Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 664 - 659 Ruined Tomb III

Chapter 664: Chapter 659 Ruined Tomb III

After collecting for a while, Lin Xin simply declared it was enough and sat down to cultivate as well.

"All right," Huang Peiyuan’s voice came from the other side.

The group rose to their feet one after another and filed into the stone chamber.

The ground of the stone chamber was now lit with six ring-shaped, floral purple talisman formations, all interconnected to form a rectangle.

A faint purple light bathed the entire stone chamber in a purple hue.

Huang Peiyuan gestured for everyone to stand on the purple talisman formation, then joined them and rapidly formed Dharma Seals to activate the formation.

Lin Xin scrutinized the contents of the talisman formation and recognized most of it, save for a few unfamiliar parts that appeared to be transfer runes from other systems.

Hum!!

A fine vibration began to spread slowly from underneath their feet.

Boom!

The purple light flared, and Lin Xin was momentarily blinded by the brightness.

The stone chamber before their eyes had instantly turned into a vast and broad pitch-black river.

They were standing on the black muddy banks of the river.

The ground felt sticky and soft underfoot, as if they were stepping in mushy mud.

Lin Xin shifted his feet, finding it somewhat difficult to lift them despite his strength, as if the mud was constantly tugging at him, refusing to let him leave the ground.

"Why do I feel like someone’s pulling me?"

Murong Jun couldn’t help but speak up as she too tried to lift her feet, which were firmly stuck, rendering her immobile.

"I’ll help you."

Zeng Zhuo extended his hand and began to form Decrees.

"Don’t move yet!"

Yuan Xia Mountain’s person interjected urgently in a low voice, quickly taking out a small oil lamp and lighting up a flame the size of a soybean.

The pale yellow flame illuminated the surroundings.

Everyone suddenly felt the pulling sensation from beneath their feet disappear. From the ground, there was a faint noise as if something was burrowing deeper down.

"This is Resentful Spirit River, and the mud beneath our feet is called Jealous Soil, unique to this place. Every inch of this soil is created from countless condensed resentful spirits. They do not wish for the living to leave this place, longing for the life energy upon us, which is why they keep pulling at us.

Had it been cultivators of lower cultivation here, just stepping on this mud would have instantly dragged them down, never to see daylight again," the person from Yuan Xia Mountain warned gravely.

"If one is dragged down, what happens after?"

Zeng Zhuo couldn’t help but ask.

"After? You become corrupted into zombies, yaksha, and the likes." Before Yuan Xia Mountain’s person could reply, Lu Qiaoqiao from the Fairy of Green Lake interjected coldly.

"The Camel Primordial Lamp? You seem quite prepared?"

She glanced at the small brass-colored lamp in Yuan Xia Mountain’s person’s hand.

Lin Xin, upon hearing this, also looked at the small lamp.

The brass lamp base was not much different from an ordinary oil lamp except for the wick, which was blood red and wriggled like the tongue of some living creature.

"Let’s go, the place we seek to explore lies deep within the Ruined Tomb. On the way, we will rely on both Zeng brothers to handle the resentful spirits and zombies," Yuan Xia Mountain’s person said politely, smiling at Zeng Zhuo and his companion.

"If they’re all of this level, it shouldn’t be much of a problem,"

Zeng Zhuo’s gaze suddenly turned toward the right bank of the river.

Under the gray-black sky, slowly spreading mist veiled the view as several rotting bodies dressed in cultivator’s attire staggered towards the group.

By the light of the lamp, Lin Xin could clearly see that one of the zombies seemed to have been a young female cultivator in life. Half of her head was shorn off, leaving only a gaping eye and most of a nose. The wound was white and rotten with many white and black maggots crawling over it.

A pungent stench carried on the wind could be smelled from afar.

The others were all male cultivators of different builds, some lacking arms, some with hollowed out bellies, with half of their purple-black intestines dragging outside.

"Be careful, these are Undead Resentful Zombies, a common type of undead being. They carry a highly toxic contamination, and they tend to explode upon being destroyed by ordinary means,"

Zeng Zhuo, clearly experienced, loudly instructed everyone while stepping forward and conjuring an orange-yellow paper talisman, throwing it forward.

"Soul Sever!"

He uttered in a low voice.

The paper talisman instantly caught fire in mid-air, turning into Talisman Fire, swiftly splitting into six and forming a ring of fire which encircled the several zombies, spinning rapidly.

Hisss, hisss, hisss!

All the Talisman Fires shot toward the zombies like arrows, each one clinging tightly to the surface of the zombies.

Pop!

In an instant, all the zombies ignited into human-shaped torches and collapsed into heaps of ash within moments.

"Brother, you acted too quickly!" Murong Jun couldn’t help but tug at Zeng Zhuo.

Zeng Zhuo looked puzzled.

"Sigh...."

With a sense of resignation, Murong Jun directly communicated through soul sound.

"In your haste to take action, others haven’t even gotten a firsthand sense of how formidable and tricky these Undead Resentful Zombies can be. How can they appreciate your importance without experiencing it directly?"

"Is that so?" Zeng Zhuo didn’t have such intricate thoughts in mind and shook his head in disbelief.

"Alright, Zeng brother will take care of the zombies that follow. The rest of us, stay alert, shall we?" Yuan Xia Mountain’s person said with a smile.

"Can do," nodded Zeng Zhuo.

Murong Jun and Lin Xin also agreed.

Lu Qiaoqiao just gave a faint hum in response.

Led by Yuanxia Mountain Guide, the five hurried along the riverbank to the right.

Soon they encountered three resentful spirit zombies, all of which were dealt with by Zeng Zhuo.

