Chapter 568: The Subterranean World

Sigma Hitesh

Shi Yan followed Ye Xiong through the entrance to the cave. The soil wall surrounding them had no source of light. The moonlight in the sky couldn’t shine to this place, either.

This cave was gloomy, with a cold gust blowing through. The deeper they went, the colder and sharper the wind got.

The cold wind chilled people to their bones. The wind seemed to be able to blow through warriors’ Sea of Consciousness, which could freeze the soul as well.

Shi Yan had the flaming power of the Earth Flame moving in him, which helped him neutralize the cold wind and maintain his sound mind.

Ye Xiong, Zhu Yi, Yue Ying, and Yun Xiu were warriors with a profound attainment. This kind of a strong, cold wind didn’t trouble them much.

On the other side, the juniors, including Luo Xiao and Li Mu Yu, couldn’t endure. They were shivering, their bodies chilled.

Ye Xiong and the others didn’t try to protect them.

From their point of view, Zhu Yi, Yue Ying, and Yun Xiu thought that the cold gust in the cave entrance wasn’t too fierce. It was good enough to train their disciples. They took Lin Zhi, Li Mu Yu, Bai Hui Quan, Luo Xiao, and Luo Meng here to make them adapt to the conditions of the Shady Firmament Old Mound, using dangers to stimulate them.

Danger and risk could increase the warrior’s realm fast. To resist the erosive power of the cold wind, they needed to use both of their will and energy.

This was a good chance to practice.

Zhu Yi didn’t take action. Lin Zhi and the others were moving inside the ill-lit cave. Sometimes, they could hear the noise from their teeth chattering.

The cold wind had them freezing.

Shi Yan maintained his slow speed, his face calm. He squinted his eyes, putting up his guard.

Ye Xiong was in the front. Certainly, he was familiar with this place. Along the way, he continually told them the directions and what to avoid.

After two hours, Ye Xiong suddenly shouted curtly, "Everybody, stay alert. We’re about to get there."

Everybody was struck.

Shi Yan’s eyes brightened a little bit as he was secretly astonished, observing everywhere. He discreetly released his Soul Consciousness. There was no fluctuation of life underground, but the aura here as strangely changing. Great danger seemed to hide somewhere.

An immense white light emitted under their feet, which lit up the gloomy cave a little bit.

Under the white light, Shi Yan suddenly found that Bai Hui Quan was too close to him, as if she intended to shorten the distance between them. A fresh and sweet fragrance like orchid emitted from the little girl.

Shi Yan exhaled gently. He knitted his brows as if he were surprised, looking at the girl.

Under the immense white light, Bai Hui Quan’s small face showed that she was scared. The girl then shyly spoke to him with a soft voice. "It’s warmer near you. I... I just want to borrow some warmth."

Shi Yan got it immediately.

When he was using the heating energy of the Earth Flame, a warm aura flowed out from him, which increased the temperature around his body.

Cold gust constantly blew through the cave, bringing the chill air which could make their bones shiver. But the aura of the flame could ease the bitter cold.

Bai Hui Quan stayed close to him to reduce the irritating feeling on her body as much as possible, to prevent consuming too much Essence Qi to resist the cold wind.

Shi Yan smiled and nodded to her. "As you wish."

"Thank you," Bai Hui Quan stuck her tongue out, giving him a sincere thanks. "You’re a good guy. You aren’t like someone people can’t stand, as sister Mu Yu said."

Shi Yan wore some black stripes on his face, looking at Li Mu Yu from a distance. He then asked with a low voice, "How did that woman slander me?"

Bai Hui Quan chuckled. She purses her lips as her eyes squinted to a new moon. "I don’t dare to say. Otherwise, sister Mu Yu will not forgive me. You will hate me, too."

"Means there’s no good word." Shi Yan forced a smile, shaking his head. "I have never known her before. I don’t know why she has a hostile attitude towards me. It’s inexplicable."

"You don’t know that?" muttered Bai Hui Quan.

"You know something?" Shi Yan was astounded.

"Mu Yu-jie likes Yu Le. But it’s a secret. Now, you’ve joined the God Sect, and you could replace the Son of God position of his. Among the chosen ones in the Secret Territory, perhaps you can take her rank too. At that time, she won’t give you a good face." Bai Hui Quan secretly checked Li Mu Yu. When she found that the woman didn’t watch over this area, she explained him briefly with her soft voice.

Shi Yan was surprised. "Oh, that’s it. How about you? Do you have the same thoughts as her?"

"I won’t be like her," Bai Hui Quan squinted. She harrumphed. "Yu Le isn’t honest. I don’t like him. Even if you didn’t come to the Secret Territory for ranking, it would not be my turn yet. I won’t have a bad feeling about you because of this ranking thing. Anyway, my teacher said that you’re a pervert. She told me to stay away from you as far as possible. And, don’t let you take advantage of me."

Shi Yan’s eyes were strange, as he coldly glared at Yun Xiu far from him then snorted, "It seems all women gossip."

Bai Hui Quan smiled unceasingly, her body closer to his, using the higher temperature emitting from him to minimize the effect of the freezing wind.

Yue Ying and Yun Xiu were flying together. They didn’t notice Shi Yan. These two girls seemed to use some kind of code to talk, their eyes sometimes cold and sometimes bright.

Ye Xiong and Zhu Yi flew together. They landed first.

