"What kind of city is this?" Coming back to his senses, the fallen lich couldn't help but murmur, looking around curiously. All he saw was a desolate land, with only a small path paved with bluestone slabs under his feet and red spider lilies scattered across the starry sky.
However, the atmosphere here made him feel very comfortable. Although he was bound by chains, he could clearly sense that the surrounding energy was constantly repairing and strengthening his soul.
"This is... the purest soul energy?" The fallen lich was shocked and wished he could stop and absorb it on the spot. He felt that with such pure soul energy, he would be able to break through to the level of an eighth-order true god if given some time.
"No! It's not just soul energy; there are other energy attributes within it that I've never seen before. What is this?" The fallen lich looked around curiously. Although he had fallen into darkness, he was still an extreme scholar. Exploring the truth of the world was a path that all mages had to take. Therefore, compared to the fear of the unknown, he was more curious about everything around him at this moment.
"Boom~~~" Suddenly, the roar of the rushing river pulled him back to his senses. He looked ahead with curiosity and saw a wide and turbulent river. However, the water flowing in the river was not the usual clear water, but a blood-yellow color, full of insects and snakes, and filled with a fishy and foul stench.
"This? Is it a river?" the fallen lich murmured. As an undead, he didn't mind the stench of the water, since he didn't have a sense of smell or taste. But walking along the riverbank, he could smell the stench and even hear the painful roars coming from the river.
"What is that?" He couldn't help but ask. The horse-faced demon in front of him turned around and looked at him. "This is the River of Oblivion, also called the River of Helplessness. It is the dividing line between the Yellow Springs Road and the Underworld. Oh, the Yellow Springs Road is the road we are walking on, the road to the return of all the dead souls."
"The River of Oblivion? The Road to the Underworld? The final destination of all the dead?" The Fallen Lich was deeply shocked. Although he had never heard of these places, there was no doubt that this was a place where the souls of the dead would return.
"But how did I get here? Shouldn't I be back in my soul box?" The fallen lich was filled with doubt, but Horse-Face couldn't understand what he was saying. Instead, he led him to a huge rock.
"This is the Three Lives Stone! It records your past, present, and even future lives, but since you are not a being from our Primordial Star, there's probably nothing to see here." Horse-face stopped and introduced it to him.
"The Three Lives Stone? It can show your past life, present life, and even future life?" The fallen lich was stunned. He looked at the boulder but found that it was just an ordinary rock with a smooth surface and no writing on it.
“Many female ghosts like to come here, hoping to find the man they’ve made a three-life vow with, calling it a predestined fate. But how many couples can actually keep that promise? Let’s go! We have a long road ahead, and we don’t have much time to waste!” Horse-face said with a smile, flicking his chains and leading the fallen lich on their way.
The fallen lich, turning back every three steps to look at the Three Lives Stone, finally came to his senses and looked at the red flowers all around him.
"What kind of flower is this? I don't think I've ever seen it before?" he couldn't help but ask. As an extreme seeker of truth, he maintained a curiosity about all unknown things.
"The Red Spider Lily blooms without leaves, leaves grow without flowers, and the flowers and leaves never meet. It is the most common plant in Fengdu City. It is said that when a soul crosses the River of Oblivion, it will let go of everything in its previous life and leave everything on the other side, blooming into a bewitching flower. This is the Red Spider Lily!" Horse-face introduced with a sigh as he looked at the Red Spider Lilies all over the ground.
"Flowers that bloomed from all that happened in his previous life? Really? This doesn't make sense!" The fallen lich frowned. This conflicted with his knowledge. Were his past life and experiences also a form of energy or matter? Could they be transformed into flowers in the form of plants? This was neither magic nor science!
“Reasonable?” Upon hearing his words, Horse-Face was taken aback, then laughed. Too lazy to explain, he led him to a stop by the River of Oblivion, where a three-story bridge stood before them.
"Whether it makes sense or not, you can find out later when you have the chance. But now, you should cross the bridge. Good luck!" Horse-face looked at him and smiled sinisterly.
"Cross the bridge? This bridge? Is there anything special about it?" the fallen lich asked suspiciously, a bad feeling creeping over the other's expression.
"Yes, this is the bridge, the River of Helplessness. This bridge is also called the Bridge of Helplessness. Crossing this bridge means you have officially entered the realm of the Underworld. If you can't cross it, you will be forever trapped in the River of Helplessness!"
The fallen lich wanted to ask something more, but Horse-Face swung the chain in his hand, throwing him directly onto the bridge, and the soul-snatching chain that had bound him was finally released.
Unfortunately, before the fallen lich could make any move, the patrols stationed nearby directly pushed it onto the bridge, down to the very bottom.
"You!" the fallen lich roared in anger, but suddenly found himself under a terrifying pressure from the entire bridge. Even without the Soul-Hooking Rope, his strength was suppressed to a great extent. Moreover, there was no elemental energy here, so he had no way to cast spells.
"How could this be? The place where the dead rest, a place of pure and rich soul energy, yet there is no necromantic element here at all. What kind of place is this?" The necromantic magic that he could use at will suddenly became useless. The fallen lich was horrified and felt a sharp pain in his legs.
Looking down, he saw that the bridge was barely above the river, with waves constantly lapping against it. Insects and snakes that roamed the river crawled on the bridge, actually managing to gnaw at his soul.
"Get out of the way!" The fallen lich kicked out, actually knocking away the insects and snakes around him, but he also felt that his soul power had been drained away quite a bit.
"No! Attacking here will consume several times the energy, and I am currently just a weak soul body, which cannot withstand such consumption!" He immediately realized this, but his legs suddenly started to hurt again.
Looking up, he saw that there were still dead souls leaping up in the Naihe River, grabbing at his soul. The pain of his soul being torn apart was even more intense than the bites of insects and snakes.
But this time he also discovered something: although being attacked was painful, it did not consume any energy. Instead, it made him feel relieved after the pain, as if he had unloaded some heavy burden.
"These attacks won't truly kill me, they'll only inflict pain! Yet, they consume a hundred or a thousand times more energy!" The fallen lich immediately understood the key point. "Then let me see what's so special about this city of the dead!"
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