1233 Arrive and See You Ji Again

Numerous warships flew through the boundless space. They were incredibly fast and making loud noises. Each ship was made with tough natural materials, which made them look ferocious and powerful.

These warships came from the nearby worlds who were here to take part in the Netherworld's Tournament of the Great Path. 

There were many worlds around the Netherworld, and dozens of them were able to participate in the tournament, including Winged Man Valley and West Little Buddhism Realm, which were among the few other prominent worlds. These little worlds all had many Great Saints, and some were even protected by top Great Saints, so naturally, they were above the ordinary.

The Immortal Tree was once a top Great Saint, but unfortunately, the realm had gone through a downfall, and it was currently recovering and still far from returning to its peak form. 

These small worlds were all situated around the Netherworld, and each had reserves that were no weaker than it. However, the Nether Prison had the nine clans, which made it slightly stronger than them, so these small worlds had been showing their respect. Otherwise, given Nether Prison's grumpiness, it might have attacked them with warships. When it was at its prime, its warships had almost visited all the small worlds around it. Back then, it wanted to unify the whole surroundings and form the Great Netherworld. Today's Nether Prison was not so aggressive anymore, though. It was troubled by both internal strife and foreign aggression, and it was no longer as fierce as it was. Even so, a lean camel was still bigger than a horse. It was still not a power that these little worlds could defeat.

Warships ripped through space. The arrays on them spun rapidly, making a rumbling noise that sounded like thunder.

Zhu Yan and his companions, who were meditating in the spirit boat, woke with a start by the noise and opened their eyes in shock. They walked out of the cabin and saw Bu Fang and Nethery, who were eating on the deck.

'Why are they still eating? They have been eating nonstop all the way!'

Because the cabin was closed, they couldn't smell the food. Otherwise, they would be enveloped by the food's fragrance and couldn't concentrate on their meditating. They took deep breaths, and the aroma immediately filled their nostrils. 

"It smells so delicious…" Mo Yan praised.

Nethery glanced up. The look in her eyes turned sharp instantly, and her hands moved faster. The remaining few pieces of meat were quickly picked up and stuffed into her mouth. With bulged cheeks, she stared at Mo Yan and said, "There's no more…"

That left Mo Yan and the others speechless. Were they the kind of people who would fight her for food?

Rumble!

"These… These are warships?!" Zhu Yan swallowed and sucked in a cold breath. He had never seen such huge warships before. They looked like ancient monsters to him. 

On one warship, someone leaned against the railing and looked down at them. "Hey, where does this little boat come from? Are they here to take part in the tournament too? Or are they here to make us laugh?" He chuckled, his voice filled with unconcealed disdain.

There was one more warship on the other side of the spirit boat, which was as tall as the first one and emanated a terrible pressure that made Zhu Yan and his companions suffocate.

"I think they come from the Immortal Cooking Realm… It is said that the realm has recovered now and even managed to stop the Nether Prison's invasion, but it seems they are not as formidable as we might have thought. Look, they can't even get themselves a warship." 

There were also people leaning on the railing of the second warship and looking down at the spirit boat. They were all sneering as if they were looking at a joke.

Zhu Yan and his companions flushed with embarrassment.

"Dammit! They are too arrogant…"

Bu Fang remained calm, however. "Where do these people come from?" he asked curiously, then put a piece of meat in his mouth and chewed.

Nethery, with her cheeks bulged, glanced at the warships and said in a vague voice, "The one on the left comes from Wandering Soul Realm, a small world specializes in cultivating souls. It was almost taken by Nether Prison. Luckily, one of its Great Saints broke through and became a top Great Saint, and he managed to stop the invasion.

"The one on the right comes from the Vajra Realm, a world inhabited by experts who specialize in the cultivation of fleshly bodies. They attain the Great Path with their fleshly bodies." 

Nethery once stayed in Earth Prison, so she knew a lot about the small worlds with top Great Saints. Nether Prison's policy of invasion was not to invade small worlds with top Great Saints. 

