"Can I enter the underworld by following the dark spring?"
Chen Shi gazed at the moonlit dark spring that resembled a swimming dragon, his heart stirring slightly. Although he had refined this sword, he had only used the Dark Spring Swimming Dragon Sword to perform so simple sword techniques. He was completely unaware of any special qualities this treasured sword possessed.
Just as he was about to follow the dark spring into the underworld, fog suddenly surged forth. The moonlight reflected on the sword vanished, and the dark spring leading to the underworld disappeared without a trace.
Chen Shi's heart stirred again. "This sword relies on moonlight to reflect the dark spring, which is a significant limitation. This function can only be used at night. For others, this might be useless, but my small temple also has moonlight!"
The sky within the small temple behind his head displayed the sky of the Ancestral Land, the Divine Continent. Not only was there sunlight, but when night fell on the Ancestral Land, moonlight would also shine upon it.
In his daily cultivation, Chen Shi relied on this temple to absorb the Three Lights Righteous Energy of the sun, moon, and stars to enhance his cultivation and strength.
More crucially, even if it wasn't nightti on the Ancestral Land, before the moon had risen, he could still circulate his cultivation techniques to absorb moonlight!
In other words, the Dark Spring Swimming Dragon Sword could erupt with a dark spring at any mont, allowing him to enter the underworld whenever he wished!
He acted on his thought imdiately, circulating and refining the sword. He saw moonlight shining from within the small temple onto the Dark Spring Swimming Dragon Sword. The dark spring that had just disappeared reappeared, winding and twisting, opening a path to the underworld.
Chen Shi promptly waded through the shimring spring water, following the stream into the underworld.
The spring water reflected the moonlight. The moon shattered beneath his feet, reford, shattered again, and reford once more.
The surrounding lake surface, blanketed in white mist, along with the sound of waves and dragon roars, all vanished completely.
Chen Shi arrived in the underworld, his feet landing on a sea surface as smooth as a mirror, not a ripple stirred.
He looked down. In the water was his reflection—a skeleton wearing clothes.
A crow flapped its wings across the sky, cawing: "Southern Abyss, Southern Abyss! Southern, no crossing, your steps are endless! Southern Abyss, Southern Abyss! Wronged souls sink here, your bones pile like mountains!"
The crow had feathers, but its body was devoid of flesh and blood, leaving only bones. Its head was a human skull, but it had a bird's beak.
Hearing the crow's words, Chen Shi looked down. Besides his own skeletal reflection, countless faces were under the water's surface, looking up at him with dark, unblinking eyes.
These were the ghosts within the Southern Abyss Sea.
According to the human-headed crow, ghosts here walked upon the Southern Abyss Sea, never reaching an end. Eventually, they stopped walking and sank into the water.
"Then, beneath the water, there are also..."
Chen Shi's gaze passed over these ghostly faces, vaguely seeing beneath the Southern Abyss were white bone mountains piled from countless skeletons!
His heart pounded wildly.
At that mont, he noticed his own two legs were sinking below the water's surface. He hurriedly stepped forward.
He walked upon the water's surface. As long as he kept moving, he was fine. If he stopped, his body would slowly sink into the water.
The Southern Abyss was likely the magnificent manifestation of Great South Lake in the underworld.
In the mortal realm, Great South Lake spanned hundreds of *li* in all directions, like an inland sea. But in the underworld, it had beco vast and boundless, with no end in sight.
That crow flew back and forth above Chen Shi's head, seemingly waiting for him to exhaust his strength and fall into the Southern Abyss Sea.
"This wicked crow is waiting for to die."
Chen Shi chuckled inwardly. "But how could it know I can return to the mortal realm at any ti... Wait a mont!"
His body trembled slightly. The Dark Spring Swimming Dragon Sword could open a path to the underworld, allowing his physical body to enter. But could the Dark Spring Swimming Dragon Sword open a path back to the mortal realm?
He hurriedly activated his small temple, using the temple's sunlight to shine upon the Swimming Dragon Sword. The sword rely reflected the sunlight, showing no unusual reaction.
