The stone statue was sitting cross-legged with the stone gimlet in hand, and it fused together with Xiao Chen harmoniously. It seemed as if the stone statue was meditating quietly in his inner region. While this made Xiao Chen nervous, he was also looking forward to it.
The Ninth Underworld Platform was as high as a lofty mountain. Raising their heads to look up, they could only see black clouds covering the sky. It wasn’t rare to run into this kind of huge mountain in the gloomy underworld, so much so that there were even bones piling up to a thousand feet tall. However, if just by comparing the grandeur and pressure, there were only a few comparable to the thousand feet tall Ninth Underworld Platform before them.
The Ninth Underworld Platform was shaped like a towering volcano. It was as if it possessed a soul of its own, they could even feel its pulse. The mountain body was dyed red, as if it was encroached in the blood of ten million souls. It possessed an indescribable malevolence and pressure.
“Why do I have a feeling that this is a living demon?” Oxman shivered involuntarily.
“This is definitely not a safe place, we should be careful.” Xiao Chen’s party had already arrived at the foot of the Ninth Underworld Platform. They couldn’t tell why it was called a “platform”. No matter how they looked at it, it seemed like a huge mountain that was split in half by someone with magic power equivalent to the likes of Tongtian.
“Swish!”
Xiao Chen unfolded the Undying Divine Wing and just when he was about to fly upward.
“Wait, take us with you.” Oxman also wanted to go up and take a look at the Ninth Underworld Platform.
Xiao Chen carried Oxman and the Black Dragon King as he flew past the ribbon-shaped black clouds. He braved the baleful aura and arrived at the hilltop with lingering black clouds.
Xiao Chen and Oxman took a deep breath as soon as they arrived at the hilltop. This huge mountain actually had a pitch-black hole similar to the volcanic crater. However, it was much more eerie compared to a volcano. The surging black clouds were distinctly emitted from this hole.
“Is this the gateway that connects to hell? It can’t be… we are already in the underworld.” Fatty Oxman felt an eerie cold air surrounding him. He took a step back unconsciously.
Xiao Chen also frowned. Emperor Jiang asked him to come here, what could they possible discover? He cautiously gazed into the bottomless black hole, waves of inhuman whistles transmitted from below. It was like the whimpering and howling of evil spirits.
“Cough… Cough…”
A gloomy and forceful coughing abruptly resounded behind Xiao Chen’s party. Inciting their fear and fright on this huge, ring-shaped hilltop.
“@#%￥” Fatty Oxman was so shocked that he literally jumped up. He turned around, took a few steps back involuntarily, and narrowly fell into the bottomless pit.
“Shing-Shing!”
Even the sacred sword on the Black Dragon King’s back jumped out immediately. The blazing holy light illuminated the cloudy hilltop.
Xiao Chen also raised his guard. His keen spiritual sense actually failed to work repeatedly in this underworld. It proved that the experts hiding in this place were very powerful.
It was an old woman in her later days. She looked as thin and weak as a rice straw. She was covered in shabby burial clothes. Her yellowish skin didn’t have the slightest hint of blood. She looked like a zombie that just crawled out of the graveyard after many years. Her ash-colored long hair was thinly spread and fluttered in the wind like the weeds. Her pair of eyes were emitting green lights like two will-o’-wisps. The bridge of her nose was almost caved in, and her lips had dried. The wrinkles on her face looked just like thousand year old loose tree bark. It was dry and lacked any moisture.
It looked like a dried corpse no matter where they look!
It was impossible for people to associate her with anything else, especially in this gloomy underworld. What made them the most frightened was that, the old woman was holding a mourning staff in her hand. As she walked over with unsteady steps, the mourning staff actually entwined a few spirits and let out a faintly discernable anguished wailing.
“Who… are you?” Little fatty Oxman was a little scared, so he barely managed to raise his voice.
“Kakaka… I am your ancestor.”
Although the little fatty was scared, he was still very gutsy. He immediately cursed upon hearing these, “My #@%#@￥…… You dare to take advantages of this Mr. Ox? I am your uncle.”
“Wuu…”
With a wave of the mourning staff, it left behind a deathly pale streak of light in the dusty space and ruthlessly whipped the little fatty Oxman. It caused him to fly away immediately and almost fell into the bottomless abyss. As strong as the little fatty Oxman was, he didn’t even have time to dodge.
The Black Dragon King let out a roar as the sacred sword floating above it transform into a light beam. With a swish, the sacred sword flew forward. The sharpness of the sword-qi caused one to tremble in fear.
