MF-novel #265 - The Ghostly Immortals in the Netherworld
#265 - The Ghostly Immortals in the Netherworld
Chapter 264: Ghost Immortal Methods in the Underworld
This black-robed monster has a mysterious origin. Although severely injured, as a being born of innate energy, it possesses unique laws, and its strength is definitely beyond Zhang Chen's imagination.
Being able to forcibly open the passage between the two realms is already an inconceivable feat, reaching an unbelievable realm.
The two traveled through the Yellow Springs and entered the River of Forgetfulness. The black-robed monster waved its hand, and the bone ship floated from afar, landing directly at their feet.
Zhang Chen boarded the bone ship and noticed its abnormality. The entire bone ship was as white as jade, crafted from an unknown material, looking like the bones of a living creature.
"This bone ship is assembled using my own bones, plus unmelting bones salvaged from the depths of the River of Forgetfulness. It allows one to travel the River of Forgetfulness without sinking," the black-robed man said with pride.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen looked thoughtfully at the black-robed man, then at the bone ship beneath his feet. A pile of experience points appeared before his eyes.
So many experience points, so many that Zhang Chen's eyes couldn't look away.
【Experience Points + 100】
【Experience Points + 500】
【Experience Points + 300】
…
Zhang Chen walked through the cabin without making a sound. This small skiff actually yielded 200,000 experience points, making Zhang Chen's eyes go wide. If he could obtain this small boat, it would be equivalent to 200,000 free experience points every year.
However, now that he has subdued the black-robed monster, he can come here every year to collect these experience points.
Looking at the vast and boundless River of Forgetfulness, Zhang Chen felt a little strange. Logically speaking, the River of Forgetfulness's water is so miraculous, it should also drop experience points, but why doesn't it?
As soon as Zhang Chen's doubts arose, his golden finger provided the answer:
【Because the River of Forgetfulness belongs to a part of the world and is not a separate creation of heaven and earth, it will not drop experience points.】
This answer was impeccable, leaving Zhang Chen unable to find fault with it.
Zhang Chen put his hands in his sleeves, his eyes swept across the vast River of Forgetfulness, and asked the black-robed monster, "How long is this River of Forgetfulness?"
"The River of Forgetfulness originates from the Sea of Blood, runs through the entire Underworld, spreads across countless lesser worlds, and finally flows into the Land of Ruin. Its length is endless, running through the entire Underworld, and is a part of the Underworld's operation," the black-robed monster replied.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen was filled with emotion at the greatness of creation, and then asked, "Are there any living beings in the River of Forgetfulness?"
The black-robed monster shook his head: "Apart from the very few sacred beings born from the essence of the River of Forgetfulness, there are no living beings in the River of Forgetfulness. Because no matter what kind of creature, once it falls into the River of Forgetfulness, its primordial spirit and soul will be cleansed, all memories will be washed away, and the soul will turn into pure origin, and be reincarnated. Therefore, apart from innate sacred beings, it is impossible for life to be born in the River of Forgetfulness."
"All living beings in the mortal world who want to cross the River of Forgetfulness, ordinary beings need to cross the Bridge of Helplessness, while extraordinary beings need to rely on ferrymen to guide them. It's just that this Underworld has long been abandoned, its living beings have also perished, reincarnation has stopped, and no more souls from the outside world enter it, the River of Forgetfulness's water is also about to dry up. The entire Underworld has stopped operating and turned into a dead place. It can be said that the Underworld is dead," the black-robed monster said.
"Then what about you? What are you?" Zhang Chen looked at the black-robed man.
"Just an old fellow who died and was resurrected to eke out an existence, lost his memory, and forgot the past," the black-robed man sighed softly.
Hearing this, Zhang Chen fell silent. This dog thing answered impeccably, and he couldn't hear any useful information.
"How big is this Netherworld?" Zhang Chen asked.
He had other thoughts at this time, wondering if there were any Qi refining technique inheritance formulas left over from ancient times in the Netherworld, whether there were any organizations like the Ten Kings of Hell in the novels of his previous life, and whether he could explore them to see if he could obtain good fortune.
Especially the legendary location of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, he wondered if he could visit it. If there were any unexpected surprises, such as picking up a life-restoring technique or supernatural power, wouldn't that be a great profit?
Therefore, Zhang Chen was discreetly inquiring about news of the entire dark world, which were all places where he was very likely to obtain skills.
Not to mention anything else, if he could find the Six Paths of Reincarnation and move it back, wouldn't that be wonderful?
"The Netherworld is vast and boundless. Even in its heyday in the past, no one has ever explored the edge of the Netherworld. The size of the Netherworld is not fixed, but expands according to the number of living beings in the Yang world. If there are many living beings in the Yang world, the Underworld will become larger and can accommodate the souls of living beings after death. If the number of living beings in the Yang world decreases, the Underworld will also decrease," the black-robed monster replied.
