569: Lu Xueqi (46)

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

Immediately after, centered around the netherworld token, the dark red, complex Formation patterns on the ground suddenly lit up as if imbued with life!

It wasn't a bright spiritual light, but a deep, dark, blood-colored glow that rapidly spread along the grooves, instantly covering the entire circular platform.

The platform began to vibrate slightly, and the black stone surface beneath their feet became scorching hot.

The whimpering wind suddenly intensified, turning into countless shrill screams that surged from all directions of the stone forest, assaulting the three's eardrums and minds.

"Be careful!"

Lu Xueqi let out a clear cry, and the tianya divine sword automatically unsheathed half an inch, its clear blue sword light unfurling like a curtain of water, protecting the three in the center and barely resisting the demonic sound that pierced directly into their Souls.

Bi Yao's beautiful face also changed slightly; with a flick of her slender hand, the sorrowful strange flower swirled and danced, emitting a soft white glow that complemented the tianya sword light, jointly resisting the spiritual impact from outside.

Su Han bore the brunt of it.

The moment the netherworld token and the Formation fully integrated, he felt an indescribable icy cold aura, surging violently into his body from the arm holding the token!

This aura was not spiritual energy; it was closer to an extreme "dead silence" and "darkness." Wherever it passed, the circulation of his own spiritual energy became sluggish.

At the same time, the depths of his Sea of Consciousness churned violently, and the dormant netherworld token phantom erupted with a strong spectral glow.

Fragments of broken, blurry images, accompanied by a massive amount of information, forcibly flooded his consciousness.

He saw it!

It was no longer a vague sensation, but a relatively clear vision!

Under an boundless, murky yellow sky, a turbid and vast giant river flowed silently, its water glowing with an eerie yellow light, and countless flickering, struggling phantoms floated on its surface.

On the banks of the giant river, boundless blood-colored flowers bloomed, their petals long and enchanting like fire, precisely the strange flowers carved on the stone pillars—the Other Shore Flowers!

A winding path, along the banks of the Forgetfulness River, led into the depths of the mist.

Beside the path stood a massive stone tablet, on which three large characters were carved in ancient netherworld script. Su Han didn't recognize them, yet he instantly understood their meaning—Yellow Springs Road!

And at the end of the path, shrouded in mist, the outline of an enormous pass was faintly visible. Above the pass, black Qi swirled, exuding a heart-pounding majesty and dead silence.

In front of the pass, a huge stone archway was dimly discernible, with what appeared to be inscriptions on it.

But the scene became extremely unstable here, as if disturbed by something, making it impossible to see clearly.

At the same time, another image forcibly intruded.

It was inside a magnificent hall filled with a murderous aura, with a dark background and burning green flames.

A tall, blurry figure sat on a throne of bones, only his body shrouded in dense netherworld Qi, majestic as a prison, was visible.

Below the throne, there were not humans, but various strangely shaped netherworld creatures, some with ox heads and human bodies, others with horse faces and tusks, all trembling and submissive.

And what Su Han's Divine Sense perceived, prostrated at the very front of the throne, was precisely the kind of demonic creature they had seen at the edge of the deep pit!

However, this one in the image was larger and had a more terrifying aura, yet it was meekly kneeling and presenting a netherworld token, identical to the one in his hand, to the entity on the throne.

"Netherworld... Edict... Pass..."

Broken, intermittent ancient thoughts, interspersed with the fragmented images, impacted Su Han's mind.

He seemed to hear the wails of ten thousand ghosts, and also authoritative decrees being proclaimed.

The massive information flow and Soul shock made Su Han let out a muffled groan, his face instantly turning pale, and his body swayed, almost collapsing to the ground.

"Senior Brother Su!"

"Su Han!"

Lu Xueqi and Bi Yao exclaimed simultaneously, supporting him from left and right.

Two streams of pure spiritual energy, one as cold as ice, the other agile and gentle, quickly flowed into Su Han's body, helping him stabilize his churning Qi and blood and his chaotic Sea of Consciousness.

Lu Xueqi's spiritual energy had the effect of cleansing the Heart Demon, while Bi Yao's spiritual energy focused more on soothing and nourishing.

With the help of the two women, Su Han bit the tip of his tongue fiercely; the sharp pain cleared his mind somewhat, and he desperately focused his mind, guiding the two external spiritual energies to jointly resist the erosion of the netherworld Qi.

"I... I'm fine!"

Su Han uttered a few words with difficulty, his gaze fixed on the blank stone tablet in the center of the platform.

At this moment, another anomaly occurred.

Having absorbed the energy of the Formation's blood-red light, the pristine white stone tablet finally began to change.

The surface of the stone tablet rippled like water, and intricate patterns began to emerge where it had been blank.

These patterns were not carved, but rather seemed to be naturally formed, gradually outlining a grand scene.

It was a clear version of the fragmented, blurry images Su Han had seen in his Divine Sense!

The turbid Forgetfulness River, the enchanting Other Shore Flowers, the winding Yellow Springs Road, the massive stone tablet, and the towering pass at the end of the mist!

The details of the pass were clearly visible: built of black stone, towering into the clouds, exuding an ancient desolation and dead silence that seemed to have existed forever.

In the center of the pass, on a huge plaque, three ancient characters, written with the flourish of a Dragon and Phoenix, yet imbued with an endless sense of the underworld, shone brightly—Ghost Gate Pass!

And in front of the Ghost Gate Pass, beside the Yellow Springs Road, the previously blurry inscription on the massive stone tablet also became completely clear—

It was not Liubo Mountain, nor any known place name.

But three even more Soul-stirring characters: Mount Youdu!

"Mount Youdu... Ghost Gate Pass..."

Bi Yao murmured these two names, her beautiful face filled with shock.

As the daughter of the Ghost King Sect Sect Master, she was well-read and very knowledgeable about ancient myths and legends.

Mount Youdu, Ghost Gate Pass—these were clearly the entrance to the place where Yin and Yang meet and the deceased return, according to ancient legends!

The core of the Liubo Mountain ruins actually pointed to the netherworld underworld?

Lu Xueqi's pupils also constricted sharply; as cold as she was, she could not hide her shock at this moment.

Qingyun Sect's ancient texts also contained scattered records that Mount Youdu was a place of extreme Yin, forbidden to living creatures, the starting point of Reincarnation, and the boundary of order.

Could the Seal beneath Liubo Mountain actually be related to the netherworld? Was it not suppressing ordinary demonic creatures, but rather...

Just then, the stone tablet, which had displayed the scenes of Mount Youdu and Ghost Gate Pass, changed again.

The images gradually faded, eventually disappearing completely.

The surface of the stone tablet returned to smoothness, but it was no longer blank.

Countless ancient characters, as tiny as gnats, emerged, flowed, and combined from within the stone tablet as if alive, forming a complete inscription.

These characters were not from any language currently in circulation in the world; they were twisted and strange, filled with an ancient and ominous aura.

None of the three, Su Han, Lu Xueqi, or Bi Yao, recognized them.

However, strangely, when Su Han's gaze met these flowing netherworld characters, the netherworld token phantom in his Sea of Consciousness vibrated again. (End of Chapter)