Sovereign of the Netherworld

Xu Ying changed into fresh clothes and tidied himself up a bit. Li Xiaoke possessed the air of a scholar-official from the Great Han era. His robes were predominantly black, bordered with red along the lapels, cut slender and tailored close to the body. In the past, Xu Ying had never paid attention to his appearance. Only after meeting Yuan Weiyang, and under Yuan Weiyang's guidance, did he buy a few clean sets of clothes. However, Yuan Weiyang's advice had stopped there, so every time Xu Ying bought clothes, he purchased the exact same style. This was his first time wearing such fine, exquisite garments. Slipped on, they clung like a second skin without the slightest discomfort. Li Xiaoke was tall, while Xu Ying was broad-framed and stood almost as tall as him, so the outfit fit him perfectly. When he moved, the hem fluttered in the breeze, lending him an aura of dashing elegance and effortless freedom. Seeing this, Li Xiaoke inwardly praised, *Whenever I captured this brat in the past, he was dragged straight from the countryside into experiments. Who knew he actually had good looks? His skin is just a bit dark, that's all.* He turned back to look for the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court, intent on pulling up the weed by its roots, only to find that the Son of Heaven pinned to the cliff was nowhere to be seen. Li Xiaoke felt a chill in his heart and said in a grave voice, "That scoundrel holds immense power in the Netherworld. We must leave at once!" Xu Ying was puzzled and asked, "The Son of Heaven of the Nether Court has already been severely wounded by you. If He has even half a tenth of His prowess left, it would be a miracle. Why do you fear Him?" An excited gleam shone in his eyes. "If you and I join forces, Xiaoke, we can surely cut down the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court beneath our swords!" Li Xiaoke gave a cold snort and sped forward, heading in the opposite direction of the Other Shore of the Martial Dao. Xu Ying intended to slip away and go the other way, but streaks of sword qi suddenly manifested around him, forcing him to keep pace with Li Xiaoke. "The Son of Heaven of the Nether Court is not particularly formidable. Even some powerful Nuo immortals could best Him. Without deploying the immortal corpses, He is merely an ordinary Qi Refiner in the Ascension stage. Even if He were to deploy the immortal corpses, He would still be far from a match for me." Having said this, Li Xiaoke's expression turned somber. "However, the ruler of the Netherworld has never been Him." His voice even trembled slightly. "Behind Him stand other beings—beings of utter terror." Not long after they departed, Zhai Wuxian arrived at this place. This young grandmaster of the Martial Dao had carved a bloody path straight through the primordial battlefield; even though the battlefield was now more terrifying than before, it could not halt his stride. Blood soaked his shoes, leaving a bloody footprint with every step. "Brother Xu's aura is here." Looking around, he found no sign of Xu Ying, so he made his way toward the Five-Colored Immortal Mountain. Over there, Wu Tianzun's vital blood surged like a torrential flood, soaring straight into the heavens in overwhelming abundance. Meanwhile, Xu Ying followed Li Xiaoke in the other direction, speeding along beneath the Cangwu Abyss. As for the purple immortal plant, it had long since hidden itself inside Xu Ying's Realm of Xiyi, shivering violently and not daring to show its face. In the immortal plant's eyes, Xu Ying had already struck a deal with the enemy, selling out his weed for personal gain—handing it over while trading a sword technique for a chance to live. Yet it had nowhere left to flee and could only hide deeper within Xu Ying's Realm of Xiyi. *If I'm caught by these two scoundrels, Lord Weed's life ends today! They won't even leave a scrap of medicinal dregs behind!* Scuttling everywhere, it suddenly discovered a spring within the Realm of Xiyi. Burrowing down along the spring water, it sank deeper and deeper, gradually venturing into a secret domain. Following the Yellow Springs downward, it finally reached the most mysterious among the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body—the Bubbling Spring secret depository. Before it stretched a boundless Sea of Netherworld. Four lotus-shaped cave-heavens floated atop the waters, piercing the Sea of Netherworld to draw upon the soul immortal medicine! The lotus cave-heavens were vast and profound. Immortal medicine was continuously refined and channeled through the Yellow Springs straight into Xu Ying's soul! Within one of the lotus cave-heavens floated three leaves of the immortal medicine! The purple immortal plant was both surprised and overjoyed. Hurrying over, it plucked the three immortal medicine leaves and attached them back onto its body. The leaves naturally knit back onto its stem. With these three leaves, it could not help letting out a sigh of relief, thinking, *At least I'm not streaking naked anymore. That brat stripped my clothes and plucked my head—what an utter rogue! But he's terrifyingly capable; even if I stripped bare to brawl with him, I still couldn't beat him. Come to think of it, where did my other three leaves go?