"Are there any organizations managing the Netherworld?" Zhang Chen asked.
Hearing this, the black-robed monster nodded: "Perhaps there were in ancient times? I can't remember."
When it came to the key point, the other party began to be vague again, causing Zhang Chen to hate him inwardly.
"I don't know if there are any inheritances left by those immortal and divine figures in this Netherworld. If I can obtain one, it would be a great fortune," Zhang Chen asked tentatively, looking at the vast River of Forgetfulness.
"The secrets of cultivation are closely guarded secrets, who would pass them down? As for cultivation methods, the Underworld does have some, but those cultivation methods are only suitable for Ghost Immortals who have lost their physical bodies. It's useless for you to obtain them, unless you abandon your physical body and slit your own throat with a knife," the black-robed monster replied from the side.
Hearing the words 'Ghost Immortal' method, Zhang Chen's heart moved. According to his deduction, the Ghost Immortal method is actually the divine soul method of the Yang world, but there must still be differences, requiring him to carefully explore and distinguish them.
"Do you have any Ghost Immortal cultivation methods?" Zhang Chen asked curiously. He wanted to know the difference between the Ghost Immortal cultivation method and the divine soul cultivation method and the mana cultivation method of the Yang world.
The black-robed monster glanced at Zhang Chen, but was not stingy. Instead, he went to the corner of the boat and rummaged for a while, took out two black books, and threw them to Zhang Chen casually: "After I was severely injured by the monster in the blood lake in the past, in order to find a way to prolong my life, I traveled the entire Netherworld and picked up the Ghost Immortal's cultivation methods. These two are them, they are the best of the Ghost Immortal cultivation methods."
Zhang Chen took the books and saw that the entire book was as black as ink. There was no name on the cover of the book. It was a dozen pages thick and felt like cold metal to the touch, obviously not ordinary material.
Zhang Chen opened the first page of the book, and what came into view was a ferocious and terrifying ghost. The ghost seemed to be a living thing, constantly twisting and roaring in the book, baring its teeth at Zhang Chen, scaring Zhang Chen into a shiver, and almost throwing the book out of his hand.
"This book…?" Zhang Chen looked at the living evil spirit in the page, constantly struggling in the page, but unable to break through the shackles of the page, and couldn't help but ask in shock.
"This book is a unique heavenly scripture from the Netherworld, recording the true teachings of the Netherworld. To enable cultivators to comprehend the true meaning of the Asura Path, the person who created this method in the past refined an Asura King, using its skin as pages, blood as ink, and soul as illustrations. Only in this way can a vivid and wonderful way of imparting knowledge be formed, so that anyone who obtains this formula, as long as they concentrate on studying it, can obtain the mysteries within," the black-robed figure said with a sinister smile.
Zhang Chen heard this and looked at the Asura again, then opened the book. He saw that the second page was white text, engraved on the black paper, appearing very eerie and strange.
Zhang Chen kept flipping through the book, and countless true meanings poured into his heart. Zhang Chen quickly became immersed in it, and even the scenery of the Wangchuan River around him began to blur.
"The cultivation formula of the Asura Path is very different from the Divine Soul Path and Qi Refining formula cultivated in the Yang world. It can be said to be completely opposite," Zhang Chen thought to himself after reading the entire book, constantly comparing and contrasting, and gaining a lot of understanding.
Qi Refiners cultivate by using mana as the root, and mana nourishes the divine soul. The Yang God uses the energy of flesh and blood to nourish the divine soul, and then the divine soul collects the energy of heaven and earth, thus achieving the unity of heaven and man. However, the Asura Path emphasizes devouring souls, refining them with special secret methods. The more you devour, the more powerful you become, and eventually transform into an supreme Heavenly Asura, merging with the laws of the Netherworld.
While Zhang Chen was immersed in the mystery of the formula, he completely did not notice that the speed of the small boat had begun to increase continuously.
Unnoticeably, the small boat continued to accelerate, darting out hundreds of miles in a breath. The scenery around Zhang Chen's eyes gradually became blurred, and the heaven and earth and all things were scattered, turning into countless twisted particles in a trance.
After an unknown amount of time, the black-robed man's sinister voice sounded: "The Blood Lake has arrived." Then, suddenly, an indescribable stench poured into Zhang Chen's mouth and nose, as if Zhang Chen's soul had been defiled.
"Could it be that this black-robed monster is so bold as to try to plot against me?" Zhang Chen smelled the unpleasant stench, and felt that his Yuan Shen seemed to be contaminated, and was shocked.
Just as he wanted to use the Six-Syllable Mantra to counterattack and suppress the strange power, he saw the movement of the small boat stop, and then a piece of scarlet came into view.
