“Abyss, Abyss of the Nether Spirits! Meow!” Immortal Lingzhi yelped in fear with his eyes closed. He was so terrified that he couldn’t stop shuddering.
Xiao Chen reached out and caught Immortal Lingzhi with his psychokinesis. “Leopard Cat Spirit! You know something, don’t you? Tell me how to leave this place!”
“N-No… I know nothing!” Immortal Lingzhi kept shaking his head out of fear.
Suddenly, a spectral silhouette formed out of black fog attacked them at a startling speed. A frigid aura instantly shrouded the place as sinister hissing resounded endlessly.
“Scram!” Xiao Chen yelled.
He slammed his palm into the silhouette, which screeched like a wailing ghost upon contact. Hearing such a noise in such a cold, sinister night made him shiver and his scalp tingle.
“Me-meow! I smell death!”
Shaking out of fear, Immortal Lingzhi leaped into Xiao Chen’s embrace. He exposed only his head and paws as he carefully scanned its surroundings.
A malefic gust of wind rose as spectral silhouettes emerged from all directions. A deathly aura swiftly enveloped the area for a hundred miles, making them feel chest pains and stuffiness. Even breathing became difficult. The strange voice coming from under the ground spoke once again, “The living who trespasses on the Forbidden Land must leave their soul behind…”
“Run!”
Without a second thought, Xiao Chen unsheathed his Unsullied Immortal Sword, cleaved an exit, and stormed out of the place. The body of his sword was emanating a divine white glow that prevented sinister spirits from coming close. The only problem was that the three of them couldn’t leave the area no matter how much they ran.
The deathly aura repeatedly condensed. Excessive inhalation of this aura would surely decrease a living being’s lifespan. Qingluan and Ziyun’er had turned white in the face and their midbrows were tinted black. The three of them were running for their lives when a secluded and sinister footpath appeared in front of them.
The strange-looking footpath was radiating a moss-green glow. Its end wasn’t in sight as if it led to a different dimension altogether.
Behind them, the spirits pursued them relentlessly and the deathly aura rapidly converged. Xiao Chen knew he couldn’t worry about where the path led to. “Follow me!” he yelled as he ran inside.
They traveled down the path for a good thirty minutes before they suddenly walked into a trap and fell. Darkness descended on them and the earth quaked. They landed somewhere unknown amid the tumbling of crushed stones.
“Is, is everyone fine?” Xiao Chen asked.
He gathered his True Energy into a ball of white light and illuminated their surroundings.
Fortunately, except for clothes ripped by thistles and thorns, Qingluan and Ziyun’er were both fine. The Immortal Lingzhi’s eyes gleamed. “Me-meow! What bloody place are we in now?”
Xiao Chen immediately narrowed his eyes and found a secluded, unassuming tunnel. He could faintly sense divine aura coming from the other end of the tunnel. The deathly aura from outside couldn’t reach them here.
“Hey, Leopard Cat Spirit! Do you know where we are?”
The Immortal Lingzhi coughed and landed on the ground. He crossed his paws in front of his chest and raised his head, looking as smug as a child that had won an award. “Youngster, I don’t mind helping you if you’ll respectfully seek my help. Besides, I’m not a Leopard Cat Spirit. I have a name. I’m called…”
Suddenly, the tiniest bit of movement came from the end of the tunnel. Xiao Chen’s expression turned solemn. He immediately gestured them to keep quiet and said, “Shh! Don’t speak.”
“Kid! Don’t you know it’s very rude to interrupt someone?!” the Immortal Lingzhi jumped in annoyance.
The movement disappeared. Xiao Chen looked at the Immortal Lingzhi. “Fine, you can continue.”
The Immortal Lingzhi coughed. “I’m called…”
Out of the blue, a strange noise drifted from the end of the tunnel. The Immortal Lingzhi lost his temper. “Who is it? What an annoyance!”
“Cough, cough…” Right then, a wizened coughing sound came from the end of the path. The Immortal Lingzhi was so frightened that all the hair on his body stood on their end. It leaped back onto Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes and peered into the tunnel but detected no apparent danger. He turned to look at the Immortal Lingzhi on his shoulder and sneered. “People say leopard cats are brave but how is the slightest breeze scaring a Leopard Cat Spirit like you out of your mind?”
The Immortal Lingzhi retorted furiously, “I said I’m not a Leopard Cat Spirit! Listen well! I’m called Zhiluan! Zhiluan, alright?!”
Xiao Chen ignored him. He looked at the tunnel again and said, “Let’s go and take a look.” He then entered the path.
Zhiluan’s voice trembled out of fear. “Ki-kid, what are you doing? Don’t be stupid! There’s definitely a scary monster inside! It’ll be as scary as that Phantom King outside!”
Xiao Chen frowned. “Phantom King?” Sure enough, this Leopard Cat Spirit knew something about this place.
