild ridges were cold and lonely. But Chen Mu lacked for neither food nor drink, and he was safe and unthreatened, which made him appreciate the comfort in it.
This day, he slept until the sky was bright, just as usual. After freshening up a bit, he sat down at the doorway with a bowl of Yellow Bud Rice and blood filament fish porridge made from the catches of the Nether Demon Heaven, on a small wooden chair, basking in the Netherworld’s uniquely chilly sun, while eating and glancing over the gray walls.
At this point, there wasn’t much to see, it was more out of habit.
He had just over twelve hundred White Jade Coins left on him, all the Secret Techniques on the side of Qi Cultivation practitioners were of no use to him, useless even to look at.
Most of the Secret Techniques on his True Form of the Heavenly Demon were already practiced to their peak, including the Jade Gate Curse, which he had pushed to the limit before leaving the Nether Demon Heaven. Only the Netherworld Guide Secret Technique was left to be practiced.
Fortunately, reaching Perfection with the Secret Techniques did not mean the end. For instance, the Safe Heart Sutra and the Three Paths Curse, although they no longer awarded him experience points, they allowed the continuous harvesting of weak water, making the Divine Fetus of the True Form of the Heavenly Demon more perfect.
"It’s just a bit slow," he said.
"Another day of missing those numerous Yin Spirits."
Back in the Netherworld, with the aura of the River of Oblivion all around, the efficiency of the Three Paths Curse and the Safe Heart Sutra skyrocketed, but it seemed somewhat insufficient compared to his time in the Nether Demon Heaven.
Back then, there were five or six thousand Yin Spirits in Thousand Lanterns City, and with their chanting of the Three Paths Curse to assist him, the speed was as fast as riding a rocket.
"What a pity," Chen Mu said with a look of regret.
"What if... I catch some Yin Spirits and send them into Thousand Lanterns City?" A tempting thought suddenly appeared.
"No, no, no, this Heavenly Demon Spirit Seed seems quite unconventional no matter how you look at it. It was a last resort in the Nether Demon Heaven. If I randomly bestow Spiritual Seeds to Yin Spirits now that I’m back in the Netherworld, that would definitely be an evil and crooked path." Chen Mu shook his head repeatedly: "I am a good person, I wouldn’t do such a thing!"
Thinking this way, he looked up to see the Five Ghosts little paper figurines herding a tall and a short Yin Spirit into the Three Talents Method Prohibition.
Instinctively tense, Chen Mu spurred the Yama Emperor’s Command, and, whoosh, he stuffed the Heavenly Demon Spirit Seeds into the mouths of the two Yin Spirits.
"Speak! How did you find this place? Who’s pulling the strings behind you? Are you trying to harm me?!"
The two Yin Spirits just opened their mouths, looking utterly dumbfounded.
...
"So, you are underlings of some Ghost King with a single horn, here to investigate the meteor from a few days ago?"
People, or rather ghosts, lingering around this remote wilderness? This could be trouble.
Chen Mu’s face turned solemn.
"Just the two of you?" Chen Mu asked, frowning.
The tall, long-faced Yin Spirit did not dare to hide anything: "In total, twenty of us came in two groups. We split into pairs and searched in all directions. Soon after we arrived nearby, we were captured by your paper ghost soldiers and brought here."
Chen Mu spared no effort in conserving his mana, immediately activating the Truthful Listening Technique. @@novelbin@@
Sounds within a twenty-mile radius flooded his ears, and a vague black and white image emerged in his mind. Indeed, he discovered more than ten people moving and searching in different directions.
"Who is that single-horned Ghost King?" Chen Mu continued to ask.
"The mountains here are called Da Qing Mountain, and the single-horned Ghost King Shang Yang is the lord of this mountain." The short, round-faced Yin Spirit also hurriedly explained: "It’s rumored he was once a general of Qingyang City, but he was ostracized and suppressed by others. In a fit of anger, he renounced Qingyang City, took control of these mountains, and built a city among them."
"The two of us are part of the Qingshan City patrol battalion."
"A few days ago, a meteor fell from the sky. Concerned that new Strange Demons might enter the Netherworld, our lord sent us to investigate and prevent any major disasters."
A city lord?
And he had been a general before?
That could be problematic.
If he could be a general, he must be in the Divine Fetus realm. If he exposed himself to the other party, the outcome might not look so good.
"I only wanted to rest for a few days and not stir up trouble," Chen Mu muttered to himself, activating the Truthful Listening Technique once more, immediately locking onto the remaining eighteen Yin Spirit soldiers.
"Looks like I’ll have to turn you into one of us first."
Yama Emperor’s Command!
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