Chapter 1004 - The Cross-Shaped War Sword

When the Netherworld King emerged from her overwhelming nervousness, she saw a pair of dark, distant eyes staring at her, as well as a familiar, handsome face.

She instantly felt significantly calmer.

But when she realized the almost shameful position she was in, it was as if she’d been struck by lightning. She relaxed her tight grip and took a step back.

Her stunning face heated up as red spread across her cheeks. She whispered in an uncharacteristic display of timidness, “Just now, I… I was just a bit nervous.”

The corners of Su Yi’s lips rose into a faint grin. “Mm, I could feel it.”

What… what do you mean, you ‘felt’ it??? The Netherworld King took a deep breath, then feigned calm. Her charming, starry eyes swept across the area, and she tried to subtly change the subject. “Where are we?”

Su Yi laughed. “The spatial tunnel leading to the Reincarnation Grounds.”

As he spoke, he led the way ahead.

The tunnel seemed illusory. Multicolored, radiant spatial power danced and contorted around them, yet it seemed unnaturally stable.

The Netherworld King subconsciously clutched her chest, feeling an unprecedented sense of shame. I was so scared I practically squeezed into that guy’s arms!

“Quick, keep up,” Su Yi’s voice emanated from up ahead.

The Netherworld King was briefly stunned, but she dared not let her thoughts run wild any longer. She set all that aside and chased after Su Yi.

It wasn’t long before she’d regained her composure.

After all, she was the expert who’d struck terror into the hearts of the masses in ancient times, the mighty existence who’d dared contend with the Infernal Palace. She naturally wouldn’t let a little bashfulness get the best of her.

However, the thought that she’d taken Su Yi’s hand, and that she’d even clung tightly to his arm, still made her a bit uncomfortable.

“Prepare yourself. We’ll reach the Reincarnation Grounds soon. It’s an extremely perilous forbidden zone, and a moment’s incaution can lead to death and disaster,” warned Su Yi.

Searing white light appeared at the end of the spatial tunnel.

The entrance to the Reincarnation Grounds.

As he spoke, Su Yi flipped his hand and took out a three-inch, green-skinned gourd, which he hung at his waist.

Then, he took out the Buddha’s Seal of Life and Death and handed it to the Netherworld King.

This was the supreme treasure of the First Heavenly Libationer. He’d already completely erased the imprint of will hidden within it.

Giving it to the Netherworld King was effectively returning it to its rightful owner.

The Netherworld King accepted the seal, and she was instantly on guard.

Before long, the two of them reached the end of the spatial tunnel. As they shot into the searing white light, spatial power enveloped them, and everything shifted around them.

When their field of view regained its visual clarity, an unfamiliar, dark world appeared before them.

The skies were cracked and fragmented with long, intercrossing rifts. The rifts spread through the air like a spider’s web. It seemed the sky could collapse at a moment’s notice.

Some of the fragments of the sky weren’t at all far from the ground.

Nothing grew here, not even an inch of grass. The air was permeated with faint gray fog. It was like a forgotten, fragmented world. As far as the eye could see, everything was desolate and bleak.

“These are the Reincarnation Grounds?” The Netherworld King’s gaze turned subtly solemn. Her keen senses alerted her to the threatening, taboo aura surging throughout this place. It was chaotic and terrifying beyond limit.

Boom!

Off in the distance, a piece of the shattered sky slammed into the ground, transformed into blazing spatial power, and exploded. A rain of light swept outward, and the air was instantly churning and tumultuous. It even devoured a large chunk of the ground.

The Netherworld King’s heart shook.

The fragments of sky were obviously the work of a strange spatial Law, and they seemed withered, but when they hit the ground, they exploded with great force.

Even from a distance, the destructive aura that spread from the point of impact was enough to make one tremble despite the absence of cold.

The Netherworld King’s beautiful face was solemn. She dared say with certainty that if a fragment of sky slammed into her, she’d be severely injured even if her true body were here!

As for her clone? It had no hope of surviving at all!

“According to an old friend of mine, when the Infernal Palace met its end in ancient times, its downfall was connected to this place," said Su Yi. "The Reincarnation Grounds were once covered in the Laws of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, but for some unknown reason, a calamity severely damaged the natural order of reincarnation. It’s been fragmented ever since.”

Su Yi’s eyes shone with reminiscence.

Years ago, he’d come here with Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer, who’d taught him these secrets of the past.

“Let’s go.” Su Yi continued ahead. He put away the Immortal-Beating Mallet. Wisps of misty gray light floated above his right palm in its place, their glow illuminating the skies in all directions.

“The profundities of the Laws of Rebirth?” exclaimed the Netherworld King. She already knew that the Laws of Rebirth were just a portion of the mysteries of reincarnation.

Not long ago, Su Yi underwent tribulation atop the Platform of Rebirth to become an Emperor. It was then that the Netherworld King saw with her own two eyes just how terrifying those Laws were.

However, she hadn’t realized that Su Yi had already mastered the profundities of these Laws!

A moment later, the Netherworld King realized a certain problem. “Based on what you just told me, this place is full of forbidden energy. Is that the shattered natural order of reincarnation?”

