Chapter 1104 The Ancient Secret
The wisdom accumulated throughout the millennia of the Four Stars Sect's existence was tremendous and diverse. The number of top-class arsenals amounted to a few thousand, and there were also countless numbers of pill factories, weapon stockpiles, and resources. This was not counting those from the branches, divisions, and bases in different domains. All in all, there were probably hundreds of thousands of them. This was the number of assets owned by a super sect.
Even though Spokesperson Li could reallocate resources belonging to the headquarters of the Human Race and he had the elites assigned by the Heaven Wasteland Empire to assist him, the entire process of arranging, allocating, and reorganizing the Four Stars Sect's resources was a lengthy process. Furthermore, he would have to process its huge number of disciples who had surrendered and come up with a plan to fill the huge gaping hole left by the demise of the sect.
The monastery of the Four Stars Sect was directly annexed by the Human Race headquarters.
A new monastery of the sect was set up at another prime location within the Four Stars Domain. Everything had to be rebuilt from the ground up, and basically, it was impossible for the sect to regain its past glory if no amazing talent was produced from its ranks in the future.
Before Ye Qingyu went into seclusion, he told Spokesperson Li not to look for him if there were any matters pertaining to the Four Stars Sect left unresolved. As such, for the next six months, Ye Qingyu remained in isolation within [Guanlan Mountain Manor].
Six months later—
The crops and flowers that Ye Qingyu had planted in the manor had already grown and bloomed. A huge variety of fresh flowers could be seen in the flowerbeds, and the pond was filled with clear, fresh water and healthy looking fish. Many damaged yards, halls, and walls had already been completely restored.
The entire manor looked brand new.
Ye Qingyu had felt a bone-chilling wind blow through the main hall many times. It carried a strange aura and a concealed, chilly power. As it blew through the main hall, even with his immense power, Ye Qingyu could feel his hairs stand on end and his body tremble.
A deathly air pervaded the entire [Guanlan Mountain Manor] when the breeze blew, as if a portal to the Underworld had just been opened.
Perhaps, this is the reason for the disappearance of the anonymous Quasi-emperor and the eight great prodigies going insane?
Ye Qingyu was alarmed.
He had chosen to isolate himself in [Guanlan Mountain Manor] for two reasons. First, it was located in a quiet and secluded spot, and second, he wanted to try uncovering the mystery of the manor. After all, the evil aura that he had first sensed in the manor seemed similar to that of the forces of darkness. As such, he wanted to find out the reason behind the strange presence in [Guanlan Mountain Manor] before he traveled to the Dark Realm and to make sure that he did not leave any potentially dangerous factor behind. If the force of darkness was triggered, the entire Heaven Connect City would be engulfed in danger.
Day after day, time passed.
Ye Qingyu went about his work quietly. At the same time, he observed the frequency and timing of the wind that kept blowing through the main hall of the manor.
Gradually, he began to understand how it worked.
Today—
The moon was dim and the winds were strong. It was quiet all around.
Ye Qingyu was sleeping soundly in the main hall. He opened his eyes suddenly and slowly got up.
The atmosphere in the main hall was extremely eerie.
A cloud of vapor appeared in the middle of the hall, and a ghostly fire circled around it.
"It's different now… Is it finally appearing?"
Ye Qingyu was not alarmed. Instead, he sat on the edge of his stone bed and observed silently. The mysterious breeze blew again, but it did not disperse this time. Evidently, something that had not happened before was going to happen tonight.
At the same time, he could sense a strange barrier that was containing him within the main hall of the manor. It was as if he had been cut off from the outside world, and it would be extremely hard to leave the hall now.
It had turned into a prison.
And he was the prisoner.
Also, an extremely icy and cold aura was circling in the air. He could sense a presence more terrifying than anything else he had ever encountered before, as if there were countless dark lords peeping at him from the darkness.
Ye Qingyu waited quietly.
He knew something was about to appear tonight.
Just as he expected, after about thirty minutes, a vague figure appeared in the cloud of mist in the middle of the main hall. It stumbled out of the vapor and he could roughly make out its distraught expression. It waved at Ye Qingyu, as if it were trying to tell him to flee as quickly as possible…
"It's him?"
Ye Qingyu recognized the figure with just one glance. He was one of the eight great prodigies that had gone insane after residing in [Guanlan Mountain Manor]. He was a prodigy of the Inugamis. Ye Qingyu had done some research and memorized the appearance and backgrounds of the eight before officially purchasing the manor.
In the legends of the eight prodigies, however, this Inugami prodigy should have gone insane, but did survive the ordeal. Why does he look like a spirit now, and how did he appear from the mist? Also, he seems to be able to see me and warn me?
Ye Qingyu felt that it was very strange.
Very quickly, however, a terrifying and mysterious cold wind blew, dispersing the image of the Inugami prodigy.
The cloud of vapor seemed to have stopped moving.
The containment barrier around the main hall seemed to have grown more obvious.
It looked as though something terrible was about to happen.
"Leave… leave now… flee!"
A faint voice came from within the mist.
It sounded mournful and incredibly fearful.
It's the language of the Molos.
Ye Qingyu could tell.
There was a talent from the Molos among the eight prodigies who were driven insane.
