When Earth Awakened, I Became a Sword Saintess

Chapter 177 : The Ghost Clan's Fortress Wall

177: The Ghost Clan's Fortress Wall

This was not the spirit language of another race. Although it sounded a bit coarse and primitive, it was authentic Huaxia language.

The two evil spirits walked past the hillside where Xia Yuyin was hiding, not noticing her.

"Why do these green-faced, fanged evil spirits speak my Huaxia language? Why do those humanoid Alien Tribes, who try to kill us all on sight, speak another incomprehensible language that we can only understand through the fluctuations of spirit language?"

Xia Yuyin chose not to attack the two evil spirits immediately. Although her instincts saw these ferocious-looking evil spirits as enemies, the fact that they spoke the Huaxia language was truly puzzling to her.

"Wait, those ancient cultivation secret methods that our Grandmasters risked their lives to obtain from the Prison Abyss, aren't their original texts also in ancient Huaxia script? There must be a reason for this."

Since the evil spirits could speak the Huaxia language, could she approach them and force them to reveal the situation here? Xia Yuyin thought about it but decided against it. Instead, she followed them secretly.

This place was at least several thousand li away from the Lingdu Two Realms Gate. These two simple-minded, brutish evil spirits, even if forced, would not necessarily know where the Lingdu Two Realms Gate was. It would be better to follow them and see where they were going first.

With Xia Yuyin's strength, caution, and agility, it was impossible for the two Late-Stage of Purple Domain Realm evil spirits to detect her tailing them. Both evil spirits were over two meters tall, with very broad and stout backs, their muscular frames as wide as several men combined.

Xia Yuyin followed them for more than half a day, crossing several mountains. Ahead, in a mountain col, she was surprised to see a simple, ancient fortress wall. It looked like a small earthen city, but the walls, though dilapidated, were very high, making it seem more like a fortress.

Above the main gate and high on the walls were carved ancient totems, weathered and faded for many years, mainly in dull greens and yellows.

The two evil spirits called out from below. On top of the fortress wall, similar-looking evil spirits patrolled, appearing very vigilant. They opened the heavy wooden gate and let the two evil spirits in.

"In the depths of the Prison Abyss, there's actually a Ghost Clan's fortress wall?" Xia Yuyin had not expected this. She had thought this place would be a complete wilderness, and that even the Ghost Clan would live in caves, with Alien Beasts claiming their own mountains.

These Ghost Clansmen had built a fortress wall with tight guards. They were clearly no ordinary Alien Beast demon spirits. This was a well-organized force, a Ghost Clan tribe, or even a civilization of some sort.

At least, from the courses Xia Yuyin had taken on the Prison Abyss and her teachers' instructions, she had never heard of such a Ghost Clan fortress wall existing in the Prison Abyss. This was perhaps a completely new discovery for humanity. If King Zheng hadn't brought her deep into the Prison Abyss overnight, she would never have had the chance to discover this fortress.

"What exactly is inside?" Xia Yuyin didn't plan to take immediate action. Instead, she wanted to find a way to see what this fortress was like.

She would not go through the main gate. She followed the slope outside the fortress wall, circling forward to see where it would be easiest to approach. She climbed a higher slope and, looking down from a commanding position, could see various old, somewhat primitive buildings beneath the high walls of the fortress. They were very rugged, and she could see many figures of the Ghost Clan among them.

"Hmm?"

Just as Xia Yuyin was planning to approach stealthily for a closer look, she suddenly sensed other Primordial Energy fluctuations appear one after another on the cliff behind the fortress. These auras were clearly suppressing themselves, not very strong, but with Xia Yuyin's current cultivation, she still detected them keenly.

"The two evil spirits that returned to the fortress earlier weren't suppressing their auras. Obviously, this area should be the territory of these Ghost Clansmen. So why are these auras trying to approach secretly? If I approach the fortress now, won't I be discovered by those auras behind me?"

Xia Yuyin did not continue to approach the fortress. Instead, she completely suppressed her own aura, like an ordinary girl, and quietly followed the slope, getting closer to the large number of auras outside the fortress.

Xia Yuyin circled to a high position and discovered that on the cliff behind the fortress, hidden in the grass and trees, were a large number of human figures.

"Humans?" What was this place? Xia Yuyin, of course, would not consider that they might be an Earth Source Martial Practitioner team. If not, they could only be members of an Alien Tribe.

Xia Yuyin then completely quieted her mind and continued to observe.

Hidden on the cliff were several dozen people, dressed in cultivator's robes of various different colors.

These people, with their fluttering clothes, tied-up hair, and carrying swords or other artifacts on their backs, each had a somewhat transcendent, otherworldly air. Although they were Alien Tribesmen, they felt much more profound and high-level than the Alien Tribesmen Xia Yuyin had encountered at the Lingdu Two Realms Gate. They seemed to have an extraordinary origin.

Since they were suppressing their auras, Xia Yuyin couldn't accurately judge their strength, but she felt they were all at the Late-Stage of Purple Domain Realm or above.

Among them, the three at the very front, two men and one woman, had the most extraordinary presence. They were young people wearing sky-blue robes with white inner shirts.

The one in the middle was a tall young man with a jade-green Daoist crown on his head, carrying a horsetail whisk and a ritual sword. He had a long face, small eyes, and a gloomy gaze. Looking at the Ghost Clan fortress, he spoke in the language of the Alien Tribes: "Hmph... a medium-sized Ghost Clan fortress? It seems the intelligence from those Longevity Sect fellows was quite accurate."