It was a scarlet sea of blood, which could not be seen to the end at a glance.
The boundless sea of blood reflected the dark sky of the Netherworld into a blood red color, and the stench burst out from the sea of blood, constantly defiling all things in the world, defiling Zhang Chen's soul.
Looking at the bottom of the boat again, the sea of blood and the Wangchuan River were clearly separated, truly not interfering with each other.
"This is the Blood Lake," the black-robed man said, looking at the Blood Lake in front of him, with a hint of emotion in his eyes.
"This is clearly a sea of blood, and you're telling me this is just a Blood Lake?" Zhang Chen said unhappily.
Unexpectedly, the black-robed man said very seriously: "What you see now is just a small pond left after the Sea of Blood was constantly dried up in the past. You simply cannot imagine how vast the real Sea of Blood is. Infinite worlds are bred in that Sea of Blood, and the scene of such vast waves is simply beyond your imagination."
The black-robed man's voice was full of reminiscence, as if he was missing something.
Zhang Chen looked at the vast sea of blood, the seawater flowing like viscous blood, with a black color in the red blood, just like blood stains, making people feel secretly horrified when they saw it.
Even the smell emanating from the sea of blood had already made Zhang Chen dizzy, and his soul seemed to be covered with a layer of red light. The red light had a unique power of erosion, constantly eroding Zhang Chen's soul, as if it wanted to dissolve Zhang Chen's soul.
The Qinglian, the foundation of mana at the center of Zhang Chen's eyebrows, burst out with rays of green light, but it could not stop the erosion of the blood-red aura. Zhang Chen's mana was contaminated by the blood-red aura, and a piece of green lotus petal quietly fell and collapsed, devoured by the blood-red aura.
At this time, Zhang Chen realized that something was wrong. He had only absorbed a mouthful of the air from the sea of blood, but it had actually polluted his mana and eroded his soul. He was afraid that in a short time, his cultivation would be abolished, and his soul would be dissolved.
"Crap, I've been plotted against," Zhang Chen was shocked.
At this moment, the black-robed monster suddenly turned to look at Zhang Chen, and laughed loudly, his voice full of triumph: "Boy, you're just a Qi Refining ant, and you dare to breathe the aura of the Sea of Blood? You really don't know the immensity of heaven and earth. Do you know the origin of this Sea of Blood? This Sea of Blood gathers the blood of all the dead powerhouses from the beginning of heaven and earth to the present. Its blood turns into blood stains and settles in the Sea of Blood, which can defile all things in heaven and earth. Not to mention you, even if an existence who has attained the Dao Fruit comes, they will be invaded by the Sea of Blood when they come into contact with it, let alone you, a mere ant? You even dare to control me and attack Old Ancestor me? You are really turning the world upside down and don't know the immensity of heaven and earth. Old Ancestor, I will teach you a retribution."
"Aren't you afraid of my forbidden technique?" Zhang Chen glared at the black-robed monster, his body seemed to be covered with a layer of red gauze. He cursed himself in his heart for guarding against it in every possible way, being careful and cautious everywhere, but he was still plotted against by this old fellow in front of him.
He wanted to mobilize his mana to activate the Six-Syllable Mantra, but at this time, his mana was soaked in blood stains, and he could not mobilize his mana at all.
"Hehe, even if your forbidden technique is powerful, so what? As long as your person dies, is there any need to pursue the existence of that forbidden technique?" The black-robed man smiled coldly.
Zhang Chen heard this and glared at the black-robed man, his whole body trembling with anger.
"Boy, Old Ancestor, I will give you a chance now. As long as you unlock my forbidden technique, I will spare your life and let you be my mount, how about that?" The black-robed man looked at Zhang Chen's miserable state and let out a burst of strange laughter.
Zhang Chen looked at the black-robed man, and when he heard the other party's words, his eyes moved involuntarily. Although the other party didn't care on the surface, he still wanted to unlock the forbidden technique of the Six-Syllable Mantra.
"Hehe, if I die, you will live with the Six-Syllable Mantra forever. With my Six-Syllable Mantra mixed into your soul, your soul will not be able to operate as you wish, and you will never be able to attain the highest realm. If you take action to save me now, I will lift the curse for you, and all our grievances will be written off, how about that?" Zhang Chen looked at the black-robed man with his eyes.
But he heard the black-robed man sneer: "You are simply daydreaming, just a mere Six-Syllable Mantra, if you die and your Dao disappears, without your blessing and anchoring, I will naturally unlock this Six-Syllable Mantra."
The black-robed man looked at Zhang Chen coldly: "Since you don't know how to appreciate favors, then you can't blame me."
While saying that, the black-robed monster gently beckoned to Zhang Chen's arms, and the jade dew flew out and fell into his hand, and then the black-robed monster directly kicked Zhang Chen into the sea of blood.