Although the young Dragon King couldn’t really manifest the true power of the sacred sword, it was still a dragon’s divine artifact in the end. The old woman did not face the attack head-on and disappeared from the spot after leaving behind an afterimage. The sacred sword struck empty air and instantly returned to its position above the Black Dragon King’s head. The sword sprinkled down multicolored light that enveloped Oxman and the party.
“Ouch! That damned granny has the impertinence to mount a sneak attack on me!” The little fatty grimaced in pain. He was aching all over and expended a great deal of effort to stand up. Fortunately, he didn’t really suffer any serious injury.
“Kakaka…” The old woman’s laughter was as unpleasant as the cry of an owl.
Xiao Chen stopped the Black Dragon King and pulled Oxman. He could tell the old woman didn’t have any killing intent. Otherwise Oxman wouldn’t be let off so lightly.
“Little boy, don’t throw a tantrum, I am not taking advantages of you. Although you are not a genuine beastman, you are still their descendant. I can sense from within your body a blood signature with a common origin as mine. You are certainly the later generations of mine.”
“I…” The little fatty had the urge to yell at her, but he swallowed the words and asked gloomily, “Just who are you? Don’t think you can take advantage of me.”
“I am just a ghost at present. I am assisting Emperor Jiang to supervise a few things. While I was living, I was a beastman.”
“Oh…” Little fatty Oxman gloomily nodded his head. Perhaps this old woman might really be his ancestor.
“I am the guardian of the Ninth Underworld Platform. I am responsible for reporting everything that happened here to Emperor Jiang. Naturally, I already know about your circumstances from Emperor Jiang.”
Xiao Chen took a step forward and stood on ceremony as he asked, “May I request ouma to let me know the details regarding the Amethyst Cosmic Wood?”
“Do you know the reason why this place is called the Ninth Underworld Platform?” The old woman asked.
“I’m afraid not.”
“Once upon a time, this place was connected to the dark realms. Although the connection was severed a long time ago, there were still a few cracks unable to be completely sealed. It is very hard for the powerful evil spirits to pass through. However, it is still possible to deliver some messages. Jumping down from here feels like falling down from an extremely high platform. As you enter the bottomless pit, you will be able to see a sealed door. Although ancestor god Suirenshi’s ideal nether world did not come to pass, the ten kings of hell still managed the nether world for a period of time. Even in the dark realms, there are a few officials who once supervised the nether world. The Amethyst Cosmic Wood from last time was precisely passed to me by them. They wish you to take away the soul of an indestructible little beast.”
“Is this not an SOS letter sent by Keke?” Xiao Chen asked dubiously.
“Jump down from here and communicate with the spirits on the other side of the sealed door, you will find out the full story from them.”
For the snow-white little critter, even if he had to enter the Infernal Realm of the Ninth Underworld, Xiao Chen wouldn’t bat an eye. After pondering seriously for a while, he felt that the old woman had no reason to lie to him.
“Alright, I will go down now.”
“Wait a moment, I have to remind you first. It is easy to go down but difficult to come up. This Ninth Underworld is full of evil spirits, you should think it through first.”
“No matter.” Xiao Chen had even entered the underworld already, what more was there to be afraid of? He had already run into god knows how many evil spirits on the way.
“I will go with you.” Oxman straightened his back.
“No need, I will be fine by myself.” Xiao Chen knew that there would certainly be dangers ahead, he didn’t want Oxman to face the risks with him.
“You cannot go.” Even though the old woman smiled, it still felt so eerie. The fog lingered all over her body as she said, “Did you not come to the beastman’s sacred mountain to subjugate a beast soul compatible with you? I am your ancestor, how can I let you return without any achievement? He will go to the Ninth Underworld, you can stay here. This granny is very fond of you. I intent to take you along to subjugate the strongest beast soul and help you accomplish your aim.”
Speaking until here, the old woman noiselessly drifted in front of the little fatty. She pinched his plump cheeks lovingly.
Being pinched by the old woman’s demonic claws, the fine hair all over the little fatty’s body stood up. He was musing gloomily, was this really his ancestor?
Xiao Chen did not hesitate as he jumped down into the Ninth Underworld Platform. The endless darkness soon swallowed up his figure.
“Hey, wait for me.” Oxman wanted to go after him, but the old woman blocked his path and said, “It’s pointless even if you go with him. Just come with me to subjugate some souls.”