Chen Shi then used the temple's moonlight to illuminate the sword. Under the moonlight in the underworld, the Swimming Dragon Sword remained completely unresponsive.
"Damn it, damn it! When this sword transforms into its massive dragon form, it can travel between the realms of Yin and Yang, fighting those powerful experts. Why doesn't it work now?"
Chen Shi tried repeatedly, but the Dark Spring Swimming Dragon Sword consistently gave no response.
While he was busy testing, he forgot to keep moving forward. His legs had already sunk into the sea surface, subrged up to his waist.
Chen Shi hastily lifted his legs and stepped forward, imdiately standing on the water's surface again.
He fixed his direction and accelerated, flying swiftly ahead.
The Southern Abyss Sea was incredibly vast, boundless and expansive. The sea surface remained unrippled, eerily calm.
Chen Shi traveled for a long ti. Suddenly, he saw a figure ahead. His heart leaped with joy, and he hurriedly chased after it.
"Brother, wait for ! Brother..."
When he caught up, he saw that the figure walking on the sea surface was not a person but a wandering soul.
It was an old man resembling rotten wood, walking forward with vacant eyes and a wooden expression. He had probably been walking on this sea surface for an unknowable length of ti.
"Old sir..."
As soon as Chen Shi uttered these words, this old man's soul seed to suddenly lose all hope of continuing. He sighed and slowly sank into the Southern Abyss Sea.
Chen Shi steadied his mind and continued onward.
He encountered more wanderers, staggering along the sea surface. Constantly, soone would sink into the sea, becoming one of the faces looking up from beneath the surface.
Their skeletons would sink to the seabed, becoming part of the white bone mountains below.
Witnessing this scene, Chen Shi felt nothing but profound desolation.
Suddenly, an idea erged, occupying his mind.
"Stone Ji, can you absorb the bone mountains on the seabed?" Chen Shi awakened Stone Ji Your Ladyship from the miniature shrine in his small temple and inquired.
Because Stone Ji Your Ladyship had grown tiny limbs, she needed vast amounts of demonic energy or bones to cultivate and restore her body. Recently, Chen Shi had been staying at ho, and Nannan was always clinging to him, making Stone Ji afraid to show herself. So, she had no choice but to sleep and recuperate.
Awakened by Chen Shi now, she didn't yet know where she was. Once she clearly saw her surroundings, she exclaid in surprise, "Envoy, have you passed? Who perford this good deed and killed you?"
"You're the one who passed!"
Chen Shi retorted irritably. "Hurry up and see if you can absorb the bone mountains in this sea!"
Stone Ji Your Ladyship stepped out of the small temple, arriving at the temple entrance. She looked down at the Southern Abyss below, her heart stirring. She leaped down from the temple, landing on the water's surface.
Her body was as thin as an ant's leg, but her head was about ten feet in circumference. The size proportion was bizarre, yet she stood very steadily, looking down at the scene beneath the water's surface.
"Your Ladyship, be careful not to break your neck," Chen Shi warned, his heart pounding with fear.
"Envoy, rest assured. Although my newly grown body is slender, it is still the body of a demon god. There aren't many in this world who can harm ."
Stone Ji Your Ladyship laughed. "How could my neck break just from looking down? Envoy, do you know the origin of these bone mountains beneath the water?"
Chen Shi said, "They're probably just illusions. Look, my reflection is also under the water, and my reflection is a skeleton."
Stone Ji Your Ladyship giggled. "Envoy, your knowledge is still sowhat shallow. This is the Southern Abyss, the Sea of Darkness. The water's surface cannot reflect the physical body; it can only show the scene after death. After you die, aren't you just a pile of bones?"
She was the type who grew arrogant with the slightest advantage and panicked at the smallest setback. Feeling sowhat triumphant now, her tone beca a bit more arrogant. "For example, Envoy, after you die and are buried in the earth, in a few years, your flesh and blood will decay completely, leaving only bones. In the mortal realm, your bones are soaked by underground water. But in the underworld, your bones lie at the bottom of the Dark Sea, piling up like mountains with nearby dry bones. The Southern Abyss is the underworld's Great South Lake!"