Lin Xin tried his hand and found that one of the zombies had stiffness equivalent to the defensive power of over a thousand points in attributes, nearly comparable to that of a Yuan Jing Phase body cultivator. It was simply terrifying.

But under Zeng Zuo’s paper talisman, no matter how many came, they were all resolved in an instant.

The team moved smoothly and quickly spotted a dark wharf ahead.

Several teams exploring the ruined tomb were already waiting there.

"Be mindful to restrain your breath and hide your cultivation; we need to wait here until the low tide of Resentful Spirit River. The deathly winds from the Netherworld will be much weaker then," advised Yuanxia Mountain Guide in a low voice, leading the way to the forefront as he finished.

Following closely was Fairy Lu Qiaoqiao of the eastern lake.

Lin Xin came after, with Zeng Zhuo and Murong Jun, the siblings, trailing at the end, rapidly concealing their auras.

The wharf consisted of small, black, wooden stakes combined to form a cube, perched within the Resentful Spirit River. The material was unknown, but much of it was rotten, exposing a ghastly white inside.

Besides Lin Xin’s group, there were two other cultivator teams also waiting at the edge of the wharf.

Because of the weird mist shrouding the area, it was difficult to see each other clearly.

With his acute senses, Lin Xin could clearly see that among one of the teams, several members were carrying sacks resembling human bodies on their shoulders.

As cultivators, possessing storage bags and similar spatial equipments, these individuals still chose to carry their belongings instead of concealing them within their equipment.

And they opted to do so using coarse material like a hemp sack.

"Soul Sect people! Be careful, and don’t cause trouble," Yuanxia Mountain Guide suddenly warned in a whisper.

Soul Sect? Lin Xin had heard of this sect, which seemed to span many worlds like the Green Lake Mountain, a massive sect force. However, their actions were far from as domineering and open as those of Green Lake Mountain; they preferred to lurk in the shadows, mysterious and secretive.

Everyone did their best to subdue their auras, standing quietly at the wharf, waiting. The other two teams were also silent, adding to the calm atmosphere.

Time slowly passed, and after a short while, two more teams arrived, also standing quietly behind, awaiting the right moment.

No one knew how much time had passed.

"It’s here!"

Fairy Lu Qiaoqiao of the eastern lake suddenly exclaimed.

Everyone saw a mass of tentacles suddenly burst from the surface of the Resentful Spirit River.

Hissing noises filled the air as countless tentacles soared into the sky, twisting like black ropes and rapidly entwining into a large clump high in the air, forming a sphere reminiscent of fleshy bulbs.

The forming bulb grew larger and larger, from an initial diameter of over ten meters to quickly expanding to more than twenty meters. It looked like a massive ball of yarn, floating high above, connected to countless black threads on the river surface.

"Cross the river you desire... Heart inscribed in jade...," chanted the Soul Sect’s team in unison, their eerie song sounded like an ominous dirge. They took to the air, flying towards the riverbed and soon disappeared into the gaps between the tentacles.

There was enough space, about two to three meters in diameter, between the dense tentacles for a person to pass through.

Once the Soul Sect team took the lead, another team also ascended and followed into the upper reaches of the Resentful Spirit River.

"Let’s get moving as well," Yuanxia Mountain Guide communicated.

Everyone nodded and ascended in succession, shooting into the gaps between the tentacles just like the others.

Yuanxia Mountain Guide had a foundation of yellow sand and clouds under his feet and his Camel Primordial Lamp in hand, emitting a faint yellow light. Even amidst high-speed flight, he was unaffected by the air currents. The gentle glow covered the five and continuously provided a sense of warmth.

Lu Qiaoqiao stood atop a giant white sword, surrounded by an aura so sharp that her dress fluttered backward as she cleaved through the oncoming wind like a sword.

Zeng Zuo and his sister each released a mass of purple-black spiritual energy, carrying them rapidly while also seeming to absorb the surrounding black mists, clearly a special kind of yin magic artifact.

Lin Xin turned his gaze from them to the tentacles ahead.

He rode on the pure Mystery Sect white auspicious clouds, which kept the encroaching black mist at bay.

Below was the swiftly receding surface of the Black Water River, with tentacles like a forest, being tugged straight and continually brushed past.

The five twisted and turned, moving steadily through the gaps.

They soon felt the wind grow colder as they continued to face it.

Ee-ee-ya... Ee-ee-ya...

A series of seemingly meaningless sounds accompanied the wind, like the howling of the wind mixed with someone singing an operatic tune.

The sounds penetrated their ears, ignoring their Protective Aura and causing Lin Xin to feel faintly irritated.

He glanced at the others.

Yuanxia Mountain Guide’s expression had a slight tremor, clearly also exerting his cultivation to resist.

Fairy Lu Qiaoqiao had a milky white spiritual energy surrounding her, resonating faintly as if using a special method to counter the soul sounds.

The Zeng siblings simply clutched a gold-bordered paper talisman in one hand, completely indifferent to the Soul Sound.

"This is the deathly wind and nether sound; the mortal world refers to it as the Soul-Calling Sound that can shock the soul and cause life to become unstable," Zeng Zuo quickly explained to Lin Xin, who seemed to lack means of coping. "Here, take one of these talismans – just hold it."

He handed Lin Xin a similar gold-bordered paper talisman.

"Thank you," Lin Xin didn’t decline, and accepting the talisman, he noticed the gold runes on it faintly gleaming. The irritating feeling in his mind immediately vanished.

"Out in the world, we, the human race cultivators, should indeed support and assist one another," Zeng Zuo said with a smile.