Translator: CinderTL
Song Wen and Xue Mei followed the left corridor for ten miles until the path opened up before them.
Ahead lay a long, narrow underground cavern, stretching for dozens of miles.
The cavern was filled with numerous stone coffins.
The coffins varied in size, with the largest reaching a hundred feet long and the smallest only three feet.
All the coffins were lidless but sealed by Restrictions.
Curious, Song Wen flew over to a ten-foot-long coffin.
Inside, he saw the corpse of a Human-Bull—a creature with a bull's head and a human body.
The corpse was submerged in a special preservation fluid. Despite tens of thousands of years of erosion, it remained remarkably well-preserved, appearing lifelike.
Song Wen noticed a line of small characters carved on the head of the coffin:
"Human-Bull: A being born from the union of a mortal and a Bull Demon."
He turned to another coffin nearby.
This one was massive, stretching thirty feet long.
Inside lay a giant wolf, but instead of four paws, it had eight octopus tentacles.
The inscription on the coffin read:
Eight-Clawed Wolf: A creature born from the fusion of a demon beast Silver Wolf and a Deep Sea Giant Octopus.
Song Wen's gaze swept across the rows of stone coffins, each containing a corpse.
Without exception, every corpse was a hybrid of two or more species.
"Why are there so many hybrid creatures here?" Song Wen asked.
"The Demon Spirit Hall was originally where the Divine Blood Gate conducted research on creature hybridization," Xue Mei replied.
She showed no interest in the coffins or their contents, merely glancing at them before flying deeper into the cavernous hall.
Song Wen followed Xue Mei, casually scanning the corpses within the coffins as they flew.
To avoid attracting attention from Gou Jun and the others, they didn't attempt to break the Restrictions on the coffins.
The deeper they went, the more astonished Song Wen became.
The small characters on the coffin lids mentioned creatures that included traces of Divine Beasts—and not just one type.
For example: the Thunder Attribute Kui Bull, the Fire Attribute Vermilion Bird, the Water Attribute True Dragon, and the Wind Attribute Fei Lian.
"Fellow Daoist Xue Mei, did the Divine Blood Gate truly gather all these Divine Beasts back then?" Song Wen asked.
"As far as I know, the records on these Corpse Coffins are all genuine," Xue Mei replied.
"Did these Divine Beasts truly exist in the world tens of thousands of years ago?" Song Wen asked.
Xue Mei shook her head without answering, perhaps because she had never seen these Divine Beasts herself.
"Why would the Divine Blood Gate go to such great lengths to cultivate these new lifeforms?" Song Wen asked.
Xue Mei shook her head again.
"I don't know either. But the Divine Blood Gate took this matter very seriously back then, treating it as one of the sect's two most important priorities. They scoured the entire Tianyuan Continent, searching for all sorts of strange creatures to crossbreed."
"What was the other major undertaking of the Divine Blood Gate?" Song Wen asked.
"Exploring the Misty Ghost Realm. Though the Divine Blood Gate dominated the entire Immortal Cultivation World back then, they still suffered frequent losses of disciples, most of whom perished within the Misty Ghost Realm," Xue Mei said.
"Why was the Divine Blood Gate so obsessed with exploring the Misty Ghost Realm?" Song Wen asked.
"Perhaps they were searching for some treasure, or perhaps they were exploring some hidden secret. I've never been to the Misty Ghost Realm, so I don't know the details," Xue Mei said.
As they questioned and answered each other, they reached the deepest part of the cavern.
To their disappointment, there was nothing here but a vertical shaft several dozen feet wide.
They followed the shaft, descending deeper into the earth.
The shaft was incredibly deep. They descended for a full thousand miles without reaching the bottom.
Suddenly, a violent rumbling erupted from below.
Song Wen and Xue Mei exchanged glances, both seeing caution in the other's eyes.
Someone was fighting down there!
Had Gou Jun and the others already gotten there first?
"Ji Yin, what should we do now? We don't know what's happening below. If we rush down there, we might reveal our presence," Xue Mei said.
Song Wen frowned in thought for a moment. Then, he opened his mouth and exhaled a tiny Gu, which fluttered its wings and flew straight down the shaft.
After a short while, the Gu returned.
Song Wen retrieved the Gu and said to Xue Mei, "Fellow Daoist Xue Mei, it seems Gou Jun and the others haven't arrived yet. The fighting is between two other groups. One is from the Ghost Mist Sect, and the other is from the Blood Demon Sect."
"Follow me."
With that, he concealed his aura and slowly descended deeper into the earth.
Xue Mei followed closely behind.
After descending another dozen miles, a vast underground cavern appeared below them.
The cavern stretched east to west, and the sounds of battle still echoed from the eastern end, though not as violently as before.
The fighting was not far off, perhaps only ten miles away.
Judging from the Spiritual Power signatures, it was Gou Jun and the others.
Deep within the underground cavern, a massive platform several hundred feet wide stood tall.
At the center of the platform lay an enormous stone coffin.
Gou Jun, Mi Hai, Yang Yu, Lan Chen, and Mo Yexue had gathered here, each unleashing their unique techniques in a relentless assault on the platform.
The platform was shrouded by a semi-transparent black barrier, which remained as unyielding as bedrock under their furious attacks.
"Fellow Daoists," Mi Hai said, "let's stop. With our current strength, we won't break through this Restriction by force."
The other four gradually ceased their attacks.
"If you have any methods to break this Restriction, use them now," Gou Jun urged. "Otherwise, the treasure will be right before our eyes, yet we'll have to leave empty-handed."
After entering the underground river, the five had discovered numerous caves along its banks.
They split up to explore the caves, but despite their depth, each one ended abruptly, devoid of any treasures or traces of cultivators.
After inspecting dozens of caves, they abandoned their search and followed the underground river downstream.
The river channel gradually narrowed, and the water disappeared into an underground fissure, eventually vanishing altogether. The channel itself disappeared along with it.
They then reversed course, searching upstream.
Their journey led them to the river's source: a waterfall cascading from above. Passing through the waterfall and navigating a short cave passage, they arrived at this very spot.
When they saw the high platform and the stone coffin atop it, the five cultivators were certain that the coffin contained the Blood of Fallen Immortal they sought.
However, they were helpless against the platform's protective Restriction.
Mo Yexue flipped her hand, and nine azure Formation Flags floated before her.
"I can try to break the Restriction with an array, but my chances of success are slim."
"Please, Fellow Daoist Mo, give it a try. If you succeed, I, Yang Yu, promise you a share of the Blood of Fallen Immortal within the Corpse Coffin," Yang Yu said.
Mo Yexue turned to Yang Yu, a slight smile playing on her lips. She seemed satisfied with his promise.
"I hope Fellow Daoist Yang Yu won't forget his word when the time comes."
"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Mo. I, Yang Yu, am not one to break my promises," Yang Yu replied.
Turning to Gou Jun, Mi Hai, and Lan Chen, he continued, "I trust you three will agree with my proposal?"
Gou Jun nodded impassively.
Mi Hai, his face radiating compassion, said, "Of course."
Lan Chen added, "I have no objections."
With the four cultivators' agreement secured, Mo Yexue began to activate the Formation Flags.
She sat cross-legged on the ground, her hands rapidly forming one Array Seal after another, which landed on the nine azure flags before her.
One by one, the flags transformed into giants, each measuring over ten feet tall. They floated into the air and settled around the high platform.
Each Formation Flag continuously shot out azure beams of light, striking the platform's protective barrier and sending ripples through it.
Under the relentless assault of the flags, the ripples on the barrier grew increasingly violent.
(End of the Chapter)
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