"A medium Ghost Clan fortress. With the Junior and Senior Brothers and Sisters we brought, it's more than enough to wipe it out." Beside the tall young man, hiding in the grass, was a handsome young man with a fair face and a blue flame pattern on his cheek. His hair was tied up with a bronze crown. He pushed aside some grass and said with a confident smile, "Although this is my first training expedition, I want to achieve a great merit. Brother Nan, can you leave the head of this fortress's Ghost Clan chief to me? Ah?"

Li Zhu gave his Senior Brother a somewhat provocative look.

"As you wish." Nan Zhou, the tall cultivator with the jade crown, smiled with a hint of composure.

"Hey, hey, the Ghost Clan chief's fangs must be saved for me!" A girl's voice said, like silver bells.

"Before we came down the mountain, Senior Sister Bai said that if we encounter a medium Ghost Clan fortress, the evil spirit chief within will surely be at the Perfection Stage or Desolation Stage of the Purple Domain Realm." This female cultivator in green deliberately imitated her Senior Sister's tone. She was about sixteen or seventeen years old, with a petite and graceful figure. She wore her hair in two lively buns on top of her head, with thin, loose hair at the back, held by various hairpins. On closer inspection, they were all made from rare Alien Beast bones.

"A Purple Domain Desolation Stage, the powerful fangs of a male ghost, just thinking about it is exciting. They would be perfect for making a comb." The young female cultivator couldn't help but stand up, twisting her waist and holding her face with one hand.

"Don't worry about that. Once we destroy this fortress, forget a comb, if you want to make a mat from Ghost Clan fangs, that's fine too, hehehe..." Li Zhu smiled with a handsome look. A mere Ghost Clan fortress? He didn't take it seriously at all.

"None of you should be careless. These Ghost Clansmen will fight to the death to defend their fortress and their remnants. As the saying goes, a cornered beast will still fight. We cannot be lax in Senior Sister Bai's teachings," the leader, the tall cultivator Nan Zhou, said sternly.

"It's daytime now, and we've just arrived. We shouldn't act rashly. Let's stay hidden here and observe for a while longer. We'll make our move tonight. This is a medium fortress, and there must be hidden treasures, countless precious materials, and medicinal herbs inside. This is exactly what our Jingyuan School's grand plan needs. We are not here to play games. Everyone, be cautious."

Nan Zhou looked at the many disciples behind him. "We must strive to have zero casualties. Do you understand?"

The many disciples nodded with solemn expressions.

"Especially you two. Don't be arrogant and unruly just because of your natural talents and treasures. If you act like this, you will suffer losses. If anything happens to you, how would I explain it to our Master and Senior Sister Bai?" Nan Zhou sternly warned the two green-robed disciples beside him.

"Yes, Senior Brother."

"Understood, Brother Nan." The pretty girl stuck out her tongue. "I just want a Ghost Fang comb..."

At this moment, about a hundred meters away, Xia Yuyin was hiding high up, looking at the scene before her with great confusion.

"They... aren't they Alien Tribesmen? Why are they attacking the Ghost Clan's fortress?" If not for the fact that they were speaking the spirit language, Xia Yuyin would have thought they were from some sect on Earth that was so dedicated to traditional ancient costumes that even their hair was orthodox, but whose discipline was lacking.

Why would these humanoid demon spirits and Alien Tribesmen of the Prison Abyss attack the Ghost Clan of the Prison Abyss?

Shouldn't they be uniting to charge the Two Realms Gate and attack the humans of Earth?

If it were Alien Beasts, that would be one thing. Alien Tribesmen hunting Alien Beasts, Alien Beasts eating people, that would be normal. But these Ghost Clansmen were clearly a force with a societal and civilized system. Yet, from the words of these disciples who called themselves the Jingyuan School, it seemed they were natural enemies. They wanted to kill and plunder the Ghost Clan, not out of hatred or a territorial dispute, but simply to seize treasures and materials, and to eliminate the other side.

What exactly was going on?

Humans had always thought that the various demon spirits of the Prison Abyss were a united front of various racial forces, categorizing demon spirits, Alien Tribesmen, and Ghost Clansmen as one. But now, it seemed that was not the case...

The disciples who called themselves the Jingyuan School began to quiet down and lie in ambush. They were planning to act at night, so there would be no movement for now.

"Then, what exactly is inside the Ghost Clan fortress?" Xia Yuyin became more and more eager to figure everything out, especially since these evil spirits, though ferocious and terrifying, spoke the Huaxia language.

Xia Yuyin quietly retreated, moving away from these ambushing Alien Tribe cultivators, and came to another mountain ridge. Here, a forest of giant pines stood. One of the giant pines was leaning, its thick branch extending to the edge of the Ghost Clan fortress's wall. Xia Yuyin nimbly leaped onto it and, crouching, walked along the pine branch. Using the pine needles for cover, she quietly peeked into the fortress.

On this side, just below the several-meter-thick earthen wall, was an open training ground.

"Hei! Hou!"

One by one, young evil spirits, not very tall and seemingly young, with greenish-black skin, were practicing martial skills with crude weapons.

"The Heavenly Tribulation is approaching! Our clan is in peril. All of you, train with all your might!" a tall, greenish-black evil spirit instructor, who had broken one of his fangs, shouted loudly at the little ghosts.

Not far away, the two evil spirits who had returned from hunting earlier were dividing meat with a group of Ghost Clansmen.

Two women with different skin tones, wearing flowing but tattered silk cloth, carried two large trays of tea and walked toward the training ground. One of the women had light lemon-colored skin and a pair of long deer antlers. The other had brightly colored feathers on her arms but two fiery red rabbit ears on her head.

"Instructor Wu Huan, my sister and I fetched spring water from the mountains and picked spiritual plums. We've brewed plum tea. Let the children rest for a while. Come and have a drink to cool off from the heat, would you?" the woman with the deer antlers said.