509 The Temple

Meng Qi observed his surroundings as he slowly flew over several canyons, trying to find creatures like mice and bats. Unfortunately, he found not even a hint of life besides the dense red mist, bloody rocks, and twisted plants. It was so quiet that it felt like the netherworld.

"I can't turn into a mouse here. I'll be discovered at once..." His eyes swept past the bottomless crevice as he finally made his way toward the fifth gorge to the east, the location of the former capital of Bomi!

He sank into the increasingly damp red mist and went down along the rock wall. From time to time, he would see dome-like buildings entwined with black vines. The buildings had weathered through the passing of time and appeared full of vicissitudes.

Seeing this, he suspected the capital had been built on a land that was purposefully caved in but not directly cleaved in half. Otherwise, there would not be houses built onto the rock walls.

The deeper he flew downward, the quieter it became. He had a feeling that heaven and earth had abandoned this place. He almost suspected that there was no longer any life here if not for the stubborn growth of plants like Nether Pearly Grass and Red Soul Ginseng. It would have looked like the emergence of the Nine Serenities.

The gorge gave him the feeling that it was a bottomless abyss as he could not see clearly through the thick red mist. It was, in fact, true. His feet had yet to find ground even after flying downward for a long time. However, he saw an increasing concentration of buildings on the rock walls and they became more lavish the deeper he went. It seemed as if he had reached the palace!

He felt a sudden chill and saw a team of Nether Soldiers emerging from the rolling red mist under his feet. They were dressed in either black armors or white robes. Looking steadily forward, he placed his feet perpendicular to the rock wall and began running upward.

Everything was silent without even the rustling sound of wind. Meng Qi watched as the soldiers left the area.

"It's been a day..." Meng Qi thought.

Just then, he shuddered as he felt the chill turning even colder. The hairs on his body stood up on their ends. He felt a strong sense of danger surging.

He drew his sword without giving it a second thought!

Eight Nine Mysteries was apt at avoiding disasters. Its awareness of danger was far stronger than that of most Peerless Godly Kungfu!

He had just brandished Flowing Fire, allowing bursting red light to shine in front of him, when twisted shadows began to surround him, carrying malevolence and bitter resentment with them. The shadows exuded a dense aura so sinister that one could not help getting goosebumps and feeling their scalps numb.

With the red mist clouding his senses, Meng Qi's sword did not touch the countless shadows that were charging at him. Rather, he aimed the tip of his sword downward with its flame suppressed. Carrying a hint of Zen Philosophies, the move did not contain any heat.

The shadows turned even darker and more appeared as the faint golden glow emerged, continually sizzling and exuding white smoke.

The tip of his sword finally made contact with something tangible – a pitch-black palm!

The hand, with black gas rolling in the center of the palm, came attacking him without sound or warning. The surrounding rock walls corroded along with the force and fall to the ground, piece after piece.

The sword and palm met each other, causing Flowing Fire to erupt into flames like the detonation of a star at close range. The radiance was dazzling and scorching, its heat spreading in all directions to melt the rock walls and steam the growing eastern St. Paul's wort.

Boom!

Explosion sounds resonated in the air in succession as rays of light burst through the Devil Qi to illuminate the place. It was like a scorching sun suddenly descending before one's eyes, eliminating all shadows in a flash!

The assailant narrowed his eyes subconsciously as if he could not withstand such bright sunlight.

"Merciless Tyrant?" Meng Qi took advantage of the assailant's force to move behind him, thrusting his sword at the latter's back.

Sunshine spilled everywhere, illuminating all corners. Its changes were endless, sometimes twisting and sometimes reversing. They were so unpredictable that they could not be understood.

Clang!

Meng Qi's sword cut straight at a steel fork that had emerged out of nowhere.

The steel fork was constantly changing as if it had turned into a boundless, infinite swamp. Once the fork caught onto something, it would hold on tightly to it. The more the object struggled, the deeper it would fall until it was swallowed whole.

However, the sword hit right at the pointed end of the fork, abruptly stopping its upcoming changes, stopping the spreading swamp!