It turned out that the deep place under the isolated plain was a fairy world. This subterranean area was like another world in the core of the earth. It was dark, humid, and wet. Many pale mushrooms were growing from the ground. These mushrooms had some tiny black spots. They were radiating immense white light, which supported their vision in this area.

This earth core world had a lot of peculiar flora. Each kind of plant here had a heavy Yin Qi, and they were as firm as iron, as if molded with molten iron.

Fractions of white bones lay like withered plants for years, scattering everywhere. They could see some white skulls here and there, under the shades of those peculiar trees.

With a more careful look, they saw many graves. Some of them were dug out, and they could see the coffin inside.

"Those are Phosphorus Ghost Mushrooms. They’re the main lighting flora underground. Thanks to them, our vision here is good enough. However, what you need to watch out the most is the Phosphorus Ghost Mushroom! These things have absorbed the phosphorescent flame from the decomposed corpses. They have the corpse toxins. If you stay close to it, it will spray the toxin out. This way, it can kill more people to take the phosphorescent flame from the decomposing bodies..."

Ye Xiong waited until everybody landed next to him to introduce the general situation of this subterranean world.

"This section of burial mound is dug up already. They took all funerary objects. The graves that haven’t been violated should have hidden dangers. Everybody should stay far from them. Or else, you wouldn’t know how you died."

Ye Xiong continued to explain.

"Is this the Shady Firmament Old Mound?" Shi Yan felt the dense Yin Qi as he asked.

This place had abundant Yin Qi, pretty similar to the Sound Beast Mountain in the abandoned place. However, this place had a menacing cold gust that kept howling unceasingly. They seemed to be very dangerous.

The ambiance here was somehow extremely evil. People who stood here always had an unknown but terrifying feeling swelling in their hearts.

"Yeah," Ye Xiong nodded, then continued seriously, "To be exact, this place’s a corner of the Shady Firmament Old Mound, which is still pretty far from the real tomb. Anyway, don’t worry. Our destination isn’t the most dangerous place in the Shady Firmament Old Mound. It’s easy to get there."

Having heard him say so, Shi Yan could relax a bit.

Ye Xiong put on a serious countenance and continued his introduction of the Shady Firmament Old Mound’s dangers and changes. After that, he said, "Everybody just needs to follow me. Before we get there, I’m sure there will be no sudden events. Later, please maintain a proper distance. Pay attention to my position."

Everybody nodded, then Ye Xiong led the way.

He avoided the Phosphorus Ghost Mushrooms, swaying like a shuttle through those rigid plants. His pace was fast, as he was ignoring the skeletons here and there.

Shi Yan followed him nonchalantly.

Along the way, he released his Soul Consciousness, but didn’t find any fluctuation of life.

He could confirm that there were no living creatures in the surrounding areas.

When the Phosphorus Ghost Mushrooms found someone near them, these pale things with black dots, which looked more like pimples, would exude something viscous with an extremely unpleasant smell. When it stormed to people’s nostrils, of course, it brought along the toxin.

However, the distance that Phosphorus Ghost Mushrooms could spray the corpse toxin to was limited. As long as they kept a proper distance from them, those mushrooms wouldn’t start their attack.

Ye Xiong understood the nature of the mushroom well. He had set up a precise distance which everybody followed to stay away from the attack range of the Phosphorus Ghost Mushrooms.

The open graves exposed the empty coffins inside. Funerary objects had been soon taken.

According to Ye Xiong, people who were buried there were all warriors from many previous generations. Their funerary objects were excellent. Unfortunately, tomb raiders who had come here to collect the materials had cleaned up the tombs that they could touch really long time ago.

Looking at those empty graves, Shi Yan frowned, his face heavy.

No matter how strong a warrior was, when he died, he would eventually turn into a dry skeleton, unless he had reached the True God Realm.

At that time, his soul would become the God Soul. Even if his body vanished, his Soul would remain.

As long as no soul technique or treasures attacked that God Soul, it could escape easily. Then, it could find another body to refine or enter the womb of a pregnant woman to be reborn in a newborn baby form.

These two methods had the same meaning, which was to resurrect with a different body.

And only the True God Realm warriors could do these steps. They were almost immortal.

Looking at the open graves around him, Shi Yan was firmly determined to set himself to chase the stronger realms.

"Shi Yan, come here," Yue Ying suddenly called out, her face still cold as usual.

Shi Yan was bewildered, He turned around to see her, and after hesitating for a while, he walked towards her. "Elder Yue, what do you want to advise?"

"Remember the Big Dipper God Arrow book I gave you? How is your practice?" Her manner was like she was testing her student. She lifted her head, her face solemn.

"Not bad," Shi Yan replied nonchalantly.

"Show me one type. When Flaming Sun, Silver Moon, and Star techniques of the Radiant God Sect are combined together at the crucial time, the power will rocket. We possibly have to control the Heaven Thunder Beast. At that time, your Big Dipper God Arrow can contribute a bit. Show me, then I can know how can we cooperate to control the Heaven Thunder Beast," said Yue Ying deliberately.

Shi Yan’s heart bounced.

His Big Dipper God Arrow was complete. However, the seven stars of the Big Dipper in his heart had the flaming sun power.

Once he performed the Big Dipper God Arrow, the miraculous Sun power fusion would be exposed.

When Yun Hao took him to the sect, he had advised him not to let any other disciples know that he could fuse the Sun power.

And now Yue Ying wanted to test him. Unless he didn’t use the Big Dipper God Arrow, his secret would be revealed.

Shi Yan felt a headache coming.