* How could it know that the Bubbling Spring secret depository was divided into left and right, mirroring each other? At this moment, the other three leaves were floating inside the other Bubbling Spring secret depository! Xu Ying gazed at Li Xiaoke's back, his eyes flickering with thought. When Li Xiaoke had explored the Five-Colored Mountain back then and rescued the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court from it, the Son of Heaven was merely a new soul born from an immortal corpse, possessing virtually no influence in the Netherworld. What kind of place was the Netherworld? A murky morass of dragons and serpents alike. Not only were there countless ghosts, but there were also countless ghosts of powerful Qi Refiners running rampant across the Netherworld. The Son of Heaven of the Nether Court had been a mere newcomer; how had He managed to gain a foothold and become the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court? *Li Xiaoke definitely knows something,* Xu Ying thought, his gaze lingering on Li Xiaoke's back. Suddenly, a harsh, grating crow's caw echoed through the air. Looking toward the sound, Xu Ying saw a crow flying through the sky. It was unlike any mortal crow; mortal crows were pitch-black all over, but this crow was dotted with specks of white light, as if draped in stars. Flapping its wings, it streaked across the sky like a fallen star and landed on an ancient tree ahead, cocking its head to scrutinize Xu Ying and Li Xiaoke. Wherever it flew, a trace of chill trailed in its wake, and gray snowflakes drifted through the sky. Li Xiaoke's expression changed instantly. He hissed in a low voice, "A winter crow! Move, quickly!" He sped away with Xu Ying, moving faster and faster, but his wounds were exceedingly severe, making him cough up blood continuously. Back in the Land of Heaven's Scourge, Xu Ying, Fairy Qingbi, the golden crow Jin Buyi, and the others had inflicted grave injuries upon him. Such wounds carried the power of Dao images; once deeply entrenched in his flesh and sinew, they were near impossible to purge. Fairy Qingbi's spatial arts, Jin Buyi's divine sabers, and Xu Ying's Heavenly Dao divine powers had all severely crippled his prowess. Fairy Qingbi had also severed more than half of his transplanted Nuo immortal cave-heavens, leaving his magic power vastly diminished compared to his prime. Compounded by the injuries sustained during this trip to the Five-Colored Mountain, his condition was far worse than what Xu Ying could see on the surface. "Caw!" Another winter crow flew across the sky, perching ahead of them and tilting its head to stare at them. Xu Ying flicked his finger. A streak of sword qi shot out and struck the winter crow. Its body burst apart, dissolving into a puff of gray mist that swirled through the air with a rustle. Suddenly, the mist gathered back on the tree branch, reforming into the winter crow once more. "Don't act recklessly!" Li Xiaoke grew tense, pulling out a handkerchief and coughing repeatedly, staining it with blood. Xu Ying raised an eyebrow. He could tell the winter crow was likely a tangible yet bodiless Netherworld creature, formed from the resentment of those who had died unjust deaths. Suddenly, the raucous cries of countless winter crows filled the air, deafening caws echoing in unison. "It's over!" Li Xiaoke's face drained of color. "Run!" Xu Ying was startled as well. Looking up, he saw the sky ablaze with starlight like a glittering river—countless winter crows taking flight in dense, innumerable swarms. Li Xiaoke summoned his Primordial Spirit to lift Xu Ying and accelerated forward at full speed. A radiant galaxy spanned the sky above, but that river of stars was made of winter crows dogging their heels every step of the way. Before long, Li Xiaoke had carried him ten thousand li beneath the Cangwu Abyss hanging overhead. Yet above them, the myriad winter crows circled like a swirling river of stars, as though the Milky Way had plunged into the Netherworld. Unable to shake them, Li Xiaoke broke out in cold sweat across his forehead and snapped harshly, "Give me the immortal medicine! Let me take it to restore my strength, or else we'll all die here!" Xu Ying took out a leaf of the immortal medicine and handed it directly to him, saying, "You must have met Xu Fu before. Swallowing this immortal medicine only restores one to peak condition when standing atop an immortal mountain. Otherwise, your injuries will remain unchanged without the slightest effect. Do you have an immortal mountain right now?" Li Xiaoke clutched the immortal medicine leaf, his expression flickering between doubt and conviction. Having clashed with Xu Fu more than once, he knew Xu Fu's methods and hesitated. Suddenly, the starry river ahead plunged downward. Gritting his teeth, Li Xiaoke swallowed the immortal medicine. True to Xu Ying's words, nothing changed after he ingested it! Strangely, this calmed Li Xiaoke down. Spotting an ancient, dilapidated temple in the distance, he headed inside to take shelter. In the Netherworld, such temples were abundant, usually dwellings of forgotten deities. Gods who received no offerings met a tragic fate: their temples sank into the Netherworld, and their incense smoke qi slowly dissipated until they ended up as mere piles of wood or mounds of clay. Stepping into the temple, Li Xiaoke frowned slightly and swept away the dust on the floor. Once the floor was clean, he wiped down the dusty tables, chairs, and benches, meticulously ensuring not a single speck of dust remained. Seeing this, Xu Ying could only shake his head. He walked to the temple doors and looked outside: the radiant galaxy spanned the sky beneath the floating Cangwu Abyss. Suddenly, stars fell from the sky like a celestial shower, plunging into the desolate, withered woods outside the temple. In that instant, the barren grove seemed abruptly covered in lustrous foliage. But looking closely, one could see countless winter crows perching in the branches; what appeared to be leaves was merely the starlight shining from their wings. The winter crows' eyes burned brightly, fixated on this dilapidated temple. Xu