Meng Qi had felt cold all over during their exchanges of blows. His Vital Spirit had been dizzy and seemed as if it was trying to dive toward the steel fork, ready to be swallowed by it.

Had he not been alert in advance and sensed the attack, he might have been severely injured!

The sword and steel fork collided, causing a flaring of sunshine. Meng Qi's body sank in an odd, mysterious manner and unexpectedly escaped the follow-up attack by two opponents. He then disappeared into the red mist.

The attackers flew downward, but with the red mist blocking their senses, they ultimately lost track of Meng Qi's breath.

Rather than being cleanly vertical, the rock walls had a certain slope to its surface. The two attackers landed on its protruding surface and searched the ruined buildings overrun by weeds.

"He's not here," said an utterly parched voice. It belonged to Merciless Tyrant.

"He sure runs fast." The person next to Merciless Tyrant had a black robe draped over his shoulders and a jade-like black steel fork in his hands. His voice was downcast and gloomy as if there was a vortex hidden in the sound. If one were weak, merely hearing his voice would cause one to lose their soul. He was none other than Slayer Yaksh.

Merciless Tyrant sneered. "It's all thanks to this damned bloody mist! How could he have escaped from us so easily otherwise?"

"His strength is pretty commendable; it's a pretty difficult task." said Slayer Yaksh.

Merciless Tyrant nodded. "I wouldn't have tried to take advantage of him if not for the fact that he's new to Bomi and doesn't know the conditions here. See the result? He escaped even when we're working together."

"It seems that he hasn't demonstrated his full strength yet. I'm afraid he's not weaker than any of us." Slayer Yaksh could sense that Meng Qi did not have the desire to kill. The latter had simply run because he was afraid of another ambush in that unknown situation.

"Forget it. With his guard up, there's no way we can use the Nether Soldiers to follow him anymore. We should be attending to our official business." Merciless Tyrant did not allow his emotions to cloud his judgment.

In a domed building not far away from the two of them, a fist-sized scorched-black stone sat amid the vines. 'It' was listening to them talk with relish.

"Their understanding of the Nether Soldiers is indeed deeper compared to other Exterior masters... But what's their official business?" Meng Qi, who had transformed himself into a rock, eavesdropped on their conversation.

This was a dangerous place to be. Merciless Tyrant and Slayer Yaksh were both old foxes who had been Exterior masters for years. They had no shortage of life-preserving means. Them working together would present a very real threat to his life. Meng Qi decided to wait for them to separate before finding an opportunity to ambush any of them. He would investigate their secret organization from there, and find Yang Zhenchan accordingly.

Merciless Tyrant walked to a temple-like building on the slope. With a wave of his hand, vines fall to reveal a doorless entrance.

These vines had long been snapped yet for some unknown reason still retained their vitality. It prevented others from discovering the entrance located behind them.

Merciless Tyrant took out the divinatory plate of the Wang family and told Slayer Yaksh, "Excavate that area while I go in to explore by myself. If it's dangerous, inform Emperor of the Netherworld. If everything goes well, we'll split our gains in half!"

He felt that he could escape in time if there was any danger as long as he was careful enough.

"Emperor of the Netherworld..." The name felt foreign to Meng Qi.

He had never heard of the name from the information given by The Immortals, at least not in the list of Exterior masters hiding in Bomi.

Of course, The Immortals probably knew no more than half of what the Exterior masters in Bomi would know.

Slayer Yaksh said nothing and walked toward another building.

The building that he headed for was exactly the same as the temple that Merciless Tyrant had entered. The buildings were like twins, one Yin and the other Yang. It was as if they were two sides of the same thing.

Not long after Slayer Yaksh entered the temple, Merciless Tyrant also entered while carrying the divinatory plate. Meng Qi thought over it and decided to wait for a while before lifting his transformation. He prepared himself, reduced his breath, and quietly stepped into the temple that Merciless Tyrant said that he wanted to explore.

He realized that the temple was not far away from the entrance to Carefree Valley.

If Merciless Tyrant discovered anything, it would help Meng Qi in completing his serial tasks. If Merciless Tyrant came up empty-handed, it would give him a chance to ambush him when he was alone!