Zhu Yan and his companions knew nothing about these, though, and they all gasped when they heard the term top Great Saints. They had no idea how strong those top Great Saints were, but they knew that Realm Lord Di Tai, who was the strongest man in the Immortal Cooking Realm, was just a Little Saint.

"A top Great Saint is about at the same level as the Immortal Tree," Bu Fang glanced at Zhu Yan and said. 

'The Immortal Tree? The symbol of the Immortal Cooking Realm? If the tree dies, the realm will die, and if the tree grows, the realm will grow… A top Great Saint is as strong as the Immortal Tree?'

After the people on the warships had enough fun, the arrays on their ships rumbled, and they were gone the next instant.

Zhu Yan and his companions were very aggrieved. They could feel the disdain in those people's words, but they couldn't fight back. 

"That's fine… Our boat may be small, but that doesn't mean we lack strength. Once we arrive in Earth Prison, we will prove to them that the Immortal Cooking Realm is formidable!" Zhu Yan consoled his companions. As the leader of the team, he felt it was his duty to motivate them. 

Mo Yan and Fang Yu nodded.

Bu Fang glanced at them and sighed inwardly. 'They're really young and naive…' He didn't say anything to demoralize them, though. It was a good thing to be motivated. He was just worried that they would lose all their spirits before they even reached Earth Prison. 

Boom!

Zhu Yan, his fist clenched, felt that his companions were encouraged by his words, and that put a smile on his face. However, a rumbling noise rang out beside them again as another warship zoomed past them, stirring up a cloud of dust that enveloped them and making their tiny spirit boat sway violently. Their faces grew unsightly instantly.

"Dammit! Do these people know how to control their ships?! Can't they see our spirit boat?! Are they blind?!" Zhu Yan growled.

Even then, many other warships came up from behind and zoomed past them. People on some of the ships let out sharp roars while making obscene gestures at them.

Zhu Yan flew into a rage, and he leaned against the edge of the spirit boat, roaring back at those people.

Looking at Zhu Yan, Bu Fang and Nethery couldn't help shaking their heads, thinking that he was too young after all. There was a barbecue grill in front of them, on which chunks of meat were spitting grease and giving off delicious fragrance. During the leisurely journey on the spirit boat, activities like barbecues were the most satisfying.

The delicious aroma filled the air. When they sniffed it, Zhu Yan and his companions, whose throats were dry from all the shouting, felt hungry instantly. They swallowed and glanced at the meat on the grill. A few moments later, they, too, produced their own barbecue grill and began cooking on the deck.

Time passed. After sailing for two days and two nights, the spirit boat finally approached Earth Prison. 

The ship swayed after it passed the barrier, then turned into a beam of light that sped across the sky. The vast expanse of land in Earth Prison amazed the juniors on the boat. Standing on the deck with his hands clasped behind his back and looking at the world, Bu Fang's expression remained unchanged. Nethery, on the other hand, had a hint of excitement in her black eyes. After all, Earth Prison could be considered her home.

Zhu Yan and his companions had not visited any other world before, and they were marveled by Earth Prison's rich spiritual energy, vast land, and all the strange plants. Even Xuanyuan Xiahui, who had been meditating throughout the entire journey, walked out of the cabin, took a deep breath, and soaked up the vastness brought by Earth Prison.

After some time, rumblings could be heard from behind them. They turned around and immediately saw many warships slamming through Earth Prison's barrier, emanating formidable pressure.

Suddenly, a loud boom rang out in the sky, and a colossal black metal warship came slowly and floated in front of the spirit boat. Zhu Yan quickly stopped the boat.

Tap, tap. 

A figure gradually emerged on the deck of the warship, looking down at them. It was a beautiful woman with a heroic air, clad in a black suit of armor that gleamed magnificently. As soon as she showed up, she waved a hand at the boat, and immediately, it soared and fell on the warship's deck.

Zhu Yan and his companions took deep breaths. They thought this warship should be the guide sent by Earth Prison. They walked out of the spirit boat and saw the woman in black armor, and when they saw her face, they gasped.

