Chapter 65 – Fallen Into the Abyss

This chapter is by Lianyin of BC Novels.

The group of demonic cultivators did not make any more moves as they silently hovered over the slowly expanding abyss that emitted a purplish s.h.i.+mmer. Their gazes were so fervent that the only thing left was for them to complete the picture would be if they were to prostrate themselves in wors.h.i.+p.

The other cultivators, knowing that they had a.s.sisted to bring about a great catastrophe, hurriedly rode their swords in an escape when they saw that the demonic cultivators were deliberately ignoring them.

Even if these people stayed on, they would only end up being cannon fodders for Demon Lord Yan Heng when he finished awakening. Chu Yu coldly looked at them falling all over themselves in a bid to flee. He folded his arms as he looked at the wailing abyss. The gears in his head turned and he suddenly recalled what Wei Ciyin had said before.

Wei Ciyin once aid, Dun Yue Sect had once used the Spirit Sealing Gra.s.s to awaken a terrifying thing.

……If that ‘thing" that they were referring to was the remnant soul of Demon Lord Yan Heng, then, he could almost understand why the demonic cultivators had been so desperately busting their guts out these few years in the war. More than ten years ago, demonic cultivators had appeared outside the city of Fangye to loot the Spirit Devouring Bug, and that kind of Spirit Devouring Bug, once nurtured, was able to consume magical barriers.

The Spirit Sealing Gra.s.s only exists within the Mausoleum Ruins, and the Mausoleum Ruins were miles away from Yun Cuo. And so they used these Spirit Devouring Bug to gain entry into the Mausoleum Ruins.

The one who had received this mission at the time, Wei Ciyin, should have been in a predicament — after all, Demon Lord Yan Heng was notorious for not acknowledging his kin and he was also bloodthirsty by nature. He did not differentiate between the demonic or righteous path cultivators; he killed them all in a blink of an eye.

While still at Yun Cuo, Wei Yuanshan had previously said that his heart and soul had indeed been enthralled by the spell for a period of time. It was probable that Wei Ciyin had been coerced to lead a bunch of people to the Mausoleum Ruins back then. No wonder that one moment he insisted on not wasting time, and the next moment he would be dilly-dallying and wasting more time.

The demonic cultivators had been sustaining Demon Lord Yan Heng ever since they had roused his soul. From the start of the Great Righteous and Demonic Cultivator War, they had been dragging out the time as they battled, all the while waiting for when the time was ripe.

……It should have all began when the demonic cultivators suddenly retreated from Jin River. The moment the curtain fell on Great Righteous and Demonic Cultivator War, they had started to plan how to reach the demonic abyss. From Jin River all the way to Jiao Xia, it was naturally not possible for them to be driven right into the entrance of Tian Yuan Sect.

This was where the traitor Xu Keqing had come into play.

It was not known how the demonic cultivators had found out that there was a portal located in the main hall in front of the Chu family"s forbidden area, but in any case, they set their sights on the Chu family, sent a few people to infiltrate the righteous path territory and spread unsavory rumors. After which, they sat back and wait for the ma.s.ses to crusade against the Chu family before they fished in troubled waters and made use of the portal to teleport themselves to the demonic abyss.

Before the crusade against the Chu family, they spread the news that some cultivators had a.s.sembled to set off for the Chu family, which naturally drew away Lu Qingan and Xie Xi away. Otherwise, if Lu Qingan was here, he would have definitely discovered the abnormalities and rushed over the very moment the portal was activated. When face to face with the Yan Han sword, it would be hard to say whether or not they could complete the rest of the tasks smoothly.

This was all really well-played.

And what the Dun Yue Sect sect master had thrown down the demonic abyss earlier was very likely a piece of Demon Lord Yan Heng"s remnant soul.

Needless to say, everything was simple and clear. This demonic abyss was where the remnant soul of Demon Lord Yan Heng had been sealed. If his soul was completely awakened, plus the fact that the Soul Summoning Banner was here too, then it would be pointless even if the old Tian Yuan Sect Patriarch from that day showed up.

Handling Demon Lord Yan Heng was already near to impossible on his own, what"s more when there was still a demonic banner to deal with.