Ye Qingyu got up slowly and released his divine sense. He sent out a sliver of it, probing carefully in the mist like a tentacle. He could sense that huge danger was contained within it.
"No, leave… Flee now."
The voice of the Molo prodigy became clearer and sounded more urgent, even panicky. He tried to warn Ye Qingyu loudly that something incredibly terrible was about to happen.
The expression on Ye Qingyu's face changed.
That was because a figure had shot out from within the mist cloud all of a sudden. It traveled at great speed and contained huge murderous spirit as it sped toward him. The flash of a saber suddenly came hurtling down upon him.
"Oh no."
He reversed his wrist and grabbed at the air in front of him. A huge sword of ice appeared in his hand, enveloped in the aura of a [Divine Emperor's Sword]. He countered with a backhand slash.
Clink!
Sparks flew everywhere.
He could hear the shrill shrieks of a vicious ghost.
It was a blurry figure of a ghost. It held a strange, black long saber in one hand and launched another series of attacks. Each blow carried a terrible killing intent, and upon closer examination, it seemed to be a ghost general that had come out of the Underworld. Its strength was incredibly formidable and on par with Ye Qingyu's.
Ye Qingyu engaged it in combat while observing its condition.
Is this really a ghost?
Ye Qingyu shook his head. He did not believe in the existence of ghosts.
In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged thousands of blows.
Ye Qingyu had channeled the sword aura of the [Divine Emperor Sword Mantra] to its maximum strength, but he could barely suppress the ghostly general, much less slay it. If his opponent was alive, it would have been close to the Quasi-emperor level.
"[Life Sword]!"
Ye Qingyu switched sword energies and slashed at his opponent again.
Hiss!
The light from his sword enveloped the hall and sliced the ghost general and his black long saber in two, as if it were a sword of fire cutting through ash. His opponent and its weapon rapidly dispersed and disappeared, just like a bubble that had been burst.
"Hmm? The energy of the [Life Sword Mantra] seems to be its nemesis?"
Ye Qingyu immediately understood at this moment.
When he had unleashed the energy from the [Life Sword Mantra], the creepy aura pervading the air of the entire main hall began to tremble, as if it was deeply afraid of this particular type of sword energy. It was a natural bane for the dark force.
"Kill!"
Ye Qingyu channeled energy from the [Life Sword Mantra], causing it to circle around his entire body. The light from the energy was dazzling and protected his body. He walked toward the mist cloud in the middle of the hall with his mind completely made up.
He had a premonition that all of the strange phenomena had something to do with this mist cloud.
He could sense fear radiating from within the mist. The cloud retreated rapidly and wanted to flee from Ye Qingyu, but it was no match for his speed. In an instant, he had charged right into it.
The mist cloud dispersed in the next instant.
Even the eerie aura and wind that blew through the hall had dispersed as well.
Ye Qingyu himself had disappeared along with it.
Everything seemed to have disappeared from the world.
"What is this place?"
Ye Qingyu was feeling extremely shocked as he surveyed his surroundings.
He felt as if he had passed through a Domain Gate the instant he charged into the mist cloud. He immediately understood that the vapor was actually a portal that had brought him to another dimension.
It was a dimly lit and eerie dimension.
Faint rays the color of blood surrounded him.
The land before him stretched further than he could see.
Ghostly mists circled in the air.
Ghost fires danced around him. They looked like glittering starlight, and there was complete silence contained within the beauty of the sights around him. It was as if this was a forgotten world, or it could also be the final resting place for the dead.
Does the Underworld really exist?
Ye Qingyu could sense something extraordinary. It was definitely not an unexplored off-world, as he could not feel the Laws of Nature being applied here. There was no ebb and flow of spiritual qi and the air felt empty.
When he turned back, the path on which he had come was gone.
Ye Qingyu knew that he was temporarily trapped in this world for now.
He did not panic, however.
He held the giant sword of ice and kept the energy of the [Life Sword Mantra] ready. He walked a few hundred meters forward, deeper inside his new surroundings. He wanted to see for himself what this world looked like.
Shortly after, he could see some figures appear in front of him.
Ye Qingyu could feel goosebumps forming on his scalp as he walked closer.
This was because these "figures" were actually wandering skeletons.
There were skeletal remains of every kind of being here. Most of them still had their limbs intact and were wandering about aimlessly on the black ground. Ye Qingyu had felt goosebumps on his scalp earlier on because he could tell from a glance that the skeletons were not puppets of war or similar insentient beings created by masters of magic. That was because there were no formations on them, and their bodies did not contain magical formations. They are purely… how should I put it, just like another form of living sentient being, but they do not have the same life force like the living things in the Vast Thousand Domains.
They were extremely strange beings.
They seemed to not have sensed Ye Qingyu's presence. They did not attack him as he walked past them.
Legend has it that the dead will turn into skeletons in the Underworld and roam around there. They are neither alive nor dead and cannot be destroyed… Ye Qingyu had read a description about the Land of the Dead in ancient texts, but it was piecemeal information and was not elaborated on. Furthermore, most of it originated from ancient legends that were not substantiated by his forebears.
Now, however, was he really in the Underworld?
Why was he, a living person, in the Underworld?
He could sense that the entire incident was not as simple as he thought. Coincidentally, he had stumbled upon an ancient secret.