Beneath her enormous head, her incredibly slender arm lifted, pointing at those still walking on the sea surface. "Look at these wandering souls. They are people who have already died, buried underground. Their corpses are decaying but haven't completely rotted away yet. They walk on the sea, walking endlessly, never reaching an end. This is actually the process of their corpses decaying. When their corpses completely rot away, leaving only bones, the wandering souls will despair and sink to the bottom."
Excitent glead in her eyes as she laughed. "When I first ca to the Western Ox New Continent, this place hadn't yet ford a Dark Sea! I never expected that over these years, bone mountains would actually form on the seabed here!"
Chen Shi asked, "Can Your Ladyship absorb these bones to restore your true form?"
"Of course I can!"
Stone Ji Your Ladyship was so excited she beca sowhat incoherent, growing even more arrogant as she laughed. "This palace can finally restore my true form! Nezha, Old Man Taiyi, this palace made the right choice coming to the New Continent! Once this palace restores my true form, I'll punch Old Man Taiyi and kick that brat Nezha! Hehe, in the entire Western Ox New Continent, is there anyone who dares to breathe..."
Chen Shi urged her, "Your Ladyship, don't get ahead of yourself. Absorb these bone mountains first. Let's avoid any underworld officers or other powerful beings from the underworld coming to chase us away!"
Stone Ji Your Ladyship laughed. "Little Ten, this palace is about to beco invincible! My true form is about to reach Great Completion. Why would I fear any underworld officers? I'm afraid they won't co! Otherwise, even the underworld officers will kneel down and beco my grandsons! Little Ten, from now on, this palace will protect you. You can walk sideways in the underworld!"
Chen Shi gave vague, noncommittal responses, urging her again.
Only then did Stone Ji Your Ladyship put away her arrogant expression and activate her demonic arts to absorb the stone essence from the seabed bone mountains.
After all, she was a demon god. Her speed of absorbing stone essence was astonishing. Soon, the bone mountains on the seabed collapsed in large sections, turning into dust.
As the bone mountains collapsed, the calm, mirror-like sea surface suddenly stirred with waves. The waves grew larger, tsunamis arose, and huge swells surged forth, their montum growing increasingly powerful and terrifying.
However, the wandering souls on the surface of the Southern Abyss Sea seed completely unaware, continuing to walk. No matter how high the waves or how terrifying the tsunamis, they always managed to tread on the crests of the waves, never being swept under.
This phenonon defied common sense, but this was the underworld, where common sense did not apply.
The bone mountains on the seabed, though composed of mortal remains, had accumulated over ti. The stone essence they contained was extrely terrifying. Stone Ji Your Ladyship's body, originally as slender as an ant's, gradually grew, transforming into a body like a hemp stalk, growing dozens of tis taller.
In a short ti, the part of her body below her neck grew to about a foot in height and was still continuously growing taller.
Seeing the waves growing higher and the surrounding scene becoming more terrifying, Chen Shi felt a pang of alarm and quickly said, "Your Ladyship, the commotion here might alert nearby underworld officers. Let's move sowhere else!"
Stone Ji Your Ladyship giggled. "Underworld officers? What does this palace have to fear from underworld officers now? Even if Ox-Head, Horse-Face, Black and White Impermanence ca, let all four brothers attack together, this palace wouldn't fear them in the slightest!"
A crow's grating caw ca from the air. The human-headed crow that had been following and monitoring Chen Shi was very agitated, flapping its wings repeatedly as if wanting to attack Stone Ji, yet not daring to do so, seemingly sensing that Stone Ji was extrely dangerous.
"Little thing, I'll absorb you too!"
Stone Ji Your Ladyship's eyes flashed with a fierce light. With just a glance, that human-headed crow's bones disintegrated, leaving only feathers drifting down in a flurry.
Stone Ji Your Ladyship was extrely pleased with herself, laughing, "Little Ten, how is this palace's technique?"
Before Chen Shi could respond, a buzzing sound of vibrating wing mbranes suddenly reached their ears. Chen Shi followed the sound and saw sothing flying over the Southern Abyss Sea—a dark, dense mass. It was countless evil spirits with bee heads on human bodies and human heads on bee bodies!