The temple was lined with white jade and cracks yet there was no growth of weed anywhere. There was only a thin layer of dust. It made the place look clean and neat, and it seemed to be shrouded by a strange power.

Meng Qi searched for a while before coming across an entrance heading downward through the crevice on the wall. The crevice, hidden behind a statue, seemed to have been created by accident as a result of a change in the terrains. He could see a faint light coming from inside the crevice and sensed the remains of Merciless Tyrant's breath.

Merciless Tyrant appeared to have not considered the possibility of someone following him but was on full alert, wary of danger. He had planned on eliminating his tracks when he was leaving, thus giving Meng Qi the ease of mind to follow him from afar, while not requiring to worry about being discovered or losing track of Merciless Tyrant.

However, he was not careless either. He kept his breath deeply hidden and slowly made his way forward while blending in with the shadows.

This was a long passage filled with forks. If he was not following Merciless Tyrant, he might need to spend an incredibly long time to find the right path.

Two Night-luminous Pearls were embedded in the walls in front of them, casting a faint and gloomy light.

The deeper they traveled downward, the thinner the red mist became. Meng Qi's sense of distance gradually recovered.

They walked for a while more before he heard a hissing sound in the air. He then stopped dead in his tracks.

"The divinatory plate of the Wang family is indeed useful..." The faint sound of Merciless Tyrant's delighted voice drifted to his ears.

The hissing sound turned even louder, yet everything suddenly fell into a dead silence!

The sound disappeared and Meng Qi also lost track of Merciless Tyrant. It was as if he had disappeared!

Meng Qi felt an inexplicable numbing on his scalp and his muscles tightened. The pores all over his body suddenly closed, and he felt an indescribable chill and sense of danger emerging in him.

Without even thinking about it, he flew backward instantly. He could no longer concern himself with hiding. It was as if there was a terrifying monster chasing after him.

Electric light flared as he turned into Green Thunder, rapidly flying away toward the far away exit.

His vision suddenly dimmed and all the Night-luminous Pearls lost their splendor. He felt objects that felt as heavy as water screens besiege him from all directions. They were invisible, sinister, and damp as if they were trying to drill into his body from every gap in his skin.

A faint golden glow appeared in a flash. Meng Qi felt his entire body being 'flooded' as if he was drowning. He wanted to move forward but the resistance was too great for him.

This sinister, damp feeling became more severe as each second passed!

He must not let himself think that he would get lucky!

He opened all the Aperture acupoints on his body, though he had never truly cultivated them. The stars were gleaming, the Golden Crow was flying, the Grand Sun was shining splendidly, and the primal chaos was a bottomless abyss. These were all displayed nearby, like dreams or illusions.

In the blink of an eye, they once again returned to his Aperture acupoints. Meng Qi's entire body turned dim and dark as if he did not exist in this world.

It was increasingly hard to cover his Nine Apertures as the horrible, terrifying feeling tried hard to penetrate his skin.

Just then, rays of sword radiance broke the darkness and cleaved through the primal chaos. The layers of 'sinister water screens' were slashed cleanly open!

Before they could close once again, Meng Qi grasped his opportunity and rushed out of the exit, whirling through the passage as Green Thunder.

Outside, the red mist had filled every corner of the temple. The intangible water seemed to be afraid of it and retreated slowly.

Meng Qi stared at the red mist shrouding the clean temple and felt as if he was revived.

Stealthily, he dashed out of the temple and once again transformed into the scorched-black stone to wait for Slayer Yaksh to come out. He truly did not wish to enter yet another temple after his experience earlier.

Slayer Yaksh stepped out soon after and waited for Merciless Tyrant in front of the other temple.

"You won't be able to wait for him..." Meng Qi was ready to make his move.

It was right then that he heard quiet sounds of footsteps coming from the temple as Merciless Tyrant reappeared in his senses.

"Impossible!" Meng Qi's heart was gripped by a strong tremor.

Merciless Tyrant was still dressed in his black robe, exuding thick Devil Qi. His frosty hair was scattered and his eyes were drooping.

Once again, Meng Qi felt an inexplicable chill in his body.