Entering the Underground Cave

The Corpse Puppet had long since recovered, and it now possessed the combat strength of the sixth layer of Qi Condensation.

To deal with the vengeful spirits and Walking Corpses that were everywhere in the Ancient Battlefield, Song Wen had also prepared ten Ghost Slaying Talismans and ten Corpse Suppressing Talismans. Both were first-grade Middle Grade talismans.

He only had one Heavenly Lightning Talisman left. He had originally wanted to purchase a few more, but after searching through the entire market town, he could not find another.

When facing vengeful spirits and Walking Corpses, lightning-attribute techniques carried the greatest deterrence.

Additionally, Song Wen had prepared a fair amount of commonly used talismans and pills.

Among the talismans were Swift Movement Talismans, Fireball Talismans, and Flying Talismans, while the pills included Healing Pills, Qi Replenishing Pills, and Detoxification Pills.

Seeing Song Wen nod, Xuan Ye and Niu Ding raised no objections. Thus, the five decided to set off immediately.

Once they stepped outside the market town, Song Wen summoned his flying vessel.

In an instant, the flying vessel expanded to two meters in length, hovering before them. However, with five people on board, it was bound to be a tight fit.

As the owner and controller of the flying vessel, Song Wen chose to sit at the safest position at the stern.

Xuan Ye sat directly in front of him, followed by Niu Ding and Lao Chun. Zi Yi, who was unwilling to get too close to the rest of them, sat alone at the bow.

Carrying five people put quite a strain on the flying vessel, slowing its speed to some extent, though it was still much faster than traveling on foot.

After they had flown for six hours, the sky turned completely dark.

Song Wen found an open clearing and landed the vessel so everyone could regulate their breathing and rest for the night.

Zi Yi had suggested traveling through the night. The Ancient Battlefield of Righteous and Evil was over six thousand li away from the Corpse Demon Sect, and if they only traveled during the day, the flying vessel would take three days to get there.

Anxious to save her master, she wanted to reach their destination as quickly as possible.

But Song Wen flatly refused. Piloting the flying vessel consumed a significant amount of his spiritual energy and mental strength. For his own safety, he naturally would not agree to her demands. He had no intention of facing the perilous Ancient Battlefield in a state of exhaustion.

By the late afternoon of the third day, the five finally arrived above the Ancient Battlefield.

Visiting the place for the first time, Song Wen was deeply shaken by the sight before him.

As far as the eye could see for thousands of li, the earth was a stark, crimson red, as though the blood that had stained the soil ten thousand years ago had never faded.

Not a single trace of green could be seen on the ground. Instead, there were rotting white bones everywhere, decayed dead trees jutting out from the earth, and the broken ruins of ancient human structures.

Desolation, ruin, and decay, mingled with a dense shroud of ghostly energy and corpse Qi, filled the entire world.

This place no longer felt like the mortal realm; it resembled the legends of purgatory.

After recovering from his brief shock, Song Wen spoke to Xuan Ye ahead of him.

"Xuan Ye, how should we proceed now?"

Through their interactions over the past few days, Song Wen had learned that Xuan Ye had been to the Ancient Battlefield three times, and Niu Ding had been once. Lao Chun and Zi Yi, like Song Wen, were here for the first time.

Having arrived in an unfamiliar, dangerous territory, it was only natural to defer to someone who knew the area.

Xuan Ye pointed toward a certain direction across the wasteland. "The subterranean cave we are looking for is about four hundred li to the southwest. It will take a little over an hour to get there by flying vessel."

"The sun is already sinking in the west. By the time we arrive, it will be close to dusk."

"At night, the wandering spirits and Walking Corpses in the Ancient Battlefield become far more active, and the danger doubles. Therefore, I suggest we rest here and set out early tomorrow morning."

The others exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.

Only Zi Yi looked displeased, her gaze directed toward Song Wen holding a faint trace of resentment. She felt that if Song Wen had been willing to fly a bit longer each day over the past few days, they could have entered the cave this morning instead of wasting an entire day here.

The night passed without incident.

The next morning, as soon as the first light of dawn broke, the group set off on the flying vessel.

As they flew over the desolate Ancient Battlefield, even though sunlight now illuminated the earth, one could still occasionally spot wandering corpses and ghostly creatures moving across the terrain below. Although they detested the righteous energy inherent in sunlight, the morning rays did not seem to trouble them much. They still roamed the vast, ancient earth like starving beasts scavenging for food.

Fortunately, the flying vessel maintained a considerable altitude and did not draw the attention of the entities below. While wandering corpses could not fly and were unable to strike at the mid-air vessel, ghostly creatures could float. If they were swarmed by a large number of ghosts, their journey would inevitably be derailed by unexpected trouble.

A little over an hour later, the flying vessel arrived directly above the chasm.

Below them lay a massive, bottomless, pitch-black cavern, its entrance continuously spewing gusts of biting yin wind.

The cave resembled a colossal beast crouching on the ground, its gaping, blood-red maw wide open to the heavens, ready to devour any living soul that dared enter, instantly instilling a sense of dread.

"Let's go."

Xuan Ye took the lead and leaped from the flying vessel, and the other four followed suit, landing on the ground beside him.

The moment Song Wen touched down, he felt the bizarre energy of the Ancient Battlefield.

The thick corpse Qi seemed to possess a life of its own, relentlessly boring into his body. This brought immense discomfort to Song Wen, who was already struggling against the threat of corpse transformation.

Furthermore, countless remnant souls drifted through the area. Although the density of these fragments was not as high as in the Corpse Dismemberment Cave, the total volume far exceeded it.

In just those few moments, several fragments of remnant souls were absorbed by Song Wen's physical body and drawn into his Sea of Consciousness.

For Song Wen, this was actually good news. Under these conditions, his mental strength recovery speed would far surpass that of ordinary people.

Xuan Ye activated a levitation technique and leaped into the chasm, slowly descending into the depths.

The remaining four followed his example, entering the underground cave one after another.

After descending more than a hundred meters, everyone finally touched solid ground.

The interior of the cave was completely pitch black, without a single ray of light.

As cultivators, all five could use their mental perception to observe their surroundings, so the darkness did not hinder them much. The inability to see with their eyes was more of a sensory discomfort than a true obstacle.

A fist-sized sphere suddenly appeared in Xuan Ye's hand, emitting a faint white glow. The sphere slowly floated upward, eventually hovering a meter above his head, illuminating a radius of several dozen meters.

This was a luminescent stone commonly used by cultivators. It required only a minuscule amount of spiritual energy to emit light for a prolonged period.

"Let's move. We will travel together for this initial stretch of the path. Later on, because our objectives differ, we may part ways. But for now, we are all grasshoppers tied to the same rope. I hope everyone can pull together and face the dangers as one."

With that, Xuan Ye took the lead and walked deeper into the cave.

Song Wen followed closely behind.

Throughout the journey, Xuan Ye had consistently worked to keep this temporary team unified, which left Song Wen with a favorable impression of him. Since Xuan Ye was also familiar with the terrain, following him was the wisest choice.

88.181.249.5

ns88.181.249.5da2