Chapter 386: Ancient Demon Characters

Hong Qiming took out an oil lamp and said calmly, "Something feels off. There isn't a single living creature within a thousand li of us.

"Zhou Yi already dealt with the foreign races approaching this place."

Hong Qiming's gaze darkened as he looked toward where Zhou Yi had disappeared.

"This Brother Zhou from the Nine Tribes Sect is unwilling to report this discovery to the higher-ups. Could he be planning to take this opportunity to eliminate us?" he speculated, voice laced with suspicion.

Cai Shaoheng from the Black Valley Sect chimed in, "The thick clouds and murky energy in the Fourth World cuts off communication with the upper worlds. If Zhou Yi truly intends to harm us...

"I've decided to abandon this exploration of the unknown continent!" he declared.

Shen Yanxi raised an eyebrow. "We have no grudges with Zhou Yi. He's second on the Soul Wandering Realm leaderboard, just behind that girl from the Li Family. Given his status and strength, why would he even see us as rivals?"

"Impossible!" Lu Yanshu from the Pure Land Sect shook his head. "Zhou Yi has no reason to turn against us when the human race is already facing such dire circumstances!"

Despite the diversity of opinions, it was undeniable that the fact Zhou Yi, the organizer of the expedition and the one who discovered the continent, had not returned cast a cloud over them all.

"Could that girl from the Ghost Sacrifice Sect be planning to keep the Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis all to herself?" Hong Qiming said with a malicious look in his eyes. "I heard she can move freely in the bizarre mist and has no fear of it. Even if she found something, she'd hardly need to come out and tell us."

"Hong Qiming, perhaps you should think about it differently?" Hu Yuanfei sneered.

"What do you mean?"

"Perhaps Zhou Yi ran into a group of Rank Eight Vicious Beasts or foreign races and decided to lure them away so we wouldn't be exposed."

Hong Qiming scoffed. "He's not that considerate. If he encountered Vicious Beasts or foreign races of that level, he'd rush over and force us to join him in the fight."

"That's what you would do, not Zhou Yi," Shen Yanxi replied mockingly.

Though Shen Yanxi and Hu Yuanfei rarely saw eye to eye, they found themselves unusually united against Hong Qiming.

"Maybe Ling Yimo ran into trouble in the bizarre mist and couldn't find her way back," Zhou Qingchen interjected timidly. "The bizarre mist is vast, and one's perception is limited when inside. It's easy to get lost in there."

Hong Qiming looked at Zhou Qingchen like he was a fool. "She wouldn't. They say she was abandoned in the depths of the bizarre mist.

"When Gui Mu found her, she was still a helpless infant. An infant survived in the bizarre mist, and her cries drew Gui Mu's attention.

"Tell me, how would such an anomaly get lost in there?

"Not to mention, her very existence has advanced our understanding of the bizarre mist by leaps and bounds! Perhaps we could become lost, but not her!"

Zhou Qingchen was left speechless. He silently vowed to speak less about people and things he did not fully understand to avoid ridicule.

"Abandoned as an infant in the bizarre mist...” Pang Jian turned to Hu Yuanfei. "Is that true?"

Hu Yuanfei nodded. "That's the rumor."

Pang Jian was deeply astonished.

Zhou Yi, Fan Chen, Ling Yimo, Hong Qiming, and Liu Youyu all carried an air of mystery, each with an impressive background that outdid the last.

It seemed the geniuses of the next generation—save for the girl from the Divine Treasure Sect's Li Family—were all gathered here.

Ling Yimo's enigmatic origins made Pang Jian suspect he was not the one with the most secrets among them, even with the Gate of the Abyss in his possession.

Fan Chen, dressed in all white with an air of unparalleled elegance, suddenly asked Pang Jian, "You were in the dragon's chest cavity earlier. Did you also see those strange characters?"

Pang Jian nodded. "I saw them, but I didn't understand them."

"Would you mind writing them out for me?"

"Sure."

Pang Jian summoned his Startling Slaughter Spear and started to carve the strange characters from memory. Symbols shaped like birds and ferocious beasts were gradually etched on the cold, silver-white ground.

As Fan Chen stared at the characters, suspicion flickered in his eyes.

When Pang Jian finished craving the last character, Fan Chen's expression shifted into a look of intrigue.

"These characters..."

"What's wrong?" Hu Yuanfei asked.

"It doesn't add up." Fan Chen stared into the bizarre mist where Ling Yimo had vanished. "The ancient demons used these characters. It's said that the ancient demons are the ancestors of all Demon Races, including the Demon Race in the outer worlds, the Nether Demon Race, and the Demon Scale Race.

"But the writing doesn't mention any Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis, Third-Generation Dragon, or Rank Ten Frost Dragon."

Everyone was taken aback.

"All it says is this: the true path for all beings in this world lies beneath the Fifth World, in the darkness beneath the darkness," Fan Chen said in a trembling voice.

Pang Jian's expression changed dramatically.

Below the Fifth World of the Abyss lies a void of utter darkness and silence—a place of absolute despair.

Even the Abyssal Demon's consciousnesses teetered on the edge of madness after being forcefully placed there using the Heaven-Earth Cosmos Chest.

How could the path for all living beings in the Abyss lie beneath the darkness?

That place is a forbidden zone shrouded in even greater mystery than the bizarre mist.

No supreme power from this world has ever ventured into the depths below the Fifth World and returned alive.

Why would a dragon, dead for who knows how many millennia, have such words within its chest cavity? And who could have left them?