Although this was only a guess, it was not likely to be far off the mark.

Chu Yu tousled his hair in irritation. He repeatedly paged the system in his mind, but all the replies he got were, “Ding~ The system is under maintenance~ Please wait patiently for the maintenance to be completed~”

F***, f***, f***, f***!

What"s the point of this system.

The sounds of wailing from the depths of the demonic abyss were getting louder and louder, and it was so piercing that it made Chu Yu"s head swim. He covered his ears and retreated to sit behind a boulder as he inclined his head to observe the situation.

Sure enough, it did not take long before the Tian Yuan Sect"s trump card arrived.

Chu Yu slowly climbed up. Ignoring the chilling snow that blanketed the boulder, he sprawled on the top of the boulder and raised his head for a look. It was easy to make out that Tian Yuan Sect patriarch, who was in the early phase of the DemiG.o.d stage.

The path of cultivation was long, and there seemed to be a dearth of talents after the great battle of the ancient cultivators. For thousands of years, there had not been many cultivators who had managed to rise to the demiG.o.d stage. In order to try to break through the demiG.o.d stage, everyone was working at fever pitch, but of all people, the chaos had to produce a weirdo like Lu Qingan.

Chu Yu touched the tip of his nose and rolled his eyes. He remembered the rumors regarding Lu Qingan and could not help but get distracted.

Lu Qingan was only about two or three hundred years of age, and yet his cultivation speed had been swift and aggressive. It was said that this was because his s.h.i.+zun, the previous generation sect master of Tian Yuan Sect, pa.s.sed onto him half of his abilities.

No wonder he was not p.i.s.sed off even though he had stayed on under that peculiar and cynical Song Yuanzhuo.

He was lost in thought for only a moment when there was another sudden tremor from within the demonic abyss. Thick black fog swiftly permeated the air in front of the group of demonic cultivators. Amidst the black fog, there seemed to be a flash of two blood red dots.

The sect master of Dun Yue Sect was thrilled and exclaimed in an excited manner, "Demon Lord Yan Heng!"

In response, the black fog silently advanced towards them. Like some kind of monster, it pounced on and dragged several demonic cultivators into the black fog. The next moment, heart-wrenching cries of agony rang out. Regardless of whether it was because of something they saw or if they were being tortured, the sound was so shrill and mournful that in an instant it made one"s hair stand on end.

The rest of the demonic cultivators who had been quick enough to avoid it turned pale and looked at the similarly pale-faced Dun Yue Sect sect master in anger and shock, “Didn"t you say you could control it?!”

The Dun Yue Sect sect master pulled a long face and said, “It shouldn"t be like this. I obviously controlled that wisp of the remnant soul well, there shouldn"t be this kind of mistake……”

Chu Yu watched the scene with fascination and secretly sneered. Would a big BOSS be really that easy to control? Look at how well this turned out. It ate a few fodders the moment it emerged, its power is still getting stronger and stronger. It now all depended on whether the Tian Yuan Sect patriarch was a G.o.dsend or a major letdown.

As he thought about it, he looked towards the Tian Yuan Sect patriarch.

Beside the Tian Yuan Sect patriarch, there were eight cultivators who were in the Nascent Soul stage. Other than Lu Qingan, who was absent, the other elders of the remaining six peaks had all gathered. Together with the two gate formation protectors who were in the late Nascent Soul stage, this battle formation actually looked decent.

Each of the eight nascent soul cultivators was already holding a flag array and standing in different positions with a focused and solemn look on their faces. Chu Yu did not really understand magic formations and he could only vaguely tell that it was a magic seal formation. The patriarch, who was in the demiG.o.d stage, stood in the center of the formation.

The remnant soul of Demon Lord Yan Heng had yet to fully awaken. If they made use of this opportunity to take action, then perhaps they would still be able to succeed in sealing him.

Chu Yu could not help but feel excited as he stared unblinkingly at them.

A light golden barrier soon appeared and sealed off the area where Demon Lord Yan Heng had appeared, trapping several demonic cultivators within it as well. In a barrier set up by a demiG.o.d cultivator and eight nascent soul cultivators, those people had no way to escape and could only look on helplessly as that ominous black fog a.s.saulted them.

