Chapter 1743: Mountain Grave

Rumble rumble rumble...

The ground shook violently, and a single crack appeared on its surface. It kept growing until the earth was split into a bottomless chasm about several hundred meters wide. Thick, terrifying yin qi immediately gushed out of the chasm profusely.

“That’s... the Nine Nethers Demonic Qi!”

Ye Qing blanched when he saw this. It wasn’t just any Nine Nethers Demonic Qi, it was some of the darkest, purest, and richest Nine Nethers Demonic Qi he had ever seen. If it were to burst out of the Ghastly Abyss of the Lost and flood into the human world, then countless living creatures of the Eastern Sea would perish. The aftermath would be unimaginable as well.

“Don’t worry. The Nine Nether Demonic Qi isn’t going anywhere.” The Earthly Sovereign noticed Ye Qing’s worry and gave him an assuring pat on the shoulder.

The Earthly Sovereign had just finished when runes appeared around the thatched cottage, and a tremendous amount of Profound Yellow Mother Qi swept the area. They turned into the sun, moon and stars; the mountains, rivers and the earth; farmers, animals, and red dust...

The stream of Nine Nethers Demonic Qi was annihilated the second it made contact with the Profound Yellow Mother Qi. Not a single wisp had leaked to the surroundings.

“Is there a Nine Nethers Rift beneath the Ghastly Abyss of the Lost, master?” Ye Qing asked.

“That is correct. This Nine Nethers Rift is connected to the Nether, and it is the work of one of the three Nine Nether Kings of ancient times, King Youkui.”

The Earthly Sovereign explained, “In ancient times, in an attempt to pollute the human world, King Youkui personally breached the barrier between worlds and channeled the Nine Nethers Demonic Qi into the human world. However, we were able to stop him. The Ghastly Abyss of the Lost was created from our battle against him.”

“Alas, despite successfully slaying King Youkui, his power remained behind in the Ghastly Abyss of the Lost and the Nine Nethers Rift. It cannot be fully removed, and so we are unable to seal the rift completely.”

“Left with no choice, I set up this great array to temporarily seal off the Nine Nethers Rift. I also ordered the Thousand-headed Demonic Serpent to guard this place and prevent the Nine Nethers Demonic Qi from leaking.”

“King Youkui?” It was a new name, but it reminded him of a certain King Taishan. It was obvious at first hearing that this King Youkui was no easy opponent. Thankfully, he was long dead.

“So, Senior Thousand Head isn’t born in the abyss then. He stayed here to guard the array.”

“That’s right. The little serpent is the bloodline descendant of the ancient Myriad Demon Ancient Dragon. He is naturally powerful, immune to the Nine Nethers Demonic Qi, and extremely resistant to evil and corruption. That is why I commanded him to guard this place. Nothing can go wrong with him to maintain the great array.”

“Your foresight is astounding as ever, master.”

Ye Qing nodded. The greatest threat posed by the Nine Nethers Demonic Qi was its ability to corrupt one’s mind, tempt them to damnation, and convert them into a Nine Nethers Demon who only knew sin and desire.

However, the Thousand-headed Demonic Serpent was unafraid of its corruptive quality, so its greatest danger might as well not exist. This meant that the Thousand-headed Demonic Serpent would never lose unless he willingly chose to become corrupted.

Besides that, the Thousand-headed Demonic Serpent was powerful and capable of borrowing power from the Ghastly Abyss of the Lost. Therefore, he was unafraid of the Nine Nethers Demons or any malicious villain who desired to use the Nine Nethers Rift for their nefarious purposes either.

One might say that the Nine Nethers Demonic Qi here might as well not exist so long as the Thousand-headed Demonic Serpent remained.

“I wronged the little serpent greatly with my order though. He has been stuck in this heaven forsaken place for countless millennia. I had inflicted upon him an unkindness that can never be taken back.”

The Earthly sovereign sighed, “Disciple, should one day you attained enough power to help him, please do so. At the very least, I wish to alleviate his burden and loneliness.”

Ye Qing saluted him. “This disciple will do his best.”

If before he still harbored a bit of resentment toward the Thousand-headed Demonic Serpent, now he only felt respect and sympathy for the guy.

As they spoke, an object floated out of the bottomless chasm.

It was a token. The token was palm-sized. One side of the token was etched with the words, “Sun, Moon, Star”, and the other side was etched with the words, “Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter”. Just the same, one corner of the token was glowing with moonlight and starlight that resembled the cosmos, while the other side was flowing with wind, rain and snow like the four seasons.

When the token appeared, the Nine Nethers Demonic Qi was dispelled and destroyed by the light and elements leaking out of the token. In fact, the entire chasm abruptly became as bright as daytime.

“Roar...”

It was at this moment countless roars erupted from the chasm.

At the same time, a tall mountain rose out of it.

The mountain was tall, vast, and completely barren. There were only graves on its surface.

There were candles in front of every grave. Transparent, formless silhouettes could be seen floating amidst the candle flames as well. They were roaring or shouting endlessly in an attempt to befuddle one’s mind, and a tidal wave of Nine Nethers Demonic Qi was rising out of the rift and overwhelming the light illuminating the chasm.

“Mountain Grave?”

Ye Qing wore a severe expression as he stared at the mountain that wasn’t a mountain. It was a famous Stranger of the Nine Nethers known as Mountain Grave. It possessed the power to bewitch or corrupt all living creatures. It was as scary as it was anomalous.

There were strong and weak Mountain Graves. The bigger and taller the mountain, and the greater the number of graves on the mountain, the more powerful it was.

This Mountain Grave was obviously powerful. It was an Ancient-class Stranger that could tempt countless living creatures to damnation in a single day.

Ye Qing was just about to step forward when the Earthly Sovereign said, “There’s no need. The little serpent can deal with it. This is a good opportunity for you to experience the power of the Solar Term Token as well.”

“Hmph! Suicidal fool!”

The Thousand-headed Demonic Serpent grunted and pointed a finger at the token.

The next moment, the sun rose, the moon ascended, and the stars filled the sky. The snow fell, the hail descended, and the storm battered the land furiously.

As the light and the elements unleashed their power, the Mountain Grave’s terrifying aura was wiped out bit by bit.

As if sensing the danger, the candles in front of the graves started burning profusely, and the ghastly silhouettes all took tangible forms. Some were blue-faced and long-fanged, some were shrouded in yin fire, some were standing on bones, and some were covered in blood. Regardless of their appearance, they were all roaring and charging toward the Thousand-headed Demonic Serpent.

The token began spinning and causing the sun to rise, the moon to fall, and the four seasons to cycle endlessly. As a result, the evil ghosts were suppressed and weakened continuously.

By the time the evil ghosts reached the Thousand-headed Demonic Serpent, they didn’t possess even one-hundredth of their original power. The Thousand-headed Demonic Serpent easily inhaled them all into its mouth and devoured them.

While this was going on, the Mountain Grave was still becoming weaker and weaker due to the effects of the Solar Term Token.

A Mountain Grave was sentient, so it knew that it was outmatched. It immediately started sinking down the chasm and back to the Nine Nethers Rift.

“Don’t you think it’s a little too late?”

The Thousand-headed Demonic Serpent sneered as the image of a demonic serpent appeared behind his back. He made a grasping motion and slowly clenched his fingers.

Rumble rumble rumble!

The world rumbled incessantly as the pits appeared all around the Mountain Grave, and every gravestone exploded into pieces at the same time. Demonic qi surged, and cries of pain filled the air.

The Thousand-headed Demonic Serpent paid it no heed though. He simply chuckled and made a fist abruptly.