Questions flooded Pang Jian's mind, but he did not have the answers to any of them.

Fan Chen's gaze swept across the others' stunned expressions and continued, "The Frost Dragon was likely in Rank Ten, with its battle prowess on par with a True God.

"After it was killed, its heart was removed, and that same person probably left behind these ancient demon characters.

"I believe an ancient demon killed this dragon!"

Hong Qiming was horrified. "An ancient demon, the ancestor of all demons?"

Fan Chen nodded. "Indeed, your Demon Sect's earliest cultivation methods are rumored to be closely linked to the outer world's Demon Race."

The Demon Race in the outer worlds!

Pang Jian's mind stirred.

He grasped the hilt of the Abyssal Demon Sword and sent his divine sense flowing into it.

Calling forth a mental image of the characters, he asked,

You're from the outer world and are part of the Demon Race in the outer worlds. Do you recognize these characters?

The Abyssal Demon was taken aback.

Those are ancient demon characters. How could they appear in the Abyss?

It scanned the ancient characters with clusters of demonic wills before saying,

The true path for all beings in this world lies beneath the Fifth World, in the darkness beneath the darkness.

That's what the characters say, but...

The Abyssal Demon's consciousnesses shouted wildly within the sword,

That's impossible! I've entered that cursed void through that wretched chest, and there was nothing there besides endless terror and despair!

Releasing his grip on the Abyssal Demon Sword, Pang Jian turned to Hu Yuanfei. "Fan Chen is right, the characters speak of the darkness beneath the Fifth World."

"The Abyssal Demon confirmed it?" Hu Yuanfei asked.

"Yes."

Hong Qiming sneered, expression cold. "I knew there was something suspicious about that girl from the Ghost Sacrifice Sect!"

Holding up the oil lamp, he strode toward the part of the continent covered in bizarre mist.

"Wu Yuan, stay here as my point of reference. I'll go check things out," Hong Qiming said as a small flame detached from the oil lamp and landed in Wu Yuan's palm.

Wu Yuan held it and nodded.

Hong Qiming went into the bizarre mist with his oil lamp in hand and, like Ling Yimo, vanished without a trace.

After several hours, the others could not help but shoot Wu Yuan puzzled glances.

"The flame hasn't gone out, meaning he's still alive," Wu Yuan explained. After a brief pause, Wu Yuan looked calmly at Pang Jian and tentatively suggested, "Perhaps it's best if you take the lead to explore further. Senior Brother Hong and Ling Yimo may not be as well-suited to navigate the bizarre mist as you are."

The others were visibly surprised at his words.

The couple from the Ancient Law Sect, Fan Chen from the Supreme Monad Divine Kingdom, Lu Yanshu from the Pure Land Sect, and Liu Youyu on her Flying Fish Boat turned to Wu Yuan with curious expressions.

"If Hong Qiming and Ling Yimo can't, what makes you think Pang Jian can?" Hu Yuanfei asked icily. Glaring at Pang Jian, she said, "Don't listen to him. No one from the Demon Sect can be trusted!"

Liu Youyu nodded emphatically in agreement.

Hu Yuanfei was unwilling to take the risk herself and did not want Pang Jian involved either.

"Let's go!" she said. "Let's head back to the Third World, take down the foreign races and Vicious Beasts there, and accumulate contribution points the proper way!

"Hong Qiming's life isn't worth much. If he dies, so be it. You, on the other hand, are different!

"I honestly suspect Ling Yimo from the Ghost Sacrifice Sect is up to something. She falsely insisted the characters were about the Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis, then ventured into the bizarre mist to make her claims seem true."

Hu Yuanfei was convinced that Ling Yimo harbored malicious intentions.

Pang Jian hesitated to respond, uncertain whether to return to the Third World.

Just then, the flame in Wu Yuan's palm flickered.

Startled, Wu Yuan paused before looking at Pang Jian once again. "Senior Brother Hong sent a message. He said the Sanctum of Godly and Demonic Genesis is actually inside the bizarre mist."

The flame went out.

Wu Yuan frowned. "That message exhausted the lamp's remaining energy. That's all he could convey. Now...it's up to you all to decide.

"Is it true?" Zhou Qingchen could not help but ask. "Who should we believe? If Ling Yimo was lying, why would Hong Qiming confirm her claims?"

Hu Yuanfei thought of another possibility. "Could Hong Qiming have died? Perhaps Ling Yimo used his oil lamp to send the message."

Everyone shuddered at the thought.

"Do as you will. I'm leaving!" Cai Shaoheng from the Black Valley Sect, unnerved at the strange events, was the first to retreat. As he flew up, he said, "I'll report the bizarre nature of this continent and everything that's happened here to the higher-ups once I reach the Third World.

"You're all free to keep exploring, but those in the Nirvana Realm, Immortal Realm, or even the True Gods will likely descend soon!"

"Pang Jian, if you go, I go," Zhou Qingchen declared.

Wu Yuan nodded. "Same here."

"Stop trying to drag the future of my Sword Pavilion down with you, you two Spirit Condensation Realm trash!" Hu Yuanfei shouted angrily.

Liu Youyu's timid voice rang out from inside the Flying Fish Boat. "If Pang Jian goes, I'll go too."

"Little Fish! Shut up!" Hu Yuanfei snapped.

Fan Chen, Lu Yanshu, Shen Yanxi, and the Ancient Law Sect couple all wore puzzled expressions. They simply could not understand why they insisted on dragging Pang Jian along.

"Fine, let's go in," Pang Jian said.