The moment the black fog engulfed them, a blood mist seemingly sprayed out.

After absorbing the spiritual energy of over a dozen demonic cultivators, it was as if Demon Lord Yan Heng no longer wanted to lie low anymore. The black fog gradually dispersed and eventually revealed a man in black who was kneeling on one knee in mid-air; at that moment, he was reaching his hand out to wipe away the blood stains on the corners of his mouth.

Chu Yu suddenly felt as if there was something burning in his body. He remembered that there had been an object that had flown into his body the very moment the portal opened up at the forbidden area. He frowned, ignored the scorching heat, and raised his head to size up Demon Lord Yan Heng.

Those who had reached the core formation stage were able to preserve their looks. Demon Lord Yan Heng looked like a very young man, looking to be only eighteen or nineteen of age. His complexion was as white as snow. He was handsome beyond expectations, so much that he could even be said to be alluring. His face was plainly white, and yet he had elegantly painted eyebrows and red lips. He was so captivating that he could set hearts on fire with just a glance.

His eyes were blood, blood red.

As if he was aware that someone was sizing him up, Demon Lord Yan Heng frostily turned to look at him. The moment their eyes met, Chu Yu"s mind momentarily went blank, and he felt as if his soul was going to be ripped away from his body. Chu Yu had to exert almost all his energy before he managed to s.h.i.+ft his gaze away. His vision grew dim and he gasped in big mouthfuls of air. After wiping the cold sweat away from his forehead, he did not dare to look at the Demon Lord anymore.

A big BOSS was truly a big BOSS…… If Xie Xi had to come up against him in the original novel, he might probably be at a disadvantage too. He could only hope that those from Tian Yuan Sect would be able to reseal him and put him in a slumber for hundreds and thousands of years until Xie Xi was mature enough to return and fight the BOSS.

Although they could tell that there were still other people around, no one could be bothered to do anything about Chu Yu at this point of time. The nascent soul cultivators formed seals with their hands to cast into the array flag and immediately the golden light expanded, enveloping the body of Demon Lord Yan Heng in a flash. In the s.h.i.+mmering golden light, the faces of several nascent soul cultivators had turned pale, as if maintaining this kind of golden light was a huge strain on them.

Chu Yu stared on with utmost concentration and he suddenly saw a crack appear on the hood of that golden light.

A dim, b.l.o.o.d.y red glow seeped through from within, as if it would only take a little more struggle before the man inside would be able to escape.

The Tian Yuan Sect patriarch calmly waved the array flag, and at once, the golden light flared up and that crack was patched up again.

Under the combined efforts of nine people, the huge golden prison gradually shrank, like a small sun, reflecting dazzling light everywhere and dispelling quite a bit of the demonic aura that was still drifting out from the abyss.

Chu Yu heaved a sigh of relief.

From the looks of it, all they needed was just to put in a little more effort and they would be able to seal Demon Lord Yan Heng back in the abyss again.

It was at this moment that one of the Nascent Soul elders suddenly faltered, his face horribly pale, as if he could fall any moment. At this crucial moment, it would be disastrous for anyone to fall. Chu Yu was on tenterhooks when that elder suddenly smacked his chest, coughed out a mouthful of blood with a “pffft”, widened his eyes and gritted his teeth to press on.

But although he persevered, an elder on another side now wavered and toppled down instead.

Numerous cracks promptly appeared on the golden globe. Laughter could even be heard from the inside, sounding like crows above a burial mound in the middle of the night; it was eerie and extremely bone-chilling.

Without any changes in expression, the Tian Yuan Sect patriarch backhandedly struck the flag array and the golden light was once again restored. But in a few blinks of an eye, the golden light started dissolving like melting ice and snow. This time around, the face of the Tian Yuan Sect patriarch turned pale. He bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood which was absorbed into the golden light, and the light swelled again once more.

He then opened his mouth and shouted in a low voice, “Keep going! This vile sp.a.w.n had only just awoken. Although it had been nourished, it will not be able to keep this up for long. Just a little longer, and we can seal him back in the demonic abyss!”

The remaining Nascent Soul elders did not even have the energy to speak and could only nod feebly.

