The Prodigies War

Underworld River Forbidden Zone was a name that could erase colors from one’s face.

But no one could describe exactly how terrifying this place was.

It was extremely vast and harbored too much bizarreness and unknown. Nine out of ten people who entered would never return!

At this moment, in front of Lin Xun was a blood-colored world.

As far as the eye could see, the earth was red like it had been soaked in the blood of gods and demons, glowing with a blinding scarlet light. Filling the air and blotting the sky were raging winds of red mist that reeked of blood.

One could vaguely see silhouettes of mountain ranges in the blood-red mist. They looked like huge monsters in hibernation that could wake up anytime to swallow their prey.

Distributed in different areas in the sky, the nine suns slowly rotated. They were not blinding, but they looked like they were dyed by an infinite sea of blood, painting a hair-raising scene.

From just one glance, Lin Xun already felt an indescribable ferocious and hostile aura come crashing at him, putting a wave of pressure on both his body and mind.

His eyes narrowed slightly as he became solemn.

The expressions of Zhen Yunfeng, Mo Tianhe, and the others also changed. Their energy surged, and they became extremely alert as if facing a great enemy.

Zhen Yunfeng took a deep breath and said, “From this moment onward, our path will be filled with strangeness and uncertainties. You must not be careless!”

Ji Xingyao stepped forward. “I’ll lead the way.”

Her aura started to swiftly flow around her, and with a buzz, a broken skeletal hand emerged above her head. The hand was as white as jade and emitted an obscure, demonic white glow.

Swish!

The skeletal hand suddenly became alive. It tapped out its finger in the air, and a white light appeared out of nowhere, streaking into the horizon.

The light was guiding the way!

The group followed Ji Xingyao and traveled into the distance.

“This is the remnant bone of a Saint refined into a ‘Divine Light Guide’ by my clan ancestors. With it pointing the way, one can come across good fortunes and avoid misfortunes. The last time I entered the Underworld Blood Well, I relied on this treasure to guide me,” Ji Xingyao explained to Lin Xun through voice transmission. “Without this type of treasure, whoever enters the Underworld River Forbidden Zone will be lost and get into trouble easily.”

Lin Xun nodded in acknowledgement.

Along the way, the blood mist filled the sky and earth with a horrifyingly ferocious and sinister atmosphere. Winds howled in all directions like the cries of gods and devils, sending chills down people’s spines.

Whether it was Lin Xun or anyone else, they all mobilized their energy and formed a qi shield on themselves to counteract the omnipresent oppressive aura.

Not long after, there was a cracking sound from under Mo Tianhe’s feet, which sounded especially shrill in the silent, heavy atmosphere.

Startled, everyone looked over to see a blood-red skull on the ground that had been trampled and broken. Its empty eye socket faced the sky, and its mouth had been cracked open in a mocking smile.

“Wretched!” Mo Tianhe’s expression dropped. He kicked the skull flying.

Shockingly, the skull abruptly transformed in mid-air into a skeleton crow that was dripping with blood and emitting sharp caws.

The caws were ear-piercing and soul-robbing, cutting through the dead silence between heaven and earth.

The bizarre scene frightened everyone.

“Not good, that cursed crow seems to be calling out for something!” A cold glint flashed in Zhen Yunfeng’s eyes as a black flying sword swiftly swept out from his palm and bolted through the air.

Boom!

The bloody crow skeleton was shattered and exploded into a mist of blood. Clearly, it was not a real living being.

“Move!”

Lin Xun’s eyes suddenly widened as he sensed something was wrong. He grabbed Ji Xingyao by the arm and raced away.

The rest of the group was stunned by his shout, and then their faces all changed drastically. They quickly followed Lin Xun.

RUMBLE!

Everyone had just left the area when the earth cracked. From the cracks, bloody, tattered skeletons charged out one after another.

Strangely, their broken bones were constantly combining, and blood flowed along their skeletal frames. In their eye sockets were a pair of burning, blood-red flames. The sight of them was simply bone-chilling.

As far as the eye could see, the ground had been ridden with blood-colored holes that had come out of nowhere. The area had turned into a ghost realm!

Everyone gasped.

Just now, if they hadn’t been able to escape in time, they would have been drowned in the army of blood skeletons!

Clatter~~

A huge blood-colored skeleton shaped like the ancient beast Qiongqi[1] rose and suddenly grew into a hundred thousand feet tall. Then, its thick white arm extended and slapped down at Lin Xun’s group.

In an instant, the void collapsed, and endless murderous qi surged along with this strike that was far more terrifying than even the attacks of a Supreme King!

“Run!”

The group fled without hesitation.

BOOM!

Behind them, the earth cracked out a ravine so deep one could not see the bottom.

At the same time, blood-red skeletons rushed out in waves towards Lin Xun’s group at an extremely fast speed.

“Ahhhhh!”

A woman behind Zhen Yunfeng suddenly screamed. Her buttocks had been bitten by a bloody skull.

This woman was a Supreme King, yet she was unable to avoid this attack!