“That’s right,” said Su Yi. “With my Laws of Rebirth as a lamp, I can naturally guide you through this place, but without the Laws of Rebirth… every step would be difficult, and if we forced our way ahead, we’d die beyond a doubt.”

Despite herself, the Netherworld King was unsettled.

She examined the place, and indeed, as she followed Su Yi, the fragments of sky showed no sign of falling. On the contrary, when they made contact with the radiance of the misty gray Laws, they cleared a path of their own accord.

The Netherworld King couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of it.

“Then how did you come here back then?” The Netherworld King couldn’t help but ask.

“Naturally, an old friend of mine led the way,” Su Yi said casually.

Back then, it was Old Ghost Coffin-Bearer who’d used the Laws of Rebirth to lead Su Yi safely through the Reincarnation Grounds.

As they conversed, they continued ahead.

This fragmented world was barren, withered, and utterly devoid of life.

About ten minutes later, the Netherworld King stiffened, and her starry eyes widened. “Fellow Daoist, do you think that’s…”

A bald, steep mountain appeared over the distant horizon.

Countless streams of spatial power flowed up the mountain, starting from its base. They surged all the way up to the peak. The sight of streams flowing uphill was strange indeed.

But what really made it terrifying was that the stream was composed entirely of spatial power!

And a black treasure ship floated over the peak. It was a hundred feet long, and it was as black as night throughout.

The countless trickles of spatial power surged up the peak, then poured endlessly into the ship. The ship devoured them all.

It was as if it were a black hole devouring countless streams of power!

Su Yi’s pupils constricted.

He recognized this mountain. It was called “Returning Stream Peak.” After spatial power flowed to the peak, it was fed back into this stretch of heaven and earth.

And the last time he’d been here, there’d been no sign of a black ship hovering over Returning Streams Peak!

“Don’t tell me that’s the mysterious Netherworld Vessel?” As soon as this guess left her lips, the Netherworld King’s beautiful face filled with uncertainty.

In recent years, a mysterious ship had appeared in the far reaches of the Sea of Bitterness. All who saw it inexplicably disappeared, no matter their cultivation base.

The appearance of this ship was considered the source of the developments in the Sea of Bitterness. The world’s cultivators believed that it was the cause of all these changes! Even the Adjudicator of the Netherworld, Cui Longxiang, had disappeared inexplicably upon making contact with the mysterious Netherworld Vessel!

And before Su Yi and the Netherworld King arrived, the old rooster told them that he’d received a message from Cui Longxiang saying that the Netherworld Vessel was most likely from the Mausoleum of the Gods.

𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Now, seeing the black ship floating atop Returning Streams Peak, the Netherworld King immediately connected the dots.

“That’s most likely it, yes.” Su Yi’s eyes flashed.

The ship was shaped like a spirit fish. It was wide in the middle but tapered on both ends, and it was covered in a canopy.

There was a strangely shaped war sword at the head of the boat.

The combination of the thin black blade and the long, horizontal hilt resulted in a weapon shaped like a cross.

And there was a ring of black around the hilt.

The cross-shaped blade with a ring around the hilt was strangely shaped, yet it gave off the impression that it was flawless and perfectly complete! However, when Su Yi focused on it, he discovered that it was just an illusion, a shadow. It wasn’t really there.

This meant that he couldn’t truly discern whether the sword jutting out of the head of the boat had any more secrets or not.

“That sword is impressive,” said Su Yi.

The sword and its hilt were shaped like a cross, and it displayed enough momentous force to cleave heaven and earth and suppress the ten directions. One glance was enough to make someone feel a forceful, austere killing intent assail them right in the face. It was like facing the judgment of heaven.

And the ring around the hilt had neither beginning nor end. It had a perfect, cyclical quality, like a new beginning.

“How impressive?”

Suddenly, a mellow voice boomed like a morning bell or an evening drum. A moment later, a figure appeared nearby, seemingly out of nowhere.

Hm?

Both Su Yi and the Netherworld King looked over, instantly solemn.

This new arrival was a man in a conical hat and plain cloth robes. He wore straw sandals, and his figure was tall and upright. His face was half-obscured beneath his hat.

However, upon closer inspection, it wasn’t difficult to tell that the man looked about thirty or forty. He had a thin face, with a willowy beard, and his temples were graying.

His eyes were as clear and bright as an infant’s, but when they moved, the passage of time seemed to float within them, and he inadvertently let slip the marks of countless years.

Seeing him made the Netherworld King feel as if she’d been plunged into an endless abyss. A chill coursed through her entire body, and even her mind and soul sensed a potentially lethal threat.

Her entire body tensed up, as if preparing to meet a powerful foe.

She was currently just a clone, but she could still kill most Profound Serenity experts.

Yet now, the appearance of the man in the conical hat, just one person, made her sense a suffocating pressure.

Like a deer before a tiger. This was a dread born of pure instinct!

Su Yi’s eyes narrowed. The man’s aura really was unfathomable and immeasurable.

However, he didn’t panic. Instead, he said thoughtfully, “Judging from your attire… Are you perhaps the owner of that ship?”

In his conical hat and woven raincoat, he looked just like a fisherman.

A fisherman naturally had to have a boat.

And there was a boat atop Returning Stream Peak right now!