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Chu Yu glanced at Song Yuanzhuo and saw that he was also unsteady on his feet, and his heart jumped into his mouth. The good thing was that even though he was on the verge of collapse, he was still a sect master after all; if the others were still standing, then he would be too embarra.s.sed to drop, thus he could only grit his teeth and continue to hang on.

It was like a tug-of-war; the blood-red light inside was continually causing cracks to form in the golden sh.e.l.l, and then the Tian Yuan Sect patriarch would restore it. This was precisely a war of attrition; if the Demon Lord Yan Heng ran out of power first, then Tian Yuan Sect would win, but if another one or two more Tian Yuan Sect elders fell, then the situation would be irremediable.

Chu Yu was on pins and needles; after all, if they ended in failure, he would have to step in.

After holding on for quite some time, two elders could no longer go on and finally fell. Countless cracks instantly appeared on the golden sphere, which would be torn apart in the next instant.

The patriarch"s face was white and frail. Wheezing heavily, he waved the array flag and replenished the gold light. He was the main force of the formation, but after persevering for so long, he had long run out of energy. He had only just restored the golden light when it ruptured.

The last few remaining elders who had been hanging on coughed out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.

Breaking through the formation, Demon Lord Yan Heng burst out laughing maniacally. In a flash of movement, he sidestepped the patriarch, came before two Tian Yuan Sect elders and extended his hands to grab hold of their necks without a moment of hesitation. In less than three breath, the bodies of the two elders rapidly shriveled, while their spiritual energy and vitality were all absorbed away.

Chu Yu had never seen such a horrifying scene before. He quietly swallowed his saliva and trembled as he prepared to wield Xun Sheng.

Yet Demon Lord Yan Heng did not even glance at him, as if despising the spiritual energy of those from the core formation stage. He chucked away the two shriveled corpses and turned towards another two of the elders.

Although Tian Yuan Sect had about ten cultivators in the nascent soul stage, even one death was one too many; every cultivator who died was a huge loss to them. The patriarch was dizzy with anger and immediately rushed to try and stop him.

However, he had just expended most of his spiritual energy to preside over the magic formation. Demon Lord Yan Heng took the opportunity to absorb the vitality and spiritual energy of several of the other nascent soul elders and recovered some of his strength, all the while dodging and never bothering to return any attacks. In a wink of an eye, only two nascent soul elders, including Song Yuanzhuo, were left standing.

Knowing that it was useless to blindly attack Demon Lord Yan Heng, the Tian Yuan Sect patriarch, deeply pained and bitter with resentment, focused on protecting them. When Demon Lord Yan Heng pounced, he lured him away to continue the fight at another spot.

An exhausted Song Yuanzhuo gathered his breath with some difficulty and cried out anxiously, ” Patriarch!”

“Leave at once and wait for the other sects to send reinforcements!” The patriarch coolly shouted as he took out every weapon and tool in his a.r.s.enal to continue attacking Demon Lord Yan Heng. Demon Lord Yan Heng only stared at him in pity. No matter what magic weapon his pale hand caught hold of, it would only let off a sizzling sound when caught, as if being corroded.

This would not do at all.

Tian Yuan Sect was unable to subdue him.

Chu Yu clenched his teeth and promptly made a decision. He closed his eyes to search for the object that had entered his body. After looking for a while, Chu Yu finally managed to catch hold of it near his dantian1.

The thing that had flown into his body at the forbidden area was… a light.

The green light was faint, and the flame was only about the size of a bean. The moment he found it, an unfamiliar voice rang out in his ears, “Ah, a descendant of the Chu family……”

Chu Yu was spooked for a moment, but he realized there was no malice in the voice and thus he braced himself and asked, “Sire, you are…?”

“……I"m the one who sealed Demon Lord Yan Heng.” The flame kept bobbing as the voice spoke, “So Demon Lord Yan Heng has been released……”

After a moment of silence, that voice continued, “To seal Demon Lord Yan Heng, you will need to pay a price.”

As soon as he said that, Chu Yu heard a blood-curdling screech and hurriedly open his eyes to take a look.

Demon Lord Yan Heng had gouged out a hole at the pit of the Tian Yuan Sect patriarch"s stomach.

