Chapter 96: The World Beneath the River

Beneath the Blood River, Jiang Xiaofei continued descending into the depths, and to his astonishment he discovered that the bottom seemed bottomless, like a void with no end. At the same time, he could feel the river’s corrosive force; the blood-red water all around him was like some kind of acid, eating away at his magical power.

Sensing the violence of the blood water, Jiang Xiaofei immediately circulated the black-and-white qi within him to protect his body. Only then did he feel somewhat better, and he continued downward.

Unknowingly, after descending nearly a thousand meters, Jiang Xiaofei suddenly discovered that there was another world below. At the riverbed stood a long, majestic palace, magnificent in scale.

The palace occupied the bottom of the river like a colossal beast, its entire body a deep crimson.

As he drew closer, Jiang Xiaofei was shocked to find that the palace looked like a blood dragon lying on the ground, though it seemed even more like a ferocious demonic dragon.

Looking carefully, he saw a gate within its mouth. Above the gate hung a plaque bearing three bold, powerful characters: Demon Emperor Palace.

Merely looking at those words, Jiang Xiaofei felt a sharp murderous aura. Invisible yet piercing, it seemed capable of disturbing the mind and turning one bloodthirsty and savage.

At once, Jiang Xiaofei recited a calming incantation and used the black-and-white qi to guard his spirit before finally shaking off that bloodthirsty sensation.

Even so, he still felt a chill of fear. The one who wrote those characters was absolutely a veteran of countless battlefields, someone who had killed without mercy. Otherwise, such terrifying murderous force could never have been condensed.

Jiang Xiaofei could not help but think of the Demon Emperor, but he quickly ruled him out. Although the Demon Emperor was also ruthless, he was not consumed by slaughter. Otherwise, Jiang Xiaofei would already have died in the Demon Emperor’s hands earlier.

“Could it be that the one who wrote this is someone else entirely?” Jiang Xiaofei frowned. The thought filled him with a strange unease and dread.

“Could this all be nothing but a trap?” But that was only his speculation. After all, if the Demon Emperor truly wanted to kill him, why go to such lengths?

At that moment, the gate opened by itself, and Jiang Xiaofei found himself walking involuntarily inside. Instantly, darkness surged around him, as though he had fallen into a bottomless abyss. In his ears rose the wailing of ghosts and wolves, and everywhere he looked seemed to be filled with ghastly faces.

Then a voice exploded in his mind.

“Be careful. This is the Ghost Emperor’s illusion. None of it is real. Hold your mind steady and cast aside all distracting thoughts.”

“What? I’ve fallen into an illusion?” Hearing Little Phoenix’s voice, Jiang Xiaofei’s spirit jolted awake. He became much clearer-headed at once. Then he sat down cross-legged, blocked out everything, and guarded his mind.

When he opened his eyes again, Jiang Xiaofei found himself in a grand hall. There was no darkness, no ghosts, no monsters. Instead, the place was brightly lit.

“I really was trapped in an illusion.” Jiang Xiaofei smiled bitterly in his heart, then thanked Little Phoenix within his sea of consciousness. “Thank you. If you hadn’t warned me just now, I’m afraid I still wouldn’t have escaped.”

“You do not need to thank me, Master. Protecting you is my duty.” Little Phoenix’s voice was sweet and gentle.

That warmth stirred Jiang Xiaofei’s heart, but it also troubled him. There was actually a woman living in his sea of consciousness, and not just any woman, but a beauty at that.

At that moment, Jiang Xiaofei’s gaze sharpened. A woman had appeared in his line of sight.

The moment he saw her, his expression turned cold, for it was Gao Muqiu. Only now, however, her aura was tremendously powerful; she was actually in the Dao-Extreme Realm.

Sensing the pressure radiating from her, Jiang Xiaofei frowned and asked, “You’ve recovered your strength?”

“Ha ha ha.” Gao Muqiu sneered. “Indeed. I am now a Dao-Extreme Realm expert. Do you feel hopeless? Regret coming here?”

