Chapter 912: The Tombstone Guarding the City of the Wrongfully Dead

Before the Iron Daoist’s?choppy voice finished echoing through the air, he suddenly burst into green smoke. His body and soul were then incinerated by cold, serene firelight.

Nothing remained of him but scattered ash.

Everyone could tell how bitter and unwilling the Iron Daoist had been in the moments leading up to his death. He didn’t even think he’d lost to You Xue.

But You Xue didn’t care about that. In fact, she agreed that much of the credit for his death went to Su Yi…

Whoosh!

The Burning Silence Ruler falling through the air blurred into a beam of light and shot through the skies.

It was one of the Nine Taboos of the Netherworld King. Although it lacked a treasure spirit, it was full of spirituality, and it planned to seize this opportunity to escape.

But how could Su Yi possibly let it get away?

“Suppress!”

He stretched out his hand and pressed down on it from afar.

Within his sea of consciousness, the long-dormant Sword of the Nine Hells suddenly shook. An indescribable, inscrutable energy fluctuation permeated from it. Then, it manifested through the power of Su Yi’s palm.

From the outside, this attack seemed perfectly ordinary.

But You Xue, a treasure spirit, immediately trembled. It was as if she’d been plunged into an endless abyss; she felt an unprecedented, indescribable sense of terror.

As if a lofty and supreme god had swept his gaze across her.

That momentary, majestic pressure left her on the brink of mental collapse and despair.

Fortunately, that power wasn’t directed at her.

Her thorough discomfort only lasted a moment. Then, her mind and body seemed to struggle free from the endless darkness of the abyss, and she saw light once more.

This left You Xue feeling as if she’d just had a close brush with death, and she couldn’t help but fall into a daze.

But the Burning Silence Ruler, which had already fled several thousand feet away, let out a heaven-shaking whale.

Then, this divine artifact of the Netherworld King’s Nine Taboos swayed, blurred into a streak of light, and landed gently in Su Yi’s palm.

It quivered and buzzed, as if trembling with fright.

“Your source power is so badly damaged, but you’re still so powerful. It’s truly unexpected…” Su Yi examined the Burning Silence Ruler. He could tell at a glance that its source power had been severely damaged a long time ago, and it had never recovered.

Even so, its power was beyond imagination.

There was no doubt about it: this was a Xiantian Divine Treasure, and it contained the complete, primordial Laws of Burning Silence. Burning Silence was unquestionably a top-notch Grand Dao Law, and it was extremely rare.

This was evident in the battle earlier. The Iron Daoist’s strength was far inferior to You Xue’s, but with the Burning Silence Ruler in hand, they were evenly matched.

It was easy to imagine how strong the Burning Silence Ruler was.

Of course, by Su Yi’s standards, even if the Burning Silence Ruler’s source power hadn’t been damaged, it’d still be a bit inferior to the Book of Diting, let alone the Tiny Heart of the Cosmos.

If not for the limits of his weak cultivation base, he wouldn’t have needed the Sword of the Nine Hells just now. He could have suppressed it with ease with just the Book of Diting.

As he pondered, Su Yi tossed the Burning Silence Ruler to You Xue. “Here, you use this treasure.”

You Xue was briefly stunned. Then, a sweet, girlish smile appeared on her beautiful face, and she reached up to accept it. “Mm!”

Su Yi, meanwhile, was already headed back to the terrace atop Stargazing Tower.

When he arrived, he looked at Qing Teng. “Let’s find a place for a private chat. I have questions for you.”

Qing Teng had long since suppressed a bellyful of questions too, so he straightforwardly agreed.

Su Yi then took the Seed of the Azure Qing Teng was situated in and left.

When You Xue saw this, she appeared before Yuan Linning?in a flash.

Her gaze was as distant and unfathomable as the night sky as she evaluated Yuan Linning. “I know you once lost to Fellow Daoist Su, so why have you appeared here beside him?”

In the face of the young woman as majestic and dignified as a goddess, Yuan Linning?felt a strong sense of oppression bear down on her. She instinctively lowered her head to avoid You Xue’s gaze, then said softly. “Something happened.”

She then went on to explain how Su Yi had saved her, and why the two of them were traveling together.

After hearing the full story, You Xue had a strange look in her eyes. A playful arc tugged at her lips. “You explained it so clearly. Were you afraid I’d misunderstand?”

Yuan Linning?was just about to say something when You Xue sighed, sounding a bit melancholy. “Relax. Even if there were something between you two, I wouldn’t care. I understand his disposition. If he likes someone, no one else can replace them. If he doesn’t like someone… It wouldn’t matter if she were the most dazzling lady immortal throughout the heavens. She still would have no place in his heart.”

Here, she subtly shook her head, then turned and leaned against the railing, as if she couldn’t be bothered to say any more. She brushed her fingers against the Burning Silence Ruler, and stared silently out into space.

It was just as she’d said. She wouldn’t have cared if there was something between Su Yi and Yuan Linning.

You Xue cared whether or not there was something between her?and Su Yi!

Off in the distance.

After You Xue left, Yuan Linning?visibly relaxed. However, when she thought back to what You Xue had said, she couldn’t help but feel a bit strange.

You Xue was as dignified and imposing and a goddess, and she was an absolute beauty, too. Yet it seemed she’d fallen for a Spiritual Revolution Realm young man like Su Yi!

The gap between them was far too enormous.

Since when did gorgeous, magnificent Empresses fall for Spirit Dao cultivators?

Especially when the Spirit Dao cultivator in question was a mere youth?

