The pitch-black underworld river ebbed and flowed, and the countless faces floating on it continued to wail and scream.
They were all members of the Ancient Spirit Race. After receiving the curse, they couldn't rest in peace even in death, sinking into a sea of pain.
Even though they had long lost their consciousness and were only left with instincts, this torture still existed.
The voice was mournful and ear-piercing.
To people who heard it for the first time, they would feel very uncomfortable and their minds might even be torn apart. However, after listening for an entire day, Xu Qing was already used to it.
At that moment, he was standing on the river and looking at the sky.
In the dusky sky that was filled with fog, his Purple Moon continuously emitted purple moonlight. The poison mist that lingered in front of the moon seemed to have enveloped the moonlight with a layer of poison gauze.
As he stared at the Purple Moon, the Purple Moon Heavenly Palace in Xu Qing's body circulated faster. His eyes also emitted a dense purple color that reflected the moonlight in the sky.
After a long time, Xu Qing retracted his gaze and looked into the depths of the underworld river, sensing the terrifying fluctuations faintly coming from there.
Even though he was so far away, the shock still turned into waves that kept rising in his mind.
In Xu Qing's perception, only gods could do this.
"Is the Spirit Emperor really dead?" A look of contemplation appeared in Xu Qing's eyes. He recalled the giant snake he had seen when he descended to this great world.
The other party seemed to only have this great world on it but Xu Qing was very clear that this didn't mean that the other party was only at the first stage of Soul Accumulation at its peak.
After all, if that was the case, it was impossible for the other party to unify Wanggu.
However, his footsteps didn't stop. He continued forward, moving faster and faster.
Time passed and very soon, three days passed.
In these three days, nearly 10% of the sky in this world had completely turned purple. The purple color of the ground also became increasingly dense. Waves of anomalous substances that belonged to Xu Qing continued to gather from all directions as he moved forward.
It slowly transformed into a dense purple fog around him and the area it enveloped grew larger and larger. From afar, it looked like a strange cloud formed by the descent of an unknown existence.
This was the first time Xu Qing had released the Purple Moon's power to such an extent. It was also because of the arrival of the Purple Moon that the souls of this great world underwent some changes. They became increasingly manic and crazy.
The invasion from the Purple Moon seemed to have stimulated the curse in their bodies.
During these three days, Xu Qing also encountered many powerful corpses and evil souls on the underworld river. However, these souls in the underworld river were different from the ones Xu Qing had encountered in the wilderness.
They were territorial and wouldn't pursue endlessly. As long as Xu Qing moved far from them, most of them would stop chasing.
After Xu Qing discovered this, he didn't waste his time on them. He would immediately move away and avoid them when he encountered them.
Just like that, he got closer and closer to the depths of the underworld river.
When the fourth day was about to arrive, Xu Qing's expression suddenly changed.
The surface of the river in front of him suddenly churned violently. The aura of a Nascent Soul cultivator erupted and spread in all directions. A huge face rose from the river.
This face was a full 100 feet long and many parts of it were rotting, while other parts were covered in gray scales. At that moment, as the river water fell from its sides, its gaze landed on Xu Qing, as though it was probing him.
At the next instant, as though it had sensed something, the face suddenly distorted and let out a roar of grief and indignation. As soon as the voice rang out, the river in front of it directly exploded under the sound waves.
A strong wind that carried a stench assaulted Xu Qing's face, causing his Daoist robe to flutter. Xu Qing frowned and was about to move around it when the water surface on the right of the face churned again and a second face appeared.
It was also 100 feet in size and its appearance was similar. The two faces were connected by a wisp of black fog. They rose into the air, blocking Xu Qing's path.
This wasn't the end. Very soon, the third face, the fourth face… and the eleventh face appeared and rose above the underworld river, forming a fan shape. All of them let out indignant roars toward Xu Qing.
The roars from the eleven faces were earth-shattering. Xu Qing was sent back due to the sonic boom. When he moved back hundreds of feet in the air, the river below exploded again.
A huge rotting bird head rose from within and its broken wings broke out of the water on its sides.
After rising into the air, it immediately charged toward Xu Qing.
Xu Qing's pupils contracted as he saw the complete appearance of the corpse in front of him.
This was a huge ferocious bird that was over 3,000 feet long. Its appearance was somewhat similar to a phoenix. Its body was mostly rotting and tainted weapons were pierced all over its body.
As for the 11 faces, they were formed by its tail feathers.
Xu Qing's expression turned solemn as he noticed something under the ferocious bird's neck. Countless rope-like black flesh was connected to a human-shaped skeleton.
It was as though the phoenix was formed from the flesh of the humanoid skeleton.
The skeleton was dressed in a tattered red robe and despite his face being mostly rotted away, one could still discern that he was a young man. His gaze was fixed on Xu Qing, and his contorted expression conveyed a sense of profound grief and indignation.