'The f*ck?! What happened?' 

The few juniors' eyes went wide as they looked at the guide, then at Nethery.

'Why do they look so similar?!'

Bu Fang couldn't help but twitch his lips as he looked at the woman. He didn't expect that they would send her here, but he thought she should have learned the news that Nethery was coming to Earth Prison with him.

You Ji carried a broadsword on her back, and there was a fierce look on her face. She glanced at the crowd, then rested her eyes on Nethery. When she saw Nethery's gray-green hair, her pupils constricted.

"What happened to your hair? Did the curse break out?!" You Ji exclaimed. Then, she took a deep breath and disappeared. When she reappeared, she was standing at Nethery's side, touching her gray-green hair with a trembling hand. The look in her eyes suddenly grew violent. The next moment, the broadsword on her back jumped into the air, produced a terrible sound, and swept toward Bu Fang. 

That startled Zhu Yan and the others. Their expressions changed drastically as they trembled all over. The pressure exuding from the woman had pinned them to the spot. It was a horrible aura, and it seemed to them that it was even scarier than that of Realm Lord Di Tai.

'Who is this woman?!'

Bu Fang's expression remained unchanged, however. He just stood in place with his hands clasped behind his back. The sword came to him the next instant, but abruptly stopped an inch from the tip of his nose. His hair waved in the sharp sword energy.

Nethery grabbed You Ji's hand, frowned, and kept shaking her head. "Sis, this is not Bu Fang's fault." 

"I've asked him to take good care of you, but he had failed to do that," You Ji said coldly.

"The curse had been suppressed. I'm fine."

You Ji gave Nethery a deep look, then glanced at Bu Fang. Only then did she retract her aura and pull back her broadsword.

"You are the representatives of the Immortal Cooking Realm for the tournament, aren't you? I'm the guide who will lead you to the arena. I'm one of the Earth Prison Overlords, You Ji," she said coolly, glancing at Zhu Yan and his companions. "How weak."

After introducing herself, she didn't say anything else.

Zhu Yan and the others nodded, trembling. 'So she's an Earth Prison Overlord… No wonder she's so domineering.' 

The next moment, You Ji took a step forward, turned into a black beam of light, and shot out of the warship to hover in the sky, facing the warships that had passed the barrier into Earth Prison in the distance.

"Attention! All warships will follow behind Earth Prison's guide ship! Anyone who wanders around without permission will be executed on the spot!" You Ji said in a cold voice. 

As soon as she said that, the broadsword on her back fell into her hand, and she pointed it at the warships in the distance. At the same time, monstrous sword energy exploded out of her body.

Even then, plumes of aura thrust out from those ships, trying to fight against her aura. 

You Ji narrowed her eyes and made a slash with the broadsword, sending a huge sword beam toward them.

The people in those ships fought back, but after a while, they all coughed blood.

No one else dared to complain after that. 

You Ji returned to the warship with a cold face. The ship rumbled and began to sail through the void. 

Zhu Yan and his companions were already filled with admiration for her. They thought this was what an expert should behave. Of course, they were also very curious about the relationship between You Ji, Bu Fang, and Nethery. At this moment, the so-called Great Demon King had become a weak man who depended on a woman. If Nethery hadn't stopped her just now, he would have been cut in half by this Earth Prison Overlord. 

The so-called Great Demon King was nothing special, after all.

The Earth Prison's warship was faster than the spirit boat. After flying for a long time and traveling hundreds of thousands of miles, it finally stopped.

The air rang with the sound of a rushing river, which sounded like bestial roars.

Zhu Yan and his companions leaned against the ship's railing and looked down. They saw a river of blood filled with white skulls, and countless broken souls were wailing in it. The sight of it sent shivers through them, and they felt as if their souls were about to be sucked away by the river. For a moment, they were enveloped by fear.

Earth Prison was indeed a horrible place! Even a river here was so frightening!

The river was bleeding, shrouded in death and destruction… 

The preliminary round of the Netherworld's Tournament of the Great Path would be held on the banks of this bloody river.