But of course, Yuan Linning?knew that Su Yi was no ordinary person. His background was mysterious, and the methods at his disposal were simply unbelievable.

Still, she wouldn’t fathom why a magnificent, peerlessly beautiful, terrifying existence like You Xue would fall for Su Yi.

After a while, something suddenly occurred to Yuan Linning.

She approached Qing Mu, then glanced at the distant You Xue, as if with a bit of a guilty conscience. It was only after she saw that You Xue wasn’t paying attention that she said, “Fellow Daoist, might I ask your honorable name?”

Qing Mu hurriedly clasped his fist in greeting. “Senior, my name is Qing Mu, but I’m afraid I’m unworthy of the title ‘Fellow Daoist.’”

Yuan Linning?hesitated, then transmitted, “Young friend Qing Mu, might you tell me about the connection between your master and Fellow Daoist Su?”

She was hoping to discover a bit about Su Yi’s background in a roundabout way.

Qing Mu exclaimed, “His Excellency Su hasn’t discussed it with you, Senior?”

Yuan Linning?shook her head.

“Oh,” said Qing Mu. He shook his head. “Then I can’t say anything either.”

“....” And here she’d thought she’d be able to get something out of Qing Mu. Who’d have thought that this seemingly frank, straightforward young man wouldn’t fall for it?

It was then that You Xue suddenly turned her head and said calmly, “Miss, you’re better off not sticking your nose into Fellow Daoist Su’s affairs.”

Yuan Linning?was instantly solemn, and she nodded.

……

Su Yi sat cross-legged in a hall in Stargazing Tower.

Drawing upon that portion of the Sword of the Nine Hell’s?power had instantly drained about thirty percent of his cultivation base. He naturally needed to seize this opportunity to recover as quickly as possible.

“I came to the Little Necropolis to ask about the current situation in the City of the Wrongfully Dead, as well as what happened in the Dark Capital,” said Su Yi, conversing with Qing Teng as he meditated.

Qing Teng held nothing back, and before long, Su Yi had learned quite a bit.

The City of the Wrongfully Dead had indeed changed a lot since he’d explored it.

For instance, the Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow had been confined to the Great Chaos Ruins until just ten years ago, when it broke free and re-entered the world.

The inauspicious bird led a group of Dark Vassals loyal to the Netherworld King and established the Mysterious Netherworld Divine Court in the City of the Wrongfully Dead.

Over the past ten years, the Mysterious Netherworld Divine Court’s forces left the City of the Wrongfully Dead every night the blood moon rose, attacking and subduing factions of cultivators throughout the Netherworld River Territory.

By now, the Mysterious Netherworld Divine Court was already the most terrifying faction in the Netherworld River Territory.

The Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow called itself the Emissary of the Netherworld King, and four Dark Vassals followed it. There were six grand libationers beneath them, followed by eighteen dharma protectors and thirty-three deacons.

Them aside, there were numerous heretical factions subordinate to the Mysterious Netherworld Divine Court.

Their combined forces were enough to make even the peak factions of the Netherworld Tremble!

And the Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow’s ultimate goal in establishing this faction was to free the Netherworld King from confinement in the Great Chaos Ruins!

Furthermore, it had already begun implementing this plan a month ago, on the night of the Lantern Festival.

The sudden change to the Dark Capital really was an exquisitely prepared trap.

Their purpose was to lure the world’s Emperors over, gather their blood, strip them of their Daos, and harvest their souls as an offering to the King of the Netherworld!

“The Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow is acting on the Netherworld King’s orders. It’s set up a formation of blood sacrifice at the entrance to the Great Chaos Ruins. Any Emperor they captured is sent there as a sacrificial offering,” said Qing Teng.

“And to the best of my knowledge, in just the past month, the Mysterious Netherworld Divine Court’s forces have already captured more than a dozen Emperors alive. However, I’m unsure of how many of them have been sacrificed.”

Su Yi thought for a moment. “I can guess that if they’re sacrificing Emperors, it’s to help the Netherworld King recover his vitality. But I’m afraid such methods won’t be enough for him to escape confinement in the Great Chaos Ruins. Don’t forget; the tombstone is still there.”

There was a tombstone guarding the interior of the City of the Wrongfully Dead.

It was enough to secure the entire City of the Wrongfully Dead. Even if the Netherworld King recovered, they could forget about escaping the Great Chaos Ruins.

That is, unless someone moved the tombstone.

Earlier, when the monk Malevolent Release visited the Night Watchmen, he attempted to threaten the Night Watchmen into lowering his head and moving the tombstone.

This meant that the Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow still couldn’t move it. Otherwise, there would have been no need to send Malevolent Release to see the Night Watchman.

Based on this judgment, Su Yi realized that if the Nine Serenities Netherworld Crow wanted to help the Netherworld King escape, a blood sacrifice was unlikely to be enough.

When Su Yi brought up the tombstone, Qing Teng’s expression shifted, filling with dread, loathing, and awe.

That tombstone had secured the City of the Wrongfully Dead since the ancient era.

It was because of that tombstone that the evil spirits confined in the City of the Wrongfully Dead had practically no hope of truly escaping this place.

Admittedly, on the night of the blood moon, the likes of the Netherworld Crow could escape the city and wreak havoc on the outside world. However, if they didn’t make it back to the City of the Wrongfully Dead, they’d perish when the purple moon rose.

All of this was because of that tombstone!

Rumor had it that in ancient times, the last monarch of the Infernal Palace had completely fused the tombstone with the source of the City of the Wrongfully Dead.

His purpose was to suppress all the malevolent forces confined there!