He let out a strange cry and rushed towards Xu Qing with lightning-fast speed. In an instant, he arrived in front of Xu Qing, and with a wave of his hand, his cultivation base erupted, forming countless black snowflakes that whistled toward Xu Qing.
As he attacked, the phoenix above him also let out an ear-piercing cry. It opened its mouth wide and pounced upon Xu Qing.
Its tail feathers swayed and its eleven faces spat out poisonous fog in unison. There were densely-packed maggots in the churning fog.
Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and started to retreat, but as he did, he raised his right hand and punched out, stirring up a violent wind that swept through the snow. At the same time, a sea of fire formed above him.
The Golden Crow manifested in the fire and rushed out, heading straight for the phoenix.
Immediately after, Xu Qing's shadow appeared behind him, transforming into a giant tree filled with eyes that pounced toward the poisonous fog spat out by those faces.
All of this took a long time to describe but it happened in an instant. Both sides instantly attacked each other, setting off a series of deafening explosions in the sky.
In a short period of time, they exchanged dozens of moves.
Xu Qing's Poison Restriction also spread out but the youth actually sensed it and grabbed at the underworld river. Immediately, the underworld river's water surged rapidly and surrounded the youth, using the countless souls in the underworld river to resist Xu Qing's poison.
This method was similar to Chu Tianqun's but in comparison, the number of souls in the underworld river was endless, and the river seemed to come from the same source as this youth. With a wave of his hand, more river water soared into the sky like black pythons that attacked Xu Qing from all directions.
Xu Qing retreated rapidly.
He could sense that this youth's cultivation was rather bizarre. The youth seemed to be able to absorb power from the underworld river as his cultivation level was continuing to increase. At the start, he was still at the early-stage Nascent Soul realm. The feeling he gave Xu Qing was similar to Chu Tianqun.
As Xu Qing retreated, the Nether Spirit Blood Wing appeared on his back. His speed suddenly soared and he quickly flew out, wanting to move around the youth.
The other party's cultivation was very strong and his spells were also bizarre. He didn't want to waste time fighting this youth.
The power of the Purple Moon would come in handy later, so it wasn't suitable to waste it here.
However, just as Xu Qing ran in another direction, the youth suddenly turned his head. The phoenix that was connected to him flapped its wings, stirring up a violent wind. Its speed was equally astonishing as it headed straight for Xu Qing like lightning. It even teleported and directly appeared in front of Xu Qing.
Xu Qing frowned and circled around again, continuing to speed forward. However, very soon, the youth's corpse rapidly approached and let out a cry as he charged over again.
A cold glint flashed in Xu Qing's eyes. With a wave of his hand, 30 demon transformation runes appeared. The Seventh Heavenly Palace in his body shone brightly at this moment. Under the rapid burning of the demon transformation runes, the Ghost Emperor's figure manifested into the world.
As soon as the Ghost Emperor appeared, the color of the world changed. The surrounding void trembled and the river collapsed, forming a huge deterrence that enveloped the surroundings.
"Scram!" Xu Qing's gaze was cold. If the other party continued to pester him, even if he didn't want to, he would spend some time to completely kill him.
The corpse youth clearly sensed danger. His pursuing body came to an abrupt stop and he quickly landed on the underworld river. He lifted his head and stared fixedly at Xu Qing while letting out low growls.
The river water in the surroundings churned, creating waves. Lines of water flew out and surrounded the youth.
Xu Qing coldly glanced at the corpse youth before speeding into the distance.
On the underworld river, the corpse youth looked at Xu Qing's back view and hesitated for a moment. In the end, he gave up on chasing. He let out a roar and sank into the river.
"That corpse must have been a heaven's chosen when it was alive!" In the distant sky, Xu Qing withdrew the Ghost Emperor Mountain and glanced at the underworld river behind him. The wing on his back flapped as he continued forward, getting closer and closer to the depths of the underworld river.
A day later, on the fifth day after he descended into this great world, Xu Qing finally arrived at the end of the river. A hazy black palace was reflected in his eyes.
Its size was comparable to the county capital!
Although it was riddled with holes and filled with dilapidation, a monstrous pressure rose from it. It was incomparably vast and at the same time, a dense sense of time spread out, revealing endless ancientness.
It was like a palace that had been forgotten in time.
The energy fluctuations and the aura of death coming from the palace seemed to be boundless. In the depths of the palace, black flesh filled the place, piling up into an extremely tall mountain peak.
On the top of this flesh mountain, hundreds of souls floated like sacrifices.
This was because behind these souls, there was a crack that was thousands of feet long in the sky. It was as though… there was an eye hidden in the sky there.
At that moment, even though it was closed and didn't open, the supreme divine might that was pouring out from it caused the surroundings to distort and everything to be in a blur.
Xu Qing's mind stirred greatly. He looked at the flesh mountain peak at the depths of the palace and the hundreds of souls on it. Even though he was very far away, the guidance from the shattered golden thread allowed him to clearly sense that… the soul Ling'er lacked was there!