These bee-like creatures wore yellow and black clothing, flying through the air with a fierce, imposing montum.
"Uncle A Zhuo's bee swarm?"
Chen Shi was stunned. "Is he also in the underworld? Wasn't he an evil spirit at Great South Lake? Why would he appear in the underworld?"
Just as this thought crossed his mind, he saw the bee swarm surging forward. A human-headed bee shouted from afar, "What demon dares to trespass into the Southern Abyss, stir up trouble, and harm the ravens my master keeps?"
In just a short mont, the part of Stone Ji Your Ladyship's body below her neck had already grown to three or four feet tall, supporting a head over ten feet in circumference. She laughed, "Little Ten, don't panic. This palace's current strength is far from what it used to be. re evil spirits are easily dealt with!"
She soared into the air, her short little legs riding demonic winds as she flew, shouting, "What demons are you? Do you recognize the Star Lord of the Wandering Moon, Stone Ji Your Ladyship?"
Before her words even finished, countless bee creatures pointed their rears forward, their tail ends revealing sharp stingers like spear points.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Countless stingers shot toward Stone Ji with a cold gleam. The flashing light didn't resemble the aura of mortal realm Daoist techniques.
"Your Ladyship, be careful!" Chen Shi shouted loudly.
Stone Ji Your Ladyship laughed. "Little Ten, watch closely! With a wave of this palace's sleeve, I'll turn them all to stone!"
She waved her sleeve. Imdiately, countless bee creatures in front of her turned to stone and fell from the sky, plunging into the Southern Abyss Sea. However, the incoming spear-like stingers were not petrified.
"Oh? Underworld spells! Interesting!"
Stone Ji Your Ladyship didn't dodge, laughing instead. "My true form is invincible under heaven. No spell can harm in the sligh..."
"Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!"
Thousands of stingers shot forth with a cold gleam, instantly covering Stone Ji Your Ladyship's face.
Chen Shi watched, his heart pounding wildly. He saw Stone Ji Your Ladyship's face rapidly turn black—she must have been poisoned.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Another volley of spear-like poisonous stingers shot over. Stone Ji Your Ladyship's petite body below her head was also covered with spear-like stingers.
Stone Ji Your Ladyship was clearly sowhat flustered. She imdiately turned and fled. The sound of whooshing continued relentlessly as poisonous stingers flew. In an instant, the back of her head, her back, and her legs were also densely covered with stingers everywhere.
Stone Ji was turned into a large porcupine, severely poisoned. Her limbs went out of control, and her magical power also went haywire. She fell from the sky.
Chen Shi hurriedly tried to rescue her, but then he saw the rears of those evil spirit bee creatures in the air pointing toward him.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Poisonous stingers ca like clouds, a dark mass shooting toward him!
"We're on the sa side! A Zhuo is my uncle!"
Chen Shi hastily shouted, dodging while also activating the Dark Spring Swimming Dragon Sword to block. However, those poisonous stingers seed to have no substance; the Swimming Dragon Sword couldn't touch them at all.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
Chen Shi's face was hit by several poisonous stingers. He hurriedly protected his face, then felt a pain in his stomach as a cluster of stingers pierced his body!
Chen Shi foad at the mouth, feeling his head grow dizzy and heavy. Struggling, he shouted, "A Zhuo is my uncle..."
The bee creatures flapped their wings as they flew over. It was unclear whether they heard him or not.
After a while, Chen Shi awoke groggily to find himself flying through the sky. His hands and feet were bound, and he was hanging upside down.
His entire body was numb. He tried with effort to turn his head, barely able to see that the bee swarm was carrying him as they flew over the sea surface. The poisonous stingers on his body had been removed, but he was still paralyzed all over, even his Nascent Soul was numb.
Beside him was Stone Ji Your Ladyship, also hanging upside down. Her body was too small, and her head too big, making her look rather ridiculous.
Stone Ji was still covered in poisonous stingers and hadn't woken up yet.
"These poisonous bees treated with such consideration. It must be because my shout of 'Uncle A Zhuo' had an effect." Chen Shi felt slightly relieved.
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