novelraw Chapter 83 : The Spirits of the Nether Kingdom
Chapter 83 : The Spirits of the Nether Kingdom
Chapter 83: The Spirits of the Nether Kingdom
“Third Highness, do you want to go fight for the fruit?”
Su Youwan glanced over—many cultivators had already rushed forward. She shook her head. “Youwan has no need for it. Let them have it.”
Lu Changyuan smiled. “Let’s go. We’ll head to the royal palace.”
The battle in the sky had nothing to do with them.
Su Youwan looked at the surrounding spirits. “What are these spirits waiting for?”
The spirits around them were staring blankly at the heavens.
Lu Changyuan did not answer directly. “Does Third Highness know how the Three-Life Fruit is formed?”
The silver-haired girl almost said that Young Master Lu always liked answering questions with questions, but after a moment’s thought, she merely shook her head.
“The spirits within the Nether Kingdom were originally gathered by the Lord of the Nether. They were born from the souls and resentments of the dead. You could say these spirits are the final obsessions—or perhaps the final hatreds—of those who have died.”
Lu Changyuan pointed to the fruits hanging from the tree. “The Three-Life Fruit grants people an illusion of three lifetimes, but it does not come from nothing. It is formed from the memories of these already-dead spirits’ past lives.”
Su Youwan stared dazedly at the spirits.
Lu Changyuan continued, “To gain something means to give something up. Fighting for the fruit inevitably brings injury, and in the Nether Kingdom, injury means losing part of one’s spirit. Those spirits are waiting for the cultivators’ blood and flesh, to devour them. In this peculiar realm, such spirits may no longer be lost souls—they can be reborn as new life.”
Su Youwan asked doubtfully, “Resurrection from death?”
“Not exactly. It’s more like becoming a new life.”
New life born from decaying flesh.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Amid the vast, boundless nether clouds, the Three-Life Tree completely solidified.
Darkness.
Endless desire slowly took form, and the aura of the entire Nether Kingdom trembled violently.
The cultivators within the Nether Kingdom nearly all went mad.
“Hurry and grab the Three-Life Fruit!”
They charged toward the Three-Life Tree like lunatics.
The tree seemed to possess some kind of magic. Amid the nether aura, it exuded a trace of Dao. That aura drew everyone in.
As long as they approached the tree—ate the fruit—
They could enter the Dao.
They could obtain everything they ever desired!
Mei Zhao Zhao steadied her mind, circulating her inner cultivation method to erase the throbbing impulse within her heart.
She murmured, “What a strong temptation.”
The tree was seducing everyone, stirring their emotions.
Once everyone went mad, they would begin slaughtering one another. For the Nether Kingdom, it was best if these cultivators all died here. Yet, bound by the Lord of the Nether’s decree, they could not strike directly—thus, they resorted to such indirect means.
The fruit of the Three-Life Tree came from the spirits of the Nether Kingdom.
Cultivators wanted to eat the Three-Life Fruit.
The spirits of the Nether Kingdom wanted to eat the cultivators.
You eat me, I eat you—this was the unchanging law of the cultivation world.
Mei Zhao Zhao took a deep breath and fully regained her clarity.
As the ancestor of temptation, the Pleasure Sect’s cultivation method was extraordinarily accomplished in resisting allure.
This accomplishment had reached its peak over a thousand years ago.
At that time, Daoist Chang’an had beaten the Sect Master of the Pleasure Sect, teaching the sect to remain pure and restrained. This prompted them to reform their cultivation method, dividing into two branches.
One pursued the path of desire extinction, the other the path of desire release.
Those who cultivated the path of extinguishing desire focused on the Dao of Yin and Yang, emphasizing the harmony of duality. They were the newer branch, and their heart method was stronger than that of those who released desire.
Those who cultivated the path of releasing desire focused on deceiving others to absorb spiritual power. Though their heart method was weaker, they excelled greatly in transforming others’ spiritual power into their own.
Mei Zhao Zhao followed the path of extinguishing desire.
Unlike most, due to an order from the previous sect master, she had eradicated her desires even more completely.
“Saintess.”
Wang Lian looked up at the tree in the sky, eyes full of longing.
Mei Zhao Zhao said indifferently, “If you wish to go, then go. But if you die in the Nether Kingdom, I cannot save you.”
“I understand.”
Receiving permission, Wang Lian turned into a stream of light and darted toward the Three-Life Tree.
Mei Zhao Zhao, however, remained in the room. She looked at the three incense sticks within—their flames had already burned past half.
Xiao Hai shrank back as he stepped out, also looking at the sky.
“What are you staring at? You want to go too? You wouldn’t even know how you died.”
Xiao Hai could only retreat back into the room.
Mei Zhao Zhao found a clean spot, closed her eyes, and began to adjust her breath.
She had yet to step into the Fifth Realm.
But she had no intention of relying on external aid to break through.
Suddenly, Xiao Hai asked, “My Lady, is my ancestor… still alive?”
“Yes.”
Mei Zhao Zhao didn’t even glance at him.
Her journey here was precisely to find Xiao Hai’s ancestor—Xiao Qingfeng.
That man had some fate with the Pleasure Sect. He had once become Dao companion to one of the sect’s elders. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, despite being at the Sixth Realm, Xiao Qingfeng had entered the Nether Kingdom—and vanished ever since.
He should still be alive.
Just… no one knew where he was hiding.
From afar came waves of battle cries.
Wang Lian had charged ahead. Though a disciple of the Nine Sects and Twelve Palaces, she could not resist the temptation of the Three-Life Fruit.
Unlike the innately gifted Mei Zhao Zhao, she was only at the Third Realm, her Fifth Realm breakthrough a distant dream. But if she could seize a fruit, she could determine her future path ahead of time.
“The Three-Life Fruit is mine!”
Someone roared from the sky, snatching a fruit into his sleeve. With one stroke, he severed the head of another who had tried to compete and laughed wildly.
Scarlet blood dripped down, dyeing the entire Nether Kingdom in crimson.
Cultivators battled fiercely in the air; from time to time, severed limbs fell to the ground. Blood mixed with flesh became food for the spirits.
The one who seized the fruit had red light flash across his eyes—madness filled his gaze as he turned into a streak of light and fled.
Wang Lian hid in the shadows, tailing the man who had taken the fruit.
After a while, after several twists and turns, the man’s figure finally reappeared. Seeing this, Wang Lian quickly approached. “Good sir…”
Before she could finish, chaotic bursts of light suddenly surged from all sides.
That was the cultivation world—one never knew how many hidden eyes lurked in the dark, waiting to tear you apart and devour you the moment you relaxed.
Wang Lian could only retreat.
“Kill!”
Suddenly, a Fourth Realm cultivator appeared behind her—the same one who had rented her a room the night before.
For some reason, his face was deathly pale, eyes hollow. His lips only muttered, “Kill…”
Nether aura surged with him. Two new arms burst from his blood and flesh, transforming into a bloody wind that rushed straight into the sky.
Wang Lian’s pupils contracted sharply.
She realized in a flash—
That Fourth Realm cultivator wasn’t fighting for the fruit. He had come to slaughter. He wanted to kill them all!
Why would there be such a person!?
Blood and rain erupted anew. Amidst the chaos, that Three-Life Fruit fell unnoticed, rolling quietly into a corner.
Chaos.
Slaughter.
On the crimson street, someone slowly walked past.
“Strange—why has no one picked up the fruit?”
Lu Changyuan crouched down, picking up the Three-Life Fruit from the blood-stained tiles. “I suppose no one wants it. Third Highness, our luck seems quite good.”