Jiang Xiaofei’s face darkened. “Where is Wang Dachui?”

“You mean the pure-yang physique?” Gao Muqiu sneered.

“Where is he?” Jiang Xiaofei asked again.

Gao Muqiu said with a cold laugh, “He has already been killed by me. But thanks to the pure-yang physique he provided, I was able to restore my cultivation.”

“You killed him? Then you deserve to die.” Jiang Xiaofei’s face turned dark and terrifying, and boundless fury blazed in his eyes.

Ha ha ha. Sensing Jiang Xiaofei’s killing intent, Gao Muqiu laughed loudly. “I am already a Dao-Extreme Realm expert. How could you possibly fight me? If you’re wise, surrender on your own. Then I can still grant you a quick death. Otherwise, I’ll let you suffer the torment of ten thousand ghosts devouring your soul.”

“You’re asking for death.” Jiang Xiaofei was furious. With a wave of his hand, a vast surge of phoenix true fire burst forth, sweeping toward Gao Muqiu.

As the flames rushed in, Gao Muqiu immediately sensed how overbearing they were, and how familiar they felt. Shock flashed across her face. “This is the phoenix true fire of Demon Star. How can you possibly possess phoenix true fire? That’s impossible!”

“Ha ha ha!” Jiang Xiaofei could not help but smile in triumph. “Demon Star has already been subdued by me, so naturally this phoenix true fire belongs to me now. Are you afraid yet?”

“It’s impossible. Demon Star is a Dao-Extreme Realm expert at the peak, someone even the Demon Emperor could not defeat. How could someone like you ever subdue him? You must be lying. Yes, you must be using ordinary flame disguised as something else to frighten me,” Gao Muqiu said, forcibly suppressing her fear. Even so, her body was driven upward by the sweeping blaze as she withdrew to the air above.

Seeing this, Jiang Xiaofei was delighted and sneered, “Ordinary flame? Then open your eyes and look carefully at the power of this so-called ordinary flame.”

After speaking, Jiang Xiaofei formed hand seals. Instantly, a flaming seal appeared before him, and he sent it striking toward Gao Muqiu.

The flaming seal came crashing in, and Gao Muqiu immediately felt danger. With a sweep of her jade hand, a vast ghostly energy surged forth and transformed into a ghostly hand to block the attack.

But before the ghost hand could even touch the flaming seal, it was burned away by the phoenix true fire.

Gao Muqiu was shaken to the core. Ghostly energy was naturally afraid of fire, especially a strange flame like phoenix true fire, and this filled her with deep caution.

She quickly withdrew and used her magical power to resist, no longer allowing her ghost energy to leak out, lest it be burned away by the phoenix true fire. Losing a little ghost energy would not matter, but if she lost too much, her strength would suffer greatly.

Seeing Gao Muqiu deal with the phoenix true fire so cautiously, Jiang Xiaofei smiled smugly. “Now you know fear, do you? If you surrender and hand over the second volume of the Ghost Dao of the Underworld, I can still give you a quick death. Otherwise, I’ll let you taste what it feels like to be burned by phoenix true fire.”

“You want me to surrender? You must be dreaming,” Gao Muqiu snapped. “So what if you possess phoenix true fire? Don’t forget, I am a Dao-Extreme Realm expert. Even without ghost energy, my magical power can crush you to death.”

Hearing this, Jiang Xiaofei’s expression suddenly changed, and he said in shock, “Are you planning to use Gao Muqiu’s techniques against me?”

“That’s right.” Gao Muqiu laughed heartily. “Although this girl’s techniques are not especially powerful, when they are wielded by a Dao-Extreme Realm expert, the might of them is something you should understand, yes?”

“You...” Jiang Xiaofei’s face darkened at once. “Don’t think that just because you’ve taken control of Gao Muqiu’s body, I’m helpless against you.”

“Ha ha ha. I’m actually looking forward to seeing what methods you have to contend with me.” Gao Muqiu laughed, then slapped out with her palm. A cyan palm print shot forth, directly shattering the flaming seal.