They walked a bit on the outer ring of the Ring-shaped Mountain. Sure enough, Yang Ming took out an ancient record from a dried up tree. The cover had almost completely rotted away and it wasn’t hidden very well—half of it showed.
Obviously, Yang Ming only hid it behind the tree trunk hastily at the time and shoved in the ancient record offhandedly, then immediately left; hence it was hidden so sloppily.
“Young Master Han, here.” Yang Ming submitted the ancient record respectfully with his head slightly lowered, a hint of unwillingness that was hard to perceive in his eyes.
For normal people, this ancient record was worth nothing, but for some, it could be priceless.
Ling Han took it without hesitation. On their way, he told Yang Ming his name—hearing ‘benefactor’ and such all the time was uncomfortable. He started to leaf through it in front of Yang Ming without being evasive.
This was certainly a predecessor’s logbook. The part at the start recorded some trifling matters; the person was called Xiao Ding, who was once a chief that managed a village, living a quiet life.
Xiao family had lived here for many generations, but a change happened in Xiao Ding’s generation. The whole village was driven away from the mystery realm, but Xiao Ding stayed behind with an act of great deception.
He disobeyed the orders of one called “Demon Master” at the time, and entered the depths of the Ring-shaped Mountain, wanting to know why they were being expelled.
Relying on his understanding of the land, he avoided several barriers, which enabled him to enter the depths. However, he was unable to enter the depths of the core area as a mysterious power infected him, making him feel like he wasn’t himself anymore.
He immediately ran, but it was too late. By the time he escaped and reached his village, he was already unable to control himself, barely able to record what he experienced in the depths of the mountains—the diary ended there.
He probably died.
Xiao Ding recorded various restrictions, recording everything in immense detail. This was probably because he was afraid he’d forget something. In the end, he conjectured that a terrifying existence was suppressed within Devil Sky Mystery Realm, and the central hall was a backup array that reinforced the restrictions through blood sacrifice; perhaps it existed since the very distant past, but problems occurred in his generation.
Since the people in the mystery realm had all left, then what were the restrictions for? There was only one possibility—within was suppressed something of ominous origin!
Ling Han closed the logbook and sunk into contemplation.
From the looks of it, this mystery realm was very stable, so it shouldn’t be a problem with the mystery realm itself like it breaking down. Then why were the people driven away back then?
In the past, a Blood Zombie appeared in Devil Sky Mystery Realm, and Xiao Ding mentioned “ominous origin” in the logbook, believing that here was imprisoned something terrible and evil… could the two be related? At the time, was it because the Blood Zombie’s appearance that resulted in everyone’s expulsion?
Mystery realms were created by Shattering Void Tier cultivators, but it didn’t mean that every mystery realm had such a formidable person overseeing it… If Shattering Void Tier cultivators couldn’t shatter the void to enter into divine plane, then they too would die of old age.
Perhaps, in the depth of this mountain were large amounts of Blood Zombies that required the power of a Shattering Void Tier cultivator to subdue? However, inside Devil Sky Mystery Realm, there was no longer such a formidable cultivator; therefore, they were forced to leave, leaving an empty space—the mystery realm—to trap that thing.
“Young Master Han, can we depart?” Yang Ming carefully asked.
Ling Han nodded, and said, “Go.”
The three set out, walking forward for half a day and finally seeing a large ravine from afar.
It was as if a heavenly saber split the Ring-shaped Mountain, literally splitting open a seam in the massive mountain, which was as if connected to the sky. The fracture that descended from the sky was terrifyingly surprising, even Ling Han could feel a hint of saber intent.
In previous years, there had to exist an exceptionally strong cultivator who struck four times, cutting the Ring-shaped Mountain into four sections.
‘Shattering Void Tier, it definitely was a Shatter Void Tier cultivator,’ Ling Han thought to himself. In his former life, even he didn’t have such might; only the legendary Shattering Void Tier cultivators boasted such remarkable abilities that a sliver of saber intent could remain even after an unknown amount of years, not eroded by the time.
Too terrifying, a saber intent that could cross an eternity was unheard of.
Although the ravine was in view, it was further than it appeared; approaching it still required passing a long stretch of road. Since their target already appeared in their sight, they naturally had enough enthusiasm to speed up.
“Ah!” A tragic scream came from afar. Apparently, a fight was going on, a very usual thing here.
In a flash, six people, each with a sword, scuttled out from inside the jungle on the right. Each of them was as if they’d saw a ghost, terrified, only knowing to bolt for their lives.
Xiu , a black shadow passed through extremely quickly, and with a jump, it already caught up to a person, waving its hand toward the person’s back of the head.
That person seemed to have no more courage left, not even daring to resist, just escaping frantically. But they didn’t know it was impossible for them to match up to the black shadow’s speed; instantly, their head took a hit, and with a pa , the entire head was in smithereens and hot blood gushed out.
A terrifying and disgusting scene appeared. The black shadow lunged on top of the body to suck the man’s blood and gnaw on his flesh.
‘Hiss!’
“Blood Zombie?” Ling Han frowned, automatically thinking about that evil thing.
“Wrong, wrong, wrong, this isn’t a Blood Zombie, but a second tier Bronze-armored Combie.” A youngster in black walked out the jungle. His face was dead pale without a hint of blood, giving off a feeling of a poltergeist in broad daylight.
In his hand were three metal chains that were drawn tightly, as if tied to something heavy, but which was hidden inside the jungle and therefore out of sight.
“Thousand Corpse Sect?” Ling Han knit his brows.
“What, you actually know of Thousand Corpse Sect?” The youngster in black stared at Ling Han, revealing a strong murderous aura.
Ling Han sneered, revealing a disgusted expression.
Thousand Corpse Sect was an unparalleled evil force. People from this sect weren’t strong themselves, but each refined a strong cultivator’s corpse, then known as Corpse Soldier, commanding it like their own limbs; its battle power was exceedingly shocking.
The Corpse Soldiers were separated into three large stages, which were Bronze-Armored Corpse, Silver-Armored Corpse, and Gold-Armored Corpse. Each stage was further divided into first level, second level, and third level, for a total of nine levels that corresponded to the nine tiers in martial arts—from Body Refining Tier to Heaven Tier.
Where were the Corpse Soldiers of Thousand Corpse Sect from? Of course from stealing the corpses of martial artists—if the martial artist’s strength was strong while living, then the Corpse Soldier made from his body would be comparable in power; a third level Gold-Armored Corpse could even compare to a formidable Heaven Tier cultivator.
In order to steal a strong corpse, Thousand Corpse Sect could be said as deranged and frenzied, not only digging up ancient tombs, but even stealing the corpses of strong cultivators buried not long ago. Consequently, this sect brought disgust to an overwhelming majority, and was once attacked by a coalition.
Ling Han assumed that Thousand Corpse Sect was annihilated; unexpectedly, its disciple came running out now.