Ying felt his scalp tingle. He shut the temple doors and stepped back inside. In the meantime, Li Xiaoke had already polished every table and bench spotless and was busy straightening and repairing the temple. Frowning, Xu Ying could not resist saying, "With those winter crows descending outside, why waste time fussing over useless things?" Li Xiaoke snorted, floating down from the temple roof. "I gravely wounded the Son of Heaven of the Nether Court and offended the one behind Him. The winter crows are that person's eyes and ears; their arrival means we have already been locked onto. Cleaning this place improves my combat strength." His magic power swirled around the scattered glazed tiles, laying them out neatly across the temple roof. Bricks on the ground flew up on their own, settling smoothly back into place. Xu Ying subtly adjusted his collar from the standard left-over-right fold, pulling the right lapel over the left. Li Xiaoke's eyes suddenly flashed with fierce hostility, sweeping toward him with chilling killing intent. Xu Ying folded the left lapel over the right again. Only then did Li Xiaoke withdraw his murderous intent, saying impassively, "Do not fool around. Sit quietly and nurture your sword qi. As long as we endure tonight until the sun rises, we will be safe." He made a few more repairs to the temple doors before returning inside to sit cross-legged. Xu Ying smiled. "I can teach you a stance of the Heavenly Sword to help face the enemy." Li Xiaoke did not open his eyes, shaking his head. "If I face the enemy with a sword art you taught me, my lack of mastery in such short notice would easily leave openings for them to exploit. Relying on my own tempered, battle-proven moves will give me a far better chance of victory." He continued calmly, "Ageless immortal, do not look down on me. Even though you all plotted against me, I still rank among the very peak in the mortal realm. So long as it is within the mortal world, no one can push me around as they please! Not even the sovereign of the Nether Court!" He spoke no more, focusing on nurturing his sword qi. *Li Xiaoke was once a grandmaster in his own right, possessing an astonishing demeanor. Under the pressure of life and death, he is regaining the spirit of his past. What a pity he has still succumbed to decay,* Xu Ying thought. Li Xiaoke quietly cultivated his sword qi, his aura growing stronger and stronger. In this moment, his sword intent was steadily climbing toward an unprecedented peak, ascending ever higher! Xu Ying felt a surge of admiration. *His talent in the sword dao is exceptionally high. If he had shown such resolve earlier, how could his sword dao have been defeated by my hands?* He looked up toward the Cangwu Abyss in the sky, wondering, *Just how long is this great abyss? Where exactly does it lead?* Before they knew it, the cawing outside died down, leaving an eerie stillness. The Netherworld also had its day and night. It was nighttime now, and the countless pinpricks of starlight formed by the winter crows had settled before their temple, illuminating the sky. The chilling aura radiating from the winter crows made the air bone-numbingly cold. Xu Ying circulated his martial vitality, finally easing the bite of the frost. Suddenly, a sinister wind blew in. Ashes of joss paper swirled across the sky, drifting through the air and blotting out both the Cangwu Abyss and the heavens above. Xu Ying looked up; the expanse of joss paper ashes stretched beyond sight. *Crash!* The temple doors were suddenly blown open by the ghostly wind. A piercing, gale-force freeze howled inside, carrying an overwhelming deluge of paper ashes that surged toward the temple like a tidal wave! Xu Ying's ears rang with an earth-shattering roar. In an instant, the entire temple aged and decayed at terrifying speed, collapsing into ruin until only the patch of ground where he and Li Xiaoke stood remained! Before Li Xiaoke, a colossal sword blade erupted from the earth, cleaving the oncoming onslaught of paper ashes straight down the middle. Divided into two torrents, the ashes swept past Xu Ying and Li Xiaoke with deafening howls! Standing amid the raging torrent, Xu Ying heard the din grow ever more clamorous and terrifying. Everything around them crumbled into rot and collapsed; earth ruptured and hills tore apart, swept away backward by the flood of ashes! Li Xiaoke's sword qi grew ever more formidable, surging into the sky to forcefully withstand the onslaught of ashes! He sat motionless, blood trickling incessantly from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, yet his sword qi and sword intent burned with escalating intensity, frighteningly steady! Suddenly, from within the ashes came sounds like a roaring bull and a crying dragon, or like the cacophony of the Heavenly Dao—an incomprehensible discord of the Immortal Dao battering against the sword qi, threatening to shatter it at any moment! Xu Ying's heart pounded in terror as he watched Li Xiaoke with bated breath. Behind Li Xiaoke, cave-heavens of various sizes lit up all at once; tattered and battered though they were, they spun frantically—a clear sign that he had been pushed to his absolute limit! After an indeterminate time, just as Li Xiaoke's sword qi began to flicker and wane, the sky suddenly brightened, and the ashes retreated with a rustling whoosh. Xu Ying looked up to see light radiating from the Cangwu Abyss. A colossal three-legged golden crow, reduced to mere bone, flapped its fleshless wings—adorned only with feathers—and dragged a dark red sun as it emerged from within the Cangwu Abyss. Behind the skeletal golden crow, countless ashes rustled and fluttered across the sky, surging in pursuit of the sun.