Oxman was forcefully pulled away by the old woman. After hearing about the circumstances of the primal beast, he got furious and shouted immediately.
“I am to choose between Gozuki and Mezuki… are you kidding me?!”
“Huh, those are the strongest beast king soul?”
“Don’t you lie to me, even if you beat me to death, I will not pick Gozuki or Mezuki!”
“What, you said Gozuki is most fitting for me?!”
Looking at the flustered little fatty, the old woman sneered, “Legends will remain a legend forever, but sometimes they are far from the truth. You must know the might of Gozuki back in those days was unparalleled. This is one of the strongest beast souls during my time! Few of the beastman sages had once fused with this Gozuki. It is absolutely not as weak as it is described in the legend. Gozuki is definitely not a small fry in the nether world. If not because you are my later generations, I wouldn’t even care about you, nor would I offer this dormant soul to you.”
In a deep, deep, ancient cave, a palpitating soul fluctuation was transmitted outwards. The powerful force caused the little fatty to choke.
“Those hideous mess of beast souls in your body are just enough to feed Gozuki.” The old woman laughed sarcastically and said, “Sometime in the future, if you make a successful breakthrough, you will definitely pray to me in the living world everyday.”
To feed the souls he subjugated to Gozuki? The little fatty was crying internally.
The whistle of the chill wind was scary as Xiao Chen fell towards the Ninth Underworld. Countless souls were howling in the lightless abyss. If not because of the rainbow-colored sacred tree’s lingering light, Xiao Chen might have been submerged and tore to shreds by the endless amount of scalp-numbing ghosts already.
Only god knows how deep the Ninth Underworld was located, Xiao Chen actually fell for no less than two hours before he landed on the ground. At the bottommost part of the pit, the negative vibe was extremely heavy. It gave people extreme pressure and palpitations. Even those multitudes of souls did not come chasing after him.
At the bottom of the crater, there were bones as far as the eyes could see. Nobody knew how they had amassed. The vibe of death was the only thing present here, there were no other fluctuations.
Xiao Chen used his mind’s eye in place of his sight to “size up” the endless darkness. After a careful observation, he followed a tunnel of bones and walked forward.
One hour later, a sealed door appeared in front of him. It blossomed with a bloody light, the intense red light was especially dense and frightening.
A transparent shadow appeared in front of the sinister bloody door as an aged voice resounded in this terrifying underground, “You have come…”
“Who are you?” Xiao Chen stopped and calmly observed the hazy figure in front.
“I… am just an old ghost that has fallen into the Ninth Underworld for countless years. Who am I is not important. You came just at the right time… Just now, the indestructible little beast was still talking in front of the sealed door.”
“What, are you saying Keke is just behind this door?”
“It was still here a moment ago. Just wait for a while, let me communicate with the spirit on the other side.” The mist filled the air as the bloody light lingered on the body of the old ghost. Scarlet blood flowed down from the sinister door unceasingly. The sight was very bizarre, yet terrifying.
In no less than one hour later, the old ghost let out a long breath and said, “It was found by an evil spirit.”
At that very instant, Xiao Chen could feel that familiar aura through the bloody door. He could vaguely hear the voice of the little critter.
Xiao Chen was very concerned, how he wished he could see the little critter immediately. He immediately spread out his spiritual fluctuation and transmitted everything in his heart through the cracks on the sealed door.
“They are lying to you… I am living quite comfortably here…” This was the first time Xiao Chen felt the little critter’s spiritual fluctuation. It felt as if it was talking directly to him. That kind of fluctuation was soft, lazy, and very puerile. It was as if it was whispering right beside his ear. It made his ear feels a bit itchy.
He felt a little sad, yet he had the urge to smile. This little thing surely must be lazing around. He was sure that it must have just woken up and was in a daze.
“Keke, come back quickly.”
“I want to eat Amethyst Cosmic Fruit, but after searching for a few months, they’ve only found eight of them. I haven’t had enough.” The tender voice was filled with remorse and discontent.
Xiao Chen really didn’t know what to say anymore. Apparently… it was completely different from his imagination! Not only was the little critter not in any danger, it seemed to be living quite a satisfactory life.
Perhaps even after searching the entirety of hell, there would only be a few Amethyst Cosmic Trees. And the ones capable of bearing fruit were even rarer than phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Unless the Amethyst Cosmic Tree was a hundred thousand years old, it wouldn’t bear any fruit. It was not just any ordinary level of difficulty to find one. The Amethyst Cosmic Fruit might be even harder to find than the Heaven Fruit.