Chapter 725
“Damnit, how did I end up circling back here?”
Long Chen was gloomy . He didn’t know how many spiritual beasts he had killed as he had rushed along . But after countless forks in the road, he had returned to his original location .
“Continuing like this is out of the question . I have to think of something . ” This time, he left behind a mark at the fork before continuing . He found that not long after, he appeared on a completely foreign path .
“Fuck this . I’m not playing this game,” cursed Long Chen . He directly closed his eyes and tried to sense the general direction of the thing he needed . This maze had continuously blocked him, and now, he was out of patience .
“It’s in that direction . ”
Long Chen began to walk in a direction that had no path and was full of mist . Long Chen suddenly took out a saber .
The last Enchanted saber he had used had exploded after he had used the second form of Split the Heavens . He could only replace it with another . But this was a pole saber, a yanyuedao . Two-thirds of it was the handle, while the blade only took up a third . There was a huge difference compared to the normal sabers he used . However, he had no better weapons now, so he could only use it .
After traveling an hour through the mist, a path appeared in front of him . But Long Chen didn’t follow that path . Instead, he continued in a straight line toward the thing that he sensed .
He didn’t know how far that thing was . What he wanted to find was the thing the vice sect master had mentioned at the end .
Suddenly, he heard some sounds . Long Chen rushed in that direction . A small path appeared in front of him, and there was a woman lying on the ground, her expression pale and twisted, as if she was undergoing a painful struggle .
Long Chen immediately went up to her and pressed a hand on her forehead . His powerful Spiritual Strength surged into her mind-sea . She was currently being attacked by a foreign Spiritual Strength, but Long Chen’s Spiritual Strength destroyed it .
“Many thanks, senior apprentice-brother!” She opened her eyes and looked at him gratefully .
Just now, she had been attacked by several powerful spiritual beasts . Although she had done her best to kill them, one of them had managed to invade her mind-sea, almost exterminating her soul .
With her soul being attacked, she had no time to crush the jade tablet . Just thinking about it filled her with terror .
“You’re welcome . Do you know where the place you can see your future is?” asked Long Chen .
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen!” she gasped .
“I just want to gain some experience . I have no other intentions . Have you run into it?”
“I didn’t, but I ran into a senior apprentice-sister from the seventeenth supermonastery who said she ran into Future Lake . That Future Lake actually took the initiative to ask her if she wanted to see her future . She was so terrified that she fled,” she said .
“Future Lake? That name does sound pretty magical . Do you know its general direction?” asked Long Chen .
“Senior apprentice-brother Long Chen, are you really planning on going there? The vice sect master said…”
“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t do something as stupid as trying to divine my future . That would just destroy a person’s Dao-heart . I just want to gain experience . ”
Only after hearing this did she say, “I remember the location . That senior apprentice-sister was very nice and she told me not to go in that direction . If you want to go there to gain experience, I can bring you there . ”
She led Long Chen in a certain direction . After a few dozen turns, even Long Chen was shocked by her amazing memory . It seemed that anyone who could attend this trial was truly extraordinary .
“We’ve arrived . ”
Long Chen looked around and saw mist everywhere . He couldn’t see anything . He was just about to ask her about this when she said, “This is the fork . If you go left, you’ll reach Future Lake . I… I don’t dare to go . According to that senior apprentice-sister, that place is too strange . ”
“Then thank you . I’ll go take a look . With how terrifying you make it sound, even I’m getting nervous,” laughed Long Chen .
“Then you really shouldn’t go . ”
“But, how can you allow yourself to be defeated by fear? Since I’ve decided to look, then I’m going to take a look!”
Without another word, Long Chen walked off . The mist completely blocked his vision after just a few steps, and he wasn’t even able to see her anymore . He quickened his footsteps .
After over two hours, Long Chen still didn’t see any lake . He even suspected that she had tricked him . But there was no reason for her to trick him, and after all, he had just saved her .
The strange thing was that there were no spiritual beasts on this path . There were also no forks in the road . He could only continue onward .
Finally, after six hours, the path came to a dead end .
“What the fuck? She really did trick me?!” Long Chen couldn’t help being enraged .
“Do you want to know your future?”
Suddenly, a spiritual fluctuation appeared . The mist in front of him slowly dissipated, revealing a lake . The lake’s surface was as flat as a mirror, and the mist around it made it appear extremely mysterious .
Long Chen was stunned . Was this lake alive? It was actually able to talk through spiritual fluctuations .
