novelraw Chapter 1187 - 1186 - Land of the Dead
Chapter 1187 - 1186 - Land of the Dead
The clan leaders had tried to stop him but the 7 ancestors swatted them away like it was nothing. It was actually amusing to see old men and women treat healthy and hale leaders like they were bratty kids!
They were powerful dragons yet they were like newborns in front of the elders!
The ancestors waved him off with smiles and wished him luck in slaughtering his enemies. He prayed he would succeed but he knew a Radiant Tier Fiend was in charge of his destination.
He left the wards and entered the barren lands. The dead Celestial Qi was all around him once more but he was even more disturbed by the dead ash around him.
Now that he studied the area more closely, he began to understand how odd the situation was more than before.
It was not as simple as someone using a Dao Grade Celestial artifact. The level of planning felt too perfect to him.
It had to be an artifact that specifically was chosen and protected by the Great One. It meant the bastard knew there would be dire consequences to his choice to defy his fate. It was a reasonable assumption to know something would happen but to think so far ahead meant he had intentionally chosen such a dark path!
Rage filled his heart but he pushed it aside. He had a goal now and no need to hold back.
He pushed earth and dark Qi into his body to defy gravity and increase his strength even more. He moved like the wind and crossed the wide open dead land.
It was spooky how empty it was. Stone was considered dead by most but it was just as full of earth Qi as anything else was full of other elements. It was all gone now.
The Celestial Qi destroyed everything and acted as a perfect barrier to any cultivator. The moment they entered, they would become mortal as their dantian was destroyed.
After that, only death awaited them as time would catch up to them if they had lived over 2 or more centuries. It was a danger all cultivators faced if they lost their foundation.
He ran through the empty lands with only his thoughts to occupy him. He was relatively near one of the paths he had partially mapped out already. It was not even close to a straight line and he now suspected that too was intentional.
It acted as a practical defense against invaders but left an avenue for communication that the Celestial Qi would cut off normally.
He sensed no one else but he did not assume there was no artifact set up to keep watch. He suppressed his aura even though he was moving in the no man's land.
The silence was disturbing as even sound seemed to have died in those lands. He continued for weeks but there was no change aside from he crossed the known path to the unknown.
The gray clouds hid not only the sun but any sense of the change of time. Lind felt a sudden change in his dantian. His crystal shone with new power as he grasped something new.
The Law of Oblivion. The end of all things where even a soul would not endure. He was shocked at how horrifying the Law was. It was not simply death or destruction but the negation of all that was.
He felt terrified of it just to know it but it was also forming new ideas in his mind. He had heard of Arts that used such a Law but they were dangerous for the user as well as the targets.
He pushed it aside as he finally felt a change after a month of traveling in the desolate land.
The trail he had been traveling near widened and he slowed to find a large open space exactly as the maps had once shown him. He hid his form and presence to the limit as he closed in to see what was there.
A partial city wall appeared to his sight. It was partial because it just ended at certain points. It was crumbled to dust where the dead lands met it.
The structures were also a mix of residential and professional but not in any way that made sense. It was like the current residents left it as is without any modification. He saw figures in dark and gray cloaks inside his aura.
He narrowed his eyes as he realized what they were. He had not met any in a long time. Thralls.
They were partially withered and clearly possessed by Fiends so it was clear no one truly alive remained. He felt no one inside his range at all.
The land was dead and now he found only puppets left in the ruined city.
He sensed a path on the far side but it was heavily guarded not only with more thralls but some artifacts to kill anyone that tried to approach.
He sneered as he moved deeper into the barren lands before moving ahead. He was entering the large area where absolutely nothing was known but he hoped to find the inverted mountain.
Their defenses meant nothing since he could cross the lands even Fiends dared not to.
He slowed his pace and kept actively looking for anything but was shocked when the safe path suddenly ended. There was nothing beyond it! It just ended there with nothing to show for it.
He slowed to walk for the next month but it was just ash gray soil and gray clouds all around. It seemed as if the ground and sky were one but it was useless to him.
He tried to pierce the area around him more but the dead Qi actively restricted him. He then used his strength to clear the ash to reveal more Fiend stone beneath.
It turned to ash the instant it was exposed but that was all. Nothing stood out and no landmarks existed. Where was it?
He finally found the start of another path but it was not what he wanted. He turned around and tried again.
Time became fluid as there was no night or day for him but he finally found all 9 paths. He used his mental map to find the center at last.
Still, there was nothing. So why had the Fiends gone so far to guard the path out of the ruins? What were they afraid of him finding?
There was just nothing!
He was getting frustrated as he was so close! He had to be after coming so far!
"Where are you damn it?!" He slammed his fist downward and scattered the ash for kilometers in all directions. It revealed Fiend stone in a quantity that shocked him but that was not all.
An arch was revealed! It crumbled like everything else but he dove into the opening before it vanished. The rumble of the ashes closed off his escape so he was stuck on the path now!
Darkness and stone were all around him. Fiend stone! It was powerful and sickening to his senses but his harmony protected him. He also realized the stone around him was once not a Fiend material.
It was transformed by something!
A small lamp appeared in his hands. It had an emerald glow as it was a harmonic artifact. It was the only way to prevent it being destroyed by the thick Fiend Qi in the air.
The soft emerald glow revealed a narrow but smooth passage that was not natural at all. It was clearly cut into the stone!
"I found you!" He was sure he was on the right path! He began to descend as the path sloped downwards. There were spots where it was clear a crystal lamp had once resided but it was now just a burnt wreck.
It was clear the path was not cut but Fiends originally but they could have had others act as their agents. He doubted he would ever know.
The path wound ever downward and he also sensed he was circling something.
It was weird because the circle was getting narrower rather than wider like he would normally expect. He was not sure if it was days or weeks, but eventually he felt the spike in Fiend Qi and extinguished his lamp.
Darkness rushed in but his senses could not be blocked by the Fiend Qi around him. He stepped out into a massive cavern and there was a dim glow that appeared all around him.
Silence was all he heard but the gentle flow of air told him there was an opening somewhere to the surface. He slowly let his vision and aura spread outward until shock filled him.
Inverted mountain always made him wonder what he would see but he was shockingly finding it was literal.
A peak was just above his head and spread outward to make a massive mountain loomed over him but it was upside down! It was not an artificial shape either but a natural formation!
It was either a stalactite that had grown over time or something seriously terrifying happened long ago to flip a mountain 180 degrees!
The mountain was surrounded by artificial structures but it was the path he had walked down. It was clear he should have run into something but he had not been stopped at all. They wanted him there.
"I am here, bastards. Now it is time to face me." His emerald eye flared with Qi before he moved ahead. He had to find a way into the facility he knew was there somewhere. He had to end the Corruption and break open the barriers keeping out the Radiant Tiers.
His aura spread out as hiding was pointless. They knew he was there and it was time to fight!