The faces of many people changed colors. What on earth are these skeletons? Why are they so bizarre?

Bang!

Lin Xun decisively rushed over and smashed the skull with a slap.

The woman screamed again and jumped up like a frightened rabbit. There was embarrassment and annoyance on her pretty face as she threw Lin Xun a glare.

When Lin Xun smashed the skull with this palm, the force had also landed on her buttocks and caused a burning pain.

“You…!” The woman gritted her teeth.

However, Lin Xun had no attention to spare because at his fingertips flowed a strand of eerie blood light, It viciously tore through his skin and drilled into his flesh, making it impossible for him to erase it!

“This is the Blood God Follower, an extremely terrifying and bizarre power capable of tainting one’s qi and blood and eroding one’s spirit power! When caught by it, even King stage experts will suffer!” explained Ji Xingyao with a tense and worried expression.

Everyone else was shocked by this information, and the bitten woman stopped complaining.

Lin Xun, however, was unusually calm.

“Let’s get out of here first!” he said as he mobilized his power to resist the strand of the Blood God Follower while still rushing forward.

The earth behind kept rumbling as the skeleton army was hot on their heels. They blotted out all scenery with their numbers, looking exceptionally horrifying in this blood-red world.

It wasn’t until a quarter of an hour later that it all finally went away.

In front of the group was a huge river shrouded in blood fog.

The vast river had long since dried up, and the blood fog covering it made it impossible to see the other side of the river.

At that moment, the Divine Light Guide suspended above Ji Xingyao buzzed as it rotated in confusion, unable to distinguish the direction anymore.

Ji Xingyao looked around, and her heart sank as she announced, “We were so focused on running for our lives and went in the wrong direction, and now…we may…be lost…”

Everyone’s face darkened upon hearing this.

It had only been just an hour since they had stepped into the Underworld River Forbidden Zone, and something like this had already happened. This put a damper on their moods.

“How are you?” Ji Xingyao looked at Lin Xun with a touch of worry in her expression.

The others also looked over.

At this moment, Lin Xun’s face was slightly pale, and within him, a strand of Blood God Follower was running amok. The energy it emitted corroded his qi and blood wherever it passed.

Even his Star Annihilation Heaven Devourer could not dissolve it!

“I’m sorry. Just now. If I hadn’t been…” The woman who had been bitten felt a little guilty. Although she was injured, she hadn’t been infested by the Blood God Follower.

Meanwhile, Lin Xun who saved her had caught it.

“Don’t feel bad, Miss Yin Xue. You are not to blame for this matter.” Lin Xun took a deep breath. “Can you all wait for a moment and allow me to meditate?”

The others naturally had no objection. Since they were lost, any action would be futile until they could determine the direction.

Without delay, Lin Xun sat down cross-legged.

Meanwhile, the others started discussing whether or not to cross the dried up riverbed covered in blood fog.

The Blood God Follower, according to Ji Xingyao, was an extremely bizarre and unsettling power related to the legendary Underworld River.

Even King stage experts were incapable of dissolving it. Their souls would be corrupted, and they would become rotting blood corpses!

From this, one could imagine how cruel and terrifying this power was.

Lin Xun tried to dissolve it with his own energy, only to find that this was not effective at all. Even his spirit sense had a hard time locking onto the strand of the Blood God Follower.

Seeing that his blood had been corroded by nearly half, he couldn’t help but feel a little anxious. What to do?

He had then tried various methods but nothing worked.

“Burn!”

In the end, Lin Xun simply resorted to Great Treasury Silent Scripture and performed the Earth Treasury Soul Transcension Mantra. His dao seed glowed and generated a resounding Buddhist chant.

At the same time, pure and thick black Buddha light flowed, condensing into a black lotus seat.

This lotus seat called ‘The Guide’ was derived from the core truth of the Earth Treasury Soul Transcension Mantra. It was capable of guiding ghosts and souls, and suppressing evil spirits.

This technique had originally been one of the supreme inheritances of the Earth Treasury Temple, but the interpretation of Monk Duji had drawn out more miraculous abilities from it.

The black lotus seat also contained a wisp of black phoenix divine flame!

Lin Xun had resorted to this method out of anxiety since everything else had failed. He didn’t expect this one to work either. But to his surprise, an unimaginable scene occurred.

The strand of Blood God Follower abruptly slowed, and then, it was pulled into the black lotus seat!

Along with bursts of Buddhist chanting, the Blood God Follower was suddenly set on fire. It emitted a mournful and piercing scream.

Lin Xun could see clearly as the silky red strands coming from the Blood God Follower were incinerated one by one, and in the end, only a shadow the size of a fingernail was left on the black lotus seat.

“Many thanks for returning me to my senses from endless depravity, fellow daoist. I am finally liberated,” echoed a free, grateful voice.

And then, the shadow also vanished.

On the black lotus seat, a crystal clear bead appeared, flowing with magnificent and pure energy fluctuations.

1. a monstrous creature that eats people, descriptions of what it looks like varies ☜