“I do, but does it cost money?” asked Long Chen .
The lake was silent for a moment before a figure slowly rose out of the water . That figure was lithe and graceful . It seemed like a woman, but it was impossible to see any clear details .
“It doesn’t cost money . But I’ll need you to help me,” said that figure .
“Help you with what?” Long Chen was on guard .
“Bring me out of this place . ”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“Let me enter your spiritual space and bring me out . I’ll not only let you see your future, but I’ll also raise you into this world’s strongest expert,” it enticed .
Damn, why does that sound so familiar? It’s just like what that old ghost, Gui Sha, wanted .
Long Chen suddenly smiled coldly . “If my guess isn’t wrong, you should be a powerful figure from the Corrupt path . Despite your soul already being destroyed, you were still able to reform it . It seems you were truly an amazing person when you were alive . ”
That figure didn’t reply . After a moment of silence, it said, “You’re smart . That guess of yours is correct . Although I died countless years ago, just my name is enough to strike terror into the hearts of countless Righteous experts . How does it sound? Little fellow, cooperate with me . Bring me out of here and back to the Corrupt path, and then I will give you anything you want!”
It would be strange if anyone believed such a thing, thought Long Chen to himself . His head was rapidly working . Most likely, this soul was relying on the lake to survive and couldn’t leave or attack, which is why it would try to entice him .
He shook his head and said, “The vice sect master told me that if someone wanted to tell my future here, I was to ignore them . That person is a trickster who will take your life . ”
“That’s pure nonsense . I have to rely on this lake to live . How could I ever take other people’s lives? Those people wanted to see their futures, and all I did was help them . ”
“Oh, I understand . You intentionally allowed them to see their future . But you changed the future they saw, making them see themselves dying tragically in order to destroy their Dao-hearts,” said Long Chen .
“Wrong . This Future Lake is actually a projection of the Xuantian Dao Sect’s priceless treasure, the Reincarnation Mirror . That Reincarnation Mirror is on the same level as my Corrupt path’s Corrupt God Divine Skull . How could I have the strength to change what it shows?”
Long Chen’s heart shook . He hadn’t expected there to be such a huge secret behind the Nine Netherworld Path . He hastily asked, “Then can this Future Lake really tell a person’s future?”
“Of course . But I’d advise you not to do that . The future it shows you is true, but it is also false . Divining the future invokes karma, and the Reincarnation Mirror will not allow that karma to affect it . It will make the asking person bear that karma . ”
“Then isn’t the Dao Sect harming their own disciples? Why would they put such a thing here?” asked Long Chen .
“This Nine Netherworld Path is actually a huge formation made from condensed Spiritual Strength . Without the Reincarnation Mirror’s projection, it would be impossible to control such a huge formation . ”
Only then did Long Chen understand . This terrifying existence was most likely something that even the vice sect master wasn’t aware of . Just now, he had stealthily used his Spiritual Strength to probe behind him, only to find that his retreat path had been cut off .
It seemed that now that this existence had exposed itself, then whether or not he agreed, it wouldn't allow him to leave . But he wasn’t afraid . “Then can senior help me with something? Can you use Future Lake’s power to help me divine the origin of something I have?”
“That’s no problem . I can help you do that, but have you agreed to what I’ve asked of you?”
“No problem . In any case, I’ve had enough of the Righteous path . Throwing myself to the Corrupt path is also fine . However, in that case, I need your help to bring one of my companions over,” said Long Chen .
“Who?”
“It should be the woman whose Spiritual Strength is the greatest of everyone here except me,” said Long Chen .
“Her?”
A figure suddenly appeared on the lake . That figure was Meng Qi . She had just killed another batch of spiritual beasts and was refining their soul energy .
Long Chen was shocked . Or was this to be expected of an existence that could divine the future? He nodded . “Senior, please lead her over here . She has something I need . ”
“Ah!”
A startled cry rang out and Meng Qi suddenly appeared beside Long Chen . She panicked as she had no idea what was going on . But Long Chen said, “Meng Qi, lend me the Soul Calming Jade . ”
Previously, Long Chen had given the nine-line Soul Calming Jade to Meng Qi, as it was extremely helpful for her .
Meng Qi didn’t quite understand what was happening, but she took off the pendant from her neck . Long Chen then threw it to that illusory figure .
“Thank you for your trouble, senior . ”
When Meng Qi saw the figure he was talking to, her pupils shrunk . Then looking at the lake water, she immediately understood something: Long Chen was about to do something exceedingly crazy .