He had actually succ.u.mbed this fast?! But this was a demiG.o.d stage cultivator!

F***, f***, f***, f***!

Chu Yu took a deep breath, “I will agree to any conditions! Give me the power to seal Demon Lord Yan Heng!”

That voice lightly said, “Grab the chance while he is still above the demonic abyss, pounce on him immediately and drag him back into the demonic abyss, this green light will lend you a helping hand.” He paused, and then said, “You will be dragged into the demonic abyss, and it is possible that you may never, ever be able to leave the abyss.”

Never, ever be able to leave the abyss?

Chu Yu"s mind momentarily went blank.

Then, what would happen to Xie Xi? What would happen to Chu Sheng? What would happen to Lu Qingan?

Should he be a hero, and seal Demon Lord Yan Heng in order to protect the ones he cared about, or should he slip away now while Demon Lord Yan Heng could not be bothered to kill a small fry like him?

Chu Yu was not a person with such a strong sense of righteousness that he could abandon everything for righteousness.

……However, if he did not act now, then, by the time the others arrived, Demon Lord Yan Heng would have already gone on a killing spree and recovered his cultivation by absorbing the vitality and spiritual energy of the nearby humans. By then, not only would the Tian Yuan Sect fall into destruction, but even the Chu family, thousands of miles away, would never be at peace.

It was too late. He could no longer wait.

Chu Yu hesitated for a moment, gave a sigh, then rode Xun Sheng towards the demonic abyss.

The Tian Yuan Sect patriarch had only just narrowly escaped death, and so when he saw this core formation cultivator coming to court his own death, his face turned ashen and he shouted, “Flee quickly!”

Demon Lord Yan Heng took a second look at Chu Yu. His eyes were blood red, and his gaze was creepy, so much that it would send chills down the spine of the one being stared at; it was extremely uncomfortable. Chu Yu took another deep breath and forced out a stiff smile, “Demon Lord Yan Heng, I"ve heard a lot about you.”

Just then, a shout rang out in the distance. It was a voice he was very familiar with.

"s.h.i.+xiong!"

Chu Yu"s expression changed. Looking back, he saw Xie Xi, Lu Qingan and Third s.h.i.+di rus.h.i.+ng towards him from afar.

Why did you have to come at this moment?!

Third s.h.i.+di, you noob!

Lu Qingan might be on par with a demiG.o.d cultivator, but there was still a half-dead demiG.o.d cultivator lying over there at death"s door!

Chu Yu immediately turned his head back. He was just in time to see the strange and twisted smile at the corners of Demon Lord Yan Heng"s mouth, “There"s a very nauseating smell on you — the Chu clan?”

His voice was exceedingly hoa.r.s.e. Chu Yu opened his mouth to answer, and heard Xie Xie"s terribly panic-stricken voice behind him.

"s.h.i.+xiong! s.h.i.+xiong! Get away from him!"

Chu Yu remained unmoved and took another step closer to Demon Lord Yan Heng.

Xie Xi"s voice was getting closer, and it was already slightly choking with sobs, “Don"t……”

Chu Yu then threw himself at Demon Lord Yan Heng and held on to him in a tight embrace. Demon Lord Yan Heng was stunned when he was suddenly embraced by someone he had never seen as a threat. His countenance changed in the next instant.

The green flame in Chu Yu"s body surged and surrounded them with a whoosh. Even Demon Lord Yan Heng was unable to break free from this restraint. He could only glare wide-eyed as Chu Yu held him in a tight grip, plunging both of them all the way down into the abyss.

Chu Yu was already delirious at the moment the flame enveloped his body. Something was slowly dissipating in his body, and he felt as if he was falling from the ninth heaven2. All he could hear in his ears were the sorrowful sound of wind and the howls of ghosts. Somehow, in his stupor, he seemed to have also heard the excruciating, heart-wrenching cries of Xie Xi.

"s.h.i.+xiong!"

Reika"s Notes:

丹田, dantian. There are generally three dantian points, although the term dantian used by itself usually refers to the lower dantian; a point two inches below the navel where one"s qi is said to reside. 九天 the ninth heaven; the highest of heavens. i.e. falling from a very high height.