Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Poof!
The black shadow stood in place without moving. However, there was a layer of cold and dark power around him. It soundlessly swallowed the two golden palm prints from Mei Lanzhu.
All power waves in the cave residence vanished.
Mei Lanzhu was slightly shocked. The other's cultivation was too powerful. Since he could dissolve the palm power so easily, he was at least an eighth level Half-Saint.
Whoos.h.!.+
The black shadow gradually showed himself. He walked out of the darkness to the center of the cave residence.
"Zhao Wuliang!" Mei Lanzhu was shocked. "How can it be you? Why did you sneak into my cave residence?"
Zhao Wuliang smiled. "I would like to cooperate with you."
"How?" Mei Lanzhu laughed coldly.
"You wish to kill Gu Linfeng while I wish to have the Yulin Blood Broadsword," Zhao Wuliang said. "We can take what we need."
Mei Lanzhu stared deeply at him and laughed. "You are insatiable. Okay, if Gu Linfeng can be killed, we can definitely work together. However, Gu Linfeng is a Banner Lord of the Nether Heavenly Palace, after all. He's the grand-disciple of Discipline King Haiming too. If we make it too obvious and someone finds out, it'll be bad for both of us."
"The Bottomless Abyss is filled with danger," Zhao Wuliang said confidently. "At least one or two Banner Lords sent by the Nether Heavenly Palace on missions dies every year. It's more than normal for Gu Linfeng to die during a mission."
"Oh!" Mei Lanzhu grew interested. Sitting back into his chair, he asked, "Then, when do you plan on sending Gu Linfeng on a mission?"
"Tomorrow," Zhao Wuliang said.
"Where?" Mei Lanzhu asked again.
"East of the Bottomless Abyss, at Mount Luofeng. I heard that blood beasts have appeared there recently. I will send Gu Linfeng to kill these blood beasts so he can get some practice. But if he dies there, that's because his cultivation is too weak. No one else can be blamed, right?"
Mei Lanzhu snickered. "Mount Luofeng. Not bad. It's a good place to bury Gu Linfeng."
"This is all I can do for you," Zhao Wuliang said, chuckling. "I hope you can succeed and kill Gu Linfeng at once so he stops soliciting the Saintess' favor."
"If I can't even take care of Gu Linfeng, how can I still be the Deity of the Blood G.o.d Sect?" Mei Lanzhu studied Zhao Wuliang. "However, Gu Linfeng has a saint decree on him. If he escapes, it'll be troublesome."
Mei Lanzhu thought for a moment. In the end, he decided to bring some more men.
Thus, after Zhao Wuliang left, Mei Lanzhu quickly messaged four Banner Lords of the Nether Heavenly Palace. He summoned them to the cave residence and started plotting about how to kill Gu Linfeng.
Zhao s.h.i.+qi was naturally included in the four Banner Lords that Mei Lanzhu had summoned.
Zhang Ruochen wore the Shooting Star Invisibility Cloak and had the Greenwood Buddhist Beads given by Master Yintuoluo. Thus, he was able to slip out of Cangtian Canyon and fly toward the Bottomless Abyss without alerting anyone.
When he reached the top of a hill that was hundreds of meters tall, he stopped. "It should be close," he mumbled to himself.
Zhang Ruochen activated the Heavenly Eye and looked around, finally locking onto a point.
Boom!
He sent a palm print flying out. It printed onto the thick ice and snow surface. Snow danced in the air instantly. A deep ditch opened up on the ground.
A strange yowl sounded from the bottom of the ditch. A fat black cat jumped out, its fur sticking out like a porcupine. "Who?" it roared. "Who dares to disturb my sleep?"
Zhang Ruochen reached out and grabbed Blackie's tail. Lifting it upside down, he knocked its head. "I sent you to the Bottomless Abyss to investigate the Saint Lady. How come you're sleeping here?"
"Oh, it's you!"
Blackie's round eyes rolled around. "You're finally here," it complained. "I waited for five whole days, but you never showed up. As I waited, I ended up…sleeping! Zhang Ruochen, put me down. I've already found important information."
Zhang Ruochen let go.
Blackie dropped down with a thud. Its head buried into the snow. Its four claws struggled for a while before it could climb out.
Sitting on the ground, Blackie said mysteriously, "I went to the edge of the Bottomless Abyss and found an important secret."
