Chapter 57: Hell

The moment the three of them stepped through the "Fengdu" archway, they could clearly sense that the laws surrounding them had shifted once again. The oppressive, deathly silence in the air grew thicker, and the repulsive force from the laws of the underworld grew stronger. Chu Yun was forced to expend even more soul energy to maintain the three of them in this "half-dead, half-living" state. The scene before them also completely changed. No longer a barren, dim yellow plain, it was replaced by a maze of treacherous, twisted, black rocks, a rugged, maze-like path. The rocks seemed to have life, covered with blurry human faces wailing in pain. Waves of silent roars filled with resentment and unwillingness continuously emanated from the rocks. "Be careful," Li Ge's voice echoed through the soul connection, its tone unmistakable and serious. "This is the 'Yinshan Road,' the only way to the core of the underworld. Every stone here is stained with the resentment of countless dead souls over countless years. If a living soul touches it, it will be instantly contaminated, causing mental disorder." Chu Yun and Mo Li immediately became extremely alert, treading cautiously on the narrow, twisting mountain path. Beneath them lay a bottomless abyss swirling with black mist, and above them was an ever-oppressive gray sky. The entire world was filled with malevolence. "The direction is correct." Chu Yun maintained the three people's state of calm, carefully sensing the guidance of the three fragments of the Evil-Suppressing Seal. "The strongest induction is at the end of this road." "Then we must speed up," Mo Li said. "I can feel that the laws here are suppressing my mechanical skills more severely. Every moment I wait, the risk of my treasures being completely destroyed increases." At this moment, Li Ge suddenly stopped: "Wait." "What's wrong?" Chu Yun and Mo Li stopped immediately, wary. "Something's coming." Li Ge closed her eyes, sensing carefully. "There are many of them, they're moving very fast, and... they're very strong." As soon as she finished speaking, a steady, murderous rhythm, like the beating of war drums, echoed from the end of the mountain road. "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" Each beat seemed to strike directly at the three people's souls, causing their blood to surge. Then, teams of burly figures clad in pitch-black armor, wielding massive battle axes and bone swords, emerged from the corner of the mountain road. Hundreds of them, numbering in number, emerged. They wore no more the illusory armor of ordinary ghost messengers, but real heavy armor forged from the "sinister iron" unique to the underworld. Their eyes were filled with a cold, pure madness driven solely by killing. Their foreheads were branded with the words "Shadow Pavilion..."

The moment the three of them stepped through the "Fengdu" archway, they could clearly sense that the laws surrounding them had shifted again. The oppressive and deadly atmosphere in the air grew thicker, and the repulsive force from the laws of the underworld grew stronger. Chu Yun was forced to expend even more soul energy to maintain the three of them in this "half-dead" state.

The scene before them had completely changed. No longer a barren, dim yellow plain, it was replaced by a maze of craggy mountain paths, formed by countless twisted, grotesque black rocks. The rocks seemed to have life, covered with blurry human faces wailing in pain. Waves of silent roars filled with resentment and unwillingness continuously emanated from them.

"Be careful." Li Ge's voice rang out through the soul connection, extremely serious. "This is 'Yinshan Road', the only way to the core area of ​​the underworld. Every stone here is stained with the resentment of countless dead souls over countless years. If a living soul touches it, it will be instantly contaminated and its mind will be disturbed."

Chu Yun and Mo Li immediately perked up, carefully treading the narrow, twisting mountain path. Beneath them lay a bottomless abyss swirling with black mist, and above them was an ever-oppressive gray sky. The entire world was filled with malice.

"The direction is correct." Chu Yun maintained the three people's state while carefully sensing the guidance of the three pieces of the evil-suppressing seal. "The strongest induction is at the end of this road."

"Then we must speed up," Mo Li said. "I can feel that the laws here are suppressing my mechanical skills even more severely. Every moment I stay longer, my treasures are at greater risk of being completely destroyed."

At this moment, Li Ge suddenly stopped and said, "Wait."

"What's wrong?" Chu Yun and Mo Li immediately stopped vigilantly.

"Something is coming." Li Ge closed his eyes and sensed carefully, "There are a lot of them, they are very fast, and... they are very strong."

As soon as she finished speaking, a steady, murderous, and heartbeating sound, like war drums, echoed from the end of the mountain road. "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" Each beat seemed to strike directly at the souls of the three people, causing their blood to surge.

Then, teams of massive figures clad in pitch-black armor, wielding massive battle axes and bone swords, emerged from around the corner of the mountain road. Hundreds of them, no longer wearing the illusory armor of ordinary ghost messengers, but genuine heavy armor forged from the "sullen iron" unique to the underworld. Their eyes were filled with a cold, pure madness driven solely by killing. Their foreheads were branded with the same twisted, filthy black marks as the sorcery of the Shadow Pavilion.

"It's the main force of the ghost army under the new King of Hell." Li Ge looked at this oppressive army, and his voice became dry for the first time.

"The one leading the charge is even more troublesome." Chu Yun's gaze was fixed on the front of the army, where a towering ghost general stood atop a skeletal warhorse, ablaze with eerie green flames. The ghost general wore no helmet, his face a stern, as if chiseled by a knife or an axe. He wore dark golden armor, more exquisite and heavier than that of the other ghost soldiers. The pressure he exuded was as heavy as a mountain, nearly freezing the three men's souls.

"That's... the legendary 'Ghost King.'" Li Ge's spirit trembled uncontrollably. "It's a title that can only be given to top-tier ghost generals who have made outstanding military achievements in the early days of the underworld. His strength is probably no less than those top-tier cultivators in the mortal world who have cultivated for hundreds of years."

