At the foot of Mount Luopo.
Or rather, several hundred ters from its base.
Chen Huangpi stood on the Yin Lands, staring at the mountain so close before him, his brow deeply furrowed.
Golden Horn's heartbeat had gone wild.
So violent it felt like it would burst apart. Chen Huangpi had no choice but to tuck it into the Soul-Hooking Manual.
Inside the manual was the Yellow Spring Domain.
Once Golden Horn was inside, the sinister, hypnotic pounding vanished imdiately.
The Soul-Hooking Manual could only house one Life-reaping Ghost.
But it could store the dead. Golden Horn was technically dead — it only appeared alive because of the Dog-Rearing Scripture's bond.
Otherwise, once it entered the manual.
It would have been no different from those cultivators and deities Chen Huangpi had slain — stripped of consciousness and will.
A re thought from him, and it would beco the Life-reaping Ghost's nourishnt.
"The Yin Lands and the Yellow Spring have both beco Evil Corruptions. Mount Luopo sits on the Yin Lands — could it have beco one too?"
"Without a doubt."
The Life-reaping Ghost was inside the Soul-Hooking Manual, but it could still perceive the outside world. It declared firmly, "Golden Horn and I were both tainted by the Yellow Spring's water. Once night falls, Evil Corruptions will crawl out of the Spring to kill us."
"Mount Luopo isn't a Yellow Spring Evil Corruption, but by approaching it, we triggered its response."
"After nightfall, it will probably co for us too."
Chen Huangpi said, "Huang Er is about to scout back. Maybe it can figure out what's going on."
Only the Life-reaping Ghost and Golden Horn had been affected.
Chen Huangpi and the Brass Oil Lamp were fine.
The lamp's case was simple — it had never touched the Yellow Spring water, hadn't even set foot on the ground this entire ti.
As for Chen Huangpi...
Perhaps it was because, as the Ferryman said, he was an Evil Corruption himself.
Evil Corruption eting Evil Corruption — they were effectively family.
And right then.
A streak of golden light dropped down before Chen Huangpi.
"Huang Er, is Mount Luopo an Evil Corruption?"
The Brass Oil Lamp's tone was peculiar. "I can't say for certain. It seems like it is, yet also seems like it isn't. It's more like sothing anomalous. Very strange."
"And I circled the entire base. There's no path up."
"The real problem is you can't fly."
"Can't fly?"
Chen Huangpi glanced at the black smoke wreathing his body.
That smoke had been awakened by the wisp the Slender Evil Spirit had given him.
He could ride the black smoke and fly through the air.
"If I can't fly, does that an I have to walk up? No, wait — there isn't even a path. Am I supposed to climb?"
Chen Huangpi's voice was agitated.
True, all those years of patrolling the mountains ant he had traversed every kind of rugged terrain.
But only seven and a half two-hour periods remained before nightfall.
The Underworld Yellow Spring's days lasted a long ti.
But was that enough to scale a mountain whose peak seed to touch the very ceiling of this world? Almost certainly not.
"Golden Horn, is there another Mount Luopo nearby?"
"There is, but it's too far. It would take two full periods to get there."
Golden Horn said helplessly. "And this Mount Luopo is already one of the shorter ones."
Hearing this.
Chen Huangpi sighed.
The Yin Lands were boundless. Mounts Luopo were nurous, but spaced enormously far apart.
Golden Horn, as a Son of Diting, only grew faster and faster across the Yin Lands — eventually even outpacing the Escape Light.
If it needed two full periods, the distance was staggering.
And the critical point: this mountain was considered short.
Waste two periods reaching another Mount Luopo, only to find it might also be alive, or even taller — then everything would be truly lost.
After nightfall, Golden Horn and the Life-reaping Ghost were dead.
Even if Chen Huangpi intended to climb Mount Luopo and retrieve the Soul-Restoring Jade, he couldn't ignore their safety.
By all reason, the smartest move was to cut his losses, turn back, and find the way ho to the mortal world.
But he couldn't abandon Master either.
The Brass Oil Lamp could see Chen Huangpi's inner turmoil.
It hadn't seen this kind of anguish from him in so ti.
To be precise, ever since the Guanzhu's incident, Chen Huangpi had seed to grow up overnight — resolute in his actions, taking one asured step after another until he'd arrived here in the Underworld Yellow Spring.
Now, this sudden complication had thrown him back into conflict.
"Boss..."
The Brass Oil Lamp said. "How about we go back? Even if the Third Guanzhu erges from the Old Temple, he's still the Guanzhu, still your master."
"Even if my main body has been suppressing the Old Temple for all these years, the Third Guanzhu would only kill . He wouldn't harm you."
"Or we could leave the Hundred Thousand Mountains entirely and see what the outside world looks like."
"The Third Master won't erge that quickly."
Chen Huangpi's voice was iron. "I still have ti. Not much — but I know what to do."
"I'm going up Mount Luopo!"
"Two periods. I'm giving myself just two."
"I want to see whether two periods is enough to reach the top."
Then Chen Huangpi addressed the Life-reaping Ghost and Golden Horn. "A Gui, Golden Horn — I care about you. The sa way I care about Huang Er, about Master, about the Deity of Broad Sight."
"When two periods are up, whether I've made it or not, I'm coming back down. And I'm taking you back to the mortal world."
"Master..."
"Huangpi Dad, you're better to than my own father. Wait — my real father probably died with the Yin Emperor. From now on, you're my actual father."
Golden Horn's outburst left the Life-reaping Ghost speechless.