"What secret?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"Actually, I learned this by eavesdropping on two Banner Lords' conversation," Blackie said. "Apparently, the Bottomless Abyss is divided into three gradients."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"
Blackie lifted two paws and started gesturing. "Right now, we are on the ground. If we jump into the Bottomless Abyss from the ground, we don't drop to the bottom immediately. Instead, we fall into the first gradient of the Bottomless Abyss."
Blackie began digging a hole in the ground. Pointing at the bottom, it said, "Apparently, Monks who fall into the first gradient can use some techniques to return to the ground. However, the environment in the first gradient is extremely dangerous. There are organisms called blood beasts. Even Banner Lords can die there."
Zhang Ruochen was overjoyed. "This means that the Saint Lady might have only fallen into the first gradient."
Blackie touched its whiskers and huffed. "With her fragile body and serious wounds, even if she fell into the first gradient and didn't get eaten by blood beasts, she'd probably die from the fall anyway."
"Are you sure there are three gradients?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"No." Blackie shook his head. "I went to the border of the Bottomless Abyss to check, but it's a dark void inside. It's too deep to see the bottom and there isn't a first gradient at all. If you jump in, you'll most likely die."
Zhang Ruochen's expression grew serious. "Take me there. I will check personally."
"Sure."
Blackie stood up like a human. With two paws behind its back, it whooshed away like black wind. Zhang Ruochen used a physical technique and followed after.
Around an hour later, the man and cat finally arrived beside the Bottomless Abyss. It was too wide to see the other side. Standing at the edge, it was like standing at the end of the world.
The sky was filled with black clouds as dense as ink. The clouds were low—only dozens of meters above the ground—and made people feel repressed.
"It's really a strange place. It feels like the sky will fall at any moment and kill all the creatures."
Zhang Ruochen looked up. He felt that his saint soul was suppressed by an invisible power and couldn't fly out at all. The movement of Holy Qi inside was less than ten percent of the original speed.
Afterward, Zhang Ruochen tried his Spiritual Power and discovered that it was repressed as well. He could only use ten percent of its power.
Blackie cackled. "Now you know how strange it is, right? Even if there is a first gradient, not everyone can climb back up."
Zhang Ruochen nodded. "This place is similar to the Ghost G.o.d Valley of the netherworld. However, the pressure in the valley came from the G.o.d's corpse. Here…it seems that the laws of the world have changed."
"Indeed," Blackie said. "According to my a.n.a.lysis, the laws here are different from anywhere else. The Holy Qi and Spiritual Power that you cultivated in the Kunlun's Field can only be used to ten percent of their original amount."
"Plus, once you jump down and reach the so-called first gradient, the laws there will probably be changed even more dramatically. It'll be extremely impressive if you can even use one percent of your cultivation, let alone ten percent."
"No." Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "A Monk's saint soul, Holy Qi, and Spiritual Power will be repressed, but you can still use your physical strength."
With that, five-colored light flooded from Zhang Ruochen's hand. He slammed down on the ground.
The ground shook after the boom. The blood-red rock cracked with tiny fissures. Then, the rock within dozens of meters in radius started caving in. With a whoosh, it fell into the Bottomless Abyss.
Before this happened, Zhang Ruochen and Blackie jumped, pus.h.i.+ng off and using the recoil force. They jumped to the land hundreds of feet away and didn't fall with the rock.
Blackie widened its eyes, a bit dumbfounded. Half a beat later, it exhaled. "You…tsk, with your Five Elements Chaotic Body and all the divine blood you've refined, you're probably physically stronger than some Saints."
Zhang Ruochen walked to the edge of the Bottomless Abyss again. Looking down, he sighed. "Unfortunately, the Saint Lady cultivates Spiritual Power. Her physical body isn't any different from a regular person. If she fell in…she'll bode ill rather than well."
Zhang Ruochen's eyes were determined. Even though he knew that the Saint Lady had probably died, he still decided to go check.
However, he first had to return to the Nether Heavenly Palace to confirm that the first gradient really existed.
"Someone's rus.h.i.+ng over," Blackie whispered.
Zhang Ruochen looked behind him and saw countless red shadows flying toward the Bottomless Abyss. These people emanated thick Blood Qi. Zhang Ruochen could smell the faint scent of blood from dozens of miles away.
"How come Immortal Vampires are here?" Zhang Ruochen furrowed his brow.
He immediately activated his Shooting Star Invisibility Cloak. Wrapping it around him and Blackie, they disappeared from the side of the Bottomless Abyss.