In a trembling voice, Zhiluan said, “Phantom King is the scariest existence in the Forest of Illusory Moon. I don’t know how long has he been around; he’s already here the moment I gained sentience. Moreover, he has been trying to eat me all this while.”
Xiao Chen shook his head with a smile. No wonder this Immortal Lingzhi was such a coward. It was all thanks to the Phantom King. Seeing his mocking expression, Zhiluan said indignantly, “Kid, what expression is that? This great one will have you know that the Phantom King will also eat you up if he sees you!”
Suddenly, a trembling voice came from the end of the tunnel. “This little leopard cat is right. That’s the Phantom King outside…”
Xiao Chen’s expression solemnified and said in the direction of the voice, “Forgive my disturbance, Esteemed Senior.”
The voice didn’t reply. Xiao Chen entered the tunnel and found a grand palace awaiting him on the other end. There were memorial tablets of deities of the Heaven Realm from the previous Mythology Era all over the place, such as Fuxi, Nvwa, and Farmer God.
Xiao Chen was certain that the voice earlier came from this place. Sure enough, he soon found a weak remnant of Soul Power under a small shrine.
“Young ones, you shouldn’t have trespassed on the Forbidden Land…” a wizened voice suddenly came from under the shrine.
Zhiluan jumped in fright. “I, the, the great one, am here! What devil or demon are you to, to haunt us?!”
“Hehe, little leopard cat. Did the Phantom King try and eat you again?”
Zhiluan stared wide-eyed at the shrine. It took a long time before he finally said, “Who, who are you? Tell me your name now! The great one can consider, consider sparing your life!”
“Hehe. More than a thousand years ago, hadn’t I rescued you when you were nearly eaten by the Phantom King?” Finally, a semi-illusory human figure emerged from under the shrine. With his snow-white hair and beard, the figure looked like he had witnessed all the vicissitudes of life.
“Meow!”
Zhiluan leaped onto Xiao Chen’s body. He pointed to the figure and said, “You! You vile b*stard! I just happened to pass by your battle with the Phantom King, but you used me as your shield and caused my magic power cultivation to reach a bottleneck! You b*stard, you dare say you saved me? Compensate me at once and I’ll forget your crime! Otherwise, the fury of the great one will rain down on you like a lightning strike from the Ninth Heaven…”
“Hehe. Had I not caught you, the Phantom King would’ve eaten you.”
“You! How dare you twist the truth! You obviously captured me to use as your shield…”
Zhiluan had more to say but Xiao Chen swiftly kicked him aside and saluted the semi-illusory figure. “Thank you for saving us earlier, Esteemed Senior. May I know who is this Phantom King that you speak of?”
“The Phantom King is born out of the Impure Qi of the Six Realms. He has such incredible magic power that I could only seal him under the Nether Spirit Pool at the expense of all my magic power and great injury to my Vital Soul’s Power. The seal is getting weaker. The Phantom King will be able to regain his freedom if he swallows the souls of thousands of living creatures…”
Xiao Chen was alarmed. This meant that the Phantom King was unrivaled. Didn’t those old fogies from the Daoist League of the Five Continents know about this terrifying existence in the Forest of Illusory Moon? To think they even made the cultivators train and undergo a qualification match in such a dangerous place.
But what he was most curious about now wasn’t the Phantom King but the strange palace in this place. There were even memorial tablets consecrating the Three Emperors too. What cultivator would worship a deity from the previous Mythology Era? This was surely unordinary. The mystery was thickening. He asked, “Esteemed Senior, why is there a palace here? Does it have something to do with the Three Emperors?”
The figure replied, “Correct. This is called the Three Emperors Palace, built to guard an ancient scroll. More than a thousand years ago, the Phantom King attacked this palace in hopes of engulfing my soul. We fought outside for three whole days. I ultimately used my Vital Soul’s Power and sealed him. But when I came back, I found the ancient scroll stolen…”
Turbulent emotions surged inside Xiao Chen. That ancient scroll again! Moreover, the scroll also mentioned the Three Emperors. He asked, “Do you know who stole the ancient scroll?”
The figure said, “The thief has exceptional cultivation beyond my power to defeat. I fear that he’s from the Heaven Realm.”
Someone from the Heaven Realm!
Xiao Chen was startled. As far as he could remember, the only person descended to the Human World was Qianyu Nishang. Did she steal the ancient scroll? But why? Just what was hidden inside the scroll?
The scroll was now halved. The Xianyong Sect had found one-half in the hand of an Immortal King’s skeleton bearing his Master’s aura. It was apparent that the ancient scroll was intricately linked to his Master. But what was the truth?
Suddenly, he felt a little weak and helpless. Every time he thought he had found traces of his Master, the clues would abruptly end. Then, out of the blue, a new clue would catch him unaware. It was as if there was a strange power at work, slowly ushering him toward an unknown finishing line.