It had just been welling up with a thousand heartfelt words.
Now Golden Horn had stolen every last one of them.
Chen Huangpi said, "Ti won't wait. Let's see just how hard this mountain really is."
He looked at the Brass Oil Lamp.
Without a word, it activated its Escape Light.
Golden radiance enveloped Chen Huangpi.
And in an instant, they shot toward the base of Mount Luopo. In the blink of an eye.
Chen Huangpi arrived.
He looked up. The pitch-black mountain lood above, its jagged rocks jutting out like bared teeth.
The slope was nearly vertical.
"Every other part is even steeper. This is the most climbable section."
"Good!"
Chen Huangpi nodded and prepared to ride the rolling black smoke upward.
Even if flying was supposedly impossible.
He wasn't willing to give up without trying.
However...
The mont his feet left the ground.
An overwhelmingly eerie force slamd him back down.
As if an entire mountain had been strapped to his back.
"So heavy, so heavy..."
Chen Huangpi's face flushed crimson, and he dropped imdiately to the ground.
The uncanny force vanished the instant he landed.
The Brass Oil Lamp said, "Climbing only. No flying. Sothing is deeply wrong with this mountain. It might be even more dangerous higher up."
"I'm not afraid."
Chen Huangpi was already reaching for the stones protruding from the mountainside.
A light pull.
He hauled himself up effortlessly. No eerie force tried to stop him.
Seeing this, the Brass Oil Lamp stretched out its slender arms, gripped Chen Huangpi's robe, and hung from his waist.
"Just focus on climbing. If anything seems off, I'll warn you."
Chen Huangpi said nothing. His eyes held only the mountain.
He kept climbing.
And he was fast. Before he could cultivate, Chen Huangpi had patrolled mountains and gathered herbs on foot.
He could outpace most cultivators on foot.
Now that he could cultivate, and his body had grown, he was faster still.
...
Half a period later.
Sowhere on Mount Luopo.
Chen Huangpi clung to an exposed rock, his face pale as he glanced downward.
There was no reference point below.
But looking out, he could see the Yellow Spring tributary they had arrived from.
That tributary was enormous — vast as an ocean, its far shore lost beyond the horizon.
"Huang Er, I patrol mountains all the ti. I thought I wasn't afraid of heights. Turns out the mountains just weren't tall enough."
Chen Huangpi's voice was thin.
Because he felt the urge to jump.
The Brass Oil Lamp said, "Don't look down. Keep climbing. If you actually fall, you might die."
At the very start of the ascent.
When he'd only climbed about ten ters.
Chen Huangpi had gotten the whimsical idea of testing what would happen if he jumped — whether leaving the mountain's surface would count as "flying" and trigger that crushing gravity.
He tried it.
If the Brass Oil Lamp hadn't been quick enough to seize his arm.
He very likely would have died from the fall.
"With how strong I've beco, dying from a fall would be the most humiliating thing imaginable."
Chen Huangpi didn't dare look down again and resud climbing.
And right then.
The Brass Oil Lamp suddenly spoke through their ntal link. "Boss, you can fool A Gui and Golden Horn. But you can't fool ."
Chen Huangpi replied ntally. "I knew you'd say that. Good thing I've already blocked Golden Horn and A Gui from our link. They can't hear this."
"I knew you'd do that too."
The Brass Oil Lamp said with exasperation. "Damn it — you're really not going back to the mortal world, are you?"
"I'm not going back."
Chen Huangpi said. "I'll send Golden Horn and A Gui back to the mortal world. Then I'll co back here. I won't rest easy until I have the Soul-Restoring Jade."
"And what about ?"
"You..."
Chen Huangpi hesitated. "Huang Er, I don't want to lie to you. You should go back to the mortal world too. You're not like . Your original body was split into thousands of pieces by Master. You're a bit stronger than before, yes, but only by so much."
"If sothing really goes wrong, I might not be able to protect you."
"Fine. I'll wait for you in the mortal world then."
That was what the Brass Oil Lamp said.
But inside, its heart was breaking.
'Chen Huangpi, you underestimate . True, among the Pure Immortal Temple's treasures, I'm not ranked. But I endured humiliation for years. Every treasure more powerful than — I served them tea, I bowed and scraped, I played the lowly servant. And each of them, little by little, taught sothing.'
'If I hadn't been split into so many fragnts, would I really be this pathetic?'
'I'm your playmate, yes. But I am also the Nine Nether God Lantern...'
Chen Huangpi didn't know the Brass Oil Lamp's thoughts.
So when he suddenly spotted an achingly familiar silhouette higher up the mountain, it caught him completely off guard.
The figure wore a black robe.
A bamboo hat sat atop its head, with colorful cloth strips dangling from the brim.
The figure was tall and spindly, roughly three ters high, and it was walking up the mountain — not climbing as Chen Huangpi was.
"Huang Er, am I seeing things? I think I see the Slender Evil Spirit — no, Yi Qingzhou's corpse."
Chen Huangpi touched the bamboo hat on his own head.
He had one just like it — a gift from the Slender Evil Spirit.
Hearing this.
The Brass Oil Lamp whipped its gaze upward.
What it saw made its expression turn extraordinary.
"I see it too."
"Wait — my eyes must be playing tricks as well. Why are there so many Slender Evil Spirits?"
"Don't tell the corpses of every Daoist from the Pure Immortal Temple are here? But there can't be just three thousand — there are at least ten thousand! What the hell are these things?!"
Reviews
All reviews (0)