A ghost king, hundreds of elite ghost soldiers, and they only have three people.

"It seems they are waiting for us here specifically." Chu Yun's mouth curled up with a bitter arc, "We... have been discovered."

"Fight!" The ghost king didn't waste any words. He slowly raised the huge soul-slaying sword burning with dark green flames and swung it down fiercely.

"Roar!" Hundreds of ghost soldiers simultaneously let out earth-shattering roars that could shatter souls, and launched a charge with neat steps that made the Yinshan Road tremble.

"Mo Li! Left wing! Li Ge! Right wing! Me! In the middle!" The moment the charge began, Chu Yun's calm command voice sounded through the soul connection.

"Understood!" Mo Li and Li Ge turned into afterimages, one on the left and one on the right to meet the black tide-like ghost army.

"Soul-Calming Disk! Rise!" Mo Li shouted, fiercely throwing the gloomy stone formation disk she had prepared on the way. The disk expanded in the air, unleashing invisible, disruptive sound waves along the path of the ghost army's charge. The ghost army at the forefront immediately fell into disarray, their movements sluggish, and their momentum was halted.

At that very moment, countless hair-thin black silver needles rained down from the other side into the ghost army's formation. It was Li Ge! Those silver needles, imbued with poisonous Yin Qi, precisely targeted the gaps and energy nodes in the ghost army's armor.

"Puff! Puff! Puff!" A gentle sound of bubbles bursting echoed, and the ghost soldiers pierced by the silver needles froze. The energies within them, surging from the Shadow Pavilion's sorcery, instantly spiraled out of control. Some ignited in black flames, while others, blasted into black mist by their own energy, burst into flames. In a single encounter, Mo Li's "Soul-Calming Device" and Li Ge's "Poison-Tempered Silver Needles" worked perfectly together, tearing a tiny but fatal gap in the steel-like torrent.

"Well done!" Chu Yun praised loudly and ignored the ordinary ghost soldiers who were thrown into disarray. His target from the very beginning was only the Ghost King - to catch a thief, you must first catch the king!

"Hah!" Chu Yun roared, no longer holding back, mobilizing the domineering golden Taiyi Qi in his soul. His body burst out with a dazzling golden light like the sun, filled with the supreme imperial aura, like a golden sun falling into darkness.

"What?!" The Ghost King, who had always been expressionless, was shocked and incredulous for the first time when he saw the golden light. He felt his powerful soul, even as a Ghost King, tremble uncontrollably before the light. It was the primal suppression of his life level and soul essence, like a soldier facing a king.

"Kill!" The Ghost King quickly suppressed his shock, his eyes flashing with even more frantic murderous intent. He knew that a living being possessing this golden power was an absolute variable in the "new king's" cause and must be eliminated!

He suddenly squeezed the horse's belly, and the skeletal warhorse let out a silent roar. Its four hooves stepped into the air, turning into a green lightning that carried him across dozens of feet in an instant and rushed in front of Chu Yun. The soul-slaying sword in his hand had a terrifying power that could cut through the Yinshan Road, and it chopped towards Chu Yun's head.

Faced with this sword that was enough to make even the great monks in the mortal world change color, Chu Yun did not retreat but advanced, with the fighting spirit in his eyes burning to the extreme: "Come on!" He condensed the Taiyi Yuan Qi in his right fist and slammed it hard towards the Soul-Slaying Sword!

There are no talismans or spells, only the purest collision of power!

"BOOM!" A deafening roar shook the entire Yinshan Road. Golden light and green fire collided fiercely, and violent energy swept across the surroundings, shaking the approaching ghost soldiers to death in the aftermath.

At the center of the collision, Chu Yun felt a tremendous force, sending his soul flying backwards and crashing into the rocks. The ghost king's soul-severing sword's dark green flames were extinguished by the golden force, cracking the grip of the blade. The skeletal warhorse wailed and retreated a dozen steps before stabilizing. This attack was evenly matched, with Chu Yun even having the upper hand!

"Come again!" Chu Yun wiped the golden "blood" from the corner of the soul's mouth and rushed towards the Ghost King again. A primitive and tragic battle to the death between a mortal soul and the Ghost King began.

Across the battlefield, Li Ge and Mo Li were locked in a bitter struggle. Although they had disrupted the ghost army's formation, the enemy was too numerous, and they were like reefs in a raging sea, threatened to be submerged at any moment. Yet, neither of them retreated. They wanted to buy time for Chu Yun, believing that he could defeat the Ghost King, and Chu Yun trusted them just as much. This absolute trust, forged through a shared life and death, made them, at this moment, an indestructible whole.

After an unknown amount of time, Chu Yun endured a severe blow from the Ghost King. He then transformed the last of his Taiyi Qi into a golden sword, piercing the Ghost King's heart. The brutal battle finally came to an end. The Ghost King's massive form dissipated into black air amidst a roar of unwillingness. The remaining ghost army, without their leader, became hollow shells, numbly following orders.

"Let's go!" Chu Yun didn't care about his soul that was on the verge of breaking. He pulled up Li Ge and Mo Li who were also seriously injured, rushed into the deeper darkness, and finally broke out of the siege.

Behind them, the ghost army pursued them numbingly; in front of them, a massive black portal, made of bones and congealed blood, appeared, emitting endless resentment and an ominous aura. On the portal, distorted ancient characters written in blood, were engraved with three soul-sucking characters:

Hell of endless suffering.